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Full text of "Life Of James Cardinal Gibbons"

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LIFE 



JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS 



By ALLEN S. WILL, A. AC, Lift, D, 



to Cd*#r thm 
Oadf th* thing* th** *m Oocf t^^MmtthftWt xxli, 2J 




JOHN MURPHY CX)MPANY 



R, 051 T, WASHHOURNK, Ltd,, 
I, I md 4 Ffttrr>oit#r Row, London. 249 Buoh*nftn itrttt v 



Copyright* *9ii 
JOHN MURPHY 

Att 



nfc ittttl&ntfft* Hull, Ldo, Eitf tend, 



TO THB XNRPtRlQXl OF 

MY I*A!UMH 
Till BOOK IS 



PREFACE 

Few men who exert great influence are able to see In their 
own times the fruition of their most cherished undertakings; 
but such has been the privilege bestowed by a benign Providence 
on Cardinal Gibbons, It seems not inappropriate, therefore, 
to pause on the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary as priest 
and his twenty-fifth anniversary as Cardinal and survey, when 
he is 77 years old, the broad outlines of his career. Not only 
is it true that the principal labors to which he has hitherto 
devoted himself have been concluded, but some of them, indeed, 
were finished so long ago that their details have been almost 
forgotten by a generation intent chiefly on the things of the 
present* 

No comprehensive attempt has been made up to this time to 
tell the story of the Cardinal s life, crowded, as it has been, 
with events not only of dtep significance to the world, but of 
absorbing interest. True, there is much in print, but it is frag 
mentary, tinged with the impressions of a moment, contro 
versial or wholly lacking in the perspective with which his 
career may now be fairly viewed. These considerations, and 
the peculiar appropriateness of the double jubilee, have em 
boldened me to embark on the rather hazardous task of trying 
to write a biography while the subject of it is yet living, At 
the beginning I resolved that if any compromise with the 
standards which should govern an impartial biography were 
encountered, I would not proceed with the work; and I have 
fully satiified myself, at least, that this obstacle did not arise. 

In the preparation of this book, I have been especially 
solicitous to obtain accuracy. Unverified statements have been 
rejected, and I have wholly discarded unconfirmed tradition 
and reminiscence. The opinions expressed, except where they 
are attributed to others, are mine* 

ALLBN S. WILL, 
30, 1911. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY LIFE AND STUDIES, 

Baltimore at the tlmo of Cardinal Gibbons birth His parents re* 
turn to their former home in Ireland Studies and SportB In Irish 
schools Daath of his fatherHis mother takes the family to New 
Orleans -Clerk In a grocery store Ilia mind turns to the priest 
hood Classical and theological studies Ordination. ,,,,,,,, ..... 1- 12 

CHAPTER II 

AT ST, PATRICK S AND ST. BRIDGET S, 

Six weefen as assistant pastor of Si Patrick s Church, Baltimore* 
Pastor of St. Bridget* during the Civil War~Dangri and difflcml* 
ties Ministrations at Fort Monnry-~ Temporary decline of his 
health Prophetic uormou on tlm night of Lincoln*** as*a*aluation* a8~ 21 

CHAPTER III. 
SECRETARY TO ARCHBISHOP SPALDING, 

Critical period for the Church at the time of his trannfrr to the 
Arehblifaop n botiiebold Aiwliitfmt Chancellor of the Second Plenary 
Council of BnlUmorfH-Noittlnated for Vicar Aportollc at the age of 
82 ytar Sunday-school work Olfte m a preacher beglnnhiK to 
devtlop ......,..,*..,,..., ..... .*.,....* M ,. ..*...,....*. *SBS- 28 

CHAPTER IV. 

VICAR APQ8TQLIC1 OF NORTH CAROLINA* 



Vlrnr Apoitolif nnfl Titular Blhop of 
Iteceptlou In North Uarolluti KxpttritMcen la tbe ^ 
trn~M!wiIottttry Jjournvyi iu the fat* of tthynU**! obntaoleii Popular 
with Protwtaut a well m Cathollei Kapid growth of the church 
In the vieariate. * i * * * ....... ...,.....**..*...*....... .20- 43 

CHAPTER V, 
AT THE VATICAN COUNCIL OF 18TO- 

Suddtn chins* of flald from ptofjr work la North CaroJInn to the 
atmaq>her of the Vatican (Vuttri!~naiiona for the convomtton of 
tlm <^unciI~QuiNitloa of InfalllhU* ttntfhtaK olBw of lloman INmt Iff 
Attitude of tho Amwlcaii l*I**h<i tlhho|i <}lbl>onii vote* for tto 
dwlnmtlon of JnfitlHWllty, tlnniicht clouUtlnjc lt opiKirtu!M*n*>* 

of famouK chttrt hiutn. .*..*.*......*<....**** *4i^ 81 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI. 

BISHOP OF RICHMOND. 

Bishop Gibbons succeeds Blnhop McOIH Sn Richmond, contlaalag 
his work in North Carolina at the same tititfl !Crl0tKlbt| with An-h 
bishop Bayley Energetic nnd faithful labor* in Virginia Hit* first 
book, "The Faith of Our Fathers" .......... .....,.,..,., ...... ,tci- 77 

CHAPTER VII. 
ABCHBI8HOP OF BALTIMORE. 

Recommended by Archbishop Bayluy for tuecewiloia to th* prlmt- 
tlal American Se& Death of Bnyley Kwlv* the imilitun lu ttte 
Baltimore Cathedral A matt of the jmopte IdsatlflmtJoti with 
varied Interests of the commuuity I atrlotlwu Ui wont mitt 
Visit to Borne la 1880 IMter on th wiamitwtian of i r 
GarfleldDsnth of th* Arehbtihop a tnotbvr !!! llf* In thi 
episcopal resldeoc. .... ...... ,...,,,, ........ , ......... .,,,,, .T- 87 

CHAPTER VIII, 
THIED PLENABI COUNCIL OF BALTWOB1. 

Cow for acJton to summon itti*r Ptonnry Oouodi Areb- 
blihop i aibboM prttWw Apovtollc DtleKut t^tlwa <-on*trtKtiv* 
work for the OhBfeh In America Deetvwi ef the Ooutit*llA odl 
for oth*m OrtgiB of th Oatbotlo Utttvtndty ........... . ........ *M24 

CHAPTER IX. 

CRKATHJD A CARDINAL, 
0lbx * M |B *""* p th Third 



analremry of 
flmoBtwiaoa la BiUtfmwre 



CHAPTER X, 






for Eom^ to wtlv* tb^ n4 hf TairtalM in hi tii^iai 



CONTENTS XI 

CHAPTER XL 

KNIOHTS OF LABOR QUESTION, 

El&e of tho Knights of Labor In America Forbidden by the Church 
in Canada Cardinal Gibbong confers with Fowderly His "Kalghta 
of Labor letter 1 * to th Prefect of the Propaganda and hl vigorous 
attitude In Home cause the Congregation of the Holy Office to with 
hold an Interdict from the Knights in the United States and to reverse 
the action regarding Canada His vlwii of the labor question sus 
tained by Leo XIII ................... ........ ,.*,.. ........ 148-168 

CHAPTER XII 

1ABLX XEJAES OF OABDINALATE* 

Homeward Journey from Rome Guwfc of Cardinal Hatutlag to 
Loadou~Frl&udshlp and sympathy of Cardinal Gibbons and Man 
ningFeted on his return to Baltimore Praytr at thu Constitu 
tional Centennial Celtbratiow Western trip ^Transmits Preildtnt 
Cleveland * gift to Loo XIII in honor of the Pontiff s golden jubilee 
la the priesthood Ills second book, "Our Christian Heritage**. 166-188 

CHAPTER XIII. 

OF TUB AMERICAN HIKRARCHY, 



(llhboim organtE an Jmpo^Jug eetobntlon in 
to honor of the oMtunmlftl of tht Hftrarchy~Littir of I^o XIII on 
tht growth of the Ohureh In Amirtc*a~Tht **Cathol$c CSongrtii* 1 
of 1889~Dtdicttloa of tht School of Sacrtd Selta^s of tht 0tbolic 
Univtrilty~f}rt intwert of the aardlnal !a tht 
viewn oa the tumtwtmo quwtlon, ***,* ..* * , 



CHAPTER XIV, 
AFOiTOUO DILlQATlj Till BOHOOL QU1ST1OR 



of ftllgloui Intolrnc Im Amtrt^n public 
QibboM adTiiiNi Af*la*t filirtct rtlitioms bttwttn tht Vtfc* 
tern and tht oT0ramtttt it WtiMmtofi~Tratwml8lo o f 
nlUn to tht World s Fair at Chicago In Arcfcbitbop 8atolll* 
liiidi to his temporary tppolstmtnt as Apovtoilc Dtl^ttt t Itttr 
ptrntanwt Awhblihopi aoMta^r tbt ephoot qn^itJw~Attttadi 
Cardinal Gibbons ri$rdtni aducntion^I^o XIII inttitiifj tbt **F 
btult platt"-~Apt>al of th0 ciardlnai to Vmm^m for a continaanov of 
govortimtmt ftpproprliftouii to Cjaholie ItKllun 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XV. 

AMERICANISM ; THE OAHENSLY QUESTION. 

Origin of the controversy concerning "Americanism" The Oa- 
hensly program Cardinal Gibbons thrown hiH whole weight; against 
foreign nationalism in the American Church President Harrison 
thanks him for his attitude Sustained by tho Pope 1 -Tho "American 
Protective AHHodntion" Bishop Keauo roni#ns an rector of the Uni 
versity Misunderstanding 1 abroad of "The Life of Father Hooker" 

Letter of Leo XIII on "Americanism" -Itoply of Cardinal Oih- 
bons ......................... * ........... * .......... .,...*,, 234-268 

CHAPTER XVL 

THE WORLD S FAIR; PAELIAMKINT OF RELIGIONS. 

Catholic Interest in the four hundredth anniversary of the cUi- 
covery of America The Cardinal Inspire* a celebration in Baltimore 

Ills prayer at the dedication of the great fair la Chicago Addre 
before the Parliament of Reunions Attitude on the reunion of 
Christendom Visit to Rome ia 1804 Public welcome* on bin return 

to Baltimore. .,* .......... . . . . . ....... <.,,, ...... * . * .SKH-277 

CHAPTER XVII. 

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, 

Cardinal Gibbons an advocate of International arbitration ~~ His 
appeal for a permanent tribunal of arbttration-~8*rmcm at requiem 
mam for the "Maine** dead Efforts to prevent war between th 
United Etates and Spain Af tor the* outbreak of wnr im advocate* 
lov of country next to love of Ood mid readtniHii to die for country 
If necessary Directs thnnkggl?fng In churchcn for American vlctor- 
leiH-Ueetlnga with OerTern~Dottbtn windom of nnnrxinit Hpaninh 
ifllanda Kfforti to Am0rlcnn!f(o thc^ church orffnntKtttion In thi* 
Islands Visit to Rome in )(W1~Anoth*r popular welcome* fn B*UH* 
more ................... , . ., ........ ...I.,,..,,,,,,.,.,,,,,,. 27R-202 

CHAPTER XVITI. 
THE BTRRNUOUB LIPB; LABORS AND 



Influence In hrtngfniaf nhotit the fnippremilon of tti^ T^oufpstuna lot* 
In revlewn and masraKinefi itdwcatltig 1 pnlltlenl aud 
reforms -Silver jtihllw of hlit eplwopte--4SHft from the 
relnnd*n olmtnent ^ifmnn on "The Church m& 
th Af*e* Wlevntfon of ftittoHI to the oiirdlnnlfjte In the Battmore 
OathfHdral ^rtnrdlnnl OHihona* third hook, **The Amhniwfldor of 
CUrlgt**~Opp0utt!an to woman suffrngt Vftwu on 



CONTENTS xm 

CHAPTER XIX. 

PAPAL CONCLAVE OF 1903. 

Lnflt Illness of Leo XIII Cardinal Gibbons the first American to 
take part In the election of a Pontiif Personal experiences during 
the Conclave Ills influence in bringing about the election of Pius X 
Marks of friendship from the new Pontiff Another Baltimore 
welcome Trip to Rome in 1908 Preaches at Bucharistlc Congress 
In London 312-327 

CHAPTER XX. 

CENTENARY OF THE BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL. 
Remarkable growth of the Catholic Church in the United States 
coincident with the history of the Cathedral The Cardinal organizes 
a celebration Declarations of himself and other American prelates 
against socialism Letter from Plus X Archbishop Ryan on evils 
of the times 328-384 

CHAPTER XXL 

SYMPATHY WITH FRENCH CATHOLICS. 

Influence of Franco in the early development of the Church in 
AmericaThe "Law of Associations" and subsequent agitation 
Cardinal Gibbons Nddrosses a letter of sympathy to the Cardinal 
Archhlnhop of Purls in behalf of the American Archbishops Personal 
utterances on the same subject Gratitude of the Pope 835-338 

CHAPTER XXIL 

BYKNTS OF LATER YEARS, 

Experiences In the #reat Baltimore fire of 1904 His life endan 
gered In a driving accident KSxtenslve travels Methods of recrea 
tion Embarriwsnieuh* of hint high office Held In affection by non- 
Catholics OppoRltkm to divorce, raee suicide" and other evils 
HIg New Year receptionsHealth and habits Misfortunes His 
fourth book, "Discourses and Sermons" 839-381 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

GREAT CIVIC CELEBRATION IN HIS HONOR, 
Civic celebration in Baltimore, June 6, 1011, Jn honor of the Car- 
dinars goldan Jubilee m priest and silver Jubilee as a member of the 
8nered College-- Addressee by President Taft, Vice-President Sher 
man* ex>PreuIdent Roosevelt, Governor Orothers, Mayor Preston and 
others . ....,,.,.,,..., .,,*..,.,*,.,,.*,, , 382-893 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

A SUMMARY OF HIS LABORS. 

Conspicuous aooompllBhmontfl in tho Borvlw ot Church and State 
-Gi eat program In 11 w development of good fooling between Cath 
olics and non-GaU&oltcn. . . . * * * .*.,.,* ,394-398 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



CARDINAL GIBBONS ,.,,,. Frontispiece 

ST. CHARLES OOLLEGE, Blllcott City, Md ..... 10 
(Where Cardinal Gibbons began M$ otwical studies for th$ 
Priesthood) 

ST. BRIDGET S CHURCH, Baltimore, In 1803 .... 14 
CARDINAL GIBBONS, ai priest, In 1808 . 28 

ST, THOMAS* CHURCH, Wilmington, N. 0. * * * .84 
CARDINAL GIBBONS an Bishop of Richmond . , 64 

OLD ST* PETBR S CATHEDRAL AND BISHOP S RESIDENCE, 

Richmond* Vtt., ia 18T0 ,.,,*,. 70 

BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL ,..... ". 108 

CARDINAL GIBBONS in htfl role ...... 180 

a mam?>^f of th Bcwwd 



INTERIOR OP THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA IN TRAB- 

TE1VERK, Rom 142 

* 

FAG SIMILE OF CARDINAL CHBBON8 HANDWRITING . 188 
(Ha tract from "Ow Ohrittlcm Heritage") 

CARDINAL GIBBONS RESIDENCE, Baltimore ... 218 
MoMAHON HALL, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, Wuhlnitutt, D. 0. 2T8 

CARDINAL GIBBONS, PRESIDENT McKlNLFA and ADMIRAL 

DEWEY at tho prowutatlon of a gword to the Admirsl . 808 

PRBSBNTATION OF GIFT B THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUB 

TO Till CATHOLIC UNIVBRSITY 85fl 

CARDINAL GIBBONS, PRESIDENT TAFT aud ARCHBISHOP 

FAIXX)NIO . ...... 984. 

(AMfte Golden /wWJee o/ (, X/oy*rf*w CftKroA, Fsthiwton, 
A owm&w 18, I90fi) 

SCENE ON THEJ 8TAGB AT THB CIVIC CBLBBRATION, BftW- 

mor, June fl, 1011 ........ 884 



LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS 



CHAPTER I. 
EARLY LIFE AND STUDIES. 

Although the active life of Cardinal Gibbons has stretched 
well into the twentieth century, the twilight of the eighteenth 
still seemed to linger around his early home when he was born 
in Baltimore, July 23, 1834. The city of which he was to be 
come the foremost citizen, identified with it throughout a long 
career, was then overgrown from the straggling outlines of a 
colonial town. On the east the peaked roofs and tall, thin chim 
neys of its residential streets extended barely to Fell s Point, a 
full mile inside of where the Lazaretto Light, now half hidden 
by the smoke of clamorous factories, blinked at the smart clip 
per ships which raced up the Patapsco with the trade of the 
world, To the westward the swinging sign of the General 
Wayne Inn, on Paca street, bearing a portrait of "Mad An 
thony" in brilliant blue and buff, marked the dividing line be 
tween urban life and a peaceful vista of rural estates, soon to 
be devoured by the hungry giant whose spreading bulk was 
already beginning to crowd them, 

Uptown one might see, in the stately parade of late Georgian 
fashion which passed on bright afternoons, the women who 
were giving the city a repute as the home of the loveliest of 
their sex in America; and here and there might be observed th 
riven hair and olive cheeks of the daughters of rich Santo 
Domingan planters, driven in a swarm by the revolution of 
L Ouvcrture to find in Baltimore the home of exiles. Down 
town, around the waterfront, the heart of the city throbbed. 
Grave merchants in sober dfets, their throats wrappid in stiff 



2 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

black stocks, sat in counting-rooms fronting on narrow streets 
and traded ambitiously with Europe, South America and the 
Indies. Privateers, which twenty years before had scattered 
British commerce in a hundred ports, now anchored around the 
wharves to load the products of the West and South in peace 
ful commerce. Swift schooners, manned not infrequently by 
sailors who had proved that they could use a cutlass as well as 
trim a sail, were freighting the rich crops of the Chesapeake 
region to the metropolis of Maryland, Planters and merchants 
from half a dozen States drank the old wines of the Fountain 
Inn, or Barnutn s, crowding to the gay and busy city to buy 
their supplies a year ahead.* 

The name of Johns Hopkins might be seen on the sign of a 
wholesale grocery store on Lombard street, near Light street, f 
A few hundred yards distant, on German street, near Charles, 
was the dry-goods establishment of George Peabody. The 
alert young man who opened Mr. Peabody s store in the morn 
ing and wrote his laconic business letters was William Pinkney 
Whyte. On Charles street, near German, was the modest office 
of Enoch Pratt, iron merchant, Chief Justice Taney*s hand 
some residence was on Lexington street* the second house from 
St Paul street The courts of law felt the inspiration of Wil 
liam Pinkney, Luther Martin, William Wirt and Reverdy 
Johnson, Edgar Allan Poe, recently dismissed from West 
Point, was walking the streets seeking employment as a writer 
or teacher. At the Adelphi Theatre Junius Brutus Booth, then 
in the noonday of his genius # was playing nightly, Two years 
before, a tottering old man had been an object of respectful 
interest as he used to enter his residence at Front and Lom 
bard streets after attending mass. He was Charles Carroll, 
and the hand that turned the heavy brass door knob had signed 
the Immortal Declaration* 



etr roneftf of f * . *. _***> 

t fir. Hmir C, Wijmtr, tttti<|ti*ri*n; of Saltinaori, Ii tutfeorfty tor tfe* 
*ld building ft* given 



HOUSE IN WHICH HE WAS BORN. 3 

The stately Cathedral, then lately erected on a bold hill in 
the newer part of the city, was the seat of Catholic influence in 
America. It had been the pride of John Carroll, first Ameri 
can archbishop, who had died before it was opened for wor 
ship; but he had lived to see the organization of the Church 
planted on a foundation that would stand the shock of the 
"Knownothing" times, soon to come, and prove firm and last 
ing in the marvelous career of development that was opening 
before the new republic, Carroll had been succeeded by Neale, 
and then Marechal and Whitfield ; and in the year of the future 
Cardinal s birth, Ecclestpn was elevated to the episcopal chair, 
and sat beneath the canopy at mass. Besides the Cathedral, 
the churches of St. Peter, St. John, St Patrick, St. Mary and 
St James had been erected; and the aggressive spirit of the 
clergy was fast winning converts* The Catholic population of 
Maryland was estimated at 7S* 00 out ^ 500,000, a greater 
proportion than in any other American State,* 

The house in which the Cardinal was born survived the 
changes of time until 1892, when it was torn down to make 
way for the widening of Lexington street into a plaza for pub 
lic parades and outdoor meetings. It stood on the west side 
of Gay street, a short distance north of Fayctte street, and was 
a substantial home of two stories, capped by a high-pitched 
roof, the type of many others to be seen in Baltimore in the 
first half of the nineteenth century, That part of the city, 
since given over almost wholly to trade, was then near the 
core of the residential district, In front of the Gibbons home 
streamed a picturesque tide of life fashionable idlers* who 
maintained many of the traditions of the English aristocracy; 
folk of many sorts coming in from the northeastern outskirts 
of the town to the maze of rope and mast that covered the 
inner harbor; coaches of the rich, with liveried servants on the 
boxes; white-arched Conestoga wagons, rumbling in from 



* tttttr jf ArtfefotHhop KS^dtnton t<* fhn ronir^ffttJon f>f 

3b*i Hlttory of th* Cuffed Chwn*fc in tht Unittd BtalMTvwu 



4: LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

Pennsylvania with the crops of rich counties to barter for the 
city s wares* In later years, when the pallium and the red 
hat, and other honors had been heaped upon him, the primate 
of the American Church used sometimes to point out this quaint 
building to favored friends, who accompanied him in his long 
walks about the city- 
Here, in 1834, lived Thomas Gibbons, father of the Cardi 
nal, who was employed by Howell & Sons, a firm which for 
many years carried on an importing business on Gay street 
He was one of thousands of young Irish farmers who had 
lately been swarming to America to seek their fortunes, The 
bloody days of 1798 were not long gone by ; and Daniel Q Con* 
nell was even then spreading the propaganda which he hoped 
would free his prostrate country from her wretchedness, but 
which, like others, was to end m disaster, Thomas Gibbons 
was born in 1800, and grew up netr Westport, County Hayo* 
There he married Bridget Walsh* a deeply religious young 
woman, of strong character* the daughter of t neighboring 
farmer. Shortly after their marriage the couple emigrated in 
a sailing vessel to Canada f and after a short stay there, fettled 
in Baltimore* m search of a milder climate and fuller opportth 
nities in life, Six children were born to them, the first three 
being daughters and the last three ions, 

James was the eldest ion. He was baptiied In the Cathe* 
drat by Rev* Dr. Qmrles L Whitt, When Father White, after 
a long life spent In works of piety f died paitor of St. Matthew 1 ! 
Church, Washington* in 1878, it was Afthblshop Gibbons who 
preached the sermon at his funeral, 

Thomas Gibbons became a estken of the United States* and, 
like many of his fellow-countrymen^ wai an intense admirer of 
Andrew Jackson* whose crushing defeat of the English at 
New Orleans had made him a hero In their eyet* Hit Infant 
son f the Cardinako*be f wat proudly field up in arm* to set 
"Old Hickory 11 on one of the latter 1 ! triumphal vilti to Balti 
more. Though the yoting immigrant s affairs protpfertd fairly 



SCHOOL DAYS IN IRELAND. 5 

well in America, his health failed, and his physician advised a 
long trip. He took his family back to Ireland in 1837, when 
James was three years old, and there he decided to remain, 
buying land near Westport and settling down again to the life 
of a farmer. 

The future Cardinal s education was begun at the age of 
seven years, when he was sent to a private classical school at 
Ballinrobe, near Westport, taught at first by a Mr, Jennings, 
and later by John J, Rooney, He was a slender lad, with clear 
blue eyes and brown hair, and, though his health was not the 
strongest, his ardent love of outdoor life helped to develop a 
vitality which in future years enabled him to sustain the great 
est fatigues of mind and body* An eager intellect and the 
power of intense application made him an apt pupil When 
the elements had been mastered, he began with avidity the 
study of history, languages and mathematics, unraveling, by 
the laborious methods of Irish schools in those days, the pol 
ished sentences of Virgil, Ovid, Cicero and Livy, and delving 
hard into Xenophon and Homer, The English classics par 
ticularly fascinated him. Addison, Goldsmith, Johnson and 
Moore were his favorites, and to his pronounced fondness for 
the study of such models was due, in large measure, that limpid 
clearness of expression which became a striking characteristic 
of his literary style in later years, A remarkable memory en 
abled him to quote off-hand many poems he had read* He 
received much help from his maternal grandfather, Jamet 
Walsh, for whom he had been named a scholarly man who 
taught him the principles of mathematics* 

Among those strenuous Irish lads, bubbling with vitality* 
sportt were rough when the stern discipline of long school 
hours was lifted* They wrestled and b05ced ran and jumped, 
played cricket, football, handball and prisoner*! base, which 
later developed into the American game of baseball Young 
Gibbons, though not so sturdy of frame as some of his compan- 
loved the rigor of their contests as much at any. He 



6 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

played as hard as he studied, and a mark which he carried on 
one of his fingers through life was left by an injury received 
in a game of cricket 

Among the fifty boys at the school were not a few who rose 
to distinction. One of them, Thomas Tighe, became a mem 
ber of Parliament, and held other important offices. His two 
brothers, Robert and James Tighe, adopted the career of offi 
cers in the English army, as did another schoolmate of the 
Cardinal, General Sillery. The future Bishop MacCormack, 
of Galway, was also a pupil at Ballinrobe. Thomas Tighe lived 
to a ripe old age. He used to recall James as an amiable lad f 
very studious and talented, and a marked favorite in the 
school* 

James was confirmed by Archbishop McHale at such an 
early age that he was rejected on account of his youth when 
he sought the privilege in company with other children; but, 
mingling in the stream of the favored ones, he received the rite 
notwithstanding this obstacle, and was praised for his pre 
cocity. The deep piety of his mother exerted a marked influ** 
ence on him in the impressionable period of his early life* 

The Gibbons family might have remained in Ireland and the 
Cardinal s lot might not have been cast in his native country, 
had not the death of his father in 1847, when the lad was 13 
years old, changed the whole outlook, The energetic mother, 
thus suddenly left with the responsibility of a young family, 
decided to return to America with her children, and they em 
barked on a sailing ship at Liverpool for New Orleans, It 
was a long trip, ^destined to be marked by shipwreck and a 
providential escape for all on board. They sailed from Liver 
pool in January, 1853, and it was the middle of March before 
the islands skirting the American coast were sighted* Near 
midnight on March 17, in calm weather, the vessel went fast 
aground on a sand bar close to the Island of Great Bahama, 
and, had the wind proved treacherous, none might have escaped 

* Bxtrtct from a Ittttr wrltttn by Thomt* Tight. May 87, IM. 



A VENTURE IN BUSINESS LIFE. 7 

the sea. But fate was favorable, and, after waiting in great 
anxiety for the dawn, they were transferred in small boats to 
the island, whence they were carried to Nassau and kindly 
treated until they could continue their journey. 

Arriving in New Orleans, James obtained employment as 
clerk in a grocery store on Camp street, kept by William C.Ray 
mond. It was one of the business establishments characteristic 
of New Orleans in those days, supplying the needs of Missis 
sippi river steamers and plantations, as well as families of the 
city. Little did the rough river men, or the elegant country 
gentlemen who came in from their broad acres of cotton or 
sugar to buy for themselves and their slaves, think that the 
obliging youth who waited on them would some day rise to 
eminence attained by few Americans- 
Young Gibbons intelligence, industry and fidelity attracted 
the notice of Mr. Raymond, and he was soon offered promo 
tion* He was seriously thinking at this time of the choice of a 
career; and a mission held at St Joseph s Church in the spring 
of 1854 served to fix his aspirations in the channel from which 
they were never to swerve. This mission was conducted by 
three remarkable young Redemptorist priests f* om New York 
Revs. Isaac Thomas Hecker, Clarence Walworth and Augus 
tine Hewit All were converts from Protestantism, Idealists 
by nature and gifted with brilliant talents, they had run the 
gamut of religious aspiration and had at last taken refuge 
within the fold of the Catholic Church as the haven where the 
eager inquiries of their restless natures might find satisfaction. 
Of the three, Hecker was easily the leaden* In earlier year* 
he had been a member of the socialistic community at Brook 
Farm and a companion of Ralph Waldo Emerson and George 
William Curtis, A venture in business life had failed to satisfy 
him. Converted to the Catholic faith in 1844, he had been 
ordained a priest but five years before he began his mission in 
New Orleans, His magnetic preaching kindled a fire within 

* flIUott Ui* of Fttt&nr Hocktf. 



8 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

the soul of young Gibbons, who joined in the devotions with a 
new fervor and spirit. The priesthood became his goal, in 
which determination he was also greatly influenced by his con 
fessor, Father Dufoe, a Jesuit, and by Father Duffy, a Re* 
demptorist 

Four years after this mission closed, Hacker, Walworth and 
Hewit, with two companions, obtained the papal permission to 
found the Congregation of Missionary Priests of St. Paul, in 
which they realized their zealous hope of devoting their lives 
to preaching for the conversion of Protestants* The great 
work of the "Paulist Fathers" since that time has been their 
monument; but not the least of the fruits of Hecker s ardent 
labors for the development of the Church in America was the 
accession of the young New Orleans clerk to the roll of "Am* 
bassadors of Christ"* 

Mr. Raymond was loath to see his youthful friend forsake a 
business career, in which the prospects of success seemed so 
bright. A warm friendship had sprung up between these two 
which was to end only with the death of Raymond, many yean 
afterward* Mrs, Gibbons, too, wai reluctant to part from 
her eldest son, on whom she had grown to lean more as hla 
talents and character ripened with years and in whom the 
widowed mother hoped to find the prop of her old age* James* 
decision remained fixed, and at last all acquiesced In the stp 
he was resolved to take- 

In the summer of 1855, when *** was 2I yean old, he 
started for Baltimore, having decided to make his native city 
and state the scene of the labors upon which he wai about to 
enter* His mother, his eldest iten Mary f and hit younger 
brother, John, who had already begun to climb the ladder of 
riches in the grain trade, remained in New Orleans* his sitter 
Catherine having died in Ireland at the age of 17, Hii jour 
ney was beset with delays and difficulties in ihoie dtyi, before 



^. *!*& Mf 1 * i. * 

JIJM* wm of i*ttb** H. wHwortbt ft fllitiatdSM <m***<itor Stm it*** o* Mtw 



STUDIES AT ST/ CHARLES COLLEGE. 9 

the conveniences of the railroad had been generally extended. 
He went by steamer up the Mississippi and the Ohio to Cincin 
nati, and thence by rail most of the way to Baltimore, though 
it was necessary to cross part of the Alleghenies by stage. Six 
teen days after he left New Orleans he arrived in Baltimore, 
and soon entered St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Md, then 
recently erected on land given by Charles Carroll, where he 
began his classical studies in preparation for the priesthood. 

The next two years were spent at St. Charles, where the 
keenness of his mind and the thoroughness of his earlier educa 
tion at once made him a pupil of note, He took up again the 
study of the ancient and modern classics, and so zealous was 
he to pursue these, that he wanted to remain another year, but 
Rev, Oliver L. Jenkins, president of the college, refused per 
mission on the ground that he was already thoroughly equipped 
to enter St Mary s Seminary, in Baltimore, and begin the sec 
ond stage of his course. His character in those early days of 
his manhood seems to have made an impression on his fellow- 
students at St, Charles ; but it was too early to predict for him, 
among so many other bright young men, that he would rise to 
any extraordinary height, His modesty and amiability tended 
to keep him in the background- One of his comrades was 
John S, Foley, later Bishop of Detroit, a member of a noted 
Citholic family of Baltimore, who, after the lapse of many 
years, wrote thus of hi$ recollections of the future Cardinal : 

"The burdens of his high office have told upon his slender 
frame with advancing years, and yet as he rises before my 
mental retrospect I cannot see much change In the supple, 
trim figure that entered so ardently into our youthful sjx>rts* 
He still preserves the grace of movement of his early dayi, 
when with all his apparent delicacy he proved himself to be as 
elastic as tempered steel Those were the days when the fixed 
rules of football a la Rugby were unknown or ignored, and 
recall with an accelerated pulse the dash with which the Car* 
dinaJ in pftto broke into the melee around the elusive sphere 



10 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

and ruthlessly beat down all opponents. Whatever he did was 
done with all his might, and that is the philosophy of his story. 
He engaged in his studies in the same earnest, indefatigable 
fashion that he exhibited at football or in the racquet court, 
and his mind was as active as his body, full of spring and resil 
iency. He was a youth, too, of noble and generous impulses, 
and his unaffected modesty was a most charming trait of his 1 
character. All these splendid attributes he has carried with 
him into the turbulent arena of life. * * * With him, 
life is real, life is earnest" 

In September, 1857, he began his training at St Mary s, 
under the presidency of Rev. Francois L Homme, a French 
Sulpician. Owtflg to the inadequate facilities in those days, 
many American priests were still educated abroad, and a large 
number of who labored among the American people 

were of foreign birth. The devoted fathers of St, Mary s had 
"come to Baltimore in Bishop Carroll s time to begin the work 
of training a native priesthood, and French influence was still 
strong in the institution, whose mother house remained in 
Paris, Since the Council of Trent, the Church had insisted on 
rigorously thorough preparation for the duties of the ministry, 
and yottng men who aspired to that calling were forced to go 
where they could obtain the training, Protestant churches, 
which did not exact these requirements, early recruited their 
ministers from native soil, and accepted them with such editca* 
tion as they could obtain at home, The Lutheran clergy, most 
of whom still spoke German in the pulpit, continued to be 
predominantly Teutonic; and not a few of the Protestant Kpis** 
copal priesthood were Englishmen, or graduates of English 
colleges. A largely increasing number of Americans were 
seeking holy orders in the Catholic Church* and the tide was 
fast turning from Paris and Lottvain. 

The training of the future Cardinal at St. Mary s was as 
strict as at European seminaries the stern course in phi- 

* Helly, Collections In the Life and Timw of Ctrdtaftl Oibboni, ToL 8, pp. $2, SB* 




Q 

a 



U 

I 

U 



RIGOROUS COURSE AT THE SEMINARY. 11 

losophy, theology, scripture, church history and canon law; 
the prolonged meditations and devotions ; the searching scru 
tiny of character, and the Spartan rigor of labors that might 
not stop for fatigue. Young Gibbons met every test, being 
described by his teachers as "having exceptional facility in 
his studies and as applying himself with great eagerness.*" 
He "possessed a cheerful and even temper, and gained the 
esteem and affection of all/ Despite the severity of the 
course, he customarily spent an hour each day in devotional 
reading of scripture, instead of twenty minutes, which were 
obligatory* His success in philosophy was so marked that he 
was appointed master of the conferences held three times a 
week by the students to discuss the points covered by the lec 
tures of the professor and to arrive at a fuller understanding 
of them* The professor of philosophy at that time, Rev, 
Francois P. Dissez, survived to celebrate the fiftieth anniver 
sary of his entrance into the seminary, and he recalled through 
out his long life the zeal and industry of his distinguished 
pupil 

Young Gibbons received the tonsure September 15, 1858, at 
the hands of Archbishop Kenrick, who conferred upon him the 
four minor orders June 16 of the following year. The same 
prelate promoted him to the subdiaconate June 28, 1861, to 
the diaconate June 29* and to the priesthood June 30* 

Deep shadows were drawing over the country in those clos~ 
ing years at the seminary. In their brief periods devoted to 
general conversation the students had anxiously discussed the 
exciting events of the time the John Brown raid, the fugitive 
slave riots, and the formation of the Southern Confederacy* 
Blood was already being ahed in civil war when the young 
priest was ordained, His associations and sympathies were 
with the Southern people, among whom he had lived, but his 
judgment opposed secession as a political step. He remained 
a Union man to the end, though taking no part by word or 

* Ittcordi of it, Mftry t 



12 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

deed in the struggle that was rending his unhappy country, 
His not to draw the sword, but to preach peace and mercy; 
not to stir the passions of men, but to point them to the exam 
ple of their Divine Master. He had chosen his path ; where 
the cross led, he would follow. 



CHAPTER II. 
Ax ST. PATRICK S AND ST. BRIDGET S. 

One Sunday morning in July, 1861, the congregation of St. 
Patrick s Church, Baltimore, saw within the sanctuary a young 
priest, lightly built, yet graceful and well-proportioned, of 
medium height, with a strong face and a large, firm mouth, 
softened by a singularly sweet and winning expression. When 
he spoke, his voice was clear, almost perfectly toned and musi 
cal, like the notes of a silver bell, The fascination of his man 
ner won the hearts of all. That day he was introduced to 
members of the congregation as Father Gibbons, newly ap 
pointed as assistant to Rev. James Dolan, the veteran pastor 
of St. Patrick s. Not a few of them lived to see him, so rapid 
was his advancement, a member of the Sacred College, famed 
in America and Europe both as a shepherd of souls and a leader 
of men.* 

Father Dolan, known as "The Apostle of the Point"- St. 
Patrick s is situated on Fell s Point was a priest of vigorous 
and aggressive activity, who had long carried on a notably suc 
cessful work in East Baltimore, unaided, and did not want an 
assistant. He had managed to find a separate field of labor 
for every one who had been sent to him, and Father Gibbons 
was no exception. Seven years before, Father Dolan, in his 
missionary zeal, had built a little church on the edge of the 
city s eastern boundary, in a district called Canton, and named 
it St. Bridget s, after the patron saint of his mother. It was 
then temporarily under the jurisdiction of St. Patrick s Parish, 
and Father Gibbons had not been ordained more than six 



t * Mr. John MaJIoy, of .Baltimore who fanriwi *t a ttnwtblt tg (1011)* 
JittaetlJ tbi brief pnrlod a! Ftthar Gibbon^ llf when he was tttt<mt 
Patrick s tnd tho Icnproe^lon fat produco<3 on the congrcigttion, of wi 

" mmt>r it th* tlmt. 

IS 



14 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

weeks when Father Dolan sent him there, saying, "Canton is a 
good school for a young priest." Toward the end of 1861 he 
was made full pastor of St, Bridget s by Archbishop Kenrick, 
and began in an independent field the only work as a parish 
priest he was destined to do. 

The neighborhood was semi-rural, and, in the temper of the 
times, turbulent and dangerous. Maryland alone, of all the 
American States, had lately been carried by the Knownothing 
party, and Canton had been a favorite scene for the operations 
of the "Blood Tubs," a band composed of butchers and their 
lawless associates, who used to carry half-hogsheads of beef 
blood to the polling places and bespatter with the gory contents 
citizens who would not vote the anti-foreign ticket. The fury 
of this movement had not fully subsided when the Civil War, 
with its violent clashes of opinion in a border State, rent the 
city asunder with excitement- Federal troops had taken pos 
session of Baltimore and erected a chain of fortifications, one 
of which, Fort Marshall, was thrown up in what is now High- 
landtown, within the boundaries of St. Bridget s parish. 
Armed force took the place of law, and the volunteer soldiers, 
not yet trained to the restrictions of discipline, terrorized the 
community,* 

It was under these trying circumstances that Father Gibbons 
began his pastorate. The Church was in a lonely place, sur 
rounded by farms and market gardens, Only one dwelling 
that of Mrs* Bridget Smyth, a devoted member of the congre 
gation, four of whose grandsons became priests was near. 
The rectory consisted of a few small rooms built against one 
end of the church, lacking in light and ventilation, the boards 
of the floor touching the ground- The good Mrs. Smyth pitied 
the hardships of the young pastor and sent him his first meal 
on the Saturday evening when he went to Canton to begin his 
labors, f 



* Scharf. History of B&ItJiaort CJty **id County* p, J8& 

t Surviving mmbr ot tfct Siaytii temtiy u.r authority for thm& 




10 
(0 
00 



X 

u 

K 
3 

X 

U 



in 



LABORS AS A PARISH PRIEST. 15 

The congregation included some of the neighboring rural 
population, but was chiefly composed of laboring men from the 
copper works and rolling mills scattered along the Canton 
waterfront. With his tireless activity and remarkable faculty 
of making friends, Father Gibbons soon knew them all by 
name. So vivid was his memory for names and faces that the 
absorbing mental impressions of later years were never able to 
blot out his recollection of the devout flock of St Bridget s, 
and his smile and instant recognition were theirs whenever 
he met them. 

Soon after going to Canton, Archbishop Kenrick directed 
him to take charge of St Lawrence s Church, since renamed 
for Our Lady of Good Counsel, on Locust Point, a mile across 
the Patapsco. In this capacity he served as volunteer chap* 
lain at Fort McHenry, as well as at Fort Marshall Every 
Sunday morning* in winter storms as well as summer calms, he 
left Canton about 6 o clock, was rowed in a skiff across to 
Locust Point, heard confessions at St Lawrence s, said mass, 
preached, baptized, attended sick calls ; then recrossed the river 
to Canton, where he celebrated high mass at half-past 10 
o clock and preached again* No obstacle deterred him. His 
kindhearted housekeeper used to bundle him up in stormy 
weather and tie her shawl over his head* but many of his trips 
meant keen suffering. When the river was impassable, he 
would travel to St Lawrence s in a sleigh or carriage, crossing 
at the head of the harbor by way of Light street, several miles 
up* As no Catholic clergyman may celebrate miss except 
while fasting, it was usually about i o clock in the afternoon 
when, after a morning s arduous labor, he could eat This 
ordeal seriously impaired his digestion and compelled him to 
observe great care in diet throughout his life* "It killed my 
stomach/ he used to say. 

The decline of his health caused some of his parishioners to 
express the opinion at one time that he "could not live two 
months/* Tuberculosis was suspected; but one day he re- 



16 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

tamed from an examination by his doctor and joyfully an 
nounced that his lungs were sound.* The living condi 
tions of the rectory were bad enough, but he made them worse 
by devoting a part of his limited quarters to the purposes of a 
hall for fairs and church meetings, leaving only a small sleep 
ing-room which he called his own. When a fair was in 
progress at a late hour he would sometimes pass through the 
hall,^ returning from a pastoral call, and bid the merrymakers a 
smiling goodnight, saying, "I must go to bed now," as he dis 
appeared in his little apartment. Directly above his living- 
room he established a parochial school, and the noise and 
trampling overhead did not seem to diminish his satisfaction 
that the children of his parish were thus provided for. 

When he was able to obtain sufficient means, he built a new 
and suitable rectory of brick, in conformity with the style of 
the church. In order to carry out this project, he had to raise 
a considerable sum of money. As a means to the end, he 
decided to secure a large building in the center of the city for 
a fair, and applied to the lessee of Carroll Hall, a noted place 
for public assemblies in those days. At first the lessee assumed 
an air of suspicious coldness and was far from inclined to grant 
the request. After Father Gibbons had explained the circum 
stances to him more fully, his attitude changed and he readily 
yielded, besides making ample apologies for what had seemed 
discourtesy. A few words explained all. "I thought you 
were a Yankee/ said this stout-hearted sympathizer with the 
Confederacy. 

The war feeling was so intense that part of the congregation 
of the Cathedral left on several occasions when the prayer for 
the authorities was said. This prayer had been framed by 
Archbishop Carroll, and, among other things, besought that 



t 2?Jr D< i? ne t? y **f M r?- p * ter Ha S*^ members of St. Bridget s Congre- 
?.V 186 V^? W K? J 1 ^ to . old * recalled distinctly a number of Incidents 
that period, which have been incorporated in this work. Many tradition* 
linger from the same period, which have been rejected unless confirmed. ** UiWWMI 



CHAPLAIN AT FORT MoHENRY. 17 

the people might be "preserved in union," which by no means 
accorded with the views of the secessionists, 

Natural inclination developed in earlier years, and the large 
area of his parish, in which there were no street cars at the 
time, made Father Gibbons a pedestrian, and this tended to 
restore his health. His habit of taking long walks has con 
tinued through life, and has been, perhaps, the most potent 
means of sustaining him in the manifold and prolonged activi 
ties, the endurance of which so often created amazement in 
others. He seemed going all the time. No detail of the field 
was too small to receive his painstaking attention ; no locality 
too dangerous to be penetrated by the devoted priest, bent on 
his mission of mercy and help, 

His duties at Fort McHenry required courage and circum 
spection. This place, hallowed in American history, had been 
made a prison for Confederate soldiers and for civilians who 
fell under the ban. Members of the Maryland Legislature sus 
pected of favoring secession were held there by the power of 
the bayonet. Among the noted prisoners were George Wil 
liam Brown, Severn Teackle Wallis, Ross Winans and George 
P, Kane, Father Gibbons ministered to Federal and Confed 
erate alike. At one time there were in the fort four Confed 
erates who had been sentenced to be hanged. Three of them 
John R. H* Embert, Samuel B. Hearn and Braxton Lyon 
had been with the army in Virginia, and, in a lull of the cam 
paign, had succeeded in crossing the Chesapeake to visit their 
families on the Eastern Shore. Though not spies, they were 
arrested as such, court-martialed, and received the death sen 
tence with another Confederate, William H, Hodgers, said to 
have been a blockade-runner.* Father Gibbons was called to 
attend Embert The sentence was to be executed immediately 
after la o clock Sunday night, August 29, 1864; but when the 



U b ,* JP nlon * n< * Cifdtr*t* Araiin, Purifi 2 t Vol. 
$84, *040 IftU ; Vol. S, pp, 87, 114, 115, m, W0, 48tf ( #80, 



18 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

young priest arrived at the gate of the fort to prepare the pris 
oner for death, he was told that the penalty had been commuted 
by President Lincoln a few hours before to imprisonment 
during the war. John W, Garrett, president of the Baltimore 
and Ohio Railroad, and other prominent men had interceded 
for the four Confederates and the merciful President had lent 
a ready ear. 

The men thus snatched from the verge of the grave by 
executive clemency were sent to Albany* After the close 
of the war, when Father Gibbons had been transferred to the 
Cathedral, he was surprised to receive a visit from Embert 
Their greetings were warm, but were scarcely over before his 
caller said : 

"Father, I am delighted to see you under more favorable 

circumstances than confronted us at Fort McHenry; and, as 

you did not have the opportunity of tying the knot around my 

neck on that occasion, I ask you now to tie a more pleasing 

f knot/ 

He had come to be married, and Father Gibbons performed 
the ceremony. 

The young clergyman s courage was repeatedly proved in 
those stirring times. Returning to St. Bridget s rectory one 
night, he found a soldier asleep In the yard, and started to 
arouse him with an admonition to leave the church property. 
The soldier leaped to his feet, seized a paling from a broken 
fence and rushed at him with the fury of a tiger. Father 
Gibbons turned and ran toward his door f but toon found him 
self trapped in an angle formed by wall and fence from which 
there was no escape* The soldier had the paling raised to 
strike him a murderous blow, when, t realising that he must 
defend himself quickly, he summoned all hln strength, knocked 
the man down and thoroughly subdued him. When the big 
soldier came to his senses he realised that the frail young man 
in priestly dress was more than his match, and beat t precipi 
tate retreat. % 



ADVENTURE WITH AN INSANE MAN. 19 

On another night, arriving at his rectory after collecting 
money for the church, he was met outside tue door by his 
housekeeper, in tears, who told him a crazy man was inside. 
It proved to be an intruder of herculean size, naked and raving, 
who had taken possession of the premises and was threaten 
ing everybody. Father Gibbons found no weapon at hand but 
an umbrella, with which he belabored the man to such good 
effect that in a short time he forced him to dress and leave the 
house. 

He was often in danger from drunken soldiers, and always 
avoided a conflict when he could do so, but when that was not 
possible, proved that he could defend himself against any, 

The entries of Father Gibbons in the parish record of St. 
Bridget s, written in a delicate and well-proportioned but firm 
hand, have been carefully preserved by the pastors who have 
succeeded him. They tell the ordinary story of a priest s 
lifebaptisms, weddings, financial details. He neglected noth 
ing, and became as familiar a figure to the people of Canton 
as the smokestacks of their mills. His own congregation was 
devoted to the young priest, and, as he was never heard to say 
anything distasteful to non-Catholics or to refuse his ministra 
tions to any, he was almost as well liked by those of faiths 
different from his own* Traits that were to mark him in later 
life were developing strongly* He was an accurate judge of 
men and women, and had a remarkable faculty for organiza 
tion, which he put to good use in stimulating the work of the 
church in every direction, The young folk would walk miles 
to help him, and the older parishioners were charmed by his 
respectful and sincere attentions. Not infrequently he WES 
called to travel long distances out the suburban roads which led 
into Baltimore through the Canton district, for churches w<&ro 
lew and priests fewer in those days, even in Maryland* Sparse 
outlying communities were in many cases too poor to support 
pastors, and the political and economic confusion of the drafts 
arreited the spread of the gospel 



20 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Baltimore was passing through a dreadful experience during 
the period of his pastorate at St. Bridget s, Known to be pre 
dominantly in sympathy with the South, the city worked and 
slept at the mouths of cannon planted by General B. F. Butler 
on Federal Hill, a bold eminence in the southern part of 
the city. Thousands of young Baltimoreans had passed the 
gauntlet of the Union lines and goi^e south to fight for the 
Confederacy, leaving their families behind, racked by anxiety 
and scanning with sickened hearts the latest bulletins of bloody 
losses at the front. Other thousands had voluntarily entered 
or been drafted into the Federal army, and wife, son and 
daughter counted themselves fortunate if their loved ones came 
back wounded, but living* When the Southern tide rose with 
the genius of Lee, precautions at Washington were doubled to 
prevent Maryland from falling into the hands of the Confed 
eracy; and in the agonized waiting at the end, while the 
requiem of the new republic was being sounded by the artil 
lery around Petersburg, none in Baltimore knew who was 
friend or foe. 

On the night of Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Father Gib 
bons was preaching in St. Joseph s Church, Baltimore. His 
topic was the crucifixion. With one of those apt similes which 
were characteristic of his literary and oratorical style, he pic 
tured a benevolent ruler, exercising his authority with clem 
ency, suddenly stricken down by the hand of a subject A 
short time after the congregation had been dismissed the 
streets filled with people, and from lip to lip passed the fateful 
bulletin, "Lincoln has been shot!" In the light of the tragedy 
which startled the world, the words of Father Gibbons took on 
a strange significance. That night there was a terrible com 
motion in Baltimore. A week later the body of the murdered 
President was brought to the city, and Father Gibbons, with 
some of the other clergy, inarched in the procession which es 
corted it to the rotunda of the Exchange, where it lay in State,* 

* Scharf, Chronicles of Baltimore, p, 6&4. 



FREE FROM WAR S BITTERNESS. 21 

Among the congregations which he served there was deep 
sympathy with the South ; but he went about his work without 
mingling in the polemics of the time, though his heart bled for 
the agonies of the helpless which are always the fruit of war, 
no matter what the issue to be decided, nor under what flag the 
sword be unsheathed. 



CHAPTER III. 
SECRETARY TO ARCHBISHOP SPAIJDING. 

The talents of Father Gibbons, combined with his piety and 
indefatigable zeal, attracted the attention of Archbishop Spald- 
ing, who had been raised in 1864 from the Bishopric of Louis 
ville to the See of Baltimore, after the death of Archbishop 
Kenrick. It had been remarked of the young priest, as his 
powers developed, that he seemed "destined for leadership/ 
though he had scant opportunity to show his real mettle in the 
little field of St. Bridget s. The shock was great to the devoted 
congregation when it was announced in October, 1865, that he 
had been transferred to the Cathedral as the Archbishop s sec 
retary, and the people of Canton could hardly realize that the 
smiling face and gentle ministrations which had become inter 
woven as a part of their daily lives were to be missed from 
among them. A petition to have him retained was started, 
but it was soon seen that this would be futile 

It was a time when the Church had need of her strong men. 
The passions following the Civil War were at their worst, and 
grew daily in ferocity. The United States Government had 
used pressure at Rome against the appointment of Archbishop 
Spalding, because it was feared that he was not sufficiently In 
accord with th policy of repression toward the South.* This 
had failed, and the Church had been able to proceed serenely 
on her mission, unclouded by the storms of the political atmos 
phere. Whole States were in ruin, and the ministration! of 
religion were more necessary, and at the same time much more 



;$&,?!! Ltasisfti 

Blordaa, CuthwJral feeoordt, Btlttaort, p. tt, 



SECOND PLENARY COUNCIL. 23 

difficult to convey, than before the gigantic conflict. Hun 
dreds of families in the Diocese of Baltimore, as elsewhere, 
were mourning the loss of father, brother, son. In the coun 
ties of Southern Maryland, the soil in which the Catholic faith 
had first taken root among English-speaking people in the 
Western Hemisphere, the slaves had been freed, and poverty 
spread its shadow where the refinements of an affluent aristoc 
racy had lately flourished. 

To meet the emergency by dealing comprehensively with all 
the pressing problems of the Church in America, the Second 
Plenary Council of Baltimore was convened in the Cathedral 
in October, 1866- Father Gibbons was made its assistant 
chancellor, and for the first time was thrown into an arena 
where the larger outlook of the Church immediately con 
fronted him. He fitted into these surroundings as if they had 
always been a part of him, A natural statesman, who might 
have been a Richelieu in world politics had he been a typical 
Frenchman of the seventeenth century instead of a typical 
American of the nineteenth, men of lesser parts instinctively 
looked to him. Where others might be unprogressive, imprac 
tical, out of touch with the times, too ardent or controversial, 
he was cool, judicial, far-seeing, enlightened, inspired by senti 
ments of lofty patriotism s well as by the brilliant fire of apos 
tolic zeal He was already formulating in his mind those 
grand ideas which he was one day to impress on the world; 
and his contact with the leading men of the American Church 
served to give him the bearings with which he might start on 
his real careen 

Archbishop Spalding presided over the council, and to Father 
Gibbons, as his secretary and the assistant chancellor, fell 4 
large share of the work of the gathering Among its most 
important acts was the creation of a number of new dioceses, 
subject to confirmation by the Holy See, to stimulate the spread 
of the faith in the stricken South and the growing communi 
ties ol the North and West, One of these was the vicatiate 



24 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

apostolic of North Carolina. So strong an impression had 
Father Gibbons made on the assembled bishops that, though 
but 32 years old and only five years removed from the semi 
nary, he was unanimously nominated for this important post. 

