Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia

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RECORDS

OF THE

American Catholic Historical Society

OF

PHILADELPHIA

Volume XXXIII

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY
1922

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Copyrighted, 1922

BY

The American Cathouc Historical Society
OF Philadelphia

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Vol. XXXni Mabch, 1922. No. 1

INDEX OF THE RECORDS OF THE AMERICAN
CATHOLIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY

This much-needed compilation, so long contemplated and
promised, is about to become a reality. The compiler has
finished his laborious task, which, knowing from long ex-
perience the worthlessness of a mere alphabetical list of
proper names, he has made an analysis, a digest, of the
thirty-one volumes published by the Society from 1886 to
the end of 1920.

The utility of the work has already been illustrated.
Soon after finishing the arranging of the cards in alpha-
betical order, a request came to the Society from the War
Department in Washington for information about a Cap-
tain John Smith, a Catholic who had rendered valuable ser-
vice in the Revolution. The Index answered the query at
once. In contrast with this incident is an experience of
some forty-two years ago, four or five years before our
Society was founded. An elderly lady had several times
made inquiries about the whereabouts or fate of a Rev.
Thomas R. Butler, a priest once well known in Phila-
delphia. The query could not be answered, there being

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2 American Catholic Historical Society

then not even a set of Catholic Directories within reach.
This Index, however, tdls us that the said priest had gone
West from Baltimore and had labored in Illinois and Ken-
tucky; inquiry of the Diocesan Secretary of Louisville or
Chicago would probably have elicited the desired informa-
tion.

It is not claimed, however, that every such question can
be answered from this source; for the Society has published
but a small porti^ of the information needed for a com-
plete history of the Church in North America. Let us hope
and strive, then, that the good work be continued until every
scrap of extant information be transferred to the pages of
the Records.

Nevertheless these volumes are a veritable treasury of
Catholic historical knowledge. Their most important con-
tents may be divided into three classes, namely, historical
compositions, transcripts of church registers, and other re-
cords and letters from bishops, priests, and Catholic laymen.
Geographically, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania occupy the
largest space in the first and second cat^ories, while Balti-
more, Charleston, Kentucky, and Mississippi Valley, Boston^
and Quebec are prominent in the third. Acadia, Maine, the
dioceses of Albany and Ogdensburg, New York ; Wilming-
ton, Delaware; Omaha, Nebraska; California, Oregon, and
Texas fare very well, and to a less extent Iowa and Ohio,
in the first.

Goshenhoppen, Pennsylvania, known in later times as
QiurchviHe, and lastly as Bally, boasts of the oldest register
in the Thirteen Colonies; and this, as well as its successors
to the early years of the nineteenth century, are reproduced,,
while a biography of Father Bally, S. J., continues the his-
tory down to our own time. Though the Philadelphia mis-
sion antedates it by a dozen years, yet the extant rasters
of St. Joseph's begin only in 1758, with the coming of
Father Farmer, S. J. ; and these are puUished, the baptisms

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Index of the Records of the Society 3

to 1810, the marriages to 1836, with a gap of a little over
four years (1786- 1790), which, it is hoped, will soon get
filled. We have here also the early marriage and baptismal
registers of St. Augustine's and Holy Trinity, as well as
detailed histories of the beginnings of both churches, and
the Minute Book of St. Mary's Trustees from the beginning
to the year 181 1. Herein may be detected the beginnings
of the trustee evil, so vividly depicted in the lives of
Fathers Goetz and Elling, of Holy Trinity, and the arch-
disturber Hogan at St. Mary's, whose career and character
are described and depicted in the Life of Bishop Conwell,
distributed through Vols. 24-29. Other early Pennsyl-
vania rasters and histories to be found here are those of
Lancaster and Greensburg and Sportsman's Hall, now known
the world over as St. Vincent's, the first home and Abbey
of the Cassinese Benedictines in the United States, whose
story is told by one of themselves. Other beginnings of
Pennsylvania missions recorded here are those of Carlisle,
Columbia, Elizabethtown, and the Philadelphia parishes of
St. John the Evangelist, St. Ann, the Assumption, and our
Mother of Sorrows under its old name of St. Gr^or/s.

No less valuable than the church registers as sources of
our ecclesiastical history are the letters and allied documents
so numerously reproduced in these volumes. The foremost
place belongs to those of the Propaganda leading up to the
erection of the see of Bakimore and the appointments of its
first bishop, in which Franklin's friendly part is incidentally
established. Then come those from and to Father, Bishop
and Archbishop Carroll, copies from the Baltimore archives,
while the Quebec archives furnish others bearing not only
cm the Church in Baltimore and Philadelphia, but also in
the Mississippi Valley. Of almost, if not quite, equal value •
is the correspondence of Bishop Chevenis with the Vemon-
Bonneuil family. In addition to the " Diary and Visitation
Book " of Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick and the " Ken-

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4 American Catholic Historical Society

rick-Frenaye iCorrespondence ", both edited and published
independently of the Society, we find in its Recx>rds
many letters from him and from and to his confidential
agent, M. A. Frenaye, and from his brother Archbishop
Peter Richard Kenrick, of St. Louis.

Bishop England's Diurnal or daily record of his visita-
tions and ministrations during the first few years of his
episcopate is indispensable in writing the history of the be-
ginnings of his vast diocese and to a correct understanding
of the Hogan schism in Philadelphia. Of wider scope are
his letters to friends in Rome and reports to Propaganda
on the needs of the Church under his jurisdiction and even
throughout the United States. His twenty years' corres-
pondence with Judge Gaston of North Carolina are also of
great historical value.

Two other collections of diaries and letters worthy of
special mention, because of their bearing on events and
persons contemporary with thenr authors, are those of
Father Joseph Mosley, S. J., founder of the second mission
on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and of the Rev. Patrick
Kenny, third pastor of Coffee Run, and first of Wilming-
ton, Delaware, whose quaint and naive entries and com-
ments, prefaced with an account of his career, by the late
Joseph Willcox, lend a unique interest to these pages. Wil-
mington, then, was only the fourth mission established in
the present diocese of that name. The history of the first,
Bohemia, Maryland, is admirably told by the late Rev. E.
I. Devitt, S. J., who has made, as editor, several other con-
tributions of original material to these volumes, as well as
a masterly survey of the Church in America. Among them
are letters from the Rev. Dr. Matignon on the origin of the
Church in Boston.

Monographs of local and family history and of biography
both religious and secular are numerous in these volumes.
The most prolific and charming of the authors of these

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Index of the Records of the Society 5

ecclesiastical chronicles is the Rer. Dr. Middleton, O. S. A.,
the first President of the Society, who is still with us. Be-
sides the illuminating introductions and notes which he has
furnished to the Philadelphia and Goshenhoppen church
registers, he has written detailed accounts of the Church in
Lansingburgh, Mechanicville and Carthage, New York,
and Atlantic City, New Jersey, in which he tells also the
story of the beginnings of Catholicity in the three dioceses
in which these places are located. He also tells us, with the
added charm of a personal and family interest, the dramatic
story of his native parish, St. Mary's or Our Mother of
Consolation, Chestnut Hill, Philadelhpia.

No less painstaking and thorough is the restoration of a
lost chapter in American Church history, the story of the
Capuchin missions in Acadia, by Father John Lenhart, O.
M. Cap., who also proves himself a masterly historical critic
in his strictures on Richard and D' Aries' " Acadia " and
Gosselin's account of the Church in Canada under early
English rule. Equally judicious is the Rev. Henry C.
Schuyler's treatment of the labors and murder of Father S.
Rale, S. J., apostle of the Abnakis on the Kennebec. Other
excellent historical essays are Dr. Flick's account of the
Frendi Trappists in the United States (1803-1815), his life
of the Rev. P. Henry Lemke, O. S. B., the story of Arch-
Abbott Wimmer, O. S. B., and the establishment of his
Order in Western Pennsylvania, the late C. H. A. Esling's
narrative of the beginnings of Catholicity in Delaware,
Father Croquet's mission among Oregon Indians, Qinch's
history of the Jesuits in "California, the beginnings of the
Church in Omaha and Nebraska and the life of the second
bishop there, James O'Connor, brother of the first bishop of
Pittsburgh and, like him, for a time Rector of St. Charles'
Seminary, Philadelphia. Mention might also be made of
many other sketches besides those of early times in Qeve-
land and Zanesville, Ohio. 1

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6 American Catholic Historical Society

Sisterhoods receive no small share of attention in these
volumes. It is not generally known that eight of them had
their origin in this country, three of which claim Philadel-
phia as their birthplace. The history of two of these is re-
corded by Miss Flintham, namely, the Sisters of Charity of
the Blessed Virgin, removed to Dubuque in 1844, and the
Franciscan Tertiaries. Here is also an account of the Sis-
ters of Our Lady of Mercy, founded in Charleston by
Bishop England, some twenty years before the Irish Sisters
of Mercy were introduced by Bishop O'Connor of Pitts-
burgh. But the most elaborate sketches of native religious
orders of women is that of the Sisters Servants of the Im-
maculate Heart of Mary, begun in Monroe, Michigan, and
now strongest in eastern Pennsylvania. The dramatic
story of another order, semi-American, begun in England
by a native of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Cornelia (Peacock) Con-
nelly, is told by Father Tourscher, O. S. A. ; while the late
Sara Trainer Smith throws much light on the origin of
Mother Seton's American Sisters of Charity, in her
biography of Cecilia O'Conway, " Philadelphia's First
Nun ", with whom in that work was associated Miss Annie
Muiphy, a niece of Mathew Carey; and so also does Dr.
Flick in his Life of Mathias James O'Conway and his other
children. There is here, too, an outline history of the
Ursulines in America, a documentary record of the bring-
ing to Cincinnati, and to America, by Bishop Purcdl, of the
Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Scattered throughout
the volimies are nimierous references to these and to other
Sisterhoods. Two of the most noteworthy episodes in this
line are the Rev. Dr. Heuser's account of the first superior
of the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia, Mother M. Patricia
Waldron, and Miss Smith's history of Satterlee Hospital in
West Philadelphia, conducted by the Sisters of Charity
during the Civil War.

Prominent Catholic laymen of the Revolution period and

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Index of the Records of the Society 7

later, besides the Captain John Smith already alluded to, re-
ceive no small share of attention. The late Admiral R. W.
Meade tells us of his great-grandfather, George Meade and
other members of the family. Martin I. J. Griffin, whose
work on Bishop Conwell was rewritten and published after
his death, exhaustively records the careers of George
Meade's brother-in-law, Thomas Fitz-Simons, merchant
and statesman. Commodore John Barry, " Father of the
American Navy", and Thomas Lloyd, first stenographic
reporter of 'Congress. For later times we have biographies
of such distinguished converts as Professor S. S. Halde-
man. Dr. W. K Homer, Dr. J. D. Bryant, and Dr. J. V.
Huntington, and Letters of Bishop Kenrick to another
convert. Professor George B. Allen. There are also lives of
several eminent sons of Catholic parents.

But no action of the above named families is now identi-
fied with the Catholic life of Philadelphia ; nor of two others,
whose founders came here as exiles from San Domingo.
The story of one of them, Jacques Andre Rodrigue, of his
two sons, William, civil engineer and architect, who mar-
ried a sister of Archbishop Hughes, and Dr. Aristide, and of
his two daughters, who for a time conducted a school in
Philadelphia, and then became the wives of Judge R. L.
Johnson and James Maguire, both of Cambria County,
Pennsylvania, is toid in a copious correspondence edited by
Miss Jane Campbell. The history of the other, John Keat-
ing, a native of Ireland who rose to rank of Captain in the
French army, as well as of his ancestors and descendants,
is told by his great-grandson, the late Joseph Percy Keating,
the last male member of this branch of the family. He
was closely identified with the Catholic interests of Penn-
sylvania, and for a time of Wilmington, Delaware, from
1792 until his death in 1850. But in the female line he is
represented by the present generation of the oldest Catholic
family here, the descendants of Thomas Willcox, an Eng-

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8 American Catholic Historical Society

lishman, who settled in Delaware County, Pennsylvania^
nearly two centuries ago. A member of the family, the late
Joseph Willcox, has furnished all the available information
about it, supplemented by Miss Sara Trainor Smith's
chapter on the second wife of James Mark, grandson ofl
Thomas.

One of the many revelations of history recorded here is
the account of the martyrdom of Jesuit missionaries on the
Rappahannock in 1571. Dominicans had been on the James
nearly half a century earlier, so the English were not the first
white men in the present State of Virginia. It is also
settled that -Columbus had a priest with him on his first
voyage, and that he was an Italian and the first Vicar
Apostolic of America.

Three interesting and edif)ring chapters of the history of
our own time are Father Tourscher's account of the worb
of the Sisterhoods of the Philadelphia diocese in the epi-
demic of 1 9 18, the Rev. Thomas C. Brennan's record of
the work of the Overbrook seminarians as grave-diggers^
etc., on the same occasion, and the latter's description of
Cardinal Merder's triumphant tour through the United
States and Canada.

Every bishop and priest and very many lay persons men-
tioned in the Records are named in the Index in such a way
as to tell their whereabouts and movements and why their
names are here, while the system of cross-references makes
it easy to find any desired information. We are confident
the work will be duly appreciated by all seekers after Catholic
historical knowledge.

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"THE JESUITS''^

Whatever may be the merits or the demerits of the Society
of Jesus, there can be no doubt that her sons have attracted
to themselves a very large share of the world's attention
from her birth down to the present day. She has had her
warm friends and her bitter persecutors, her enthusiastic
admirers and her unsparing critics ; but among those whose
horizon is not hopelessly limited, it would be hard to find
any to whom the doings of the Society are a matter of indif-
ference.

Hence the appearance of a history of the Jesuits by a dis-
tinguished member of the Order is an event which could not
fail to waken a wide interest. Father Campbell's work more-
over has this advantage, that he has been aWe to draw for
his material upon the most recent histories, which have been
compiled for the various divisions of the Society from
authentic sources by some of its most gifted writers. He
is also himself a writer of no mean experience, and although
his present work is undoubtedly the most comprehensive he
has thus far undertaken, it may be said without fear of
contradiction that it is an unusually readable book. It is,
to be sure, a bulky voltime, as one of its critics, not cer-
tainly overkind in his criticism, remarks; but we think it
would be difficult to find another of equal length which holds
the attention of the reader so uniformly from beginning to
end.

This we should say is due to the decidedly popular style
in which the book is written, and it appears to us that cer-
tain features which the same unfriendly reviewer regards
as defects may from the pcrint of view of the average reader

' The Jesuits. By the Rev. Thomas J. Campbell, S.J. Encyclopedia
Press, N. Y.

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10 American Catholic Historical Society

be held to be positive virtues. There is a spiciness about
the passing biographical notices, the little incidents and
episodes introduced here and there, the minor and some-
times minute details, and up-to-date references, which ad-
mirably serve the purpose of keeping the interest from flag-
ging, while at the same time the general result is a perspec-
tive quite as satisfactory as the great mass of readers would
derive from a more scientific work.

There can be no doubt that the subject is a vast one, so
vast indeed that it could not be handled with completeness
in ten equally bulky volumes. For the history of the Society
must cover the activities of a body of men whose vocation it
is to travd and to go wherever there is hope of advancing
the glory of God and the salvation of souls. It must em-
brace a field of labor no less extensive than the world itself.
It must show us the Society at work, and depict for us the
wonderfully varied operations, by which, for a period of
almost four centuries, it has sought to achieve its end, amid
races of men the most divergent in their habits and cfaar-
ificters, and in the face of physical as well as moral obstacles
that would have appaled laborers of less virile mould. And
Father Campbell has endeavored to do all this, and we
think that the general verdict will be that he has succeeded,
and with a measure of success that is far from mediocre.
His narrative, it is true, is in many instances fragmentary—'
How could it be otherwise within the limits he has set
himself? In some cases, too, his account of this or that
event, of this or that plot, with which the enemies of the
Society have sought to associate it, is likely to disappoint
the critics of some particular nationality; but everybody
knows how hopeless a task it is to think of pleasing every-
body, especially where national bias is apt to figure.

The book opens very properly with an interesting dis-
quisition on the origin of the name " Jesuit ", and on the
odium which has long attached to it. St. Ignatius, however,

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''The Jesuits'' ii

is not responsible for its use. He himself wished his
Society to be known as the " Compania de Jesus," compafiia
being a military term, for which is would be hard to find an
exact equivalent in Latin. The word Societas, which was
chosen as the nearest approach, the author labels " a clumsy
attempt at a translation," but after all it would be difficult to
suggest a better and we have adopted it in oiu: own language.

A brief account of the life of St. Ignatius follows; and
then the author describes at length the famous " Spiritual
Exercises ", examining them in detail, defending them
against blind and hostile criticism, and justif}ang the claims
of St. Ignatius to the authorship of the book. The name
itself, and most of the documents comprised in the Exercises
do indeed antedate the conversion of the Soldier-Saint, yet
it was he who, chiefly in the cave at Manresa, gave to the
work that coherence and logical sequence which are its very
essence, and to which it owes the peculiar and marvelous
efficacy it possesses for bringing about the conversion of
the heart, and the thorough reform of the Christian life.

We are next made to follow St. Ignatius, first to Palestine,
then back to Europe, and to the Universities of Alcala, Sala-
manca, and Paris, where he studied, and are introduced to
the group of remarkable young men whom he first attracted
to his side. The vows at Montmartre, the journey to
Venice, the failure to find a ship to take them to the Holy
Land, and their consequent resolve to repair to Rome, and
put themselves entirely at the disposal of the Holy Father
for any work in which he might wish to employ them, are
successively described, and the first chapter closes with a
brief analysis of the formula of the Institution of the
Society of Jesus, as submitted to Pope Paul III, and of
the Constitutions of the Society which were drawn up later,
and approved by the first General Congregation.

It is not the purpose of the present review to enter into
all the details of the history of the Jesuits, following the

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12 American Catholic Historical Society

narrative chapter by chapter. It would be wearisome to
the reader, and would serve no useful end. The aim is
rather to call attention to the more salient points of the his-
tory, in order that the reader, having his interest once
aroused, may be led to undertake the perusal of the book for
himself.

One of the greatest glories of the Society is the important
part played by several of her distinguished sons in the
deliberations of the Council of Trent. Lainez and Sal-
meron were there as theologians of the Pope. They were
dbliged to be present at all the sessions, and were privileged
to speak as long as they chose on any topic. Lejay and
Canisius were theologians to the Cardinal Archbishop of
Augsburg. All were remarkably young — Lainez, the eldest,
being but thirty-four; and Canisius, the youngest, only
twenty-six ; and though on that account perhaps, as well as
for other motives, they were looked upon by many of the
Fathers of the Council with a certain degree of suspicion,
they soon gained the entire confidence of the latter by their
manifest holiness, wonderful learning, and imcompromising'
orthodoxy.

The saving of a great part of Germany to the faith was
due imder God to the incredible activity and energy of Faber,
LeJay, and Canisius, whose zeal wrought wonders, while
their heroic example stimulated others, and encouraged them
to throw themselves generously into the fray, and to com-
bat by every available means the wiles and violence of the
heretics. There was, however, one institution which more
than any other rendered yeoman's service in stemming the
tide of irreligion, and winning back innumerable souls from
error to the faith of their fathers, and from impiety to an
exemplary life. This was the famous " Collegium Ger-
manicum" or German College. In an embryonic form, it
was the conception of St. Ignatius himself, whom its stud-
ents venerate as its founder. But it is to Canisius that

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" The Jesuits'' 13

it owes the perfect development which it attained not long
after the death of St. Ignatius. It is a seminary for the
formation in learning and virtue of German youths of pro-
mise, with a view to fitting them for the apostolic ministry
among their own countrymen, and it has continued from its
first inception to send forth from its halls a steady stream
of evangelical laborers, who, by the plentiful fruits of their
zeal, have fully justified the hopes that have been built upon
them.

Obviously an account of the apostolic labors of the
Jesuits in foreign countries must occupy a prominent place
in a history of the Society of Jesus. At a time when the
adventures of the great Spanish, Portuguese, and other ex-
plorers had opened up vast regions to trade and military
conquest, it could not be that apostles would be wanting, or
would fail to seize the rare opportunity thus afforded them
of bringing the light of the Gospel to countless multitudes
of their fellow-men, to whom the word of truth had not
yet been preached.

No more glorious missionary has ever borne the standard
of the Cross into heathen lands than Francis Xavier, the
most renowned of the companions of St. Ignatius. It might
seem to have been a mere accident that he was sent to labor
in the Indies, but it was surely a disposition of Divine Pro-
vidence, which destined for that immense and thickly popu-
lated continent a man of such truly apostolic zeal, such mar-
velous sanctity, and such exceptional judgment in dealing
with men of the most varied characters.

Xavier's career was one unbroken triumph until, after
accomplishing wonders in India and Japan, and laying broad
the foundations of the Church in those reg^on^ he at last
set out from Malacca in the hope of effecting an entrance
into China. But his well-laid plan had been frustrated
through the malice of Don Alvero, Governor of Malacca,
and he died a victim of fever on the little island of Sancian,

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14 American Catholic Historical Society

even at the gate of that vast empire which he had longed
to bring to the feet of Christ.

His burning zeal, however, was not without abundant
fruit. His heroism served as an inspiration to others, and
half a century later we see the famous Father Ricci and his
brethren at work in the very heart of China. Ricci was
held in universal esteem, and wielded great influence with
the educated classes in particular. He was even allowed
eventually to open a novitiate at Pekin, and when he died,
the f UQeral procession which conducted his remains to their
last resting-place was headed by the cross, and traversed
the entire city. The Emperor assigned for his tomb a
pagan temple, which thenceforward became a Christian
church.

Ricci was succeeded first by Schall, and then by Verbiest,
two eminent mathematicians and astronomers like himsdf,
and enjoying extraordinary authority at court, which they
used only to advance the interests of the religion they had
come to preach.

It was Verbiest who first petitioned the Pope to give the
necessary Sanction for the use of the Chinese language, in-
stead of Latin, in the liturgy of the Chm-ch, the object
being to facilitate the growth of a native clergy, and
Father Campbell takes this occasion to refute for the second
time the oft-repeated charge that the Society of Jesus op-
posed the elevation of natives to the priesthood. He had
previously replied in a very effective manner to the same
unfounded accusation when speaking of its labors in Japan.