The decrees of the council were signed by seven archbishops, 
thirty-nine bishops or their procurators, and two abbots. An 
important declaration, destined to be quoted as a precedent by 
the fathers of the Church in Rome itself in a few years, related 
to the office of the Supreme Pontiff. The council decreed that 
he spoke with "the living and infallible authority" of the whole 
Church, "which was built by Christ upon Peter, who is the 
head, body and pastor of the whole Church, whose faith Christ 
promised should never fail ; which ever had legitimate pontiffs, 
dating their origin in unbroken line from Peter himself, being 
seated in his chair and being the inheritors and defenders of 
the like doctrine, dignity, office and power." 

The other decrees of the council need not be cited at length 
here. Among the many subjects treated were the dissensions 
among Protestant sects, and zeal for their conversion, Uni- 
tarianism and Universalism were condemned, the one as deny 
ing the divinity of Christ, and the other as rejecting the doc 
trine of eternal punishment. Transcendentalism and Panthe 
ism were defined as human systems, which, having dethroned 
God, would make a deity of man. Warnings were given 
against spiritism and magnetism. There was held to be little 
reason for doubt that some of the manifestations of spiritism 
were the works of Satan. It was pointed out that the leaders 
"of the system deny the divinity of Christ and the supernatural 
in rdigion. 

Preachers, it was declared, were to employ an explanatory, 
rather than a controversial, style in their sermons, and to 
adapt themselves to the capacity of their auditors. In repre 
hending vices, they were never to become personal. They 
should declare the truth fearlessly, without being influenced by 
human motives. Attacks were not to be made from the pul- 



DECREES OF THE COUNCIL. 25 

pit on public magistrates, nor were priests to mingle political 
and civic topics with religious doctrines. Care must be taken 
not to bestow undue praise in funeral orations. Prolixity in 
sermons was to be avoided* Priests should avoid recourse to 
civil tribunals when possible. They should abstain from all 
improper spectacles and games. Regarding money matters, 
they were not to be importunate in addressing their congrega 
tions. The practice of taking money on deposit, for which 
interest was to be paid, was condemned. The clergy should 
avoid idleness as a pest* Greater provision for the education 
of priests, and for the erection of preparatory schools as well 
as seminaries, was recommended, 

It was decreed that mixed marriages were to be discouraged 
Bishops should seek to use a uniform method in granting mat 
rimonial dispensations. Catholics might be buried with sacred 
rites in a non-Catholic cemetery if they possessed a lot in such 
a place, provided it was not obtained in contempt of Church 
law. Free burial must be given the poor. Entrance money 
was not to be collected at churches, 

Stress was laid on the proper education of youth. It was 
urged that parish schools should be erected by every congre 
gation, and the instruction, when possible, should be by teach 
ers belonging to religious congregations. Catechism classes 
were to be instituted in the churches for children who attended 
the public schools. A strong desire for the establishment of a 
Catholic University in the United States a dream to be real* 
izcd in the near future was expressed* 

In addition to the Masonic order, long previously condemned 
by the Church, the Odd Fellows and the Sons of Temperance 
were forbidden. The faithful, it was decreed, should not enter 
any society which* having designs against chttrch or state, 
bound its members with an oath of secrecy,* 

The council adjourned after a session of two weeks. Its 
closing ceremonies were attended by President Andrew John- 



* Act* t fteernt* tcrne, Pln. II, Btltimorf, !Bfl# $ra<mi *d Panto**! 
tr F Second Plenary Council. DUblUbtxl br K*llr * Pitt Baltimore 1606, 



M LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

sett, whom Father Gibbons met on that occasion, the first of a 
long line of Presidents whom he was to know and with many 
of whom he was to have dose and important relations.* 

The nominations of the new bishops were not confirmed 
until 1868, and in the meantime Father Gibbons continued his 
work at the Cathedral In January, 1866, he had established 
the first Sunday-school there, and it became so popular that he 
was aWe to report, in a letter to the Secretary of the Maryland 
Senate calling attention to the work of the parochial schools, 
that its average attendance in 1867 was 500. He taught classes 
in catechism regularly at Calvert Hall School and SL Mary s 
Orphan Asylum. His sermons soon attracted attention, and 
he was in demand at churches throughout the city. At this 
period the rare gifts as an orator in the best sense, which were 
to make him one of the foremost preachers of his time, were 
being rapidly perfected by experience and matured thought 
The classical simplicity and beauty of his English could not 
fail to charm; his logic was sound, his learning solid; and the 
clearness and sweetness of his voice, which could fill a large 
hall without effort, combined with magnetism of manner that 
gripped the attention instantly, formed a rare medium for the 
virile ideas with which his pulpit utterances teemed, 

In a remarkable degree he had the confidence of Archbishop 
Spalding, as he had later of Bayley, the successor of SpaMing. 
The Baltimore Cathedral has long been a cradle of bishops, 
and the young secretary in 1865-68 proved to be Che brightest 
ornament of them alL The surroundings are singularly weH 
adapted to bring out of priests their capacity for the exeet^ive 
work of the Church. They live in the Archbishop s house aad 
sit at his table. Here riot only the affairs of tihe diocese, font, 
to a large extent, those of the American Church ceiiter. All 
avenues lead to* the seat of the priniatial see, and in this sense 
Baltimore is the Rome of America. The paiisii contains some 
of the most important Catholic fatniEes of the United States, 



Shea, History of the Catholic Qmrcli fa tfee Bnifetf Etoes, VoL 4, p. 720. 




CANtHNAt OttmONft AM PMIItW IN 1 ft ft 6 

titNS ftfANtHNM, Wl^V MiNK" H <5<.**KHft V W . * 



ARCHIEPISCOPAL RESIDENCE. 27 

pillars of the Church since the days of Leonard Calvert The 
clergy thus have under their spiritual care a highly cultivated 
element, in whose social life they mingle and from whose 
environment they draw a certain inspiration. 

The archiepiscopal residence stands in dignified semi-isola 
tion on a large lot on Charles street, in surroundings which in 
1865-68 were almost Athenian in their refinement. It is of 
gray stone and brick, two stories, high, with a large basement, 
and is constructed in the breadth of proportion characteristic 
of Baltimore homes of the better class in the early half of the 
nineteenth century, but without any trace of magnificence of 
architecture or ornament. At the rear a paved walk leads to 
the Cathedral, which stands, like the house, on a hill where the 
victorious troops of Rochambeau encamped on the return from 
Yorktown in 1782. A tall flight of steps leads to the front door 
of the house, which sets back in a recess of the wall. Inside is 
an English hallway extending the full length of the building, 
flanked on each side by spacious rooms, furnished with marked 
simplicity almost scantily. Not a trace of luxury can be 
seen. On the walls are religious paintings and portraits of 
prelates identified with the archdiocese, with a bust or two here 
and there. A bay window, standing out boldly, is a vantage 
point for reviewing parades. 

The residence was originally a small building, erected in the 
administration of Archbishop Whitfield and occupied by him 
for the first time in 1830. Captain William Kennedy and his 
wife contributed a large sum in 1865, by means of which two 
wings were built and another story added. A conspicuous 
tablet in the library commemorates this gift, 

Here, when Father Gibbons was a member of Archbishop 
Spalding s household, was the heart of fashionable Baltimore. 
Across the street and up and down were tne houses of the 
rich and cultured, the historic families of Maryland, and on the 
sidewalks trooped the belles and beaux of the town. Charles 
street at that point does not twist sharply like its neighbor, 



28 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

St. Paul street, which is said to have followed the tracks of a 
cow-path originally; but so numerous are the hills that scarcely 
a level spot is to be found. Inside and outside the archiepis- 
copal residence the atmosphere is one of lofty things, and every 
priest who has lived there has felt its stimulus. 



CHAPTER IV. 
VICAR APOSTOLIC OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

In the Baltimore Cathedral, where he had been baptized, 
ordained, and at whose altar he had served as priest, Father 
Gibbons was consecrated titular bishop of Adramyttum and 
vicar apostolic of North Carolina August 16, 1868. He stood 
among the venerable men there assembled the youngest mem 
ber of the American hierarchy. Rev. Thomas A. Becker, who 
had also been a member of the "school of bishops" the Cathe 
dral household was raised to the See of Wilmington, Del., at 
the same time. The two new prelates received the crozier, 
ring and miter at the hands of thtir friend and patron, Arch 
bishop Spalding. Another Cathedral priest, Rev. Thomas 
Foley, chancellor of the diocese, and afterward Bishop of 
Chicago, delivered the sermon.* 

It was a beautiful day, and a great crowd assembled to wit 
ness the imposing ecclesiastical ceremony. As always on im 
portant occasions at the Cathedral, the procession was long, in 
cluding the students from St. Charles College and St. Mary s 
Seminary, immediately in the rear of the cross-bearer, acolytes 
and sanctuary boys, Then came the clergy of the diocese, the 
superiors of religious orders, the bishops and archbishops. The 
hierarchy of the day was well represented by Bishops O Hara, 
of Scranton, and Shanahan, of Harrisburg, themselves newly 
consecrated ; Bayley, of Newark, destined to succeed to the See 
of Baltimore and exercise a strong influence on Bishop Gib 
bons life ; McGill, of Richmond, whose chair he was to occupy 
four years later j Whelan, of Wheeling; Domenec, of Pitta- 



* An xttmd*d Account of thtic crmonU vti flren in th Catholic 
the church paper of the Haiti rooro ArcUdlocone, Aufuxt 22, 18C8, which it authority 
(or amny of the f*ct* related here. 

20 



30 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Irarg, and Lynch, of Charleston. Dr. Henry B. Coskery, vicar- 
genera! of the diocese, was a deacon-of-honor to the Arch 
bishop and shared the regrets of the Cathedral household in 
losing such an agreeable and useful companion. 

Father Foley spoke from an overflowing heart in the words 
of his sermon addressed to the new vicar apostolic. "And 
you, Right Reverend Sir/ he said, "are to go to the large State 
of North Carolina. It appalls one to think of that State of 
more than a million inhabitants, with but a few altars and one 
or two priests to minister at them. This is the work which 
the Holy Ghost, which the Supreme Pontiff, which the united 
body of our bishops in council assembled, have cut out for you, 
a work which plainly bespeaks the character which you hold 
with them. It would not do for me to speak from personal 
observation and with the feelings which I bear toward you. 
You have been associated with us, like your Right Reverend 
companion, at this altar. You were of our household and 
home. We have had the opportunity of observing in both 
not only those great characteristics which ought to be found in 
every Christian priest, but also those interior traits of virtue 
which embellish and complete the man of God. We, then, who 
have lived with you for years, if our testimony be of avail, 
added to that which the Holy Spirit, the Supreme Pontiff and 
the prelates of our country have given, cheerfully and truth 
fully offer it We have seen you both doing the toil of the 
priesthood, helping the poor, instructing the ignorant, visiting 
the sick at all hours; thinking nothing too laborious or too 
fatiguing for yourself and always willing to take not only your 
share of the labors, but ready to take a larger portion, that 
you might relieve your brother priests. 

"Again, I say to you, that I cannot congratulate you on 
going to North Carolina, but I do rejoice for the honor which 
the Church of God has conferred on you, and I congratulate 
your flock, few and scattered, upon the advantage they are to 
derive from the apostolic mission you are to establish in that 



ARRIVAL IN NORTH CAROLINA. 31 

State, which, in a religious sense, may be called a desert It 
will not be long, I predict, before that desert will be made to 
bloom and produce much fruit, and your vicariate, now so poor 
and uninviting, will be able to compare with other dioceses 
of longer existence in religious prosperity," 

The young Bishop remained in Baltimore a short time, con 
firming a class at his former church, St, Bridget s, dedicating 
St. Joseph s Monastery, since noted as a center for the work 
of the Passionists, and otherwise assisting Archbishop Spald- 
ing, 

The Archbishop and Rev- Bernard J. McManus,of St. John s 
Church, Baltimore, accompanied him to Wilmington, N* O, 
where he arrived on Friday evening, October 30, He was 
received with joy by a delegation of the laity, headed by Rev, 
Mark S. Gross, a beloved priest of St Thomas Church, the 
only sanctuary of the Catholic faith in the city. The Bishop 
and his companions were taken in carriages to the residence of 
Col F W. Kerchner, one of the principal residents, a parish 
ioner of St- Thomas 1 , who welcomed them with southern hos* 
pitality. Major Reilly made an address in behalf of the laity, 
expressing gratitude that at last a bishop had been sent to 
North Carolina to build up the work of the Church and pledg 
ing the co-operation of Catholics as far as their means wouldgo. 

The new bishop responded with deep sincerity, thanking the 
faithful for their reception and hoping that the future would 
strengthen the bonds already established between the diocese 
and himself* He knew that the Catholics in the State were 
few and far between, He had not come among them to seek 
personal comfort; sent by constituted authority, he had only 
one object their spiritual good and the salvation of souls* 
Regardless of sacrifices and difficulties, he was ready to ex 
pend his utmost efforts in the work, and he did not doubt that 
he would receive cordial co-operation- Archbishop Spalding 
spoke briefly, encouraging the Carolinians with hopes for the 
spread of the faith. 



32 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

But there was another side to the picture. On the night fol 
lowing Bishop Gibbons arrival, he beheld for the first time a 
torchlight procession of negroes, who were then, by alliance 
with the "carpet-baggers" from the North, in political control 
of the State. As he described the scene, it appeared like an 
inferno. "Is my lot to be cast in these surroundings?" he 
thought, with dismay. These wild and ignorant elements, 
suddenly sprung from slavery to power, had shaken the politi 
cal and social fabric of the state to its foundations. Power to 
them meant an opportunity for turning loose the impulses of 
savagery. They even seized churches and devoted them to 
any use that suited their whim. 

Soon after the new bishop arrived he was told of how the 
Catholic Church at New Bern had been saved a short time 
before from destruction. Captain McNamara, of the Federal 
Army, was riding past the church, when he saw a body of 
persons gathered about the door, apparently in charge of it, 
and asked their business. 

"We have occupied this church for school purposes," said 
one of them. 

"What is your authority?" inquired the Captain. 

"Our authority is that of the United States Government and 
pf Jesus Christ," answered the school mistress. 

"Well," remarked the Captain, "that is pretty good author 
ity; but, as a Federal officer, I am accustomed to obey written 
authority. Can you show papers from the sources you have 
mentioned?" 

The teacher was at a loss for words, and the Captain con 
tinued ; 

"As you cannot produce the papers, my order is that you 
vacate this church at once and enter it no more for such pur 
poses." 

The shadow of the negro and "carpet-bagger" regime 
stretched from the mountains to the sea. On the first occa 
sion when the bishop went to vote in the State, a negro official 



EXPERIENCES WITH NEGRO OFFICIALS. 33 

demanded that he show naturalization papers, and he had diffi 
culty in convincing the suspicious black that he was native 
born. Another negro official ordered him peremptorily to tear 
down a frame shed on the church property in Wilmington 
because a city ordinance provided that buildings should be of 
brick or stone. The bishop pointed out that wooden buildings 
were standing on city property, but the negro insisted, and he 
was forced to cover the shed with tin. 

Writing later of his experiences at this period,* he expressed 
the view that, "While right-thinking men are ready to accord 
to the colored citizen all to which he is fairly entitled, yet to 
give him control over a highly intellectual and intricate civili 
zation, in creating which he has borne no essential part, and 
for conducting which his antecedents have manifestly unfitted 
him, would be hurtful to the country as well as to himself/* 
In a subsequent political campaign in Marylandf he declared 
himself publicly against taking the suffrage from the negroes, 
but he adhered consistently to the view that their domination 
in political affairs would be madness, 

On the Sunday after his arrival, the Bishop was installed in 
St. Thomas* Church, A pouring autumn rain descended, but 
the Church was filled. Archbishop Spalding preached a ser 
mon, which served as a cordial introduction of the new prelate 
to the vicariate. "Your Bishop/* he said, "was recommended 
by the Council of Bishops held in Baltimore a few years ago. 
He received their unanimous vote and holda his commission 
from Rome, I know him well He is beloved by all who 
know him in Baltimore, There are few Catholics here, and 
they are poor, We cannot expect much at first. The King 
dom of God, steady in its increase, is the work of more than 
i $00 years* The apostles were poor, They enriched the world 
with their heroic deeds of Christianity. They never failed, nor 
will they ever fail in their successors. 1 recommend your 



* BimtoXftCMnei* of Cardinal GIblxmi HUM! Hfort tb UnJM ttt& 
Historical Society of Nw lorfc. Hay SW3 1S03U 



34 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Bishop to you, not only to Catholics, but to all good Chris 
tian men who have the spread of Christ s religion on earth at 
heart. * * * He has not yet chosen his seat. For the 
present, he will reside among you. He improves upon ac 
quaintance. Though he will be found uncompromising in his 
principles of faith, he will be charitable to all, assist all, irre 
spective of sect or creed." 

Bishop Gibbons postponed his own address to the congrega 
tion until vespers the same day. On that occasion he began 
with expressions of gratitude to the Archbishop, who had left 
many pressing duties in Baltimore, "at the call of friendship/* 
to install him in his new diocese. He had come among them 
as a stranger, and yet he could not look upon himself in that 
light, called, as he was, by the Supreme Head of the Church to 
be their spiritual father. Although he knew scarcely a face 
among all those in front of him, he knew the people of the dio 
cese as citizens and sons of the South, for so was he. They 
were not only united to one another by the bonds of a common 
faith, but were brothers linked by the ties of a common country 
and having the same material interests. He had not doubted 
that a welcome awaited him in North Carolina, and would do 
his best to prove worthy of it.* 

The field, as Father Foley had intimated, was almost un- 
tilled. In the whole vicariate there were but three priests 
Father Gross, Rev. Lawrence P. O Connell and Rev. H. P. 
Northrop and about 800 Catholics. The faith which Bishop 
Gibbons had come to teach was not understood, but his wide 
sympathies and singular freedom from prejudice well fitted 
him for his trying . task. Father O Connell was stationed at 
Charlotte, and Father Northrop, afterward Bishop of Charles 
ton, was at New Bern.. Undaunted by his difficulties, the 
young Bishop began his labors. As in many Southern 
churches, four small , rooms had been partitioned off behind 
the sanctuary in the rear of St. Thomas two on the ..ground 

* Catholic Mirror > Nov. 14, 1868 ; WUtotnffton Daily Journal, Nov.; 8, 1S68. 



CRAMPED QUARTERS IN WILMINGTON, 35 

floor and two upstairs and these formed the pa v storal resi 
dence. Father Gross shared his narrow quarters with the 
Bishop, there being no means to provide an episcopal house. 
These two devoted men of God were attached to each other by 
the warmest personal ties. Father Gross large-hearted charity 
led him to give away so much that Bishop Gibbons sometimes 
found himself hard pressed to supply the funds for their little 
establishment. It was said of this saintly priest that if he had 
more than one hat or pair of trousers, he was sure to bestow 
the extra one on some needy parishioner. On one occasion, 
when he entered a store, it was noticed that he wore a laced 
shoe on one foot and a buttoned shoe on the other* When 
asked about it, he replied that he had given a pair to a poor 
man and had not noticed that they were not alike. 

The Bishop had raised $7,000 before he left Baltimore to 
buy additional ground adjoining St. Thomas Church, which 
was a small building and which he designed to enlarge. He 
spent some time in consolidating the foundations of the work 
in Wilmington, and then started on a tour of his diocese. 
Throughout the State he traveled, preaching and teaching, 
studying each locality, and, wherever opportunity offered^ 
planting the seeds of a Catholic congregation* The leading 
people of the State, Protestants as well as Catholics* received 
him in their homes, When no other means were available! he 
instructed and preached in Protestant churches, courthouses, 
public halls, and even in Masonic lodge rooms* On a visit to 
Greenville, which he reached early one morning by boat, he 
went to the hotel to register, and met Dr. O Hagan, a Prot 
estant physician, who insisted that the Bishop should be his 
guest. During the morning he held a sort of levee* When it 
was learned that he intended to preach, the local judge offered 
him the use of the courthouse, and the trustees of the Meth 
odist church put their house of worship at his disposal He 
chose the church f and preached there at night to a large con 
gregation, nearly all of whom were Protestants* The people 



36 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

were summoned by the church bell ; the choir was the regular 
one of the church ; the Bishop read from a Protestant Bible, 
and the only part of the service which was of his own faith 
was the sermon. 

Everywhere crowds flocked to hear this liberal and zealous 
apostle of the faith. They felt a pricle in the youthful prelate, 
their own Bishop, pre-eminently a man of the people, mingling 
with all and winning friends everywhere by his rare graces of 
manner. His gifts as a preacher were enough in themselves to 
form an attraction in the communities to which he went 
Aimed especially to win those who were full of hostility to his 
creed, his sermons were of the simple truths of the gospel, the 
brotherhood of man, duty to God and country- Prejudice 
melted before his words. In the broken condition of the South, 
it was recognized on every hand that where Bishop Gibbons 
founded a church, it was an element of stability, of spiritual, 
social and material improvement an inspiration to hope and 
progress* Carolinians knew that he felt their woes and shared 
in their struggle upward from the ruins left by war. It was 
said of him that he came to know every Catholic in the State 
by name. 

His hardships in his travels would have taxed the strongest 
frame. One of his converts was Dr, J. C. Monk, a physician 
who lived at Newton Grove, nearly a hundred miles from Wil 
mington, His own account of Dr. Honk s conversion was as 
follows :* 

"While I was absent in Europe at the Vatican Council, in 
1870, a letter came through the post addressed To Any Cath 
olic Priest of Wilmington, N. C 1 Father Gross received the 
letter, which was one of inquiry about the doctrines of the 
Catholic Church, and from Dr. J. C. Monk, A correspondence 
was opened between m after my return from Rome. I rec 
ommended certain Catholic books. Dr. Monk procured these, 
and, having more fully instructed himself and his family in 



TRIP IN SLEET AND SNOW, 37 

the faith, he and his household were all received into the 
Church. He came to Wilmington to make a profession of 
faith. 1 baptized the family and learned, with the deepest inter 
est, of the circumstances that had led to his conversion and of 
his hopes in regard to the community in which he had lived 
all his life as a prominent physician. 

This was a remarkable conversion* The finger of God was 
here. Nor was the conversion to be barren of results. Dr. 
Monk returned home, after receiving my promise of a visit to 
his family, In due time Father Gross visited Newton Grove, 
and to a great throng in the open air preached on the true 
faith. From that time an earnest inquiry into the tenets of the 
Catholic Church sprang up among the people, Dr. Monk was 
a providential man for the diffusion of the faith* He was 
highly respected, and as a physician had access to every family 
in all that region. His zeal to enlighten the people was sur 
passed only by his solid piety and good example. Possessed of 
means, he liberally aided in every way the spread of the faith* 

"A few months later I redeemed my promise of a visit to 
Newton Grove* The trip came near imperiling my life. I 
remember it was the month of March. The day of my de 
parture opened with difficulties, The railway train left very 
early in the morning. Rising at 4 o clock, I found the weather 
cold and rainy, The carriage failing to call for me, I was 
compelled, with the help of a boy, to carry my large, heavy 
valise, packed with mission articles, the distance of a mile to 
the depot. As I traveled northward, the rain became a furi 
ous storm of sleet and snow. Reaching the station, I found 
the brother of Dr. Monk, who had come to meet me, and on 
horseback, too, with ax in hand, to cut our way through the 
forests, The sleet and snow had covered the country and 
bound to earth, in many places across our course, the pine sap 
lings that grew in dense bodies up to the margin of the road. 
A neighbor was with him to take me in his buggy. We started. 
It was a journey to be remembered a trip of 21 miles in the 



38 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

teeth of wind, rain, sleet and snow. After a short exposure, 
1 was all but frozen by the violence of the storm and the in 
tense cold. We had ridden a number of miles, when, to my 
delight, my friend drew rein at his own house. I entered the 
hospitable door, and the change was most grateful from 
cold and misery to warmth and comfort, 

"In a few moments the housewife had brought in a hot 
bath for my frozen feet, and the husband a supplement in the 
way of a hot drink. The generous hospitality restored, in a 
very short time, my almost perished frame. They were both 
strangers, but the closest friends could not have treated me 
more kindly. I remained for dinner, and, as the weather had 
become clear, we proceeded on our journey. The next morn 
ing being Sunday, I celebrated mass in Dr. Monk s house, and 
preached there later in the day to an earnest audience. The 
religious interest was profound. It promised to become, as 
it truly did, a movement of the whole district toward the 
Catholic Church. 

"Regular appointments were made for a visit by the priest, 
and in a short time the brother of Dr. Monk, with his family, 
embraced the Catholic faith. The congregations that met on 
the occasions of the priest s visits to Newton Grove were so 
large that it became necessary to erect a temporary structure of 
rough boards for their accommodation.* This tabernacle an 
swered admirably for the services, which were arranged to 
suit the primitive state of affairs in that section. The priest 
appeared on the rostrum in his secular dress, and, after prayer 
and reading of the Scriptures, delivered a long instruction on 
the Catholic Church or some one of its doctrines. The preach 
ing, directed at the conversion of the people, was necessarily 
simple in its character, historical and didactic. Catechisms 
and books of instruction were freely distributed after the ser 
mons. An attractive feature of these services was the sing 
ing, by select voices, of beautiful hymns. 

* The number soon grew to three hundred. 



ORGANIZING MISSION CHURCHES, 39 

"The Catholic movement daily gathered strength by the 
accession of many of the most respectable families in the vicin 
ity. Within a short time the number of conversions warranted 
the erection of a church and schoolhouse. On their comple 
tion, this apostolic mission became firmly established and con 
tinues to prosper/ 

Another church sprang from a visit by a priest to three 
Irish brothers, peddlers, who had settled 80 miles from a 
church. Their families were baptized, and conversions among 
the country folk multiplied. In a short time a flourishing 
parish was established. 

A missionary found at Chinquepin, a village far in the re- 
cesses of the North Carolina pines, an old Irish woman who 
had not seen a priest in 45 years. She said her faith was still 
as fresh as her native sod, and that she had never omitted her 
prayers, A congregation of converts was founded, for whom 
a chapel and school were subsequently erected. 

On his mission journeys remote from railways, the Bishop 
used to ride in a dilapidated wagon drawn by two horses* A! 
young priest, or sometimes a negro driver, accompanied him* 
The vehicle carried packages of clothing, flour and medicines 
for the poor; clerical robes, mission literature, and food for 
the wayfarers, for often they ate their noonday meal under 
a great tree, far from a habitation* This old wagon finally 
became so unsafe that the Bishop s friends were afraid it 
would break down and leave him stranded in the wilderness. 
They repeatedly offered to buy him a carriage, but he always 
replied that he thought the wagon might last a Httle longer* 
"Friends/* he used to say, "you can give me the money, if you 
will, for the Church needs it, but not for any vehicle for my 
own use/ 1 

Priests were so rare in North Carolina in those days that 
they sometimes had difficulty in proving their identity* While 
Father O Connell was traveling near Asheville, worn out by a 
long journey, he arrived at the house of a Catholic family and 



40 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

presented himself. The woman of the house had been im 
posed upon by a pretended clergyman some time before, and 
refused to believe Father Q ConnelL He showed her his mis 
sal, vestments and breviary, which he carried in a valise, but 
she was still unconvinced. In despair, the tired priest gave up 
the attempt and turned, heartsick, from the door. Seeking 
spiritual comfort, he sat down beside a fence and began saying 
his beads. The woman opened the door, saw him at his devo 
tions and was convinced at last "Now/* she said, "I know 
your are a holy man of God* I could be deceived about other 
things, but not those beads! 71 She welcomed warmly to her 
home the stranger whom she had so lately rejected. 

In making a visit to an outlying community with Father 
Northrop, the man whose guest the bishop was to be drove up 
in a carriage, sitting bolt upright with singular fixity and hold 
ing the reins tightly. As he approached, it became evident that 
he^was intoxicated and was trying to discharge his function as 
driver without betraying himself, The bishop began a severe 
reprimand, saying that it was the first time In many years 
that a bishop had visited the locality, and it was incumbent 
upon him to conduct himself properly on such an occasion, 

"Your Grace/ 1 was the ardent reply, "I felt so overjoyed 
that I just could not help getting tipsy 1 

Making the best of circumstances, the Bishop and Father 
Northrop entered the carriage, and each took a position on 
one side of their host, holding him erect by their combined 
efforts while he drove them to their destination. 

At New Bern the Bishop had some copies of a circular 
printed, prescribing the manner in which worship might be 
held on Sunday where there was no priest, The faithful were 
to assemble at a designated place, and one of them was to read 
the prayers for mass, after which a portion was to be read 
from one of the Catholic books appointed for such occasions, 
The children and others in need of catechetical instruction 



TRAVELS IN HIS VICARIATE, 41 

were then to be arranged in classes and taught prayers and 
Christian doctrine. 

Leaving New Bern, the Bishop stopped at Swift Creek, 
where he confirmed Mr. and Mrs, Nelson in the garret, "the 
only unoccupied place at our disposal " After a short visit to 
the town of Washington, where he "said mass in Dr. Galla 
gher s house/ he proceeded to Plymouth, There he was hos 
pitably received by Captain McNamara, who had saved the 
Church at New Bern from being turned into a carpet-bag 
school Driving five miles from that town, he baptized and 
confirmed Mr, Isaac Swift, who had been a rich planter, but 
was greatly reduced in fortune. "I started to pursue the 
journey 12 miles further, for the purpose of visiting a Catholic 
family/ the Bishop wrote, "but the vehicle broke down and 
we were obliged to return/ 1 

At Edenton he was able to say mass in "the finest Catholic 
Church in the State" -St. Ann s. He preached there to a 
large congregation, composed chiefly of Protestants, No 
wonder! The Catholics of Edenton and vicinity then num 
bered eighteen, about half of whom were converts. They were 
anxious to have a resident priest, who might also attend the 
near-by missions, and Bishop Gibbons expressed the hope "that 
Providence will soon enable me to gratify their wishes/ 1 

He preached in the courthouse at Tarboro, and noted that 
"the most intelligent citizens of the town were present, includ 
ing three judges/* At Wilson, the next stop, he also preached 
in the courthouse, and found that many Protestants had prom 
ised to subscribe for the erection of a Catholic Church, 

Arriving at Raleigh, he was entertained at the handsome 
residence of William Grimes, The Legislature was in session, 
and many of its members went to hear him preach in St. John s 
Church. 



42 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

He returned to Wilmington December 17, after a trip of 
four weeks, the results of which he summarized as follows : 

"Number of miles traveled by rail, stage and steamboat, 926. 
"Number ot towns and stations visited, 1C. 
"Number of Catholics In various places, 400. 
"Converts confirmed, 10; total number, 04. 
"Converts baptized, 10 ; total number, 16." 

The need of money to carry on the work was pressing. In 
the same month he received a draft for 1,600 francs from the 
Society for the Propagation of the Faith, a total of 8,000 
francs having been allotted to his vicariate for 1868. 

In preparing his Lenten regulations for 1869, tne Bishop 
wrote that they were about the same as in the Diocese of 
Baltimore, except that "milk is allowed in this vicariate, owing 
to the scarcity of tea and coffee in certain sections of the 
State." 

Having received a circular asking a small subscription in 
behalf of the American College at Rome, he replied that "the 
impoverished condition of the State and the smallness of tfat 
Catholic population" made it impossible to contribute. 

He installed Rev. J. V. McNamara as pastor of the Church 
in Raleigh, July n. The Governor, Chief Justice, several 
of the associate judges and many prominent citizens were 
present. By this time there were 100 Catholics at the State 
capital. 

At Charlotte, where he arrived July 16, he confirmed 43 
persons and baptized Mrs. Mary E. Butler, wife of John T. 
Butler, his host during his stay in Charlotte, having received 
her profession of faith. A short time later he dedicated St. 
James Church, at Concord, whose congregation, consisting of 
60 persons, were all converts, with one exception. 

He found three Catholics on a visit to Morgantown, one of 
whom, Mr. McGraw, had ten children, all Protestants, having 
been reared in the faith of their mother. From that place he 
traveled 26 miles, over a beautiful mountain country, to 



CONVERSIONS MULTIPLY. 43 

Moore s, in McDowell county, On August 8 he observed the 
total eclipse of the sun from the Blue Ridge, 

He traveled 24 miles on horseback, August 9, and arrived 
at Asheville, where he preached in the courthouse and bought 
a lot for a church. 

The Bishop set out in November, 1870, for a second trip 
over the eastern part of the State, visiting many towns. Con 
versions were still numerous. At Plymouth he found that a 
certain Irish Catholic had been induced to join the Baptists, 
Immersed, the convert was invited to say prayer. He gave out 
"Hail, Holy Queen/ The astonishment of the audience was 
immense. The convert afterward returned to the Catholic 
Church, 

In August, 1871, the bishop started on a visitation to the 
western part of the State. From the town of Company Shops to 
Greensboro he was conveyed on a freight engine- At Gas- 
ton he found a congregation of 8o f where there had been but 
36 on his first visit, two years before. At Lincolnton he 
preached to a large audience in the courthouse, the people 
being, no doubt, moved by some curiosity to see the first 
bishop who was ever present in that town. He found that 
a handsome church had been erected by this time at Asheville, 
which he dedicated September 24, preaching on "Charity/ 1 

Bishop Gibbons recognized early that schools were one of 
the greatest necessities of the stricken South and a potent 
means of propagating religion* "We can testify, wrote 
Father Gross, "to his self-sacrificing zeal for the establishment 
of Catholic schools throughout the vicariate, under stress of 
direst poverty and the most adverse surroundings. To this 
end he not only sacrificed money, and time, and labor in begging 
money, but descended to teach himself daily a class In the 
parochial school, to help and encourage the priests wbote 
services, for the want of lay teachers, had to be gratuitously 
engaged/ * 



Rv, Htrk $, Gron, In ttot Oarm#Ute &tiH*#, May, li5, 



44 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

In 1869 the Bishop brought to Wilmington a colony of 
Sisters of Mercy from the mother house in Charleston and es 
tablished them in one of the old-fashioned Southern homes, 
called the Peyton mansion, which he bought for $16,000 a 
fortune in Carolina in those days. The people wondered 
whence the money had come* But a small part of it had been 
raised in the vicariate, the Bishop having obtained most of 
the sum through several visits to the Northern States, More 
than $5,000 was collected in Albany alone, The sisters 
founded schools at Charlotte and Hickory, as well as at Wil 
mington. 

One of the most enduring works of the Bishop s administra 
tion was the establishment of Mary Help Abbey by the Bene 
dictine Order at Belmont, near Charlotte* For this urpose 
Rev. J. J. O Connell gave his estate of 500 acres, to which he 
had returned after the war, and whence he attended the neigh 
boring missions. Arch Abbot Wimmer, of St Vincent s Ab 
bey, Pennsylvania, was applied to for a colony for the vicari 
ate. The devoted Abbot received at the same time a similar 
petition from a far more favorable diocese, but he chose North 
Carolina, and Rev, Herman Wolf, formerly a Lutheran min 
ister, was sent there as prior. 

The first shelter for the fathers was a frame tavern a hun 
dred years old, of Revolutionary celebrity. For a time the 
outlook was so discouraging that the abandonment of the 
priory was debated in the chapter of the abbey in Pennsylvania. 
At this critical period a number of young Benedictines volun 
teered to go to Belmont if allowed to take with them an abbot 
of their own selection, This offer was accepted, and they 
chose Rev. Leo Haid to lead them in the undertaking, With 
his administration a new era began, Handsome and ample 
buildings were erected, and St. Mary s College was launched 
as one of the successful educational institutions of the South, 
a training school for a native Southern clergy, so much needed 
in the aggressive work of the Church, 



INFLUENCES ON HIS FUTURE. 45 

It was difficult to get priests to keep up with the progress of 
the work in North Carolina. Their task was full of obstacles 
and they were altogether unsalaried. But the spiritual re 
wards which they won cheered them on, and, as the success of 
their labors became known in other dioceses, outside help was 
less difficult for Bishop Gibbons to obtain. 

His experiences in North Carolina, coming as they did at a 
comparatively impressionable period of his life, exercised a 
great influence over him. Previous to that time his lot had 
been the ordinary one of a priest, schooled in the repressive 
discipline of the seminary, and then thrown out into the active 
and arduous labor of a parish, with little time to corne in con 
tact with the world, except as represented by his own flock. 
In North Carolina he was suddenly thrust into a different 
atmosphere. The people were not only ntarlysall Protestants, 
but tens of thousands of them had no conception of what the 
Catholic Church was or what it represented. 

From the beginning his mission was, first, to calm antago 
nistic opinion, and then to lay a foundation for the spread of 
his faith. His work, being so largely among Protestants, gave 
him a far better comprehension than the average priest receives 
of what they stand for in matters of religion and their sin 
cerity of view. By force of circumstances, he had to concede 
to them desire equal to his own for the truths of Christian 
faith. He was not less a Catholic when he left Carolina than 
when he went there. In fact, it seems that the foundations of 
his belief had been strengthened by opposition ; but he had ac 
quired a broad charity, a wide horizon of view, from which he 
never separated himself in later life, and which stamped him 
as a friend of men of other creeds. Impressions gained in 
country towns and secluded rural homes were felt later in the 
Vatican itself, 



CHAPTER V, 

AT THE VATICAN COUNCIL OF 1870, 

It was but a step for this man of destiny in the Church 
from his pioneer work in the North Carolina forests to the 
august assemblage of the Vatican Council of 1870. He had 
served his vicariate scarcely more than a year, when that 
memorable gathering, the first general council of the Church 
since Trent, 300 years before, convened. When the bishops 
sat at Trent, America had been discovered but a short time, 
and not all of them were sure that it was not a part of the 
Indies. So secure was the papacy in its political power over 
a great part of the civilized world, that Alexander VI had but 
recently issued his bull of demarcation giving to Portugal all 
of the newly discovered lands east of a line too leagues west 
of the Azores, and to Spain all to the westward, 

America had no episcopate, and only a few adventurous 
priests had gone forth as messengers of the faith to the un 
known peoples spread over its vast area. Now it wai the 
home of many millions of Catholics, and the pontiffs were 
beginning to see in its future the Church s brightest hope for 
the expansion of her spiritual influence. From Canada to 
Patagonia the bishops were called to Rome to deliberate, in the 
providence of God, upon the welfare of the souls of men ; and 
the American element constituted a force unknown in the 
previous councils which had declared the judgment of the 
Church. 

While the problems which led Pius IX to summon the 
council were chiefly of European origin, they were not con 
fined to the Eastern Hemisphere, Wars had been flaming 
upon every hand, and the campaigns of Garibaldi had been 



PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH. 47 

carried almost to the doors of the Vatican. The Crimea had 
reeked with Russian, French and English blood. Austria had 
been humbled at Sadowa, In the United States the great 
Civil War was raging when Pius took the first steps toward 
convoking the council The independence o the papacy itself 
was threatened, and none knew when there might be another 
Avignon* Troops of Napoleon III had been supporting the 
Pope in the midst of Italian hostility. Catholics throughout 
the world had become impatient to the bursting point from the 
continual restraints exercised upon the papacy. In their minds, 
from long habit, they associated its spiritual independence with 
the temporal power; and the prospects of the loss of this filled 
the bishops with alarm* Many could not, from the nature of 
things, conceive the possibility of a pontiff shorn of political 
power, yet able to exercise, despite all obstacles, the spiritual 
oversight of Catholics throughout the world and aggressively 
to press forward in the propagation of the faith. 

Of 36 crowned heads, 24 were Protestant, and Jn almost 
every country there was a powerful current of public opinion 
in favor of the separation of church and state. Perhaps even 
more was to be feared from Catholic than non-Catholic sov 
ereigns* Regalism the interference of Catholic monarchs 
in the purely internal affairs of the Church had grown to be 
an almost insupportable burden. Political meddling hampered 
the pontificate in the selection of bishops ; and priests were in 
terfered with almost at the steps of the altar- Private ambi 
tion and intrigue interwove every step in the adjustment of 
the direct relations between church and state* Ecclesiastical 
seminaries, basking in the favor of powerful rulers, taught 
what Rome called heresy, 

In the first era of the Church, kings and nations had been 
gradually brought in harmony with the papacy, until the red 
union of Christendom had become a fact ; but in the 300 years 
following the Council of Trent there had been a steady em* 
trifugal force to which the constitution of the Church had 



48 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

never adapted itself. Many of the decrees of Trent related 
to conditions which had disappeared; others needed radical 
modification. Pope Pius was inclined to consider that the 
time was ripe for convoking the council as an "extraordinary 
remedy for the extraordinary evils of the Christian world."* 

Nearly all the cardinals whom Pius consulted in December, 
1864, when he first announced that he had been deliberating 
regarding an ecumenical council, strongly advised that it be 
convoked They declared it to be their opinion that the spe 
cial character of the age was a tendency to overthrow the an 
cient Christian institutions, founded on a supernatural prin 
ciple, and to erect a new order, based on natural reason alone, 
They ascribed this tendency to two errors first, that society 
as such had no duties toward God, religion being considered to 
be for individual conscience only; second, that human reason 
was sufficient to guide man to a higher knowledge and destiny 
apart from ,the organization of the Church. 

They pointed to the revolt from the authority of revelation 
and the growth of naturalism, rationalism, pantheism, social 
ism and communism, Liberalism, leading to the declaration 
of the supremacy of the state rather than the church over edu* 
cation, marriage and consecrated property and to abridgment 
of the temporal power of the head of the Church, was set forth 
as the practical result of these tendencies. The cardinals dwelt 
on the need of amending the discipline of the Church, untouched 
for 300 years ; of better provision for the education of the clergy 
and the government of monastic orders, and of bringing the 
laity to a more general obedience to ecclesiastical lawa, almost 
ignored in some countries, From these general sources many 
specific developments were cited, such as laxity in the ob 
servance of the marriage tie, mixed marriages, secret aocie* 
ties, the haste to get rich by questionable methods, non-uni 
formity in the observance of feasts and fasts. An ardent 
desire was expressed by the consultors for the reunion of 

* Mumtaf* Trot Storj of tfe* Vatican Ommdl. 



AN OVERSHADOWING QUESTION. 49 

Protestants in the fold of the Catholic Church; and it was 
hoped that the acts of the council would open a way for this 
great undertaking. 

Only two of the cardinals spoke of papal infallibility, whicK 
was destined to be the overshadowing question for the council 
A few alluded to the preservation of the temporal power. By 
far the largest number of replies dealt with subjects embraced 
in the supernatural character of religion and the eternal des 
tiny of man, leaving material topics out of consideration as 
worthy to be discussed, if at all, in the light of the spiritual 
progress of the world. 

Pius deliberated long before finally deciding to convoke the 
council. The bull of indiction was dated June 29, 1868, and 
the tremendous work of preparing in detail for the labors of 
the gathering began. 

In October, 1869, Bishop Gibbons sailed from Baltimore in 
the company of Archbishop Spalding and other American 
prelates.* Landing at Southampton, he proceeded by easy 
stages through France to Italy* What emotions swept his 
imagination as he beheld for the first time the Eternal City, the 
chosen seat of the successors of Peter! The ardor of youth, 
as well as the impulses of piety, must have tinged his view 
as he gazed on the storied Vatican, in whose basilica he was 
soon to sit with the fathers of the Church from every quarter 
of the world, He was the youngest bishop in that gathering 
of more than 700. "My youth and inexperience/ he wrote, 
"imposed upon me a discreet silence among 1 my elders, I do 
not remember to have missed a single session, and was an 
attentive listener at all debates/ f 

The American and English bishops had, perhaps, a greater 
stake in the decision of the question of papal infallibility than 
any others. It had been accepted as a doctrine of the Church 



* OatWfa Jftrror, October 28, 180$, ^ . .. Mt . ._. , 

t Phonal RtttnIcmncHi of tfofl Vatican Cownolt, Cardtetl Glfcfco&i In 
North American Rtvitw for April, 18D4. 



50 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

so long in continental Europe that the opposition to it which 
might arise there would subside, in all probability, as the true 
meaning of the definition was comprehended. In England, 
from the time of Henry VIII, this had been a subject which 
had aroused Protestants to defiant denial. Sovereigns, in their 
coronation oaths at Westminster, had abjured it as a heresy. 
In America the problem was to win non-Catholics to the 
Church, as well as to hold the allegiance of the faithful; and 
this could only be done in the clear light of public opinion. The 
chief obstacle to the spread of the Catholic Church on this 
side of the Atlantic had been the impression that it was subject 
to foreign control. Enlightened Americans of Protestant 
ancestry could not wholly reconcile themselves to papal su 
premacy of a universal church; and the spread-eagle type of 
patriotism was moved to explosion at the very thought of it 

The American bishops did not question the truth of the 
doctrine of infallibility ; they unalterably adhered to it in both 
belief and practice. Some of them could see, however, no use 
in defining it at that time, and were strongly of the opinion that 
it would raise another cloud between them and the Protestants 
when their Church was at last piercing the mists of misrepre 
sentation which had darkened her path so long. The doctrine 
sought to be defined with the weight of a general council was 
that the pontiff, when speaking ex cathedra, in the exercise of 
his office as the shepherd of all Christians, and declaring a doc 
trine of faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, was 
infallible. This was very different from a declaration of per 
sonal infallibility on all subjects, but it would be hard to get 
non-Catholics to understand it. To say that it had been held 
before and was merely the definition of a dogma containing 
nothing new might complicate the situation by raising added 
doubts. 

When Bishop Gibbons arrived in Rome it did not appear 
that the question of infallibility was likely to come before the 
council. Anti-Catholic papers, it is true, had been filled with 



ATTITUDE OF AMERICAN BISHOPS. 51 

rumors that a Jesuitical conspiracy was on foot to clothe the 
Pope with this attribute. The schemata, or list of topics to be 
treated by the council, had been prepared by a Commission of 
Direction, composed of five cardinals, an archbishop and eight 
bishops, with 102 consultors, of whom 10 were bishops, 69 
secular priests and 23 regulars. When the commission, in 
preparing the outline on the subject of the Roman pontiff and 
his temporal power, came to discuss infallibility, two questions 
were raised, The first was, "Whether the infallibility of the 
Roman pontiff can be defined as an article of faith;" the sec 
ond, "Whether it ought to be defined as an article of faith."* 
The commission voted affirmatively, with unanimous voice, in 
reply to the first question; concerning the second, all but one 
agreed in the view that the subject ought not to be proposed in 
the council unless it should be demanded by the bishops. The 
subject was thus, for the time being, set aside. 

Notwithstanding the action of the Commission of Direc 
tion, a majority of the American bishops saw, with dismay, a 
rapidly growing sentiment in favor of bringing the question 
before the council. This might be done by a petition to the 
Commission of Postulates or Propositions, which could intro 
duce new subjects into the schemata. In a short time 450 of 
the 700 prelates had actually signed such a petition. About a 
hundred, including many of the Americans, signed a counter 
petition; but it became clearly evident that it was more diffi 
cult to marshal influence on that side of the question. The 
Americans held a consultation at their college in Rome, and a 
large majority declared that it would be inexpedient to bring 
up the question. 

Bishop Gibbons, on account of his youth, did not feel justi 
fied in expressing any opinion. Not five bishops in the whole 
council, said Cardinal Manning, could be justly thought to 
have opposed the truth of the doctrine. 



* Manning, True Story of the Vatican Council, p. 82 et 



52 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

The council lasted from December 8, 1869, to July 18, 1870. 
In March the question of infallibility was formally presented. 
On the first vote 451 recorded themselves in favor of the de 
cree, 88 against it, and 62 gave a conditional assent. The 
stage of argument, learned, logical and profound, was soon 
reached. It may be well to pause here for a brief survey of 
the reasons for and against the decree, as stated by the Arch 
bishop of Florence, to whom Pius IX gave a commission to 
write the history of the council. 

On the negative side it was held that as the whole episcopate 
and priesthood and the faithful, with few exceptions, had re 
ceived with veneration and docility the doctrinal decisions of 
the pontiffs, no necessity for such a definition existed. In or* 
der to define the question of infallibility with exactness, it 
would be necessary to prescribe the form and manner in which 
infallibility was to be exercised, This would be difficult, and 
would involve the Holy See in complications. The hope of 
reuniting the Eastern churches and of the return of Prot 
estants to the fold would be weakened. Dissensions might be 
produced among Catholics themselves, 

"Let that suffice which has already been declared and has 
been believed by all/ wrote a learned theologian of the oppo 
sition, "that the Church, whether congregated in council or 
dispersed throughout the world, is always infallible, and the 
Supreme Pontiff, according to the words of the Council of 
Florence, is the teacher of the whole Church and of all Chris 
tians, But as to the mysterious gift of infallibility which, by 
God, is bestowed upon the episcopate united to the Pope, and 
at the same time is bestowed in a special manner on the Su 
preme Pontiff, it may be left as it is. The Church, as all 
Catholics believe, whether in an ecumenical council or by the 
Pope alone without a council, guards and explains the truth 
of revelation. It is not expedient or opportune to make fur 
ther declarations, unless a proved necessity demands it, which 
necessity at present does not appear to exist/ 1 



DEFENDING THE DEFINITION. 53 

This about stated the case for the Americans. Their objec 
tions might be summed up in a sentence the fear that their 
propaganda among non-Catholics would be hindered and that 
public opinion might revert to the conditions of "Knownoth- 
ing" times- 
Weighty and pious arguments were presented on the other 
side by devoted fathers of the Church. They held that such 
a definition would be opportune, because the doctrine was true ; 
for, if true, how could it be said to be inopportune? Has 
not God revealed it, they asked, and can it be permitted us to 
think that what He has thought it opportune to reveal, it is not 
opportune for us to declare? In the minds of objectors, "op 
portune" must refer to something of a political or diplomatic 
character, some calculation of expediency relating to peoples or 
governments. This caution would be proper for legislatures 
or cabinets debating public questions of a secular nature; but 
the Church deals with the truths of revelation, and it is at all 
times opportune for her to declare what God has willed that 
man should know* It had been said that many revealed truths 
were not defined. This was true, and would be a strong argu 
ment if the truth had never been denied. The infallibility of 
the Roman Pontiff having been dented, its definition became 
necessary. Some persons, in order to throw doubt on the doc 
trine, or to prove it false, represented the denial of it to be 
ancient and widespread. This increased the need of declar 
ing it by an authoritative decree. Protestants would say : "If 
you are not doubtful, why do you hesitate to declare it?" An 
tagonists hoped to find a division among Catholics in order to 
gain leverage for an opinion that the Church was not really 
united and, therefore, not the authoritative custodian of the 
deposit of Divine truth. All Catholics believed that the 
Church, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost, is infallible. If 
it were left open to doubt whether the teaching of the head 
of the Church were true, those who believed that he might err 
could always contradict his teaching, A fallible head to an 



54 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

infallible body would be contrary to the logic of common sense. 
The Church during eighteen centuries had done many acts of 
supreme importance by its head alone. Were these acts fal 
lible or infallible? The question had been formally raised, 
and, for the sake of Divine truth, it was contended, must be as 
formally solved. 

To the petition of the bishops, addressed to the Commission 
of Postulates or Propositions, was added an appendix, contain 
ing reasons for their view and a citation from the authorities 
of provincial councils in support of it. Among these was an 
extract from the declarations of the Second Plenary Council 
of Baltimore, of which Bishop Gibbons had been assistant 
chancellor, and which it was hoped would have weight with 
the American prelates assembled at the Vatican, This decla 
ration was : 

"The living and infallible authority flourishes in that Church 
alone which was built by Christ upon Peter, who is the 
head, leader and pastor of the whole Church, whose faith 
Christ promised should never fail; which ever had legitimate 
pontiffs, dating their origin in unbroken line from Peter him 
self, being seated in his chair and being the inheritors and 
defenders of the like doctrine, dignity, office and power. And 
because where Peter is, there also is the Church, and because 
Peter speaks in the person of the Roman Pontiff, ever lives in 
his successors, passes judgment and makes known the truths of 
faith to those who seek them, therefore, are the Divine declara 
tions to be received in the manner in which they have been 
and are held by this Roman See of Blessed Peter, that mother 
and teacher of all churches, which has ever preserved whole 
the teachings delivered by Christ, and which has taught the 
faithful, showing to all men the paths of salvation and the 
doctrine of everlasting truth/ * 

The declaration by the Council of Florence in 1439 was the 
favorite citation of those who urged that a definition be pro- 

* Jlcta et Dtcrota, Cone. Plan. II, Baltimore. 



NOT PERSONAL INFALLIBILITY. 55 

mulgated. It was that "the Roman Pontiff is the true vicar 
of Christ and head of the whole church and is the father and 
teacher of all Christians; and to him in blessed Peter the full 
power was given by our Lord of feeding, ruling and govern 
ing the universal Church/ 

Nearly five hundred of the bishops, assembled in Rome in 
1867 to observe the centenary of the martyrdom of St. Peter 
and St. Paul, had addressed Pius IX in the following terms : 
"Believing that Peter has spoken by the mouth of Pius, what 
ever has been said, confirmed and decreed by you to preserve 
the deposit of faith, we also repeat, confirm and profess, and 
with one mind and heart we reject all that you have judged it 
necessary to reprove and condemn as contrary to Divine faith, 
to the salvation of souls and to the good of society. For what 
the fathers of Florence defined in their Decree of Union is 
firmly and deeply impressed on our minds that the Roman 
Pontiff is the vicar of Christ, the head of the whole Church, 
the father and teacher of all Christians*" 

None claimed personal infallibility for the pontiff. In or 
der to exclude the possibility of this interpretation, the title of 
the Vatican Council s decree was changed from "De Romani 
Pontiflds Infalttbilitate" (on the infallibility of the Roman 
Pontiff) to "De Romani Pontifids InfallibUi Magfcterio" (on 
the infallible teaching office of the Roman Pontiff). The mag- 
isterium or teaching office of the primacy was the doctrinal 
authority of the supreme ruler and teacher, It was held to be 
a Divine assistance inseparable from the office and not a quality 
inherent in the person of the Pope. 