In the chapter of which the heading is " The Two
Americas", we find a detailed and most interesting des-
cription of the wonderful " Reductions of Paraguay ", those
peaceful settlements, nearly one hundred in number, where
thousands of poor Indians, "brought back" from the
wilderness and from habits of the most degraded savagery,
led lives of incredible innocence, and, amid all the arts of

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''The Jesuits'' 15

peace, and a genuine realization of their common brother-:
hood, renewed in the wilds of South America the miracle of.
the earliest days of Christianity. :

The author, after having told in the chapter entitled " The
Ends of the Earth ", the earliest efforts of the Jesuits at
evangelizing the native Indian tribes of this hemisphere, and
having recounted briefly the heroic labors of Nobrega, and
the " wonder-worker " Anthieta in Brazil, proceeds in this
chapter to follow the missionaries step by step from Peru
and Chile and Argentina, to Colombia, Guiana, and the
Antilles, and thence to Mexico, and Lower California, and
Pimeria, in connection with which he has much to say about
that truly remarkable man. Father Eusebio Kino, whose
long lost " Autobiography '' has just been edited by Pro-
fessor Bolton, and whose labors, together with those of his
brethren, Salvatierra, Ugarte, and others, " made the work
of Junipero Serra and the Franciscans in Upper California
possible in later days ".

Father Campbell stops here for .a moment to brand
another false statement about the Jesuits, to the effect that
their "failure in Lower California .must be attributed: to*
their unwillingness to establish a hierarchy in that country/'
He then devotes a couple of paragraphs to the missions in
the Philippines, historically related to those in Mexico,
after which we are transported to Canada, and are given a
summary of the labors of such heroes as Brebeuf , Lalemant,
Jogues, Daniel, and others among the Hurons, the Algon-
puins, and various other Indian tribes, especially the savage
Iroquois. These labors extended to portions of what are
now the United States, and particular mention is made of
the line of missions established by Le Mo3me in the country
itself of the Iroquois, all the way from the Hudson to Lake.
Erie.

The chapters which deal with the Jesuit foreign missionsr
are enlivened throughout with incidents and adventures of •

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i6 • American Catholic Historical Society

thrilling interest, such as the overland journey of Father
Alexander de Rhodes all the way from Cochin-China
through India to Europe and to Rome, amid hardships and
dangers of every description : or the tramp of the Portuguese
lay-brother, Benedict Goes, from Ag^a in upper Hindustan,
across Thibet and China, among strange peoples, through
trackless forests, and over snow-clad mountains, until, after
five years of incredible fatigue and privations, he sank and
died even within sight of the goal at which he was aiming.

Of another type are the self-imposed, almost impossible
austerities of such men as De Nobili and Beschi, and the
altogether singular life to which they condemned themselves
in the hope of winning the Brahmins to the faith. What
must have been its hardest features, apart from the mis-
understandings to which it gave rise, was the strict seclusion
they were forced to practise, even to the point of denying
themselves all intercourse with their own brethren.

Their success however was great and almost immediate,
and they won the admiration of the Hindoos as much for
their extraordinary purity of life, as for their thorough
knowledge of the native languages — Sanscrit, Telugu, and
Tamil — and their remarkable familiarity with the literature
of the country exceeding that of the Brahmins themselves.

The story of the threatened Spanish schism is told at
length in an early chapter entitled, " The Great Storms ".
It is clear evidence of the entire candor of the historian, for
he makes no attempt at justifying the conspirators, who at
that early period came so near wrecking the work of their
great compatriot, St. Ignatius. The account brings out in
strong perspective the genius of Father Qaudius Aquaviva,
who was the General of the Society in those tempestuous
days, and to whose courage, prudence, and exceptional
ability it owes its preservation from the dissolution which
menaced it. It also explains incidentally why men of Jewish
or Saracenic origin are excluded from the Society : for it

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''The Jesuits" 17

was found that out of twenty-seven conspirators twenty-
five were of Jewish or Moorish extraction.

A most interesting chapter is that on the " Battle of the
Books". Here are reviewed at considerable length the
famous " Monita Secreta/' and the " Lettres Provinciales "
of Blaise Pascal. Other libelous pamplets had been pre-
viously published against the Jesuits, but these, because of
their superior literary form, have attained the widest cele-
brity.

The f 6rmer appeared under various titles and had an im-
mense vogue. First published in Poland, it went through
twenty-two editions in the seventeenth century, and was
translated into many languages. It consists of only sixteen
short chapters, and in phraseology was modeled upon the
" Monita Generalia ", an authentic work, a fact which ac-
coimts for the phenomenal success of the forgery. The
author was a certain Tahorowski, who had been dismissed
from the Society, and who before his death bitterly regretted
his crime, and recanted all he had said. The work appeared
from time to time under other titles, such as, " The Mysteries
of the Jesuits," " The Jesuit Cabinet," " Jesuit Intrigues "
etc., and there were, besides, fierce diatribes against the
Society by various other authors, particularly in Germany
and France. In the " Historia Jesuitici Ordinis " by
Hasenmiiller, the "Annales des soi-disants Jesuites," and
" Le Catechisme des Jesuites " by Pasquier, we have veri-
table storehouses of libels, misrepresentations and calumnies
against the Society.

But it is the " Lettres Provinciales " of Pascal that did
it most harm, from the fact that, while they repeated the
slanderous accusations brought against the Society in the
above-mentioned works, they were written in a most capti-
tivating style, which simply took the literary world by storm.

They do not seem to hav^ been intended primarily as an
attack upon the Jesuits, and it is only when the fifth letter is

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reached that the Society is assailed, the assault continuing
till the tenth, after which it is dropped.

It is Bourdaloue, the celetwated Jesuit orator, the preacher
at the court of France, who, as Sainte-Beuve well observes^
made the most telling reply to the accusations of the Pro-
vinciales — a reply which was all the more forcible on account
of the well-known virtuous life of the speaker, the place he
occupied in the public eye, and the fact that, while he
abstained from mentioning their names, the traducers of the
Society whom he pilloried before the world were easily re-
cognized by the masterly portraits which he drew of them.

One of the most important works to which the Society
of Jesus has from the first devoted itself is the education of
youth, and it is the rare intelligence it has shown in its
methods for the accomplishment of that end, and the inde-
fatigable zeal with which it has pursued it through endless
opposition, that more than anything else has brought upon it
the implacable hatred of the enemies of the Church.

St. Ignatius had not in view, as the Constitutions j^ainly
show, that his sons should be employed merely in what are
now termed secondary schools, but he had chiefly in mind
the higher education, and the faculties of philosophy and
theology. It was hoped that the Society might come into
possession of some of the existing imiversities of Europe,
or might be invited to open new ones.

As a matter of fact, except in recent times, this hope has
been but seldom realized, and mainly here in America, nor
is it often that the sons of St. Ignatius have been called to
fill a chair in any university. Full authorization had been
granted to the Society by the Holy See to open her own
courses, and to confer degrees, but for the sake of peace
she refrained for the most part from making use of her
powers.

Even her colleges were established in many instances in
^ite of determined opposition, and this was particularly the

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" The Jesuits " 19

case in France, where the dramatic appearance of Lainez,
General of the Society, at the famous colloquy of Poissy,
seems to have been largely responsible for its collapse, and
for the legalization of the Society in France.

In Germany, between 1612 and 1625 there were as many
as a hundred Jesuit Colleges, in some of which there were
nine hundred, a thousand, and even thirteen hundred
scholars. At about the same period, Belgium had thirty-
four colleges or schools of the Society, while nearly all the
cities of Italy had asked for similar institutions. Details
of other countries are quoted by the author in his chapter,
entitled "Culture".

In the same chapter, after an inquiry into the secret of the
pedagogical success of the Jesuits, and a refutation of cer-
tain unfair, malicious, and even ridiculous charges leveled
at their educational methods by unfriendly critics, Father
Campbell passed on to a most interesting review of the
achievements of the Society in the domain of letters. The
list of its more prominent writers which he furnishes us is
quite a lengthy one. It embraces poets, orators, historians
mathematicians, astronomers, geographers, grammarians
and lexicographers, to say nothing of the theologfians, philo-
sophers, and ascetical writers, whom we might naturally
have expected to find in greater numbers, seeing that their
themes have a more direct bearing on the end which the
Society has in view.

Among the poets mentioned, we are all familiar with the
name of Robert Southwell, author of the " Burning Babe,"
who was so much admired by Ben Jonson, and whom
Shakespeare also read. Jacob Balde, though little known to
us, was a prodigy of classical scholarship, and was hailed in
his days as the German Horace, while Sarbievius, a Pole,
whose real name was Mathias Sarbiewski, is rated by
Grotius even above Horace. Both of these wrote in Latin.
So did Santeul and Masen. Beschi's " Unfading Garland,"*

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20 American Catholic Historical Society

written in Tamil, an East Indian tongue, in honor of St.
Joseph, is spoken of as a classic, and a satire by the same
author is regarded as the most entertaining book in Tamil
literature.

At the close of his remarks on the Jesuit poets, the author
stops to pay a grateful tribute to Gresset, a poet of real
ability, and most tenderly attached to the Society, but whose
indiscretion in publishing a certain poem rendered his dis-
missal from it inevitable.

Bourdaloue comes in once more for a wonderful eulogy,
drawn chiefly from the Protestant Edinburgh Review, and
the Jansenist Sainte-Beuve. By his contemporaries he was
called " The Great Bourdaloue," and even by his enemies he
was styled " preacher of kings, and king of preachers ".
The roster of illustrious names from which we are quoting,
contains one in particular which, though far less familiar
to us, who are of another age, and of another tongue, was
nevertheless revered throughout all France as that of the
most accomplished literary critic of his day, to whom such
masters of style as Bossuet, and Bourdaloue, Racine and
others, were willing and eager to submit their writings, in
order to have him pass judgment upon them. This was
Father Dominic Bouhours, according to de Juleville, " the
master of correct writing in his generation ".

Of all the historical works of the Society the greatest is
tmquestionably the Bollandists' Acta Sanctorum, an under-
taking so colossal that, although it was begun in the first
years of the seventeenth century, and has been continued
almost uninterruptedly to the present day, it still remains in-
complete. It consists actually of sixty-four folio volumes,
and several more are yet to appear.

To this great work an eminent critic attributes the begin-
ning of modem geography. For the Bollandists gathered
together the crude notes furnished by the early missionaries,
and systematized them, thus giving a marked impetus to a
study which has long since assumed huge proportions.

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"The Jesuits" 2V

And certainly the field covered by the Jesuit explorers,
who were not primarily in quest of linguistic, geographical,
and ethnological data, but of souls, was vast and most varied.
It comprised the Levant and the farthest east; it embraced
Africa as well as Asia, together with the two Americas.
And their work in most instances survives to the present
day, a monument to their courage in facing and surmount-
ing incredible obstacles, and an tmimpeachable witness to
their tmflagging industry, no less than their whole-souled
devotedness to the cause of the advancement of science.

The account given of the Spanish Jesuit, Father Pedro
Paez, who ascended the Nile to its source in 1618, is a
typical example of the occasional digressions whereby the
author contrives to add so much zest to the general narrative.
Paez was the first European of modern times to accomplish
the above-mentioned feat of exploring the sources of the
Nile. This he did a himdred and fifty-four years before the
reputed discoverer, James Bruce, who is severely handled by
The Dictionary of National Biography for attempting to
throw doubt on Paez' prior claim.

After enumerating the many distinguished writers whom
the Society has produced, in dogmatic, moral, and ascetic
theology, and the names of illustrious Jesuit commentators
on Holy Scriptures, Father Campbell calls attention to the
number — ^not inconsiderable, when we take into account the
troublous times in which its lot has been cast — ^who have
won a place on the role of the most exalted heroes, the Saints
and Blessed of Holy Church.

The great tragedy which befell the Society of Jesus to-
ward the close of the eighteenth century was no sudden
catastrophe. It had long been prepared by the deplorable
conditions existing in the various countries of Europe — f
immorality in high places, and the wide dissemination
among all classes of the people of the irreligious and
atheistic principles which bore their full fruit in the French

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22 • American Catholic Historical Society

Revolution. The Bourbon courts were leagued together
in a conspiracy to destroy the Society — ^the courts being for
the most part the tools of ambitious, crafty, and utterly
unscrupulous men, Pombal in Portugal, Choiseul in France,
Aranda in Spain, Tanucci in Italy.

The Society was expelled from the French, Portuguese,
and Spanish dominions some years before the general sup-
pression of the Society by papal brief throughout the world,
and Father Campbell gives a graphic recital of the harrow-
ing details of the expulsion, and of the utter callousness with
which it was executed. Pombal's brutality, in particular,
is made to stand out in all its revolting hideousness, and as
it affected not only the members of the Society, but all of
whatever rank or merit whom he regarded as in any way an
obstacle to his tmbridled greed and ambition.

The famous case of La Vallette, and his commercial trans-
actions carried on in Martinique where he was superior, in
defiance of canon law and of the laws of the Society, is
taken up in the chapter entitled " Choiseul ", where it is
clearly shown that the Society was in no way responsible for
the grave imprudences of which La Vallette was guilty, and
for which nevertheless it was made to suffer so grievously.

It is in the same chapter on Choiseul, that the writer satis-
factorily clears the French Jesuits and especially their Pro-
vincial, Father La Croix, of an act of quite incredible weak-
ness, of which Father De Ravignan, without sufficient war-
rant, as it would seem, admits them to have been guilty.

It is inconceivable that they who had consistently stood
forth as the imyielding champions of orthodoxy should have
consented to put their signature to a document which
breathed throughout the principles and spirit of Gallicanism,
and this at the time when practically the whole French
episcopate were united in condemning it. How unworthy
they would have shown themselves of the magnificent
eulogy just pronounced upon them by that great Pontiff,
Clement XIII!

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" The Jesuits " 23

It is surely a source of deep comfort to the Society of
Jesus that, when her enemies were multiplied, and when
they hesitated not to use every manner of weapon to com-
pass her ruin, resorting by turns to ridicule, and cunning,
and deceit, and slander, and threats, and open violence,
there sat in the chair of Peter a man whom they could not
intimidate, and who dared throw into the scales in favor of
those who were so cruelly and so tmjustly persecuted, the
whole weight of his apostolic authority. '

The Bull, " Apostolicum ", which he issued is a splendid
tribute to the Society, and a fearless vindication of her sons
against the calimmies and injustice of their assailants. And
it is a still further consolation to them to know that the
whole Catholic Hierarchy was devoted to the Society, so
that when the design of its enemies to destroy it became
known, appeals poured in from bishops all over the world,
who conjured the Pope to stand firm and not hearken to the
voice of its traducers.

But the accession of Ganganelli to the throne of St. Peter
sounded the death-knell of the Society. Its enemies grew
more and more insistent in their demands for its suppression,
and Ckment XIV, who was far from being of the same
heroic mould as his predecessor, had scarcely been Pope for
more than six months when he gave to Charles III of Spain
a written promise to accede to their wishes.

That was in 1769, and in 1773 the fatal Brief was issued.
It was surely an inauspicious time at which to deprive the
Church of a phalanx of valiant soldiers, when by the spread
of irreligious and immoral literature her enemies were
waging so ruinous a war upon her. But the fear of schism,
and of the setting up of national churches in the Catholic
cotmtries of Europe, outweighed with Clement XIV all
other considerations, and the Jesuits, though convicted of
no crime, were vowed to extinction. (

The Brief of suppression is first summarized by the

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24 American Catholic Historical Society

author, and then, in a distinct chapter, is quoted almost in
full, after which another chapter is devoted to the details
of its execution.

It is very far from the truth to say, as Bohmer-Monod
(Les Jesuites) says that " nowhere in. Europe or elsewhere
was there any serious opposition to the Brief ". The very
governments that had called loudest for the suppression of
the Society refused to allow it to be published. This was
not, to be sure, through any sudden change of front with
regard to the institute or its members, but because the Brief
was not sufficiently explicit in condemning them, to justify
the malicious hatred of their enemies.

Frederick the Great of Prussia also forbade the publica-
tion of the Brief in his domains, and hence the Society con-
tinued to exist there until the death of the monarch in 1786,
and this with the connivance of Pius VI, successor to
Qement XIV. Poland, too, held out for a long time against
its acceptance, and the Catholic cantons of Switzerland
likewise remonstrated against it.

But the most serious opposition was encountered in
France, where the whole hierarchy and clergy positively
refused to account the Brief. The illustrious Archbishop
of Paris, Cristopher de Beaumont, in particular, who had
been specially requested by the Pope to promulgate it, re-
plied with apostolic liberty in a manner which left no doubt
as to his firm determination never to be a party to the work
of suppressing the Society, and never to stultify himself by
condemning what, with deliberate judgment, and in common
with the whole French hierarchy, he had previously so
highly extolled.

He contrasts the Brief with the splendid constitution
" Pascendi Munus ", published in favor of the Society by
Clement XIII, drawing attention especially to the lack of
formality in the preparation of the former while he em-
phasizes the observance of all due solemnity in the pro-

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'' The Jesuits " 25

mulgation of the latter, and he concludes that the Brief is
nothing more than the expression of the personal and
private judgment of the Pope.

It is the peremptory refusal of the Empress Catherine U
of Russia, even when earnestly requested by the Jesuits
themselves, to allow the Brief to be published in her domin-
ions, that is responsible for the continuity of the newj
Society of Jesus with the old. For not only when the
Society was restored throughout the world in 181 4, did
htmdreds of those who belonged to it at the time of the sup-
pression, hasten to renew their allegiance to it, but by this
wonderful disposition of Divine Providence the Society
never lost its identity. For the promulgation of the papal
Brief was a necessary condition, failing which, according to
Canon Law, its provisions must remain of no effect. Hence
the Society of Jesus, thanks to the protection extended to it by
its imperial patroness, continued to exist in '* White Russia ",
and its canonical existence was expressly rec(^;nized ten
years later by Pope Pius VI, not indeed through any written
document, but vivae vocis oraculo.

Catherine maintained her policy of protecting the Society
to the end of her long reign, and her son Paul I, who suc-
ceeded her, was also most favorably disposed. In fact
Father Gruber, who was soon to be elected General of the
Society, was on terms of the closest intimacy with him.
Alexander too, who followed Paul, upon the latter's assas-
sination, was at first most friendly, though some twenty
years later he drove the Society out of Russia.

The story of the restoration of the Society by the Bull of
Pope Pius VII, on August 7, 181 4, and of the gradual pre-
paration for it by the events of this and the preceding ponti-
ficates IS a most interesting one, as is also that of the attempt
to wreck the Society at the first General Congregation held
since the restoration. A conspiracy had been formed by
certain malcontents, who had the support of Cardinal della

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26 American Catholic Historical Society

Genga, afterward Leo XII, as wdl as of the Vicar General
of the Society, Father Petnicci, and of the Roman Pro-
vincial, Pietrobona, the immediate purpose being to delay
the election of a General. The design, however, was frus-
trated through the prudence and courage of the distinguished
Father Rozaven, and the timely and powerful aid of Car-
dinal Consalvi. The Congregation was held and Father
Aloysius Fortis was chosen General of the Society.

The century which followed was truly a century of dis-
aster for the Jesuits, not only all over Europe but in the
states of Latin America as well. It was one series of con-
stant alternations of popular favor and government perse-
cutions. Scarcely had they been admitted to this or that
country, when laws were enacted for their expulsion, and
even while they were tolerated for a period, they were often
hampered in their la;bors by odious restrictions, and were
made the object of the most violent assaults from the tribune
and in the press. Of the war that had been waged almost
imintermittently against the Society in France since the re-
storation. Father Campbell g^ves a particularly full and
graphic narnition.

One of the last chapters in the book is devoted to a
review of the missionary work of the restored Society, which,
if less brilliant, or less spectacular than that of the Jesuits
of earlier days, has scarcely been less fruitful in the harvest
of souls. In recent years, no less than of yore, vast num-
'bers have been begotten to the Church from heathendom in
all parts of the world through the zealous labors of
Jesuit missionaries. What is however of unusual interest
in this account of the missions is the striking story of the
survival of the faith among the native Christans in many
of the lands evangelized by the members of the old Society,
and the permanent change effected in their dispositions and
manners by those who had instructed them in the Gospel
morality.

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" The Jesuits " 27

There is also a very good account of the return of the
Jesuits to China, and a most interesting description of the
wonderful work accomplished in Hindustan in spite of
most discouraging conditions to be met with among the
native population almost everywhere.

The chapters on ** Colleges " and " Literature " are full
of valuable information on all points connected with the
literary activity of the Society, with special reference to
modem times. It is amazing to see how many names of
distinguished Jesuits appear in the very forefront of scienti-
fic research in every department. In linguistic studies, in
archaeology, in astronomy, in mathematics, in meteorology,
in seismology, in ethnology, they have been unsurpassed.

An idea may be gained of the extent to which the Society
has contributed to the world's literary output from the fact
that the catalogue of Father Carlos Sommervogel, S. J., en-
titled, " Bibliotheque des Ecrivains de la Compagnie de
Jesus ", comprises nine closely printed folio volumes, besides
the index, and includes the names of 120,000 writers.

Space will not permit our going into details about the
great work of the Jesuit Relations, which has been brought
out in our day in seventy-two volumes by a Qeveland non-
Catholic firm, under the editorship of Mr. Reuben Gold
Thwaites. This learned gentleman'attributes their preserva-
tion to the scholarly modem Jesuit. Father Felix Martin, in
his preface he asserts that the authors " were for the most
part men of trained intellect, acute observers, and practised in
the art of keeping records of their experiences " and he gives
a vivid description of the trying circumstances under which
the Relations were composed.

In the last chapter of The Jesuits but one, the writer pays
a deserved tribute of filial reverence and affection to the
great Pontiffs who have ruled the Church since the death of
Clement XIV. He points out the numerous proofs of
esteem lavished by them upon the Society at large, and

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28 American Catholic Historical Society

upon each successive General. The Society makes profes-
sion of whole-souled devotedness to the august person of
the Vicar of Christ, and it is most gratifying to observe
how this attachment has been invariably appreciated.

Father Campbell's best friends would not claim that his
work is faultless. There are certain obscurities here and
there; there are some inaccuracies; and there are indications
of haste. These will probably disappear with the next edi-
ti<m of the book, and the distinguished author will be ever
grateful to those of his readers or reviewers who in a kindl^r
spirit have directed his attention to them.

Certainly, one need do no violence to the truth to say that
Father Campbell has given to the public an exceptionally able
work, and one which to serious readers can hardly fail to be
highly interesting and even fascinating. There are indeed
passages that read more like romance than sober fact, but
even quite apart from such episodes, which after all are
comparatively few, there are records on almost every page
of heroic endeavor in the interests of Christ and of His
Church, in the face of tremendous obstacles, sometimes suc-
cessfully vanquished, at others found to be insuperable, and
these, as a rule, are presented to the reader in a style that i^
full of verve, so that he is carried along, not only without
weariness, but with positive relish, from year to year, and
from land to land, until the history of the Society of Jesus
lies all unfolded before him like a vast panorama, and he is
filled, if not with enthusiastic admiration for it, at least with
an exalted idea of its excellence, and a conviction that the
finger of God is unmistakably present in an Institute which
has accomplished in all parts of the world such truly wonder-
ful results for the glory of God, and has uniformly drawn
upon itself the fierce hatred and bitter assaults of the en-
emies of the Church in every land.

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MRS. CAROLINE EARLE WHITE, REFORMER

A few years ago death called away Mrs. Caroline Earle
White, one of the most justly famous women of the country^
noted for her life-long unceasing efforts in behalf of suf-
fering and ill-treated animals, the horse, the cow, the dog,
the cat, the bird as well as other members of the brute
creation, all being objects of her well directed and humane
efforts in their behalf, for through her whole beautiful and
active existence of nearly eighty-three years this noble
Catholic woman was the devoted friend of the animal king-
dom. I

Mrs. Caroline Earle White was born in Philadelphia on
September 28th 1833 and came of a family noted in the
history of New England, for she was a descendant of the
Ralph Earle who, with nineteen other public-spirited men,
successfully petitioned Charles I, of England, in 1638 to
form themselves into a body politic in Rhode Island.

Her father was Thomas Earle, a native of Leicester,
Massachusetts, who at the age of twenty-one years came to
Philadelphia, studied law and became a distinguished and
able member of the Philadelphia bar. He also turned his
attention to journalism and successfully edited those old
time periodicals the " Columbian Observer ", " Standard ",
" Pennsylvania " and " Mechanics Free Press and Re-
form Advocate ". Mr. Earle took an active and prominent
part in public affairs. In 1837 he was a noted member of
the Constitutional Convention, which he had been largely
instrumental in calling into being, and it was to him that
Pennsylvania owed the original draft of the new Constitu-
tion.

When in 1840 the Liberty Party entered the Presidential

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30 American Catholic Historical Society

race, Thomas Earle was the candidate for the Vice-Presi-
dency, James G. Bimey heading the ticket. The Liberty
Party was strictly anti-slavery. During the last years of
his life Mr. Elarle was engaged principally in literary work,
publishing a number of important treatises on public sub-
jects. He also began the translation of Sismondi's " Italian
Republics '* into English, but before it was finished he died,
his death taking place in 1849.

On her mother's side Mrs. White was descended from
one of the early settlers of Nantucket, and the mother was a
cousin of Lucretia Mott, the earnest and eloquent speaker
and worker against negro slavery.

From her childhood the young girl was brought up in
an atmosphere of reform. Naturally with such an environ-
ment she became a champion of the slave, attended anti-
slavery conventions and even when a small girl gave up her
Christmas money to aid the anti-slavery cause. She was
especially interested in the writings of Mary Grew, Secretary
of The Female Anti-Slavery Society, who became in after
years the leader of the Woman Suffrage movement in Penn-
sylvania, j

When Mrs. White was but a young girl of seventeen, she
met Richard P. White, a talented and attractive young Irish-
man who had settled in Philadelphia. He was a member
of a prominent and devout Catholic family of Londonderry,
and had many brothers and sisters, of whom seven entered
the religious life. A sister, Madam Julia White, entered a
Convent of the Sacred Heart and is still living in Armagh,
Ireland. A brother became Abbot of the Trappist Mon-
astery of Sermeneto; another brother became sheriff of
Londonderry, the first Catholic to hold that office since the
time of Queen Elizabeth.

The acquaintance culminated in their marriage which
took place on September 28th 1854, proving a sin-
gularly happy and beautiful imion, for in her husband, Mrs.

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Mrs, Caroline Earle White, Reformer 31'

White found a sympathetic and helpful partner, one upon
whose strength and sound judgment and exact and extensive
knowledge she could always rely, and who was an inspira-
tion to her all through their beautiful life together, a life
which lasted for over fifty years.

It was not until some two years after her marriage that
Mrs. White became a convert to Catholicity, and the ac-
count of the causes that led to her conversion can best be
told in her own words :

The Story of My Conversion

I was bom a birth-right member of the Society of
Friends or Quakers as they are sometimes called. My
Father and Mother were both Hicksite Friends, that is at
the time of the separation between the Orthodox branch and
the Hicksites who were Unitarians, my parents chose to
belong to the latter party, consequently I was brought up
a Unitarian. My father was a very liberal man and did not
insist upon his children going to Friends' meeting if they
did not like it, provided that we always went somewhere
for the worship of God on Stmdays.

Being children we liked to go to the Catholic Church where
we saw lights and flowers and little boys in surplices carry-
ing candles and heard music, but of the doctrines preached
there we knew nothing. I never had any prejudice against
the Catholic religion, my Father as I said before being very
liberal and so far from speaking against the Church, I re-
member hearing him on several occasions praise what he
considered its democratic form of government in making
no distinction of color or condition, but welcoming all alike,
and all communicants kneeling side by side at the altar when
partaking of the Holy Sacrament.

There were two men I was particularly taught to revere,
one was Thomas Jefferson, and the other Daniel CyConnell.
I have seen my Father much moved when speaking of the

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32 American Catholic Historical Society

latter who at that time had succeeded in his struggles to
obtain Catholic Emancipation. So it is evident that I was
brought up without any prejudice against Catholicism
farther than that which I acquired frcwn my friends who
were all Protestants, and from the books and newspapers of
the period, nearly all of which united in speaking of that
religion as one full of superstition and that was only held
by ignorant and unenlightened persons. I naturally acquired
the views of those around me, and looked upon the Reforma-
tion, so called, as one of the greatest events in history and
upon Martin Luther as a blessing to mankind.

At seventeen years of age I met the gentleman who after-
wards became my husband. He was from Ireland and from
a most devout Catholic family, there having, partly before
and partly since that time, seven of his brothers and sisters
gone into religious orders. About two years afterwards
we were engaged to be married. When his Mother heard
of our engagement, she sent several Catholic works with a
request that I should read them. I did try to read one or
two, but they made no impression on me, my mind, I sup-
pose, not being in a fit state to receive them. The day I was
twenty-one we were married, but it made no difference in
my habit of observing religion. I continued to go to the
Unitarian Church as I had done before my marriage.

Only a few months afterward my husband, being very
much out of health, and threatened, as it was thought, with
consumption, the doctors advised a journey across the ocean
in a sailing vessel, and we decided to go to Ireland to visit
my husband's family in Londonderry. We arrived safely
and received a genuine Irish welcome. My husband had
several brothers and sisters near my own age and we had
a happy merry party, always harmonious except on the sub-
ject of religion.

My father-in-law Mr. White took a house for a month
at Moville near the spot where the river Foyle empties into

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Mrs, Caroline Earle White, Reformer 33

the loch of the same name. My mother-in-law had a friend
whose nephew, a young man by the name of O'Brien had
left the Jesuit College where he was preparing to enter the
Order, for a vacation on account of his delicate health and
had come to visit his aunt at her home near Londonderry.
It was proposed that Mr. O'Brien be invited to stay with
us while we were at the shore and the proposition was joy-
fully agreed to by my brothers and sisters-in-law. He came
and I discovered him to be most intelligent, entertaining and
agreeable in every way. Our games and amusements were
redoubled after his arrival, but still in the midst of all the
gaiety, Mr. O'Brien always conveyed an impression, with-
out making any display, of moral goodness and religious
devotion.

One day we all made an excurson to Carrickarede Bridge
and Dimluce Castle in the north-eastern part of Ireland, and
not far from Belfast. The bridge which connected the
mainland with a rocky island was made only of ropes with
two narrow boards fastened in the middle on which to step.
A single rope was stretched across, a little above the bridge
to serve as a hand-railing; but it was almost worse than
nothing at all for it seemed to throw the frail bridge out
into the air away from the person taking hold of it and
cause it to shake and vibrate, while underneath the sea
foamed and dashed through a rocky chasm. The bridge was
used by the peasants who were in the habit of carrying!
sheep across on their shoulders to be put at pasture on the
rocky island, but to any one unaccustomed to the perilous
journey the idea of crossing was terrible. We all declared
that we could not attempt it, when I turned to Mr. O'Brien
and asked him if anything would indjuce him to cross? He
replied, that if there was anyone in danger of death on the
other side, who had never been baptized, he should not
hesitate but would take the risk at once. So it was evident
the idea of his duty to God was ever present in his mind.

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34 American Catholic Historical Society

He and I soon began to have religious discussions. It
was hardly to be expected that I should be in the company
of one whose opinions were so different from my own with-
out speaking on the subject, and our debates were a matter
of almost every-day occurrence. After leaving Moville we
decided to travel over the County of Donegal, in the north-
west of Ireland where there is much wild and beautiful
scenery. There were at that time no railroads in the County
and the only way we could travel was by jatmting cars
where the riders sit back to back and usually two on a side.
When making our arrangements for starting in the morning
my husband generally contrived that Mr. O'Brien, who was
with us still, and I should sit on the same side because he
knew that whatever was the subject of conversation in the
beginning it would be sure to drift into a controversy on
religion in the end. We had many a heated discussion
walking over the moors of County Donegal, for we were
somewhat tired of driving and liked to walk.

At last our trip came to an end and my husband and I
returned to Philadelphia. I was by no means converted to
Catholicism, but I was interested — which was more than I
had ever been before. I felt a desire to examine into the
subject and try and find out for myself the truth, or at least
what seemed to me to be the truth. During all this time
my husband and I never spoke upon the subject. From the
time we were married he never made the slightest effort to
convert me or even to modify my views. I was left en-
tirely to myself and I began to examine and to study the
New Testament merely with a view to find out whether it
taught that Christ was God or only a man as is held by the
Unitarians. After some time I became convinced that the
New Testament sustained many more passages favoring the
doctrine of the Deity of Christ than the contrary, but though
I was shaken in my Unitarian views, I was by no means a
Catholic.

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Mrs, Caroline Earle White, Reformer 35

About this lime, something, I camiot remember what, led
me to read Milner's " End of Controversy " and that made
a great change in me. I then recognized the fact, as Bishop
Milner clearly shows, that the BiWe, though so stupendous a
work and so valuable to us, is not a jsufBcient rule of faith
and practice. As people hold such conflicting views as to
what the Bible really taught, it is necessary to have some
authority to decide all vexed questions. I perceived that
two men, equally learned, intelligent and devout could take
the Bible and with regard to certain debated points
come to entirely opposite conclusions. As for instance, in the
very matter of the Deity of Christ, one would say that the
Bible taught the Unitarian view, the other that it clearly
sanctions the Orthodox belief that Christ was God, and
one of these men must be in the wrong. It could not be
possible that both were right. I saw that the same read-
ing could be applied to baptism and I recognized that the
Bible alone was not a sufficient g^ide, that there must be
some authority to interpret its contents and declare what
it really taught, as in all countries where people are governed
by a code of laws, it is necessary to have Judges to interpret
those laws and to decide their meaning. It seemed to me
that Almighty God would never allow His children in so
important a matter as religion to wander in the dark with-
out a clear explanation of His doctrine and the laws by
which He intended that we should govern our conduct.
There must be some authority to settle the matter, but what
was the authority? It did not seem to me that it could be
in the Episcopal Church, much as I admired its service, be-
cause I knew that in that Church were many who held most
conflicting views, some being actually Unitarians though
united to an orthodox organization. In a true Church there
must be unity of belief. It could not be among the Presby-
terians or Methodists or any of the other sects, as they
did not even claim to have a visible authoritative Church

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'36 American Catholic Historical Society

organization, defining the doctrines of Christianity and giv-
ing light to all nations of the world.

I began to think that the Roman Catholic Church came
nearest to furnishing what I demanded as attributes of
the true Church, viz. authority, unity, universality and
holiness, but some of its doctrines I still had great difficulty
in believing. I could accept without any trouble the honor
paid to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints, and the Supremacy
of the Pope after examining the New Testament and notic-
ing how on every occasion St. Peter was selected by our
Lord as recipient of authority and as spokesman in affairs
of importance. I could believe in the atonement of our
Lord, a doctrine I had formally rejected, after seeing how
wonderfully the ancient prophecies, which spoke of Him
as being " bruised for our iniquities and wounded for our
sins " were fulfilled, but the real presence of Christ in the
consecrated Host, was the most foreign to all my precon-
ceived ideas and the most of a stumbling in my way. My
constant prayer to Almighty God for light and for the
guidance of the Holy Spirit overcame however that diffi-
culty, and when I was twenty-three, nearly two yesLTS after
I first began to consider the subject seriously, I was baptized
and entered the Roman Catholic Church where I have found
happiness, rest and peace.

Caroline Earle White

Mrs. White became a devout Catholic, attending strictly
to all her religious duties and, as years rolled on, becomingf
affiliated with a number of spiritual and charitable Catholic
organizations. She became a Child of Mary at the Con-
vent of the Sacred Heart on Arch St., Philadelphia, a
Christian Mother, President of St. Vincent's Aid Society,
the Society whose object is " to preserve the life of des-
titute infants by providing suitable nurses for them, and
also suitable clothing and other necessities " ; and Chairman
for a number of years of the " Ladies Auxiliary of the

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Mrs. Caroline Earle White, Reformer 37.

American Catholic Historical Society." She attended St.
Patrick's Church, and all her life was a frequent and devout
communicant. His Grace the late Archbishop Ryan was
a warm personal friend.

Almost from her babyhood, it may be said, Mrs. White
was interested in animals, concerned about their welfare
and roused to indignation when she saw them ill-treated.
Thus her heart was harrowed at the suffering of the mules
that in early days were used to drag the freight trains out
Market street, driven by careless or brutal drivers. " Poor
beasts that were lashed for being stupid, because their masters
were even more stupid." ^

It was to Mr. White that the young girl was indebted for
her first affiliation with any organized society for the pre-
vention of cruelty to animals. He was so impressed by
her intense interest in their humane treatment that he told
her she ought to become a member of the " Elnglish Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals." She was de-
lighted at the suggestion, for she had not known before that
such a society was in existence and she exclaimed " How
glad I am to hear of such a Society. I have always wanted
something of the kind and I will never rest until I have
such a Society here ! " Thus, even while still a quite young
girl the germ of the idea of what her life work was to be,
was in her mind.

It was not however until after the Civil War with all its
responsibilities that she, then a happily married woman, was
enabled to carry out the plan upon which she had set her
heart. It was during a summer spent in the Adirondacks,
that she heard of the fine work being accomplished in New
York by Henry Bergh in the care of overworked and abused
animals, and fired with the hope of establishing similar work
in her own city of Philadelphia she stopped on her way
home in New York to consult Mr. Bergh as to the necessary
steps to be taken for organizing a Society for the Preven-

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38 American Catholic Historical Society

tion of Cruelty to Animals on the lines of the one in New
York.

Mr. Bergh was interested and helpful, gave her much
practical advice and information and she came home ardent
and determined and took steps immediately for the forma-
tion of the desired Society.

The first step Mrs. White took was to have papers printed
which announced : " We the undersigned citizens of Phila-
delphia cordially approve of the formation and incorporation
of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
and promise to support it by every means in our power."

The next step was to obtain signatures and this Mrs.
White did, visiting lawyers, and merchants, physicians and
clergymen and other prominent men, endeavoring to interest
them in the formation of such a Society. Many of them
signed, among them a number of Philadelphia Judges, and
naturally their signatures carried weight.

Mr. Richards Muckle, the treasurer of the " Public
Ledger," was an efficient aid in the enterprise, and S. Morris
Wain, a prominent and highly respected citizen of Philadel-
phia, was an especially valuable recrtnt and showed his in-
terest by contributing six thousand dollars to assist in the
foundation of the Society. Having obtained a sufficient
number of signatures for her purpose, Mrs. White called a
meeting of all those who had signed, at the Board of Trade
Rooms in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was organized, Mr. Wilson
Swain being elected President. This was in 1867 ^^^ ^^
the following year the Society was incorporated.

This was a remarkable achievement for a woman, for
at that time women took little part in any such public organ-
izations, and even Mrs. White herself, despite the fact that
she was responsible for the founding of the Society, did not
expect to take an active part in administering its affairs.
It was not very long however until it was recognized that

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Mrs. Caroline Earle White, Reformer 39

the aid of women was an almost imperative necessity, and
Mr. Wain, who had succeeded to the Presidency, asked
Mrs. White to found a Woman's Branch. Mrs. White had
the cause too much at heart to refuse, and on April 14th
1869, about thirty ladies met in the parlor of Mr.
Wain's residence and organized a Woman's Branch of the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Naturally Mrs. White was elected President, and con-
tinued to serve in that capacity until her death forty-five
years afterwards. In 1870 the Society was incorporated,
Mrs. White herself going to Harrisburg to obtain the neces-
sary charter.

The legal title of the organization is " The Women's Penn-
sylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals."
It is in reality an independent Society and bequests must be
made to it tmder its legal name. The objects of the Society
were set forth in the charter in these explicit terms, " To
provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty
throughout the State of Pennsylvania, and for the enforce-
ment of laws heretofore or hereafter enacted for the pro-
tection of dumb animals; to erect and maintain fountains,
tanks etc., for dumb creatures and to distribute tracts."

Almost as soon as the Society was organized it began
active work and the first ill-treated animals to which its
humane efforts were directed was the stray dog, captured
by the city " dog catchers ", and often subject to cruel indeed
barbarous ill-usage, and killed, if tmclaimed and homeless,
in a shockingly brutal manner. Mrs. White applied to the
then Mayor Hon. Daniel M. Fox who readily promised
to have the dogs disposed of by a more merciful method,
and consequently carbonic acid gas was used. This was a
step forward, but not enough to satisfy Mrs. White's re-
quirements, and she exerted herself further to obtain per-
mission from City Councils, for the Society assuming com-
plete control of the capture of stray dogs and of the dog-

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40 American Catholic Historical Society

pound. This was finally granted, though not without
heated discussion and much bitter opposition. The money
appropriated by Councils for the Pound was accordingly
given to the Society, which has successfully managed the
question of the homeless or stray dog and its disposal in a
merciful and efficient manner since 1870.

Naturally the horse when abused or overworked came
under the ministration of the Society under Mrs. White's
guiding hand, and strenuous efforts were made to have a law
enacted limiting the number of passengers in the street
cars, then drawn by horses, to thirty, thus relieving the
strain on the over-worked horses that were often obliged
to drag seventy or eighty, sometimes even more persons,
perhaps on a day when the thermometer registered above
ninety degrees, or on a winter day when ice-covered streets
were scarcely passable, but these efforts were unsuccessful,
and it was only the adoption of the modern electric system
that relieved the car horse from its misery.

The sufferings of cattle when being transported from the
West in overcrowded, badly ventilated cars, often without
water, next engaged the attention of Mrs. White, but only
after persistent effort, a journey to Washington being
necessary so that she could personally impress on the West-
ern and Southern Senators the importance of passing a law
for the protection of such cattle, was a law such as she de-
sired, passed on March 3rd 1873, after two years of agita-
tion concerning it.

But though Congress passed the law, it was not enforced,
and it took repeated, persistent and determined effort on
the part of Mrs. White and the Society to force the Rail
Road Companies to comply with the provisions. The
Pennsylvania Rail Road Company was even threatened with
a suit at law, but to avert this, the officials of the Com-
pany after consultation with Mrs. White promised to pro-
cure patent cars as soon as possible; so the suit was not
pressed. 1

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Mrs, Caroline Earle White, Reformer 41!

The agitation concerning the proper and humane trans-
portation of cattle continued for a number of years. On
one occasion the Reading Railway Company was sued by
the Society for a gross violation of the law, the suit being
decided in favor of the Society. But infractions still con-
tinued, cattle were crowded into cars and kept sometimes
for one, two and even three days without either food or
water, and the Society was almost constantly employed in
seeing that offenders were brought to justice, or the abuses
remedied.

A most important work undertaken by the Society under
Mrs. White's leadership was the humane education of child-
ren. She know well that it is not possible to begin too early
to inculcate lessons of kindness, mercy and consideration
for the helpless brute creation, in the heart, and mind and
conscience of the child.

She believed firmly that children should be taught from
infancy the duty of being kind to all living things, as it is
almost an impossibility to protect animals from the cruelty,
caprice and thoughtlessness of men and women, unless these
men and women learn in their earliest youth that the bird,
the cat, the dog, or the beast of burden is as truly entitled
to kindness and consideration as any other creature of God.

This was a hard lesson to inculcate however, when it
seemed every inducement was offered to children to teach
them the contrary, when toys were sold warranted to kill
the little bird that sat chirping merrily on the tree-top,
and when race tracks were crowded with interested specta-
tors, delighted at the sight of a few struggling excited
animals goaded to strain every nerve to win a race, which
served no purpose whatever, but that of brutalizing and
demoralizing the human beings who took part.

In an article on Hiunane Education which Mrs. White
wrote for " Woman's Progress " she expressed herself in
the following forcible terms : " The idea of humane educa-

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42 American Catholic Historical Society

tion is to teach children in the first place that animals have
certain rights, and that in view of all the services they
render to us, and the vast amount of comfort and happiness
they add to our lives, they are entitled to good treatment
and to protection at our hands. This we consider an abso-
lute duty, and think that every human being who profits
by these services rendered to us by animals should assist
in the work of protecting them. Children are taught also
that everything which exists, even the smallest insect, as
long as it it not needed for the necessities of man and does
not interfere with his safety or comfort or convenience,
has a right to live and that it is wrong to kill it; that they
must step aside to avoid crushing even the harmless beetle
in the roads. This creates in their minds a respect and
regard for life per se and there is little danger that a
child brought up in this manner will ever become a
murderer."