The chapter on papal infallibility came to a vote in the 
council in July. On the first vote 451 of the fathers answered 
placet, or aye, 88 non placet, or no, and 62 placet juxta modum, 
or aye, with modifications. Nearly two hundred amendments, 
some of which were adopted, were offered, When the time 
came for the final action in public session, 533 voted placet, 
and only 2 non placet; 55 absented themselves, in order to 



S6 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

avoid being recorded on the negative side of a question whose 
decision they considered inopportune; n others were absent 
for unknown causes, and were supposed to have left Rome, as 
permission had been given several days before to begin the 
journey homeward. The two who voted non placet were 
Bishop Fitzgerald, of Little Rock, Ark., and the Bishop of the 
Italian Diocese of Caiazzo. They at once made their sub 
mission and subscribed to the decree. 

Bishop Gibbons voted placet on the question on both occa 
sions when it came before the council. As we have seen, his 
judgment was that the tim-e for the definition was not oppor 
tune; but, seeing the irresistible drift of opinion among the 
fathers of the Church, he could not cast his vote against a 
doctrine which agreed with his own belief and practice. 

So much doubt has been thrown upon the meaning of th6 
declaration of infallibility that it may be well to quote its lan 
guage. It read as follows ; 

"Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the be 
ginning of Christian faith, for the glory of God our Savior* the exalta 
tion of the Catholic religion and the salvation of the Christian people, 
the sacred council approving, we teach and define that It la a dogma 
divinely revealed: That the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks 00 cath* 
dra that Is, when In the discharge of the office of pastor and teacher of 
all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority* he defines & 
doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the Universal Church- 
Is, by the Divine assistance promised to him In blessed Peter, possessed 
of that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed that the 
Church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith and 
morals ; and that, therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are, 
toefonnable of themselves and not from the consent of th Church/ 1 

Of the monumental work of the council in dealing with the 
doctrinal, disciplinary and social problems which had arisen 
since Trent, nothing need be said here. In all questions except 
that of infallibility there was no sharp line of difference be 
tween a majority of the Americans and the other fathers who 
sat in the Vatican. It was the one declaration of the gathering 
which profoundly stirred the external world* 



EFFECT OF THE COUNCIL. 57 

Contrary to expectation, this was less acutely evident in 
America than in Europe. Here there were no political bonds 
between church and state which might be unloosed by a declara 
tion in Rome or anywhere else. No officeholder or politician 
in America had the vestige of authority to meddle in doctrinal 
definitions which in no way affected the civil government. 
There was no concordat to be debated in Congress. 

The Franco-Prussian War broke out while the council was 
in session, In a short time Bismarck and Von Moltke had 
crushed the power of Napoleon III. French troops having 
been withdrawn from Rome, the city was seized by Victor Em 
manuel and Pius IX was deprived of the last remnant of that 
temporal power which had endured since the time of Charle 
magne* It is clearly evident that in the whole of Europe a 
gradual weakening of the pontiff s potency in political affairs 
has taken place. In America it is perhaps true that the spread 
of the Catholic faith was arrested for a time; but its marvelous 
development in the closing years of the nineteenth century is 
complete evidence that the dclaration of papal infallibility was 
not a permanent obstacle to the increase of spiritual results 
west of the Atlantic. Aggressive anti-Catholicism has flared 
up once or twice, but has found its strongest enemy in enlight 
ened public opinion, The liberality of the young vicar of 
North Carolina who sat in the Vatican Council has been one of 
the most powerful factors in this state of things. 

Bishop Gibbons, at thirty-six, was naturally impressed in an 
extraordinary manner by the scenes through which he passed. 
He had been ordained but nine years before, and life was still 
fresh to him when he was projected in the midst of the wisdom 
and grandeur and solemnity of the greatest organization of 
the modern world. His own country and its political organi 
zation had not a hundred years of independence behind it; in 
Rome he sat in an assembly whose deliberations represented 
the accumulated experience and weight of an institution whose 
roots were planted in the beginnings of Christ ianity, and whose 



68 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

development had employed a large proportion of the master 
minds of the world, from St. Peter to Constantme, and down 
through the ages. He was the youngest bishop; many pre 
lates of venerable years sat on an equality beside him. He 
met for the first time Cardinal Manning, who was destined to 
have a great influence on his life; and he was impressed at the 
outset by the brilliant Archbishop of Westminster perhaps 
more than by any other man he met. Manning delivered the 
longest oration of the council, which lasted hardly more than 
an hour. His emaciated form and incessant activity moved 
Archbishop Spalding to say to him : "I know not how you can 
work so much, for you neither eat, nor drink nor sleep."* 

Of the American prelates, Archbishops Spalding and Ken- 
rick were among the most influential. Bishop Gibbons was 
surprised at the memory of Kenrick, who reclined in his seat, 
with half-closed eyes, listening to the debates, taking no notes, 
and yet, when he came to speak, reviewed with remarkable accu 
racy what had been said by others. Archbishop McCIoskey, of 
New York, destined to become, five years later, the first Ameri 
can Cardinal, was a "silent Solon; 11 Archbishop Leahy, of 
Cashel, had in an eminent degree the gifts of the Irish orator, 
recalling in his eloquent Latin the glories of the Schoolmen. 
He could flavor judgment with wit in the tongue of the 
Caesars, Archbishop Darboy, of Paris, who shared the confi 
dence and expressed the views of Napoleon III, made a deep 
impression. He had seen the assassination of two of his prede 
cessors Archbishops Affre and Sibour ; and in less than a year 
after the council adjourned was himself shot to death in the 
prison of La Roquette amid the ravings of the Commune. 

Bishop Dupanloup, of Orleans, was one of the Forty Im 
mortals of the French Academy and the counsellor of Prince 
Talleyrand, whom he reconciled to the Church after a long 
estrangement, Cardinal Dechamps, Archbishop of Malines, 

* Personal Remlni*c<mc of tb Yatteaa Council, Cardinal Gibbon* la tfc 
North American HwiW), April, 1894* 



IMPRESSIONS OF FUTURE PONTIFF. 59 

was primate of Belgium, and his brother Adolphus was Prime 
Minister of that Kingdom. Baron Von Ketteler, Bishop of 
Mainz, was disfigured by a scar on the face received in a duel 
of student days at Goettingen* Bishop Gibbons saw the de 
mocracy of the Church strikingly exemplified in Cardinal 
Prince Schwarzenberg, primate of Bohemia, and Cardinal Si- 
mor, primate of Hungary, the two most influential churchmen 
of the Austrian Empire. Schwarzenberg, a handsome man, of 
commanding presence, was a prince of the realm as well as of 
the Church, Simor sprang from the people, and was proud 
of declaring it- Bishop Strossmayer, of Bosnia, was reputed 
the most eloquent prelate in the council "His periods/ wrote 
Bishop Gibbons, "flamed with the grace and majesty and musi 
cal rhythm of Cicero." 

Cardinal Pecci, afterward Leo XIII, the most powerful 
friend of Bishop Gibbons in the career that was opening before 
him, said little in debate, but was potent and indefatigable in 
council The young American prelate thought he could see a 
design of Providence In the fact that the man who was to 
rule the whole Church should not have been involved in the 
disputes of ;the council Cardinal Feed s learning and admin 
istrative experience were invaluable in the vital work of the 
gathering. 

Every bishop knew at least two or three languages; some 
spoke ten or twelve. Cardinal Simor told Bishop Gibbons 
that he employed four different tongues in the government 
of his diocese Latin, German, Hungarian and Slavonian, 
Next to the young American prelate sat a vicar apostolic 
from China, who used six dialects in his vicariate. A bishop 
of a Chinese diocese had traveled twenty-three thousand miles 
to attend the council One or two blind bishops had to be 
guided by servants as they took their places in the assem 
blage. Some of the feeblest were so exhausted by their travels 
that they died in Rome or on the way, martyrs to their obedi* 
ence to duty. 



60 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

At Trent only four English-speaking prelates sat; at the 
Vatican Council there were more than one hundred and 
twenty. Bishop Gibbons ventured to express the opinion that 
if the next ecumenical council should be held in fifty years, "the 
representatives of the English language would equal in num 
bers, if not surpass, those of any other tongue/* He agreed 
with Cardinal Manning that "the number of prelates who ques- 
tioned the claim of papal infallibility could be counted on the 
fingers of one hand." "Yet/ Bishop Gibbons added, "many of 
the speakers, indeed, impugned the doniga, not because they did 
not personally accept it, but with the view of pointing out the 
difficulties with which the teaching body of the Church would 
have to contend in vindicating it before the world, I have lis 
tened in the council chamber to far more subtle, more plausible 
and more searching objections to this prerogative of the Pope 
than I have read or heard from the pen or tongue of the most 
learned or formidable Protestant assailant. But all the objec 
tions were triumphantly answered. Every dispassionate reader, 
whatever may be his religious convictions, must be profoundly 
impressed, as I was at the time, with the fearless and serene 
conduct of the great majority, who, spurning a temporizing 
policy or the dictates of human prudence, were deterred neither 
by specious arguments, nor imperial threats, nor by the fear 
of schism, from promulgating what they conceived to be a truth 
contained in the deposit of Divine revelation. Since the last 
vote taken in the solemn session of July 18, 1870, all the 
bishops of Christendom, without a murmur of dissent, have 
accepted the decision as final and irrevocable/ 1 

Such was the Vatican Council, a product of the thought, the 
labor, the spiritual inspiration of three hundred years, Father 
Hecker, who expressed the general view of American* Catho 
lics, considered that it meant a new era, especially for the 
United States, the tendency of whose free Institutions* he 
declared, was to make men Catholics, The constitution of the 
Church having been fixed in permanent form and tb^Tcapstone 



INSPIRATION FOR HIS LABORS. 61 

applied by the definition of papal infallibility, he held that in the 
wide radius left for liberty of thought and action the fullest 
development of the individual should be sought. 

From his experience in the Olympian atmosphere of the 
Church, Bishop Gibbons returned to his task in North Caro 
lina with a new light on the world-wide mission of the Cath 
olic faith, which was to guide his footsteps along many a diffi 
cult path that would open before him. 



CHAPTER VI. 
BISHOP OF RICHMOND. 

Bishop Gibbons had labored in North Carolina a little less 
than four years, when a new field opened for his versatile 
activity. This was the See of Richmond, Va., in which a 
vacancy was created by the death in January, 1872, of the 
beloved Bishop John McGill, who had guided the affairs of 
that diocese 22 years. The Vicar of North Carolina was now 
recognized on all sides as a coming man in the Church. His 
superiors in the hierarchy were glad to acknowledge his tal 
ents, and his brother bishops were ready to acclaim any promo 
tion that might come to him. He was no less popular among 
the clergy, on account of his charming personal traits. Always 
ready to help a priest, as well as a layman, he could listen well 
as they told their difficulties, and, if occasion demanded, could 
administer effective correction in a manner which the recipient 
would have difficulty in distinguishing from praise. 

Human nature seemed almost an open book to him, as to 
many other men who combine in themselves the elements of 
success. He could often form an instantaneous and accurate 
judgment of a man whom he met for the first time, and his 
almost instinctive trait of justice enabled him to modify it 
Readily, as circumstances might require. His was a strong 
character, which was bound to dominate in the end, but a 
conciliatory one. Few could attain with greater east a pur 
pose in the face of obstacles. Those who were thrown in con 
tact with him, in and out of the Church, formed the habit of 
following where he kd ; it seemed the natural order, 

At first Bishop Gibbons was appointed administrator of the 
Richmond diocese, in addition to the duties of his vicariate, 
while time might be afforded for the prescribed procedure of 

62 



FRIENDSHIP WITH ARCHBISHOP BAYLEY. 63 

the Church in the selection of a permanent successor to Mgr. 
McGill. The final choice of Rome fell on him, and it was 
decided that he should continue as administrator of North 
Carolina at the same time* The situation of Richmond was 
favorable to the management of both jurisdictions, and the 
energy and resourcefulness of Bishop Gibbons might be ex 
pected to be equal to the double task. 

Here began the close interweaving of his life with that of 
another man who was to exert a marked influence on it. This 
was James Roosevelt Bayley, one of the most interesting fig 
ures whose impress has been kft on the Catholic Church in 
America. Bayley was a near connection of the Roosevelt 
family of New York, from which an American President 
afterward sprang. He was a grandson of Dr. Richard Bay- 
ley, a celebrated anatomist and a pioneer of American medi 
cine* Born to luxury and culture, he was a society man in 
New York in his younger days. His family were of the Prot 
estant Episcopal faith, and, his thoughts turning to the minis 
try, he was ordained in that church, serving as rector of an 
influential congregation in Harlem- In time he became a Cath 
olic and studied at the Seminary of St. Sulpice, in Paris. 
Archbishop Hughes, afterward famous as the head of the See 
of New York during the Civil War, ordained him* On ac 
count of his ripe scholarship, he was made president of St 
John s College, Fordham, N. Y. His contributions to litera 
ture were considerable. He was serving as Bishop of New* 
ark, when a warm friendship sprang up between him and Arch 
bishop Spalding, who looked upon him as his successor, Sev 
eral months before Archbishop Spalding s death, it is related, 
he put his pectoral chain and cross around Bishop Bayley s 
neck and said : "Onfc day this will be yours/ * 

Bishop Bayley did not want to come to Baltimore, saying: 
"I am too old a tree to be transplanted/ He refused to accept 



* Rlordon, Cathedral Records, p, 85* 



64 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS; 

the idea of the change until the papal decree had been issued. 
Archbishop Spalding died in February, 1872, and on October 
13 Bishop Bay ley was invested with the pallium in the Balti 
more Cathedral, Bishop Gibbons taking part in the ceremony. 
The next Sunday the new Archbishop installed Bishop Gibbons 
in St. Peter s Cathedral, Richmond, as the head of that diocese. 

These two warm friends had been thrown intimately to 
gether at the Vatican Council Bayley was then 56 years old, 
Gibbons 36, and during the long months of the council, when 
Americans were participating for the first time in a general 
synod of the Church, the elder prelate learned to admire both 
the talents and the graces of the younger. Bishop Gibbons, in 
turn, was captivated by the intellectual powers, the broad and 
deep cultivation, the strong nature of Bishop Bayley; and their 
friendship continued during the two years immediately fol 
lowing their return to America, until unexpected fate threw 
them in closer contact. Bayley s practical experience in life 
before his retirement into the semi-isolation of the Church had 
continued to be of the greatest use to him. He was a keen 
judge of the capabilities of others, and saw in his friend traits 
that would adorn the most exalted positions in the Church* 

Virginia was not fruitful soil for an increase in the har 
vest of the Catholic faith. In that State more than any other 
lingered a trace of the atmosphere of Elizabethan England* 
On Jamestown Island, in May, 1607, Rev, Robert Hunt had 
spread a sail cloth between the boughs of trees and read the 
first service of the Church of England on American soil* 
This remained the established church of Virginia, as much as of 
the mother country, until the Revolution. The local vestries 
were entrusted by law with political as well as ecclesiastical 
functions, such as the care of orphans and the poor. From 
public taxation the pay of the clergy was taken* Neither Cath* 
olics, nor persons of any other religious faith, were ever ac 
tively persecuted in Virginia, though the anti*Catholic anti- 

* Lyon G, Tyler, Cradle of the Republic, p. 110. 




CARDINAL OIMON* AS BISHOP OF RICHMOND 



CHURCH DIVISIONS IN VIRGINIA. 65 

Puritan and anti-Quaker feeling among the people made it un 
pleasant at times to maintain open worship other than that of 
the English Church. 

Even after the revolution marked impressions remained, 
especially in the tidewater counties, of the ecclesiastical and 
social predominance of the English Church in colonial times; 
it was too closely threaded in the life and institutions of the 
people to be withdrawn suddenly. Presbyterians and Luther 
ans entered the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, and other de 
nominations, especially Baptists and Methodists, soon outnum 
bered the Episcopalians In the mountainous districts of the 
State. 

In North Carolina there was scarcely any immigration to 
furnish a foothold for the Catholic Church. There was little 
more in Virginia, but still enough to plant a nucleus in each of 
the larger cities, like Richmond, Petersburg and Norfolk* The 
first mass in Richmond was said by Abbe Dubois, in 1791, 
Not until 1820 was the diocese created, and the outlook was 
so unpromising that it was abolished and united with Balti 
more two years later. In 1840 it was re-established by Bishop 
Whelan, who administered it ten years, and was succeeded by 
Bishop McGilL Bishop Gibbons was, therefore, but the fourth 
in succession, counting from Bishop Kelly, who was in charge 
during the brief period 1820-22* 

It is interesting to the student of American history to note 
that the Catholic faith and the Church of England were first 
planted on soil belonging to the English Crown, within the 
present limits of the United States, scarcely 100 miles from 
each other. Jamestown and St Mary s are both within the 
segment of a circle of comparatively small radius whose center 
is at the mouth of the Chesapeake* In this strategic region, 
the key of America, Raleigh chose the base from which he 
would colonize the new empire; the Jamestown experiment 
succeeded, after Raleigh s head had fallen on the block; the 
Revolution was fixed by the eloquence of Patrick Heary, 



66 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

was consummated at Yorktown; the War of 1812 was settled 
by the victories of North Point and Fort McHenry ; the crisis 
of the Civil War occurred; and seven Presidents of the United 
States were born. Maryland and Virginia, so closely akin in 
many things, are totally unlike in church antecedents and influ 
ences. One has been receptive, by tradition and feeling, to the 
Catholic faith; the other has been the opposite. In parts 
of Virginia a Catholic priest is unknown even at this day, and 
would be looked on as a curiosity should he come. 

As in North Carolina, Bishop Gibbons field of labor in the 
Richmond diocese was among a people broken by war and 
"reconstruction." Had public opinion been less unfavorable 
to the Catholic Church, the other difficulties in the way of 
building up the diocese would still have been tremendous ; to a 
man of less resolution, they would have been appalling. There 
was scarcely money enough in circulation to supply the elemen 
tary needs of business transactions, and almost none to build 
churches, convents and schools. For four years great con 
tending armies had struggled up and down the State, What 
escaped the seizure of the Federals, was willingly given to the 
half-starved Confederates. In the process of destroying the 
economic resources of the State, so as to prevent it from being 
made a highway for future military advances on Washington, 
crops had been laid waste, fruit trees torn up by the roots, 
horses taken for the cavalry, cattle and hogs bayonetted in the 
fields, mills and dwellings burned. 

All able-bodied men had joined the army, and the corpses of 
thousands strewed the soil as the shock of conflict passed from 
the Alleghanies to the Potomac. The sudden freeing of the 
slaves had demoralized the supply of agricultural labor* Farm 
ers could get no seed to plant, no man to sow or reap. Piled 
on this base of wholesale destruction, had been the weight of 
crushing taxation imposed by the "carpet-baggers" and their 
negro allies, who were bent on extracting the last ounce of 



TRAVELS IN HIS DIOCESE. 67 

blood from the helpless people suddenly cast under the evil 
spell of their power. 

The diocese, which embraced nearly all of Virginia and sev 
eral counties of West Virginia, contained at the time of Bishop 
Gibbons arrival fifteen churches, the same number of chapels 
or stations, sixteen parochial schools and seventeen priests, A 
continuance of the aggressive methods employed in the vicar i- 
ate resulted In winning many converts. The same liberality of 
view that had endeared Bishop Gibbons to the people of North 
Carolina, without regard to sect, appealed with equal strength 
to the predominantly Protestant population of Virginia. The 
Bishop s sermons in Richmond, Petersburg and throughout 
the State were attended by almost as many persons of other 
beliefs as Catholics, and were largely addressed to them. He 
could gauge his auditors. If they wanted an exposition of 
Catholic doctrine as a fortification to their own faith, few could 
give it as well as he ; but, clicl they come to listen that they might 
disapprove, he won their attention at the outset by the presenta 
tion of the simple truths of Christianity, ancl then proceeded to 
a discussion o his theme with a breadth and charity of view 
that disarmed criticism. None could be offended; all were 
charmed. Protestants thanked him for visiting their towns, 
and Catholics looked upon him with pride. 

Early in November, 1872, he went to Lynchburg, where he 
preached and confirmed, ancl then proceeded to Lexington. In 
that picturesque old town, where Robert E* Lee had died but 
two years before, the bishop confirmed ten persons in the 
engine-house, where Father Murray celebrated mass, no Catho- 
lie Church having then been erected there. Ht performed the 
ceremony of marriage for John B* Purcell and Miss Olympia 
Williamson, in the presence of a brilliant assemblage, including 
Gen. G, W, Custis Lee, son of the Confederate chieftain, and 
prominent persons from Washington and Lee University and 
the Virginia Military Institute, where "Stonewall" Jackson had 
taught, 



68 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Returning to Richmond, he contracted for the erection of a 
schoolhouse at the corner of Ninth and Marshall streets, at a 
cost of $17,695. 

Early in 1873 ^ e made a trip to North Carolina, preaching, 
lecturing, confirming and generally stimulating the work of the 
vicariate. At Raleigh he confirmed a class of nine, including 
the mayor and his wife, who were converts* Returning to his 
duties in Virginia, he visited Alexandria, Fairfax, Gordons- 
ville, Warrenton, Middleburg, Winchester and other places in 
Northern Virginia, where almost every foot of ground had 
been trodden by armies but a few years before and where 
memories of Washington, Madison, Monroe, Marshall and 
other pillars of the republic abounded* In a short time he had 
inspected the work in practically every church in the diocese, 
and accessions to the faith in large numbers began* 

At Culpeper, he preached in the town hall to a large con 
gregation, most of whom were Protestants, The local judge 
adjourned court in order to enable those attending it to be pres 
ent at the sermon. 

While on a trip to North Carolina in 1874 the bishop 
preached in the Court-House at Halifax, where he was the 
guest of Mr* Conigland About 4*30 o clock the next morning, 
his sleep was disturbed by the barking of dogs. This enabled 
him to hear a noise in his room, which, he soon found, was 
made by a thief searching for plunder, Calling out "who s 
there?" he received no answer* He then leaped from bed to 
attack the robber, but the latter fled, leaving at the door the 
bishop s vest, containing about $150. His cross was lying on 
the table and his watch was tinder the pillow, but, after a 
hasty examination, he found that nothing was missing, "It 
was fortunate/* he said, in relating the Incident, "that I did not 
aeiw the man, as he probably would have overpowered me/ 1 

Wra, S Caldwdl, a wealthy resident of Richmond, deeded 
to ifce Wshop a handsome residence, with its furniture, which 



"THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS." 69 

was converted into a home for the Little Sisters of the Poor.* 
Both Houses of the Legislature, under a suspension of rules, 
passed unanimously a bill incorporating the order in Virginia, 
and it was promptly signed by the Governor* In a short time a 
community of six, headed by Sister Virginia appropriately 
called was installed. Two years later a community of the 
Sisters of Charity was established at Petersburg. 

Bishop Gibbons was constantly called upon to answer objec 
tions which sprang from the fact that the Protestant faiths 
were the only ones known in many of the localities he visited* 
When he returned after a time, he found the impressions pro 
duced by his sermons weakened, and the idea of supplementing 
them by a printed treatise occurred to him. He suggested this 
one day while visiting Father Gross, in Wilmington, in the 
spring of 1876, and asked him to write it. Father Gross said: 
"Bishop, why don t you write it? 1 
Seized with an inspiration, the Bishop replied : 
"While the spirit is in me, give me paper and ink, and I will 
jot down the first chapter." 

Such was the beginning of "The Faith of Our Fathers/ of 
which nearly a million copies have been sold. The labor of 
composing this book, one of the most remarkable religious 
works which has appeared in any age or language, was 
crowded into the indefatigable young Bishop s duties* He 
meditated on each successive chapter while traveling on rail 
way cars, or by other means, and confirmed his quotations 
and references on his return. In clear, simple and classic 
English he thus wrote the principles of the Catholic religion 
and replied in detail to the arguments commonly urged against 
it. No religious controversial book had ever been conceived iti 
a broader spirit. It leaves no sting with the reader, be Ms 
convictions what they may, and as a concise explanation of tfae 
Church, its history, doctrines and mission, it has never had at! 
equal One may lay it down and say "I disagree/ but never 

* 18T4L 



70 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

"I do not understand. 1 Its literary strength and grace gave it 
a permanent place in, the libraries of the world almost imme 
diately after its publication, lat in 1876; priests found that it 
said what they wanted to say better than they could say it 
themselves, and its circulation by the thousands has ever since 
been a favorite means of reinforcing the efforts of the clergy. 
It has been translated into twelve languages. 

The book takes up the leading doctrines of the Catholic 
Church, such as the trinity, the incarnation, unity of the 
Church, apostolicity, perpetuity, authority, the primacy of 
Peter, the supremacy of the popes, the temporal power, invo 
cation of saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary, sacred images, pur 
gatory, prayers for the dead, charges of religious persecu 
tion, the holy tucharist, the sacrifice of the mass, the use of 
religious ceremonies and the Latin language* penance, indul 
gences, and extreme unction* Regarding each of these, a clear 
and simple explanation is given* Objections are frankly and 
fully cited and answered in detail. 

These doctrines, the author points out* are misunderstood by 
many Protestants; and where it serves the purpose of his expo 
sition he employs dialogue. The following extract is in the 
form of a conversation between a Protestant minister and a 
convert to the Catholic Church, which lie cites as an illus 
tration : 

Minister "You can not deny thnt thu Roman Ottthollc Church teacha* 
groig iirrori th worship of imngc*, for fiMttmce*" 

Convert*- W I admit no auch charge*, for I have bw&n taught ao udk 
doctrines.* 1 " 

Minister **But th& prli*nt who Instructed you did not tmcfa you all. 
He held back aome pointu which ha kn*w would ht objectionable to you," 

00nr0rt~ 44 nn withheld nothing; for I nm In poineisloa of books 
(mating thoroughly of fill Catholic doctrine**/ 

Mlnlflter~ flft l)clu(ld mull Do you m>t know that In Burop* they are 
taught differently? f 

Convert 4l That <*n not iws for the* Church tench** thu nnm0 cwd all 
over the world* aod niout of the Uoctri&al books which I rttud wer origl* 
published In Burope." 



SOUGHT TO CORRECT MISUNDERSTANDING. 71 

The author particularly urged that the Church should be 
judged by her own acts and declarations, and not by those of 
her enemies. Writing in the South, he asked if it would be 
fair, in order to obtain a correct estimate of the Southern 
people, to select for his only sources of information Northern 
periodicals which during the Civil War were bitterly opposed 
to the South. He defended with particular warmth the asser 
tion that the Catholic Church had always been the zealous pro 
moter of religious and civil liberty. Wherever encroachments 
on these rights of man were perpetrated by individual members 
of the faith, he argued, the wrongs, far from being sanctioned 
by the Church, were committed in palpable violation of her 
authority, He took up the old arguments about the Spanish 
Inquisition and the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and dis 
cussed them fully from the Catholic point of view. The broad 
charity which shines through the pages of the book has been, 
perhaps, as potent as its logic in carrying conviction to the 
minds of tens of thousands of readers throughout the world. 

In the five years during which Bishop Gibbons presided over 
the Richmond Diocese the number of churches increased from 
fifteen to twenty-four, with about the same number of chapels 
or stations, to which twenty- four priests ministered* The sub 
ject of education was always close to his heart, and under his 
vigorous efforts ten new parochial schools were established. 
There was a marked development in all directions, and the 
diocese was kept practically free from debt.* 

He frequently visited Baltimore to assist Archbishop Bayley 
at ecclesiastical ceremonies, and, in fact, was identified almost 
as much with Baltimore as Richmond, the proximity of his 
diocese and his natural ties with the archiepiscopal see leading 
almost inevitably to this* The most notable of these occasions 
was the consecration May 25, 1876, of the Baltimore Cathe 
dral^ whose corner-stone had been laid in 1806 by Bishop 

* GatnoliG titmfard, Philadelphia, October 27> 1877, Quoted by Kelly, Vol. IX, 
p, 118. 
t OatftoUo Afitron May 7, 1870. 



72 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Carroll, but which was not free of debt until seventy years 
later. Archbishop Bayley was the consecrator and Bishop 
Gibbons preached. 

What thoughts welled up within him as he stood in the pttl- 
pit on that memorable occasion ! The superb old pile had been 
a part of his life, and his life had been a part of it Within 
two hundred feet of it had been old St Peter s Church, the 
first of the Catholic religion in Baltimore, erected about 1 770 
on the north side of what is, now Saratoga street, near Charles 
street, on land bought in 1764 from Charles Carroll, father of 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Archbishop Carroll had pon 
tificated there, but he cherished the dream of a Cathedral and 
raised $225,000 a great sum in those days by collections, 
subscriptions, and even by a lottery, which accorded with the 
custom of the times, Benjamin H. Latrobe, the architect 
of the Capitol in Washington, drew the plans. The Cathedral 
is a cruciform structure, Ionic in its general outlines, but now 
capped by Russo-Byzantine towers, which predominate the 
architectural tone. The great blocks of granite for its con 
struction were hauled from Ellicott City, ten miles distant, by 
oxen. John Eager Howard, the hero of Cowpens, gave much 
of the large lot on which it stands. The War of 1812 stopped 
the work, and, while still unfinished, it was dedicated May 31, 
1821, by Archbishop Marechal. Seven years later, Mgr. Mare- 
chal gave it a large bell, bought in his native France, and com 
pleted one of the towers. The altar was the gift of Marseilles 
priests, whose teacher he had been. Archbishop Eccleston fin 
ished the second tower, and Archbishops Kenrick and Spalding 
erected the noble portico, adorned with huge pillars. The 
bodies of Carroll and other archbishops find sepulture in this 
venerable church. Within its walls was held the Provincial 
Council of 1829, the first in any English-speaking country since 
the Reformation. Among the historic church edifices of 



BENEFITS OF LIBERTY TO THE CHURCH. 73 

America the Baltimore Cathedral is easily first in importance, 
though not in antiquity,* 

The consecration of the Cathedral was marked by a notable 
assemblage of prelates, clergy and laity. Bishop Gibbons, in 
his sermon, dwelt on the permanency of the Church, and then 
struck a note which was characteristic of him. 

"It is charged/ he said, "that the Church will shrink from 
the light of modern invention and discovery. Ah, no! She 
will welcome them and will use them to extend the knowledge 
of God. Yes, we bless you, men of genius! If, when rail 
roads and steam vessels and telegraphs were not known, the 
Church carried the gospel to distant nations and unexplored 
regions, how much more can she do with their aid? 

"Need it be repeated that the Church is slandered when it 13 
charged that she is inimical to liberty ! The Church flourishes 
only in the beams of liberty. She has received more harm 
from the tyranny and oppression of kings and rulers than any 
other of the victims of their power* We pray for the pros 
perity of this our young country. In this its centennial year 
we rejoice that it has lived to so sturdy a life of liberty and 
regard for right, and we raise the prayer *B$to Perpetual w 

Only a little more than a year was to elapse before he would 
be preaching in this same Cathedral as Archbishop of the 
Province of Baltimore. 

During his residence in Richmond, Bishop Gibbons was not 
able to obtain the appointment of a vicar for North Carolina, 
The faithful Father Gross wrote in February, 1876 : 

"When, on the death of the bishop of Richmond, Bishop Gibbons was 
nottins volen$ t Introduced by His Holiness Plus IX Into the see of Etch* 
mond, with the title of administrator apostolic over the Yloartate of 
North Carolina, It was but the Chang of an additional new field, bring* 
ing an Increase of the same arduous duties* The change was, and tttH 
Is, keenly felt by the people and especially by the clergy of North Oaro* 
Una, But the vlcarlate Is not forgotten, nor Is It neglected* Frequent 



* Riordan, Cathedral Records, pp, 93-9$. 



74 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

visits are made In the State, when the bishop lectures upon Catholic 
truths and cheers the hearts of all, laity and clergy, by his presence. 
The citizens of Wilmington, Raleigh, Charlotte, Salisbury and Fayette- 
ville frequently enjoy his strong and engaging discourses in explanation 
of Catholic doctrine. He has multiplied his help by the admission of 
priests for the missions In the work of the ministry. Every town in 
North Carolina of importance has its priests, its regular Sunday service. 
No hour of the day or night is there when Catholics may not receive the 
ministrations of their religion. If there is any regret, it comes from the 
Catholics themselves. 

"But, thank God, if the field of North Carolina has been well worked, 
the fruit has been abundant No Catholics are more fervent ; no people 
are more easily won over to the faith. Of three missions, two of them 
can boast of a hundred converts each; the other of thirty. Male and 
female Catholic schools have been established. In a word, Rev. Dr. 
Gibbons found in North Carolina in 1868 three priests (one borrowed, 
since returned), now there are seven or eight; he found seven hundred 
Catholics, now there are sixteen hundred ; seven churches, now there are 
eleven or twelve, with a convent-academy, conducted by the Sisters of 
Mercy, and located upon a handsome piece of property purchased for 
them by the bishop. The word is still onward In North Carolina, 

"An impression prevails that the Catholics could not support their 
vicar and bishop, hence his removal. They could not honor him, Indeed, 
with those episcopal surroundings becoming, but not necessary to, hi* 
sublime office of bishop. Such wealth of catholicity North Carolina does 
not possess. The pope s vicar did not come to find and enjoy the 
becoming honors and dignity of aa established diocese, but to accept and 
perform the duty of a bishop to preach the gospel, to convert souls; 
to accept the poverty of a vlcariate, and by his apostolic labor, to make 
it rich with the wealth of Catholic faith. The fleM of North Carolina, 
with its poverty and trials, and sparse Catholicity, was, and is yet, not 
too much for our vicar, nor for any one whom the Holy Father may 
Judge to send. Everything has a beginning. Even the gospel of Christ 
has Its seed. Others may enter Into our labor and may enjoy Its fruita. 
The more numerous and imperative wants of the Richmond diocese, 
widowed by the death of Rev, Dr. MeGlll, removed our vicar. Rather 
the spiritual poverty of the Richmond diocese caused the transfer than 
any failure in North Carolina. 

"Our vicar was removed with the promise of another ; but our bishop s 
zeal is so untiring, his charity so unselfish, that though, we constantly 
regret, we feel the less his transfer. Catholicity l& still advancing In 



FIRST AMERICAN CARDINAL. 75 

North Carolina, and rapidly, though our vicar s undivided efforts would, 
of course, produce still greater results.* * 

When Archbishop McCloskey was elevated to the Sacred 
College in 1875, the young bishop s thoughts were far from 
associating his own career with that honor. Nevertheless, it 
is interesting to note that he viewed it in much the same light 
as his own appointment afterward impressed him an honor 
to his country, and to its non-Catholic as well as Catholic peo 
ple. He thus expressed himself : 

"The hierarchy of the United States will rejoice to hear that this 
eminent dignity has been conferred on an American prelate, who has 
endeared himself to the church by his long service In the cause of 
religion, his marked ability, his unostentatious piety and great suavity 
of manners* I am persuaded also that not only the Catholic body of 
this country, but our citizens at lar#e, will receive, with just pride, the 
Intelligence that the Holy Father has determined to associate an Ameri 
can Archbishop with the members of the Sacred College. There Is no 
doubt that the venerable Archbishop of New York will fill with marked 
discretion and wisdom that exalted and responsible position."! 

The Bishop s farewell sermon to the people of his diocese in 
St, Peter s Cathedral, October 14, 1877, was marked by char 
acteristic modesty. Though he had done so much for them, 
he gave the human credit to his predecessor, Bishop McGill 

"Ever since I took charge of this portion of the Lord s vine 
yard/ he said, "God has singularly blessed us. To Him be all 
the honor and glory. Every other cause of success is secon 
dary to Him* Paul soweth, Apollo watereth, but God giveth 
the increase. Without Him, we would have made no progress* 
We would have fished all night, like Peter, and caught nothing- 
Next to God, you are indebted to my venerable and illustrious 
predecessor, who left the diocese in a solvent and healthy con 
dition, He was a man of eminent prudence and discretion, 
and of caution verging on timidity, He might have gained 



* Letter to th $oti*fter Cross, February 0, 1876* Quotad by Belly* Vol. II, 
p, 106 et tea* 
t New ITork tferaJtf, March 14, 1875, 



76 LIFE OF CARDINAL -GIBBONS. 

for himself a great name for enterprise and material progress 
by erecting churches and other institutions throughout the 
diocese, without regard to expense. But with all that, he 
might have bequeathed to his successor a load of debt which 
would have paralyzed his usefulness and crushed his heart 
He left me few debts to pay and few scandals to heal. He left 
a diocese without incumbrance and a character without re 
proach. It was fortunate for this diocese that Bishop McGill 
presided over its destinies for upwards of twenty years, for he 
stamped his character upon the older clergy, who had the hap 
piness of observing his edifying life and of being associated 
with him in the ministry. 

"It is very gratifying to me, though this is the first occasion 
I have done so, to speak in terms of praise of the clergy of this 
diocese; other priests, indeed, I have met who have a greater 
reputation for learning and the graces of oratory, but, taken 
as a body, I have never met any priests to surpass those of 
this diocese in attachment to duty, in singleness of purpose, 
in personal virtue and obedience to the voice of authority, 
And if I be permitted to single out some of the clergy from 
among their colleagues, surely I can point with peculiar joy 
to the Cathedral clergy, who have lived with me as mem 
bers of the same household, and who have always deported 
themselves in a manner becoming their sacred calling. 
* * * If I could lift the veil and reveal to you their do 
mestic life, I could disclose to you a spirit of order, peace and 
brotherly concord which I hope to see imitated, but dare not 
hope to see surpassed. 

"As for you, brethren of the laity, you can bear me witness 
that I never indulged you by vain flattery, but that I have al 
ways endeavored to propose to you your duty, no matter how 
distasteful it might have been to flesh and blood. But on the 
present occasion I would be doing violence to my own feelings 
if I did not express my deep sense of admiration for the piety 
of many of you, which edified me; for the obedience of all of 




to 

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z 
> 

Q 



i.l 

12 
u, 



FAREWELL TO RICHMOND. 77 

you, which consoled me, and for your spirit of generosity, 
which strengthened my hands. I have never had occasion to 
rebuke you for any factious opposition, still less for any mani 
festation of a rebellious spirit, and I have always found you 
ready with heart and hand to second any effort I proposed 
for the advancement of religion. * * * 

"I cannot without regret depart from a city to which I am 
bound by so many attachments, and from a people who have 
always manifested so much kindness toward me. I ask your 
prayers all the time. I do not ask you to pray that I may have 
a long life that is immaterial but pray that God may give 
light to my understanding, strength to my heart and rectitude 
to my will, in order to fulfill well the duties that may devolve 
upon me. I pray that God may send you a bishop according to 
His own heart a man of zeal and mercy, who will cause 
virtue and religion and faith to flourish and bear fruit through 
out the length of the diocese."* 

His fellow-citizens of Richmond, without distinction of re 
ligious belief, viewed his departure with regret. Many testi 
monials of esteem brightened his last days in the diocese. On 
October 16, the clergy of the diocese dined with him, having 
come from their respective homes to say good-bye. After din 
ner, through Father O Keefe, they presented him a beautiful 
chalice. The paten and cup were of solid gold; the other parts 
of silver gilt. 

> Ootabcr 80, WT. 



CHAPTER VII. 
ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE. 

Archbishop Bayley had presided over the See of Baltimore 
but a few years, when his health began to fail, and he sought 
the appointment of a coadjtxtor. The eyes of the people of 
the diocese, no less than the discriminating vision of the Arch 
bishop himself, turned to the Bishop of Richmond. In Balti 
more he had been born and baptized ; studied for the ministry 
and been ordained; served as parish priest of St. Bridget s and 
as assistant at the Cathedral ; and while in North Carolina and 
Virginia he had returned at times to aid the archbishops and 
share the labors of the clergy, who looked upon him both as a 
friend and a natural leader. 

Archbishop Bayley wrote in his diary March 24, 1876 : 

"Two years ago the doctor advised me to obtain the assistance of a 
coadjutor. My health troubles me so much I find It difficult to attend 
to my duties. Today I wrote to his Eminence, Cardinal McOloskey, 
Archbishops Purcell, Kenrlck, Wood and Williams, asking them to assist 
me In obtaining as my coadjutor cum jure auccfgatottf* the bishop of 
Richmond."* 

The time was ripe for the decisive change in Bishop Gibbons 
career. In May, 1877, he was appointed titular Archbishop of 
Janopolis and coadjutor to the incumbent of the See of Balti 
more, with the right of succession ; and when that prelate died 
at Newark, October 3 of the same yean he succeeded to the 
exalted post at once. The funeral of Archbishop Bayley in the 
Cathedral, October 9, was marked by many tributes by clergy 



* EOT. M. J. Rlordan, to Volame II, The Catholic Church In the United State* 
of America, p. 31. 

78 



RECEIVES THE PALLIUM. 79 

and people to the work of this remarkable man. Cardinal Mo 
Closkey, of New York, who had been raised to the Sacred Col 
lege two years before; Archbishop Wood, of Philadelphia; 
Archbishop Gibbons, and many bishops and priests were pres 
ent at the solemn and beautiful services. Bishop Thomas Foiey, 
of Chicago, delivered the funeral discourse, recalling the emi 
nent contributions which Bayley had made to the progress of 
the Catholic Church and the spiritual welfare of the American 
people. The Archbishop had asked that when his labors were 
over, his body should rest near the grave of his aunt, Mother 
Seton, who introduced the Sisters of Charity into the United 
States. It was taken to Emmitsburg, McL, and lowered into 
the vault beside all that was mortal of that saintly woman.* 

Archbishop Gibbons received with characteristic spirit the 
new and great honor which had come to him. When he first 
learned of his elevation, he exclaimed : 

"Thy will be clone. In Thy hand is my fate P 
The death of Pius IX caused him to hesitate about proceed 
ing with the ceremonies of receiving the pallium, but Cardinal 
McCloskey and other prelates and clergy advised him not to 
postpone the event too long, This historic mark of his new rank 
was placed upon his shoulders February 10 by Bishop Lynch, 
of Charleston, in the Cathedral The procession from the 
archiepiscopal residence to the church embraced a distinguished 
gathering of the hierarchy, many of them in the prime of life, 
fruitful in their work for the harvest of souls, but scarcely 
any of whom lived to see the full outlines of the career of 
the man whom they had assembled to honor, Following the 
picturesque seminarians of St. Mary s, came Bishops Moore, 
of St Augustine; Spalding, of Peoria, then full of his great 
project of founding a Catholic university ; Kain, of Wheeling, 
afterward Archbishop of St. Louis; Corrigan, of Newark, 
destined to succeed to the see presided over by the venerable 
McCloskey, and to measure his strength against Archbishop 

* Biordan, Cathedral Record*, p. 86. 



80 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Gibbons in many a controversy regarding the vital problems 
of the American Church; Gross, of Savannah, soon to be 
Archbishop of Oregon; Foley, of Chicago, close friend from 
early days of the new Archbishop; Becker, of Wilmington, 
Del., also bound to him by ties of intimacy; Shannahan, of 
Harrisburg; Fitzgerald, of Little Rock, staunch opponent to 
the last of the decree of papal infallibility passed by the Vati 
can Council; Loughlin, of Brooklyn, venerable and beloved; 
Archbishop Williams, of Boston, strong upholder of the hands 
of Archbishop Gibbons on many a trying occasion ; and, lastly, 
the new Archbishop, attended by two of his closest friends, 
Rev. D wight E. Lyman, of Govanstown, Baltimore county, 
&nd Rev. Michael Dausch, of St. Vincent s Church, Baltimore. 
As the mass was beginning, Bishop Conroy, of Ardagh, Apos 
tolic Delegate of the Holy See to Canada, entered the Cathe 
dral and took a seat of honor opposite Archbishop Gibbons. 

Such an eminent gathering of leaders of the Catholic faith 
in the old Cathedral could not fail to be inspired by its sur 
roundings. Bishop Lynch, in his discourse, was moved to re 
hearse in outline what this Church, assembled in the plentitude 
of her power, had done for society, truth, virtue, and science. 
He recalled that men still lived who could remember when Car 
roll was the only American archbishop, while his successor 
could now count ten other archbishops and sixty bishops, whose 
authority stretched from ocean to ocean* Never, he said, had 
the Church in America been stronger, truer in the faith, or 
more united for aggressive work in pursuit of her great mis 
sion. Men were needed to control, like safe and devoted 
pilots, the progress of this vast undertaking, and it was a 
cause of congratulation that Baltimore had an archbishop who 
had already given promise of being a worthy successor of the 
eminent prelates who had gone before* He would not congratu 
late the new Archbishop, for those who had worn the mitre 
knew that he needed sympathy more than congratulation. 
Referring to the fact that he was facing upon Archbishop 



THE SEE OF BALTIMORE. 81 

Gibbons the last pallium bestowed by Pius IX, he paid an 
eloquent tribute to the fruitful labors of that pontiff. 

As Archbishop Gibbons rose to reply, he gazed, not like a 
stranger sent into a new field, upon the faces of strangers ; not, 
as in Wilmington and Richmond, upon men and women who 
had scarcely heard of him before, but upon a notable congre 
gation of the leading people of Baltimore, whom for years he 
had counted as his friends, Here, at last, he was at home. 
Here, in this venerable church, was the greatest work of his 
life to find expression, 

"The See of Baltimore/ he said, replying to Bishop Lynch, 
"is, indeed, replete with historical interest, whether we con 
sider its venerable antiquity, as far as that term can be applied 
to a nation as young as ours, or whether we consider the 
illustrious line of prelates who have presided over its destinies. 
The morning of Bishop Carroll s consecration, in 1790, brings 
us back to the dawn of our American history, which followed 
the dark and eventful night of our American Revolution. 
Washington then occupied the Presidential chair. The elder 
Adams, Jefferson and Madison were still in the full vigor 
of active political life; the United States as then constituted 
had a population short of four millions ; the city of Baltimore, 
which now rejoices in its hundreds of thousands of souls, had 
only 13,500; while the Catholic population of the United States 
at that time may be estimated at twenty-five thousand souls, or 
less than one-fourth of the present Catholic population of 
Baltimore* 

"But if this See of Baltimore is venerable for its antiquity, 
it is still more conspicuous for that bright constellation of 
prelates who diffused their light over the American Church, 
as well as over this diocese* It is not necessary that I ahotiM 
enlarge upon the greatness of these eminent men ; for many of 
them were personally known to yourselves by familiar ac 
quaintance. All are known to you by splendid reputations, 



82 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

their names are cherished as household words in your families, 
and their bright example is held up to the admiration and emu 
lation of your children. 

"Otherwise, I might speak of Bishop Carroll, who possessed 
the virtues of a Christian priest, with the patriotism of an 
American citizen; I might speak of a Neale, "whose life was 
hidden with Christ in God; of a Marechal, who united in his 
person the refined manners of a French gentleman with the 
sturdy virtues of a pioneer prelate; of a Whitfield, who ex 
pended a fortune in the promotion of piety and devotion ; of 
the accomplished Eccleston, who presided with equal grace 
and dignity in the professor s chair, on this throne, and at the 
Council of Bishops; of a Kenrick, whose praise is in the 
churches he has not only adorned this see by his virtues, but 
also, I might say, illuminated all Christendom by his vast learn 
ing, I might speak of a Spalding, whose paternal face is to 
this day stamped upon your memories and affections, whose 
paternal rule I myself had the privilege of experiencing, whose 
very name does not fail, even at this day, to evoke feelings of 
heartfelt emotion; of a Bayky, I can simply say that those 
who knew him best, loved him most. His was a soul of honor. 
He never hesitated to make any sacrifice when God s honor and 
his own conscience demanded." 

The Archbishop alluded modestly to the alarm he felt when 
called to this important see; the fear with which he had taken 
up the lines, fallen from the hands of the illustrious man who 
had preceded him, and the sense he possessed of his own un- 
worthiness. It would be, he said, a presumption on his part to 
hope to emulate these illustrious prelates, but he would make it 
the study of his life to copy their virtues, however imperfectly. 
If he was discouraged by the sense of the weight of the obliga 
tions resting upon him, he had also, thanks to God, great 
grounds of hope and confidence, and this confidence was in 
the clergy of the diocese. He could say of them, as he had said 



CLERGY AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 83 

of the priests of Richmond, that they enjoyed an honored repu 
tation among the clergy of the country. 

In praising them, he would be doing violence to his own feel 
ings and to his sense of justice, if he did not speak in commen 
dation of that venerable institution, to which most of them 
owed their theological training and were so deeply indebted 
St. Mary s Seminary, the fruitful mother of priests and bish 
ops. The introduction of the Sulpician Fathers to the dio 
cese had been almost coeval with the creation of the diocese 
itself. If the departed prelates to whom he had alluded were 
honored in public life, the names of a Nagot, a Tessier, a 
Deluol and others were not less revered* It would be difficult 
to say whether religion was more indebted to the active min 
istry of the former or the private, unpretentious labors of the 
latter, 

He expressed his confidence in the religious orders with 
which the diocese abounded, from the Society of Jesus the 
glorious pioneers of the Cross in this region clown to the last 
society founded. Different in their founders, in their dress 
and in their rules, they were all happily guided by the same 
spirit one faith and one God. "There are diversities of graces, 
but the same spirit; diversities of ministries, but the same 
Lord; diversities of operation, but the same God, who worketh 
all in all." He wished to say that he confided in his brethren 
of the regular and secular clergy. He had unbounded confi 
dence in their wisdom, devotion, teaming, piety, zeal and 
hearty co-operation. United as a band of brothers, they were 
invincible. They would labor together in promoting the king 
dom of Jesus Christ, in vindicating the claims of the Apostolic 
See, and in fostering faith, charity, religion, piety and pure 
patriotism, which would flourish still more in the favored State 
of Maryland, "the land of the sanctuary and the asylum of civil 
and religious liberty/ 



84 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

In conclusion, the new Archbishop asked his heaters to pray 
for the illustrious pontiff whose soul had just been released 
from the bonds of earth.* 

Non-Catholics as well as Catholics applauded the selection of 
Archbishop Gibbons; all Baltimore seemed to look on it as a 
compliment. H-e was the first native of the city to fill that 
exalted office, so interwoven with the birth of religious liberty 
and of the Catholic faith and hierarchy among English-speak 
ing people on this Continent. 

He was but forty-three years old, the youngest of the arch 
bishops, when he thus became the primate of the American 
Church. With Rev. William B. Starr as chancellor, and Rev. 
Alfred A. Curtis, afterward Bishop of Wilmington, as secre 
tary, he began the work of the diocese with aggressive activity. 
The pioneer days of North Carolina were but a memory now. 
His task was to strengthen the foundations of the Church in 
the oldest diocese of America ; to multiply its efforts in the city 
where it had found its most congenial home. At once he be 
came a leading figure in the community, apart from his eccle 
siastical office* It had not been the fashion for Catholic arch 
bishops, nor, indeed, for prelates of any other faith, to take 
part in the complex activities of life in a modern American city. 
They had rather sought the seclusion of study, and had re 
garded the sharp boundary of ecclesiastical duty as one beyond 
which they ought not to trespass. Mingling with the world 
had seemed to them to be contamination or a compromise with 
the material life. 

Not so with Archbishop Gibbons, He was among and of 
the people. His predecessors in the see had hardly been 
known to Protestants. He became so well known that In 
a short time he was as familiar to them and, perhaps, as much 
beloved by them, as by Catholics, It is related of htm that on 
one occasion, when passing through the streets with a visitor, 

Catholic Mirror, February 10, 18TS* 



FRIEND OF MEN OF ALL FAITHS. 85 

they came to the door of a beautiful church, from which a large 
congregation was beginning to emerge. Archbishop Gibbons 
was saluted so often, and gave so many salutes in return, that 
his companion was moved to remark : 

"You seem to be well acquainted in this parish?" 
"Ah!" he replied, "these are our Episcopalian friends 1" 
He felt from the beginning that the slight trace of distrust 
of the Catholic Church and hierarchy which was felt by cer 
tain elements of the people was due, in large part, to a lack 
of understanding. One of his great purposes was to remove 
this cloud, to bring the Church out into the brilliant light of 
public observation among Americans, that all might see her 
mission and the mission of her priesthood as being a spiritual 
one. He yielded to none in his devotion to American institu 
tions and the Government of the United States, and he felt 
that the influence of the Church was for the perpetuity of law 
and order and constituted authority* A student of history and 
an intense admirer of those grand figures in American life 
who had erected a magnificent nation where once the Indian 
had roamed through the forest or pushed his canoe along the 
stream, he was fond of recalling that Catholics had been among 
the most devoted pioneers who had helped to make the nation 
what it is. 

In his own Maryland the faith which^he held had been in* 
separably interwoven with the birth of the English province 
on the banks of the Potomac and the Chesapeake, Jesuits, 
penetrating the wilderness from St. Mary s, had borne aloft 
the Cross to light the pathway of civilization. Westward, 
along the Ohio and the Mississippi, down to the Gulf, near the 
shores of which part of his youth had been spent, these conse 
crated men of God had left enduring memorials of their sac 
rifices in the early days. In the Revolution, Catholics had been 
eminent in the halls of statesmanship and on the field of battle. 
None craved more than they the full freedom of religion, the 
"government of the people, by the people and for the people/ 



86 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

which, tinder Washington, had been won for the fringe of 
straggling colonies planted by adventurous Englishmen. They 
had felt more than Protestants the whip of oppression, the 
shackles of alien government. Almost simultaneously with the 
new nation, had come the consecration of Carroll, to found in 
free atmosphere at last the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 
This Church had grown and prospered as the nation had be 
come stronger. In every war and every time of stress its mem 
bers had been one with their Protestant brethren in their ex 
amples of patriotism and devotion to the common country. 