Permission was obtained by this energetic and single-
minded woman to have humane education introduced into
the public and parochial schools, and in an incredibly short
space of time " Bands of Mercy " v\rere formed in a number
of the Schools, the cardinal obligation of a member being
" kindness to animals ". Not only in public and private
schools were these " Bands of Mercy " established but also
in the House of Refuge and Girard College. Mrs. White's
faithful ally in this work, in which she became the guiding
star, was Mrs. .Charies Willing of Philadelphia. From
these Bands of Mercy in the public schools imder the direc-
tion of Mrs. Willing, sprang the Young American Humane
Society, in the formation of which, Mrs. White of course
ably co-operated.

As was to be expected early in the course of her work,
Mrs. White took up the subject of vivisection, to which she
was consistently and unalterably opposed. She was, to use
her own words, fully " sensible of the frightful cruelty and

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Mrs, Caroline Earle White, Reformer 43

barbarous experiment perpetrated in the name of science
and under the specious plea of doing good to human beings,
upon helpless animals by vivi-sectionists ", and feeling thus
strongly on the question she was one of the prime movers
in the formation of the American Anti-vivisection Society.
This, the first Anti-vivisection Society in the United States,
was organized in Philadelphia on February 23rd, 1883, and
it was incorporated in the same year. At its inception the
Society aimed only at the restriction of vivisection, but soon
becoming convinced that it was not possible to confine the
practice within proper limits, it enlarged its scope, widened
its view point and came out boldly and unflinchingly in
favor of the total suppression of the evil, and it based its
demand for its complete abolition on the highest possible
grounds, the command of God in His moral law. The
conflict between the new Society and the advocates of vivi-
section raged with more or less violence for a number of
years, many noted men being ranged on both sides. A
number of eminent Clergymen of all denominations were
on the side of the anti-vivisectionists, many of them well
known Catholic Prelates and Priests. Mrs. White was a
Vice-President of the Society, later acting as Corresponding
Secretary.

Another special reform in which Mrs. White was deeply
interested was the welfare of children, and she was one
of the first organizers of the Philadelphia Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children. John Wright, a member
of the Society of Friends, was the first person in the United
States to found any organization looking to the welfare of
poor helpless children. He had heard, as who had not, of
the successful organizations and operation of the Society
founded and carried on by Mrs. White, which had the in-
terest of dumb animals at heart, and he came to Philadelphia
for the express purpose of appealing to her to take up the
cause of ill-treated children. i

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44 American Catholic Historical Society

Mrs. White's kind heart and sympathetic nature res-
ponded at once to the appeal and she promised her co-opera-
tion. With her usual promptitude she called a meeting,
Mrs. Turner of Darby being an able coadjutor. The
meeting was largely attended and resulted in the formation
of the Pennsylvania Society to Protect Children from
Cruelty, Mrs. White being a member of the Executive
Board. When the Society was established however on a
soimd working basis, she resigned the position, saying her
place could readily be filled, as the welfare of children met
with a responsive chord in the hearts of great numbers of
people, and she felt she was needed more in the less popular
organization, whose work was the cause of the suffering ill-
treated lower animals. Before she retired however, Mrs.
White made sure that the policy of men and women being
on the same plane on the Board, with an equal voice in the
direction of the affairs of the new Society, was firmly
established.

Mrs. White was a vigorous and trenchant writer and her
annual reports were important features of her work. In
one of them in which she described the horrible cruelty
practiced on a mare by two drunken men she wrote apropos
of liquor, " By it, men are changed into demons, and losing
all self-control and consciousness of what they are doing,
beat and maim and kill anything that comes in contact with
them."

Mrs. White was a frequent visitor to Europe. In i88a
she attended the Congress of " Societies to Protect Animals,"
held in Brussels, and " explained to some of the delegates
the method employed by her Society in conducting the Dog
Shelter and Pound in Philadelphia. This aroused much
interest and a desire was crfficially expressed that an account
of the work should be prepared and sent to every kindred
Society in the world, recommending the same course when-
ever practicable. Mrs. White wrote the article while in

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Mrs. Caroline Earle White, Reformer 45

Brussels, and it was afterwards translated into both French
and German."

This Dog Shelter, now the Morris Refuge Association
for Homeless and Suffering Animals, was established in
1874, Miss Elizabeth Morris being the first chairman. Its
object is the " care of homeless animals by finding homes
for them in families, and when this is not possible by
foimding boarding homes, hospitals or refuges for their
accommodation, and when there is no other way of pro-
viding for them by giving them a quick and painless death."

This City Refuge for Lost and Suffering Animals is the
first institution of the kind in the whole world.

In Mrs. White's journeys in foreign countries she was ac-
customed to visit many societies, always on the alert for
new ideas or newer or better methods of furthering her
chosen work.

Another form of cruelty which Mrs. White was anxious
to abolish was the wanton and wholesale destruction of
birds, and in her report for the year 1886 she wrote con-
cerning it, " The subject of the slaughter of birds for the
decoration of. the hats and bonnets of the women of our
country has engaged our sorrowful attention, and we have
not hesitated publicly and privately to utter our protest
against this barbarity, which might only be expected from
savages and which is a disgrace to any civilized nation."
At about this period Audubon Societies for the protection
of birds were coming into existence.

Mrs. White also made an effort to have pigeon-shooting
matches abolished on account of their extreme cruelty.
The cruel crowding of fowls brought from the West in
coops so small that the poor birds suffered intensely also
engaged the attention of Mrs. White and her co-laborers
and efforts made to alleviate the evil met with a measure
of success.

The barbarous treatment of the mules employed in mines

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46 American Catholic Historical Society

also came under investigation by the Society and attempts
were made for alleviation. Also the cruelty of the un-
manly and silly so-called sport of fox-hunting,* tame or
bagged foxes being used, the poor beasts sometimes so
scared that they tried to crawl back into the bag.

Indeed there was little that escaped the vigilant eye of
Mrs. White or of the other active members of the Society,
not only in Pennsylvania, but in New Jersey and other
States as well.

Through all her varied and incessant labors in behalf of
helpless and forlorn dumb beasts, there was need of much
journeying about the coimtry, a seemingly never ending suc-
cession of interviews with city, state or national legislators,
in behalf of them, and a constant effort to have these
animals legally protected and punishment inflicted on those
guilty of abusing them. Alongside of her careful sup-
ervision of the multitudinous details of the Society 06
which she was the beacon light and the inspiration and the
preparation of her model and illuminating annual reports,
this indefatigable leader found time for a considerable
amoimt of literary work.

She wrote innumerable articles for the cause to which
she had devoted her life, and in such articles she wielded a
ready and trenchant pen, and her earnestness and logical
arguments, her appeal to the nobler feelings, her reliance on
the principles of religion, her fearless and Catholic spirit
seldom failed to carry conviction to her readers.

She was the founder and editor of the Journal of
Zoophily, the periodical published in the interest of the
animal creation, the motto of which is " He who is not
actively kind is cruel." 1

Her literary activities had an extensive range, for shewrote
a mmiber of novels and short stories. Her first published
story was called " Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady "
which appeared in Harper's Magazine. Among her novels

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Mrs, Caroline Earle White, Reformer 47

may be mentioned " An Ocean Mystery ", " Love in the
Tropics ", " The Modern Agrippa " and '* Patience Barker ",
the latter a tale of quaint old Nantucket with a flavor of
sea captains, whale fisheries, old wharves and sand dunes.

Mrs. White was an accomplished linguist, being a Latin
scholar and able to converse fluently not only in her native
tongue but in French, Italian and German, and she was also
fairly conversant with Spanish.

On the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. White held a beautiful reception to which their almost
countless numbers of friends hastened to congratulate them.
It was an exceedingly joyous occasion and no one could fail
to be impressed with the nobility of accomplishment evi-
denced by the host and hostless. The reception took place in
September 1904, but before another year had come Mrs.
White was called upon to mourn the loss of her devoted and
beloved partner, for Mr. White died on the twenty-third day
of the following May in 1905.

The death of such an eminent attorney at law as Mr.
White left a great gap in the legal profession of Phila-
delphia. For years he had stood in the very foremost rank
of noted lawyers and for a quarter of a century there
was scarcely an important case argued in the law courts
that Mr. White was not engaged as counsel for it, and as
a general thing he was almost always successful, for his
knowledge of law was profound and far-reaching and there
were few if any legal difficulties that he could not surmount.
In fine he may justly be called a great lawyer.

He was a keen yachtsman, being a member of the famous
Corinthian Yacht Qub, and \vas noted for his unvarying
kindness and helpfulness to amateurs. He was a generous
and faithful friend, a genial host, and an advocate of all
worth-while reforms. The papers of the time in the many
obituary notices of his death, spoke of him in terms of the
highest praise, emphasizing in especial his uncommon grasp

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48 American Catholic Historical Society

of the intricacies and meaning of the law, and his worth
as a cultured, high-minded Christian gentleman.

Great as such a loss was to his sorrowing wife, Mrs.
White in due time continued her activities, as she was not
of the temperament to sit with folded hands when there were
so many wrongs to redress, so much work to do, so many
evils crying for remedy. Her good work went on, some
of the early laborers were taken by death, but others came
to fill the places they left vacant, for Mrs. White had the
happy faculty of inspiring all her co-workers with scwne-
thing of her own indomitable spirit, for to them all she
was g^ide, counsellor and friend, and on their part they
were loyal and devoted in carrying out the policies she out-
lined.

For some eleven years after the death of her husband
Mrs. White's activities never ceased, when summer came
she usually went to the island home of her maternal ancestors,
Nantucket, where she had a beautiful and commodious house
in which she dispensed a gracious hospitality. As always
she was exceedingly punctilious in attending to all her re-
ligious duties. Every first Friday she received Holy Com-
munion and was most faithful in observing all the rules and
regulations of Lent. Through her efforts and those of
another devout woman, a Mrs. Lawrence, a resident priest
for Nantucket was secured, the Bishop having been peti-
tioned for that favor. Previous to this the Nantucket
Church was served by a Father from the mainland.

In 191 5 at a Conference of the American Anti-Vivisection
Society, Mrs. White was presented with a gavel made from
the wood of a tree growing in Independence Square, a tree
which had waved over Independence Hall itself. The pre-
sentation was made by Rev. C. Ernest Smith D. D., D. C.
L., Rector of St. Thomas' Church, Washington.

In May 1916 Mrs. White participated in the exercises
attendant upon the planting of the first memorial tree in

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Mrs. Caroline Earle White, Reformer 49

Washington Square in commemoration of " Humane
Work " and she thanked Mrs. Halvey whose suggestion it
was to plant the tree, for the pleasure it afforded her.

The next year a tree was planted in memory of Mrs,
White herself in the yard of the Wharton School at Third
and Catharine Streets.

Mrs. White's last illness came while she was sojourning
in her summer home. She was taken ill after a day of
unusual exertion, having received Holy Communion in the
morning and later in the day having attended a re-union of
the Maria Mitchell School, which school she had attended
as a child. It was her last illness, for she died one month
later on September 6th 19 16. She was attended by the Rev.
Joseph M. Griffin, of Nantucket, received all the rites which
the Church oflfers for the consolation of the dying, s^nd gave
up her spirit with the full hope of a blessed immortality.
Her remains were taken to the Church of St. Mary,
Nantucket for her funeral Mass. In one short month after
the death of his mother, her only son Thomas Earle White
died on October 7th.

The death of Mrs. White made a great sensation, for she
was known, loved, admired and respected wherever the fame
of her noble and self-sacrificing life and works had extended,
and there were few countries in which they were not known.
Her loss made a gap in such organizations as the Brown-
ing Society, the Contemporary Qub and other similar
societies, to say nothing of the almost irreparable loss her
death was to her own special Reform Society, which voiced
its grief in these terms:

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50 American Catholic Historical Society

In Memoriam ?

Caroline Earle White

" Resolutions on the death of Mrs. Caroline Earle
White passed by the Executive Committee of the Women's
Penna. S. P. C. A. at a special meeting held September
8th 191 6.

" Whereas, The passing from this life of Mrs*
Caroline Earle White, the honored and beloved President
of this Society, the pioneer of humane work in this State
and its acknowledged champion and leader for nearly half
a century, though it has deprived us of her earthly presence^
cannot destroy the good that she did and which commanded
the respect of all true humanitarians ; therefore,

" Resolved, That we who had the honor to be her imme-
diate associates hereby record our appreciation of her work;
that we gratefully remember her patience, her courtesy, her
imfailing gentleness, her all-embracing kindness. And we
also record our earnest hope that the niunber of those upon
whom her mantle shall fall may be greatly increased, and
that we, her co-workers, stimulated by her example, and
realizing the vast need of the fuller development of the
spirit of universal kindness, may redouble our own efforts
to promote its increase.

" Resolved, That this resolution be recorded in the
minutes, that a copy of it be sent to the family of Mrs*
White, and also that it be sent to the public press.

" Signed Charlotte W. Ritchie, Katharine Craig Biddle^
Mary F. Lovell, Committee."

The Anti- Vivisection Society also passed most touching
and appropriate resolutions as follows, " At a meeting of the
Board of Managers of the American Anti-Vivisection
Society the following resolutions were adopted. Whereas
For the beloved and honored Founder and Corresponding

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Mrs. Caroline Earle White, Reformer 51!

Secretary of this Society, Caroline Earle White, there has
recently sounded the summons of the Master, which means
for her His meed of recompense and rest eternal, therefore
be it Resolved, That we, the Vice Presidents and Board
of Managers of the American Anti- Vivisection Society seek
to express hereby our deep sense of bereavement at her loss,
and that we voice now, in so far as weak words may, our
honor and admiration for her as a pioneer of the humane
movement which she so brilliantly initiated and bravely de-
fended in the far-off days, when such action by a woman,
meant the endurance of opposition, ridicule and slander, all
of which she whom we mourn today, combated and over-
came by her personal courage, selflessness and purity of
purpose, and be it further Resolved, That we recognize the
great impetus she gave the cause of Anti-Vivisection by the
power of her pen, ever at its disposal, and always used with
truthfulness and moderation. And be it further Resolved,
That since to her, as Founder of the American Anti-Vivi-
section Society, we owe the first organized effort in this
country to abolish a hideous form of cruelty, that we keep
alive as a beacon light for our own and future generations
the memory of Caroline Earle White and that we seek to
maintain and perpetuate the ideals for which she strove. '
" Signed Robert R. Logan, Margaret M. Halvey,
Elizabeth Somers, Committee." i

Letters of sympathy and condolence came in from near
and far, all testifying to the profound respect and admira-
tion with which Mrs. White's character and work had im-
pressed the writers. In a beautiful tribute paid to her
by Mrs. Mary F. Lovell, who is devoting her left to the noble
work of humane education, and who was one of Mrs.
White's most earnest friends and supporters, occurs this
characteristic passage concerning Mrs. White, " With an
inextinguishable desire for the righting of wrong and a

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52 American Catholic Historical Society

nice sense of justice, and with an immense capacity for pity
and compassion, she united the broadest charity. She
could suffer long and be kind, and her charity never failed.
She was kind to all."

Another of her co-workers, Mrs. Margaret M. Halvey,
wrote

" Let me but say of her now ^e is dead.
[With an Amen to all so ably said,] —
Tbat knowing her best was best to know her worth.
That Truth and Kindness, strong to brighten earth,
Were hers by Nature's gifting — rare and royal —
My best il say in this : * God made her Lojral.' '*

Her niece, Mrs. Florence Earle Coates, the well known
poetess, wrote this " She was a great woman with the heart
of a little child. Her works praise her; the millions of
God's creatures whom she has saved from suffering sing
her praise. Where she has gone the recognition of this
world counts for little. She has gone where the merciful
are blessed, where the pure in heart see God."

Miss Elizabeth Somers, who was closely associated with
Mrs. White in her work and whose mother was her life-
long friend, writes these lines in praise, " Mrs. White had
an amiable disposition. She was slow to anger and could
preserve an imperturbable calmness, even when attacked
fiercely and unjustly by vivisectionists. She also had a
profound reverence for the truth and would not willingly
deviate a hair's breadth from it, even if convinced that she
could further the cause nearest her heart, anti-vivisection,
by a slight exaggeration. She was a linguist and was
wont to say it gave her more pleasure to study a language
than to read the most interesting novel ever written." Miss
Somers had also written concerning Mrs. White's scholarly
attainments, " Astronomy was a science in which her interest
never seemed to flag, and she usually had a text-book on
hand. While at her Nantucket home, an evening seldom

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Mrs. Caroline Earle White, Reformer 531

passed, when if the atmosphere permitted, she did not ob-
serve the constellations. The variety and cultivation of her
tastes were remarkable and opened many fields of recrea-
tion to her. A musician herself in early life, endowed by
nature with a correct ear and having a thorough knowledge
of music both as a science and an art, made her enjoyment
of it complete. She was as constant in her friendships as
she was faithful to the cause she espoused. Every reform
that had for its object the good of humanity appealed to
her. The large number of persons whom she aided when
they applied to her in difficulties, financial or otherwise,
will never be known." j

Edward J. Nolan, Secretary of the Academy of Natural
Sciences, paid this tribute to her memory : " She was endeared
to her friends by her kindly sympathy, her wide culture and
her fearless devotion to principle. She possessed indeed a
combination of high qualities, courage, intelligence and de-
votion, singularly fitting her for the beneficent work to
which she gave the best years of her life, as though she were
conscious of a Divine call."

These are but a few sentences from the many tributes
that were gathered together in the Memorial number of the
Journal of Zoophily published in September, shortly after
her death, but they evidence conclusively the rare character
and commanding and winning personality of this exception-
ally gifted woman. She has left the scene of her earthly
labors, but her work remains as her best and lasting
memorial.

The writer of this brief sketch of Mrs. White and her
work is indebted for valuable information furnished by
the great kindness of Mrs. Earle White, wife of Mrs.
White's grandson. Miss Elizabeth Somers, Mrs. Margaret
M. Halvey, Mrs. Mary F. Lovell, and other courteous and
obliging personal friends.

Jane Campbell.

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REPORTS OF CONRAD ALEXANDRE GERARD, MINISTER
PLENIPOTENTIARY TO AMERICA, 1778-1779, FROM
HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY, LOUIS
XVI, KING OF FRANCE

{Continued)

111 luck continued to attend upon His Majesty's Com-
mission for restoring peace. It cannot be denied, however,
that their conciliatory offers were hailed with joy by Tory
proprietors whose property had been confiscated, while
latent distrust for England's ancient enemy, together with
dread of the latter's Roman Catholic influence, were fanned
into flame in many a loyal breast by the prejudiced utter-
ances of the Commissioners against America's new ally.
On the other hand, every measure which they brought for-
ward, every disparaging utterance which they permitted
themselves, tended to unite the friends of liberty more firmly
to the principles of independence and of the Alliance. In-
deed it would be hard to conceive of any measure which
could have been devised by the Government of Great Britain
capable of giving such consistency and strength to the patriot
cause as that of sending over such a commission.

Gerard, in his 17th. report, dated August 22, 1778, gives
an account of the political situation at that moment. He
says:

The deputies of Maryland and Pennsylvania tell me that a
great number of citizens who had before refused to take the
oath of the states, have presented themselves for admittance,
since the character of my mission has been known. It has been
the policy of the English to persuade their partisans that the
fleet of the king had no other object than to protect the opera-

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 55

tions of our commerce destined to reimburse the king for the
sums which His Majesty had advanced to the Americans. I
neglect nothing, Mgr. to fortify the impression of the inestim-
able advantages which the declaration and the open assistance
of France have procured the Americans, and every day adds
to the conviction that the wisdom of His Majesty has chosen
the most favorable moment, and perhaps the only moment when
a coalition could have been prevented between England and
America. Many members of Congress have avowed to me that
the manifesto of the 26th of April, by which the conciliatory
bills were rejected in advance, was on its part, a coup de
desespoir, to offset the pernicious effects which it dreaded
from the future and from the manceuvers of the commissioners.

The manifesto here alluded to, which was published six;
days before news of the French Alliance reached Congress,
is so remarkable a document that it requires special mention.
It was brought in as a report by a committee appointed by
Congress to consider a paper sent to that body by George
Washington, and which contained what "purported to be
the draught of a bill .... to enable the king of Great
Britain to appoint commissioners with power to treat, con-
sult and agree upon the means of quieting certain disorders
within the said states." ^ The report says in part :

The wickedness and insincerity of the enemy appear from
the following considerations :

I. Either the bills now to be passed contain a direct or
indirect cession of a part of their former claims, or they do
not. If they do, then it is acknowledged that they have sacri-
ficed many brave men in an unjust quarrel. If they do not,
then they are calculated to deceive America into terms to
which neither argument before the war, nor force since,
could procure assent. . . .

From the second bill it appears that the British king may,
if he pleases, appoint commissioners to treat and agree with
those whom they please, about a variety of things therein men-

* Sec Jour, of Cong., Lib. of Cong, edition, Vol. X, p. 374.

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56 American Catholic Historical Society

tioned ; but such treaties or agreements are to be of no validity,
without the concurrence of the said parliament, except in so
far as they relate to the suspension of hostilities, and of certain
of their acts, the granting of pardons, and the appointing of
governors to these sovereign, free and independent states,
wherefore the said parliament have reserved to themselves, in
express words, the power to set aside any such treaty, and
taking advantage of any circumstances which may arise, to
subject these colonies to their usurpations.

From all which it appears evident to your committee, that the
said bills are intended to operate upon the hopes and fears of
the good people of these states, so as to create divisions among
them, and a defection from the conunon cause, now, by the
blessing of Divine Providence, drawing near to a favorable
issue

Upon the whole matter, the committee beg leave to report
it as their opinion, that as Americans . . . any men, or body of
men, who should presume to make any separate or partial
convention or agreement with commissioners under the crown
of Great Britain, . . . ought to be considered as opponents,
avowed enemies of these United States, unless Great Britain
shall, as a preliminary thereto, either withdraw her fleets and
armies, or else, in p>ositive and express terms, acknowledge the
independence of the said states.

Since the publication of this manifesto in April 1778,
the disposition of Congress towards any conciliatory meas-
ures of Great Britain, had remained unchanged. The parti-
cular danger of the situation as Gerard saw it in August
of the same year, lay, not so much in the likelihood that a
few weakening members would cause Congress to recede
from their position, as in the insidious measures of the
Commissioners who sought to entrap them unawares. It
required all the vigilance of the experienced and cautious
French diplomat, to save them from these hidden snares.

As has been seen in the forgoing chapter, the intention
of Congress was to ignore whatever was addressed to it

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 57

by the Commissioners. It was in pursuance of this policy
that their communication of the nth of July had been left
unanswered. The sudden move on the part of the Com-
missioners in ratifying the Convention of Saratoga, threw;
them off their guard.

This imexpected presentation of a new topic occasioned
long debate in Congress, where unity of action was difficult
to attain. In the mean time, while the President was in-
forming himself through conversations with the French
Minister, regarding the principles involved. Congress,
roused to indignation by what it termed " daring and atro-
cious attempts to corrupt its integrity", was hurried into
an act, from the consequences of which, as will soon be
shown, it had great difficulty in extricating itself.

The matter was as follows. George Johnstone, former
Governor of West Florida, now member of the British
Commission, had rendered himself particularly obnoxious
to the leaders in Congress, by direct and indirect attempts
at bribery. On the nth of August, while still undecided
what action to take regarding the ratification of the Con-
vention of Saratoga, Congress drew up a " Declaration ",
couched in very strong language, in which was set forth
the contents of the offending letters, with an account of the
actions of the said Johnstone. To this Declaration was ap-
pended the following resolution : " Resolved, that it is in-
compatible with the honor of Congress to hold any manner
of correspondence or intercourse with the said Governor
Johnstone Esq., especially to negotiate with him upon affairs
in which the cause of liberty is interested." The Declaration
and the Resolution were signed by the President of Congress,
and sent under a flag of truce to the British Commissioners,
who received it in New York, August 18. Nothing could
have better answered their purpose. They were quick to
see that in singling out one of their number as wholly un-
acceptable. Congress had laid itself under a sort of obliga-

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58 American Catholic Historical Society

tion to admit the rest. For an account of what follows let
us return to the reports of Gerard.

On September ist. he writes in his 21st. report :

A new declaration on their part (that of the British Com-
missioners) arrived yesterday, accompanied by a letter of the
Secretary, Dr. Ferguson, to the President of Congress. The
same package contained a personal declaration of Mr. John-
stone, by which he shows joy over the exclusion which Congress
makes regarding him, and their resolution not to treat with him.
. . . The declaration of the other Commissioners, the Earl of
Carlisle, General Clinton, and Wm. Eden, is also enclosed;
this letter commences by an equivocal acceptance of the ex-
clusion of Mr. Johnstone, and, under pretext of justifying
that Commissioner, passes to details whose object is to per-
suade the Americans that they have been wrong to ally them-
selves with France, whose design is to betray them. This
letter is so lacking in logic, sense and truth, that it would have
been more difficult for me to analyse it than to dictate the trans-
lation, which you will find inclosed. I did it last night, the
President of Congress having confided the originals to me the
moment of their reception.

This chief had a very long interview with me regarding the
contents of these documents their purpose and their conse-
quence, as well as the manner in which Congress should reply.
He gave me to understand that several members had stopped
the resolutions of Congress, because they were of opinion that
the ratification of the Convention of Saratoga by the Com-
missioners would be an indirect recognition of independence.
I saw at once that here as elsewhere, those men who tax their
ingenuity to invent political refinements, have ordinarily the
talent to make themselves heard, and so to obstruct a simple
and solid progress. It is unnecessary to give in detail our con-
versation. Let it suffice to say that as Mr. Laurens persists in
his sentiments, and as a great number of delegates seem dis-
posed to go even farther, he has asked me to aid him with
my pen and directly with a few members. I agreed to do both
on condition that my writings shall pass as his own if he adopts
them, and be burned if he does not adopt them.

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 59

In drawing them up I put myself in the state of mind which
should animate Congress. ... I will not indicate here more
than a few points which may help you to arrive at an opinion :

1st. The Commissioners have not the power to ratify, which
power emanates from the Crown alone, and belongs to its
prerogative.

2nd. Supposing that they should ratify, their commission and
their bills testify that they lack the authority, and that their
ratification would have to be ratified not only by the king but
also by Parliament.

3rd. All ratification is, by its nature, reserved to the Crown.

4th. The ratification of a military convention bears no re-
cognition of sovereignty. History furnishes a thousand
proofs. . . .

5th. It is doubtless important to force England to surmount
another repugnance, which belongs to her system of htmiiliat-
ing the United States and Congress : but it is from herself that
this act must be obtained, and not from commissioners who
have not the power to accord it.

6th. After the solemn declaration of Congress to the English
Commissioners it would be to lower the dignity of the United
States, to betray the rights of sovereignty and independence,
if they were to treat upon other titles than those which the
rights of man and the usage of sovereign states admit ; that to
negotiate upon simple domestic letters-patent limited in their
style and in their effects, would carry with it a shameful mark
of subordination.

7th. The civil law of England declares that the king is not
bound to hold to treaties made with rebels. The conduct of
the Crown and of its officers, having constantly conformed to
this maxim . . . the United Sstates cannot count upon the
public faith of England until she shall have recognized their
independence in the face of the universe.

8th. England will never seriously think of recognizing the
independence of the states while Congress shows itself willing
to treat with domestic commissioners, whose powers and whose
existence even, have no other foundation than conciliatory bills ;
the United States would, with reason, always have the reputa-

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tion of admitting such bills as acceptable objects of negotiation.
It seems that so to act would be equivalent to turning ones
back upon one's object, and to creating the greatest obstacles
which one's dearest interests could experience. The commis-
sion has no longer either powers or instructions, that is to say,
it no longer exists, from the moment that the United States
declares that it will not treat with it except upon the basis of
Independence.

These, Mgr., are the principal considerations which will be
presented to Congress, and which it seems, should determine
its resolutions upon this point, and lead it to rectify the error
into which it was drawn by its resentment against Mr. John-
stone. It did not perceive that in declaring it would not treat
with that commissioner, it tacitly engaged itself to treat with
the others. It feels its fault, and one must believe, it wishes
to repair it.

As to the insinuations, equally false as crafty, made against
France, if they were not so affected and so solemn, they would
be beneath notice ; but in a government like this, every possible
avenue must be closed to the entrance of pernicious prejudices
among the people. It is therefore agreed to employ writers to
reply. I shall try to suggest the manner, because I have not yet
found the way to get a sight of the articles before they are
printed.

The package from the British Commissioners contained also
a letter from a Mr. Temple, who announces he has permission
from the English Generals to come to Philadelphia and present
his respects to Congress. This man was employed formerly
in the American customs but was driven out. He is clever and
without principle, and worthy to be used in underhanded de-
signs. I have pointed out to Congress that he can only be a
secret emissary, substituted for the practices of Mr. Johnstone,
or a species of dependent which they wish to attach as spy to
my steps; that if he were attached to any commission, even
secret, the rule in times of war requires that he announce it
before setting foot upon the territory of the United States.

I am so affected, Mgr., with the importance of all that tends
to entertain a thread of liason or correspondence with Great

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 6i

Britain, that I have no doubt you will judge these details im-
portant. I shall not be tranquil until Congress shall have re-
solved not to admit any agents on the part of Great Britain, who
do not come furnished with letters of credit in diplomatic form.
It is with regret, Mgr., that I see myself forced, because of
the uncertainty and scarcity of means of communication, to ad-
dress to you, twelve hundred leagues distant, such incomplete
relations; but you will at least, find therein some matter of
information and the proof of my zeal and application.
I am, with profound respect, etc.,

Gerard.

The first public allusion to the above-mentioned Mr.
Temple is to be found in the Penna, Packet for July i6,
1778, where, under the heading, London, April 21st.,"
is a paragraph which runs : " Yesterday morning, Dr.
Berkenhout, and — ^Temple Esq. set out for Portsmouth to
embark for America, supposed to be sent on a private em-
bassy to Congress." Rivington's Royal Gazette, announces
the arrival of these emissaries, August 5, 1778.

A correspondent of the Penna, Packet for September 3,
observes : " It is to be hoped that Congress will disappoint
them of their base intentions (for they can have no other)
of getting among the good people of these states, in order
to sow dissentions among us." From this date on, the
Penna. Packet continues to make warning entries regarding
both of these men. '

Gerard, in his twenty-second report, September 5, 1778,
says:

You will see, Mgr., that Dr. Berkenhout, reported in the
papers as being charged with some secret commission to Con-
gress, was arrested on the third of this month. He had been
living for several days incognito in Phila. although he had taken
a passport at Elizabethtown, from General Maxwell. It was
the State of Pennsylvania that arrested him at the instigation
of Congress. A letter was found on him addressed to Richard
Henry Lee, with whose brother, Mr. Arthur Lee, he has long

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been in correspondence. . . . This letter states, in part: "If the
English Minister knew that the Americans were decided in
their desire for independence, he would give it to them." The
writer then offers himself to be the secret negotiator and only
asks, in order to begin his task, that the conditions which
America would probably accept be given him on a bit of paper.
. . . His offers were coldly received ; he was made to feel that
he would be tried as a spy, necessary severity to impress similar
emissaries, supposed to have been sent to all the English
Colonies, in order to consolidate Tory sentiment. The Doctor
wrote a submissive letter to Congress, assuring them that he
had received neither commission nor instructions ; it was
couched in very equivocal terms, however ; he asked moreover
to be allowed to return whence he came. It is likely that the
State of Pennsylvania will accord him the desired permission
after inculcating a salutary fear. Mr. Temple was more adroit,
but not more successful. Congress refused his request, but out
of respect for certain persons, whose opinion it finds necessary
to conciliate, it wrote to him by its secretary, telling him to
address himself to the Assembly of the State where he intends
to reside. He owns considerable property in the Province of
Massachusetts Bay. Any commentary on my part would be
useless, Mgr. ; it would only anticipate your own reflections. I
must however add a word relative to the resolution of Congress
regarding the demands of the Commissioners; that body has
not yet found means to retrace its steps so as to break abso-
lutely with them, but everything that is said to me, and all
that I hear indirectly, persuades me that it is firm in its
resolution to refuse all negotiation of which independence shall
not be the preamble.

The result of its deliberations regarding the ratification of
the Convention of Saratoga, is a resolution in which it refuses
to accept a ratification founded on inductions, and which would
itself require a ratification of Parliament.^

* Journals of Congress^ Library of Congress Edition, vol. xii, p. 880.

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 63

Gerard continues the same subject in his twenty-fourth
report.

Mr. Drayton, deputy from South Carolina, who was charged
by Congress to reply in his own name to the communications
of the Commissioners, has arranged with me the writing which
will be published. If it comes from the press before my letter
goes off, I will enclose a copy. This article seems to me equally
valuable to enlighten the people regarding the intentions and
manner of procedure of England, as upon the Alliance with
France, and so to offset the work of the Commissioners, whose
object has only been to sow doubts and defiance among the
people, and to arouse the Tories. Up to the present they have
had no cause to applaud their success, even in the latter object.
A great number of them in Maryland, New Jersey, and in
Pennsylvania, begin to show eagerness to be admitted to the
oath of fidelity to the states. Some states have adopted the
following formula: I — N — declare that I believe the State

of N is and should be, free and independent, in fact

and of right.

Many of the Tories have objected that they ought not to be
forced to declare their sentiments when it was not question of
their vote; that their effective submission to the actual gov-
ernment should be sufficient. I admit, Mgr. that I have sup-
ported these arguments by every sort of political consideration ;
several members of Congress are of the same opinion, but the
decision remains with each separate state, and I strongly suspect
that a similar formula has been sought, in order to render more
difficult the return of the Tory Proprietors and to have a
pretext for the confiscation of their possessions. In all the
Southern Provinces, as well as in New England, nothing is
feared from them ; they are there either subdued or expelled ;
but in the central states, commerce with England has attached
a great number of inhabitants to the interests of that country.
Two-thirds of them could have been relied upon if the ravages
of the enemy had not made numerous converts among them,
who felt that while they risked everything, they gained nothing
by remaining faithful; because the English could only burn

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their houses while Congress could confiscate their lands. But
there are still a sufficiently great number along the coasts near
New York to render the enemy important services. There is
a constantly increasing effort to draw a line of separation, but
so many private considerations complicate the situation, that
I do not know that one can hope to see good measures adopted.
The necessity to prevent the manoeuvres of the emissaries sus-
pected to have been sent by the Commissioners into all the
provinces for the purpose of banding together the Tories, will
perhaps lead to salutary results. They are nowhere in arms
except on the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia, in asso-
ciation with the savages, who, with few exceptions, are openly
friendly towards England. . . .

Two days later, in his twenty-seventh report, Gerard
writes to Vergennes :

A gentleman of this city announces to me the departure of a
vessel for Bordeaux and I profit by the occasion to address to
you duplicates of my last letters with to-day's newspaper, which
contains the letters, the declaration of Mr. Johnstone, that of
the other Commissioners, as also the resolutions of Congress
and the detailed refutation which Mr. Drayton makes, under
the secret auspices of Congress, of the sophisms advanced by
the Commissioners. (Penna. Packet for Sept. 12th. 1778).
It is thought here that this article will satisfy France and at the
same time enlighten the people of America. I am sending sev-
eral copies in order to facilitate the translation. The greatest
desire is shown to have these documents spread broadcast
in America and in Europe. I assume that the author of Des
Affaires d'Angleterre et d'Amerique, will willingly render this
service, and I beg you to be so good as to send me a dozen
copies of the translation.

It seems to me, Mgr., that taking the resolution of the Con-
gress with the article which it tacitly authorizes, it has regained
part of the lost ground and that the resolution not to treat
except upon the basis of independence, by itself annuls the
British Commission. Should the Commission permit itself

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 65

some new move, it seems probable it will only serve to develop
further this resolution, and that the Court of London will be at
length convinced that the recc^ition of independence will be
the preliminary of any negotiation. If the first reports of the
Commissioners had been made in good faith, without deference
to ministerial views, this effect would perhaps already have
been produced. Until the moment arrives when this fact is
grasped, it is not probable that the political system of that Court
will assume consistency. . . .

As a sample of Mr. Drayton's article, above alluded to,
the following extract may be of interest. It is addressed to
their " Excellencies the Earl of Carlisle, Hon. Gen. Clinton,
Knight of the Bath and Wm. Eden, Esq.

Your Excellencies must be sensible that it does not comport
with the measures of Congress to make any observations upon
your declaration of the 26th of August. But as it was evidently
calculated for the people, I make no doubt you will be glad to
know what effect it is likely to produce. . . .

And do you really think you have offered ever)rthing that is
or can be proposed by the French Alliance ? I am apt to think
your Excellencies are inclined to pleasantry. Pardon me if I
introduce a serious idea. I will be short, nay, I will use but a
single word. INDEPENDENCE! This is proposed by the
Alliance with France. This is not to be found in your offers. . . .

You are astonished at one circumstance ; I may be permitted
to express a little surprise at another; it is at your assertion
that France has ever shown herself an enemy to all civil and
religious liberty. I cannot suppose that you are unread in the
histories of France, of Germany and of the Low Countries.
. . . For a period of eighty years from the peace of Westphalia
the civil and religious liberty of Germany and the Seven United
Provinces, found in the power of France, a friend and a guar-
antee ; and the same power is now a guarantee to the civil and
religious liberty of America. On the other hand, the power of
England has been and now is an enemy to civil and religious
liberty. . . . Witness your penal laws against Roman Cath-

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olics, and the rejected petitions of dissenters. . . . Witness the
present reign in Great Britain. . . . Your Excellencies should
look at home before venturing to cast your eyes and your cen-
sure abroad. . . .

The final resolution of Congress regarding the ratifica-
tion of the Convention of Saratoga was not only, publicly
printed, but the Commander-in-chief was ordered to send
a copy to the Commissioners.'

General Washington writes :

Headquarters, White Plaines
September i6th. 1778.
Gentlemen,

I am commanded by Congress to transmit to your Excel-
lencies the inclosed Resolution.

I have the Honour to be.

With great Respect, Your Excellencies'
Most Obedient Servant,

(Signed) George Washington.

This final act seems to have convinced the Conunissioners
that no further move on their part would serve to bring
about the release of the British troops still held prisoners in
America.*

As a last resource, however, Gen. Qinton, in his capacity
as Commander-in-chief of the British Army, wrote per-
sonally to Congress, a letter received Sept. 28th. 1778^

•Stevens's Facsimiles 1155.

*See Journals of Congress, vol. xii, p. 901 et seq. By an order of
Congress, in November, 1778, the army of Burgoyne, numbering at that
time some 4,000 officers and men, was marched off to an internment camp
b Virginia, a distance of 700 miles, where it remained during the greater
part of the war. It was not released until the end, though at that time,
through death, desertion and exchanges the number had dwindled to a
mere handful. The action of Congress in holding firmly to its prize,
was not only a staggering blow to the British, but a humiliation whicb
they bitterly resented.

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 67I

wherein he attempted by threats to arrive at the desired
end. The reply elicited was sent through the Secretary,
and was as follows : " Sir : I am directed to inform you
that the Congress of the United States of America makes
no reply to insolent letters.
I am etc.

(signed) Charles Thomson." *

The British Commander did not wait to receive a reply
before beginning to put his threat into execution. Gerard
writes to Vergennes: I

On the 22nd. the English, to the number of from four to five
thousand men made a descent upon New Jersey, towards
Newark and the Hackensack river; they reembarked after
foraging the country.

A few days later he adds more details :

The English continue to devastate the country by little ex-
peditions. Their object seems to be to destroy every small
vessel that remains, and every port that serves them as an
asylum. They have made several fruitless attempts upon the
coasts of New England, and show themselves now, on the
shores of New Jersey. . . . All the defenses have been as-
sembled that could be furnished by the surroundings. As
regards the descent upon Newark, the troops did not retire as
was supposed, but continued their ravages. General Wash-
ington has sent several detachments, to join with those that
are at Elizabeth-town and to the militia of that part of the
Jerseys. ... In the neighborhood of Hackensack they sur-
prised Col. Baylor with the better part of a regiment of cavalry
and nearly one hundred men were massacred in cold blood,
having been surprized in the middle of the night by the treachery
of a Tory. On the East bank of the North River, a detach-
ment approached an advanced post of General Washington, but
fell into an ambush and were either taken or dispersed. . . .

" Journals of Congress, vol. xii, p. 964.

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You see, Mgr. that General Qinton follows with implacability
his plan of destruction. Personal animosity seems to animate
him. . . . Q>ngress is deeply affected by the barbarity the
English put into their expeditions, and by the massacre of the
sleeping troops. They seriously deliberate upon means of re-
prisal. The great number of officers taken with General Bur-
goyne seems to put all the advantage of this frightful conflict
upon the side of Congress. . . .

A final Manifesto and Proclamation was issued by the
Commissioners in October 1778, and addressed to " The
Members of Congress to the Members of the General
Assemblies of the several Colonies .... and to all the
Inhabitants ". In their report to the Secretary for the
Colonies, Lord George Germain, they wrote : •

New York, Oct. isth. 1778.
Sir,

We have thought proper the 3rd. inst. to issue the inclosed
Manifesto and Proclamation, and we trust we have taken such
measures for transmitting it both to individuals and different
descripticMis of men in the several colonies, as must oblige the
Rebel leaders (whatever disrespect they may show to the In-
strument itself), to allow its circulation among His Majesty's
subjects on this continent. . . . Our duty seemed to require an
e:q)licit declaration of our purpose, no longer to favor an idea
which too many were inclined to entertain from our stay on this
continent, that the independency of America was still to be
acknowledged. . . . We are not entirely destitute of hopes that
the terms we repeat and the pardons we have given, may revive
the grateful loyalty of a Few, and the Cautious Feelings of
Many. . . .

The " Pardons " were to be good for Forty Days — Oct. 3rd.
to Nov. nth. inclusive — ^after which "any adherence to the
treasonable connections attempted to be framed with a Foreign

• See Facsimiles, 1178.

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 69

Power, will, after the present grace extended, be considered

as crimes of the most aggravated kind

Carlisle,
H. Clinton,
Wm. Eden.

The measures for transmitting, as announced in the Mani-
festo, provided for their being carried " by Flags of
Truce". Congress at once took measures for thwarting
the plans of the British Emissaries and wrote to all the
States that the sending of vessels of truce on the occasion
of the Proclamation of the Commissioners was contrary to
the rights of man and the laws of war, and recommended
that the ship's company be detained and treated as spies.

Gerard writes in his thirty-second report :

The vessel destined for Philadelphia, perished on the coast
of Jersey. The crew had great difficulty in saving themselves.
They were seized by the inhabitants and yesterday brought and
imprisoned here. Two officers, said to be of distinguished birth,
were in charge of this commission. Their papers were lost.
This accident will probably put them in the rank of ordinary
prisoners, and, it is said, will save their heads.

In his thirty-sixth report, written November 10, the
French Minister writes : 1

I had the honor of sending you an account of the effect that
the Proclamation of the Commissioners had upon Congress.
The impression produced upon the people is analogous; a
parody in verse, inserted in the Packet (for Nov. sth.) has
demonstrated to the people the travesty of that production as
the best reasoning could not have done. Nevertheless, the term
fixed by the Commissioners expiring the nth. there is reason
to fear that the General may undertake some enterprise to
make effectual their threats. . . .

The ship with the flag of truce bearing the Proclamation tq
Virginia, having arrived near Williamsburg, the Governor or-

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dered it off at once, declaring that the State had neither the
power nor will to treat with the enemy, and that if they again
attempted the same enterprise, they would be regarded and
treated as pommon enemies of America. The resolution of
Congress to treat these vessels as spies had not then reached
Virginia.

On 14 November in his thirty-seventh report, Gerard says
further :

Congress has received certain intelligence that the Commis-
sioners are now engaged in selecting the emissaries whom it
has been resolved to send to the number of five or six, into
each Province. They are not to be ostensible like Dr. Berken-
hout, nor to have any public notice given. On the contrary,
these instruments are to act secretly upon the people with whom
they are to mix, and in this way the Commissioners hope that a
division may be operated among them, and especially that dis-
trust for France may be created. Congress feels the danger
of this method. It has addressed instructions to all the
States, to engage them to be on the watch for those who enter
into their territory, and to seize all suspected persons. . . .