Still, in Baltimore as elsewhere, there was no denying that 
a trace of distrust remained. It had been too deep-seated a 
feeling to be erased in less than a century. The keynote of 
Archbishop Gibbons attitude was liberality. As a churchman, 
none was more devoted to his Church ; as an American, none 
was more devoted to America. 

The month in which he received the pallium was marked also 
by the elevation to the papacy of Leo XIII, with whose career 
his own was to be so closely linked. These two men of ad 
vanced and liberal ideas, each a Catholic of Catholics and at 
the same time breathing the atmosphere of the times, alert, 
progressive, knowing how to "take occasion by the hand," 
labored concurrently in the most important periods of their 
lives. With a less sympathetic pontiff, the work of Gibbons 
would have been impossible; and Leo did not hesitate to say 
again and again that the encouragement and active help which 
he received from the Archbishop of Baltimore formed one of 
the potent influences that sustained him amid the hostility and 
misunderstanding with which he was often beset. 

The bishop s former post at Richmond was filled by the ele 
vation of the gifted and pious Dr. John J. Keane, then assist 
ant pastor of St. Patrick s Church, Washington, to the bish 
opric. On the advice of the Archbishop, Rev. Mark S. Gross, 
his companion of other days in North Carolina, was appointed 
yicar apostolic there, but on account of ill health and dread 



VISIT TO ROME IN 1880. 87 

of the responsibility, resigned at a meeting of the bishops of 
the province held in Baltimore November 24, 1880. Bishop 
Keane made a characteristic proposal to take up the work of 
the vicariate if the Holy See would release him from the Bish 
opric of Richmond, but this magnanimous offer was not 
accepted. 

Bishop Keane continued for some years to perform the du 
ties of both the bishopric and the vicariate, as Bishop Gibbons 
had done before him. The vicariate was finally filled by the 
appointment of Rev. H. P. Northrop, who had long labored 
as a priest in the field. Archbishop Gibbons consecrated him 
in the Baltimore Cathedral January 8, 1882, and installed him 
a week later in St. Thomas Church, Wilmington. 

Catholic bishops being required to go to Rome every ten 
years, unless excused by the Pope, Archbishop Gibbons made 
a visit ad limina in 1880, It was his first trip to the Eternal 
City since the Vatican Council, and his first meeting with Leo 
XIII as pontiff. Before his departure the clergy of the dio 
cese, as a mark of their affection, presented $1,000 to him as a 
contribution toward his traveling expenses. 

He spent 23 days in Rome, and had two "delightful audi 
ences" (thus he wrote) with Leo XIII, besides several confer 
ences with Cardinals Simeoni and Nina, upon whom largely 
fell the detailed oversight of American affairs. Returning, 
he stopped at Innspruck to witness the Passion Play; and in 
England visited Lttlworth Castle, where Bishop Carroll had 
been consecrated. On his birthday, July 23, he met at the 
famous oratory of Edgbaston, near Birmingham, Cardinal 
Newman, upon whose wonderful life work the capstone of 
ecclesiastical approval elevation to the Sacred Collegehad 
been placed a year before. He breakfasted as Newman s guest 
and was charmed with the brilliant conversation of that great 
English churchman, who presented to him several books bear 
ing the autograph of the giver. The archbishop afterward 



gg LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

spent a month in Ireland, and sailed from Queenstown Au 
gust 25. 

When he returned to Baltimore he found the city in a flut 
ter of festal preparation for the observance of its one hundred 
and fiftieth anniversary, and he joined with hearty accord in 
the plans. He issued a circular to the clergy of the city, 
which he directed to be read at the masses on Sunday, October 
10, of that year, advising that Catholic organizations should 
take an active part in the parades and other festivities, and 
that the clergy and the authorities of the parochial schools 
should march with them. At the same time, he exhorted the 
people to "avoid all sinful excess" during the celebration, A 
Te Dettm was sung in the Catholic churches of Baltimore the 
following Sunday. Leading men of the city, who organized 
this celebration, never ceased to remember with gratitude the 
active and cordial help of the public-spirited Archbishop, 

In common with all Americans, Archbishop Gibbons felt 
the shock when President Garfield was shot and fatally 
wounded by an assassin July 2, 1881. He promptly issued 
a circular letter to the clergy of the diocese, expressing his hor 
ror at the deed and directing prayer for the President s recov 
ery* The following extracts show the tone of the circular : 

4l lt In scarcely possible to imagine a deed more appalling to men or 
more iniquitous before God. For if It Is such a crime to slay even a 
prlrate cltteen, what an enormity in It to attempt the death of one who, 
while representing the whole nation! Is also as to matters temporal, the 
highest vicegerent of God Himself In the land? * * * And our 
detestation of the wretch who has stricken down our head Is yet moro 
increased when we add to the official dignity of tha sufferer his accessi 
bility and affability to an and his committing, Htee all his predecessors, 
his personal safety entirely to the good will and good sunst of those over 
whom he presides, * * * In the face, then, of this most hideous deed 
we are called upon to express at onct our loathing of th crime and our 
deep sympathy with him whom this crime has placed In such great suffer 
ing and such Imminent peril, 

"For while the Catholic Church is happily abore all parties and Is far 
from the wish to take to herself the decision of the yery transient, and 



SYMPATHY WITH PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 89 

aa a rule not very momentous questions as to which these parties are 
at issue, yet none more than the Catholic Church Inculcates respect for 
every duly constituted authority or more reprobates or threatens every 
thing by which such authority Is assailed."* 

The Archbishop sent a copy of his circular to Mrs. Garfield, 
with a letter of sympathy, for which she returned her grateful 
acknowledgments. When the president was informed of it, 
he exclaimed : "Bless the good will of the people." The Arch 
bishop sent to Cardinal Simeoni an account of the attempted 
assassination, which occurred in his diocese. 

After the death of Mr. Garfield, several months later, the 
Archbishop preached at the Cathedral, and took occasion to 
answer the doubts of the efficacy of prayer which had been 
raised in the minds of some by the fatal ending of the Presi* 
dent s illness, despite the united petitions of the nation. He 
pointed out that "God answers ottr prayer in one of two ways, 
either directly or indirectly. Sometimes He grants us the di 
rect and specified objects of our petitions; sometimes He de 
nies us the direct object of our prayer, but grants us some 
thing equivalent or even better than we ask for, * * * 
In regard to the President: If God, in response to our prayers, 
did not save his life, He has done more He has saved the life 
and preserved the peace of the nation- And the life of the 
nation is of more value than the life of any individual." 

In addition, the Archbishop said God had been pleased to 
prolong the President s life until the popular excitement had 
subsided, saving the country from unknown dangers. He 
found in the subduing of party spirit and the increased respect 
for the Chief Magistracy of the nation additional cause for 
thanksgiving, f 

In the autumn of the same year he issued what was, perhaps, 
the first official direction by a prelate of the Catholic Church in 
conformity with the national observance of Thanksgiving Iky* 

* Cathedral Archives, 

t QathoUo Kim% October 8. 1881, 



90 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

After citing in a circular to clergy and laity the admonition of 
St. Paul, that "prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be 
made for kings and for all that are in high station/ he con 
tinued : 

"Surely it behooves us to pray with alacrity for the continued prosperity 
of our beloved country when we recall to mind the many advantages we 
enjoy as Christians and citizens under our system of government, which 
constantly holds over us the &gis of Its protection. We should pray for all 
our public functionaries, both State and national, that they may dis 
charge the Important trusts confided to them with a due and conscientious 
regard for the interests of the people. We should also give thanks to 
the Giver of all good gifts/ not only for the spiritual blessings we have 
received at His hands, but also for the public peace and domestic tran 
quillity we enjoy and for the abundant harvests with which the land has 
been generally favored. * * * A fitting occasion will be presented to 
us for offering to God the homage of our adoration and gratitude on 
Thursday, November 24, a day especially recommended for public and 
national thanksgiving by the Chief Magistrate of the nation*" * 

The Archbishop was deeply affected by the death, in 1881, of 
Thomas C. Jenkins, the oldest pewholder of the Cathedral 
and the oldest member of its board of trustees, a scion of a 
family distinguished for generations by good works in the 
support of the Church no less than in the temporal activities of 
the community. Ten years later he consecrated the beautiful 
new church of Corpus Christi (Jenkins Memorial), built by 
the munificence of the children of this good man, who remained 
among his strongest props in the diocese. One of them, 
Michael Jenkins, was created a Knight of St Gregory by a 
succeeding Pontiff, f 

The Archbishop s mother, whom he had often visited in her 
declining years, and the struggles of whose untimely widow 
hood he vividly remembered, died at the home of his sister, 
Mrs. George Swarbrick, in New Orleans, May 7, 1883, at the 
age of eighty years. He continued to visit New Orleans at 



* Cathedral Archive* 
t Hrrs X 1903. 



FIRST VISIT TO MR. CLEVELAND. 91 

intervals as the guest of his brother, John T. Gibbons, who had 
become a wealthy grain merchant* 

The uncertainty of human events was strikingly illustrated 
by an experience of the Archbishop March 4, 1885, when 
Washington was resounding with the acclamations of a multi 
tude assembled at the inauguration of President Cleveland, 
following the exciting campaign in which Mr. Blaine had been 
defeated, On that day he was in the sanctuary of the Cathe 
dral taking part in the funeral of Mrs. Walker, sister of Mr. 
Blaine. The defeated candidate for the presidency came from 
Washington to attend the obsequies, while his late rival was 
being elevated to the office to which both had aspired. 

In the same month the Archbishop paid his first visit to Mr. 
Cleveland in the White House, remaining half an hour. The 
President urged him to renew his visits from time to time. 
This was the beginning of a warm friendship, which con 
tinued during the life of Mr. Cleveland. He was a Presby 
terian, but, like the Archbishop, was singularly free from 
prejudice regarding religion and was accustomed to "render to 
Qesar the things that are Caesar s, and to God, the things that 
are God s." On not a few occasions he leaned on the Arch 
bishop s advice at critical periods of his career. Once, when 
the Baltimore prelate was visiting him in 1887, he remarked ; 

"Would you care to have me read to you my forthcoming 
message on the tariff ? * 

"I shall be much honored/ was the reply. 

The President then submitted to the judgment of his ecclesi* 
astical friend, word by word, the famous message to Congress 
which cost him re-election in 1888, but brought about his 
triumph at the polls* four years later. The Archbishop com 
mended its frankness and statesmanlike character, but ex* 
pressed doubt as to how it would be received by the public. 
History soon justified his viewpoint 



92 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

On another occasion great pressure was brought to bear on 
Mr. Cleveland to appoint a certain priest as chaplain in the 
Government service. This clergyman did not enjoy the con 
fidence of his spiritual shepherd, the Archbishop of Baltimore, 
who declined to recommend him to Mr. Cleveland, though fre 
quently importuned to do so. Without the Archbishop s 
sanction, the President positively refused to make the ap 
pointment. Threats were resorted to, and it was intimated 
that if Mr. Cleveland and the Archbishop did not recede from 
their attitude, they would be pictured in the pages of Puck. 
This showed a serious misjudgment of the characters of these 
two men, for both were so constituted that threats would only 
make them more fixed in any position they had assumed on a 
question of right and wrong- The clergyman was not ap 
pointed. 

Mr. Cleveland frequently referred to his friend as one of the 
best types of the American citizen, and on meeting Balti- 
moreans was in the habit of saying: 

"From Baltimore? Oh, that is Cardinal Gibbons city! 
There are some men in Baltimore whom I particularly admire, 
and none more than the Cardinal 1" 

The anarchist riots in Chicago, May 4, 1886, profoundly 
moved the Archbishop with a sense of danger to the country. 
Preaching five days later at the dedication of the Church of the 
Holy Cross, Baltimore, a large number of whose members were 
of German birth, he declared that foreigners coming to these 
shores were generally an admirable addition to the population, 
but he denounced anarchism, socialism and nihilism. He said : 

"They (the Chicago anarchists) have no conception of true liberty. 
They would retain for themselves the Uon s share of freedom, leaving 
to others only a morsel. The citizens of the United States enjoy the 
amplest liberty, but it is a liberty of law, of order and of authority. 
Liberty without law degenerates into license." 

Soon the Archbishop and future Cardinal came to be as 
much identified with Baltimore as Pericles with Athens. On 



A POPULAR FIGURE IN BALTIMORE. 93 

the streets of the city his slender, graceful form, in somber 
black, relieved by a touch of purple, became familiar to passers- 
by as he took long walks, swinging a cane and chatting in ani 
mated fashion with a clerical companion. In gatherings re 
lating to the interests of the city or State, his aid was sought 
and freely given. He sat on public platforms with Methodists, 
Jews and Quakers. None spoke with more sincere patriotism, 
more progressive spirit. Governor and Mayor regarded him 
as friend. 

On a social occasion he could be charming. When Balti- 
moreans have some particularly important business to transact, 
it is their custom to have a banquet. It is characteristic of 
them that some of their greatest inspirations to public achieve 
ment are born amid the gastronomic delights of the diamond- 
back terrapin and the canvass-back duck. It grew to be a 
familiar spectacle to see the Archbishop at the banquet board, 
in the place of honor, at the right of the presiding officer. He 
seldom remained to the end, and took no part in the purely 
convivial aspect of the gathering. When he spoke, it was as 
a patriot no less than a preacher, His habit of gracefully 
fitting into his surroundings was nowhere more conspicuous 
than at the social board* He opened conventions with prayer, 
and reviewed parades from his bay-window. 

His sermons in the Cathedral became one of the attractions 
of the city. Non-Catholics as well as Catholics crowded the 
spacious pews and aisles to hear him. Rarely he preached on 
a controversial theme ; never with a sensationalism designed to 
attract the unthinking. He felt that the Gospel itself was 
strong enough to draw men, if it could be presented to them 
with clearness and simplicity. He made no compromise with 
truth, He palliated no sin because of the mightiness or the 
lowliness of those who practiced it. He could unsparingly 
condemn a grievous fault. He sustained his viewpoint from 



94 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

that of the apostles, and often Protestants found more spiritual 
sustenance in his discourses than in those of their own pastors. 

In his visits to churches he made many converts. His 
whole attitude was a powerful appeal to Protestants. On an 
extremely hot Sunday in midsummer, while in Southern Mary 
land, he asked the priest accompanying him to preach. At the 
conclusion of the sermon, when the priest descended from 
the pulpit, almost exhausted by a vigorous discourse on the 
doctrine of absolution, he was surprised to see the Archbishop 
ascend the steps and preach again, but on a very different 
topic one which appealed alike to persons of all creeds. 

"I thought you asked me to preach?" exclaimed the aston 
ished clergyman, when the congregation had been dismissed. 

"Did you not see," replied the Archbishop, with one of his 
characteristic smiles, "that more than half the congregation 
were Protestants? * 

His labors were incessant. Men of the most robust physique 
could hardly keep up with him. His health as he reached 
the noon of vigorous manhood showed much improvement, 
but his digestion remained weak, and at times he appeared 
almost emaciated. On one occasion it was said of him that his 
frame seemed barely substantial enough to hold the soul within. 
Regularity of habit, prudence in diet, a characteristic optimism, 
avoidance of the American sin of worry, and his habit of tak 
ing daily a long and vigorous walk sustained him in his most 
arduous activities. 

Amid all the burdens which fell upon him, he practiced his 
devotions, which occupied several hours every day, with unfail 
ing regularity. He was up at six o clock every morning. Soon 
afterward he said mass, and, after a light breakfast, was alert 
for the business of the day. Callers were numerous. Some 
came for religious consolation; others, for advice; still others, 
to solicit alms, to invite his participation in public projects, to 



HIS DOOR OPEN TO ALL. 95 

urge his presence in churches. He denied himself to none. 
He could turn from one to another with complete ease, as if 
the last visitor were the first whom he had seen. The breadth 
of his character and observation, together with the ready social 
faculty which seemed to be instinct with him, gave him the 
power of meeting almost all persons on a footing of con 
geniality. 

His purse at this time was not over full. Though he was 
beginning to receive a considerable revenue from royalties on 
"The Faith of Our Fathers," this went almost as quickly as it 
came. He helped students with contributions, assisted the 
poor, subscribed to worthy undertakings, was a patron of liter 
ature and art. It was said of him that he was, perhaps, the 
easiest man in Baltimore from whom to get a response to an 
appeal for aid* With all his keen discrimination of character 
and his power of reading men, kindness of heart predominated 
in his impulses. His marvelous memory for names and faces, 
and his extraordinary acquaintance contributed greatly to sw^lt 
the number of his visitors. He could identify childwn by 
their resemblance to their parents, and couples whom he had 
married were his friends forever, 

Distinguished foreigners, visiting America for purposes of 
observation, made a practice of coming to Baltimore to call at 
the house of the Archbishop, the primate of the American 
Church. He could often speak to them in their own tongues. 
Not a few of them conveyed their impressions of him in the 
books which they subsequently wrote. 

At his front door was usually an usher, who received the cards 
of visitors and escorted them to one of the reception rooms on 
the main floor of his residence. Often he was kept busy going 
from one room to another, and it seemed almost like a public 
reception. In a respite he would ascend the stairs to his study, 
where he would write or dictate ; but at the next call he would 
descend again, with patience unruffled and a cheerful cordiality 
which made the last visitor feel thoroughly at home* 



96 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

He dined about one o clock; then he rested a while, perhaps 
received more callers, and about four o clock came the daily 
walk or drive, when in the exhilaration of healthful exercise 
his cares were forgotten. After supper he studied, or made 
visits. At times he had a habit of dropping in on his parish 
ioners or other friends, chatting half an hour, perhaps remain 
ing for a cup of tea, and always the life of any party in which 
he happened to be. Through all these busy hours were scattered 
numerous devotional exercises. He spent more time reading 
the Scriptures than perhaps any clergyman of his diocese, and 
was always ready for the humblest duty of the priesthood. 
Marriages, baptisms and funerals found him every ready, if the 
time could be spared from his necessary episcopal duties. His 
discourses to bridal couples were particularly happy, and many 
of them kept his picture in their homes throughout life. The 
sacredness of marriage, its responsibilities and duties, was a 
favorite theme with him. He regarded this as the foundation 
of the social structure, and his influence was unceasingly and 
uncompromisingly bent toward maintaining the home life of 
the people. He never failed, when occasion offered, to exalt 
the nobility of wifehood, motherhood, womanhood* He valued 
the judgment of women, as well as their devotion to the cause 
of religion. In many a household he watched the home circle 
spring up, and now and then, by a visit or a word of encour 
agement, helped to strengthen its foundations. 

Often he said high mass and preached on Sundays, and he 
was foremost in Lenten devotions. Once every year he went 
into retreat with the clergy of his diocese, While he could 
adapt himself to circumstances with rare tact, he never lost 
sight of his office as a minister of religion. He could laugh 
over a game of marbles with a small boy, or discuss theology 
with equal zest in a conference with a visiting archbishop, 

A story is told of him by a friend who happened to see 
some angry boys disputing over a baseball game and a slender 
man standing in their midst trying to quiet them. On ap- 



INTEREST IN REFORMATION OF YOUTH. 97 

preaching, the friend was surprised to see that it was the 
Archbishop. In a short time peace was restored and the game 
proceeded. 

He frequently visited the institutions for the reformation 
of youth in Baltimore and its vicinity, speaking simple words 
of encouragement and vigorous common sense to the boys and 
girls. He did not believe in severe restrictions, though firm 
ness he considered thoroughly necessary. His view was that 
in almost every person, young or old, there is much of good, 
which needs only to be awakened by proper influences. It has 
been, perhaps, due as much to his personal guidance and fre 
quent aid, as to any other cause, that the benevolent and re 
formatory institutions maintained by Catholics in the Diocese 
of Baltimore have taken a standard which has placed them con 
spicuously in the front rank. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THIRD PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 

Archbishop Gibbons was near the noonday of his construc 
tive activity when he embarked on one of the greatest projects 
of his life the organization and guidance of the Third Ple 
nary Council of Baltimore, over which he presided as Apostolic 
Delegate. This notable gathering, which served as a model 
for subsequent councils of the Church in Canada, Australia 
and Ireland, was held in the Baltimore Cathedral from Novem 
ber 9 to December 7, 1884. 

The rapid growth of the American Church and the diversity 
of its new problems led to the decision to convoke the prelates 
for a general consideration of its needs. Since the Second 
Plenary Council of Baltimore, held in 1866, many questions of a 
highly important character had developed, simultaneously with 
the amazing expansion of the American people. Waste lands in 
the West, where only the Indian had roamed, or perhaps an 
adventurous miner had strayed in search of sudden wealth, 
had changed into prosperous and populous communities, which 
afforded fertile fields for the activities of the Church. The 
territory once embraced in the Louisiana Purchase, and subject 
to the ecclesiastical laws of Spain and France by turns, had 
become united by the railway and the telegraph with the older 
communities of the East, in which precedent had been largely 
obtained from the hierarchy of Great Britain. Still further 
toward the Pacific, States and Territories had been organized 
out of the immense region wrested from Mexico by the fortune 
of war. Here, too, the customs were, in many instances, dif 
ferent from those which prevailed in other parts of the nation, 
and there was no longer such a separation by distance that 

08 



WORLD-WIDE ASPECT OF THE CHURCH. 99 

uniformity was not essential. Not long before, the Archbishop 
of St. Louis and the Bishop of San Francisco had rarely seen 
the Archbishop of Baltimore, because of the great distances 
and the physical obstacles which separated them; but now it 
had become easy to assemble the whole hierarchy for effective 
and concerted action.* 

Wherever the Catholic Church goes, it organizes. From 
the nature of things, its methods necessitate concentration of 
authority and purpose. The mission which springs up in the 
primeval grove is as much subject to the spiritual oversight of 
the Supreme Pontiff as is the magnificent cathedral in one of 
the capitals of Europe, Its worship is not left to chance, nor 
circumstance, nor popular caprice; but must conform to the 
ritual of the universal Church, as decreed by the fathers assem 
bled in the plentitude of their authority 

The priest may penetrate an unexplored country; he may 
journey over wild mountains, or along streams where the un 
tutored native has never seen a white man ; but he is bound as 
closely by faith and discipline to the great ecclesiastical organi 
zation of which he is a part as is the canon of a basilica in 
Rome. The language in which he may celebrate the mysteries 
of the mass is not the one which he learned from his mother, 
not the one which may be spoken in the locality where he hap 
pens to be, but the one which has formed the casket for the 
deposit of Catholic faith from the days of the martyrs, 

The United States in 1884 was still, In the eyes of Rome, a 
missionary country, subject to the jurisdiction of the Congre 
gation of the Propaganda, It had no comprehensive frame 
work of canon law which would serve as an enduring basis for 
the multiplication of its activities. The gifted doctors of the 
Church in Europe, Asia and Africa had possessed such consti 
tutions for their guidance from ancient times, modified to suit 
conditions as they arose from era to era. Much had been ac- 



* Memorial Volume, Thlr<3 JPUaary Council, pp* 



100 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

complished by the first two plenary councils, which had assem 
bled to deliberate upon the organization of the Church in 
America, The task, however, was far from complete, and the 
siecessity for its accomplishment was one of the chief reasons 
which led to convoking the third council. 

In a more conservative country, where population and social 
and political development proceeded at a less furious pace, 
many years might have elapsed before the comprehensive de 
crees of the second council would have become obsolete in any 
important particular. America had made precedent itself obso 
lete. Its statesmen had been no more able than its leaders 
in the religious world to penetrate the future. They had not 
seen that, in little more than a century, three millions of people 
would swell into a hundred millions. They had not known 
that the progress of invention would irritate the slavery ques 
tion into a national sore which could be healed only by the 
knife. They had not seen that the rural communities of 
America, in which the framers of the Declaration of Independ 
ence expounded their sublime truths, would give place in a 
short time to vast cities, more populous and powerful than 
whole groups of independent States which had helped in times 
gone by to sway the world. 

At first, Archbishop Gibbons took a conservative view of the 
proposal to hold a plenary council. At the instance of Cardi 
nal McCloskey, Bishop Corrigan, of Newark, called on him 
in January, 1882, to consult in reference to the expecliency of 
summoning such a gathering. Cardinal McCloskey s own 
views were rather adverse to it, and Archbishop Gibbons ex 
pressed the opinion that it would not be expedient to hold a 
council for some time to come. As a preliminary step, he 
suggested that provincial councils might be held, or the bishops 
of each province might assemble informally and consider what 
subjects might be discussed in a plenary cotmciL 

In time, as opinion among the American hierarchy crystal 
lized, Leo XIII called a number e^f ; tibe, archbishops to Rome to 



VISIT TO ROME IN 1883-84. 101 

confer with him on the subject. Archbishop Gibbons left Bal 
timore in October, 1883, for the Eternal City. The confer 
ences there continued during November and part of the follow 
ing month, and the state of the Church in this country was 
carefully considered in the thorough manner characteristic of 
Rome. Cardinal McCIoskey was in infirm health, and Leo, 
having finally decided to convoke the council, designated the 
Baltimore archbishop as Apostolic Delegate to preside over it 
in his name. 

Archbishop Gibbons returned to Baltimore in March, 1884. 
He found that the clergy and laity had made extensive prepa 
rations for a public reception, which he declined. In a sermon 
at the Cathedral a few days later, he expressed his thanks for 
the offer, but added : 

"I am myself opposed to such public demonstrations, and though they 
may be appropriate on some occasions, I felt that I had not the age nor 
the merits to deserve such. It would have taken place in the midst of 
Lent, and I would have felt very much mortified to consider myself con 
ducted home in a procession of triumph at a time when the Church 
directs our minds to the spectacle of our Saviour conducted to suffering 
in a procession of shame." 

The Archbishop, in the same discourse, spoke of his experi 
ences in Rome, After saying that he had three private audi 
ences with Leo XIII and two others in company with his 
brother prelates, he drew a picture of tha;t pontiff which was 
significant of their future relations. 

"No one can spend a half hour in the presence of Leo XIII," 
he said, "without giving thanks to God for granting to His 
Church so great a pontiff, and without being profoundly im 
pressed with the breadth and elevation of sentiments that J&f 
spire him. In my first interview he remarked to me : f l 
severe and harsh measures; I dislike anathemas; I 
appeal to the good sense and intelligence and heart of 
world. As the vicar and servant of Christ, I desire to 
all souls more closely to our common Master. To all I 
debtor, I have the solicitude of all the churches of 



102 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Asia, Africa, and especially of your own great and beloved 
country, whose spiritual progress gives me such consolation/ 

"Notwithstanding his advanced age and delicate, I might say 
emaciated, frame, the Pope is indefatigable in his labors. In 
my first interview with him he informed me that he began his 
audiences that morning at half-past eight o clock. They con 
tinued until his frugal meal at one o clock, and were resumed 
and lasted probably until nine o clock at night, I was informed 
by a member of his household that he allows himself but little 
repose, and that sometimes, when the city is buried in sleep/ the 
aged pontiff is engaged until after midnight in writing his 
masterly encyclicals or in doing some other good work in the 
interests of the Christian commonwealth." 

The Archbishop also spoke of the life of the cardinals > 
his future associates saying that, "whatever may be the pomp 
which surrounds them on public occasions, the Roman cardi 
nals, especially those engaged in congregations, are the hardest 
worked officials in the Eternal City, They are conspicuous 
for their learning and piety, and lead simple lives in the sanc 
tuary of their homes, and, some of them, even lives of great 
austerity. If profound knowledge and clear insight into char 
acter and good common sense and sterling virtue and un 
wearied application to the duties of office form the essential ele 
ments of prudent counselors, the Roman cardinals constitute 
the most able senate of any deliberative body -existing in the 
world." 

Regarding his conferences at Rome, he said they were held 
at the College of the Propaganda, under the presidency of 
Cardinal Simeoni, assisted by Cardinals Franzelin and Jaco- 
bini. They were characterized by "the most ample freedom of 
discussion, joined with the most perfect harmony and good 
feeling." 

The Archbishop also dwelt on his observations of general 
conditions abroad, and expressed a viewpoint which had al 
ready become characteristic of him, when he said ; 



FAITH IN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 103 

"The oftener I go to Europe, the longer I remain there, and 
the more I study the political condition of its people, I return 
home filled with greater consideration for our country and 
more profoundly gratified that I am an American citizen. 
When I contemplate the standing armies of over a million sol 
diers in each of the principal countries of Europe; when I con 
sider what an enormous drain these armies are on the re 
sources of a country and what a frightful source of immoral 
ity; when I consider that they are a constant menace to their 
neighbors and an incentive to war, and when I consider that the 
subject of war engages so much of the attention of the cabinets 
of Europe; and when, on the other hand, I look at our own 
country, with its 55,000,000 of inhabitants and its little army 
of 25,000 men scattered along our frontiers, so that we might 
travel from Maine to California without meeting a soldier or a 
gendarme; and when I consider that, if need be, every citizen 
is a soldier without being confined to barracks and is ready to 
defend and to die for his country; when I consider that we 
have no entangling alliances; when I reflect on our material 
prosperity ; above all, when I consider the happy blending with 
us of authority with civil and religious liberty; with all our 
political corruption, I bless God for the favors he has vouch 
safed us and I pray that he may continue to hold over us the 
mantle of his protection."* 

It was an immense task to prepare for a new plenary coun 
cil Archbishop Gibbons showed his rare judgment of men by 
selecting Dr. Dennis J. CXConnell as his assistant. He could 
not have chosen an ecclesiastic better fitted by keen insight into 
the workings of the universal Church and rare comprehension 
of the true spirit of the American people to help him in the 
undertaking. The archbishop himself was particularly adapted 
by experience, no less than by ability, for his work, having 
served as assistant chancellor at the Second Plenary Council of 
Baltimore and having been a participant as bishop in the 

*0<ithQUQ Afirror, March 22, 18S4, 



104 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Vatican Council of 1870. He had seen the operations of the 
Church in both Europe and America, and had studied her polity 
at the fountain of the pontificate. Her great men had been his 
counselors. The work was congenial to his natural bent, and 
its prodigious labor did not deter him. 

An outline was completed for numerous topics to be treated 
by the council; and when his conferences in Rome were over, 
the basis for all the deliberations of the prelates in Baltimore 
had been accurately marked out. On his return home, he 
applied himself to a continuance of his preparation for the 
council. He was engaged on this arduous undertaking every 
day up to the time for the gathering to assemble, 

Soon after his return he issued a pastoral* on the confisca 
tion of the American College by the Italian Government. The 
college had been founded and maintained by contributions from 
the American residents of Rome and the Catholics of this coun 
try. The Government at Washington promptly protested 
against its unwarranted seizure, and it was ultimately restored 
to its rightful owners, 

The work of Archbishop Gibbons in preparing for the coun 
cil found a fitting climax in the deliberations of that body 
Itself. It was natural that differences of opinion should de 
velop, for its members represented diversified and widely sepa 
rated communities. They spoke with that full freedom which 
is permissible even in the precincts of the Vatican, and which, 
in the clash of ideas, develops the vital spark that fuses the 
predominant judgment of learning, experience and piety- The 
ability and tact of Archbishop Gibbons were put to a severe 
test, but seemed to respond more fully as greater demands were 
made on them, When debaters like Ireland, of St. Paul ; Keane, 
of Richmond; Spalding, of Peoria; Gilmour, of Cleveland; 
Hennessy, of Dubuque, and Ryan, of Philadelphia, could not 
agree, he found common ground on which all could stand. 
Had his career been wholly different, and had he embarked on 



* Cathedral 



PRESIDING OVER THE COUNCIL. 105 

the uncertain sea of politics, he would probably have attained 
as conspicuous success as in the Church. He understood, with 
rare comprehension of human nature, how to handle a large 
deliberative gathering. He could say a word here* bestow a 
smile there, express a doubt at the right moment, and seize the 
psychological opportunity to press a point. 

When the facts are considered, it is extraordinary that 
unity could have been obtained among men of such strong 
characteristics, whose opinions were inevitably influenced by 
great differences of initial viewpoint. It was a "melting pot" 
in which the diverse tendencies of the American people were 
mingled; but, happily, the individual members of the gather 
ing proved that they possessed within themselves resources 
enough for the construction of great national ideas. 

The council ended in complete -harmony ; and the venerable 
Archbishop Kenrick, of St. Louis, wept at its close, as he 
expressed the thanks of the prelates to the Apostolic Delegate 
for the manner in which he had presided over their delibera 
tions.* "More than half a century," said he, "has jpassed 
since the First Plenary Council, when I stood beneath the -dome 
of this Cathedral, a silent spectator of the deliberations of that 
body. I had never seen a more sublime sight. It was not this 
grand old building, nor the gorgeous vestments, nor the dulcet 
strains of the music that inspired me. It was that assemblage 
of men from all parts of ,the country, with different ideas and 
sentiments, but with one common end in view the good, of 
our Church, 

"When Xerxes beheld his army of a million men standing 
in their martial strength before him, he wept on reflecting that 
not one of that mighty host would survive a century ; and so of 
us, venerable Fathers, in half that time death shall claim us all/ 1 

Tears flowed down the seams of his aged face as he referred 
to the pleasant memories of the two former plenary councils* 



QathoUo HfcrOr f December 18, 1884. 



106 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Archbishop Gibbons was, naturally, moved to his inmost 
depths by this closing scene. "Whatever success has attended 
my part of the work/ he said, with characteristic modesty, 
"I attribute, under God, to your kind forbearance and uniform 
benevolence toward me. Mindful of the words of the apostle, 
you have not despised my youth. I have witnessed the pro 
ceedings of the greatest deliberative bodies in the world; I have 
listened to debates in the House of Commons, the French 
Chambers, and both Houses of Congress; I have attended 
provincial, national and ecumenical councils; but never did I 
witness more uniform courtesy in debate, more hearty acqui 
escence in the opinions of the majority than in the Third Ple 
nary Council of Baltimore. 

"Venerable Fathers, we have met as bishops of a common 
faith ; we part as brothers, bound by the closest ties of charity. 
Though differing in nationality, in language, in habits, in 
tastes, in local interests, we have met as members of the same 
immortal episcopate, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
one God and Father of all; and if the Holy Father, whose 
portrait adorns our council chamber, could speak from the 
canvas, well could he exclaim, Behold how good and how 
pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 

"The words you have spoken in council, like good seed, are 
yet hidden from the eyes of men ; but they will one day arise 
and bring forth fruit of sanctification. The decrees you have 
formulated will foster discipline and piety; they will quicken 
the faith and cheer the hearts of millions of Catholics. 

"This is the last time that we shall assemble under the dome 
of this venerable Cathedral, with the portraits of God s saints 
looking down upon us. The venerable Archbishop has re 
minded us of our short tenure of life; but we are immortal! 
God grant that the scene of today may be a presage of our 
future reunion in the temple above, not made with hands, in 
the company of God s saints, where, clothed in white robes 



FOUNDATION OF CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY. 107 

and with palms in our hands, we shall sing benediction and 
honor and glory to our God forever/ * 

The decrees of the council were taken -to Rome by Dr. 
O Connell and several of the American bishops. They were 
signed by 14 archbishops, 61 bishops or their representatives, 
6 abbots and one general of a religious order. The decrees 
were approved and returned without material changes, and the 
highest praise was bestowed upon Archbishop Gibbons for the 
manner in which he had guided the assemblage of prelates. 
It was, indeed, a monumental work, and the Church through 
out the world was quick to recognize it. 

One of the principal outcomes of this council, as viewed in 
the light of later, events, was the foundation of the Catholic 
University of America. The higher education of the Ameri 
can clergy and of Catholic youth had long engaged the deep 
attention of Archbishop Gibbons and other far-seeing mem 
bers of the hierarchy. Notwithstanding the multiplication of 
schools for the advanced training of priests, many of them 
were still forced to go to the great universities abroad, and they 
returned, in some cases, with ideas which were not suited to 
the characteristics of the flocks they served. The develop 
ment of a thoroughly American clergy, one in faith and dis 
cipline with their brethren throughout the world, but in touch 
with the spirit and aspirations of their own people, was a 
favorite project with the Baltimore Archbishop and other dis 
cerning men in the Church, 

Naturally, the Church became the shepherd of a large por 
tion of the immigrants from countries where English was not 
spoken, and she consistently pursued the policy of selecting 
priests for these people who could speak their own language, 
who could sympathize with and help them in their homes on 
an intimate footing. But the greatest obstacle of all was that 
a number of the clergy who served English-speaking congrega- 



* Memorial Volume, Third Plenary Council, pp. 65-67. 



108 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

tions were of foreign birth and training. In part, this could 
not have been avoided, as the Catholic Church insists upon a 
rigorous schooling of her priests, in accordance with the de 
crees of the Council of Trent and of the Vatican Council; they 
could not be content with the moderate education which often 
sufficed for clergymen of some Protestant faiths. Until the 
birth of the American republic, practically all the priests who 
labored in English-speaking America were foreigners. Almost 
simultaneously with the foundation of the hierarchy in the per 
son of Bishop Carroll, the devoted fathers of St. Sulpice had 
come from Paris to found in Baltimore a college for the train 
ing of priests. This was, naturally, under French influences 
for many years. As other schools developed, they were all of 
European origin, and it had been difficult to send forth for 
ordination Catholic ministers of religion who had been asso 
ciated with no educational training except that of their own 
country. 

In colonial times the American priesthood had a French 
tinge, just as the priesthood of the Church of England had an 
English origin. Later, when the wave of Irish immigration 
set in, the priests were largely of Irish birth ; and as Germans 
began to swarm to the shores of America, there was another 
introduction of foreign influence. 

Archbishop Gibbons, a native American, an intense admirer 
of the land of his birth, an optimist regarding the American 
people, felt that this should be changed. While a priest could 
execute his Divine mission without being one in language or 
social environment with the recipients of his ministrations, it 
was far better to have an American clergy for Americans. 
It was also highly important to have a cultured clergy men 
who, while able to penetrate among the homes of the poor, to 
carry their evangel into the nurseries of vice and degradation, 
could also meet the higher types of the people on a footing of 
perfect equality. Tens of thousands of Catholics were men 
and women of culture, refined in their social instincts, moving 



CAPSTONE OF AN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. 109 

in the best circles of city, town and country. The priests minis- 
tiring to them should have some polish, some versatility of 
education and association, some measure of the impulses of 
those with whom they came in contact. 

In an incredibly short time a wonderful system of Catholic 
education had been established throughout the United States. 
Still, it needed a capstone. American universities, up to 1876, 
had been little more than advanced colleges ; but with the estab 
lishment of the Johns Hopkins University, at Baltimore, in the 
centennial year, European methods of post-graduate education 
were introduced, and soon the whole American system of higher 
culture was being shifted to this base. It was no longer the 
under-graduate, but the post-graduate, work of an educational 
system which faithfully expressed its essential character. The 
one thing needed to surmount the structure already raised by 
the Catholic Church was the active help of devoted and wealthy 
laymen in founding a university where the loftiest ideals of the 
Church for the training of her priesthood and laity should be 
fitly expressed. At first this was only a dream. At the Sec 
ond Plenary Council of Baltimore the question was seriously 
debated, whether the time had not come to establish a univer 
sity; but means were lacking, and it was felt that the mo 
ment was not opportune to embark satisfactorily upon this 
undertaking* There was unanimity of opinion among the 
prelates who. then expressed themselves on the subject that the 
day was not far distant when the university could be founded, 
and they resolved always to keep in sight this climax of their 
educational efforts. 

Bishop Spalding was the apostle of the project A Kentuck- 
ian by birth, he had studied at Mount St. Mary s College, Em- 
mi tsburg, Md., and also in Cincinnati; but to obtain the ample 
training which he sought for his life work, he had been com* 
pelled to spend five years at Louvain.* He saw the grievousi 
need for a great university in America, and he early embarkecj 

* R*lly, Collection* to the Lite of Cardinal Gibbons, Vol. 1, p. IB. 



110 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

on a life of effort to bring about a realization of this fond hope. 
His brilliant talents and the ardor of youth combined to equip 
him admirably for his mission In 1882 he visited Rome and 
obtained the papal approval for the plan of organizing the 
university. Archbishop Gibbons, and the other prelates who 
met in Rome in the autumn of 1883 to frame the outlines for 
the work of the Third Plenary Council, discussed the project 
with eager hopes, and resolved to embrace it in their program. 
When the council met, Bishop Spalding was able to announce 
a triumph. He presented an offer from Miss Mary Gwendo 
line Caldwell of $300,000 to form the nucleus for a university 
fund. Her father, William Shakespeare Caldwell, had in 
herited a large fortune, which he increased by his own business 
skill. While living in Richmond, Va., as we have previously 
seen, he had munificently endowed the Little Sisters of the 
Poor, and bestowed with open hand other benefactions on the 
Church.* 

The offer was gladly accepted, and the council appointed a 
board of trustees to take charge of the university project. 
Archbishop Gibbons headed this board, and for many years 
devoted himself with unceasing solicitude and activity to the 
realization of the plan. An appeal was issued to the Catholics 
of the United States to provide the means for the endowment 
of eight professorships, with which it was decided that the 
university could begin its work, and also to erect the necessary 
buildings. On all sides the idea was welcomed. In a short 
time an admirable group of buildings had been erected at 
Washington, and the aspirations of years were bearing abun 
dant fruit.f 

Provision for the careful government of the Church was 
notable in the other acts of the council.$ It was declared that 
when a see became vacant, the archbishop should assemble the 



f Rtordan, in the Catholic Church In the United States of America, Vol. II, p 35. 
}Acta * Daorete Cone. Plen. Ill (Baltimore, 18S6). 



DECREES OF THE COUNCIL. Ill 

consultors and irremovable rectors of the diocese, and they 
should choose three names to be forwarded to Rome and to 
the other bishops of the province. The bishops of the province, 
under the presidency of the archbishop, were to meet and dis 
cuss the candidates; if they desired, they might reject all the 
names proposed and substitute others, but must give their 
reasons for the change in forwarding their recommendation to 
Rome, where the pontiff was to make the final selection. 

It was recommended that there should be six diocesan con- 
suitors, but two would suffice. Half of these were to be 
chosen by the bishop at his own option; the other half, after 
nomination by the clergy. The advice of these consultors 
should be asked by the clergy regarding the holding of a dio 
cesan synod, dividing a parish, committing a parish to a re 
ligious society, and in transactions relating to Church property 
where the sum involved was more than $5,000. Consultors 
were to hold office three years, and could not be removed except 
for grave reasons. Each bishop was to appoint six examiners 
of diocesan clergy. They were to examine the junior clergy 
and the candidates for irremovable rectorships. 

A parish, in order to have an irremovable rector, must pos 
sess a proper church, a school for boys and girls, and stable 
revenues for the support of priest, church and school. In 
each diocese every tenth rector should be irremovable, if the 
needed conditions obtained* A candidate for such a post must 
have been in the ministry ten years and have shown himself a 
satisfactory administrator in spiritual and temporal affairs* 
The examination for irremovable rectorships must take place 
before the bishop or vicar-general and three examiners, Each 
candidate was required to answer questions on dogmatic and 
moral theology, liturgy and canon law, and to give specimens 
of catechetical exposition and preaching. 

Priests ordained for a diocese were bound by oath to remain 
in it. If an alien priest brought satisfactory testimonials from 
a former bishop, he might be admitted only after a probation 



112 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

of from three to five years. Infirm clergy were to be cared 
for. Unworthy priests, it was decreed, had no just claims to 
support, but, if they wished to amend, a house governed by 
regulars should be provided for them. 

All priests should make a spiritual retreat once a year, or at 
least every two years. They should give themselves to solid 
reading and study, and avoid conduct that could raise the least 
suspicion of evil. 

In all dioceses of the United States, it was ordered, there 
were to be the following six feasts of obligation and no others : 
The Immaculate Conception, Christmas, Circumcision of Our 
Lord (New Year s Day), Ascension, Assumption and All 
Saints 3 Day. The faithful were exhorted to a proper observ 
ance of Sunday. Music in church should accord with the 
sacredness of the time and place. 

As the Church considers marriage one of the seven sacra 
ments, it must be administered by a duly authorized priest. 
Mixed marriages were not to be contracted unless it were prom 
ised that the Catholic party to the union was in no danger of 
being turned from the Church and would strive to convert the 
non-Catholic party. Promises must also be given that the chil 
dren of the union were to be brought up as Catholics. No dis 
pensation from these obligations was permitted. 

Preparatory seminaries for the education of clerics were to 
be organized. The students should be taught Christian doctrine, 
English, and at least one other modern language, according to 
the necessities of the diocese. They must learn to speak and 
write Latin, and instruction in Greek was also to be given* 
The teaching was to embrace the usual branches of profane 
learning, including the natural sciences, besides music and the 
Gregorian chant. Care must be taken in admitting candidates 
to the greater seminaries, and they must be zealously trained in 
virtue and learning. They were to take two years work in 
philosophy and four years in theology. In theology were to 



PRIESTHOOD AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. 113 

be included the dogmatic and moral branches of the subject, 
biblical exercises, church history, canon law, liturgy and sacred 
eloquence. Great care must be taken in the appointment of 
the spiritual directors and the professors of the seminaries. 
Clerical students must spend their vacations in a manner be 
coming their profession. 

For five years after ordination priests must take an exami 
nation every year in Scripture, dogmatic and moral theology, 
canon law, Church history and liturgy. Priests having the 
care of souls were to attend ecclesiastical meetings for the 
consideration of questions of doctrine and discipline; such 
meetings were to be held four times yearly in urban and twice 
yearly in rural districts. 

Parochial schools were declared to be an absolute necessity, 
and pastors were directed to establish them. Parents must 
send their children to such schools, unless the bishop judged 
that there was sufficient reason for sending them elsewhere* 
It was held to be desirable that instruction in the schools should 
be free. Colleges and academies for the higher education of 
youth trained in parochial schools were to be encouraged by 
all possible means, 

The council appointed a commission to prepare a catechism 
for general use, which was made obligatory after its publica 
tion. Another commission framed, with exacting care and the 
labor of years, a manual of prayers, which is a model of its 
kind and is the standard for American Catholics. Still an 
other commission was appointed to aid the missions among the 
Indians and negroes. 

Regarding secret societies, it was decreed that if Rome had 
not condemned a particular one, a commission composed of all 
the archbishops of the country was to decide whether or not 
it properly came under the laws relating to forbidden organiza 
tions. If the archbishops could not agree, the matter was to 



114 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

be referred to Rome. This point later proved to be of the 
highest importance in the Knights of Labor controversy. 

The bishop was decreed to be the guardian and supreme 
administrator of ecclesiastical property. In all churches some 
seats must be provided for the poor. Warning was given re 
garding abuses incident to such means of raising money as pic 
nics, fairs and excursions. Balls for religious purposes were 
not to be given. 

Each diocese was to have an episcopal tribunal. In dis 
ciplinary cases it was to consist of a judge, a fiscal procurator, 
a diocesan attorney, an attorney for the accused and a chancel 
lor. An auditor and a notary might be added. In matri 
monial cases the officers of the tribunal were to be an 
auditor, a defender of the marriage tie and a notary; the inter 
ested persons might employ advocates. 

The pastoral letter issued by the Fathers of the Council 
at the close of their sessions expressed clearly the objects which 
they had sought to accomplish, as well as defined briefly their 
principal decrees. The influence of Archbishop Gibbons was 
plainly seen in a number of its most important declarations. 
Perhaps most significant of all was its definition of the har 
mony between ^the Catholic Church and the American people. 
On this point the following extract may be quoted :* 

"We think we can claim to be acquainted with the laws, 
institutions and spirit of the Catholic Church, and with the 
laws, institutions and spirit of our country; and w-e emphat 
ically declare that there is no antagonism between them. A 
Catholic finds himself at home in the United States ; for the 
influence of his Church has constantly been exercised ipt behalf 
of individual rights and popular liberties. And the right- 
minded American nowhere finds himself more at home than in 
the Catholic Church, for nowhere else can he breathe more 
freely that atmosphere of Divine truth, which alone can make 
him free. 



* Memorial Volume, Third Plenary Council, Part* 8* 



RELIGION AND THE STATE, 115 

"We repudiate with earnestness the assertion that we need to 
lay aside any of our devotedness to our Church, to be true 
Americans; the insinuation that we need to abate any of our 
love for our country s principles and institutions, to be faithful 
Catholics. To argue that the Catholic Church is hostile to our 
great Republic, because she teaches that there is no power but 
from God; 7 because, back of the events which led to the for 
mation of the Republic she sees the Providence of God leading 
to that issue, and back of our country s laws the authority of 
God as their sanction this is evidently so illogical and contra 
dictory an accusation, that we are astonished to hear it ad 
vanced by persons of ordinary intelligence. We believe that 
our country s heroes were the instruments of the God of Na 
tions in establishing this home of freedom; to both the Al 
mighty and to His instruments in the work we look with grate* 
ful reverence; and to maintain the inheritance of freedom 
which they have left us, should it ever which God forbid 
be imperiled, our Catholic citizens will be found to stand for 
ward, as one man, ready to pledge anew their lives, their for 
tunes and their sacred honor/ 

"No less illogical would be the notion, that there is aught in 
the free spirit of our American institutions incompatible with 
perfect docility to the Church of Christ. The spirit of Ameri 
can freedom is not one of anarchy or license. It essentially 
involves love of order, respect for rightful authority and obedi 
ence to just laws. There is nothing in the character of the 
most liberty-loving American which could hinder his reveren 
tial submission to the Divine authority of our Lord, or to the 
like authority delegated by Him to His Apostles and His 
Church, Nor are there in the world more devoted adherents 
of the Catholic Church, the See of Peter and the Vicar of 
Christ, than the Catholics of the United States. Narrow, in 
sular, national views and jealousies concerning ecclesiastical 
authority and Church organization may have sprung naturally 
enough from the selfish policy of certain rulers and nations in 



116 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

by-gone times; but they find no sympathy in the spirit of the 
true American Catholic. His natural instincts, no less than 
his religious training, would forbid him to submit in matters 
of faith to the dictation of the state or to any merely human 
authority whatsoever. He accepts the religion and the Church 
that are from God, and he knows well that these are universal, 
not national or local for all the children of men, not for any 
special tribe or tongue. We glory that we are, and with God s 
blessing shall continue to be, not the American church, nor the 
church of the United States, nor a church in any other sense 
exclusive or limited, but an integral part of the one holy Cath 
olic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, which is the Body 
of Christ, in which there is no distinction of classes and nation 
alities in which all are one in Christ Jesus/ 

The fathers stated that one of their first cares had been to 
provide for the education of aspirants to the priesthood. "It 
has always been the Church s endeavor/ says the pastoral 
letter, "that her clergy should be eminent in learning, for she 
has always considered that nothing less than this is required by 
their sacred office of guarding and dispensing Divine truth. 
The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge/ says the Most 
High, and the people shall seek the law at his mouth/ This is 
true at all times ; for no advance in secular knowledge, no dif 
fusion of popular education, can do away with the office of the 
teaching ministry, which Our Lord has declared shall last for 
ever. 

"In every age it is and shall be the duty of God s priests lo 
proclaim the salutary truths which our Heavenly Father has 
given to the world through his Divine Son; to present them 
to each generation in the way that will move minds and 
hearts to embrace and love them ; to defend them, when neces 
sary, against every attack of error, From this it is obvious 
that the priest should have a wide acquaintance with every 
department of learning that has a bearing on religious truth. 
Hence in our age, when so many misleading theories are put 



PREPARATION FOR THE PRIESTHOOD. 117 

forth on every side, when every department qf natural truth 
and fact is actively explored for objections against revealed 
religion, it is evident how extensive and thorough should be the 
knowledge of the minister of the Divine Word, that he may be 
able to show forth worthily the beauty, the superiority, the 
necessity of the Christian religion, and to prove that there is 
nothing in all that God has made to contradict anything that 
God has taught. 

"Hence the priest who has the noble ambition of attaining 
to the high level of his holy office, may well consider himself a 
student all his life; and of the leisure hours which he can find 
amid the duties of his ministry, he will have very few that he 
can spare for miscellaneous reading, and none at all to waste. 
And hence, too, the evident duty devolving on us, to see that 
the course of education in our ecclesiastical colleges and semi 
naries be as perfect as it can be made. During the century of 
extraordinary growth now closing, the care of the Church in 
this country has been to send forth as rapidly as possible holy, 
zealous, hard-working priests, to supply the needs of the multi 
tudes calling for the ministrations of religion, She has not, on 
that account, neglected to prepare them for their Divine work, 
as her numerous and admirable seminaries testify; but the 
course of study was often more rapid and restricted than she 
desired. At present our improved circumstances make it prac 
ticable both to lengthen and widen the course, and for this the 
council has duly provided/ 

The question of popular education, which had been fully dis 
cussed by the councils treated of in the pastoral letter as one of 
supreme importance* The declarations of this council are par 
ticularly noteworthy as furnishing the basis on which the 
school question was afterward worked out by American Cath 
olics, 

"Popular education/ the letter declares, "has always been 
a chief object of the Church s care; in fact, it is not too xpuch 
to say that the history of civilization and education is the his- 



H8 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

tory of the Church s work In the rude ages, when semi- 
barbarous chieftains boasted of their illiteracy, she succeeded 
in diffusing that love of learning which covered Europe with 
schools and universities; and tKus from the barbarous tribes of 
the early Middle Ages she built up the civilized nations of 
modern times. Even subsequent to the religious dissensions 
of the sixteenth century, whatever progress has been made in 
education is mainly due to the impetus which she had previ 
ously given. In our country, notwithstanding the many diffi 
culties attendant on first beginnings and unexampled growth, 
we already find her schools, academies and colleges everywhere, 
built and sustained by voluntary contributions, even at the cost 
of great sacrifices, and comparing favorably with the best edu 
cational institutions in the land. 

"These facts abundantly attest the Church s desire for popu 
lar instruction. The beauty of truth, the refining and eleva 
ting influences of knowledge, are meant for all, and she wishes 
them to be brought within the reach of all. Knowledge en 
larges our capacity both for self -improvement and for promo 
ting the welfare of our fellow-men; and in so noble a work 
the Church wishes every hand to be busy. * Knowledge, too, is 
the best weapon against pernicious errors. It is only a little 
teaming* that is a dangerous thing/ In days like ours, when er 
ror is so pretentious and aggressive, every one needs to be as 
completely armed as possible with sound knowledge not only 
the clergy, but the people also that they may be able to with 
stand the noxious influences of popularized irreligion. In the 
great coming combat between truth and error, between faith 
and agnosticism, an important part of the fray must be borne 
by the laity, and woe to them if they are not well prepared! 
And if, in the olden days of vassalage and serfdom, the Church 
honored every individual, no matter how humble his position, 
and labored to give him the enlightenment that would qualify 
.him for future responsibilities, much more now, in the era 
of popular rights and liberties, when every individual is an 



CATHOLIC VIEW OF EDUCATION. 119 

active and influential factor in the body politic, does she desire 
that all should be fatted by suitable training for an intelligent 
and conscientious discharge of the important duties that will 
devolve upon them. 

"Few, if any, will deny that a sound civilization must de 
pend upon sound popular education. But education, in order 
to be sound and to produce beneficial results, must develop 
what is best in man, and make him not only clever, but good. 
A one-sided education will develop a one-sided life; and such a 
life will surely topple over, and so will every social system that 
is built up of such lives. True civilization requires that not 
only the physical and intellectual, but also the moral and relig 
ious well-being of theupeople should be promoted, and at least 
with equal care. Take away religion from a people, and moral 
ity would soon follow ; morality gone, even their physical con 
dition would ere long degenerate into corruption, which breeds 
decrepitude, while their intellectual attainments would only 
serve as a light to guide them to greater depths of vice and ruin. 

"This has been so often demonstrated in the history of the 
past, and is, in fact, so self-evident, that one is amazed to find 
any difference of opinion about it. A civilization without re 
ligion would be a civilization of the struggle for existence and 
the survival of the fittest/ in which cunning and strength 
would become the substitutes for principle, virtue, conscience 
and duty. As a matter of fact, there never has been a civili 
zation worthy of the name without religion ; and from the facts 
of history the laws of human nature can easily be inferred. 

"Hence education, in order to foster civilization, must fos 
ter religion. But many, unfortunately, while avowing that 
religion should be the light and the atmosphere of the home 
and of the Church, are content to see it excluded from the 
school, and even advocate as the best school system that which 
necessarily excludes religion. Few surely will deny that child 
hood and youth are the periods of life when the character 
ought especially to be subjected to religious influences. Nor 



L!F 0$ CA&DiNAL GIBSONS. 

can we ignore the palpable fact that the school system is an 
important factor in the forming of childhood and youth so 
important that its influence often outweighs that of home and 
Church. 

"It cannot, therefore, be desirable or advantageous that re 
ligion should be excluded from the school. On the contrary, 
it ought there to be one of the chief agencies for molding the 
young life to all that is true and virtuous and holy. To shut 
religion out of the school and keep it for home and the Church, 
is, logically, to train up a generation that will consider religion 
good for home and the Church, but not for the practical busi 
ness of real life. But a more false and pernicious notion could 
not be imagined. Religion, in order to elevate a people, should 
inspire their whole life and rule their relations with one an 
other. A life is not dwarfed, but ennobled, by being lived in 
the presence of God. Therefore, the school, which principally 
gives the knowledge fitting for practical life, ought to be pre 
eminently under the holy influence of religion. From the 
shelter of home and school the youth must soon go out into 
the busy ways of trade or traffic or professional practice. In 
all these, the principles of religion should animate and di 
rect him. But he cannot expect to learn these principles in the 
workshop or the office, or the counting-room. Therefore, let 
him be well and thoroughly imbued with them by the joint 
influences of home and school before he is launched out on the 
dangerous sea of life, 

"All denominations of Christians are now awakening to this 
great truth, which the Catholic Church has never ceased to 
maintain. Reason and experience are forcing them to recog 
nize that the only practical way to secure a Christian people is 
to give the youth a Christian education. The avowed enemies 
of Christianity in some European countries are banishing re 
ligion from the schools, in order, gradually, to eliminate it from 
among the people. In this they are logical, and we may well 
profit by the lesson. Henoe the cry for Christian education is 



DEVELOPMENT OF PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS, 121 

going up from all religious bodies throughout the land. And 
this is no narrowness and sectarianism on their part; it is an 
honest and logical endeavor to preserve Christian truth and 
morality among the people by fostering religion in the young. 

"Nor is it any antagonism to the State; on the contrary, it is 
an honest endeavor to give to the State better citizens, by mak 
ing them better Christians, The friends of Christian educa 
tion do not condemn the state for not imparting religious in 
struction in the public schools as they are now organized ; be 
cause they well know it does not lie within the province of the 
state to teach religion. They simply follow their conscience 
by sending their children to denominational schools, where re 
ligion can have its rightful place and influence, 

"Two objects, therefore, dear brethren, we have in view 
to multiply our schools, and to perfect them- We must multi 
ply them till every Catholic child in the land shall have within 
its reach the means of education. There is still much to do 
ere this be attained. There are still thousands of Catholic 
children in the United States deprived of the benefit of a Cath 
olic school Pastors and parents should not rest till this defect 
be remedied. No parish is complete till it has schools adequate 
to the needs of its children, and the pastor and peopk of such 
a parish should feel that they have not accomplished their en 
tire duty until the want is supplied* 

"But, then, we must also perfect our schools* We repudiate 
the idea that the Catholic school need be in any respect in 
ferior to any other school whatsoever. And if hitherto, in 
some places, our people have acted on the principle that it is 
better to have an imperfect Catholic school than to have none, 
let them now push their praiseworthy ambition still further, 
and not relax their efforts till their schools be elevated to the 
highest educational excellence. And we implore parents not 
to "hasten to take their children from school, but to give them 
all the time and all the advantages by which they have the 



122 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

capacity to profit, so that in after life their children may Vise 
them blessed/ " 



Another portion of the pastoral letter which was destined 
to be frequently referred to in impending controversies was 
that relating to forbidden societies. It should be remembered 
that these decrees were to be binding, unless revoked by a sub 
sequent council. "One of the most striking characteristics of 
our times," says the letter, "is the universal tendency to band 
together in societies for all sorts of purposes. This tendency 
is the natural outgrowth of an age of popular rights and repre 
sentative institutions. It is also in accordance with the spirit 
of the Church, whose aim, as indicated by her name Catholic, 
is to unite all mankind in brotherhood. It is consonant also 
with the spirit of Christ, who came to break down all walls of 
division, and to gather all in the one family of the one Heavenly 
Father. 

"From the hilltop of her Divine mission and her world 
wide experience, she sees events and their consequences far 
more clearly than they who are down in the tangled plain of 
daily life. She has seen associations that were once praise 
worthy become pernicious by change of circumstances. She 
has seen others which won the admiration of the world by their 
early achievements corrupted by power or passion, or evil guid 
ance, and she has been forced to condemn them. She has be 
held associations which had their origin in the spirit of the 
ages of faith transformed by lapse of time and loss of faith, 
and the manipulation of designing leaders, into the open or hid 
den enemies of religion and human weal. 

"Thus our Holy Father, Leo XIII, has lately shown that 
the Masonic and kindred societies although the offspring of 
the ancient Guilds, which aimed at sanctifying trades and 
tradesmen with the blessings of religion ; and, although retain 
ing, perhaps, in their ritual much that tells of the religious 
ness of their origin, and although in some countries still 
professing entire friendliness toward the Christian religion 



CONDEMNATION OF SECRET SOCIETIES. 123 

have, nevertheless, already gone so far, in many countries, as to 
array themselves in avowed hostility against Christianity and 
against the Catholic Church as its embodiment, so that they 
virtually aim at substituting a world-wide fraternity of their 
own for the universal brotherhood of Jesus Christ, and at dis 
seminating mere naturalism for the supernatural revealed re 
ligion bestowed upon mankind by the Saviour of the world. 
He has shown, too, that, even in countries where they are as yet 
far from acknowledging such purposes, they, nevertheless, have 
in them the germs which, under favorable circumstances, would 
inevitably blossom forth in similar results. 

"The Church, consequently, forbids her children to have 
any connection with such societies, because they are either an 
open evil to be shunned, or a hidden danger to be avoided. She 
would fail in her duty if she did not speak the word of warn 
ing, and her children would equally fail in theirs if they did 
not heed it. 

"Whenever, therefore, the Church has spoken authorita 
tively with regard to any society, her decision ought to be final 
for every Catholic. He ought to know that the Church has not 
acted hastily, or unwisely, or mistakenly; he should be con 
vinced that any worldly advantages which he might derive 
from the membership of such society would be a poor substi 
tute for the membership, the sacraments and the blessings of 
the Church of Christ; he should have the courage of his re 
ligious convictions, and stand firm to faith and conscience. 
But if he be inclined or asked to join a society on which the 
Church has passed no sentence, then let him, as a reasonable 
and Christian man, examine into it carefully, and not join the 
society until he is satisfied of its lawful character. 

There is one characteristic which is always a strong pre 
sumption against a society, and that is secrecy. Our Divine 
Lord Himself has laid down the rule : Every one that dqeth 
evil, hateth the light and cometh not to the light, that his works 
may not be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the 



124 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

light that his works may be made manifest, because they are 
done in God/ When, therefore, associations veil themselves 
in secrecy and darkness, the presumption is against them, and 
it rests with them to prove that there is nothing evil in them. 

"But if any society s obligation be such as to bind its members 
to secrecy, even when rightly questioned by competent author 
ity, then such a society puts itself outside the limits of ap 
proval ; and no one can be a member of it and at the same time 
be admitted to the sacraments of the Catholic Church. The 
same is true of any organization that binds its members to a 
promise of "blind obedience to accept in advance and to obey 
whatsoever orders, lawful or unlawful, may emanate from 
its chief authorities ; because such a promise is contrary both 
to reason and conscience. And if a society works or plots, 
either openly or in secret, against the Church, or against lawful 
authorities, then to be a member of it is to be excluded from 
the membership of the Catholic Church/ * 

The council sent a letter of sympathy to the bishops of Ger 
many, whose people were then groaning under the May laws. 
The Archbishop of Cologne replied, recounting the difficulties 
of the Church in his own country, and adding : "We congratu 
late you, venerable brethren in the Lord, because in your repub 
lic the Church rejoices in the fullness of liberty, so essential 
to her and her due by right Divine/ 1 

* Memorial Volume, Third Plenary Council. 



CHAPTER IX. 
CREATED A CARDINAL. 

The discerning judgment of Rome in selecting the Arch 
bishop of Baltimore to pilot the Third Plenary Council on 
its difficult path was fully sustained by the outcome. Now 
that the council had erased ecclesiastical complexities due to 
the diverse racial and political origin of the American people 
and had given the Church in the United States a complete and 
unified organization on which might be made the impress of a 
truly national character, the field of opportunity immensely 
broadened. Social and economic questions, always the deepest 
which move a nation, were beginning to throb. It was no 
longer true that all Americans might find work. Men were 
crowding to the cities, where stupendous aggregations of cap 
ital were tightening their grip on the means of employment. 
Labor was organizing to struggle for its own interests ; finan 
cial exploitation threatened panic in the midst of prosperity. 
Immigration was unprecedentedly large. The assimilative 
power of the American Church was to be tested, no less than 
that of the body politic; for both it was to be a time of trial. 

Cardinal McCloskey died October 10, 1885, having been a 
member of the Church s most exalted council ten years. Arch 
bishop Gibbons was selected to preach the funeral sermon in 
St. Patrick s Cathedral, New York, on which occasion he thus 
aptly compared the Cardinal and his famous predecessor : 

"McCloskey, meek, gentle, retiring from the world, reminds us of 
Moses with uplifted hands praying on the mountains; Hughes, active* 
bold, vigorous, aggressive, was, as It were, another Joshua fighting In 
the valley, armed with the Christian panoply of faith, truth, Justice." 

When, in time, speculation turned to the choice of a 
cardinal, it soon became evident that, except for local 

125 



126 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

ences, Archbishop Gibbons was the favorite of prelates and 
people. Friends of Archbishop Corrigan, who had been ele 
vated from the Bishopric of Newark to the See of New York, 
hoped that he might receive the honor; or that, if a red hat 
were bestowed elsewhere, the representation of America in the 
Sacred College might be increased, and New York, the most 
populous Catholic diocese in the world, might continue to have 
a resident cardinal also. In Boston, the wise and clear-sighted 
Archbishop Williams was considered worthy of the highest 
place in the gift of the papacy. 

Leo XIII, always keenly observant, did not delay his choice 
long. Private advices from Rome soon announced that the 
elevation of Archbishop Gibbons had been finally decided upon. 

When the archbishop heard of these, he exclaimed : 

"Should the report be verified, may God give me, as he gave 
to his servant David, an humble heart, that I may bear the 
honor with becoming modesty and a profound sense of my 
own unworthiness." 

On May 18 he received from Cardinal Jacobini, Papal Secre 
tary of State, the biglietto, an official document informing him 
of the Pontiff s intention to raise him to the cardinalatial dig 
nity at the next consistory. 

"The Sovereign Pontiff," wrote Cardinal Jacobini, "wishes 
in a particular manner to attest the high esteem and considera 
tion he has for the virtues which adorn your Grace, and for the 
many claims you already have on account of your merits, as 
well as to increase the luster of the Metropolitan See of Balti 
more, first among all the churches of the vast republic of the 
United States, and on that account adorned with the honorable 
title of primatial see/ 1 * 

Baltimore has sometimes been compared, in certain rather 
striking aspects, to a European city, and one instance in which 
the parallel might be traced is the warm-hearted interest and 
pride with which the people, as a whole, regard the Catholic 

* Letter of Cardinal Jacobini to Archbishop Gibbons, May 4, 1886 (Cathedral 
Arcnives) , 



PREPARING FOR HIS ELEVATION. 127 

archbishopric and the old Cathedral. Perhaps there is in this 
an echo of the story of St. Mary s and the beginnings of the 
American hierarchy in the days of Carroll; but there is no 
doubt that the lofty character of an influential portion of the 
Catholic laity from early times has had much to do with the 
feeling. Governor and mayor, merchant and laborer, talked 
with eagerness of the approaching ceremonial. The novelty 
of seeing in a democratic community the ancient rite of the in 
vestiture of a cardinal excited popular expectation to a high 
pitch. The city prepared for a fete and wrote the name of 
Gibbons on the roll of its most distinguished sons. 

The consistory at which the new cardinal was created was 
held in Rome June 7 ; twenty-three days later would come the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. 
Would the messengers of the papal court arrive in time for a 
double celebration? Baltimore began to take an eager interest 
in this also, and lay committees which were making ready for 
a gala occasion redoubled their efforts. 

Monsignor Straniero, the pontifical representative bearing 
the red zuchetta and biretta, accompanied by Count Muccioli, 
of the Noble Guards, and Rev. Thomas S. Lee, rector of the 
Baltimore Cathedral, who had been a guest of the American 
College in Rome, started for Liverpool promptly. 

"Present to Cardinal Gibbons our affectionate paternal bene 
diction/ 7 said Leo to them at parting. "We remember him with 
the most cordial esteem, and believe we could not confer the hat 
on a more worthy prelate. We cordially hope that during his 
cardinalate our most holy faith may be blessed by great in 
crease of strength among the Catholics of the United States." 

A fast steamer bore the messengers to New York, and they 
landed on American soil June 21. Hurrying by train to Balti 
more, a large gathering of clergy and laity met them at the 
railroad station. That evening at the archiepiscopal residence, 
on Charles street, Count Muccioli, in clattering sword and bril 
liant uniform, giving a picturesque reminder of the temporal 



128 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

power, presented the red ztichetta to the new prince of the 
Church; and Monsignor Straniero, who bore the biretta to be 
conferred June 30, announced his mission in the presence of a 
distinguished assemblage. 

Prelates, priests and laymen began to crowd into the city 
for the coming event. By the thirtieth nearly the whole Ameri 
can hierarchy had assembled. On the morning of that day, 
after an ecclesiastical procession, witnessed by an immense 
crowd of people, the venerable Archbishop Kenrick, of St. 
Louis, as the Pontiff s representative, bestowed the red biretta 
On Archbishop Gibbons in the Cathedral, where Mgr. Ken- 
rick s famous brother, then Archbishop of Baltimore, had or 
dained the young priest a quarter of a century before.* 

In no other American city, and indeed, in few cities of the 
world, can ecclesiastical processions be witnessed comparable 
with those in Baltimore. Though the people are accustomed 
to them, they regard each new one with intense interest. For 
the elevation of their cardinal, a spectacle of this kind unprece 
dented in the United States was arranged. On account of 
its rarity and picturesqueness, it deserves a brief description. 

First, came a detachment of policemen; then, the proces 
sional cross-bearer, preceded by a lad bearing an incense urn, 
wafting the perfume to right and left; following were one 
hundred and seventy students of St. Charles College, where 
the new Cardinal as a youth had alternated the classics and 
football. An equal number of seminarians from St. Mary s, 
marching with steady tread, in white surplices, came next ; they, 
too, acclaimed him as an alumnus. Afterward came nearly two 
hundred and fifty of the regular and secular clergy, wearing 
white surplices over their black cassocks ; monsignori, abbots 
and bishops followed in line, preceded by the Capuchin Fathers, 
members of the Benedictine Order, Lazarists, Dominicans, Jes 
uits and Franciscans. Following the bishops in a Catholic 
procession the post of honor is always at the end, following the 

* Catholic Mirror, July 8. 1888. 



CEREMONIES IN THE CATHEDRAL. 129 

Biblical rule that "the first shall be last and the last first" 
came the archbishops. The herculean forms of Ryan and Pee- 
han, clad in episcopal purple, towered above the rest like great 
trees in a forest. Archbishop Kenrick, so feeble that every step 
seemed an effort, tottered along; on his left was Mgr. Straniero, 
the Papal Delegate, bareheaded, and clothed in a purple robe, 
Count Muccioli, the Noble Guard, wore his full uniform. Last 
of all, came the new Cardinal, bearing himself with the simple 
dignity which seemed to fit him like a garment. 

Protestants as well as Catholics reverently uncovered their 
heads as the procession passed through immense crowds con 
gregated on the streets. Within the Cathedral, as this won 
derful assemblage of the Church passed up the broad aisles, 
was a congregation which included many of the most distin 
guished men in the cardinal s native city and state. 

Archbishop Williams celebrated pontifical high mass. The 
eloquent Archbishop Ryan was selected to preach the ser 
mon. His strength as a pulpit orator, no less than his dignity 
and perfect self-possession on public occasions, were never 
more noticeable. With the new Cardinal he was in thorough 
sympathy, not only through the bonds of the closest personal 
friendship, but those of concurrent judgment regarding the 
weighty problems of Church and nation, 

He began by treating the Church as a kingdom, not of this 
world, but "visible, universal and perpetual." "Behold that 
kingdom," he said, "under one king, Jesus Christ, and His 
visible representative on eartl;, the Sovereign Pontiff, with ju 
dicial and legislative departments spread throughout the whole 
earth, with more discordant elements than any kingdom that 
ever existed, and yet with more union of action and conviction 
and affection a kingdom that extends farther than all others, 
and claims the tribute of intellect and heart. Men acknq^l- 
edge, indeed, its power and wisdom, and try to accotint for 
both on purely hutnan theories. Some regard it S ti 
fection of the monarchical system; others, as a great repH 



130 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

whose officers, from the pope to the humblest abbot, are 
elected by the governed, and whose religious orders are the 
model in great part for our own form of government. But the 
truth is that the Church is, strictly speaking, neither of these, 
nor a wondrous combination of both; but a new and Divine 
institution, a kingdom of God on earth, as the Scripture 
calls it. * * * 

"The simple forms by which a few thousand converted Jews 
were ruled in Jerusalem would be insufficient to govern the 
children of every tribe and tongue and people, numbering over 
two hundred millions, ruled from Rome as a center of unity. 
Hence we find that the Sovereign Pontiff selected a body of 
ecclesiastics in Rome whom he constituted his chief or cardinal 
counselors in the great affairs of his spiritual kingdom. * * * 

"These cardinals form, as it were, a senate of the Church, 
and what a magnificent senate! * * * The selection of 
these counselors of the Pope is left to his own judgment; but 
tbe Fathers of the Council of Trent presumed to suggest that 
the Roman Pontiff select them, as much as possible, out of all 
the nations of the earth, when suitable persons can be found. 
The wisdom, of this is evident. The central governing body 
ought to understand thoroughly the peoples whom they gov 
ern. The present Pontiff, who is remarkable for his knowl 
edge of the outside world and of the genius of this century, 
has, more than any otittr, perhaps, acted on this great and 
most wise principle. 

"To the exalted dignity which I have bsen describing the 
venerated and beloved Archbishop of Baltimore is now pro 
moted. Providence has fitted him for the position. He is in 
perfect harmony with the spirit of the Church, and can repre 
sent it to the American people; he is also in entire harmony 
with the spirit of the country, and can represent it in the coun 
cils of the Church. He knows and feels that there is no an- 
een the Catholic Church and our political insti- 



"AN HONOR TO THE AMERICAN CHURCH." 131 

tutions; but, on the contrary, she is nowhere on earth today 
more perfectly at home than in this free land* * * * 

"On this day twenty-five years ago the present Cardinal was 
ordained to the priesthood by the greatest ecclesiastic whom 
the American Church has yet seen Archbishop Francis Pat 
rick Kenrick, of this city. Today the brother of that great 
prelate, venerable in years and merits, after traveling over a 
thousand miles, appears in this sanctuary to crown with the 
scarlet of the cardinalate the young priest of that day. The 
former prelate prayed that God might bless and sanctify and 
consecrate* the prostrate young Levite ; today his brother prays 
that the same God may illumine and fortify the exalted prince 
of the Church. In this Cathedral, where the new Cardinal 
was baptized, officiated as a priest and was consecrated bishop, 
and presided so wisely over the late plenary council, he receives 
today the highest honors of the Church of God. It is an honor 
not only to him, but to the American Church; to this great 
State of Maryland, which, Catholic in its origin, proclaimed 
from the beginning the great doctrine of religious liberty. It 
is an honor to this Catholic and hospitable city of Baltimore, 
and I rejoice to learn that her non-Catholic citizens appreci 



ate it." 



Mgr. Straniero, in conferring the scarlet biretta, spoke of 
the amazement which the growth of the Catholic Church in 
America had created at Rome. "Its hierarchy/ he said, "has 
had scarce one hundred years of existence, and yet it is 
daily growing in splendor, both from its broad increase and the 
great virtues of the venerable men who make up its number. 
Witness those illustrious American prelates returning two years 
ago from Rome, whither they had gone to manifest their ven 
eration and love toward the See of Saint Peter, and, again, 
when all were gathered at the late council at Baltimore to give 
that shape and life to ecclesiastical discipline and for the care 
of the faithful which existing circumstances required. 



132 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

"All this could not escape the provident notice of the Roman 
Pontiff. Consequently, that he might give more proof of his 
fatherly care and love to the faithful of these States, and to 
their chief pastors, he determined to admit another of the 
prominent bishops of America to the Sacred College of Car 
dinals. Influenced by these motives, the Holy Father, in a 
secret consistory lately held at the Vatican, selected you, most 
eminent prince, who, bearing the dignity of the episcopate, 
have these many years ruled the Church of Baltimore. Your 
writings have been universally read, and all have admired the 
depth of your learning, your zeal, and your many virtues. 
Those who have known you intimately have been deeply im 
pressed by your remarkable qualities of heart and powers of 
mind. Waiving all else, it is enough for me to recall that 
when the American bishops assembled in plenary council, the 
Roman Pontiff appointed you to preside therein and to dis 
charge the office of Apostolic Delegate. 

To your Eminence may God grant a life of many years 
for the service and adornment of the Holy See and the welfare 
of the loving flock entrusted to your care. And as today is, 
moreover, the twenty-fifth anniversary of your ordination to 
the priesthood, on this account also, do I congratulate you. 
From the bottom of my heart I pray that God may grant you 
yet many anniversaries of this day/ 1 

Archbishop Kenrick, addressing the Cardinal, said that the 
honor which had come to him was one which American Cath 
olics had a right to expect, on account of their number and the 
importance of the Church in the United States. "We also had 
a right to expect^it," he continued, " on account of the great 
ness of our country, the position it occupies among the nations 
of the earth, the influence it is to exert over the future destinies 
of the human race. It is nothing anomalous or contrary 
to^ the principles of the republic that we should have in our 
midst a cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, an4 We 
are confident that your appointment will continue to be re- 



RESPONSE OF THE NEW CARDINAL. 133 

garded as it is now regarded a new element of strength and 
harmony for all. 

"We congratulate your Eminence on your appointment to 
so high an office. It will increase your cares and responsi 
bilities, but it will also increase your means of usefulness as 
an honored citizen of the republic and a faithful bishop of the 
Church of God/ 7 

The Cardinal responded, in turn, to the addresses of Arch 
bishop Kenrick and Mgr. Straniero, and then addressed the 
prelates, clergy and laity. He spoke of the associations which 
clustered around the old Cathedral in which they were all as 
sembled. "Many temples there are/ he said, "more spacious 
and stately, indeed, than this ; but none in our country which 
has seen within its sanctuary so many illustrious prelates. 
Within these walls were held ten provincial, and the three na 
tional councils those of 1852, 1866 and 1884. How often 
has the voice of an England, a Hughes, a McCloskey, a Pur- 
cell, a Fitzpatrick, a McGill and an O Connor resounded here! 

"The corner-stone of this Cathedral was laid by the patri 
arch of the American Church, the immortal Carroll Arch 
bishop Neale passed away before its completion; and in that 
chair have sat in luminous succession a Marechal, a Whitfield, 
an Eccleston, a Spalding and a Bayley great names of imper 
ishable renown in the annals of the Church in America. 

"Traditions such as these are so many links in the golden 
chain of love which binds your hearts to this ancient see. 
Another strong link which touches, as it were, and gathers up 
all the links that holds us, is the bond that draws us close to 
the See of Peter. I feel assured, therefore, that your hearts 
will go forth with mine in a message of thanks to our beloved 
Pontiff for the event we are celebrating today. It is an honor 
not personal to myself. It is an honor which he confers oft 
this venerable see, which you all love so well, and on the whpl& 
Church in America. It is a signal mark of admiration statf 
high esteem for our beloved country, in whose spiritual ^ wM- 



134 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

fare from the first day of his accession to the Chair of St. 
Peter he has taken so enlightened an interest. 

"God raises up men in every age to meet the emergencies of 
the occasion. He has providentially raised up our present 
illustrious Pontiff to meet the special wants of these times. 
As the first Leo, by his majestic bearing and fearless eloquence, 
arrested the march of an all-conquering warrior and saved 
Rome from destruction, so has the thirteenth of his great name 
conciliated one of the mightiest empires of modern times, giv 
ing back peace and liberty to the Church of Germany. He has 
been chosen umpire of two great nations of the eastern world ; 
and his impartial decision, gratefully acquiesced in by their 
rulers, has hushed the clamor of strife and restored peace and 
harmony. 

"Never, perhaps, in the history of the Church has the moral 
influence of the papacy been more strongly marked and benefi 
cently exerted than during the reign of Leo XIII ; never have 
the true relations of church and state been more clearly enun 
ciated than in his ever-memorable encyclical letter, Immor- 
tale Dei. 

"In no country of all the nations of the earth does he find 
more loyal and devoted spiritual children than among the 
clergy and laity of this free republic. And I am happy to add 
that our separated brethren, while not sharing in our faith, 
have shared in our profound admiration for the benevolent 
character and enlightened statesmanship of the present Su 
preme Pontiff. 

"Beloved brethren of the laity, I say from my heart of 
hearts that earth has for me no place dearer than the sanctuary 
where I now stand and the diocese which I serve. And how 
could it be otherwise? It was in this Cathedral that I first 
breathed the breath of life as a Christian. At yonder font I 
was regenerated in the waters of baptism. Almost beneath 
the shadow of this temple, in old St. Mary s Seminary, I was 
raised to the dignity of the priesthood by the hands of the 



MEMORIES OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 135 

venerable Archbishop Kenrick, the illustrious brother of him 
from whom I have the honor of receiving the biretta today. 
It was at this very altar that I was consecrated bishop by my 
predecessor and father in Christ, the venerated Spalding. 

"We of this diocese down to the humblest priest hold it aji 
honor as well as a duty to labor in the sacred soil of Maryland, 
where your forefathers, two hundred and fifty years ago, 
planted the cross and raised the banner of religious liberty 
and called forth the oppressed of other lands to take their 
shelter beneath its protecting folds. What holy enthusiasm 
should not these memories evoke ! What zeal should they not 
arouse for religion and country! May it be the study of my 
life to walk in the footprints of my illustrious predecessors in 
this ancient see, and in the footprints of the first cardinal 
archbishop in these United States, who has lately passed to his 
reward, and whose sterling merit was surpassed only by his 
modesty and humility. And may it be your good fortune also, 
dearly beloved brethren, to emulate the faith and civic virtues 
of your ancestors, and to hand down that faith and those vir 
tues untarnished as precious heirlooms to the generations yet 
to be." 

Following the long and magnificent ecclesiastical ceremony, 
there was a dinner at St. Mary s Seminary. The venerable 
institution had suddenly turned red. Bands of cardinal cloth 
adorned the building, and mingled with the American flag 
was the banner of the papacy. The Cardinal, in the brilliant 
robes of his new office, presided at the feast. In front of him 
was an archiepiscopal cross of flowers, and on each side of the 
cross were mitres of white roses. All who could get near him 
were eager to congratulate him. His winning smile and thor 
ough modesty captivated all. Among priests he could be a 
leader as well as among people. 

At night the seminary was brilliantly illuminated in em 
blematic designs. Red fire blazed along the streets, and there 
was a parade of Catholic Knights and young men s societies, 



136 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

many of them in uniform. Again all Baltimore was out of 
doors to watch; and, characteristically, there was the- utmost 
good nature and decorum. 

A purely social touch was given the festivities by a reception 
in the evening to the visiting prelates, given by Miss Emily 
Harper the granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, at 
her home, on Cathedral street, in the center of fashionable Bal 
timore. , , j .1 

At ten o clock the National Marine Band, then under the 
leadership of the afterwards famous Sousa, serenaded the 
Cardinal at his residence, as a final touch to a memorable day. 
So dense were the throngs in the streets that police had to clear 
a space for the band to approach. The Cardinal appeared at 
his famous bay-window, where he was instantly recognized, 
and the multitude broke into resounding cheers. Men threw 
their hats in the air, and women waved their handkerchiefs. 
It was almost like a candidate for the Presidency addressing a 
great mass-meeting in the height of an American political cam 
paign. Attired in his red cassock, partly covered by a black 
robe, the center of all eyes, the Cardinal walked out on the por 
tico of the building when quiet had been restored and briefly 
expressed his thanks, concluding with a prayer for a blessing 
on all. Amid another deafening din, he retired, and the 
throngs dispersed. 

The next day, with many of the visiting prelates, the Car 
dinal attended the annual commencement of St. Charles Col 
lege, where thirty-one years before, a youth just from New 
Orleans, he had pursued his classical studies in preparation for 
the priesthood. He spoke with affection of the memories of 
those days and the panorama of life since. "With respect to the 
references made in the course of the addresses here to our 
Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII," he said, "I wish to say in all 
simplicity and sincerity that the predilection he has appeared 
uniformly to evince toward me and the favorable appreciation 
he has made of what I have been able to do in the cause of 



DEEP INTEREST IN EDUCATION. 137 

religion, has been a constant source of embarrassment to me in 
his presence and of wonder when distant from him. 3 

The devoted interest which the Cardinal had always taken 
in education wherever his lot happened to be cast had made him 
a prime favorite among the teaching orders. Such an occasion 
as his elevation to the Sacred College could not be permitted 
by them to pass unnoticed. A large body of the Christian 
Brothers, representing the Province of Baltimore, visited him 
at his residence and presented an address, printed on satin, ac 
companied by a sum of money in a silk purse made by the 
Sisters of St. Mary s Orphan Asylum. Brother Azarias, of 
Rock Hill College, known throughout the English-speaking 
world as a literary critic in the front rank, read the address, 
expressing their thankfulness at his interest in and zeal for 
education. 

In such congenial company, the Cardinal responded from the 
fullness of his heart. "It is a source of inexpressible satis 
faction to us/ he said, "to feel the most perfect assurance of 
how free from friction are the relations of the Catholic Church 
and the giant republic of the West. It proves the elasticity, 
if we may so speak, of Catholic doctrine. It proves that it is 
Catholic indeed, and has the capacity to adapt itself to all that 
is good in the many forms of governments and persons, 
Breathing the pure air of liberty, the Church -expands with its 
finest strength, and grows in beauty and power. 

"We would find yet more occasion to approve and love it if 
we could contrast its state here with its condition in other 
countries less happy in their government and laws. Here the 
government extends over us the segis of equal laws without in 
terfering with the just rights of any. 

"How much can you not accomplish, Hear brothers, in tfeat 
spirit of self-sacrifice displayed by you on so many fieHs ^ 
untiring effort! We see around us now the monuments |>f 
those labors in the many young men reared in tfye 



138 .JJEE OP CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

intelligence and learning, fitted for the duties of citizenship, 
making them noble representatives of the State of Maryland. 
You carry out the principles of your founder, or rather, of the 
Gospel, for, after all, everything must be referred to the Gos 
pel. The secret of your success is found in humility, piety and 
intelligence; they form a triple cord which cannot be broken. 
Acting upon these principles in molding the minds, hearts and 
souls of youth, you do more than the great artists, whose 
genius brought out those beautiful images in marble or on 
canvas which have for centuries been the admiration and 
delight of every land and people. 

"It is not a slight debt that this archdiocese and this jjreat 
city of Baltimore the first great field of your labors in this 
country owe you. The clergy have experienced the benefit 
of your labors. You have many reasons to be proud of your 
mission in this archdiocese, for that mission is the high one 
of instilling virtue into young hearts and training their minds 
in knowledge/ 

By the press of the United States, that potent pilot of public 
opinion in which many foreign observers have found the real 
governing power of the country, the elevation of Cardinal 
Gibbons was commended with practical unanimity. Protestant 
as well as Catholic newspapers discussed it at length, express 
ing their sense of the honor done the whole United States, 
?s well as that portion of it embraced within the Catholic 
Churcfi. Cardinal Gibbons had not yet risen to the full height 
of his popularity; but already some knowledge of the traits 
which distinguished him as a man and a prelate had penetrated 
every part of the country. The newspapers saw in his selec 
tion for the Sacred College a recognition of the most pro 
gressive tendencies in the American Church and a hopeful 
sign of the complete understanding of the United States by the 
leaders of the Church in Europe. They felt that as an Ameri 
can by birth, training and public experience, no less than by 
sympathy and aspiration, he was well fitted to represent this 



JPLJBLIC OPINION IN AMERICA. 139 

country in the highest councils at Rome. The favor with 
which he was regarded by Leo XIII was hailed as an augury of 
benefit to America. 

The venerable Leo was then well past three score and ten; 
and none could foresee the remarkable age to which Provi 
dence was destined tojspare him. 



CHAPTER X. 

SPEECH IN ROME ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CHURCH AND 
STATE IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Rome was the next step. From the hand of the Supreme 
Pontiff alone could the new Cardinal receive the red hat, and 
there, among his brethren of the Sacred College, his words 
and acts would be fraught for the first time with the weight of 
a prince speaking to princes in the world-wide council of the 
Church. Would he remain only a national figure, of whom it 
would be said that he was a leader among a new people, but in 
the ancient forum of the pontificate had no mission to humanity 
as a whole? It was the greatest test he had yet been called 
upon to meet. 

He left Baltimore January 26, 1887, accompanied by his 
chancellor, Rev. P. J. Donahue, afterward Bishop of Wheeling, 
and by his consultors Revs. John S. Foley, Thomas S. Lee, 
John T. Gaitley, A. L. Magnien and J. A. Walter. New dem 
onstrations of popular esteem marked his departure from New 
York, and in Paris he was extensively entertained. Arriving 
in Rome, he became the center of an influential American rep 
resentation there assembled, including Mgr. O Connell, then 
rector of the American College; Archbishop Ireland, Bishop 
Keane and others. Among such churchmen he was at home 
as leader and friend. 

Conferences with the Pope ensued, at which conditions in 
America were discussed ; and on St. Patrick s Day, at a public 
consistory in the Sala Regia, the Pontiff bestowed the hat and 
ring and performed the ceremony of sealing and opening the 
lips. 



140 



SPEECH IN HIS TITULAR CHURCH. 141 

Archbishop Taschereau, of Quebec, was elevated at the 
same time, as were several European cardinals. To Cardinal 
Gibbons was committed, as his titular church, the ancient edifice 
of Santa Maria in Trastevere, the first temple raised in the 
world in honor of the Mother of Christ. 

Standing in this church, March 25, 1887, the past and the 
future met It was the day of his installation. He wore the 
scarlet cassock, signifying that he would defend the faith even 
to the shedding of his blood, as in the days when Christians 
were thrown to the lions in the Colosseum, not far distant. Sur 
rounding him was the centuried magnificence of architecture, 
painting, statue, mosaic. The long ceremonial eloquently 
typified the story of Christianity from the era of Constantine, 
through the glories of Charlemagne, the brilliancy of the Ital 
ian renaissance and the reconstruction of modern Europe. It 
was carried out with the precise formalism of early Rome and 
in the majestic tongue in which martyrs praised God as they 
went to their death. The atmosphere was rich with incense 
and quivered with reverent music. Vestment and altar bespoke 
antiquity. It was an occasion to overpower the senses, to 
hush the voice of the present in the great shadow of the accu 
mulated grandeur and wisdom of the past. 

All this must have profoundly affected the American Car 
dinal as he stood in his gorgeous robes while bishops, canons 
and priests performed their parts. He had not intended to 
make an address, beyond the brief responses necessary to his 
participation in the ceremony. But a few days before Mgp* 
O Connell had suggested to him that he should speak on sudi 
an occasion, and he had coincided in this view. The Cardinal 
spoke as follows : 

"The assignment to me by the Holy Father of this beatftf| 
basilica as my titular church fills me with feelings of joy ; 
gratitude which any words of mine are inadequate to 
For, as here in Rome I stand within the first temple raised / 
honor of the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, so in my far-off 




142 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

my own Cathedral Church, the oldest in the United States, is 
also dedicated to the Mother of God. This venerable edifice 
in which we are gathered leads us back in contemplation to the 
days of the catacombs. Its foundation was laid by Pope Ca- 
Hxttis in the year of our Lord, 224. It was restored by Pope 
Julius in the fourth century, and renovated by another Supreme 
Pontiff in the twelfth. 

"That never-ceasing solicitude which the Sovereign Pontiffs 
have exhibited in erecting these material temples, which are 
the glory of this city, they have also manifested on a larger 
scale in rearing spiritual walls to Zion throughout Christen 
dom in every age. Scarcely were the United States formed 
into an independent government, when Pope Pius VII estab 
lished a Catholic hierarchy and appointed the illustrious John 
Carroll the first Bishop of Baltimore. Our Catholic commu 
nity in those days numbered a few thousand souls, and they 
were scattered chiefly through the States of New York, Penn 
sylvania and Maryland. They were served by a mere handful 
of priests. But now, thanks to the fructifying grace of God, 
the grain of mustard seed then planted has grown to a large 
tree, spreading its branches through the length and breadth of 
our fair land. Where only one bishop was found in the begin 
ning of this century, there are now seventy-five exercising 
spiritual jurisdiction. For this great progress we are indebted, 
wider God and the fostering vigilance of the Holy See, to the 
cvvU liberty we enjoy in our enlightened republic. 

"Otir Holy Father, Leo XIII, in his luminous encyclical on 
the constitution of Christian states, declares that the Church is 
not committed to any form of civil government- She adapts 
herself to alL She leavens all with the sacred leaven of the 
Gospel. She has lived under absolute monarchies, under con 
stitutional monarchies, in free republics, and everywhere she 
grows and expands. She has often, indeed, been hampered in 
her Divide mission. She has even been forced to struggle for 
her existence wherever despotism has cast its dark shadow, 



LIBERTY FAVORABLE TO THE CHURCH. U3 

like a plant shut out from the blessed light of heaven. But in 
the genial atmosphere of liberty she blossoms like a rose. 

"For myself, as a citizen of the United States, and without 
closing my eyes to our shortcomings as a nation, I say, with a 
deep sense of pride and gratitude, that / belong to a country 
where the civil government holds over us the &gis of its pro 
tection, without interfering with us in the legitimate exercise 
of our sublime mission as ministers of the Gospel of Christ. 
Our country has liberty without license, and authority without 
despotism. She rears no wall to exclude the stranger from 
among us. She has few frowning fortifications to repel the 
invader, for she is at peace with all the world. She rests se 
cure in the consciousness of her stength and her good will 
toward all. Her harbors are open to welcome the honest emi 
grant who comes to advance his temporal interests and find a 
peaceful home. 

"But, while we are acknowledged to have a free government, 
perhaps we do not receive the credit that belongs to us for 
having, also, a strong government. Yes, our nation is strong, 
and her strength lies, under the overruling guidance of Provi 
dence, in the majesty and supremacy of the law, in the loyalty 
of her citizens and in the affection of her people for her free 
institutions. There are, indeed, grave social problems now 
employing the earnest attention of the citizens of the United 
States, but I have no doubt that, with God s blessing, these 
problems will be solved by the calm judgment and sound sense 
of the American people, without violence or revolution, or any 
injury to individual right. 

"As an evidence of his good will for the great republic in 
the West, as a mark of his appreciation of the venerable hier 
archy of the United States, and as an expression of his kirid 
consideration for the ancient See of Baltimore, .our Holy 
Father has been graciously pleased to elevate its present incum 
bent, in my humble person, to the dignity of the purple. For 
this mark of his exalted favor 1 beg to tender the Holy Father 



144 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

my profound thanks in my own name and in the name of the 
clergy and faithful. I venture to thank him also in the name 
of my venerable colleagues, the bishops, as well as the clergy 
and Catholic laity of the United States. I presume also to 
thank him in the name of our separated brethren in America, 
who, though not sharing our faith, have shown that they are 
not insensible indeed, that they are deeply sensible of the 
honor conferred upon our common country, and have again 
and again expressed their admiration for the enlightened states 
manship and apostolic virtues and benevolent character of the 
illustrious Pontiff who now sits in the Chair of St. Peter/ * 

The speech was read in Europe and America with intense in 
terest. It was characteristically American, they said in Rome. 
Here was a cardinal, barely out of his first consistory, daring 
to assert, in the very citadel of the Church, that separation in 
the United States did not mean hostility by the state to the 
Church, but protection, and that in the air of perfect free 
dom, unhampered by political bonds, the Church could work 
out her Divine mission better; that union of church and 
state often meant interference, and that American liberty 
meant the opportunity to win men to the faith free from the 
vexations of human complications. The message which the 
Cardinal had sought to convey, as he often said, was that 
"our duty is to preach the Gospel and save souls ;" that it is 
wisest to separate entirely the ministry of Christ from poli 
tics, unless some great moral question is involved; that this 
course is better for the Church everywhere. He felt that in 
time comprehension of the American system would grow at 
Rome; but some one must be considered radical in launching 
the first official declaration of it, and he did not shrink from 
fulfilling this trying mission. 

In the twentieth century, Europe understands America as 
never before, and not only tolerates, but imitates it in many 



* Catholic Mirrer, April 2, 1S87. 



AMERICA BETTER UNDERSTOOD. 145 

things. Two great influences have chiefly contributed to this : 
The speech of Cardinal Gibbons in the Church of Santa Maria 
in Trastavere, and the victories of thellnited States navy in the 
Spanish- American Wan The turning point was in getting the 
world to understand that liberty in America does not mean 
license; nor authority, despotism. Rome, the center of Cath 
olic thought, was the best place in which to plant the idea, and 
Europe rubbed its unwilling eyes and saw. 



CHAPTER XL 
KNIGHTS OF LABOR QUESTION. 

When the new Cardinal was boldly raising his voice for 
the institutions of his country in the ancient Church of Santa 
Maria in Trastevere, he had but recently penned a document 
which had the remarkable effect of causing the Congregation 
of the Holy Office the "inquisition" to reverse its attitude 
of opposition to the Knights of Labor. Foremost of the 
"grave social problems" to which he had alluded in that ad 
dress and in the settlement of which he had expressed his 
complete faith, was the labor question. Mr. Cleveland was 
then President, and both the Executive and Congress were 
principally concerned with the urgent demands of labor. The 
law against bringing workingmen under contract from abroad 
had just been passed; the Interstate Commerce Act, a meas 
ure almost forced on the Government by labor organizations, 
and an extension of the Chinese Exclusion Act, were being 
debated and were soon to be adopted. The Administration 
had committed itself to the establishment of a Department of 
Labor as a unit in its executive system at Washington. The 
anarchist riots in Chicago, with their bloody climax, had 
shocked the nation but a few months before. 

European pessimism, not yet fully awake to the truth, began 
to predict the downfall of America. It was believed that a 
government which maintained a standing army scarcely large 
enough to man its coast defenses, and a navy which at that time 
was archaic, could not withstand the shock of a popular tumult. 
Political equality, it was feared, had no corrective within 
itself for a sudden rising from the bottom. If the laborer were 
the equal of the capitalist before the law, would he not rave in 

146 



GRAVE LABOR PROBLEMS. 147 

an orgy of unrestrained power as soon as he was able to com 
prehend what his opportunities really meant? In the earlier 
days of the United States the labor question had adjusted 
itself. There was land enough for all; work for every hand; 
the laborer of today became the millionaire of tomorrow. 
Capital was unorganized, and labor had felt no special need 
to band together for its own protection. 

In the carnival of energy which had subdued half of a vast 
continent in a century, building teeming cities on virgin soil and 
establishing new Commonwealths in bewildering succession 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, men had been too busily 
employed in constructive labor to debate the ethics of the 
problem. But the work had now advanced far, and there was 
time to pause. Railroads spanned the continent and radiated 
in every direction. Civilization had carried its banner up the 
Rocky Mountains and to the shores of the Golden Gate, The 
army of workingmen was still here, but there was not so much 
work to do. Nearly all the lands opened by the Government 
to free settlement had been taken up. The economic pendulum 
was beginning to swing, and times of scarcity succeeded eras 
of plenty. 

American workingmen were not prepared for this. They were 
no more ready to meet a sudden economic change than were 
the rural colonists to face the mouths of British cannon in 
1775. Anarchy, imported from Europe, had found here what 
its apostles believed to be fertile soil for the propagation of it$ 
ideas. Socialism swept across the ocean and began its preach 
ments in the great cities. The genus tramp, in some respects 
peculiarly an American development, was spreading the cuk 
of idleness and the industrial code of the leech. The tariff 
laws had built up vast industries, whose captains controlled 
politicians and legislatures. Before them dangled the gilded 
prize of monopoly, and in a short time a few men were beg^im 
ning to aggregate to themselves the lion s share of the fruits Of 
the earth. 



148 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

It was now possible for the first time in the United States 
for one man to raise his hand and thousands would be without 
bread. Workingmen might crowd to the polls, intoxicated 
with tlie dreams of the Declaration of Independence, and find 
their ballots nullified by the insidious influences of corrupting 
wealth. At heart, the body politic was healthy; these were 
merely sores that did not reach the organism, though they 
grievously affected the surface. In time, their poison might 
penetrate to the heart. None could telL It might be that once 
again men would take arms in their hands to work out the 
problems of a free government amid the crash of battle. 

The growth of labor organizations in America in the decade 
preceding the election of President Cleveland had surpassed 
anything of the kind which the world had known. Wrongs 
needed a remedy ; half uncertain, the toilers banded together to 
act, if they could find a way. Chief among these organizations 
was the Knights of Labor, a secret order which, from a small 
beginning, had suddenly increased its membership by tens of 
thousands, and, like a great storm-cloud, overspread the po 
litical as well as industrial structure of the country. Its head, 
Terence V. Powderly, seemed to the toiling masses a Peter the 
Hermit called to lead them on a new crusade. Bearing the 
modest title of "general master workman," he wielded greater 
power than the Governor of a State. He possessed many of 
the traits of successful leadership, and was inspired by a fer 
vent belkf in the justice of his cause. Men thronged from the 
workshops to hail him when he went from city to city, pro 
claiming his evangel. In 1886 the order had a membership of 
500,000, "although," as Mr. Powderly said to a committee of 
Congress, "we have been credited with 5,000,000."* 

Simultaneously with this movement, Henry George s eco 
nomic theories were fast winning converts, particularly in New 
York, his home, where the influence of his powerful person 
ality was naturally strongest. 

* Carroll D. Wright, Industrial Evolution of the United States, p. 24& 



CONFERENCES WITH POWDERLY. 149 

In Canada the ecclesiastical authorities adjudged the Knights 
a forbidden organization, and the Holy Office sustained the 
condemnation. They were classed with secret societies work 
ing against religion. Under the decrees of the Third Plenary 
Council of Baltimore, they could be condemned in the United 
States only by unanimous action of the archbishops; and, in 
case the archbishops disagreed, the question was to be referred 
to Rome. The critical aspect of the problem made action im 
perative ; Mr. Powderly, himself a Catholic, came to Baltimore 
several times and conferred with Cardinal Gibbons; on one 
occasion he appeared before a committee of the archbishops at 
a meeting at the Cardinal s house and pleaded the cause of the 
Knights. He offered to amend any order or rule of the or 
ganization to which the ecclesiastical authorities might object. 
The obligation of secrecy, he pointed out, was a simple pledge 
and not an oath. Its purpose was to keep the knowledge of 
the organization s business from enemies or strangers, and it 
was not such as to hinder Catholics from manifesting every 
thing to competent ecclesiastical authority, even outside of 
confession. When the archbishops came to consider the ques 
tion, only two out of twelve Kenrick, of St. Louis, and Sal- 
pointe, of Santa Fe voted for condemnation. 

In his consideration of this grave question, Cardinal Gibbons 
conferred with President Cleveland, and was in active corre 
spondence with Cardinal Manning, his close friend, the Church s 
apostle of labor in England. He found both in full sympathy 
with his own views, and Cardinal Manning was ready to assist 
actively in the program to which he had resolved to commit 
himself to urge the Holy Office not to forbid the organization 
of the Knights. By not a few who were unable to see in ad 
vance of the moment, his views were considered too far-reach 
ing. The Knights were even regarded as socialistic; and, in 
truth, they might have become such had a program of repres 
sion been adopted against them. 



150 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Rome heard the echoes of these doubts and fears, and the 
delicate susceptibilities of conservatives were jarred by the 
assertion that Cardinal Gibbons had turned radical and was 
attempting to engraft his views on the Church. This cloud of 
misunderstanding made his task all the more difficult. He ex 
plained his views fully in several interesting letters to Cardinal 
Manning,* who fully concurred with him and rejoiced to find 
his own ideas on the relations between capital and labor shared 
by one occupying such a distinguished position in the Church 
in the United States. Manning considered that Cardinal Gib 
bons was doing a great and needed work in America in advanc 
ing the position of the laboring classes, and wished ardently 
that he might have as much success in England. 

Several bishops in France, and not a small number of Cath 
olic writers, expressed alarm at the advanced and liberal views 
of these two eminent men. The element in England which 
was unable to understand thoroughly the great purposes of 
Cardinal Manning was also willing to cry, "Beware!"; but in 
America, as the task of Cardinal Gibbons developed and the 
real significance of what he was doing came to be more clearly 
seen, the general tone of comment, in and out of the Church, 
was one of praise and enthusiastic support. 

When Cardinal Gibbons sailed for Europe in January, 1887, 
to receive the red hat, a part of his mission was to present the 
plea of organized labor. The atmosphere which he was about 
tp enter was hostile to his views on this question. One of 
his companions on the voyage was Cardinal Taschereau, on 
whom also the red hat was to be bestowed and who was going 
to urge adherence to the judgment condemning the order in 
Canada; while to Cardinal Gibbons fell the far more difficult 
task of appealing to Rome to recognize the order as one not to 
be forbidden. 

He presented his views vigorously in the Eternal City, with 
the active assistance of Archbishop Ireland, Bishop Keane and 

* Purcell, Life of Cardinal Manning, Vol. II, pp. 680-51. 



APPEAL FOR KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 151 

Monsignor O Connell. Under date of February 20, 1887, he 
addressed to Cardinal Simeoni, Prefect of the Propaganda, for 
presentation to the Holy Office a report on the whole subject, 
which was marked by broad statesmanship, searching logic and 
enlightened foresight perhaps the strongest document he ever 
wrote. 

This letter, a milestone in the Church s journey toward the 
hearts of the American people, is of sufficient importance to be 
quoted in full. Following is the translation of it as published 
in the Moniteur de Rome, the official organ of the Vatican.* 

"To His Eminence Cardinal Simeoni, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation 
of the Propaganda: 

"Your Eminence In submitting to the Holy See the conclusions 
which, after several months of attentive observation and reflection, seem 
to me to sum up the truth concerning the association of the Knights of 
Labor, I feel profoundly convinced of the vast importance of the conse 
quences attaching to this question, which ia but a link in the great 
chain of the social problems of our day, and especially of our country. 