In his forty-first report, dated December 4, Gerard is able
to annotmce :

It is learned from New York that the twenty-fifth of last
month the British Commissioners embarked with their be-
longings on board the Roebuck, a vessel of 44 cannon and were
to start out with the first favorable wind for England. I do not
know what the judgment of the Court and of the nation will be,
regarding the manner in which they have executed their com-
mission, but the effect which I have under my eyes demonstrates
that it has been prejudicial to England, because the Commission
has excited the derision of the Americans. . . .

The general feeling entertained among the Americans
at this time for France came out strongly at what Gerard
calls " a solemn repast " given by the state of Pennsylvania

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 71'

in honor of the newly elected President of its Legislative
Council, at which he was an honored guest. He says in
the same report :

It would be impossible, Mgr., to show more sensibility and
joy than that assembly, composed of 156 persons, manifested
every time that France or the Alliance was mentioned. When
the health of the King was drunk all the halls resounded at the
instant with acclamations and great cries of joy; of HOUR A,
which they repeated three times. The new President having
shown to one of his neighbors the portrait of the King (the
one with which he honored me at my departure) the whole
assembly wished to see it; the box in which it was contained
made the circuit of all the tables ; a deputation was sent to thank
me and to testify to the pleasure with which they regarded the
countenance of a monarch, protector of humanity and the best
friend the United States could have.

There is no exaggeration, Mgr. in this recital. The trans-
ports with which every thing concerning France have been
welcomed, persuade me more and more, that all the public
officers, and all those capable of thinking, feel, spite of their
national prejudices, the full value of the friendship and the
actions of His Majesty.

The attitude of the Home Government towards the Com-
missioners comes out clearly in the reply of Lord George
Germain, to their expedition of September 5, 1778, the
contents of which reply is revealed in his letter. He writes : ^

Whitehall, Oct. 15, 1778. j
My Lord and Sirs,

I have the pleasure to acquaint you that I am commanded by
His Majesty, to signify to you His Majesty's entire approbation
of your remonstrance to Congress (that of August 26) ....
and also of your having sent a Duplicate of your Requisition
respecting the Saratoga Convention, without its being sub-

^ Facsimile 1184.

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scribed by Mr. Johnstone ... as His Majesty would have
been unwilling there should have been the slightest Pretext
to palliate so gross a violation of the Public Faith as they will
be guilty of, who decline making good the terms of that Con-
vention. . . . His Majesty has only hoped that these repeated
Remonstrances will at last produce the desired Effect and that
if they persist in the unjust detention of those brave but un-
fortunate troops, it will be a proof to all Europe ... of the
lack of faith of that body.

It was Mr. Johnstone who carried to London in person
the next dispatches of the Commissioners. The pouch con-
tained among other things, the final resolution of Congress
regarding the Convention of Saratoga, with the letter of
General Washington that accompanied it ; also a copy of the
famous number of the Pennsylvania Packet for September
12. There was moreover a letter showing the embarrassment
into which the presence of the French Fleet in American
waters had thrown the British forces. The reply to this
budget by Lord Germain, under date of November 4, is
marked Most Secret and Confidential^ This shows con-
clusively that the solidity of the Franco-American Alliance
is at last penetrating their consciousness, thus fulfilling the
prediction of Gerard made sometime previously. The
British Minister writes:

My Lord and Sirs:

Your letter of 21 September was delivered to me by Mr.
Johnstone and I took the first opportunity of laying it before
His Majesty. ... I sincerely wish that the resources of this
country could afford such reinforcements as might enable Sir
Henry Qinton to carry on an offensive War in the most exten-
sive manner ; but you must Consider that America is not now
the only object of attenticxi but that the whole power of France
is to be opposed, and I am sorry to say, that the great arma-

• Facsimiles 1206.

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 73

ments of Spain give us too much Reason to apprehend that the
Court of Madrid will soon depart from the neutrality which it
now professes. This I mention to you in Confidence, that you
may see the true state of the situation, and you may be con-
vinced that every possible effort will be made, consistent with
the Safety and Interest of this Country, for reducing the Rebels
to obedience, and whatever Ideas have been entertained that
Independence will be granted them. ... I have authority to
say that no such Proposition will be made or supported by His
Majesty's Servants. ... I hope that the Forces in America
will be sufficient to maintain our present Possessions. ... In
the mean time the Rebels will feel severely the effect of the
War which will keep their Coast in perpetual alarm, and by
taking or destroying their Ships and Stores, while we prevent
their growing into a Maritime Power, our own Commerce may
be freed from the insults of their Privateers. . . .

The above letter concludes with reiterated assurances
of His Majesty's permission for them to return home when
this shall seem advisable, but with characteristic obtuseness,
the Commissioner for the Colonies adds : " But I shall be
happy if you are induced to remain in America by seeing a
prospect for restoring Peace, and thereby fulfilling the
object of your mission."

The disappointed Commissioners were already on their
way back to England when these last instructions arrived.
From the " Roebuck " on November 2y, 1778, while wait-
ing off Sandy Hook, they wrote their final report, which
terminates thus : " We have only to add that we still have
the mortification to be without any accounts from Europe
of a later date than the beginning of August, and are con-
sequently without the benefit of any Instructions with which
your Lordship may have honoured us.
We have the honour to be, etc.

Carlisle, Wm. Eden."

This early and empty-handed return of the British Com-

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missioners to England was a triumph for that party in
Congress which favored an honorable adherence to the prin-
ciples of the Alliance. The party of the Opposition, as
Gerard soon begins to call it, had totally different views.
These, however, had been thus far held in check through
the immediate danger arising from the presence of the
British Commissioners in America. This cause of alarm
being now removed, personal animosities and private jeal-
ousies began quickly to assert themselves and were fanned
into fury by an event that soon followed. This was the
necessity of hearing the report of Mr. Silas Deane, late
Commissioner to France, who had been recalled nearly a
year previously for the ostensible purpose of giving an ac-
count to Congress of the condition of affairs in Europe. In
reality his recall was the direct result of the inordinate jeal-
ousy of his colleague at the Court of Versailles, Mr. Arthur
Lee. This gentleman, native of Virginia, was a narrow-
minded, suspicious character who, it is now known, was
seriously endeavoring to get both Franklin and Deane re-
moved and himself made sole Commissioner to France. He
had the powerful support in Congress of his two brothers,
and, of more consequence still, that of John and Samuel
Adams with their friends.

The fundamental note of the policy of the Opposition
was to discredit Washington in America, as the too popular
head of the Army, and Franklin in France as the much too
enthusiastically admired chief of the diplomatic corps.
Their only hope of winning for themselves the coveted first
places, was to throw over France, now that through her
cooperation they had secured the vantage point against
England, and boldly take into their own hands the initia-
tive in coming to an imderstanding with the Mother-Country.
The first step in the carrying out of their program was
getting rid of Silas Deane.

This Commissioner had returned to America in company

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 75

with the French Minister, bringing with him a fleet of His
Most Christian Majesty, and letters of testimonial from
Franklin and the Court of France, all which proofs of the
success of his diplomacy only served to deepen the animosity
of his enemies against him. In the months that had inter-
vened since his return, although repeatedly urging upon
Congress his claim to be heard, he had suffered the con-
tinued mortfication of having his claim ignored. Roused
at last to indignation, he threatened to appeal to the People
of America, and to reveal everything, unless Congress de-
cided speedily to hear him. As no reply was forthcoming,
he proceeded to put his threat into execution. In its issue
of December 1778, the Pennsylvania Packet printed a
lengthy article addressed to the Free and Virtuous
Citizens of America, a denunciation directed against
certain members in Congress, and of their relatives in
office; it gave moreover an account of the transactions of
Dr. Berkenhout and J. Temple, and accused a prominent
delegate of " constantly and pertinaciously maintaining the
doctrine " that by the Alliance with France, America was
at liberty to make peace without consulting her ally, unless
England should declare war. It even went so far as to
name Mr. Richard Henry Lee as the said delegate.

Gerard, writing a few days later, December 12, says.

The denunciations made by Mr. Deane continue to develop the
feeling that already existed in that regard ; moreover, his article
does not displease the majority of the members of Congress,
weary and ashamed of the ascendency which they have per-
mitted the party, of which Mr. R. H. Lee and Mr. Samuel
Adams are the chiefs, to acquire. Even the Public seems to
be pleased with the author for having made the revelations,
and reproach him only for having set the example instead of
waiting for it. '•

In his forty-third report, written some days previously

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(Dec, 6), Gerard enters more deeply into the accusations
made by Mr. Deane in his article. He says :

He published it without letting me know, fearing I would dis-
suade him. He justifies his action by the necessity of en^
lightening the Public regarding the operations, the connections
and the designs of Mr. Temple and Dr. Berkenhout, whose
history you will doubtless recall. . . . The arrival at Phila-
delphia of the first of these emissaries, animated the zeal of
Mr. Deane, and I owe to him the justice of admitting, that
relatively to France his sentiments are pure. He assures pie
chat Mr. Temple, since he has been here, holds the same talk
as Dr. Berkenhout regarding a speedy reconcilliation. He
adds that the month of January will not pass without an English
Plenipotentiary arriving. . .

This Mr. Temple succeeded in getting himself admitted to
take the oath in Massachusetts, and has even brought letters
of recommendation. He is all the more dangerous since he
enjoys all the rights of citizenship. . . . Some zealous mem-
bers of Congress have denounced his presence and proposed
measures of precaution; Mr. Samuel Adams strongly insists
that Mr. Temple has only the best intentions, so it is most
important that means be found to enable Congress to act
against him. . . .

You will be struck, Mgr. with the sentiments he (Mr.
Deane) imputes to Mr. Richard Henry Lee. . , These prin-
ciples, of which I had the honor to speak to you before, though
then ignorant of the author, having now been publically an-
nounced, it seems to me that they are of a nature not to be
passed by in silence. The occasion appearing to me to be
favorable for procuring, in the most positive manner, a pro-
nouncement by Congress, in order to restrain all the members
... I have decided to ask the President to bring the matter
before that body. . . .

In his forty-fourth report, written next day, Gerard con-
tinues :

I have taken the step which I had the honor of preparing you

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 77

for in my last dispatch. The President received my observa-
tions very kindly. I reminded him that he had prevented me
from demanding the revocation of the erroneous passage in the
writing of Mr. Drayton, but that now the same doctrine, sup-
ported by a distinguished member of 'Congress, and bound to
events as surprising as the histories of Messrs. Temple and
Berkenhout, made me keenly desire that Congress would let
me understand exactly its way of thinking. I added, that so
long as the Court of England nourished hopes (which the
notions carried away by Gov. Johnstone and the liberty ac-
corded Mr. Temple would have confirmed) to bring the United
States to a separate negotiation, or even to lead them to accept
conditions incompatible with their independence and with their
engagements, that Court would not seriously think of acknowl-
edging their independence in the one suitable manner, by
treaties concerted with France. I had moreover, Mgr., re-
served for some favorable occasion, the confidence which you
have authorized me to make, of the conciliatory negotiations
with which Spain has charged herself, and of the refusal of
His Majesty to withdraw his declaration, and I told him that
the King expected in every occurrence the most perfect return
from the United States. My account was accompanied with
reflections that seemed to me proper to make them better
realize the value of the firmness of His Majesty, who prefers
the advantage of the United States and the execution of his
engagements to the most advantageous arrangements which
England had proposed, and at which price that Court would
buy, more willingly than ever, the neutrality of France. All
these considerations seemed to strike Mr. Laurens, who in
general seems to feel as I do. He deplores the manner in
which the affair of Messrs. Temple and Berkenhout has been
conducted, but assures me, nevertheless, that he is firmly per-
suaded that the first of those emissaries would not find a single
member of Congress who would listen to his insinuations.
He believed himself assured of the disposition of Mr. Samuel
Adams himself, notwithstanding the warmth of the latter's
personal interest in Mr. Temple. He begged me to express my
feelings regarding this emissary. I did not hesitate to reply

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that the simple presence in Philadelphia of this man, com-
promised the dignity and the reputation of Congress and
produced every kind of bad effect in France, in England and
in the whole of Europe. The President seized all my points,
and gave me reason to hope that in a few days, means would
be found to send him away. He will be very zealous, because
he sees with distress that the State of South Carolina has re-
ceived Messrs. Godson and Williams, rich proprietors of that
state, who having taken refuge in England, have been sent to
Charlestown in a parliamentary vessel, and who having been
admitted to the oath, abjured the King of England. These
are considered very dangerous characters, and their expulsion
is sought, for it is supposed they have political dispensation to
take all the oaths in order the better to arrive at their ends.

As to the doctrine which I attacked, Mr. Laurens affirmed
that it was an opinion that would lead to no consequences.
He tried all sorts of ways to elude my request, but I insisted,
and I believe he will immediately put my observations before
Congress.

That the French Minister was right in his estimate of
the character of Mr. John Temple, can to-day be proved
beyond a shadow of doubt, for though this man was power-
fully supported by many leading patriots in America, he was
secretly in the pay of the British. Among the Aukland
Mss. in the King's College Cambridge, in the handwriting
of Wm. Eden,'* is the following note under date of April,
1778; " Mr Temple is to proceed with all possible dispatch
to North America, in such ship or vessel as the Minister
shall think proper, and pledges his Honour that he will
there faithfully exert his utmost influence in assisting the
Commissioners now going out, to bring about a reconcilia-
tion or reunion, between those Colonies and Great Britain.
In consideration of which, and his former faithful services
imder the Crown, Mr. Temple is to have 2,000 £ sterling^

• Stevens's Facsimiles 424,

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 79

immediately, and is to be authorized to draw on the
Treasury (if the said Commissioners should approve his
conduct) for 2,000 £ more; he is to be made a baronet of
Great Britain, the Patent for same to be sent out to America
by the Commissioners, and independent of the success of
the Commission he is to have 2,000 £ per annum (subject to
certain specified restrictions) provided the Commissioners
now going out to America, shall approve of his conduct in
that country." An explanatory note is attached to the above
(supposed to be by Lord North) explaining that there must
be " notoriety and Weight " to his conduct, sufficient to
engage the attention of the Commissioners.

In view of the enormous price which the Government of
Great Britain was willing to pay Mr, Temple for his ser-
vices, we must suppose that important results were hoped
for from his intervention and that of the influential friends
whose help he could command. Most prominent among
the latter, was his father-in-law, Mr. James Bowdoin, Presi-
dent of the Massachusetts Assembly who wrote to General
Washington, November 7, 1778: \

. . . The Gentleman who waits upon you is Mr. John
Temple, Esq. lately returned from England, where he has re-
sided the last eight years. He held at several times, respon-
sible and lucrative offices under the Crown ... of which he
was successively deprived for his refusal to join in the infamous
measures for oppressing the trade and liberties of America, and
the last four years his continuance in England was the effect of
Ministerial persecution. ... I beg leave to introduce him as a
warm, steadfast, persecuted friend to ye cause in America. . . .

The letter ends with a request that the Commander-in-chief
send him on to Congress " with a line of recommenda-
tion ".^^

To this request, Washington responded in the following
way :

^* Sec Papers of the Continental Congress, no. 78, vol. iii, f . 205.

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Headquarters, Nov. 23RD. 1778,

Mr. Temple will have the honor of presenting this to your
Excellency. I do not know what Mr. Temple's views are, but
it seems he has some application to make to Congress. I never
had till now the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with him
but from the terms in which Mr. Bowdoin speaks of him, as
your Excellency will perceive from the enclosed letter, and
from other recommendations I have of him, I consider him
as a gentleman of sense and merit and of warm attachment to
the rights of his country, for which he seems to have suffered
greatly in the present contest. I have the Honour to be, etc.

(signed, G. Washington.) ^^

Jonathan Trumbull, the famous Governor of Con-
necticut, wrote with no less warmth and feeling as did also
the Governor of New Hampshire, Maj. Gen. Sullivan and
others. It is not therefore surprising that Congress was
not disposed to proceed harshly with this emissary, parti-
cularly when he counted many warm personal friends among
the delegates themselves.

By what means Mr. Temple had succeeded in ingratiating
himself with the authorities in England, while still bearing
in America the character of a persecuted patriot, remains
obscure. Some further light is thrown upon the subject
from a letter preserved among the Mss. of the Earl of
Dartmouth, and given by Stevens." This bitterly incri-
minating letter, dated September 1773, is from Mr. Ben-
jamin Hallowell, former chief of Mr. Temple, and one time
Commissioner and Comptroller of the Port of Boston. It
is addressed to the under-secretary in the Colonial Office.
Mr. Hallowell says in part : " What Mr. Temple could have
done since he has been in England to engratiate himself with
those in Power, is surprising to all ranks of people here. . . .

1^ IVashington Papers, Library of Congress, vol. 93, f. 12297.
" Facsimiles 2029.

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 8i,

If he has cleared his character to the satisfaction of his
Superiors, or any others, he has most violently imposed on
them " The letter then proceeds to specific accusa-
tions, not only of insubordination, but of embezzlement to
the amount of 12,000 £ sterling.

This Mr. Hallowell was himself a Tory whose property
was afterwards confiscated. As for Mr. Temple, through
the untiring vigilance of the French Minister, all the hopes
of the British through him were annihilated. As his re-
ward however, was to be " independent of the success of
the Commission," it is interesting to find him ^' in 1785,
Consul-General of the Port of New York, and that now he
is " Sir John Temple ".

Yet all the while it seems quite certain that the English
understood his character. In another facsimile (487) is
reproduced a lengthy memorial by Paul Wentworth, an
American in the pay of the British who was spying upon
Franklin and Deane from the beginning of their being in
Paris, which sums up the leading men of the Revolutionary
Period for the benefit of the English King, In this, James
Bowdoin is characterized as a " weak ignorant man, glided
by his passions; vindictive, intemperate, sour. His son-in-
law, John Temple, is not unlike him, but more plausible,
artful, persevering and naughty."

But to return to the French Minister. While the con-
troversy was still raging regarding the revelations made by
Silas Deane, Gerard writes in his forty-fifth report, under
date of December 10, 1778 :

Monseigneur,

Having perceived in my conversations with the President
that, notwithstanding the conformity of his sentiments with
mine, he felt out of regard to Mr. Lee, some repugnance to
bearing my request to Congress, and that he sought to satisfy

^* See Papers of the Con. Cong., no. 92, p. 551.

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me by keeping me constantly informed, I took upon myself to
write him a letter, of which I enclose a copy, but I urged him
in presenting it, to assure the Congress that no personalities
were intended.

This letter of Gerard's, 'which had all the desired effects,,
is here given in the official translation preserved in the
Papers of the Continental Congress, Vol. 94, pp. 60-63^
He writes :

Philadelphia, 7 December, 1778.
Sir,

I have had the honor of explaining to you the motives of my^
embarassment, on the subject of transmitting to my court, ideas-
relative to certain persons, strongly suspected of being emis-
saries of the Court of London, as well as concerning the doc-
trine which it is pretended, the United States have preserved^
of treating with that power separately from their ally, as long
as Great Britain shall not have declared war against the King^
my master. I notified to you, how remote it was to my char-
acter, to rely on public rumor, or the reports of any individ-
uals whatever, in a matter as serious as it is delicate, and I ex-
pressed to you my desire that Congress itself, would be pleased,
to furnish the means of forarming my Court, and thro' it of all
the present and future friends of the United States, against
the impressions which these ideas might produce. . . .

Your zeal. Sir, to your Country, and the preservation of a
harmony so happily established, is too well known to me not to
hope that you will render an account to Congress of this
matter, which my anxiety for whatever regards the support and
the reputation of the Alliance makes me consider very
important.

I am ■ persuaded. Sir, that you will at the same time be sa
good as to inform the Congress, of the proof of the firmness
and attachment to the interests of the United States, the com-
mon cause, and the Alliance, which the King my master, has
given in rejecting the overtures which the Court of Londoa
has made thro' the channel of Spain.

I have the honor to be, etc.

G£rard.

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 83

The foregoing letter was read in Congress the same day
and a committee of five, namely : Mr. William Henry Dray-
ton, Mr. Samuel Adams, Mr. Gouvemeur Morris, Mr.
William Paca, and Mr. John Jay,** was appointed to take the
matter into consideration.

Commenting still further upon the situation, Gerard in
the last mentioned report, observes : '

The propriety of my observations was unanimously recognized,
and a committee was formed to decide upon the best way to
satisfy my request. A great many members have spoken with
me about it, some in groups, others separately. All have as-
sured me that, as I have had the honor of informing you from
time to time, that the assertions of Mr. Henry Lee have been
received with disdain and indignation; that the plurality of
the delegates from his state, and of those of Massachusetts,
despite the influence of Mr. Samuel Adams, thought with Con-
gress, that the principle of which it was question, would be a
manifest infraction, and that it would forever dishonor the
United States; that Congress was resolved not to allow me to
remain ignorant of anything that could interest the alliance,.
or serve to conciliate the confidence of the King or of his
ministers. Two members protested to me that from hence
forth they would not allow a single equivocal word upon these
matters to pass without seeing that immediately the public was
informed regarding the opinion, and the name of the member
supporting it, so as to give them over to the resentment of the
nation. The deputy from North Carolina, who has had a seat
in Congress since the beginning, has assured me that his state,
which had been the farthest from acceding to the Declara-
tion, was to-day, so attached to it as well as to the Alliance, that
whoever would propose some modification, would do so at the
peril of his life. He added that the State of Virginia, whose
sentiment he knows, is entirely of the same disposition. One
of the Delegates from Maryland, confided to me that his State
is so far imbued with the same ideas that they have orders to
do all that lies within their power to convince me of it. . . .

1* Journals of Congress, Lib. of Cong. Edition, vol. xii, p. 1 197.

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84 American Catholic Historical Society

As to Mr. Temple, all the delegates have assured me that
Congress thinks absolutely as I do regarding this emissary,
and upon his presence in Philadelphia, that it is believed to be
one of the means employed by Great Britain to scatter seeds
of discord and misunderstanding between the United States and
France. They affirm that there are not two men in Congress
capable of listening to any proposition of Mr. Temple, but the
conduct of the state of Massachusetts hindered their action.
Several members consulted me upon the best method for getting
rid of him; they assured me that the facts asserted by Mr.
Deane had so irritated the people of Philadelphia, that a num-
ber of the most considerable citizens had offered to have the
chief magistrate seize this emissary, and conduct him outside
the city limits ; that, moreover, all his acts are noted, and that
at the least occasion which he may give, they will proceed
against him. . . .