"In treating this question I have been very careful to follow as my 
constant guide the spirit of the encyclical letters, in which our Holy 
Father Leo XIII has so admirably set forth the dangers of our times 
and their remedies, as well as the principles by which we are to recog 
nize associations condemned by the Holy See. Such was also the guide 
of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in its teachings concerning 
the principles to be followed and the dangers to be shunned by the faith 
ful either in the choice or in the establishment of those various forms of 
association toward which the spirit of our popular institutions so 
strongly impels them. And, considering the evil consequences that 
might result from a mistake in the treatment of organizations which 
often count their members by thousands and hundreds of thousands, the 
council wisely ordained (n. 225) that, when an association is spread 
over several dioceses, not even the bishop of one of these dioceses shaU 
condemn it, but shall refer the case to a standing committee consisting of 
all the archbishops of the United States ; and even these are not author^ 
ized to condemn, unless their sentence be unanimous ; and in case tiey 
fall to agree unanimously, then only the supreme tribunal of the 
See can impose a condemnation; all this in order to avoid erro>r 
confusion of discipline. 



* A copy of the letter in French is in the Cathedral Archives, Baltimore. 



152 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

"This committee of archbishops held a meeting towards the end cf 
last October, at which thfe association of the Knights of Labor was 
specially considered. To this we were not impelled by the request of 
any of our bishops, for none of them had asked it ; and I must add that 
among all the bishops we know of but two or three who desire the con 
demnation. But our reason was the importance attached to the ques 
tion by the Holy See itself, and this led us to examine it with all possi 
ble care. After our deliberations, the result of which has already been 
communicated to the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda, only two 
out of the twelve archbishops voted for condemnation ; and their reasons 
were powerless to convince the others of either the justice or the pru 
dence of such a condemnation. 

"In the following considerations I wish to state in detail the reasons 
which determined the vote of the great majority of the committee- 
reasons whose truth and force seem to me all the more evident after 
this lapse of time; nor will I fail to do justice to the arguments 
advanced on the other side : 

"1. In the first place, though there may be found in the constitution, 
laws and official declarations of the Knights of Labor things that we 
would not approve, still, we have failed to find in them those elements 
so clearly pointed out by the Holy See, which would class them among 
condemned associations: 

"(a) In their form of initiation there is no oath. 

"(b) The obligation to secrecy by which they keep the knowledge of 
their business from enemies or strangers is not such as to hinder Catho 
lics from manifesting everything to competent ecclesiastical authority, 
even outside of confession. This has been positively declared to us by 
their chief officers. 

"(c) They make no promise of blind obedience. The object and laws 
of the association are distinctly declared, and the obligation of obedience 
does not go beyond them. 

**(d) They not only profess no hostility against religion or the 
Church, but their declarations are quite to the contrary* The third Ple 
nary Council commands (n. 254) that condemnation shall not be passed 
on any association without the previous hearing of its officers or repre 
sentatives. Now, their president, when sending me a copy of their consti 
tution, declared that he is a devoted Catholic ; that he practices his reli 
gion faithfully and receives the sacraments regularly ; that he belongs to 
no Masonic society or other association condemned by the Church ; that 
he knows nothing in the organization of the Knights of Labor contrary to 
the laws of the Church ; that, with filial submission, he begs the pastors 
of the Church to examine their constitution and laws, and to point out 



APPEAL FOR KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 153 

anything they may find objectionable, promising to see to its correction. 
Assuredly, there is in all this no hostility to the authority of the Church, 
but, on the contrary, a disposition in every way praiseworthy. After 
their convention, held last year in Richmond, he and several of the 
principal members, devout Catholics, made similar declarations concern 
ing the action of that convention, the documents of which we expect 
to receive shortly. 

"(e) Nor do we find in this organization any hostility to the authority 
and laws of our country. Not only does nothing of the kind appear in 
their constitution and laws, but the heads of our civil government treat 
with respect the cause which such associations represent. The President 
of the United States told me personally, a few weeks ago, that he then 
had under consideration a proposed law for the amelioration of certain 
social grievances, and that he had had a long conversation on these 
topics with Mr. Powderly, the President of the Knights of Labor. The 
Congress of the United States, in compliance with the views presented by 
President Cleveland in his annual message, is at present engaged in 
framing measures for the improvement of the condition of the laboring 
classes, in whose complaints they acknowledge that there is a great deal 
of truth. And our political parties, far from considering them the ene 
mies of the country, vie with each other in championing the evident 
rights of the workingmen, who seek not to resist or overthrow the laws, 
but only to obtain* just legislation by constitutional and legitimate means. 

"These considerations, which show that in these associations those 
elements are not to be found which the Holy See has condemned, lead 
us to study, in the second place, the evils which the association contends 
against and the nature of the conflict 

"2. That there exist among us, as in all other countries of the world, 
grave and threatening social evils, public injustices which call for strong 
resistance and legal remedy, is a fact which no one dares to deny a fact 
already acknowledged by the Congress and the President of the United 
States. Without entering Into the sad details of these evils, whose full 
discussion is not necessary, I will only mention that monoplies, on the 
part of both individuals and of corporations, have everywhere called forth 
not only the complaints of our working classes, but also the opposition 
of our public men and legislators ; that the efforts of monopolists, not 
always without success, to control legislation to their own profit, cause 
serious apprehensions among the disinterested friends of liberty; that 
tae heartless avarice which, through greed of gain, pitilessly grinds not 
only the men, but even the women and children in various employments, 
makes it clear tp all who love humanity and justice that it is not only 
the right of the laboring classes to protect themselves, but the duty of 



154 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

the wliole people to aid them In finding a remedy against the dangers 
witli which both civilization and social order are menaced by avarice, 
oppression and corruption. 

**It would be vain to dispute either the existence of the evils, or the 
right of legitimate resistance, or the necessity of a remedy. At most, 
a doubt might be raised about the legitimacy of the form of resistance 
andtorthe remedy employed by the Knights of Labor. This, then, is the 
next point to be examined. 

**3. It can hardly be doubted that, for the attainment of any public 
end, association the organization of all interested is the most effica 
cious means a means altogether natural and just. This is so evident, 
and besfdes, so comformable to the genius of our country, of our essen 
tially popular social conditions, that it is unnecessary to Insist upon it. 
It is almost the only means to public attention, to give force to the most 
legitimate resistance, to add weight to the most just demands. 

"Now, there already exists an organization which presents innumera 
ble attractions and advantages, but with which our Catholic workingmen, 
filially obedient to the Holy See, refuse to unite themselves ; this is tbe 
Masonic Order, which exists everywhere in our country and which, as 
Mr. Powderly has expressly pointed out to us, unites employers and em 
ployed in a brotherhood very advantageous to the latter, but which num 
bers in its ranks hardly a single Catholic. Nobly renouncing advantages 
which the Church and conscience forbid, our worklngmen join associa 
tions in no way in conflict with religion, seeking nothing but mutual pro 
tection and help, and the legitimate assertion of their rights. Must they 
foer$ also find themselves threatened with condemnation, hindered from 
their only means of self-defense? 

"4. Let us now consider the objections made against this sort of 
organization : 

w {a) It is objected that In such organization, Catholics are mixed 
with Protestants, to the peril of their faith. Naturally, yes ; they are 
mixed with Protestants at their work ; for, in % mixed people like ours, 
the separation of religious creeds in civil affairs Is an impossibility. 
But to suppose that the faith of our Catholics suffers thereby is not to 
know the Catholic working men of America, who are not like the 
working men of so many European countries misguided children, es- 
traiaged from their Mother, the Church, and regarding her with sus 
picion and dreadbut Intelligent, well-instructed, and devoted Catholics, 
ready to give their blood, if necessary, as they continually give their 
iiard-eamed means, for her support and protection. And, In fact, it Is 
not here a question of Catholics mixed with Protestants, but rather 
Protestants are admitted to share in the advantages of an associa- 



APPEAL FOR KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 155 

tton, many of whose members and officers are Catholics; and. In a 
country like ours, their exclusion would be simply impossible, 

(b) But it is asked, instead of such an organization, could there not 
be confraternities, in which the working men would be united under tho 
direction of the clergy and the influence of religion? I answer frankly 
that I do not consider this either possible or necessary in our country. 
I sincerely admire the efforts of this sort which are made in countries 
where the working people are led astray by the enemies of religion ; but, 
thanks be to God, that is not our condition We find that in our country 
the presence and direct influence of the clergy would not be advisable 
where our citizens, without distinction of religious belief, come together 
in regard to their industrial interests alone. Short of that, we have 
abundant means for making our working people faithful Catholics; and 
simple good sense advises us not to go to extremes. 

"(c) Again, it is objected that, in such organizations, Catholics arc 
exposed to the evil influences of the most dangerous associates, even 
of atheists, communists and anarchists. That is true ; btit it is one of 
those trials of faith which our brave American Catholics are accustomed 
to meet almost daily, and which they know how to face with good sense 
and firmness. The press of our country tells us, and the president of 
the Knights of Labor has related to us, how these violent, aggressive 
elements have endeavored to control the association, or to inject poison 
into its principles; but they also inform us with what determination 
these machinators have been repulsed and beaten. 

"The presence among our citizens of those dangerous social elements, 
which have mostly come from certain countries of Europe, is assuredly 
for us an occasion of great regret and of vigilant precautions; it is a 
fact, however, which we have to accept, but which the close union be 
tween the Church and her children which exists in our country renders 
comparatively free from danger. In truth, the only thing from which we 
would fear serious danger would be a cooling of this relationship be 
tween the Church and her children; and I know nothing that would 
be more likely to occasion it than imprudent condemnations. 

"(d) A specially weighty charge is drawn from the outbursts of 
violence, even to bloodshed, which have accompanied several of the 
strikes inaugurated by labor organizations. Concerning this, three 
things are to be remarked first, strikes are not an invention of the 
Knights of Labor, but a means almost everywhere and always resorted 
to by the working classes to protect themselves against what they con 
sider injustice, and in assertion of what they believe to be their just 
rights; secondly, in such a struggle of the poor and indignant multi 
tudes against hard and obstinate monopoly, outbursts of anger are al- 



156 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

most as inevitable as they are greatly to be regretted; thirdly, the laws 
and the chief authorities of the Knights of Labor, far from encouraging 
violence or the occasions of it, exercise a powerful influence to hinder it, 
and to retain strikes within the limits of good order and of legitimate 
action. 

"A careful examination of the acts of violence accompanying the 
struggle between capital and labor last year leaves us convinced that It 
would be unjust to attribute them to the association of the Knights of 
Labor; for this association was but one among the numerous labor 
organizations that took part in the strikes, and their chief officers used 
every possible effort, as disinterested witnesses testify, to appease the 
anger of the multitudes, and to hinder the excesses which, therefore, 
in my Judgment, could not justly be attributed to them. Doubtless, 
among the Knights of Labor, as among the thousands of other working 
men, there are to be found passionate or even wicked men who have 
committed inexcusable deeds of violence, and have instigated their as 
sociates to the same; but to attribute this to the association would, it 
seems to me, be as unreasonable as to attribute to the Church the 
follies or the crimes of her children against which she strives and 
protests. 

"I repeat that, in such a struggle of the great masses of the people 
against the mail-clad power which, as it is acknowledged, often refuses 
them the simple rights of humanity and justice, it Is vain to expect 
that every error and every act of violence can be avoided ; and to dream 
that this struggle can be hindered, or that we can deter the multitudes 
from organizing, which is their only hope of success, would be to Ignore 
the nature and forces of human society in times like ours. Christian 
prudence evidently counsels us to hold the hearts of the multitudes by 
the bonds of love, in order to control their actions by the principles of 
faith, justice and charity ; to acknowledge frankly what Is true and just 
in their cause, In order to deter them from what is false and criminal, 
and thus to turn into a legitimate, peaceable and beneficent contest 
what might easily, by a course of repulsive severity, become for the 
masses of our people a dread volcanic force like unto that which society 
fears and the Church deplores In Europe. 

"Upon this point I Insist strongly, because, from an Intimate acquaint 
ance with the social conditions of our country* I am profoundly convinced 
that here we are touching upon a subject which not only concerns tbe 
rights of the working classes, who ought to be especially dear to the 
Church which our Lord sent forth to preach His Gospel to the poor, but 
With which are intimately bound up the fundamental interests of the 



APPEAL FOR KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 157 

Church and of human society for the future. This is a point which I 
desire, in a few additional words, to develop more clearly. 

"5. Whoever meditates upon the ways in which divine Providence is 
guiding mankind in our days can not fail to remark how important is 
the part which the power of the people takes in shaping the events of 
the present, and which it is evidently destined to take in molding the 
destinies of the future. We behold, with profound regret, the efforts of 
the prince of darkness to make this power dangerous to the social weal 
by withdrawing the masses of the people from the influence of religion, 
and impelling them towards the ruinous paths of license and anarchy. 
Hitherto our country has presented a spectacle of a most consolingly 
different character that of a popular power regulated hy love of good 
order, respect for religion, by obedience to the authority of the laws ; not 
a democracy of license and violence, but that true democracy which aims 
at the general prosperity through the means of sound principles and 
good social order. 

"In order to preserve so desirable a state of things it is absolutely 
necessary that religion should continue to possess the affections and 
thus rule the conduct of the multitudes. As Cardinal Manning has well 
written, A new task is before us. The Church has no longer to deal 
with Parliaments and princes, but with the masses and with the people. 
Whether we Tyill or no, this is our work; we need a new spirit and a 
new law of life. To lose influence over the people would be to lose the 
future altogether ; and it is by the heart, far more than by the under 
standing, that we must hold and guide this immense power, so mighty 
either for good or for evil. 

"Among all the glorious titles which the Church s history has deserved 
for her there is not one which at present gives her so great influence as 
that of Friend of the People/ Assuredly, In our democratic country, it 
is this title which wins for the Catholic Church not only the enthusiastic 
devotedness of the millions of her children, but also the respect and 
admiration of all our citizens, whatever be their religious belief. It is 
the power of this title which renders persecution almost an impossibility, 
and which draws towards our Holy Church the great heart of the 
American people. 

"And since it is acknowledged by all that the great questions of the 
future are not those of war, of commerce or of finance, but the social 
questions the questions which concern the improvement of the condition 
of the great popular masses, and especially of the working people It is 
evidently of supreme importance that the Church should always be found 
on the side of humanity of Justice towards the multitudes wbo compose 
the body of the human family. As the same Cardinal Manning has 



158 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

wisely written, I know I am treading on a very difficult subject, bnt 
I feel confident of this, that we must face it, and that we must face ft 
calmly, justly, and with a willingness to put labor and the profits of 
labor second the moral state and domestic life of the whole working 
population first I will not venture to draw up such an act of Parlia 
ment further than to lay down this principle. * * * These things 
(the present condition of the poor in England) can not go on; these 
things ought not to go on. The accumulation of wealth in the land, the 
piling up of wealth like mountains, in the possession of classes or indi 
viduals, can not go on. No Commonwealth can rest on such foundations. 
(Miscellanies, YoL 2, p. 81.) 

"In our country, above all, this social amelioration is the inevitable 
programme of the future, and the position which the Church should 
hold towards it is surely obvious. She can certainly not favor the ex 
tremes to which the poor multitudes are naturally inclined; but, I 
repeat, she must withhold them from these extremes by the bonds of 
affection, by the maternal desire which she will manifest for the con- 
cession of all that is just and reasonable ih their demands, and by the 
maternal blessing which she will bestow upon every legitimate means 
for improving the condition of the people. 

"6. Now let us consider for a moment the consequences which would 
inevitably follow from a contrary course from a course of want of 
sympathy for the working class, of suspicion for their aims, of ready 
condemnation for their methods. 

"(a) First, there would be the evident danger of the Church s losing, 
in popular estimation, her right to be considered the friend of the people! 
The logic of the popular heart goes swiftly to its conclusions, and this 
conclusion would be most pernicious both for the people and for the 
Church. To lose the heart of the people would be a misfortune for 
which the friendship of the few rich and powerful would be no com- 
pensation. 

M (b) There would be a great danger of rendering hostile to the 
Church the political power of our country, which has openly taken sides 
with the millions who are demanding justice and the improvement of 
their condition. The accusation of being un-American that Is to say, 
alien to our national spirit is the most powerful weapon which tho 
enemies of the Church can employ against her. It was this cry which 
arouse^ the Know-Nothing persecution thirty years ago, and the same 
would be used again If the opportunity offered. To appreciate the 
gravity of this danger it is well to remark that not only are the rights 
of the working classes loudly proclaimed by each of our two great politi 
cal parties, but it is not improbable that, in our approaching national 



APPEAL FOR KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 159 

elections, there will be a candidate for the office c*f President of the 
United States as the special representative of the popular complaints 
and demands. 

"Now, to seek to crush by an ecclesiastical condemnation an organiza 
tion which represents more than 500,000 votes, and which has already 
so respectable and so universally recognized a place in the political 
arena, would, to speak frankly, be considered by the American people 
as not less ridiculous than rash. To alienate from ourselves the friend 
ship of the people would be to run great risk of losing the respect 
which the Church has won in the estimation of the American nation, 
and of forfeiting the peace and prosperity which form so admirable a. 
contrast with her condition in some so-called Catholic countries. Angry 
utterances have not been wanting of late, and it is well that we should 
act prudently. 

"(c) A third danger and the one which most keenly touches our 
hearts is the risk of losing the love of the children of the Church, and 
of pushing them into an attitude of resistance against their Mother. 
The world presents no more beautiful spectacle than that of their filial 
devotion and obedience; but it is well to recognize that, in our age antl 
in our country, obedience can not be blind. We would greatly deceive 
ourselves if we expected it Our Catholic working men sincerely believe 
that they are only seeking justice, and seeking it by legitimate means. 
A condemnation would be considered both false and unjust, and, there 
fore, not binding. We might preach to them submission and confidence 
in the Church s judgment ; but these good dispositions could hardly go 
so far. They love the Church, and they wish to save their souls; but 
they must also earn their living, and labor is now so organized that 
without belonging to the organization, it is almost impossible to earn 
one s living. 

"Behold, then, the consequences to be feared. Thousands of the 
Church s most devoted children, whose affection is her greatest comfort f 
and whose free offerings are her chief support, would consider them 
selves repulsed by their Mother and would live without practicing their 
religion. Catholics who have hitherto shunned the secret societies 
would be sorely tempted to join their ranks. The Holy See, which h^ 
constantly received from the Catholics of America proofs of almost un 
paralleled devotedness, would be considered not as a paternal authority, 
but as a harsh and unjust power. Surely these are consequences whidi 
wisdom and prudence counsel us to avoid. 

"7. But, besides the dangers that would result from such $ condemna 
tion, and the impracticability of putting it into effect, it is also very 
important that we should carefully consider another reason against 



160 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

condemnation, arising from the unstable and transient character of the 
organization in question. It is frequently remarked by the press and by 
attentive observers that this special form of association has in it so 
little permanence that, in its present shape, it is not likely to last many 
years. Whence it follows that it is not necessary, even if it were just 
and prudent, to level the sole condemnations of the Church against so 
evanescent an object. The social agitation itself will, indeed, last as 
long as there are social evils to be remedied ; but the forms of organiza 
tion meant for the attainment of this end are naturally provisional and 
short-lived. They are also very numerous, for I have already remarked 
that the Knights of Labor is only one among many labor organizations. 
"To strike, then, at one of these forms, would be to commence a war 
without system and without end ; it would be to exhaust the forces of the 
Church in chasing a crowd of changing and uncertain spectres. Tua 
American people behold with perfect composure and confidence the prog 
ress of our social contest, and have not the least fear of not being able to 
protect themselves against any excesses or dangers that may occasionally 
arise. Hence, to speak with the most profound respect, but also with 
the frankness which duty requires of me, it seems to me that prudence 
suggests, and that even the dignity of the Church demands, that we 
should not offer to America an ecclesiastical protection for which she 
does not ask, and of which she believes she has no need. 

"8. In all this discussion, I have not at all spoken of Canada, nor of 
the condemnation concerning the Knights of Labor in Canada; for we 
would consider it an impertinence on our part to meddle with the eccle 
siastical affairs of another country which has an hierarchy of its own, 
and with whose social conditions we do not pretend to be acquainted. 
We believe, however, that the circumstances of a people almost entirely 
Catholic, as in lower Canada, must be very different from those of a 
mixed population like ours; moreover, that the documents submitted to 
the Holy Office are not the present constitution of the organization in 
our country, and that we, therefore, ask nothing involving an incon 
sistency on the part of the Holy See, which passed sentence localiter et 
juxta, exposita. 

"It is of the United States that we speak, and we trust that we are 
not presumptuous in believing that we are competent to judge about the 
state of things in onr own country. Now, as I have already Indicated, 
out of the seventy-five archbishops and bishops of the United States, 
there are about five who desire the condemnation of the Knights ot 
Labor, such as they are in our own country; so that our hierarchy 
are almost unanimous in protesting against such a condemnation. Such 
a fact ought to have great weight in deciding the question. If there are 



APPEAL FOR KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 161 

difficulties in the case, it seems to me that the prudence and experience 
of our bishops and the wise rules of the Third Plenary Council ought 
to suffice for their solution. 

"Finally, to sum up all, it seems to me that the Holy See could not 
decide to condemn an association under the following circumstances : 

"1. When the condemnation does not seem to be justified either by 
the letter or the spirit of its constitution, its law and the declaration of. 
its chiefs. 

"2. When the condemnation does not seem necessary, in view of the 
transient form of the organization and the social condition of the United 
States. 

"3. When it does not seem to be prudent, because of the reality of 
the grievances complained of by the working classes, and their acknowl 
edgment by the American people. 

*4. When it would be dangerous for the reputation of the Church in 
our democratic country, and might even lead to persecution. 

"5. When it would probably be ine t . cartons, owing to the general con- 
viction that it would be unjust 

"6. When it would be destructive instead of beneficial in its effects, 
impelling the children of the Church to disobey their Mother, and even 
to enter condemned societies, which they have thus far shunned. 

"7. When it would turn into suspicion and hostility the singular 
devotedness of our Catholic people towards the Holy See. 

"8. When it would be regarded as a cruel blow to the authority of 
bishops in the United States, who, it is well known, protest against such 
a condemnation. 

"Now, I hope that the considerations here presented have sufficiently 
shown that such would be the effect of condemnation of the Knights of 
Labor in the United States. 

Therefore, I leave the decision of the case, with fullest confidence, 
to the wisdom and prudence of your Eminence and the Holy See. 

"J. CABD. GIBBONS, 
"Archbishop of Baltimore." 
Rome, February 20, 1887. 

The report, as will be observed from its perusal, was a 
complete exposition of the labor question involved in the 
organization of the Knights and an analysis of the rela 
tion between the Church and the social and economic situa 
tion in the United , States. The principles and methods^pf 
the order were the same in the United States as in Canada ; but 



162 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

with an adroitness which he knew well how to use when occa 
sion warranted it, the Cardinal gave the Holy Office an open 
ing for reversing itself by pointing out differences in the gen 
eral conditions of the two countries. In person, as well as by 
formal appeals, he carried his case to the other members of 
the Curia. In the face of what seemed like a stone wall of 
opposition, his aggressiveness was aroused. He made an ener 
getic appeal to the commissary of the Holy Office, declaring 
vehemently that he would hold him responsible for the loss of 
souls in America through his attitude; at the end of this 
interview, that important official promised to consider the 
question. Only those hostile to the Knights had previously 
been heard at Rome. Opinion, fixed and deliberate, had to be 
assailed in its powerful citadel. Cardinal Gibbons boldly de 
clared that if the condemnation were allowed to stand, it would 
be ruinous to the financial support of the church in the United 
States ; that it would turn into doubt and hostility the marked 
devotion of the people to the Holy See, and would lessen the 
contribution of Peter s pence. 

The Cardinal s letter to the Propaganda had not been in 
tended for the public eye ; but a newspaper correspondent hav 
ing contrived to get possession of a copy, it was published in 
America and Europe. The Cardinal was surprised one day to 
receive cablegrams of congratulation from home, and in a 
short time learned that the argument he had framed for the 
Curia alone was a theme of discussion throughout the world. 

The case was won. Not only did Rome decide not to forbid 
the organization of the Knights in the United States, but the 
ban was lifted in Canada. Labor rejoiced that it had gained a 
signal victory; the Church was still the champion of the poor. 
Said the Moniteur de Rome: 

"His Eminence s document has been widely commented upon by the 
newspapers throughout the United States. They have unanimously 
j*eco#nized in it not only a great benefit conferred upon the millions at 
worMngmen who compose the great mass of people in America and i 



HIS VICTORY ACCLAIMED. 163 

every otter country, but also a victory for the Catholic Church, whi<% 
in showing itself the friend of the people, naturally secures their 
affections. * * * As a matter of course, a few journals organs of 
the monopolies have uttered their protests ; hut their voice has scarcely 
been heard amid the general applause." 

England echoed the acclamation. "I have read with great 
assent," Cardinal Manning wrote, "Cardinal Gibbons docu 
ment in relation to the Knights of Labor. The Holy See will, 
I am sure, be convinced by his exposition of the state of the 
new world. I hope it will open a new field of thought and 
action. * * * The Church is the mother, friend and pro 
tector of the people. As the Lord walked among them, so 
his Church lives among them."* 

In the acuteness of the labor question at the time, Cardinal 
Gibbons declaration was criticised and lampooned in some 
quarters. Puck caricatured him as imparting a blessing, with 
uplifted hands, to a body of riotous working people pursuing a 
non-union man. He faced denunciation and received praise 
with equal calmness. The tumult was soon stilled and the ad 
justment of the relations of labor and capital proceeded, for 
the most part, on natural and orderly lines. 

Throughout the remainder of his pontificate -Leo retained 
vividly the views of the labor question which Cardinal Gibbons 
had helped to impress upon him. He rejoiced at thfe oppor 
tunity to put the Church in touch with the times on this .prob 
lem of vast and fundamental importance to the spread of re 
ligion among the working people of America and Europe. 
His mature thought was embodied in an encyclical on "The 
Condition of Labor," which he addressed to the bishops of the 
Catholic world a few years later. Considering the subject 
from its elements, he warmly defended the dignity of labor, 
as Cardinal Gibbons had done before him; dwelt upon 
Christian interdependence of capital and labor, and 



* Taylor, The Cardinal Democrat, p.*, ISO. 



164 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

that no perfect solution of this question would ever be found 
without the assistance of religion and of the Church. 

Dealing with the cult of the Socialists, who were beginning 
to carry local elections in Europe, and who even threatened to 
gain control of several governments by alliance with wings of 
other political parties, he declared that they were working on 
the poor man s envy of the rich and were endeavoring to de 
stroy private property. He pronounced their proposals clearly 
futile for all practical purposes, and held that if they were car* 
ried out, the workingman himself would be among the first to 
suffer. More than that, he found them emphatically unjust, 
because they would rob the lawful possessor, bring the state 
into a sphere not its own and cause complete confusion in the 
community. 

The Church, he set forth, was not so occupied with the spir 
itual concerns of her children as to neglect their temporal inter 
ests. Her desire was that the poor should rise above poverty 
and wretchedness. Christian morality was the key to the situ 
ation; if practiced by employer and employee, it would always 
find part of its expression in the attitude of the state toward 
social questions. While the state should safeguard private 
property, it should also protect the rights of the laborer, and 
-special consideration was due to the poor as the weaker mefa- 
bers of every community. He warned against the employ 
ment of child labor, and emphasized the moral obligation rest 
ing tin employers to pay fair wages, Both employers and em 
ployees, he held, had a right to combine, and it was highly im 
portant that workingmen should multiply their associations. In 
lawful combinations for -their own betterment, he found not 
only justice, but in imperative necessity, if workingmen were 
to improve their condition. As far as practicable, he desired 
these organizations founded on the principles of religion. He 
instructed the bishops to take into their purview the condition 
of labor in their dioceses, and, without interfering with the 
state, to aid the workingmen in every lawful way to promote 



ENCYCLICAL ON LABOR. 165 

their own just interests without resorting to violence and with 
out recourse to revolutionary doctrines, which, by upsetting the 
foundations of the world s economic system, would bring suf 
fering upon themselves.* 

* Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII., May 15, 1891 (Cathedral Archive*). 



CHAPTER XII. 
EARLY YEARS OF CARDINALATE. 

After the almost fierce conflict of the winter in Rome, Car 
dinal Gibbons found relaxation in a leisurely trip homeward, 
studying the religious, social, economic and political condition 
of the countries through which he passed. In Paris he was 
the guest of the Sulpicians, who had founded in Baltimore the 
first seminary for the training of American priests and thus 
laid the foundation of a native priesthood. Another stop was 
made at the University of Louvain, and in May he was the 
guest of Cardinal Manning in London. In Manning s study, 
the workshop of a marvelous mind, he found the floor char 
acteristically piled high with books and strewn with papers; 
and these two eminent champions of human rights passed de 
lightful hours together. The English Cardinal often spoke, 
even in ordinary conversation, with a precision of logic that 
was almost resistless, and his conclusions struck with the force 
of a battle axe. For this compressed and formal habit of 
thought, the easy graces and ready versatility of Cardinal 
Gibbons were an admirable foil. 

Manning again congratulated him, as he had done in writ 
ing, on the victory in the Knights of Labor question. They 
found common ground in the belief that the time had come 
when the dynasty of the masses, and not of the classes, was 
ruling, and ought to rule; that public opinion was the domi 
nating force of the enlightened world, and that in the atmos 
phere of freedom the great results of the future were to be 
worked out. They talked of the dignity and rights of labor; 
agreed that social betterment must come from the bottom, 
rather than the top; and that the Church, as the friend of the 

166 



VIEWS OF NEGRO QUESTION. 167 

helpless, the champion of the poor, must be in touch with the 
spirit of the age and continue to prove the universality of her 
mission. Naturally akin in sympathy and view, these two 
had been drawn closer by the struggles through which they 
had passed, and each was an inspiration to the other. 

Cardinal Gibbons had long been interested in missionary 
work among the negroes, and he took advantage of his visit 
to England by studying the methods of the Josephite Fathers, 
at Mill Hill College, near London, where students are trained 
for this field. He spent part of two days at Mill Hill, care 
fully observing the work of the college, and made an address 
to the students, expressing great gratification at what was 
being done. Cardinal Manning entertained him at dinner 
with a company which included Canon Benoit, rector of Mill 
Hill, and other persons deeply interested in the conversion of 
the negroes. 

Cardinal Gibbons had particularly good opportunities for 
studying the condition of the colored race in the United States. 
Most of his life had been spent in the South; and his experi 
ence in North Carolina during Reconstruction times had given 
him additional light on this momentous problem. While al 
ways regretting that the slavery question, or any other ques 
tion, should be worked out by the Bismarckian treatment of 
blood and iron, he felt and frequently expressed a deep and 
benevolent sympathy for the negro race in its unfortunate 
position of contiguity with the superior whites. Like almost 
all Americans, he was glad to see slavery abolished in the 
end; but he viewed with alarm the consequences of thrusting 
the ballot into the hands of millions of black men, unfitted by 
history or training to comprehend its meaning. The best 
solution of the negro question, he felt, was in diffusing among 
the race the gentle and uplifting, influence of Christianity 
training the character as a groundwork and building upon ti|$ 
as much of the superstructure of education as it might oe 
found possible to add with benefit. He felt that the whole 



168 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

problem in its aspects at that time was social rather than 
political; that the negro must be trained to habits of industry 
and thrift, to understand the sacred relations of family life and 
of duty as a member of the community, however humble. 

He had shared at no time the expectations of extremists, 
who had believed the negro capable of developing in a few 
years what the white race had obtained by centuries of sacri 
fice, toil and evolution. But, since the blacks were here, and 
since as far as men of his generation could foresee, they would 
remain in the United States indefinitely, they must be consid 
ered as a weak and helpless people to whom the ministrations 
of religion were more necessary than to the stronger race. He 
did not know how far it would be wise to -extend the plan of 
ordaining negro priests for work among their own kind ; but 
he felt that the special character of the negro s needs required 
a priesthood particularly trained for supplying them. 

The fathers of Mill Hill welcomed with enthusiasm the deep 
and discriminating interest which he showed in their work 
and*its possible extension to America. Soon after his return* 
his investigations bore fruit in the opening of Epiphany Apos 
tolic College, an institution of the Josephites in Baltimore, 
founded as an offshoot of Mill Hill, and since the nucleus of a 
successful work. 

The Cardinal sailed from Queenstown, arriving in New 
York June 4, 1887. A Baltimore committee, including the 
venerable Monsignor McManus and other friends from among 
the clergy, gave him a warm welcome at the steamer. He tar 
ried a few days in New York, where he celebrated pontifical 
mass in St. Patrick s Cathedral, and was greeted by a host of 
visitors ; and then proceeded, on June 7, to Baltimore, whose 
committees were in a fever of final preparation for a public 
reception. 

As the train arrived at Union Station, the streets were 
thronged with an acclaiming crowd, as if it were a municipal 

* November, 1889. 



WELCOMED ON HIS RETURN. 169 

festival.* Mayor Hodges, Charles J. Bonaparte, a grand- 
nephew of Napoleon I, and a guard of honor greeted him in 
behalf of the city. 

The Mayor could not permit the opportunity to pass without 
eulogizing one who had conferred so much honor upon Balti 
more abroad. "Your gradual rise from the ranks of the 
people," he said, "to scholarship, usefulness and popularity, 
and then to eminence, and now to pre-eminence, although 
achieved within the ecclesiastical division of life, is so thor 
oughly an American experience that fcvery self-made man, and 
others who admire meritorious advancement, must regard your 
promotion as well earned and well deserved. Those of your 
fellow-townsmen whose religious faith is in harmony with 
your own, and who are justly proud of the successful adminis 
tration of this ancient see for nearly one hundred years, are 
doubtless gratified to know that you are so worthy a suc 
cessor of the eight illustrious primates, from Carroll to Bayley, 
who preceded you as archbishops of Baltimore. They are also 
gratified to know that you are qualified by learning, good 
works and religious zeal to be a member of the Sacred Col 
lege of Rome. * * * Few American citizens during their 
visits to Europe have been welcomed with more sincere cor 
diality or made more agreeable impressions on the people they 
met than you have; and as this effect was produced by the 
exercise of a rare congenial intelligence, Christian piety, 
moral worth and gentleness of manner and speech, it is rea 
sonable to surmise that it will be lasting," 

Mr. Bonaparte, a leader of the laity, expressed the joy of 
Catholics. 

The Cardinal was, naturally, full of emotion at such an 
earnest and overwhelming tribute. His warmth of heart 
and the closeness of his ties with the people among whom his 
lot had been cast made neighborliness one of the most pro 
nounced traits of his disposition. No matter how great might 

* Catholic Mirror, June 11, 1887, 



170 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

be the problems engrossing his mind and occupying his labors, 
he could turn from these to the purely personal side of his life 
with a simplicity that was no less charming than rare among 
men whose work is mingled with so much of the formalism of 
the world. As he gazed out upon the great crowd he could 
see men of his own faith, who had often knelt when he cele 
brated the mass; men of other faiths, who greeted him on the 
street, in public halls where they met for a common purpose, 
in the pleasant diversions of social gatherings, and all of 
whom were proud to call him friend as well as leader. 

He began his response to the addresses by saying that he was 
overcome by a sense of gratitude for this "splendid ovation 
and this great outpouring of the clergy and people of Balti 
more, who have come to bid me welcome on my return to the 
city which I love so well." It had always been his disposi 
tion to shrink from public demonstrations, and on several pre 
vious occasions of his return from Rome he had uniformly 
declined them; "but/ he added, "there are times and circum 
stances and the present is one of them when the individual 
is sunk in his representative capacity, and personal prefer 
ences should yield to the wishes of others. 

"I thank you most cordially, Mr. Bonaparte, for the beauti 
ful and chaste address you have delivered in the name of the 
Catholics of Baltimore, and I have to thank you also, honored 
Mayor, for your excellent remarks, which I appreciate the 
more as you stand before me as the highest representative of 
the city and speak for the entire community, without reference 
to religion or nationality. I beg to assure you both, and the 
citizens of Baltimore, that the beautiful sentiments of kind 
ness and fraternity you have so well expressed are most 
heartily reciprocated on my part. 

"While traveling in Italy and on the Continent it was al 
ways a source of pleasure to me to meet someone who spoke our 
mother tongue; still more gratifying to me was it when I saw 
one who hailed from America ; but how great was my delight 



ESCORTED BY GREAT PROCESSION. 171 

when I had the pleasure of meeting one who could claim 
Baltimore as his home! Your kindness will bind me still 
more strongly, if that is possible, to my fellow-citizens, and 
to this city, where I \Vas born, where Providence has cast my 
lot, and where I hope to die." 

Greetings being over, the Cardinal took his place in a pro 
cession which stretched from the station to the archiepis- 
copal residence, a mile distant. With this long escort he pro 
ceeded, in a handsome carriage, surrounded by a guard of 
honor selected from the members of Catholic societies. Com 
panies of religious knights in handsome uniforms, city officers 
in carriages and divisions of organizations from all parts of 
the city took part in the parade. Red badges were every 
where ; and as the guest of honor passed, bowing and smiling, 
like a President of the United States at his inauguration, the 
crowds on the streets, in characteristic fashion, raised their 
hats in respectful salute. 

Arriving at the archiepiscopal residence, there was a brief 
interval, and then the Cardinal entered the Cathedral, where, 
after prayer, the Vicar-General, Mgr. McColgan, made an 
address on behalf of the clergy. He spoke of the services 
wnich the Cardinal, their bishop, had performed for religion 
while in Rome, and of their gratitude for the honors which 
had come to him. "You have exposed to the view of Euro 
pean nations/ said the Monsigtior, "the blessings which civil 
and religious liberty bestow on the citizens of America, where 
the rights of all are guaranteed, where political and social dis 
tinctions are open to all, where freedom reigns for all without 
license, and authority is recognized and maintained without 
despotism. Your patriotic love for your native country has 
obtained for you a national character. Your memory, like 
that of the illustrious Carroll, first Archbishop of Baltimore, 
will be treasured and enshrined in the hearts of your people/ 

Again the Cardinal felt the touch of personal association, 
for no bishop was ever closer to his clergy than he. 



172 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

"Since my departure from Baltimore/ he said in reply, "I 
have, indeed, received marked favors in the countries through 
which I have passed. In Rome and throughout Italy, in 
France, Belgium, Holland, Scotland and Ireland, many kind 
attentions have been shown me, which I shall never forget; 
but, while fully appreciating the courtesies which have been 
paid me in foreign lands, I value immeasurably more than all 
the words of greeting which have fallen from your lips. For 
what would a father care for all the honors that might be lav 
ished upon him abroad, were he not revered and loved by his 
own children and in his own household?" 

On the Sunday following, at the services in the Cathedral, 
the Cardinal spoke in detail of his European trip.* Fresh 
from contact with Leo XIII, he naturally thought first of that 
pontiff, who had inspired and upheld him in the trying circum 
stances through which he had passed, 

"Though he is deprived of his temporal possessions," said 
the Cardinal, "it can be safely said that today he exercises 
more power over the civilized world than any king or poten 
tate; and, although he has no military force to back him, his 
words are more conducive to peace than the actions of all 
the standing armies of Europe. In his case it can be truly 
said that his voice is mightier than the ^xvord. He enjoys the 
love of two hundred and fifty million of Catholics, scattered 
throughout the length and breadth of the world; and he has 
the respect and esteem of our separated brethren, who have 
not failed to recognize his many personal virtues, his benevo 
lent character, and his broad, statesmanlike views. He has a 
special regard for this republic of ours and the citizens of the 
United States, which was amply demonstrated during my 
sojourn in Rome. At the time there was a large number of 
Americans in the city, all of whom very naturally wished to 
see the Holy Father. I mentioned the fact to him at the first 
opportunity, and in reply he said he would, indeed, be much 

* Catholic Uirrer, June 18, 1887. 



LEO S LOVE FOR AMERICANS. 173 

pleased to see them. When the visitors were afterward pre 
sented, they were charmed by his presence and went away 
favorably impressed with all that he had said and strengthened 
with God s benediction upon them. Another illustration of 
his love for Americans was shown on Easter Tuesday, when 
all the cardinals then in Rome paid their respects to his Holi 
ness. He took that occasion to again speak of his great love 
for this country." 

The Cardinal proceeded to describe in colloquial fashion to 
his congregation his experiences in some of the countries of 
Europe which he visited. At Louvain he had been impressed 
with the strength of its ancient university, and within him had 
been born the wish that the new university at Washington 
would some day be its equal. Speaking at a time when the 
skies of labor in the United States were full of clouds, when 
men accustomed to think calmly and speak judiciously were 
predicting that those clouds might break into a terrible storm, 
he expressed without hesitation his own clear faith that the 
people would be equal to the responsibilities thrust upon them. 

"Whatever may be the grievances of the laboring classes 
here/ he said, "I believe our men are better paid, better 
clothed, better housed and have fairer prospects than those of 
any other nation I have visited. * * * As we all have 
a share in the blessings of the republic, so should we all take 
an active and loyal part in upholding the Commonwealth, 
which gives liberty without license and wields authority with 
out despotism. The man who would endeavor to undermine 
the laws and institutions of this country deserves the fate of 
those who laid profane hands on the Ark of the Lord. There 
are some misguided men in our country thank God, they are 
very few who are appropriately called anarchists and nihi 
lists. They are so infatuated, not to say ungrateful to their 
country, that, like Samson, they would fain pull down the 
constitutional temple which shelters them, even though they 
should perish in the ruins. May Almighty God, by whom 



174 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

rulers reign and lawgivers decree just things, preserve OUT 
country for the peace and prosperity of our generation and for 
the happiness of countless peoples yet unborn!" 

Seeing not the slightest conflict between allegiance to church 
and allegiance to country, he alluded to a sight he had recently 
witnessed in the parade held in his honor the flags of the 
United States and of the papacy carried by marching Ameri 
cans. "I always wish to see those two flags lovingly en 
twined/ he said, "for no one can be faithful to God without 
being faithful to his country. Render unto Caesar the things 
that are Caesar s, and to God, the things that are God s/ " 

It had not been customary for Catholic prelates to take part 
in civic events in America. During the first century of the 
nation s existence this would have been misunderstood, and at 
times would have been positively dangerous. But when Phila 
delphia decided to celebrate in 1887 the centennial of the 
American Constitution, it was felt that the occasion would be 
incomplete without Cardinal Gibbons, so strong a place had he 
won in the affections of the nation. He was invited to offer 
the closing prayer on September 17, the anniversary of the 
signing. 

President Cleveland, his Cabinet and a host of distinguished 
men were there. Many of these the Cardinal knew personally, 
aftd others were eager to meet the churchman who had done 
so tmidi for his country at home and abroad. His red robe, 
&n "unfamiliar sight in America, invested his presence among 
the crowds with a half-mystic interest; and they found that it 
a man as typically American as any, alert, active, 
to the core, sharing keenly the enthusiasm and pride 
fe tile institutions of the country. 

His prayer was based on one written by Archfiishop Carroll, 
and was, modified to suit the occasion. It was as follows :* 

"We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom and justice, through whom 
IB rightly administered, laws are enacted and judgment de- 

Mirr or, September 24, 188?! 



CENTENNIAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 175 

creed, to assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the Presi 
dent of these United States, that his administration may be conducted 
in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he 
presides, by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion, by a faith 
ful execution of the laws in justice and mercy, and by restraining vice 
and immorality. 

"Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Con 
gress and shine forth in all their proceedings and laws framed for our 
rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, 
the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety 
and useful knowledge, and may perpetuate to us the blessings of equal 
liberty. 

"We pray Thee for all judges, magistrates and other officers who are 
appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled by 
Thy powerful protection to discharge the duties of their respective 
gtations with honesty and ability, 

"We pray Thee especially for the judges of our Supreme Court, that 
they may interpret the laws with even-handed justice. May they ever 
be the faithful guardians of the temple of the constitution, whose con 
struction and solemn dedication to our country s liberties we commem 
orate today. May they stand as watchful and incorruptible sentinels at 
the portals of this temple, shielding it from profanation and hostile 
invasion. 

"May this glorious charter of our civil rights be deeply imprinted on 
the hearts and memories of our people. May it foster in them a spirit 
of patriotism ; may it weld together and assimilate in national brother 
hood the diverse races that come to seek a home amongst us. May the 
reverence paid to it conduce to the promotion of social stability and 
order, and may It hold the aegis of its protection over us and generations 
yet unborn, so that the temporal blessings which we enjoy may be 
perpetuated. 

"Grant, Lord, that our republic, unexampled in the history of the 
world in material prosperity and growth of population, may be also, 
under Thy over-ruling providence, a model to all nations in upholding 
liberty without license, and in wielding authority without despotism. 

"Finally, we recommend to Thy unbounded mercy all our brethren 
and fellow-citizens throughout the United States, that they may be 
blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy mo$t 
holy law, that they may be preserved in union and in that peace which 
the world can not give, and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be 
admitted to those which are eternal 



176 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy king 
dom come ; Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven ; give us this 
day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those 
who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver 
us from evil. Amen." 

At the conclusion of the prayer the Cardinal invoked a bene 
diction in the following words : 

"May the blessings of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
descend upon our beloved country and upon all her people, and abide 
with them forever. Amen." 

He had never visited the fast-developing West, which, ac 
cording to the signs of the times, was about to take on far 
greater importance in the outlook of the United States and 
the Church. With something akin to eagerness, he accepted 
the invitation to confer the pallium at Portland, Ore., on 
Archbishop Gross, his long-time friend, "born nearly in the 
same street," as he said, and a brother of that faithful priest, 
Rev. Mark S. Gross, with whom he had shared privations and 
labors in North Carolina. As a student of history, he felt 
that such a large portion of his country, in whose beginnings 
adventurous missionary priests had performed such heroic 
service, should share in eminent degree the benefits of Catholic 
effort in its fuller development along the pathways of civiliza 
tion and material progress. Was not a cardinal of the Roman 
Church at home in the country watered by the great river 
which De Soto had discovered and named in honor of the 
Holy Ghost; which Marquette and Joliet, boldly trusting them 
selves to an Indian canoe, had explored for thousands of miles 
and dedicated to the Immaculate Conception ; which Hennepin 
had ascended to the falls he had named in honor of St. An 
thony of Padua? Was he not at home in the new States 
created from the vast region which Coronado had penetrated 
with his adventurous Spaniards, carrying the cross and cele 
brating the mass on prairie and desert and by the sides of 



A HOMOGENEOUS AMERICA. 177 

great rivers which flowed into the still greater "Father of 
Waters ?" 

In the whole region won from Mexico, the Catholic CHurch 
retained the affections of the people. Germans, Irishmen and 
Italians, and the peoples of other European countries who had 
been children of the Church in the land of their birth, were 
helping to make the prairies blossom with their industry, and 
mine and factory rang with the sound of their labor. 

The Church would follow them, as, centuries before, she had 
gone in advance of them. She would try to train them to build 
American homes to take the places of those which they had 
had left in Europe- Some day a thousand men would dwell 
where one now cultivated a township farm or ranged his cattle 
over half a county. A city would grow where a house now 
stood ; and men with a mission to the whole nation would arise 
from among the sons of these pioneers, who as yet toiled only 
at the foundations of what, as far as human foresight went, 
would one day be a magnificent structure. 

Above all, the Cardinal desired that these new peoples, tak 
ing root in new soil, should one day be homogeneous with 
their brothers in the forests of Maine and the cotton fields of 
Louisiana. If America were to integrate instead of disinte 
grate, these people must be one not one in individuality, but 
sharing a common respect for the rights of others, a com 
mon faith in the perpetuity of their institutions, in the liberty 
which gave every man a chance, a common aspiration for a 
greater America, that would be an example and a blessing to 
the remainder of the world. Whatever their origin, all were 
now brothers in the citizenship of the same great republic. 
While treasuring the memory of the brave stocks from which 
they sprang; while never forgetting the good that was behind 
them, yet, their future would be in the United States ; and no 
trace of antagonism, of racial differences, of political ideals 
born in diverse surroundings must prevent the consummation 
of their proper destiny. 



178 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

In the Cardinal s view, the foreigner who was populating 
the West must be brought as rapidly as possible into intimate 
touch with his new environment; must be made to feel that 
his children would look to the men of 76 as the authors of 
the political system under which they lived, a system of free 
Commonwealths, retaining local self-government in a large 
sense, and yet bound by unity of purpose and a common aim 
for the realization of a grand destiny. Assimilation was, 
after all, one of the most vital problems to be solved by Ameri 
cans of the last half of the nineteenth century and the begin 
ning of the twentieth. It would never do for the people of 
European nationalities that were pouring over here in thou 
sands to cling together longer than might be necessary to 
enable them to adapt themselves to new conditions. They 
might be Germans by ancestry, as were thousands of the first 
citizens of the growing West; they might be Italians, Swedes 
or Poles; but the work of the Church, no less than of the 
political authorities, must be to make them, as soon as possible, 
Americans. 

All Americans were foreigners by descent, except the In 
dians reduced to the helpless condition of wards of the nation; 
but had all retained the spirit born in other lands, had there 
been a clash of systems instead of a union of thought, America 
would never have gotten far in the realization of the possi 
bilities opened by the devoted men who had explored it, point 
ing the way to the peoples who were to come in the future 
generations. The Catholic Church, which had been the guide of 
most of the new-comers, in which they had been baptized and 
taught, in which they had found the means of access to Divine 
truth this Church could perform a great service to the nation 
hy leading them forward to that community of language, social 
custom and political idealism which were essential to their 
own welfare and the nation s safety. 

Leaving Baltimore late in September, Cardinal Gibbons 
went to Chicago, where he was the guest of Archbishop Fee- 



WELCOMED IN ST. PAUL. 179 

han; then to Milwaukee, a center of German Catholicism, 
where he was entertained by Archbishop Heiss. The city of 
St Paul, the see of Archbishop Ireland, his ardent champion, 
was busy with preparations to receive him. A great reception 
was given there September 20, and a banquet was held, at 
which the Archbishop spoke in eulogy of his distinguished 
guest.* The tone of all the speeches was one of pride in the 
new Cardinal as an American citizen and a prince of the Cath 
olic Church. Judge William L. Kelly, speaking for the laity, 
recalled what had happened only recently at Philadelphia. 

"But yesterday," he said, "at the invitation of your fellow- 
citizens, irrespective of religious faith or political association, 
you, priest, archbishop, cardinal, raised your hand above the 
assembled multitudes and, in the name of your sacred office, 
invoked the blessing of Almighty God upon the Constitution of 
these United States. In that particular, illustrious sir, your 
voice, it seems to me, was not merely that of the priest, but of 
the prophet of God as well * * * The old lines that have long 
kept us apart from our brethren without the fold are, thank 
God, well nigh obliterated here. On all great questions, social 
and political, we stand in St. Paul side by side. We are staunch 
in our religious faith, and they in theirs, and the honesty of 
neither is questioned ; and no one has done more to bring about 
that cordial catholic condition of things than the man who sits 
at your side. To name him is to do him honor John Ire 
land/ 

Responding to the addresses, the Cardinal could not forbear to 
refer to his colleague in so many struggles. "For many years," 
he said, "I have been closely watching Archbishop Ireland s 
career. It was my pleasure to be associated with him at the 
last Plenary Council of Baltimore. For three weeks I studied 
him, and the more I studied him, the more I admired and loved 
him. Archbishop Ireland came to you as a Providential 



* Catholic Mirror, October 8, 1887. Subsequent Issues contain further ctettjt* 
of the Cardinal s Western trip. 



180 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

senger sent to you by Almighty God, He has done untold 
good through the temporal blessings which he has helped to 
bestow upon society. 

"You were pleased/ he added, "to mention my pride in 
being an American citizen; it is the proudest earthly title I 
possess." 

Referring to the movement, then much discussed, to incor 
porate the name of God in the national Constitution, he re 
marked : "For my part, I have not desired to see that venerated 
name used in this respect, so long as it remains inscribed on 
the tablets of the hearts of the people and the rulers of the 
nation. I would rather speak with the living captain than 
with the figure on the prow of the ship/ 

Helena, Montana, the seat of Bishop Brondel, was another 
city which greeted him with an outpouring. With a touch of 
the spirit of the West, he ventured to predict that the time 
was likely to come when the city would be a community of a 
hundred thousand souls. Again, he spoke of his pride in being 
an American citizen, saying that it was as great a title as the 
one of which the ancient Romans were fond of boasting. His 
travels abroad had enhanced his love for his own country, and 
he declared that he felt a pride and a faith in its destiny which 
upheld him in the trials through which he passed. 

On Sunday, October 9, he officiated in Portland at the in 
vestiture of Archbishop Gross, a splendid ceremony, attended 
by all the prelates of the Northwest. The next day there was 
a public reception, at which EL E. McGinn, in an address to 
the Cardinal in behalf of the citizens of Portland, took occa 
sion to pay this tribute : 

"As long as men are compelled to labor; as long as they feel 
called upon to unite for their own protection ; as long as the 
Divine mandate remains true, that In the sweat of thy face 
shalt thou eat bread/ so lone shall the name of Cardinal Gib 
bons be venerated among men." 



REVIVING AN ANCIENT CUSTOM. 181 

The earnestness of the speaker was in part due to the fact 
that the labor question was then acute on the Pacific Coast, 
and the Cardinal took occasion in Jhis own address at the re 
ception to refer to it. He pleaded, as he had so often done 
before, for peace between capital and labor. 

He continued his travels to San Francisco, where he was 
hospitably entertained by Archbishop Riordan, and to Los 
Angeles, where a public address of welcome was made to him 
by Lieut-Gov. Stephen M. White, afterward United States 
Senator. At Fort Vancouver Gen. John Gibbon, the com 
mander, entertained him. When he arrived there by boat Lieu 
tenant Anderson, who commanded the squad sent to meet him, 
said: 

"Your Eminence, it was customary in ancient times, when 
a prince of the realm traveled, for the governors of cities to 
release some prisoners in honor of his visit. As you are a 
prince of the Church, I propose to* release some men confined 
here/ 

He then summoned six private soldiers from the prison in 
the fort and said to them : "Soldiers, consider yourselves free 
in honor of Cardinal Gibbons." 

Everywhere the Cardinal was received as an eminent citi 
zen, no less than as a prince of the Church; and through the 
welcoming speeches ran the thread of his bold and patriotic 
attitude in Rome but a few months before. 

Proceeding homeward by way of New Orleans, where he 
had spent part of his youth and where his family still resided, 
that city hailed him as its own. In behalf of the Catholics 
there, he was presented, at a public reception, a gold ring aijd 
chain and a diamond cross. An address of welcome was made 
to him by Edward Douglas White, afterward Chief Justice of 
the United States Supreme Court. The Cardinal returned 
from his transcontinental tour with new vigor and inspiration. 



182 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

The year 1887 marked the close of half a century s labors 
in the priesthood by Leo XIII, the friend of America and of 
America s Cardinal. The rulers of European nations, and 
even the Sultan, were sending to Rome gifts expressive of 
their felicitations, not only to the earthly head of a Church of 
250,000,000 people, but to a man who had been the balance- 
wheel of Europe. What would be America s part in such an 
occasion? The Holy See had intimated to Cardinal Gibbons 
that an expression from the United States would be welcome. 
One day after his return from his Western tour he was con 
sidering how to bring this to President Cleveland s attention, 
when the following letter arrived, in the handwriting of the 

President : 

"EXECUTIVE MANSION. 

"Washington, Nov. 17, 1887. 
"Hi* Eminence Cardinal Gibbons: 

/My Dear Sir I have thought that you would send to the Pope your 
congratulations on the occasion of the approaching Jubilee. 

"Remembering with much gratitude and satisfaction the kind words 
you brought from the Holy Father upon your recent return from Rome, 
I should be very much pleased if you could, without impropriety on your 
part, convey to him my congratulations and felicitations. 
"Hoping that you are quite well after your extended travel, I am, 

"Yours very sincerely, 

"GBOVEB CLEVELAND."* 

The Cardinal paid another of his visits to the White House, 
BOW growing frequent, and thanked Mr. Cleveland for the 
fetter. He expressed at the same time his hope that the Presi 
dent wotlld not be content with a formal communication, but 
would send some memento to the Pontiff indicative of his 
sentiments. As the centennial of the Constitution had just 
been commemorated, he suggested that a copy of that instru 
ment would be one of the most appropriate of gifts. 

* Cathedral Archives, 



CLEVELAND S GIFT TO LEO XIIL 183 

"None can question the fitness of such a present/* said the 
Cardinal, "for the dissemination of the principles of our gov 
ernment abroad would be above criticism. 3 

Mr. Cleveland assented with eagerness. The Cardinal 
offered to have a copy of the Constitution bound if the Presi 
dent would furnish one unbound. 

"I will do nothing of the kind/ rejoined the President, "but 
will insist on having a copy bound in a costly and beautiful 
manner, if you will tell me how to do it." 

The Cardinal suggested white silk or satin as appropriate. 
Jlr. Cleveland then asked what should be the form of presenta 
tion, and the Cardinal dictated these words : 

"Presented through his Eminence Cardinal Gibbons to the 
Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, on the occasion of the golden 
jubilee of his Holiness, with the profound regard of Grover 
Cleveland, President of the United States." 

"How much time is there to have the book prepared?" asked 
the President. 

"Ten days," said the Cardinal. 

On the tenth day afterward there arrived by express at the 
archiepiscopal residence, in Baltimore, from a noted New York 
jeweler, a superb volume of the Constitution printed in old 
English characters on vellum, bound in white and red, and 
bearing the presentation inscription from President to Pope. 
Col. John T. Morris, of Baltimore, was selected to carry it to 
Rome, for presentation at the jubilee festivities. 

The presentation, in the throne room of the Vatican, was 
marked by an exchange of warm sentiments. Archbishop 
Ryan made an appropriate address, and Mgr. O Connell read^ 
a letter to the Pope from the Cardinal, conveying the Presi 
dent s personal congratulations, 

"As an archbishop," said the Pontiff in reply, "you enjoy 
in America perfect freedom. That freedom, we admit, is 



184 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

highly beneficial to the spread of religion. * * * Toward 
America I bear especial love. * * * Your government is 
free, your future full of hope. Your President commands my 
highest admiration." 

Leo was so much delighted that for a long time he exhibited 
the gift in his private apartment, with the presentation page 
open, that favoured visitors might see. That the pleasure was 
mutual is indicated by the fact that when the cardinal called on 
the president to show him the letter from the pontiff acknowl 
edging the receipt of the gift, the president, after hearing the 
translation read, was so much pleased with it that he asked the 
cardinal to give him the original, a favor which was readily 
granted. 

The letter of the Pope, which Mr. Cleveland retained, was 
addressed to Cardinal Gibbons, and charged him with the duty 
of conveying his warm thanks to the President. "In fulfill 
ing this duty/ Leo wrote, "we desire that you should assure 
the President of our admiration for the Constitution of the 
United States, not only because it enables industrious and en 
terprising citizens to attain so high a degree of prosperity, but 
also because, under its protection, your Catholic countrymen 
have enjoyed a liberty which has so confessedly promoted the 
astonishing growth of their religion in the past and will, we 
trust, enable it in the future to be of the highest advantage to 
the civil order as well."* 

All the churches of the diocese of Baltimore observed the 
papal jubilee January i, 1888, the Cardinal delivering the ser 
mon in the Cathedral. His heart must have been full to over 
flowing as he arose to speak on the career of this illustrious 
Pontiff, to whose enlightened comprehension of modern condi 
tions he owed so much of what he had been able to accomplish ; 



*A copy of tlie letter is In the Cathedral Archives. 



JUBILEE OF THE PONTIFF. 185 

and whose fatherly interest in himself had so often overcome 
him with gratitude. At the outset he dwelt on the perpetuity of 
the papacy, and the mission it had worked out, under God, for 
mankind. While a great conservative force, it had turned 
progress and invention into the service of Christianity, and at 
great crises in the world s history had guided events in the 
direction of civilization. 

"What means/ 1 he asked, "can be employed to overthrow 
an institution which for nineteen centuries has successfully 
overcome every opposition waged against it? Is it by the 
power of kings and emperors and prime ministers that the 
papacy can be destroyed? They have tried, and tried in vain, 
from the days of the Roman Caesars to our own times- Many 
persons labor under the false impression that in former times 
the Church was leagued with the princes of this world for the 
purpose of overthrowing the liberties of the people; that the 
altars were sustained by the thrones, and that they would 
crumble if this protection were withdrawn. The truth is. 
that, with some honorable exceptions, the most unrelenting 
enemies of the Church and the papacy have often been the 
princes of this world, and so-called Christian princes, too. 
They chafed under the salutary discipline of the Church and 
wished to be rid of her yoke, because she was the only power 
on earth that could stand between the princes and the people 
and tell the former that, if the people have their obligations, 
they have their rights, too. 

"But can the Church cope with modern inventions and the 
great discoveries of the nineteenth century? Rest assured the 
Church will not hide her head, like the ostrich in the sand, at 
the approach of these modern inventions and discoveries. For, 
if Christianity was propagated to the uttermost bounds of the 
earth at a time when we had no other ships but frail canoes, 
no other compass but the naked eye, no other roads but eternal 
snows and virgin forests and desert wastes, how much more 
now can we effect by means of railroads and steamships? Yes, 



186 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

we bless you, O men of genius. We bless your inventions and 
discoveries, and will press you into the service of the Gospel, 
and we will say: "Lightning and clouds, bless the Lord; fire 
and heat, bless the Lord ; all ye works of the Lord, bless the 
Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever/ 

"But may not the light of Christianity grow pale and be 
utterly extinguished before the intellectual blaze of the nine 
teenth century? Have we not much to fear from the arts 
and sciences and literature? We have nothing to fear, but 
everything to gain, from intellectual development. The Church 
has always been the patroness of literature and the fostering 
mother of arts and sciences. At no period of the history of 
Christianity did the popes wield a greater power than from the 
twelfth to the sixteenth century. They exercised not only 
spiritual power, but also temporal jurisdiction, and had great 
influence with the civil rulers of those days. Now, at no period 
did the human intellect revel in greater freedom in the pursuit 
of speculative knowledge of every kind than in those days. It 
was emphatically the age of universities. Forty-one universi 
ties sprang up during those four centuries in France, Ger 
many, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Spain, England and Scotland. 
There can be no conflict between science and Christianity, for 
the same God is the author of all revealed truth and all scientific 
truth. Science and religion, like Mary and Martha, are sis 
ters, because they are the daughters of the same Father only 
they serve the Lord in a different manner; science, like Martha, 
is laboring among the things of material creation; religion, 
like Mary, is kneeling at the feet of the Lord. 

"But has not the papacy much to fear from the progress of 
liberty? Give us liberty, this is all we ask a fair field and 
no favor. The Church is always hampered in her operations 
wherever despotism casts its dark shadow. She always blooms 
and expands in the genial air of liberty. Amid the changes 
in human institutions the papacy is one institution that never 
changes. It has seen the birth of every existing government 



LEO S .COMPREHENSION OF THE TIMES. 1ST 

in Europe, and it is not improbable that it may witness the 
death of some of them and chant their requiem. It was 1,400 
years old when Columbus discovered America, and our own 
Government is but of yesterday as compared with it, 

"The present illustrious Pontiff, Leo XIII, is a worthy suc 
cessor of the Gregories, the Innocents, the Piuses, and of the 
long line of Leos that have preceded him. For ten years he 
has occupied the chair of Peter, a spectacle to the world, to 
angels and to men ; and during all that time he has excited the 
admiration of the civilized world by his luminous intellect, 
his broad statesmanship, his strong judgment, his ken appre 
ciation of things; by his conciliatory disposition, his personal 
integrity and purity of life, and by his great benevolence of 
character. 

"Leo XIII is today, perhaps, the most popular man in Eu 
rope, if not in the world, and this i the secret of his popularity : 
He understands the times in which we live; he appreciates 
the fact that we are living in the nineteenth century, and 
not in the ninth ; he understands the wants of the people, and 
sympathizes with their legitimate aspirations, while at the 
same time he is always the promoter and vindicator of law 
and order and legitimate government everywhere. He has 
found the key to the hearts of the people, and has entered there. 
Let us hope and pray that this great luminary, whom the Lord 
has set over His Church, may long linger above the horizon to 
enlighten us by his wisdom and to cheer us by his example; 
and when his course is run and his light on earth is extin 
guished, may he shine for all eternity in the kingdom of our 
common Father, the source of all light and the author of all 
justice/ * 

In November, 1888, the Cardinal issued a Thanksgiving cir 
cular, in which he drew a lesson from the Presidential eleqti@ji 

* Catholic Mirror, Jan. 7, 1888. 



188 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

a few weeks before at which General Harrison had been chosen 
to succeed Mr. Cleveland. 

"In other lands," he wrote, "the times for choosing the rulers 
of the nation are often occasions of political convulsion, of the 
interruption of all peaceful pursuits, and sometimes even of 
strife and bloodshed. The recent contest between ten millions 
of voters of this republic, representing sixty millions of people, 
has been settled peaceably and constitutionally, without the loss 
of a single life or even any interruption in men s ordinary avo 
cations."* 

During 1888 and part of 1889 ^ e was niuch engaged in writ 
ing his second book, "Our Christian Heritage." Authorship 
naturally had a powerful appeal for a devourer of literature 
like himself, and the success of "The Faith of Our Fathers" 
had led to many offers from publishers. From early manhood 
reading had been a large part of his recreation theology, 
philosophy, history and civics, with now and then a novel at 
night in the quiet of his study to draw his mind away from the 
absorbing events of the day. In his first book he had been the 
priest preaching to the people; but from the pages of "Our 
Christian Heritage" shines the character of citizen as well as 
priest It may be described, in brief, as an argument in behalf 
of Christianity addressed to the average busy man of the time, 
accustomed to be guided by material considerations in his daily 
work and doubting, from force of habit, conclusions whose 
premises he cannot clearly comprehend The Cardinal aimed 
to demonstrate the fundamental truths underlying Christianity 
by the unaided reason, which, he declared, was sufficient, 
though "they are made still more luminous by the light of 
Christian revelation." 

The book is not sectarian. The author stated positively 
that he was glad to acknowledge that "most of the topics dis 
cussed have often found, and still find, able and zealous advo- 

* Cathedral Archive* 



FAC-SIMILE OF CARDINAL. GIBBONS* HANDWRITING 

(EXTRACT FROM "OUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE") 




"OUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE." 189 

cates in Protestant writers. * * * I would gladly hold 
out to them the right hand of fellowship, so long as they unite 
with us in striking the common foe." 

Having concluded a searching and logical examination of 
the elements of Christian truth, he proceeded to argue that 
religion is the essential basis of civil society. He showed how 
it has been interwoven in the thread of events throughout the 
history of the United States, and sought to apply it as a remedy 
for the "dangers that threaten our American civilization." 
These he enumerated as five 

"Mormonism and divorce, which strike at the root of the 
family and society;" 

An "imperfect and vicious system of education, which un 
dermines the religion of our youth;" 

"Desecration of the Christian Sabbath ;" 

"Gross and systematic election frauds;" 

The "unreasonable delay in carrying into effect the sentences 
of our criminal courts." 

A chapter was devoted to the "dignity, rights and duties of 
the laboring classes," which, he argued, found their best guide 
in the wholesome influence of religion. 

In and out of the pulpit he was fond of quoting lessons 
from the life of Washington, whom he considered the greatest 
American. At the hundredth anniversary of the first Presi 
dent s inauguration April 30, 1889 h e issued a pastoral 
letter directing the ringing of all the church bells half an 
hour and a special service in every Catholic house of worship 
in the Diocese of Baltimore. In this letter he expressed "pro 
found satisfaction that the citizens of the United States, with 
out regard to race or creed or previous allegiance to any flag 
whatsoever," were about to recognize the life and achievements 
of Washington, "a gift of Almighty God to his own age, and 
an exemplar to all the ages to be." The Cardinal himself was 
present at the mass celebrated in the Baltimore Cathedral in 
honor of the event. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
CENTENNIAL OF THE AMERICAN HIERARCHY. 

In an era of centennials, the Catholic Church in America 
could not forget the origin of her own hierarchy. John Car 
roll, a cousin of that signer of the Declaration of Independence 
who survived last to receive the grateful plaudits of his fellow- 
countrymen, had been appointed November 6, 1789, first 
Bishop of Baltimore and head of the Church in the then infant 
republic. The total population of the United States was then 
less than 4,000,000, including4O,ooo Catholics ; in 1889 the pop 
ulation had grown to 65,000,000, of whom 9,000,000 were of 
the Catholic faith. From Carroll as a corner-stone, the hier 
archy had risen in a hundred years to the proportions of 
13 archbishops and 71 bishops, the spiritual overseers of 8,000 
priests, 10,500 churches and chapels, 27 seminaries for train 
ing the clergy, 650 colleges and academies for the higher educa 
tion of youth, 3,100 parish schools and 520 hospitals and 
asylums. 

The nation had marshalled its strength with pride in the 
unexampled rapidity of its achievements; might not the Cath 
olic Church do the same, exhibiting not only her own great 
ness, but her thorough identification with the spirit of the 
people and the Government? 

Cardinal Gibbons had been accustomed to works of organi 
zation, and when it was decided to hold a great celebration in 
Baltimore to mark the hierarchy s centennial, he began the 
undertaking with characteristic energy and skill Aided by the 
staff of priests attached to his household and to the Cathedral, 
h soon had under way the beginnings of a project of far- 
reaching scope. Surrounding him at the time were Rev. P. J. 

190 



A GREAT CELEBRATION. 191 

Donahue, an undergraduate of his "School of Bishops/ after 
ward head of the Wheeling Diocese; Rev. John T. Whelan, his 
secretary, a man of rare energy, tact and capacity for detail; 
Rev. Thomas S. Lee, rector of the Cathedral, and Rev. Wil 
liam A. Reardon, assistant. They called to their aid Rev. J. A. 
McCallen, of St. Mary s Seminary, who had long been recog 
nized as a master of Church ceremonial, and who had man 
aged some of the most imposing events that had taken place in 
the Cathedral and elsewhere. 

The celebration included five days crowded with ambitious 
events. For the opening, on Sunday, November 10, there 
was a solemn pontifical mass, at which, as far as possible, 
the American hierarchy were assembled, as well as representa 
tives of the Church in other countries on both sides of the At 
lantic. After this was, a dinner at St. Mary s Seminary, at 
which the principal foreign delegates spoke. On Monday and 
Tuesday a congress of laymen was held, and on Tuesday night 
a torchlight procession. On Wednesday the School of Sacred 
Sciences at the new university was dedicated. On Thursday 
the visiting prelates were escorted in carriages to the principal 
places of interest in or near Baltimore, and there was a recep 
tion at the City Hall. 

Cardinal Gibbons had written to the Pope, outlining the plans 
for the celebration. The Pontiff encouraged it with lively 
interest. 

"That great love for country and for religion," wrote Leo, 
"which you and our brethren the bishops of the United 
States, have so often and so nobly manifested, is again strik 
ingly illustrated in the letter which you have recently ad 
dressed to us. From it we learn that pastors and people are 
about to assemble in Baltimore to celebrate the one hundredth 
anniversary of the establishment of the hierarchy of the United 
States. On the same occasion you propose to dedicate the 
Catholic University, which, with the generous help of the faith* 



192 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

ful, yott have founded in Washington as a happy presage of 
future greatness for the new era upon which you are about to 
enter, 

"It Is truly worthy of your faith and hope thus gratefully to 
recall the blessings bestowed upon your country by Divine 
Providence, and at the same time to raise up in memory of 
them a monument which will be an honor to yourselves and a 
lasting benefit to your fellow-citizens and to the country at 
large. We gladly unite with you in returning thanks to God, 
the author of all gifts. At the same time, we cordially congrat 
ulate you on the zeal with which you emulate the example of 
your glorious predecessors, faithfully treading in their foot 
steps, whilst ever widening the field opened by their apostolic 
labors. 

"Most joyfully have we welcomed the expression which 
you and the other bishops convey to us of your loyalty and 
devotion to the Apostolic See. We desire, in return, to assure 
you that, like our predecessors of blessed memory, we, too, 
bear an especial love toward you, our brethren, and the faith 
ful committed to your care, and that we pray frequently for 
your prosperity and welfare, gathering comfort meanwhile, 
no less from the readiness of your people to co-operate in all 
manner of good works than from the examples of sacerdotal 
virtue which are daily set before them. 

"In regard to your wish that some representative from this 
city should, in our name, be present at your celebration, we 
readily assent to it, the more willingly because his presence will 
be an especial mark of our esteem and benevolence, and of that 
bond of affection and charity which unites pastors and people 
to the supreme head of the Church. 

"In conclusion, we earnestly pray to God, protector and 
guardian of the Catholic cause, that under the excellent and 
favored public institutions by which you are able to exercise 
with freedom your sacred ministry, your labors may redound 



ARRIVAL OF ARCHBISHOP SATOLLI 193 

to the benefit of Church and country; and as a pledge of our 
especial affection we lovingly impart apostolic benediction to 
you, to our venerable brethren, the bishops of the United 
States, and to the clergy and faithful committed to your 
charge. 5 * 

Mgr. O Connell brought this letter from Rome to Cardinal 
Gibbons. He was soon followed by the representative whom 
the Pope had promised to send, Francesco di Paola Satolli, 
Archbishop of Lepanto, an Italian theologian of deep learning 
and wonderful eloquence, who was destined to play a great part 
in the relations between the Holy See and the Catholics of the 
United States. Satolli s first impression of the people was 
amazement at the proportions of the celebration; and, though 
he could speak no English, he soon showed, after the manner 
of De Toqueville and Bryce, a faculty for understanding the 
true spirit of American institutions beyond the capacity of 
most men born here. 

Cardinal Manning was invited with a special warmth, and, 
had he come to Baltimore, would have shared with his friend, 
Cardinal Gibbons, the honors of the occasion; but age had at 
last interposed its relentless barrier against that iron will, and 
he was forced to decline, sending Bishop Virtue, of Ports 
mouth, and Mgr. Gadd in his place. 

From Canada came Cardinal Taschereau and six archbish 
ops; from Mexico, Bishops Gillow and Montez D Oca; and 
Archbishop Croke sent a fervent letter from the prelates of 
Ireland. Nearly all the bishops and archbishops of the United 
States gathered in Baltimore for the event. 

A prelude to the main celebration was the observance, 
February 20, 21 and 22, 1889, f ^ e one hundredth anniver 
sary of Georgetown University, the first Catholic collegiate 
institution in the United States. This, too, was one of the 



* Letter of Leo XIII to Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 7, 1889 (Cathedral Archives) 



194 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

fruits of the ministry of John Carroll, who had founded it to 
meet a great need then existing, and who would have been its 
first president had he not been raised to the episcopate in the 
same yean At the celebration the two most conspicuous fig 
ures were Cardinal Gibbons and President Cleveland, who, 
following the example of nearly all his predecessors, from 
Washington down, visited this widely known Jesuit institution. 

In the presence of an assemblage more largely representative 
of the true spirit of the Church in America than any other 
which had gone before, the splendid ceremonies of the hier 
archy s centennial began November 10 with the pontifical 
high mass at the Cathedral.* Every American prelate was 
there, except the aged Archbishop Kenrick, of St. Louis, who 
was too feeble to make the trip halfway across the continent. 
Besides these, four hundred priests, the same number of semi 
narians and several organizations of laymen took part in the 
procession. Archbishop Ryan, then in the prime of his powers 
as an orator and celebrated far and near for the eloquence and 
force of his pulpit utterances, preached a masterly sermon. 
While they were celebrating the first centennial of the Church 
in the United States, he pointed out, the beginnings of Catho 
licity in America reached back to a much earlier period. He 
recalled that a Catholic discoverer, representing a Catholic na 
tion, "had first planted the all-civilizing Cross on these shores" 
in 1492. He rejoiced to welcome the Mexicans, representa 
tives of "that older Catholicity/ 

/^The fathers of this republic," he said, "had to form a cot 
stitution and government for a people of every race, language, 
Color and nationality, who, they foresaw, would inhabit this 
laiiit. They had to combine a political Catholicity with a po 
litical uftfty, aftcHo hold the most discordant elements together 



Volume, Centennial Celebration and Catholic Congress, published by 
Hughes, Detroit, 1889, (This boot and Kelly s Collections In the Life 
gad .Times of Cardinal Gibbons, Vol. I, the files of the CathoUo Mirror and the 
Baltimore newspapers are the authorities for most of the facts cited to tbe 
jp^iKQt .chapter.) 



BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS. 195 

by force of law. So also before the establishment of the Cath 
olic Church in this world, religions were national in their or 
ganization, though universal in their fundamental principles, 
and were adapted to particular peoples of the same race and 
language. But the Church was destined to embrace within 
her government the peoples of every nation under heaven, to 
combine the most diverse elements and firmly to unite them and 
hold them for all time; and in no one country of the world 
had we to exercise this power so much as here, for nowhere 
else were they found together/ 

Sketching the labors of Carroll, Archbishop Ryan pro 
nounced him an American patriot as well as a Christian bishop. 
"Love of country and race," he remarked, "is a feeling planted 
by God in the human heart, and, when properly directed, be 
comes a wall of virtue." 

Outlining the history of the Church in the century that had 
just passed, Archbishop Ryan pointed out that "since the Civil 
War there is a great change in popular sentiment in relation to 
the Catholic Church. In addition to this, it must be remem 
bered that Catholics and Protestants now associate more freely 
and intimately and understand each other better. Intelligent 
Protestants are gradually being dispossessed of the old notion 
that Catholics exalt the Blessed Virgin to a position equal to 
that of the Sop, that priests can forgive sins according to their 
own wish, that images may be adored after the fashion of the 
pagans, that the Bible should not be read, and other absurd 
supposed doctrines and practices of the Church, Because of 
this enlightenment, and because of the high character of Ameri 
can converts in the past men like Dr. Brownson, Dr. Ives, 
Father Hecker and many others it is possible that some of 
the ablest defenders of the Church in this coming century may 
be men who are atfpresent in the ranks of her opponents, * * * 

"A wonderful future is before the Church in this country, 
if we are only true to her, to the country and to ourselves. 
She has demonstrated that she can live and move and widea 



196 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

without state influence, that the atmosphere of liberty is most 
congenial to her constitution and most conducive to her prog 
ress. Let us be cordially American in our feelings and senti 
ments, and, above all, let each individual act in his personal 
life and character the spirit of his Catholic faith." 

At pontifical vespers the same day Archbishop Ireland 
preached in his characteristic vein on "The New Century : Re 
sponsibilities, Hopes and Duties/ He boldly voiced his own 
aspirations and those of others who thought the same way, men 
to whom progress was the breath of life, development the coun 
tersign of duty. 

"The past," he said, "our fathers wrought; the future will 
be wrought by us. The next century in the life of the Church 
in America will be what we make it. Our work is to make 
America Catholic. If we love America, if we love the Church, 
to mention the work suffices. Our cry shall be God wills it/ 
and our hearts shall leap with Crusader enthusiasm. * * * 

"The Catholic Church will confirm and preserve as no hu 
man power or human church can, the liberties of the republic. 
The importance of the position of America to the cause of 
religion can not well be overestimated. It is a Providential 
nation. How youthful, and yet how great! How bright in 
glorious promise! * * * 

"The movements of the modern world have their highest 
tension in the United States. The natural order is here seen 
at its best, and here it displays its fullest symmetry. Here 
should the Church, unhampered by the government or by 
despotic custom, come with the freedom of the son of Issai, 
choose its arms, and, marching straight for the opposing foe, 
bring the contest to a speedy close. 

"Of inestimable value to us is the liberty the Church enjoys 
under the Constitution of the republic. No tyrant here casts 
chains around her. No concordat limits her action or cramps 
her energies. She is as free as the eagle upon Alpine hills 



THE CHURCH IN AMERICA. 197 

free to spread out in unrestricted flight her pinions, to soar to 
vast altitudes, to put into action all her native energies. The 
law of the land protects her in her rights, and asks in return 
no sacrifices for those rights; for her rights are those of 
American citizenship. * * * 

"There is needed a thorough sympathy with the country. 
The Church of America must be, of course, as Catholic as in 
Jerusalem or Rome ; but, so far as her garments assume color 
from the local atmosphere, she must be American. Let no 
one dare paint her brow with foreign tint or pin to her mantle 
foreign linings! There is danger; she receives large acces 
sions of natives from foreign countries. God witnesseth it, 
they are welcome ! I will not -enter upon their personal affec 
tions and tastes; yet, should those be foreign, they shall not 
encrust upon the Church. Americans have no longings for a 
church of foreign aspect. It would acquire no influence over 
them. In no manner could it prosper ; exotics have but sickly 
forms. I would have Catholics be the first patriots in the 
land. 

"This is an intellectual age ; it worships intellect. All things 
are treated by the touchstone of intellect, and the ruling power, 
public opinion, is formed by it. The Church will be judged 
by the standard of intellect. * * * 

"We have a dreadful lesson to learn from certain Euro 
pean countries in which, from the weight of tradition, the 
Church clings to thrones and classes and loses her grasp upon 
the people. Let us not make this mistake. We have here no 
princes, no hereditary classes; still, there is the danger that 
there may be in religion a favorite aristocracy upon which we 
lavish so much care that none remains for others. What, I 
ask, for the multitude who peep at us from gallery and vesti 
bule? What of the thousands and tens of thousands of nomi 
nal Catholics or non-Catholics who seldem or never open a 
church door? What of the uncouth and unkempt, I ask, of 



198 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

the cellar and the areaway, the mendicant and the outcast? It 
is time to bring back the primitive Gospel spirit, to go out into 
the highways and byways, to preach on housetops and in mar 
ket places. * * * Save the masses! Cease not planning 
and working for their salvation. * * * 

"Seek out social grievances; lead in movements to heal them. 
Speak of vested rights, for this is necessary; but speak, too, of 
vested wrongs, and strive by precept, word and example, by 
the enactment and enforcement of good laws to correct them. 
Breathe fresh air into the crowded quarters of the poor." 

Cardinal Gibbons presided at the dinner held at St. Mary s 
Seminary. A cablegram from the Pope, expressing his joy 
at the triumphs of faith which the occasion commemorated, 
was read; and Archbishop Satolli, whose Latin eloquence was 
then heard for the first time in America, predicted that Leo 
or some future pontiff would visit this country. Greetings to 
the American Church were conveyed by Cardinal Taschereau 
for Canada; by the Mexican bishops, for their country, and 
letters were read from English and Irish prelates. 

The congress of laymen had been proposed by Archbishop 
Ireland. It was a plan which had been tried to some extent 
in Europe, but never before in America. Had such a gathering 
been suggested in one of the periods of religious storm to which 
the country had been subject before the Civil War, it would 
have been rejected at once as impracticable ; but in the altered 
temper of the times it was at least worth considering, and 
Cardinal Gibbons finally adopted it. 

For centuries the followers of the Catholic religion in the 
United States had been the victims of groundless distrust. In 
Virginia, the oldest colony, which shared the religious preju 
dices of England, they were regarded with suspicion ; and in 
Massachusetts, during the earlier days, they were considered 
to be only a little less dangerous than the witches of Salem. 
Even in Maryland, founded t>y a Catholic Lord Proprietor 
and dedicated by him to religious liberty, the later Calverts, 



LOYALTY OF CATHOLICS. 199 

turned Protestants, had assented to the imposition of double 
taxes on Catholics and to depriving them of the suffrage. A 
petition to Governor Sharpe, in which they pathetically recited 
the origin of the province and the full freedom which they 
formerly enjoyed, bears eloquent testimony to the patience 
with which they bore their burdens.* No Americans were 
more sincerely loyal in the preliminary days of the Revolution 
and, during the progress of that intense struggle, in forum 
and on battlefield. It was even said that "every Catholic was a 
Whig." Debarred before the war from holding even a com 
mission in the militia, a number of them speedily rose to high 
rank in the army led by Washington. Of the members of the 
Continental Congress, a considerable number were Catholics. 
John Carroll went to Canada with Franklin on the vain mis 
sion designed to win that country to the cause of independence. 

Catholics had shared with their Protestant brethren, know 
ing no discrimination in public life, the burdens of citizenship 
in the formative days of the republic. In the War of 1812 
they had again proved the mettle of their patriotism. Andrew 
Jackson, victorious over Packenham, was welcomed to New 
Orleans by the Catholics of that city, headed by Bishop Du- 
bourg, who celebrated in the Cathedral a solemn service of 
thanksgiving for the triumph of American arms. Catholics 
were active in Congress and in State Legislatures, accepting 
prejudice with equanimity and losing no fraction of their pub 
lic spirit under the sting of calumny. In Know-Nothing times 
they had conducted themselves with singular moderation ; and 
in the Civil War they had divided in sympathy like their 
brethren of other faiths. 

Still, there was a lingering remnant of prejudice that came 
down from other days. How could it be met? Perhaps the 
time had come for them to follow collectively where Cardinal 
Gibbons had led. None doubted his patriotism. No Protest- 



* Maryland Historical Society Manuscripts. 



200 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

ant cleric was half so conspicuous in the eyes of his country 
and of the world as an advanced and liberal champion of the 
American idea. 

Nevertheless, there was danger of immature discussion at 
the congress of laymen, which the Cardinal had prudently 
considered. In the atmosphere of American freedom, unrep 
resentative men are prone to utterances which may be misin 
terpreted. It was decided that the bishops should appoint the 
delegates to the congress, and that the program should be sub 
mitted to episcopal authority beforehand, so that, as far as 
possible, tendencies to individual extremism might be checked 

The congress met in the Concordia Opera House, and was 
presided over by John Lee Carroll, a former Governor of 
Maryland, and a great-grandson of Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton. The range of discussion included the opportuni 
ties of the laity, state and religious education, temperance, 
Sunday observance, social questions, church music, the Cath 
olic press, and the independence of the Holy See. In the 
main, the atmosphere of the congress proved to be one of 
sound ideas and patriotic spirit. When a false chord was 
struck by Daniel Dougherty, of Philadelphia, the opinion of 
his associates revolted and gave a more effective demonstra 
tion of the healthy tone of the congress than would have 
been possible had complete unanimity prevailed. Dougherty, 
whose gifts of oratory had won for him the name of "silver- 
tongued/* made an address concerning the colonial persecu 
tions of Catholics, long forgotten by nearly everybody else. 
He went so far as to declare that there was even yet a disposi 
tion to exclude them from public office. The highest honors 
of the republic are denied us/ he exclaimed, "by a prejudice 
which has all the force of a constitutional enactment/ 

The offices held by many of the delegates, in state and na 
tion, formed the most effective answer to his criticism. Dough 
erty himself had been selected to make the nominating 



CONGRESS OF LAYMEN. 201 

speeches for Hancock in 1880, and Cleveland in 1888, in the 
national conventions of the Democratic party; surely, there 
was no great discrimination in his case. It was true that there 
had been no Catholic President; but no man of sufficient politi 
cal prominence to be eligible to that exalted office had been 
rejected because he was of the Catholic faith. 

In contrast to Dougherty s pessimism, the general spirit of 
the congress was one of buoyant hope, and his gloomy retro 
spection found no echo in any other part of the proceedings. 
Resolutions which were adopted on the closing day expressed 
the views and aspirations of the laity. They set forth that 
there was no conflict between the Church and the institutions 
of the country; denounced Mormonism, the tendency to di 
vorce, nihilism, socialism, communism, and declared that "we 
equally condemn the greed of capital/ As was to be ex 
pected, a school system which included a course of religious 
training was advocated. An outgrowth of the current agitation 
for a "Continental Sunday" was found in a clause favoring 
the Sunday closing of saloons. The absolute freedom of the 
Holy See was held to be necessary for the peace of the Church 
and the welfare of mankind. 

The Cardinal addressed the congress, expressing the view 
that it had not been convoked in vain. "It will form an ad 
mirable school," he said, "for enlightening and instructing the 
members and preparing them for holding a more elaborate 
convention at some future day. This congress, by the mere 
fact of being called together, emphasizes and vindicates the 
important truth that it is the privilege as well as the duty of 
our laity to co-operate with the clergy in discussing those great 
economic, educational and social questions which affect the 
interests and well-being of the Church, the country and society 
at large. I confess that the desire of my heart for a long time 
has been to see the clergy and the laity drawn more closely. 
They have, perhaps, in some respects been much and too long 
apart; for, if the clergy are the Divinely constituted channels 



202 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

for instructing the laity in faith and morals, the clergy, on 
their part, have much to learn from the wisdom and discretion, 
the experience and worldly sense of the laity. 

"And in no other country on the face of the earth should 
the clergy and the. laity be more united than in our own. The 
laity build our churches; they erect our schools; they volun 
tarily and generously support our clergy; the salaries of our 
clergy are not ceremoniously handed to them by Government 
officials on a silver salver, but come from the warm hands and 
warm hearts of the people." 

Archbishop Ireland inspired the delegates with one of his 
short and vigorous addresses. 

The congress ended with a torchlight parade, in which 
30,000 men and boys took part. The streets were brilliant 
with illumination as this great procession passed. Cardinal 
Gibbons reviewed it from his residence, and enthusiastically 
joined in the applause. It was nearly midnight when the last 
men in line passed his bay-window. The utmost good humor 
prevailed, and in the dense throngs on the streets there was 
not the slightest disorder. The parade, in which nearly all 
who took part were Marylanders, was as much a tribute to the 
Cardinal as to the visiting prelates and laymen. It took the 
form of a popular demonstration in his honor as it wound 
along picturesque Charles street and thousands gazed upward 
for a word of approval from the head of the Church in 
Apiecica. 

The dedication of the School of Sacred Sciences at the new 
university on the fourth day of the celebration marked the tri 
umph of an Idea. The project was close to the Cardinal s 
beait, and, he said in later years, it had given him greater con 
cern than anything else he had undertaken. It had been born 
in hopes at the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore; clothed 
with reality at the Third Council, where Bishop Spalding s 
zeal and Miss Mary Gwendoline Caldwell s gift of $300,000 
the prelates to authorize it as a practical undertaking; and 



ORGANIZING THE UNIVERSITY. 203 

now, with the Pope s blessing and with the prayers of the 
clergy, the university was about to begin its mission of instruc 
tion. Miss CaldwelFs gift had been increased by $50,000 
from her sister, Lina; and through the energetic efforts of 
Bishop Keane and others the amount had been gradually 
swelled to $800,000. Bishop Keane, the first rector, traveled 
throughout the country with the zeal of an apostle, pleading 
as few men could plead for the substantial help of the laity. 
His saintly life, his winning personality, the fervor of his mis 
sion and the direct vigor of his appeals opened the way readily. 
He seemed never to tire; and, when the results of his labors 
were summed up, it was found that progress had been made 
beyond the dreams of the project s most sanguine promoters. 

The question of a site for the university was much dis 
cussed ; but all finally agreed on Washington as the best place 
for the capstone of the Catholic educational system. The wis 
dom of this choice was confirmed in a few years by the Meth 
odists, who laid the beginnings of the American Methodist 
University in the same city; and the Protestant Episcopal 
Church a little later raised Washington to the dignity of an 
independent bishopric. When Carroll decided to found his 
academy at Georgetown, in 1789, he had no idea that the 
capital of the country would be established there. In this, as 
in other things, he "builded wiser than he knew. 11 

It had been projected to start the university with a Divinity 
course, and gradually develop it as means were obtained. 
With American buoyancy, some of the bishops dared to hope 
that it would spring, like Minerva, full armed from the brow 
of Jove. Others, more cautious, pointed to the history of the 
European universities, which had gradually developed for cen 
turies from small nuclei ; but the great majority were united 
in the desire to go ahead with the work. 

The cornerstone of the School of Sacred Sciences, the fi?st 
of the group, had been laid May 24, 1888, in the presence of 
President Cleveland, members of his Cabinet, Cardinal Gib- 



204 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

bons and other distinguished persons. Early the next year 
the Pope addressed a brief to the American bishops, declaring 
that, "as the See of Baltimore is the chief among the apostolic 
sees of the United States of North America, to the Arch 
bishop of Baltimore and to his successors we grant the priv 
ilege of discharging the office of supreme moderator or chan 
cellor of the university/ 

Nearly all the great assemblage of prelates went over from 
Baltimore to attend the dedication, in the midst of a pouring 
rain, which soaked the spongy soil of the suburban estate on 
which the university had been planted, as yet unresponsive to 
the magic touch of the landscape gardener. Archbishop Satolli 
celebrated mass, and Bishop Gilmour, of Cleveland, preached. 
He pointed out that it was fitting to begin with a Divinity 
course, for, from the Catholic point of view, "all true educa 
tion must begin in God, and find its truth and direction in 
God. * * * 

"There is a widespread mistake/ he continued, "a rapidly 
growing political and social heresy, which assumes and asserts 
that the state is all temporal and religion all spiritual. This is 
not only a doctrinal heresy; but, if acted upon, would ruin 
both spiritual and temporal. No more can the state exist 
without religion than the body without the soul ; and no more 
can religion exist without the state, and on earth carry on its 
work, than can the soul on earth, without the body, do its 
work. The state, it is true, is for the temporal, but has its 
substantial strength in the spiritual ; while religion, it is true, 
is for the spiritual, but in much must find its working strength 
in the temporal. In this sense it is a mistake to assume that 
religion is independent of the state, or the state independent of 
religion. As a matter of fact, religion must depend upon the 
state in temporalities; and, vice versa, the state must depend 
upon religion in morals; and both should so act that their 
conjoint work will be for the temporal and moral welfare of 
society/ 1 



SERMON OF BISHOP GILMOUR. 205 

But, the Bishop proceeded to show, he did not mean that any 
form of direct or legalized partnership between church and 
state was necessary or desirable. "In this country/ he said, 
"we have agreed that religion and the state shall exist as dis 
tinct and separate departments, each with its separate rights 
and duties; but this does not mean that the state is inde 
pendent of religion or religion independent of the state." 

The Bishop remarked that it was perhaps the first great 
university of the world "begun without state or princely aid, 
but originating in an outpouring of public thought, and founded 
and provided for by the gifts of the many, rather than by the 
offerings of the few. It bespeaks the widening character of 
American ideas and the existing conviction of the public mind 
that higher studies are clearly needed/ 1 

A brilliant banquet in one of the halls of the university was 
made notable by the attendance of President Harrison, Vice- 
President Morton, and nearly all the members of the Cabinet. 
Archbishop Satolli s Latin eloquence flowed again. "God 
loves America/ he said. "It is Leo s feeling that this is 
true; and he believes, therefore, that in America nothing is 
impossible." 

A cablegram from the Pontiff, conveying his blessing and 
sending congratulations, was read. 

Secretary of State Elaine, in a speech, said he had come to 
the banquet to represent the United States, "not in a political 
sense, much less a partisan one, and not in a sense in any way 
in conflict with any church or sect or principle of religion. 
Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the United States, and 
this is one of our greatest blessings. I have spoken thus often 
in Protestant assemblages, and it gives me pleasure to repeat 
it to a Catholic audience. * * * Every college in the 
United States increases the culture of the United States. We 
have the criticism of an English professor, who admired 
America as the most intelligent land in the world and the 



206 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

least cultivated. Universities will, in time, give us a greater 
excellence in learning/* 

Cardinal Taschereau spoke in French, saying that the time 
was a troublous one for the Church abroad, because of the 
"intense opposition of the potentates of Europe/ "In the 
United States," he pointed out, "there is full freedom; and 
there is great comfort in the universal confidence placed in 
Cardinal Gibbons as the glorious representative of the Church 
In America. The Pope has always had unbounded faith in 
him, and he has often been spoken of by the Holy Father as 
the first priest in America/ 1 

After President Harrison had briefly expressed his thanks 
for the reception accorded him, Cardinal Gibbons spoke of the 
"Hierarchy of the United States/ "We have all been more 
than anxious/ he said, "for the visit of the President, the Vice- 
President and members of the Cabinet, who have honored the 
university by their presence. They assure us of their sym 
pathy for every cause to promote the religion and morality of 
the people in the United States. Though there is no union of 
church and state, in any sense, the people have always upheld 
religion. * * * In olden times the Church admonished 
obedience to rulers when they were even obnoxious. How 
much more can she do so now, when salutary laws are made 
to foster the home and better society? A government is 
pleasing to God when it is in harmony, and how good it is 
when both clergymen and laymen, working in an individual 
capacity, bring about harmony." 

Vicompte de Montalembert made a lengthy address in 
French in behalf of the universities of Paris and Lyons. There 
were many other speeches ; and after the banquet the university 
course was formally opened by an oration in English by 
Bishop O Farrell, of Trenton, and a Latin address by Mgr. 
Schroeder, the new professor of dogmatic theology. The 
ceremonies were elaborate and prolonged. Surely no univer 
sity was fotinded under more notable auspices. 



A SURPRISE FOR FOREIGNERS. 207 

The reception at the City Hall of Baltimore on Thursday 
given by Mayor Latrobe to the visiting prelates and laymen 
was a revelation to many of them. These men, shut off in 
many cases from direct contact with the world in the solitude 
of ecclesiastical life, were amazed to see Cardinal Gibbons ap 
parently on terms of familiar acquaintance with nearly every 
body present, from the Mayor down to the little children who 
came with their parents. What surprised them almost as 
much was the fact that the crowd, with singular unanimity, 
seemed to look upon him as the foremost citizen of Maryland, 
rather than as a churchman, and appeared to take this view as 
if from the force of long habit. For not a few of the distin 
guished prelates this was a sermon in itself more powerful 
than any to which they had listened during the week. If an 
archbishop were in the community, of the community, and a 
leader of the community, what need to fear a misunderstand 
ing, a lack of common purpose? The foreigners found an 
especial lesson in this. The formality, the diplomatic restraint 
between the churchmen and public men in Europe was lost in 
the fusing of American life within the crucible of freedom and 
co-operation. Neither had favors to ask, but both felt the 
impulse of a united object. Delicate forms of ceremony, de 
signed, perhaps, as much to uphold prerogative as to promote 
cordiality, were notably lacking. The Mayor and the crowd 
met on terms of simple friendship, greater in its potency than 
documents stamped with official seals or precedent brought 
down from mediaeval days. 

When the great gathering broke up, what had been accom 
plished? The Church, through her laity as well as her bish 
ops, had set her face against socialism, and the other trans 
planted political organisms whicih had threatened to grow in 
the virgin soil of America; had condemned the prevalent hos 
tility between labor and capital; had entered a militant con 
flict against social evils, like divorce; had sent forth cham 
pions in pulpit and pew with new inspiration, with co-ordi* 



208 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

nated ideas, to begin aggressively the work of a new century 
of Catholic effort. 

Simultaneously with the congress, "Our Christian Herit 
age" appeared in print. The delegates found a guide for their 
own labors in the Cardinal s vigorous declarations on current 
evils. 

Leo XIII turned again to the American hierarchy for con 
solation in the European difficulties which were accumulating 
around him. Cardinal Rampolla, writing to Cardinal Gib 
bons, conveyed the "liveliest satisfaction" which the Pontiff 
had felt in the events of the centennial. "His Holiness also," 
he wrote, "spoke of yourself in terms of the highest praise for 
all you did on that occasion, and said at the same time that he 
approves most fully the prudent line of conduct you pursue in 
your management of every work undertaken to promote the 
greater development of your young and illustrious Church/ * 

With characteristic readiness to turn everything to practical 
use, Cardinal Gibbons presided over a mass-meeting held in 
the Baltimore Academy of Music on the Sunday following the 
celebration, which resulted in the adoption of a high-license 
law regulating liquor selling in Maryland. This meeting had 
been hastily arranged by his secretary, Rev. John T. Whelan, 
who wished to take advantage of a golden opportunity to strike 
a blow for temperance ; and the Cardinal willingly acquiesced 
in the plan when it was presented to him a short time before 
the meeting was to be held. It was at a moment when Arch 
bishop Ireland s temperance crusade was reaching the zenith 
of its activity, and the ardor of the prelate from St. Paul 
was also aroused by the opportunity. One of the conspicu 
ous visitors to the centennial exercises had been Rev. James 
Nugent, of Liverpool, called "the Father Mathew of Eng 
land," a lion in the cause of temperance in his own country. 
Some of the most prominent laymen in Maryland, Protestant 
as well as Catholic, sat on the stage to lend the encouragement 

^Cathedral Archives. 



VIEWS OF LIQUOR QUESTION. 209 

of their presence to this new movement for the social better 
ment of the community. 

"The blow we strike tonight^ the Cardinal said, "is for the 
benefit of the laborer, and as such it must and shall be suc 
cessful/ 

The enactment of the proposed law by the Legislature soon 
afterward could not have been accomplished without this 
demonstration, which marshalled public opinion in an irre 
sistible phalanx. The Cardinal, while not so radical as the 
Archbishop of St. Paul in his views on the liquor question, 
was thoroughly committed to a reduction of the evils arising 
from drink. He had been a moderate user of light wines at din 
ner, in which he found partial relief from the pangs of indiges 
tion. Had he believed prohibition practicable of enforcement, 
he himself would have been the first to exemplify total absti 
nence; but, in his view, statutory abolition of the use of liquor 
would defeat its own object. It would lead, he believed, to 
wholesale violations of the law, and, therefore, to a growing 
disrespect for the law. He had not been able to find encour 
agement from the object-lessons in communities which had at 
tacked the problem by this means. Example and judicious 
restriction, it seemed to him, were the best means of contend 
ing with the situation. 

Violent methods in the solution of the temperance question 
always excited his disapproval. When Mrs. Carrie Nation, of 
Kansas, began a campaign of open destruction of saloon prop 
erty, which for a time was a sort of national sensation, he 
remarked : 

"Nothing, in my opinion, can warrant Mrs. Nation and her 
followers in taking the law in their own hands and wrecking 
the property of saloonkeepers." 

For many years he has made a practice, when he confirms at 
the altar, to obtain a pledge of abstinence from intoxicating 
liquors by the young until they reach the age of twenty-one 
years ; and the addresses on temperance which he has made on 



210 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

such occasions would fill volumes. His steady adherence to 
this plan must have had a tremendous effect; and, whether due 
in part to his example and precept or not, there has been a 
steady and pronounced decrease in the evidences of intoxica 
tion in Baltimore. Scarcely ever is a drunken man seen on the 
streets, and the good order which prevails in the city is a com 
mon subject of surprise to strangers. 

Not only in this direction, but in many others, he has exer 
cised a continuous and powerful influence for the social welfare 
of the city in which he lives ; but he is not prone by nature to 
radicalism in such questions, and is always inclined to allow 
for the rebound of human nature from the strain of extreme 
restriction. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
APOSTOLIC DELEGATE: THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 

By the year 1890 the Catholic Church had assumed a new 
aspect in the eyes of the American people as a result of the 
liberalizing policy of Cardinal Gibbons, powerfully supported* 
as it was, by the far-sighted Pontiff who sat in the chair of 
Peter. A Pentecostal wave of accessions to the Church was 
the natural result. Not only was she able to retain within 
her fold a host of the immigrants who were arriving from 
Catholic countries in Europe, but conversions were numerous, 
and dioceses were springing up everywhere. To be a Catholic 
was no longer to be an object of suspicion in an ultra-Prot 
estant neighborhood. Protestant ministers were inclined to 
welcome a Catholic Church in their vicinity in the same spirit 
in which they would welcome one of a non-Catholic denomi 
nation. It was amazing how the old lines of religious preju 
dice were disappearing. Catholic and Protestant pastors 
worked together in movements for the moral and social better 
ment of the communities in which they were thrown. 

A militant evangelism was building new edifices where the 
mass might be celebrated in areas to which population was 
flocking. With the increased wealth of the country, it was 
easier to erect churches, parish halls and schools, and to sup 
port the clergy in their ministrations. 

This awakening of Catholic activity had the effect of accen 
tuating differences of view that had been gradually arising 
and of thrusting upon the hierarchy the necessity for a solu 
tion of problems which had not hitherto reached a climax. 
Chief among these were the school question and the so-called 
question of Americanism the nationalization of the diverse 

211 



212 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

foreign elements introduced by immigration; but around them 
clustered a multitude of lesser problems upon which opinion 
was dividing with increasing definiteness of demarcation. It 
was difficult, under the circumstances, to get these great ques 
tions settled promptly at Rome. The United States, being 
still a missionary country in the organization of the Church, 
was under the jurisdiction of the Propaganda, already over 
crowded with the tremendous undertaking of managing Cath 
olic mission movements throughout the world. There was a 
feeling among some American bishops and priests that a 
method should be provided for a prompter determination of 
ecclesiastical questions arising in this country. 

Archbishop Satolli had gone back to Leo with glowing ac 
counts of what he had seen in America. The strength and 
freedom of the Church had powerfully impressed him. In 
Washington he had been cordially received by President Har 
rison ; and had become amazed no less by the vast possibili 
ties for the advancement of the Church than by the material 
resources of the nation. 

The advisibility of more direct relations between the Vatican 
and the Government at Washington had long been considered 
at Rome. As early as 1885 Cardinal Gibbons received a letter 
from Cardinal Simeoni, asking his opinion about the expedi 
ency of the Holy See entering into diplomatic relations with 
the United States. In his answer he deprecated the idea, giv 
ing many reasons why, in his judgment, such an undertaking 
.would be imprudent and might compromise the pontiff as well 
as the Catholics of America. The only circumstance, he wrote, 
puder which such a communication should be made would be 
on an occasion of sympathy or congratulation regarding a pub- 
Ik calamity or a signal blessing to the nation. 

Later inquiries of the same character were made of the 
American archbishops, but all except Mgr. Ireland replied that 
such a step would be inadvisable. Cardinal Gibbons reason 



THE VATICAN AND THE UNITED STATES. 213 

for doubting the wisdom of appointing an apostolic delegate 
was based on his well-known views of the respective func 
tions of church and state. It had so long been one of his 
favorite themes that the Church prospers most when wholly 
divorced from political entanglements, that he conceived the 
result of the experiment to be at least doubtful. Misinterpre 
tation would be apt to arise ; it might be held in some quarters 
that the appointment of an apostolic delegate, though his func 
tions might be confined to an adjustment of purely ecclesias 
tical questions, would be an entering wedge for the opening of 
full diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the White 
House. He knew that this last was impossible and not in ac 
cord with the spirit of American institutions. It would harm, 
not help, the Church, and the justification of great need was 
lacking. The Church had no difficulty with the Government 
of the United States. The national administrations had not 
only not been repressive, but had shown no disposition to in 
terfere with Catholic interests in any place over which the 
American flag floated. Ecclesiastical authorities were gener 
ally sustained in their legal property rights before the courts, 
and the Cardinal felt that they could always obtain justice. 
There was no discrimination in chaplaincies in the army and 
navy, nor in anything else that the Government had to take 
within its purview. The Vatican, even when it controlled the 
states of the Church, before the spoliation by Victor Emanuel, 
had never had a minister at Washington, though it is interest 
ing to note that the United States was long represented at its 
court by an accredited member of the diplomatic corps, ap 
pointed by the President. The first of these ministers was 
James L. Martin, of North Carolina, appointed in 1848; his 
successor was no less a personage than Lewis Cass ; and the 
position was abolished in 1868, when Rufus King was niw- 
ister. 

Leo was so far moved by the objections that he decided to 
take no final step at that time; but an opportunity presented by 



214 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

the approach of the World s Fair, soon to be held at Chicago, 
prompted him to make a test of the situation. 

Secretary of State Foster, in September, 1892, requested 
Cardinal Gibbons to confer with him regarding a letter to be 
addressed to the Pope, through Cardinal Rampolla, asking for 
the loan of maps and other relics relating to the discovery of 
America, which were in possession of the Vatican.* The 
Cardinal went to Washington, where Mr. Foster gave him a 
letter, which he promptly transmitted. 

The letter of Mr. Foster began with a request for the loan 
of the relics. "I need not assure you," he wrote, "that the 
greatest care will be taken of them from the moment of their 
delivery into the hands of the agent of this Government who 
may be authorized to receive them ; or, should his Holiness see 
fit to entrust them In the care of a personal representative who 
will bring them to the United States, I am authorized by the 
President to assure his Holiness that such representative shall 
receive all possible courtesy upon his arrival and during his 
sojourn in this country. 