It is added to the details given by Mr. Deane concerning the
Lees, that he who distinguishes himself by the name of William,
is still on the almanach of the court of London for 1778, as
alderman, which is positive assurance, it is said, that he has
supplemented in some manner the formalities which continu-
ation in that office requires in the absence of the incumbent.
Mr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, who came to replace his brother
during the absence of the latter in Virginia, made a feeble reply
(to Mr. Deane's article) inserted in yesterday's Packet. He
is the last of the four brothers. He and I are on very good
terms since my letter to the President. I very well understand,
that the fear to see me take sides, will help him to contain
himself, better indeed than any step I could take directly.
Moreover, I cannot do otherwise than praise infinitely the con-
duct of Mr. R. H. Lee, who, in his capacity of President of
the Board of War, has shown great zeal to procure whatever
I have asked for the service of the fleet.

Gerard's forty-sixth report, written two days later, be-
gins with an account of the resignation of Mr. Laurens as
President of Congress and the election of his successor, Mr.
John Jay. Speaking of Mr. Laurens the French Minister
says:

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 85

Truly, Sir, I have always found him infinitely zealous, and
full of the best intentions. He is, moreover, endowed with
sense, and with knowledge, acquired by several voyages to
Europe; but by character, and in order to avoid the reproach
of assuming authority, he has not perhaps acquired the in-
fluence which belongs to his position, and which the good of
the cause requires. As for the new President, he has only
been here sixteen days, and as I shall see much of him, I shall
not anticipate a judgment upon his character, talents and
disposition, from the vague notions that I have received so far.
He is of French origin, as is also Mr. Laurens ; his family is
from La Rochelle ; he has relatives in Paris. . . .

The committee to which my letter has been referred, is
deeply occupied with it. A deputation was sent to me yester-
day which testified in the most positive and satisfactory man-
ner, the feeling of the committee and of Congress, This depu-
tation said to me in substance, what a great number of members
had already confided, that reason and gratitude, in accord with
their engagements, prohibited their treating of peace, without
the cooperation of the King; that the Congress had it more
and more deeply at heart to convince me of this in order that
the same conviction might pass to the minister of His Majesty
and thro' him to the friends which he might acquire for
America. They avowed that Mr. R. H. Lee had obstinately
upheld the doctrine imputed to him. The deputation assured
me that not a single member known to them shared his opinion.
As to Mr. Temple, they exceeded what I had asked, and con-
sulted me on the best method of sending him away. I replied
that perhaps the best thing would be to regard him from the
point of view which he himself has put forth, that of being a
good American citizen, and to say to him, that as he had no
special business in Philadelphia which could justify his staying
there, he would give the best proof of his attachment and zeal
for the United States by keeping at a distance from the place
where Congress meets. It seemed to me, Mgr., that this idea
was calculated to avoid the dangers that were feared. It
seemed to me allowable to assure the Committee that no one
in Europe doubted that Mr. Temple was an English emissary,
furnished with secret instructions. . . .

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Mr. Samuel Adams, came recently to justify himself regard-
ing any consequences which might be drawn from his con-
nection with Mr. Temple; he protested that he had only once
entertained him in his home, and that he showed him this cour-
tesy simply because he was recommended by the state which
he represented. The ostensible subject of this apology was a
paragraph in the Packet for the 8th. of the month, where a
certain delegate was warned not to receive such frequent visits
from Mr. Temple. Mr, Adams declared that he was invariably
attached to the Alliance and had me to read some passages in
the letters of the Governor and several other chiefs, and indi-
cated that he shared their sentiments. As I know, Mgr„ that
notwithstanding his intimate friendship with Mr. Lee, he has
not adopted his opinion, I assured him that I was persuaded
that a man who had taken such a leading part in the Revolution^
and who had felt the pleasure of contributing to the happiness
of his country, would never stoop to betray or dishonor it. . . .

Samuel Adams speaks of his interview with the French
Minister and of the embarrassment caused him by the pre-
sence of Mr. Temple, in a series of letters written at this
time to his wife and several of his friends. (See, Writings
of Samuel Adams by H. A. Cushing; Vol. IV. pp. 95-110).
To John Winthrop he writes in part as follows :

Philad. Decr. 21 1778
My Dear Sir:

Your obliging letter of the (9th) of November was delivered
to me by Mr. Temple immediately after his Arrival here. I
must candidly confess that when the Gentleman informed me
by his Letter dated in New York, of his Intention then to pay a
Visit to this City, I was disagreeably impressed with it, and
interested myself, as far as I could do it with Decency, to
prevent it. . . . The testimonials he has brought with him,
added to the warm Recommendations of some of my most
virtuous and honorable Fellow Citizens have not been sufficient
to obtain for him a welcome Reception. The Time & Manner
of his leaving England, the Company he came with and the

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favorable Treatment he met with in New York, were judged
to be Grounds of Suspicion which more than balanced the
Recommendations of his Friends & Countrymen, who, though
acknowledged to be very respectable, it was supposed, might
possibly be partial in their judgments of him. His Connections
in Boston, & the Character he had sustained there before he
left that Place, it was said, made him the fittest Instrument
to carry into Effect the Purposes of the British Ministers. . . .
I do not suspect Mr. Temple; but I have been "under the
Necessity of violating my own Inclination to pay every kind
of respect to that Gentleman, or risque the consistent Character
-which a Delegate of that State ought to support in the Opinion
•of Congress, of the Minister of France and the People of
America. I have converst with that Minister on this Occasion ;
^nd I have Reason to think we concur in opinion, that however
pure the Views & Intentions of any Gentleman may be, yet if a
Suspicion generally prevails that he is secretly employed by
4:he British Court his continuing to reside near the Congress
may make improper Impressions on the Minds of our Friends
abroad. Mr. Temple left this City yesterday.

December 19th., in his forty-seventh report, Gerard is
^ble to announce: \

Congress has unanimously adopted the counsel I gave them
relative to Mr. Temple, and have disembarassed themselves of
:a man dangerous by his talents, his insinuating manners, and
still more by an error that he has helped to widely propagate,
Tiamely, that there is no difference between an American Whig
and an English Whig — regrettable misconception caused by an
abuse of words, and the feeling that certain individuals who
pleaded their cause before their declaration of Independence,
are still their best friends regardless of the present state of
affairs.

On the 24th, pursuing the same subject, Gerard writes:

Mr. Temple left the city the day after the hint was given to
4iim that I had suggested. It will doubtless seem unbelievable

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to you, but I have very authentic information for believing
it to be true, that Mr. Temple's hope, seconded by his friends,.,
was, to have been employed in Foreign Affairs. Neverthe-
less, those who supported him are simply supposed to have beeu
blinded by ancient connections. . . .

In a postscriptum is added, Dec. 25th. :

The manner in which Congress shall reply to my demand,,
relative to the doctrine of Mr. Lee, is still vigorously debated
in Committee. It has been confidently communicated to me
that four members approve, and that Mr. Samuel Adams, who
is the fifth, and a friend of Mr. Lee, opposes and tries to
persuade them that the object being regulated by the treaty^
needs no explicit answer. I have warned his colleagues against
such a false and insidious reply, and I hope they will persevere
in their attitude.

This matter is touched upon again at the end of the forty-
ninth report, under date of December 30.

Mr. Richard Henry Lee, Mgr., came to communicate to me a
letter, the translation of which I think right to send you, that
it may serve as proof of the effect of my conduct towards that
person. The conduct of Mr. Samuel Adams is not less as-
siduous towards me, which proves that my neutrality imposes
upon them as much as the opposite would do. I wish it might
bring them to sentiments which, except for them, Congress
unanimously professes. Mr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, also has
made every possible advance to me, and does not cease to
praise my solicitude for the honor of Congress and for the
reputation of the Alliance. These beautiful demonstrations
do not destroy my distrust, because I know positively, that it
is Mr. Samuel Adams who, alone, by little artifices, and petty
quibbling, prevents my receiving, relative to the doctrine of
Mr, Lee the very positive and very satisfactory reply, which
the other members of the committee have long since adopted.

As Congress still remained silent upon this subject, the

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 89

French Minister, after waiting until Sunday, January 10,
1779, addressed a still more urgent appeal, politely but
firmly demanding a " speedy, formal and categorial declara-
tion " of the mind of Congress/' This procedure had the de-
sired effect ; three days later the French Minister received
the following letter from the President of Congress.

Phila. Jan. 13TH. 1779.
Sir,

It is with real satisfaction that I execute the order of Con-
gress, in sending you the inclosed copy of an Act of the nth
instant, on a subject rendered important by affecting the dignity
of Congress, the Honor of their great Ally and the interest of
both nations.

The explicit disavowal and high disapprobation of Congress,
relative to the publications referred to in this Act, will, I flatter
myself, be no less satisfying to His Most Christian Majesty,
than pleasing to the people of these States : nor have I the least
doubt but that every attempt to injure the reputation of either,
or impair their mutual confidence, will meet with the indigna-
tion and resentment of both.

I have the honor to be, Sir, etc.

(Signed) John Jay.

Gerard replied on the following day :

I have received the letter you honored me with the 13th of
this month, containing the resolution of Congress in reply to
the representations which I had the honor of making the 5th.
and loth. . . . and I entreat you to receive and to express to
Congress the great appreciation which I feel for the noble,
frank and categorical manner in which they have destroyed
the false and dangerous insinuations, which might mislead
Ignorant people, and put arms into the hands of the common
enemy.

To the King, my Master, no proofs are necessary, Mon-
sieur, for the foundation of confidence in the firm and constant
adherence of Congress in the principles of the Alliance, but His

15 Papers of the Continental Congress, Vol. 94, p. 87.

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90 American Catholic Historical Society

Majesty will always see with pleasure the measures which
Congress takes to maintain its reputation intact. . . .
I am with respect and consideration, etc.

GiRASD.

The reply of the French Minister, together with the re-
solution of Congress and the letter of the President, are to
be found printed in the Pennsylvania Packet for January i6,
1779, (also in the Journals of Congress, Library of Congress
Edition, Vol. 13, pp. 62 ff.)

In transmitting the above enclosures in his fifty-third re-
port, Gerard writes ;

I hope, sir, that you will be satisfied with the issue of these
affairs. They had become very complicated and very delicate ;
not however, as to ground of the matter, for not a single mem-
ber voted against the declaration that I demanded, but the
friends of the persons who thought themselves compromised,
notwithstanding the extreme care I took to avoid personalities,
^ . . sought to diminish the effects which they feared, and used
all sorts of artifices to render the resolutions less explicit.
They came to sound me, but I persisted in demanding that they
be catagoric. Indecent personalities were indulged in during
the debates. I shall. Sir, spare you the details; they are
neither instructive nor edifying. . . .

I will add Sir, only one remark, which is, that the turn of the
debates upon Messrs. Temple and Berkenhout as well as the
npon the writings of Mr. Deane . . . have always had the air
©f a deliberate attack upon France, and also that the party of
the Opposition, has never been composed of any one but the
Messrs. Lee and their partisans; they continue to show me
special marks of attention. I only hope that their interior
resentment may remain centered in their hearts.

With the settling of this vexed question, the first essential
problem which confronted Gerard on coming to America,
came to a satisfactory termination. The second problem,
which grew out of the first, was already, with all its corn-

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Conrad Alexandre Gerard 91

plexities, surging to the front in the consciousness of men's
minds, and was ranging them, with ever accentuating bitter-
ness, into the two opposite camps which the Congressional
discussions just annoimced showed to be already existent.
This is the second phase of the test to which the powers of
the French Diplomat are to be put. It will be interesting to
watch the battle as it progresses, to note the keen contest for
supremacy, and finally, to see on which side victory will de-
clare itself. Before taking up this second phase, however,
it will be necessary to turn back, in order to fill in the de-
tails of the picture whose outline has here been drawn.
Again, it is the reports of Gerard that will furnish us the
material for this detail.

Elizabeth S. Kite.
Library of Congress,

Washington, D,C,, March 8, 1922,

REPORT OP THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE
AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AT
THE THIRTY^SEVENTH ANNUAL MEET-
ING, TUESDAY, DECEMBER, 20, 1921

The Board of Managers of the American Catholic His-
torical Society ait this thirty-seventh annual meeting reports
that nine meetings were held during the year now closing,
tme public entertainment was given, and several meetings
for the general membership were held in the Society's Hall,
for literary and historical investigation and discussion. The
books and documents and periodicals in the possession of
the Society have been available for the use of the public,
and probaibly during no year of the Society's existence has
there been such a large use made of these records.

The Board has endeavored to carry into effect the very
laudable purposes of the Society, and has, it believes, ac-

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92 American Catholic Historical Society

camplished this mission with a degree of success that cannot
possibly be measured by mere statistics.

During the year the loss of members by deaths was 21^
and the new members total 21, as follows :

New Members.
The Rev. Herman Andree, Miss Mary A. Lowry,

The Rev. Leo Fink, Mr. George H. MoCracken,

Bishop Neuniann Council, K. of C, Mr. Charles H. McFadden,
Miss Laura Blackbume, Miss A. V. Mannion,

Mr. George Cooke, Miss K. 'R. Mannion,

Dc La Salle Council, K. of C, Mr. Harry J. Mulholland

Mr. Ed»ward J. JDillon, Mrs. T. C. Rafferty,

Mr. John B. Geraghty, Mr. John E. Reilly,

Miss Margaret £. Horan, Mrs. Sarah A. Schaul,

Mr. John J. Kelly, Miss Hannah Shields,

Miss Ruth Sullivan.

Deaths.

His Eminence, James Cardinal Gibbons, Miss Mary E. Dugan,

The Rifi^t Rev.iMatthew Harkins, D.D., Mr. Henry C Esling,

The Rev. Ladislas Kloucheck, Mr. J. J. Fitzgerald,

The Rev. Daniel A. Morrissey, Mr. P. T. Hallahan,

The Rev. Lemuel B. Norton, Mr. Anthony A. Hirst,

The Rev. James P. Parker, Mr. M. P. Howlett,

The Rev. John F. X. Walsh, Mr. J. Percy Keating,

The Rev. Anthony J. Zeller, Dr. H. P. MoAniff,

Mr. John M. 'Campbell, Mr. John McAteer,

Mr. John P. Doherty, Dr. Edward J. Nolan,
Mr. Thomas J. Roche.

Owing to prevailing conditions, economically and indus-
trially, no especial campaign for new members was made
during the year. The acquisitions are an indication that
the Society, even in this period of widespread depression, is
neither neglecting its work nor losing its hold upon the
people.

Recently Dr. L. F. Flick, whose life has been zealously
botmd up with the work of this Society, touched upon a
matter that is vital in the life of this organization. The
present membership is composed largely of men and women

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Report of the Board of Managers 93

who are not in early youth ; and the mortality is increasing
steadily. The need for enlisting the cxxiperation of youth-
ful Catholics is growing more urgent every year, and an
effort must be made to bring the younger generation into the
Society. Those who are now performing the labors must
be replaced, and the task of seeing to this is not for to-
morrow but for to-day.

The Catholic youth must be made to see the necessity
for helping in the mission of the Society, of which there is
so real a need. Just how this can be done is worthy the
serious thought of the Society in the new year.

The Board annoimces with much satisfaction the comple-
tion of the work of indexing The Records of the Society,
comprising thirty-one volimies. This had been in the hands
of a competent indexer for several months, entailing con-
siderable expense, all of which has been paid from the
Society's revenues. The MS. is ready for the printer and
will soon be published. An examination of the Index will
show that the work has been done in a most careful manner.
This new volume will make accessible to everyone the his-
torical treasures that make up the Records, and will be a
companion work to the Index of Martin L J. Griffin's Re-
searches, issued several years ago, and which has foimd its
way into a large number of libraries of this country and
Canada.

Much work has been done this year in binding news-
papers and periodicals, but a great deal remains to be done
in this fidd. The Committee on Library and Cabinet has
gone to the extent of its pectmiary resources in the matter
of binding, and if many valuable publications are to be pre-
served, additional funds must be provided. This is one
of the most pressing problems the new Board of Directors
will be called upon to face.

The Library has had many additions during the year.
Several volumes have been purchased and others have been

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94 American Catholic Historical Society

contributed by friends of the Society. The Board feels
gratef td to all who have so kindly assisted in this important
work.

On May 19, 1 921, in the Bali-Room of the Bellevue Strat-
ford Hotel the Society held a concert and dance and gave
a short drama. This was the only public entainment given
by the Society during the present year. It was a success in
every way, affording pleasure to several hundred people and
netting the treasiuy a good sum. The Board thanks the
members of the Montani Palestrina Choir, and the director^
Mr. Nicola A. Montani, for their kindness in presenting
the splendid musical program; to the St. Francis Aid and
the Juniors, whose dancing and May Pole finale were not-
able features of the entertainment, and to all the members
of the Society for their assistance in bringing off the affair
so well.

Early in the year, Miss Dallett arranged special meetings
in the Society's Hall for the reading and studying of history
and literature, which have been attended by a number of
members and guests. Further plans to enlarge the social
program during the coming year are afoot.

The Society has been for three years under the presidency
of Mr. Edward J. Galbally, whose service in that office have
been of the highest value. Few understand the many diffi-
culties which face the chief official of an organization such
as this, and fewer still are willing to undertake the burdens.
Mr Galbally had given years of service to the Society pre-
viously to his election as president, and his induction into-
that office meant for him but an extension of that service.
As President he has labored unceasingly to have the Society
fulfil its mission. In maintaining and adding to the Society's
efficiency as an adjimct to the Church, and in spreading its
influence as a national historical body, Mr. Galbally has kept
the Society well within its financial resources, meeting all
expenses and leaving no floating debt. The Society owes

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Report of the Board of Managers 95

to its retiring President more than mere gratitude for lus
achievements, for his scholarly addresses at each annual
meeting, for his wise direction of the work of the whole
organization. The Board is confident that Mr. Galbally
will continue with those at the forefront in the management
of the Society.

Statement of Receipts and Expenses for the Year Ending

November 30, 1921.

Receipts,

Dues from active members $1790.00

Dues from contributing members 6.00

Dues from life members 100.00 $1896.00

Subscriptions to Records $406.33

A<hrertisements in Records 440.37

Sale of Records and Researches 107.60 954.30

Subscriptions to Binding Fund 302.00

Subscriptions to Index Fund 160.00

Subscription to Endowment Fund 10.00

From de la Roche estate 57.18

Proceeds of May Festival 1187.03

Donation from St Vincent's Aid 100.00

Interest on bonds, Endowment Fund 190.00

Interest on bonds, Life Membership Fund. . 45.00

Interest on deposit, General Fund 10.79

Interest on deposit. Life Membership Fund, 29.56

Interest on deposit Endowment Fund 7.54

Interest on deposit, Memorial Care Fund . . 17.34 $4966.74

Balance Dec. i, 1920 537«09

$5503.83

Expenses,

Account of Committee on Hall :

Interest on mortgage $210.00

Water rent 14.52

Gas 8.70

Electricity 13.72

Coal 428.35

Repairs 187.16

House supplies 16.86

Janitor's service 306100 $1185.31

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96 American Catholic Historical Society

Account of Committee on Library :

Books and' magazines $97.26

Catalogue cards 9.15

Binding 210.20

Hauling books to library 5.00 321.61

Account of Committee on Publication :

Printing Records $1081.66

Hauling and postage 19.16

Wrappers 779 1108.61

Account of Secretary:

Postage, printing, stationery . . $263.21

Telephonic 5i-09

Salaries 1500.00

Dues in Federation of Hist. Soc. 2joo

Expenses of May Festival .... 316.30

Indexing Rec»rds 3^550 245&10 $507363

Transfer to Endowment Fund 10.00

Transfer to Life Member sdiip Fund 100.00

Transfer to Memorial Care Fund 17-34 $5200.97

Balance Dec. i, 1921, General Fvaid $302.86

Endowment Fund:

Invested in bonds $3900.00

On deposit in Beneficial Saving Fund 215.50 $4115,50

life (Membership Fimd:

Invested in bonds $1000.00

On deposit in Beneficial Saving Fund 1000.00 $2000.00

Memorial Care Fund 496.79

Binding Fund 36425

Index Fund 94-50

Note. — Index and title-page of Volume XXXII will be sent to sub-
scribers with the June issue of the IRscosDS.

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The Beneficial Saving Fund Society

or FHILADELPHIA
1200 Chestnut Street

Incorporated April SO, 1858

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Ro«ouroe9» Twentr-fiva Million Dallare
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Records of the
AiyiERiCAN Catholic Historical Socieh

Vol. XXXm Juke, 1922. No. 2

THE RIGHT REVEREND CAMILLUS P. MAES,
BISHOP OF COVINGTON

His Youth

Among the Bishops of Belgian birth who have presided
over American dioceses, the Right Rev. CamiUus P. Maes,
of Covington, Kentucky, is surely entitled to take rank as
one of the most eminent; he may even safely be said to
stand out prominently in the galaxy of Bishops of the
United States, whatever their nationality.

It is a trite saying that we may safely judge of a man's
worth by the influence over his contemporaries and over
posterity. In the following pages we shall attempt to apply
that toudistone to the late Bishop Maes by drawing a sketch
of his life-work in which the plain facts shall be left td
speak for themselves and we presume to vouch from the
very outset, that they will speak loudly enough. Yes,,
proudly may the bosoms of Belgian readers heave in taking
cognizance of their countrymen's achievements in the land
whose name has been incessant — upon theirs and their
people's lips throughout the cruel years of sorrow and dis-

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98 American Catholic Historical Society

tress from which the nation martyred for justice' sake but
lately emerged.

Camillus Paul Maes was bom at Couitrai March 13, 1846.
He was the scion of one of these old-time devoutly religious
families, with whom the Faith and all concomitant Christian
virtues seem to run in the blood and be transmitted from
generation to generation/ His mother was the sister of
two priests; the Rev. Edward Ghyoot, at one time professor
of mathematics at St. Amandus' College, Courtrai ; and the
Rev. Bruno Ghyoot, who died at the ripe age of eighty-five
years as chaplain of St. Amandus' Home, Zwcveghem.
Besides these two imcles, Monsignor Maes had three
cousins in the priesthood : one in the diocese of Cambrai and
two in that of Bruges: one is still alive and pastor of
Wytschaete, W. Flanders.