"The intimate association of the Holy See with the Colum 
bian enterprise and its results has so linked the memory of 
Rome and her pontiffs with the vast achievement of Colum 
bus and his competitors in the work of discovery and coloniza 
tion, that an exhibit such as by the President s direction I 
have the honor to suggest could not fail to be among the most 
noteworthy contributions to this International celebration. By 
co-operating to this end, his Holiness will manifest for our coun 
try a regard which will be highly appreciated, not only by the 
manager^ of the exposition, but by the American people. 

* < His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, with whom I have con 
ferred on the subject, has very kindly agreed to convey this 
letter to your Eminence/ f 



* Cathedral Archives. 

t letter of Secretary Foster to Cardinal Rampolla, Sept. 18, 1892. 



SATOLLI SENT AS DELEGATE. 215 

Cardinal Rampolla responded promptly, acknowledging the 
transmission of Secretary Foster s letter through the Cardinal* 
and stating that it had been presented to the Pope. 

"His Holiness has learned/ wrote Mgn Rampolla, "how 
great was the gratification felt by the President of this great 
republic at the prospect of receiving the Columbus records, 
which will be sent by the Holy See to the exposition which is 
to be held next year at Chicago in honor of the immortal dis 
coverer of America. The august Pontiff felt certain that the 
United States Government would spare no pains to preserve 
the various objects that are to be intrusted to it from any mis 
hap, and he returns his thanks for the kind offer that has been 
made for their transportation. 

"In the meantime, his Holiness, who has so many reasons to 
entertain special regard for the United States Government on 
account of the liberty which is enjoyed in those States by the 
Catholic Church, and who justly admires the enterprise and 
progress of that country, has decided to be represented* at the 
public demonstrations which are to be held there in honor of 
the Genoese hero on the fourth centenary of his memorable 
discovery, by a person who is no less distinguished by his per 
sonal qualities than by his grade in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. 
This person is Mgr. Francesco Satolli, Archbishop of Lepanto, 
a prelate who is as highly to be esteemed on account of his 
virtues as for his profound scholarship, of which he has given 
many evidences in his writings. 

"His Holiness does not doubt that this decision of his will 
be received with pleasure by the Government, and feels sure 
that your Excellency will welcome the prelate with your accus 
tomed courtesy/ * 

In the following November, the Pope commissioned Arch 
bishop Satolli as temporary apostolic delegate to the Americati 
Church with plenary power. In addition to this, he was the 

* Letter of Cardinal Rampolla to Secretary Foster, Sept 28, 1892. 



216 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

representative of the Pontiff at the public demonstrations of the 
World s Fair; but he was not accredited to the Government of 
the United States, and had no diplomatic status. Before leav 
ing Rome its the custodian of the relics, he conferred at length 
with the Pope regarding the ecclesiastical problems with which 
he was to deal on this side of the Atlantic; and, full of the 
spirit and purposes of the head of the Church, sailed for 
America. Leo said to him at parting that he looked with 
flowing tears on the steadily failing Orient, but his heart and 
soul were filled with great joy in seeing the progress of liberty 
in the great Republic of the West. 

His first conference in this country was with Cardinal Gib 
bons, with whom he spent some time at the archiepiscopal resi 
dence in Baltimore, absorbing from the Cardinal views of the 
situation which would aid him in the successful transaction of 
his mission. Perhaps it was fortunate that the first apostolic 
delegate had not been trained in the diplomatic school of the 
Vatican. Although a man of remarkable breadth of view and 
sympathies, he was essentially a theologian, and had no im 
pulse to concern himself with political questions. A native of 
the Diocese of Perugia, he had studied in the seminary of that 
city, which was presided over at the time by Joachim Pecci, 
archbishop of the diocese, destined to be elevated to the pon 
tifical chair as Leo XIII. When Cardinal Pecci became Pon 
tiff, he called Satolli to Rome, in whose atmosphere he broad 
ened. He filled with success important professorships in the 
College of the Propaganda and the Academy of Noble Ecclesi 
astics, In his early studies he had been fascinated by the 
Thomistic philosophy. His commentary on the Summa of St. 
Thomas, in five volumes, established clearly the profundity of 
his intellect, and other works of his pen procured the honor of 
a special brief of commendation from the Pontiff. 

In appearance, he suggested the thinker. Slight and of 
medium height, his brilliant dark eyes were capable of great 
expression. Surmounting them was a broad and intellectual 



THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 21T 

forehead. Mingling with the expression of the scholar were 
strong traces of strength and self-repression, which indicated 
that he was cast in a mold adapted to great affairs. 

Foremost of the problems with which Satolli was to concern 
himself was the school question. It was by no means new. 
From the beginnings of the public school system in the United 
States, Catholics who were taxed for its support and yet who 
sent their children, from conscientious conviction, to the paro 
chial schools, had felt the desire to be rid of the double burden. 
The special interest of Cardinal Gibbons in education from the 
days when he was a parish priest in Baltimore had brought 
him in intimate touch with the situation. He could not bring 
himself to believe in any form of intellectual training of youth 
in which there was no religious teaching. He feared that a 
secularized childhood would mean an atheistic manhood. 
Abroad, he had noted the spirit of agnosticism and other forms 
of denial of the supernatural in religion. His hope was in the 
American home; if religion and morality did not enter there, 
what of the future of his country? Was it safe to trust the 
children to a form of daily instruction in which they would 
not be taught the elementary religious and moral precepts 
which lie at the foundation of character ? 

He had no wish to use the funds of the state for forcing 
the Catholic religion on non-Catholics; but wherever youth 
was to be trained, much as he valued the development of the 
mind, much as he desired a cultured citizenship, his belief was 
that religion was the foundation of true culture, and that with 
out it at the base, the superstructure would topple of its own 
weight. 

In his view, it was desirable that the state should contrib 
ute to the support of Catholic schools only to the extent to 
which the parents of the children in those schools were citi 
zens. State supervision commended itself to his judgment, if 
it were properly applied. His idea of a public school for 
Catholic children was one under the supervision of the local 



218 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

examiner, no matter what his religious faith, subject to regu 
lation in the use of text-books the same as other schools; in 
discipline, class work, sanitary regulation, and other points 
conforming to the standard set by the public authorities; the 
teachers to be appointed on certificate, subject to the tests pro 
vided for instructors in the public schools. But, apart from all 
this, he desired that the teachers should be Catholics, and that 
for a portion of the day, perhaps before or after the regular 
school hours, they should instruct the children in the principles 
and practice of religion. An American of Americans, he 
could see nothing un-American in this. 

His interest in education had led him to issue a pastoral let 
ter on the subject to the clergy and laity of the Archdiocese 
of Baltimore in 1883.* In this he had pointed out how the 
Catholic Church has been the "f ostering mother and munificent 
patroness" of secular education. He admonished parents to 
develop the "minds and hearts" of their children. "Then can 
they go forth into the world/ he wrote, "gifted with a well- 
furnished mind ana great confidence in God/ He advised 
that the history of the United States, with the origin and prin 
ciples .of the government, and the lives of the eminent men who 
had helped to found and preserve it, should be an especial ob 
ject of study, in order that the children might grow up "en 
lightened citizens and devoted patriots/ 5 

"But it is not enough," he insisted, "for your children to 
have & secular education; they must also acquire a religious 
Indeed, religious knowledge is as far above human 
as the soul is above the body; as Heaven is above 
; as eternity is above time. The little child who is famil 
iar vrflh Ms catechism is really more enlightened on truths that 
should come home to every rational mind than the most pro- 
fotmd philosophers of pagan antiquity, or even than many so- 
called philosophers of our own time. He has mastered the 
great problems of life; he knows his origin, his sublime des- 




o 

2 

5 

CD 



PASTORAL ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 219 

tiny, and the means of attaining it a knowledge which no 
human science can impart without the light of revelation." 

While a knowledge of bookkeeping was valuable for elemen 
tary pupils, he showed, it was not enough, unless the child were 
taught how to balance his accounts daily between his con 
science and his God. "What profit," he asked, "would it be to 
understand the diurnal and annual motions of the earth, if the 
pupil did not know and feel that his future home is beyond the 
stars in heaven ?" While it was important to be acquainted 
with the lives of heroes who had founded empires, of men 
of genius who had enlightened the world, it was still more 
necessary to learn something of the King of Kings, who cre 
ated all those kingdoms and by Whom kings reign. If the 
soul were to die with the body, then, secular education would 
be enough ; but was it wise to train the young for the compara- 
tfvely brief time to be spent in earthly existence and leave them 
without training for the infinite future beyond this life? 

"Our youth," he wrote, "cherish the hope of becoming one 
day citizens of heaven as well as of this land; and, as they can 
net be good citizens of this country without studying and ob 
serving its laws, neither can they become citizens of heaven, 
unless they know and practice the laws of God." 

He declared as a fundamental principle that the religious 
and secular education of children can not be divorced from 
each other "without inflicting a fatal wound upon the soul" 
A high development of the intellectual without a corresponding 
expansion of the religious nature, he believed, would often prove 
a curse instead of a blessing. His idea of religion was to make 
it an every-day affair, not something to be put on, like a holi 
day dress, on Sunday. The religious and moral training of the 
young should be interwoven with the thread of daily life- At 
every step, as far as possible, their feet should be guided in the 
paths that would lead to the higher life, which he considered 
the most precious position they could attain. Church and 
Sunday-school were not enough. "They should, as far as pos- 



220 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

sible," he wrote, "breathe every day a healthful religious atmos 
phere in these schools, where not only their minds are enlight 
ened, but where faith, piety and sound morality are nourished 
and invigorated." 

He also feared that the children of Catholic parents, if they 
did not lose all religion in purely secular schools, might lose 
their own distinctive faith. To him, this was a jewel which 
should be preserved. With all his remarkable liberality, it 
would have been absurd to say that he considered "one church 
as good as another," any more than a minister of the Meth 
odist, or some other Protestant faith, would have considered 
the Catholic faith "as good as" his own. To his mind, the 
Catholic Church was the divinely appointed agent for the spread 
of the Gospel on earth, and the custodian of the deposit of 
heavenly truth. None ever heard him say a word in reproach 
of any religious denomination or of its members, individually 
or collectively. He could recognize as truly good men who 
differed from him in religious conviction, acknowledging their 
entire sincerity and the common brotherhood of all as the 
children of God. But he considered that it was desirable to 
exercise the utmost efforts, without encroaching upon the rights 
of others, to retain within the fold of his Church all children 
born of Catholic parents. 

The same privilege and duty he freely conceded to Prot 
estant denominations. They, as far as they desired, might im 
part religious instruction to children of their own faith in con 
nection with the branches of profane learning. The greatest 
danger of all, in his view, was the rearing of the young with 
out the guidance of any church, without moral instruction, 
without character-building apart from the cultivation of the in- 
teUect Without parochial schools, he saw danger that the 
parishes would languish in the midst of the corrupting ten 
dencies of modern life. He did not, for a moment, question 
the sincerity or underrate the zeal of those who believed in 
secular education in the schools; as far as their view extended, 



A MOVEMENT WHICH FAILED. 221 

he sympathized with it. But his contention was, that the 
system did not go far enough and embrace religious training 
also. 

Some priests and laymen in Baltimore set on foot a move 
ment, in 1893, to obtain from the public authorities an appro 
priation for Catholic schools.* A circular embodying their 
views was distributed, and preparations were made to intro 
duce in the Maryland Legislature a bill in conformity with 
them. This proposed bill provided that denominational schools 
be incorporated by the State; that the trustees of such schools 
should have the right of selecting their own teachers ; that the 
teachers should be required to pass the regular examinations 
provided by the public authorities as tests for competency ; that 
the schools should be subject to inspection and regulation by 
those authorities; that the denominational school buildings 
should be rented to the city or State at the nominal sum of one 
dollar a year each, which, it was urged, would save the State 
from an expense of some hundreds of thousands of dollars; 
and that the teachers be paid from the public funds. 

The preamble to the bill declared with emphasis that its 
adoption meant no form of union of church with state. "As 
the state is not united to any particular religious denomi 
nation/ it declared, "the state is not expected to teach re 
ligion; but it can be supplied by public denominational 
schools/* 

If the support of Cardinal Gibbons to this program could be 
enlisted, it was intended to launch the project. But he firmly 
refused to countenance it, and his influence was sufficient to 
crush the movement before it had been directly brought to the 
attention of the Legislature. He was persuaded that the time 
was not yet ripe for an annual concession by the Legislature 
of an appropriation for the support of Catholic schools. He 
made it clear that the circular which had been prepared did not 



* Belly, Collections in the Life of Cardinal Gibbons, Vol. Ill, p. 200 et 



222 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

emanate from him, and was not drafted or published with his 
authorization, and the movement in Maryland soon subsided. 

He approved the reading of the Bible in the public schools, 
if no other form of religious instruction could be provided* A 
year later, addressing the president of the Chicago Women s 
Educational Union, he wrote : 

"The men and women of our day who are educated in our 
public schools will, I am sure, be much better themselves, and 
will also be able to transmit to their children an inheritance 
of truth, virtue and deep morality, if at school they are brought 
to a knowledge of Biblical facts and teachings. A judicious 
selection of Scripture readings; appropriate presentation of 
the various Scripture incidents, born of reflection on the pas 
sages read and scenes presented can not but contribute, in 
my opinion, to the better education of the children in our pub 
lic schools, and thus exercise a healthy influence on society at 
large, since the principles of morality and religion will be 
silently instilled while instruction is imparted in branches of 
human knowledge/ * 

He clung to the hope that the problem would be worked out 
without excitement or injustice. Speaking at the dedication 
of a handsome building for St. Joseph s school of the Balti 
more Cathedral, in September, 1892, he said: 

"I trust that the Catholic schools will one day become in 
some way connected with the public school system/ 

Throughout the United States, Catholics held about the 
same views regarding the proper method of public education. 
The decrees of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, over 
which Cardinal Gibbons had presided, plainly and forcibly 
urged the development of the parochial schools, but refused to 
impose any penalty upon parents who thought it best for their 
children to attend the public schools. 

An experiment which Archbishop Ireland undertook at the 
towns of Faribault and Stillwater, Minnesota, served as a 

* Belly. Collections In the Life of Cardinal Gibbons, Vol. Ill, p. 1T& 



THE "FARIBAULT PLAN." 223 

storm center for a great controversy which sprang up because 
of the personality of the St. Paul prelate himself rather than 
from the novelty of his methods. To such an extent was atten 
tion focused upon him that when the question became suddenly 
inflamed in the early nineties, the designation "Faribault Plan" 
was often bestowed upon the whole problem. As far as gen 
eral questions were concerned, the Plenary Council had settled 
them ; but as the temper of the times seemed to make a test case 
necessary, the controversy in the Diocese of St. Paul was car 
ried to Rome itself. 

The hostility directed at Archbishop Ireland was not alone 
founded upon the school system which he introduced, but was 
interwoven with other questions that were beginning to force 
themselves upon the consideration of the Church in America. 
It seemed to be his fate to draw fire wherever he went A 
crusader by nature, nothing would have pleased him better 
than to die fighting on the sands of the desert, in full armor, 
stricken down by the blow of a Mameluke scimitar. His pow 
erful convictions could hardly be repressed on any occasion. 
He never acted hastily; but once his conclusion was formed, 
and fortified by the verdict of his conscience, merely temporal 
considerations had no weight with him. According to his view, 
the American people were fair, and would in* time see that jus 
tice was done, no matter how fierce might be the storm of popu 
lar misunderstanding. 

The situation at Faribault and Stillwater, where Arch 
bishop Ireland made an arrangement with the public authori 
ties, was buried under a cloud of misunderstanding. So many 
exaggerated accounts were given of its nature and purposes, 
that an impartial consideration of it in the public mind was, 
for a time, impossible. When the archbishops assembled in 
St. Louis, in 1891, at the celebration of Mgn Kenrick s episco 
pal jubilee, this was among the topics which they considered in 
council. Cardinal Gibbons, in virtue of his primacy, presided, 



224 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

and asked Archbishop Ireland to explain in detail what had 
been done. 

Mgr. Ireland made an explanation with simplicity and 
frankness. He went so far as to say that he was happy to 
submit his action to the cognizance of his colleagues, and ready 
to retrace his steps if they thought he had passed the limits of 
right and prudence. The agreement between himself and the 
School Commissioners of Faribault and Stillwater he stated 
as follows : 

"I, The school buildings remain the property of the parish. They are 
leased to the school commissioners during the school hours only that Is, 
from 9 A. M. to 3.45 P. M. Outside these hours they are at the sole dis 
posal of the parish; the pastor and the Sisters who teach can hold In 
them such exercises as they deem proper. The lease Is for one year 
only; at the end of the year, the archbishop may renew the lease or 
resume the exclusive control of the buildings. 

"2. The teachers must hold diplomas from the State, and the progress 
of the pupils is determined, as to the various branches of profane learn 
ing, by parochial examinations held in conformity with official require 
ments. The class rooms have been furnished and are kept by the 
school commission, and the Sisters receive the same salaries as are 
paid to the ordinary teachers. 

"3. During school hours, the Sisters give no religious instruction; 
but as they are not only Catholics, but also members of a religious 
order, they wear their religious habits, and do not alter their teachings 
In any respect The schools, although under the control of the State, 
are, In respect to instruction, precisely what they were before the ar 
rangement was made. The Sisters teach the catechism after school 
hours, in such a way that the pupils notice merely a change from one 
lesson to another. Besides t at 8.30 A. M., that Is, before the regular 
school hour, the children attend mass; and on Sundays, the school 
buildings are at the exclusive disposition of the parish. 

W 4. The public schools are scattered in various parts of Minnesota 
cities, and children are required to attend the school in the district 
wherein they live. Faribault and Stillwater are excepted from this 
rule. Catholic children can attend the schools in question from all parts 
of the cities; the Protestant children living In the districts where our 
schools are situated may do so, but are not obliged. The result is that 
almost all the Catholic children of the two cities attend these schools, 



APPROVED BY THE ARCHBISHOPS. 225 

whereas there are very few Protestants, and the Influence is almost 
wholly Catholic." 

After Mgr. Ireland s explanation and his answers, not one 
of the archbishops offered a word of blame; many were ex 
plicit in approval. Archbishop Williams, of Boston, did not 
hesitate to say that he congratulated his colleague on the result 
obtained; that his own wish would be to submit the schools of 
his diocese to a similar arrangement, and that he hoped to suc 
ceed, at least as to some. It was pointed out in the discussion 
that the teachers were paid more highly than the parish could 
afford to pay them ; Catholics had no longer to pay the double 
tax to the public school and the parochial school, and the pas 
tor no longer had to worry to find the necessary money to 
carry on the school money often impossible to procure with 
out recourse to means inconvenient for more than one reason, 
and sometimes gravely so. Almost all the Catholic children 
of these two cities were under religious influence. 

In placing these two schools under the school boards, which 
were only local or municipal organizations, Mgr. Ireland did 
not intend to invalidate the principle of the parochial school, 
though he had been accused of so intending. His plan was to 
save two schools which were perishing, and to procure for the 
large number of children in Faribault and Stillwater the re 
ligious influence of which they were deprived in the public 
schools. 

It was also true that Archbishop Ireland had not even made 
an innovation; that many schools were under similar rule in 
different dioceses; for example, in New York, Milwaukee, 
Albany, Buffalo, Erie, Harrisburg, Pcoria, Rochester and Sa 
vannah. 

"No one," Cardinal Gibbons remarked, "had dreamed of rais 
ing objections and of accusing the bishops and priests of these 
dioceses of unfaithfulness to their mission and of treason to 
the* Church; but the passions were stirred up the instant Mgr. 
Ireland had acted." 



226 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

Archbishop Ireland, with characteristic boldness, carried his 
own case to Rome, leaving St. Paul early in January, 1892, on 
that mission. He won at every point. At a special congre 
gation of the Propaganda held April 21, a decision was 
reached that "Without derogating from the decrees of the 
Councils of Baltimore on parochial schools, the arrangement 
entered into by Archbishop Ireland concerning the schools at 
Faribault and Stillwater, taking into consideration all the cir 
cumstances, can be tolerated." 

In an audience held the same day, the Pope approved this 
action; and in July Cardinal Ledochowski, Prefect of the 
Propaganda, addressed letters* to Cardinal Gibbons advising 
that the archbishops at their next reunion search with care for 
a means of supplying the religious needs of Catholic children 
who, outside the* system of the parochial schools, frequented 
in great numbers the public schools. 

The archbishops met in New York November 17, 1892. 
Archbishop Satolli, who had recently arrived in this country, 
was present, and spoke with authority as Papal Delegate re 
garding the general lines for working out the school question. 
He outlined fourteen propositions, basing them upon the de 
crees of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, which were 
still in force. He quoted from these decrees the declaration 
that all care must be taken to erect Catholic schools, to enlarge 
and improve those already established, and to make them equal 
to the public schools in teaching and discipline. When there 
was no Catholic school, or when the one that was available was 
little fitted for giving the children an education in keeping with 
their condition, he pointed out that the Council had decreed 
that the public schools might be attended with a safe con 
science. In cases where it was necessary for Catholic children 
to attend the public schools, measures to provide for their re 
ligious instruction were to be taken by the parish priest. 



DECLARATION BY ARCHBISHOP SATOLLL 227 

The Papal Delegate called attention to the decree strictly 
forbidding anyone, whether bishop or priest, either by act or by 
threat, to exclude from the sacraments, as unworthy, persons 
who chose to send their children to the public schools, or the 
children themselves. 

"The Catholic Church in general/ 5 he continued, "and espe 
cially the Holy See, far from condemning or treating with in 
difference the public schools, desires rather that by the joint 
action of civil and ecclesiastical authorities there should be 
public schools in every state, as the circumstances of the 
people require, for the cultivation of the useful arts and the 
natural sciences; but the Catholic Church shrinks from those 
features of public schools which are opposed to the truths of 
Christianity and to morality; and since in the interest of society 
itself, these objectionable features are removable, therefore, 
not only the bishops, but the citizens at large, should labor to 
remove them, in virtue of their own right and in the cause of 
morality/ 

The Archbishop went on to say that public schools bore 
within themselves approximate danger to faith and morals, 
because in them a purely secular education was given, and also 
because teachers were chosen indiscriminately from every sect, 
"and no law prevents them from working the ruin of youth, 
in tender minds/ 5 He also considered it a serious objection 
that in many of such schools children of both sexes were 
brought together for their lessons in the same room. 

But the Archbishop proceeded to say that "if it be clear that 
in a given locality, owing to the wise dispositions of public au 
thorities, or to the watchful prudence of school boards, teach 
ers and parents, the above dangers to faith and morals disap 
pear, then, it is lawful for Catholic parents to send their chil 
dren to these schools to acquire the elements of letters and art s, 
providing the parents themselves do not neglect their most seri^ 
otts duty, and the pastors of semis put forth every effort to in- 



228 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

struct the children and train them in all that pertains to Cath 
olic worship and life/ 5 

The Archbishop touched on the Faribault plan by saying 
that it was greatly to be desired and would be a most happy 
arrangement, if the bishops should agree with the civil authori 
ties or with the members of school boards to conduct the 
schools with mutual attention and due consideration for their 
respective rights. He urgently advised that steps be taken to 
raise the standard of instruction in Catholic schools, and that 
normal schools should be established for the preparation of 
teachers.* 

The declaration of Archbishop Satolli was an official one as 
a representative of the Pope; and the archbishops closed their 
sessions with an expression of gratitude and satisfaction with 
the way he had fulfilled his commission. After the meeting 
Leo took the additional precaution to secure from each of them 
a private letter fully opening his mind on the subject. From 
these, he gathered that there was still a doubt on the part of 
some as to whether the decrees of the Council of Baltimore 
had not been abrogated, in part, by the Archbishop s interpre 
tation. He took the opportunity to settle the whole question 
Jby a letter, which he addressed to Cardinal Gibbons, and which 
decided the controversy by final authority. 

The Pontiff began by announcing his intention to establish 
permanently an apostolic delegation at Washington. He ex- 
prcSsfed his satisfaction with what Satolli had done, declaring: 
"The principal propositions offered by him were drawn from 
the decrees of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore ; and 
especially declare that Catholic schools are to be most sedu 
lously promoted, and that it has been left to the judgment and 
conscience of the Ordinaty to decide according to the circum 
stances when it is lawful and when unlawful to attend the 
public schools. 3 * 



* Satolli, Loyalty to Church tnd State, p. 27 * teg. 



LEO XIII ON THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 229 

These decrees, the Pontiff stated, were to be faithfully ob 
served, so far as they contained a general rule of action. 
Although the public schools were not to be entirely condemned, 
since cases might occur, as the council itself had foreseen, in 
which it was lawful to attend them; still, every endeavor 
should be made to multiply the Catholic schools and to bring 
them to perfect equipment. "Wherefore/ concluded the Pon 
tiff, "we confidently hope (and your devotedness to us and to 
the Apostolic See increases our confidence) that, having put 
away every cause of error and all anxiety, you will work to 
gether, with hearts united and with perfect charity, for the 
wider and wider spread of the Kingdom of God in your im 
mense country. But, while industriously laboring for the glory 
of God and the salvation of the souls entrusted to your care, 
strive also to promote the welfare of your fellow-citizens and 
to prove the earnestness of your love for your country, so that 
they who are entrusted with the administration of the govern 
ment may clearly recognize how strong an influence for the 
support of public order and for the advancement of public 
prosperity is to be found in the Catholic Church. 

"And as to yourself, beloved son, we know for certain that 
you will not only communicate to our other venerable brethren 
in the United States this our mind, which it hath seemed good 
to us to make known to you, but that you will also strive with 
all your power that, the controversy being not only calmed, 
but totally -ended, as is so greatly to be desired, the minds 
which have been excited by it may peacefully be united in mu 
tual good-will."* 

Along these lines the settlement of the school question was 
worked out. In time, the flames of controversy which had 
sprung up around the personality of Archbishop Ireland and 
his experiments in Minnesota subsided. His enemies had 
made use of the situation for a twofold purpose: some, to 



* Letter of Leo XIII to Cardinal Gibbons, May 31, 1893 (Cathedral Archives), 



230 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

make it appear that he was compromising Catholic principles 
of education by submerging them in his own diocese, and 
accepting the principle of purely secular schools ; others, that 
he was making war upon the public schools by insidiously at 
tempting to undermine them by the introduction of sectarian 
influences. 

Archbishop Satolli, the warm friend of Cardinal Gibbons 
and of Archbishop Ireland, lost no opportunity of defending 
the motives and prudence of both; and, in time, the questions 
which were agitating the Church found new foci. 

The controversy regarding religious influences in education 
spread far beyond the cities and towns of the United States, 
and out over the great prairies, where stood the isolated mis 
sion schools erected by the Church for the instruction of the 
Indians. Cardinal Gibbons had been deeply interested in these 
outposts of Catholic missionary endeavor, and when a general 
assault upon them was begun, he girded himself for the de 
fense. The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions had been origi 
nated in 1874 by his predecessor, Archbishop Bayley, for the 
purpose of carrying on a work begun by the zealous priests 
of Spain and France who followed in the wake of Columbus 
and Champlain. When President Grant, deciding that it was 
"better to Christianize than to kill," inaugurated his "Peace 
Policy/ the Catholic and Protestant denominations were urged 
to maintain schools on the reservations, the teachers and other 
employees, though in effect appointed by the various denomi 
nations, being put on the Government payroll. Later, the 
practice was adopted of making formal contracts with religious 
bodies conducting schools for the tuition and support of Indian 
pupils who could be induced to attend them. This was called 
the "contract system," and under it the Government appro 
priations to Catholic Indian mission schools reached a maxi 
mum of $397,756 in 1892. These schools multiplied greatly 
in numbers and efficiency. The heirs of Francis A. Drexel, of 
Philadelphia, gave largely from their great wealth to the cause, 



THE INDIAN SCHOOLS. 231 

and one of them Mother M. Katharine Drexel consecrated 
her life to the welfare of the Indians and negroes, founding 
for their special benefit the missionary congregation of the 
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.* 

Simultaneously with the development of the school contro 
versy elsewhere, hostile public sentiment was aroused, chiefly 
through the efforts of the "American Protective Association/ 1 
and strong pressure was exerted on Congress to abolish all 
aid to sectarian schools. In time this had its effect. Congress 
began in 1895 to curtail the appropriations for the contract 
schools, and two years laterf declared it to be the settled 
policy of the Government u to make hereafter no appropriation 
whatever for education in any sectarian school." In 1900 it 
made what it termed the "final appropriation" for this pur 
pose; but the Catholic Bureau, though staggering under its 
burden, kept up the work by means of funds obtained largely 
through Lenten collections in the churches and the generosity 
of Mother Drexel. 

The bureau was incorporated in 1894, and two years later 
Cardinal Gibbons was elected its president, -which office he con 
tinues to hold. So strongly did he feel on the question, that 
he addressed a petition to Congress December 5, 1898, in be 
half of himself and the other archbishops of the United States, 
urging a reopening of the contract school question, and an 
inquiry concerning the whole subject of Indian education.^ 
He took the ground that an impartial investigation by a com 
mittee of Congress would show the great benefits of Catholic 
Indian education, and that only harm could come to the Indians 
by abandoning it. He declared the system "an essential ele 
ment in the solution of the Indian problem a system which 
could not be called sectarian, and yet did actually put the 

* "Our Catholic Indian Missions," a paper read before the Catholic Missionary 
Congress In Chicago, November 16, 1898, by Rev. Wm. H. Ketcham, director of 
the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. 

t Act of June 7, 1897. 

J Records of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. 



232 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

spirit of Christianity into the educational work of the Govern 
ment and enabled the Government to use the indispensable 
factor of Christianity in the effort to elevate a race below us 
in civilization." From the beginning of the work he traced 
the labors which had been undertaken, the obstacles met, the 
successes obtained. 

"Certainly we are justified/ he wrote," in saying that the 
well-informed on the subject cannot escape the conclusion that 
the mission school is better adapted to the civilization of the 
Indian than any other. In the mission school are engaged 
men and women set apart for its special work ; men and women 
who, through noble inspiration, have chosen this field in which 
to do life work in the cause of humanity and to the glory of 
God. They are selected for the work by the several denomina 
tions employing them, not only because of their scholastic at* 
tainments, but also because their devotion to the Christian 
religion has been evidenced by the purity of their lives." 

Even after Congress had ceased its appropriations, the 
bureau did not accept defeat. It took the ground, with the 
Cardinal s hearty support, that appropriations for the contract 
schools could still be made out of the tribal funds of the In 
dians, which were their own property and not public moneys 
of the people of the United States. President Roosevelt, after 
chaining from the Attorney-General an opinion that this view 
Was legally correct, sanctioned new contracts in cases where 
the Indians expressed the wish, by petition, to have a portion 
of their funds so used. Although a determined effort was 
Mad to secure the enactment of legislation prohibiting the use 
of tribal funds for the support of religious schools, the influ 
ence of the "A. P. A." had waned, and Congress refused to do 
so. By a decision of the United States Supreme Court, the 
course of President Roosevelt was fully sustained.* Congress 
also ordered a resumption of the distribution of rations to the 



* May 18, 1908. 



SYMPATHY WITH DEPENDENT RACES. 233 

children in mission schools, which had been withheld by the 
Indian Office for five years. 

Cardinal Gibbons sympathy with the dependent races in 
habiting his country was so strong that it took the form of a 
personal characteristic; and none felt greater anxiety than he 
during the period of grave trial through which the Bureau of 
Indian missions passed. He adhered to the Catholic view 
that when the Indian s faith in his own pagan creed is shattered 
by education, it will not do to turn him adrift without any 
creed, but that something must be put in the place of what has 
been taken away. To all denominations he conceded equal 
rights in the field of missionary labor, but to him it seemed 
indefensible that the light of Christianity should be shut out 
from the eyes of the young Indian in the schoolroom where 
his steps were to be guided up the steep path that led from the 
darkness of aboriginal savagery, 



CHAPTER XV. 
AMERICANISM : THE CAHENSLY QUESTION. 

Simultaneous in its development with the school controversy 
was the question of "Americanism/ which embraced within 
itself, to a greater or lesser degree, all the other problems of the 
Church in America in the last two decades of the nineteenth 
century. It directly involved the nationalization of the for 
eign elements which were crowding into the population of the 
country; and, indirectly, the broader consideration of whether 
the Church in the United States should retain the distinctive 
character in which she had been clothed by Cardinal Gibbons 
and other apostles of progressive thought, or whether she 
should become responsive to the reactionary influences develop 
ing in Europe. The latter was in conflict with all that Cardinal 
Gibbons had done or hoped to do. His steady purpose had 
been to bring the Catholic Church out into the brilliant sunlight 
of public opinion and display her as a tremendous and benevo 
lent power, closely in touch with the political and economic in 
stitutions of every country, but entangled with none. 

His plans would fail if the Church were to mingle in for 
eign politics. He had asked no favors from the Government, 
and desired no discrimination. In his view, the Government 
existed for the purposes decreed in the Constitution which he 
admired so much, and it was not one of those purposes to con 
cern itself about questions directly concerning religion. All 
forms of religious belief had the same opportunities under the 

234 



RELIGION AND PATRIOTISM. 235 

American flag.* Catholics in their faith adhered, without 
fraction of modification, to the universal Church as founded 
by the apostles and transmitted through ages of struggle by the 
fathers from generation to generation. This concerned only 
their religious belief; it had nothing to do with questions of 
language or race or politics. Catholics were citizens or sub 
jects of the country in which they lived. Upon the basis of 
their spiritual and moral natures as developed by the minis 
trations of the Church might be found fruitful soil for the 
flower of patriotism. An American was no more and no less 
an American because he was a Catholic ; no more and no less 
a man because his supreme spiritual shepherd on earth was the 
Pope. 

In America, separated by 3,000 miles of ocean from Europe, 
the Church could lend herself to nothing of a political or social 
nature which might be at variance with the ideals of the 
nation. There could be no divided allegiance; the Catholic 
was either an American or a foreigner. If an American, he 
must be an American in every sense, and cast in his lot without 
reservation among the people who were his fellow-citizens. 
Apart from the public policy of this, apart from the broad- 
minded wisdom which inspired it, it comported with the cardi 
nal s own aspirations as a man and a citizen. He regarded the 
institutions of his country as the best in the world. With sor 
row he saw them sometimes perverted to base uses ; and when 
occasion presented itself, he never failed to raise* his voice 
against abuses that crept into the body politic. He knew the 
dangers of popular government; but he also knew the perils of 
less liberal systems. In the atmosphere of freedom he found the 
best final solution for all merely material questions which af- 



* Dr. Philip Schaff, in Church and State In the United States, p. 9, defines the 
American system as "a free church in a free state, or a self-supporting and self* 
governing Christianity In independent but friendly relation to the civil govern 
ment." 



236 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

fected mankind. His political ideals clustered around the 
fathers of the republic, in whom he found exemplars for the 
men of his own generation. He maintained that the duty of 
the Catholic, which was nothing more nor less than the duty 
of the citizen, was to identify himself, without thought of 
religious discrimination, with all that concerned the best that 
was in American institutions, setting his face firmly against 
corruption, the evils of partisan politics, economic wrong and 
social disorder. 

Foreigners who came to these shores he welcomed as Cath 
olics, if they happened to be such ; but, at all events, as Ameri 
cans of the future; men of the same origin, either directly or 
remotely, as all who had peopled the country; men who would, 
in time, share In the responsibilities, the burdens, the honors of 
citizenship, and become as thorough upholders of the Ameri 
can idea as were those whose ancestors had come earlier from 
the Old World to seek better opportunities in the New. 

He deeply realized that the most effective argument, how 
ever absurd, which had been used against the Church in periods 
of religious intolerance, from Colonial days down through 
the first century of American independence, had been that she 
possessed, in some measure, a foreign tinge. He had thrown 
the whole fervor of his being into a battle of years to dissipate 
this view. His success had been amazing ; and it would have 
crushed him, had the results been snatched away at the last 
moment. 

He had the sympathy, the approval and the ready support 
of Leo XIII ; a large majority of the archbishops of the United 
States were one with him in spirit and purpose ; the American 
laity hailed him as the pattern of citizenship; and non-Catho 
lics, without distinction of creed, regarded him as an American 
of Americans. No wonder, then, that when an assault was con 
templated upon the corner-stone of his characteristic policies, 
he should throw himself into the struggle with all his energy. 



THE CAHENSLY QUESTION. 237 

The widespread agitation about "Americanism/ which be 
gan in the late eighties, was attributed in part to Herr Peter 
Cahensly, secretary of the Archangel Raphael Society for the 
Protection of German Emigrants, and was often referred to as 
"Cahenslyism." This society had been formed for the laudable 
purpose of promoting the spiritual welfare of settlers in for 
eign countries. It had done a notable work, when its aims sud 
denly widened so as to include within its scope the preservation 
of the nationality and language of those who emigrated from 
Europe. It had caught a breath from the gust of militant 
Pan-Germanism, which, starting on the banks of the Elbe and 
the Weser, swept through the Teutonic realms and the diverse 
peoples embraced within the Austrian empire, spread into 
Russia, thence to the United States, Brazil, Argentina, and 
wherever a German might go from his native town or farm to 
begin life anew. 

Pan-Germanism was a vivid dream, springing from natural 
causes that took their root in the unification of the Empire by 
Bismarck and its closer welding by Wilhelm II. From the 
time of the Napoleonic wars, when the German principalities, 
divided against themselves, lay crushed and humbled at the feet 
of the conqueror, the national spirit of Germania had slept 
until awakened by the magic touch of the man of blood and 
iron. Now rising from its slumber, it shook itself like a lion, 
and, half uncertain of its real destiny, wrestled with its own 
fierce energy. Pan-Germanism had its prototype in the Pan- 
Hellenism of the ancient world. It was an aspiration which 
any race might justly cherish. The hope was not so much to 
promote a political object, as to spread and consolidate through 
out the world Teutonic ideals of character and culture; but, in 
time, this might be made to serve political and commercial 
ends. If the German emigrants who were pouring at the rate 
of 400,000 a year into America, Africa, and even into Asia, 
could be made to retain their national spirit and customs, their 
race solidarity, some day there might be a greater Germany, 



238 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

which, like a very Colossus, would bestride the world. Ger 
man influence might predominate throughout the hemispheres. 
Should the Fatherland be threatened by another Napoleon, or 
should Russia and France carry an alliance to the extent of 
closing in with their united power upon the new empire, an 
army might spring up across the seas that would defy the 
power of any who might seek to despoil the temple of their 
ancestors. 

It was felt that Germany was losing all the time by the with 
drawal of some of its best and strongest elements to seek a 
new start in life under conditions more propitious to material 
prosperity. When they left they were none the less Germans, 
and they cherished the ideals of their ancestors, as Teutons 
have done since the days of the great Hermann; but they were 
soon absorbed across the seas by the peoples among whom they 
settled, and in a few generations all trace of their origin was 
lost. 

Though the Germans were the backbone of the Cahensly 
movement, Italians, French, Poles, and others became involved 
in it to some extent. In Italy, the Marchese Volpi Landi, and 
in France, the Abbe Villaneuve, championed the same cause. 
After years of agitation, the Archangel Raphael Society car 
ried the case to Rome itself. At an international congress 
held at Lucerne in December, 1890, it decided to address a 
memorial to the Holy See, setting forth its petition. 

This memorial began by declaring that the losses which the 
Church had sustained in the United States amounted to more 
than ten millions, caused by immigrants and their descendants 
falling away from the faith. As a remedy, it proposed the 
formation of immigrants into separate parishes, congregations 
or missions, according to nationality, and that the direction 
of these parishes should be confined to priests of the same 
nationality. "In this wise," the memorial set forth, "the sweet 
est and most cherished relations of the fatherland would, be 



NATIONALITY AND THE EPISCOPATE. 239 

constantly brought to the immigrants, who would love the 
Church all the more for procuring them these benefits," 

In parts of the country where immigrants of different nation 
alities had settled in too limited numbers to form a separate 
parish for each, the memorial asked that a priest should be 
selected for the care of each group who would be conversant 
with the respective languages spoken, and use in his ministra 
tions to each the distinctive tongue to which the parishioner 
had been accustomed. It was recommended that parochial 
schools be provided, in which instruction should be given in 
the native language of the parents. The organization of 
Catholic societies founded on nationality was also advised. 

The core of the question was summed up in this wise : 

"It would be most desirable that as often as might be judged 
feasible, the Catholics of every nationality should have in the 
episcopate of the country to which they have emigrated some 
bishops of their own race. It seems that such an organization 
of the Church would be perfect. Every different nationality 
of immigrants would be- represented, and their respective inter 
ests and needs protected or cared for at the meeting of bishops 
in council." 

The real object of those in America, as well as in Europe, 
who advocated the Cahensly movement, was to have the bish 
ops appointed by nationality, according to population; if, for 
instance, the Germans formed one-sixth of the Catholic popu 
lation, it was desired that one-sixth of the bishops should be 
chosen from those who spoke that language and would use it in 
the transaction of their official duties. 

In conclusion, the memorial begged special protection for 
the seminaries and other schools instituted in Europe for the 
education of missionaries to work among the emigrants, and 
help for the Archangel Raphael societies was invoked. The 
Pope was urged to appoint a cardinal protector as a. guardian 
for these societies,* 



* Belly, Collections in the Life of Cardinal Gibbons, V6L III, part 3, pp. 7, , 



240 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

In a subsequent memorial, from the same source, presented 
to Leo in June, 1891, the demands of the Cahensly element 
were presented with even more vigor, and with considerable 
amplification of argument. It was set forth that "the current 
which is carrying away to America populations of different 
nationalities is already formidable. In the future, it is likely 
to become irresistible/ Statistics were appended, stating that 
439,400 Catholics had left Europe for the American continent 
during the year 1889; of these, 178,900 came to the United 
States. It was declared that calculations based on authorita 
tive statistics showed that Catholic immigrants and their chil 
dren ought to constitute in the United States a population of 
26,000,000, though the number of Catholics irk the country did 
not much exceed 10,000,000. "Catholicity, therefore," asserts 
the memorial, "has sustained, up to the present date, a loss of 
16,000,000 in the great American republic." 

Causes for desertion of their faith by Catholics were enu 
merated. These included lack of sufficient protection for the 
immigrants at the time of their departure from home, during 
the voyage, and on their arrival in America; insufficiency of 
priests and parishes of their own nationalities ; pecuniary sac 
rifices "often exorbitant" that were exacted of the faith 
ful; the public schools; insufficiency of Catholic societies based 
on nationality and language, and lack of representation for 
different nationalites of immigrants in the episcopate. It was 
vehemently argued that immigrants and their descendants who 
forgot their language also forgot their religion. Regarding 
all-important question of bishops, the memorial declared: 

>"Bishops who are strangers to the spirit, character, habits and 
of otter nations can not, in the required measure, 
e their virtues, knowledge and zeal, appreciate and effec- 
attend to the wants of these nations. Again, the har- 
ijipny and concord between the different nationalities are 
affected. If the episcopate be handed over almost exclusively 
to one, nationality to, the detriment of others, a feeling of.tm- 



REPLY TO FATHER ABBELEN. 241 

easiness, of general discontent, is created among these last a 
feeling which assumes the proportion of disastrous interna 
tional rivalries. It is desired that concord and harmony 
should reign among the different nations that go to make up 
the Church of the United States. Nothing is more desirable; 
nothing more esential. The only way to attain this end is to 
give to every one of these nations bishops of their own, who 
will represent their respective nations in the episcopal body, 
just as those nations are represented among the parochial clergy 
and^ among the faithful/ 5 * 

From the viewpoint of Germans in America who sympa 
thized with the Cahensly agitation, the question had been em 
bodied in a pamphlet prepared by Rev. P. M. Abbelen, Vicar- 
General of the Diocese of Milwaukee, which was submitted to 
the Propaganda in November, 1886. Archbishop Ireland and 
Bishop Keane were in Rome at the time, having gone there to 
discuss with the Propaganda plans for the establishment of the 
Catholic university; and they availed themselves of the oppor 
tunity to make a vigorous reply. They repudiated the idea that 
there was any question between German and Irish Catholics, and 
insisted that the only question which could be considered was 
that "between the English language, which is the language of 
the United States, and the German language, which emigrants 
from Germany have brought to the United States." They in 
sisted that there was not even a sign of a conflict of races in 
America. They pointed out that there were no Irish parishes, 
and no efforts had been made to establish them ; that the Irish 
readily assimilated with the rest of the population, and were 
second to none in their devotion to American ideals. 

Proceeding with their argument, they showed that there 
were many diverse nationalities in addition to the Germans; 
and that if bishops were allowed to each in proportion to 



* Belly, Collections In tlie Life of Cardinal Gibbons, Vol. Ill, part 3, pp. 9 to 18, 



242 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

ulation, unity of Church government would be at an end. They 
pronounced as reprehensible the complaint which had been 
made at a reunion of Bohemian societies in a previous year, 
that up to that time there had been no Bohemian in the Ameri 
can episcopate. 

Regarding the Germans, they declared that the people of 
that nationality were not, by any means, a unit in support of 
the Cahensly point of view. There existed "what we may 
call the active party, whose object seems to be to preserve in 
tact the German spirit among immigrants and their descend 
ants, and to prevent them from changing their language for the 
English language, and to give a preponderating position to 
German influence in the Church in America." This was the 
party for which Father Abbelen spoke, and in behalf of which 
he was even then in Rome. They denied that he had in any 
way a representative character. The project of establishing 
a permanent Germany in America, it was shown, was approved 
only by a comparatively small proportion of immigrants, the 
great majority of whom desired complete and early identifica 
tion with the institutions and language of their adopted 
country. 

It was conceded that the German immigrants should have 
facilities for themselves and for their children to practice their 
religion in the language most familiar to them. To this end, 
the American bishops had been multiplying churches for the 
benefit of different nationalities. Yet, it was the tendency of 
the immigrant to get away from such a church as soon as pos 
sible, and to identify himself with the great mass of the people. 
German children who were taught their native language in the 
school spoke English by preference when they entered the 
recreation yard. The churches established for foreigners, and 
in which foreign languages were spoken from the pulpit and 
In the confessional, were constantly losing by the departure of 
parishioners to English-speaking parishes, though gaining, 
naturally, through the arrivals from Europe. 



OPPOSITION TQ CAHENSLYISM. 243 

"The Church will never be strong in America/ 5 they con 
tinued; "she will never be sure of keeping within her fold the 
descendants of immigrants, Irish as well as others, until she has 
gained a decided ascendency among the Americans themselves. 
Thank God, the time seems favorable for their conversion; 
prejudices are disappearing; there is a distinct movement 
toward the Church. To accelerate it, the Church naturally 
must, as far as it can be done without danger to other interests, 
be presented in ,a form attractive to Americans. The great 
objection which they have until now urged against her an 
objection which at certain periods of their history they enter 
tained so strongly as even to raise persecution is that the 
Catholic Church is composed of foreigners; that it exists in 
America as a foreign institution, and that it is, consequently, 
a menace to the existence of the nation. 

They insisted that there was no desire to exclude Germans 
from the American episcopate; but that only those should be 
bishops who knew the language of the country well, who un 
derstood the needs of the Church, and who could eradicate 
from themselves foreign nationalism.* 

Cardinal Gibbons wrote to the Pontiff, fully stating his own 
views on the question. These were subsequently adopted at a 
meeting of the archbishops in Philadelphia, by whom a strong 
protest against Cahenslyism was drawn up and sent to the 
Propaganda. They urged three basic principles : 

First, there should exist among all the parishes of the United 
States, without distinction of nationality, a perfect equality, 
and each should be independent of the other. 

Second, it is not necessary that any privilege be accorded tp 
any nationality in the administration of dioceses and parish!! 



* Letter of Archbishop Ireland and Bishop Keane to Cardinal SimeonJ, Prelect 
of the Propaganda, Dec. 6, 1886. 



244 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS, 

Third, it is the plain duty of every bishop to do his utmost 
that all the faithful of all languages who may be in his diocese 
be taken care of with the same charity. 

Cardinal Gibbons felt that there was great danger that the 
harmony and fraternal affection which had existed among the 
prelates of the United States would be broken. He insisted 
that the only way to arrest the evil was to refuse to recognize 
any distinction in the government of the Church; for, if one 
nationality were accorded special privileges, others would de 
mand them also. 

The Germans would have been glad to obtain the assistance 
of Cardinal Gibbons in behalf of the Cahensly movement. 
Throughout their agitation, most of them spoke of him with 
respect and even filial affection, because his conduct in the Dio 
cese of Baltimore had been such as to remove any ground for 
charges of discrimination on account of nationality. The 
largest congregation in the city St. Michael s was German, 
presided over by Redemptorist Fathers, who conducted their 
ministrations in their own language. There were admirable 
church facilities for all German immigrants to be instructed 
in their own tongue. Poles, Bohemians, and other nationali 
ties were similarly provided for. The Cardinal frequently 
visited these churches and co-operated with the pastors in the 
care of their flocks. The religious and material welfare of the 
immigrants was a subject close to his heart ; and in his case as 
a bishop, criticism was disarmed before the fight began. 

But, in the country at large, he saw great danger from 
Cahenslyism. He lost no suitable opportunity of openly de- 
daring his own sentiments. 

One of the characteristically bold acts of his life was the 
delivery of a strong sermon on this subject in Milwaukee, 
when he conferred the pallium on Archbishop Katzer in St 
John s Cathedral, August 20, 1891. This ceremony was 
marked by the presence of more than 700 prelates and priests, 



"GOD AND OUR COUNTRY." 245 

coming from almost every State in the Union and embracing 
every nationality represented among the American people. 
The Cardinal began his address by saying, after contemplation 
of the remarkable scene before him, that the Catholic Church 
in America was a family derived from many nations. He 
compared it to the heterogeneous multitude which assembled 
on the day of Pentecost, each person of whom heard in his own 
tongue the works of God proclaimed by the Apostles. He 
pointed out that a large proportion of the American bishops 
were natives of different countries in Europe ; yet he ventured 
to say that in no country in Christendom were the members of 
the hierarchy more united and compact. "Woe to him, my 
brethren," he said, "who would destroy or impair this blessed 
harmony that reigns among us ! Woe to him who would sow 
tares of discord in the fair field of the Church of America! 
Woe to him who would breed dissension among the leaders of 
Israel by introducing a spirit of nationalism into the camps of 
the Lord! Brothers we are, and brothers we shall remain. 
* * * God and our country! this be our watchword. 
Next to love of God, should be love of our country. * * * 
Let us glory in the title of American citizen. To one country 
we owe allegiance, and that country is America. We must be 
in harmony with our political institutions. It matters not 
whether this is the land of our birth or our adoption. It is 
the land of our destiny."* 

The training of a native clergy thoroughly in touch with 
the institutions of their country was one of his great objects. 
While the subject was at white heat, he made an address at the 
centennial celebration of St. Mary s Seminary, Baltimore, in 
October, 1891, in which he used these significant words: 

"We can never, indeed, be sufficiently grateful for the apos 
tolic labors of the clergy who have come to us from Europe in 
the past century. Without them, tens of thousands would 



Belly, Collections in the Life of Cardinal Gibbons, Vol. II, p. 145 et cq. 



246 LIFE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS. 

have died of spiritual starvation. But if the Church is to 
take deep roots in the country and to flourish, it must be sus 
tained by men racy of the soil, educated at home, breathing 
the spirit of the country, growing with its growth, and in har 
mony with its civil and political institutions." 

Leo XIII took formal note of the agitation for the selec 
tion of bishops according to nationality, and on July 4, 1891, 
addressed to Cardinal Gibbons, through Mgn Rampolla, Pa 
pal Secretary of State, a letter setting forth the views of the 
Apostolic See on this question. The Pontiff declared that the 
existing laws for the selection of bishops were to be observed 
without modification, and that no toleration could be accorded 
to certain practices which had arisen in opposition to it. He 
announced his determination not to grant the petition of Herr 
Cahensly asking that national bishops be appointed for the 
United States. The cardinal sent copies of the letter to all the 
archbishops. 

President Harrison was walking at Cape May a few days 
later with his little grandchild, "Baby McKee," when he met 
the cardinal. He invited the prelate into his cottage, and there 
they talked at length about the Cahensly question. The presi 
dent showed a rather broad comprehension of questions affect 
ing the Church in the United States, remarking that it seemed 
to him to have grown sufficiently strong to be regarded no 
longer as a missionary jurisdiction. The attempt to introduce 
the question of nationality in selections for the episcopate 
appfc&ml to him to have great potency for harm, and he ex- 
pressfed his unbounded satisfaction that the movement had 
been checked. He said he had sometimes thought of writing 
to the Cardinal on the subject, but hesitated lest he might be 
interfering, 

The Cardinal told the President that he was much pleased to 
hcar his views, and suggested that, as he had contemplated 
witing a letter on the subject, it might not be too late even yet 



COMMENDED BY PRESIDENT HARRISON. 247 

to express his views in that form. General Harrison replied 
that, while he feared "burning his fingers" by meddling in ec 
clesiastical questions, he had no objection to the Cardinal stat 
ing his views in a letter to the authorities in Rome. The Car 
dinal transmitted to Mgr. Rampolla a full account of the con 
versation, and received a prompt reply, expressive of the satis 
faction which these facts created at the Vatican. 

As the agitation continued, Cardinal Ledochowski, Prefect 
of the Propaganda, addressed a letter to the American primate 
in May, 1892, in which he used this language : 

"You are certainly 1 well aware that on the occasion of vacan 
cies in episcopal sees in the United States divers commotions 
very often arise among both clergy and people, which the event 
shows are growing more serious and frequent as time goes on. 
The effects which usually result in such cases are neither trivial 
nor hidden, nor are they of such a nature that this Sacred Con 
gregation can pa