During the two first years of his classical studies, which
young Maes made in his home-town at the College of St
Amandus, he led in his class. His father's death, having
compelled him to interrupt his studies, he spent a year earn-
ing his own livelihood in a civil engineer's office and making
the best of his spare time to study architecture with a wdl-
know Coiutrai architect. The knowledge he managed to
glean in the latter's crfiice, coupled with the practical know-
ledge gained clerking at the engineer's, stood him in good
stead when as a priest and secretary to his Bishop and later
on as bishop himself, the auditing of accounts and reports
and manifold building cares took up much of his time and
put to use his varied talents. Wonderfully indeed does
Divine Providence lead men on, fitting them for their task
in life, and wonderfully does It turn apparent misfortunes
to advantage for the sake of greater good, not only to the
individual soul, but to the souls of many.

^Thc following anagram has been formed out of the name
Camillus Maes : Clama, siUmus; sile clamamus.

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 99

At the end of a year of battling with the world, young
Maes felt inclined to pursue his classical studies, greatly
encouraged thereto by his Reverend unde, Professor
Ghyoot, at whose brother's home he had in the meantime
been admitted as a child of the house. He grew up with his
uncle's son and entertainied for him through life a brother's
affection. What the uncle's house had been during the
orphan's youth, the cousin's house became in later years — a
real home, where the missionary from America made his
headquarters when in Europe for business or rest.

Despite the year's interruption, young Maes was pri-
vileged to pursue his studies with his former classmates,
and, entering the third Latin with them, he came as yet
within one of being the leader of all his companions; and
when he finished his college curriculum, it was with first
honors in French, in Flemish and in History, carrying off
besides the first prizes for Frendi and Flemish composition
at the diocesan intercollegiate contest between the students
of Rhetoric, and an accessit at the national competition be-
tween all the State, and State-subsidized, schools.

It was the successful rhetorician's dream to become a
missionary in the United States, of whose dearth of priests
echoes had reached his ears, probably through the appeals of
American Bishops ever and anon visiting Belgium in those
days in quest of clerical vocations, and through the pro-
paganda made by the recently founded American College
of Louvain. But as his uncle the Professor resolutdy set
his face against the laudable aspiration, he was moved to
enter upon the study of philosophy with the intention of
joining the clerical ranks of the Bruges diocese. In his
heart of hearts, for all that, continued to linger the feeling
that his life's work lay in the broader, more difficult and
less attractive field of missionary endeavor. God had him
by the hand and led him His own Divine way, using men
as instruments to point out the direction, now by round-

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about tracks, now by short cuts, according as the longer
route or the shorter path was more conducive to reach the
goal intended from on High. At Rouletis, sea4: of the ele-
mentary seminary of the Bruges diocese, the young laureate
found a teacher of no mean order in the person of Professor
Jungmann, who was also his professor of dogma at Bruges
Seminary, whither his singular merits led him from
Roulers, before he was called upon to fill a chair in the
higher faculty of theology, at Louvain University. No
doubt that this learned professor exercised a great influence
over the future Bishop of Covington and helped him parti-
cularly to acquire that love of study which he preserved
through life and caused him to be regarded as one of tiie
best theologians of the American Episcopate of his time and
generation.

Camillus Maes remained in the Seminary of Bruges till
Oct. 1867, when he entered the Louvain American Semi-
nary.

How came he to take this step?

During the course of the year 1867, Monsignor Lefevre,
Bishop of Detroit, toured Belgium in search of laborersi
for his extensive vineyard in Michigan, and of means td
bring order out of chaos in a field that lay fallow and waste.
Just at the time that His Lordship put up at Bruges, the
seminarians were looking forward to an ordination. His
presence caused to genninate in the minds of some the hope
to receive Holy Orders at his hands. Camillus Maes, who
stood before Minor Orders, was of those who dierished
that hope — ^the hope of being ordained by a missionary
bishop.

Monsignor Faict, however, jealous of his rights and
privileges, was not likely to be the man to request!
a stranger to act in his stead at that episcopal function;
but when the appointed day came round, a sudden spell of
sickness compelled him to have recourse to the good

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes loi

offices of his visiting episcopal colleague. When the cere-
money was over three of the newly-ordained b^ged for the
privilege of a private interview with the ordaining Ptdate,
who was not a little pleased to hear from their lips, that
they longed to share his apostolic labors in America. When,
shortly after. His Lordship of Bruges received Bishop
Lefevre and asked for his indebtedness, he was startled to
hear of the price the American Prelate set upon his labors
— ^three of the young men whom he had ordained. Bishop
Faict found the fee out of all proportion to the service
rendered and objected most strenuously. A friendly tilt
ensued and ended with the Bishop's compromising on one
candidate for the missions; but when Bishop Lefevere
named his dioice — Camillus Maes new protests arose.
No, not he; he could not be spared. There was no use
however arguing this time: Bishop Lefevre overruled
all objections and held fast to his claim and Monsignor
Faict was made to hold to his word. He gave up young
Maes, albeit grudgingly; for he manifested his pique even
two years later, when Father Maes presented himsdf tol
bid a last farewell before his departure for the States. The
Bishop received him very coolly and forgot even to bestow
his biasing upon the kneeling son whose heart was set
upon carrying abroad the fruit of his Belgian training and
apostolic aspirations. Twenty years later, the Venerable
Prelate made good his slight, or oversight, by being the
first to bend the knees for the benison of the younger man
who had come back from America himsdf a bishop.

The Bruges seminarian finished his theological curriculum
at the Louvain American College and tasted the first sweetd
of ordination on Dec. 19, 1868; but he did not sele hia
youthful dreams fully realized until May of the following
year, when he boarded the west-bound vessel that landed
him in die land of promise a few weeks later. The diocese
of Detroit, for which he had been ordained, offered a grand

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IQ2 American Catholic Historical Society

and promising field to his bunting zeal ; it wanted men of
his mettle to be made to bear the richest of harvests.

First Charges in America

Alas ! the Diocese was in mourning when our young mis-
sionary reached it; its Bishop, Mgr. Lefevre, had on the
previous Sth of March exchanged for the crown of im-
mortality the pastoral burden which his sturdy shoulders
had borne well-nigh twenty-eight years. Pending the
appointment of a new shepherd, the administrator dis^-
patched the latest addition to the diocesan dergy to Mount
Qemens, an extensive mission, which was presided over by
a sick Belgian priest, Father Van Renterghem, whom hard-
ships and overwork were hurrjring to the grave. He died
upon the 20th of November of the same year and was im-
mediately succeeded by his coadjutor of a few nwnths,
which leaves us to infer that the dearth of priests was great
in the diocese at the time. Father Maes refers to it in one
of his early letters to " Rond den Heerd " * a Flemish
periodical now extinct but at that time in a flourishing way.

He wrote : " The first question you will no doubt ask me
is: 'Docs your diocesie need more priests?' Well, my
friend, V\\ leave you to judge for yourself: our diocese
counts more than 150,000 Catholics attended by ei^^ty-eight
priests; and mind you that these 150,000 members of the
Church are scattered about throughout practically all of
Michigan, which covers an area of 50,243 square miles or
five times the surface of Belgium, which, if I am not mis-
taken, lays claim to but 11,313 square miles of territory.
New settlers by the thousands flock in every year, while the
additions to the clergy no more than fill the gaps left by
death.

Mount Clemens was a parish which, at the time of Father

2 Vol. V. p. 143.

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The Right Reverend Camillas P. Maes 103

Maes's first connexion with it, counted upward of 300
Catholic families, whose hcwnes were sprinkled about a
district fifteen square miles in extent. " My parishioners ",
wrote he, "are mostly Canadians, descendants from the
pioneer French emigrants, with a considerable mixture of
Indian blood among them ; but I have also Irish, some forty
German and even a few Flemish, families. Hence' do the
four languages — French, English, German, and Flemish —
stand in good stead here, and the three fiirst are of pri-
mordial necessity.'

Mount Qemens, pleasantly situated on the Qinton River,
some five miles from Lake St. Clair and, by the Grand
Trunk R. R., sixteen miles from Detroit, boasted in 1869
four thousand inhabitants, whose churdi membership was
divided among seven denominations, six of which had their
own house of worship. The Catholics were the most
numerous; for they claimed as many members as the six
other denominations — Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Metho-
dists, Baptists, Lutherans and Second-Day Adventists —
combined. The parish is entitled to our special attention
from the fact that three countrymen of ours had a share in
its development: — the subject of our sketdi, Bishop
Lefevre, and Father Van Renterghem. Even before their
time, there dwdt in those parts scattered Catholic families,
who were visited off and on by some priest or other resid-
ing at Detroit One of these was the only priest in the
History of the United States who ever held a seat in Con-
gress, Father Richard,* who was wont to visit those
missions twice a year. His advent was generally heralded
a few weeks in advance by a messenger who rode up and
down the straggling settlements with the gladsome tidings

» RoHd Den Heerd, VoL V. p. 144.

* Born at Samtes, Frawce, 15 October 1767; came to Detroit in 1798
and died there a victim of his charity during^ a cholera epidemic, 13
September 1832.

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I04 American Catholic Historical Society

of the priest's coming. Gladsome tidings they were, in-
deed, for the forsaken children of the Faith bereaved of
spiritual aliment. When the appointed day neared, they
dropped their instruments of labor, donned their traveling
clothes and from all points of the compass in a radius of
from forty to sixty miles, they hastened through woods and
swamps on horseback, by boat, in wagons to the meeting-
point, at what is now Mount Qemens, where they pitched
their tents and camped a week, a fortnight, until they
had seen the much-harassed priest arrive and depart— de-
part peiiiaps for another distant settlement and a repetition
of the same scenes and of the same labor of preaching,
confessing, baptizing, blessing marriages, instructing for
first Communion, etc. The task was hard and fatiguing,
but fruitful in merits and results.

The wooden chapel erected in those early days having
fallen into decay, a certain Mr. Qemens — ^whence the name
of Mount Qemens — ^presented the Catholic residents with
a piece of ground for the erection of a new house of wor-
ship. The liberality brought Bishop Lefevere to the place,
prompting him to set about himself to direct the building
of the new church. When it was finished, he charged a
priest residing at Detroit with the duty of attending the
mission at stated times. This was done until 1845, when
the first pastor was appointed. He stayed but one year,
however, and was succeeded by Father Van Renterghem,
a native of Zwevezeele, West Flanders, ordained by Bishop
Lefevere March 22, 1845 ^^ ^ o^^^ detailed for duty on
Mackinack Island. His rather weak constitution not being
able to cope with the seven months of snow and bitter cold
of Upper Michigan, he was transferred in 1846 to Mount
Qemens, the worse off in health for his first year's ex-
perience in the ministry. Father Maes wrote of him :

" He ministered to the missions of Mount Qemens from
1 846-1869, all who knew him wondering how he ever

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 105

stood all the hardships of his charge and held out so long.
In the performance of his pastoral duties he was wont to
travel a distance of sixty miles along the island waters, on
foot, on horseback, by water and by land, through dense
forests and fever-breathing marshes, bringing religious
comfort to the scattered sheep of a flock among whom he
is still spc^en of as Le bon petit pire. He enlarged the
Mount Clemens church, added a steeple with a bell to it;
and in 1858, after his return from a collecting tour in
Belgium, he adorned it with new altars and enridied it with
candlesticks, diurch vestments, etc.*

Such was the field upon whidi Father Maes bestowed the
premices of his sacerdotal career; it did not afford a chance
for any otium, either with or without digMtate; for to come
into contact with his people and to answer their calls,
he had to be up early and late, to make long and tedious
journeys, by day and by night, in all sorts of weather, often
over impossible roads and most primitive conveyances.

In a letter to Rond den Heerd • he left an illustration of
what was at times expected of him. It was during the
Christmas night of 1869, that he received a call to the
bedside of a Protestant youth living way out in the country.
The bleak wintry air was chilling to the marrow, the way
was long, time was pressing and the case was a delicate
one: the young man needed to be instructed in the essen-
tials of the Faith, to be received into the Chtirch and to
be prepared for death — ^all of which was done. And
when done it was, the young priest hurried away from the
pallet of the dying neophyte, whose heart was overflowing
with gratitude, with the gratifying feeling warming up
his blood in the piercing cold, that he had saved a soul.
Light at heart and buoyant in spirits, he went through

» Rond den Heerd, VoL V, p. a85.
• Vol. V. p. 144.

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106 American Catholic Historical Society

the trying string of duties of the night and morning, un-
cxDnscious of fatigue and hunger. It was past the hour
of noon, when he could break his fast and give rest to
body and spirit; but he was happy at the thought of
having ushered in the anniversary of the Saviour's birth
by making secure the salvation of a soul.

From Monsignor De Neve, the seminarian for Detroit
had learned to realize the primordial importance of the
parochial school for the Catholic Church in America.
With the essentially practical lessons of the grand old
Rector of the American College still sounding in his ears,
the devoted disciple had from the very first set his heart
upon hastening the endowment of the parish of Mount
Qemens with a Catholic school. Not one year was he at
the helm, when he laid the foundation of a stone school-
house and of a convent-home for the Sisters Servants of
Mary, whom he prevailed upon to come to the parish.

Further plans to raise the congregation's standard were
germinating in the youthful pastor's brain, when in 1871,
scarcely two years after his arrival, he was called away
to Monroe, to share with the late vicar-general and several
times administrator of the Diocese of Detroit, Msgr.
Edward Joos^ in shepherding the most important parish
of the diocese at the time.

Ability and zeal had drawn the Bishop's attention
to Father Maes: they were responsible for the change.
Did it please him? We know not. It certainly did not
please his people, who applied to him the words of the poet :

"... in his duty prompt at every call,
He watdied and wept, he prayed and felt for all;
And, as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt her new-fledged offspring to the skies,
He tried each art, reproved each dull <ielay.
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.

^ Father Joos was a native of Somerghem, East Flanders.

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Tlie Right Reverend Camilltis P. Maes 107

Beside the bed where parting life was laid,
And sorrow, guilt, and pain, by turns dismayed.
The reverend champion stood. At his control
Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul;
Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise,
And his last faltering accents whispered praise.*

Assistant at Monroe

St. Mary's, Monroe, was a mixed congregation; for
Fren€h<^anadian and English-speaking Catholics, in
which everything was done to accommodate both elements;
but for all that, difficulties inherent to the at best make-
shift arrangement cropped up off and on and made a
division desirable, the more so that the English contingent
of the parish was steadily increasing in numbers, and in
civic importance in the commtmity. Seeing the need and
conscious of the opporttmity. Father Maes, freighted with
his superior's encouragement and blessing, undertook the
formation of a new congregation for the English-speaking
Catholics and directed the building of the church of St
John the Baptist, which was inaugurated in 1873. He
was appointed its first pastor and remained such imtil
1880, winning in the meantime tmiversal sympathy, espec-
ially through the zeal which he displayed in caring for the
children, who loved him as a good kind father interested
in all their joys and diildish cares, and who were often
the means through which he reached the hearts of the
parents.

The fervor and the religious earnestness of the parish-
ioners, enkindled and kept aglow by the burning zeal and
holy earnestness of the pastor, made of St John the
Baptist's a model parish, which, after having forced the
attention of many of the clergy and laity, also drew the
attention of Bishop Borgess, the successor to the late

« Oliver Goldsmith : The Deserted Village,

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Bishop Lefevre. He could not fail to appreciate the re-
sults attained and the man through yvhom they were
attained as well as his gifts of mind and heart No one
was siuprised, therefore, and everybody approved, when in
March 1880, he called the pastor of St John the Baptist's
from Monroe to Detroit, to make him his secretary.

The Secretaryship at Detroit

In this office he found a broader field to bring into play
his many-sided qualities and to use advantageously the
knowledge gathered from the broad range of his reading.
If the burden was a heavy one, the back was fitted for it,
ready and willing to carry it unflinchingly and cheerfully.
With what feelings he assumed the charge appears from
a letter that he wrote at the time to Msgr. De Neve,
the revered oW rector of the American College. In it we
read: "The secretaryship I accepted only because when
prostrated on the pavement of Mechlin Cadiedral during
my priestly ordination, I promised never to ask any place
from my Bishop and never to refuse any post of duty.
So far, Father dear, I have kept the promise.'* •

Tliat the new duties taxed heavily his ability and zeal
may be inferred from the nature of the office itself in a
large diocese with a flock made up of many nationalities
and ever on the increase through immigration, with no
corresponding increase of the clergy. Nevertheless, be-
sides his official duties as secretary, he had, just on account
of the dearth of clerical laborers, to lend a helping hand in
various directions, wherever the needs were most pressing.
Thus it came to pass that he busied himself particularly
vnth the young men of Detroit and set all his energies td
work to save them from temptation, to keep them attached
to their Faith, true to themselves and to the high ideals of

• Letter of Feb. 2, 1882, Detroit

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 109

Christian youth, by uniting them and providing them with
means for intellectual improvement and honest relaxation.
This care brought into being the Catholic Club, a society
which prospered wonderfully as time went on; and wluch,
even in its indpiency, was held up as a pattern, after
which kindred ot^;anizations were modeled throughout the
States.

In 1884, after leading the negotiations that ended in the
acquisition for a consideration of 24,000 dollars of a pro-
perty of which the improvements represented an expended
capital of 72,000 dollars, he was made chaplain of the
Sisters of the Good Shepherd, for whom Bishop Borgess
had made purchase and who with their penitents made
a congregation of thirty-four members, when they moved
into it on Novend)er of that year.

That same year also. Father Maes had a prominent
share in a mission preached in different sections of the
city to the Flemings and Hollanders, whose presence in
appreciable numbers in Detroit was just then banning
to be felt. He was associated in this good work with
two more Flemish priests — ^Fathers T. Buyse^® and P.
Hennaert*^ and two Hollanders — ^Fathers E. W. Hen-
drickx " and Soffers."

"•The R«v. Tbeophil Buyse was born at Rumbeke, June 7, 1832; he
left for America in 1856; was ordained to the priesthood by Msgr.
Lefevre Sept^ 19, 1858; and died whilst on a vi^t in Mlwaukee,,
April 2, 18!^, after having served the Master first as pastor if Swan
Creek and then for twenty-four years as pastor of Jackson where his
remains await the call of the

Tuba mirum spargens sonutn
Per sepulchra regionum,

11 The Rev. Peter Hennaert was bom at Pervisc. He was first a
carpenter; then prepared himself at Thourout to become church!
organist and sexton; and finally he entered the Elementary Seminary
of Roulers, combining the duties of a servant with those of a student
In 1646 Bishop Lefevre took him along to America, where he ordedned
him Sept 25, 1847. He was a talented man and we may <say a self-

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The mission brought such rich and striking results that
the founding of a Flemish church at Detroit followed as a
matter of course after one of the missionaries had been
prevailed upon to give up his well-organized parish of
Center Line in order to devote himself to the task of
grouping Flemings and Hollanders together under his lead-
ership. I

In spite of his manifold duties, Father Maes could not,
during the years of his secretaryship, resist the inclination
for historical research. Indeed the office itself naturally
allured him to it by the ready access it gave him to the
diocesan archives and historical documents. His first great
ventiu"e in Ae historical fidd, a work of lasting value for
the history of the Catholic Church in Kentucky, was the
Life of Father Charles Nerinckx, Founder of the Sisters
of Loretto and one of the pioneer missionaries and planters
of the Faith in the United States, whose name is still a
household word in Catholic homes throughout Kentucky
and reverently spoken of everywhere in America.^* The
book received great praise at the hands of the critics and
won for its author an enduring name as a literateur and

taught man, whose learning and ability were appreciated beyond the
confines of his diocese; for he was offered a bishopric thrice, besides
being twice administrator of Detroit diocese and for a long oenes of
years Bishop Lefc\Te's vicar-generaJ. He died in Detroit Jan. 23,
1892.

"The Rev. E, W. Hendrickx was born at Tilburg, Holland. Aftco
founding the parish for the Belgians and Hollanders in Detroit and
presiding over it five years, he came to Idaho, worked there until the
wear and tear of the years impelled him to seek quiet retirement as
convent chaplain in the diocese o£ Oregon.

"Father Soffers was bom at Schiedeun, where his brother was a
well known architect

"Father Nerinckx was bom at HcrffcUngen, Province of Brabant,
20 October i;6i and died in the States 12 August 1824. Two volumes
of manuscript letters from this famous missionary are preserved in
the Bollindists^ Library, Bmssels.

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historiographer. Later writers on Kentucky have cop-
iously referred to it and drawn from it."

In his capacity as secretary to the Bishop of Detroit,
Father Maes rendered meritorious service also by putting
upon a businessr-like footing the seminary collections, in
fact by an up-tjo-date organization of the diocesan ad-
ministrative machinery. The neatness, despatch and
method with which all affairs were transacted by the
Detroit episcopal Secretary had been remarked by the
Bishops at the outset of his official career, when* he assisted
as theologian at the Provincial Council held at Cincinnati,
March, 5, 1882; and ever afterwards it was a source of
great satisfaction to Bishop Borgess and his clergy.

All things, therefore, worked together to turn every-
body's attention to the clever, learned, pious Detroit priest
and to presage a wider field for the exercise of his talents
and of his zeal. Several times his name had been univer-
sally spoken of whilst the appointments to vacant, or newly-
formed, dioceses were pending and it was so again when
the diocese of Covington, Kentucky, became orphaned
through the death of its Bishop, the Rt. Rev. T#ebbe, on
May 2, 1884. This time the vox popuU was also the vox
Dei; for the following month of September the Consistory
selected for the bereaved flock the Reverend Camillus Maes
of Detroit. It may be said by the by that the late P<jpe
Pius X was elevated to the See of Mantua in the same
Consistory. The Mandatum Apostolicum which trans-
mitted the choice of the Holy See to Father Maes bears
date Oct. i, 1884. He had not sought the honor conferred
upon him — true to his motto neither to seek promotion
nor to shirk duty — and he was not blind to the burden
concomitant with the honor. May we again be permitted

*» Sec for ex. Chapt XII of The Centenary of Catholicity in Ken-
tucky, by Webb, Louisville 1884: this entire chapter is acknowledged
by the writer as having been taken bodily from Msgr. Maes's book.

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to quote from one of the letters in which he bared his heart
to Monsignor De Neve?

BisHOP-Ei-ECT OF Covington

" By the time you receive this letter you will very likely
have learned the news which the cable brought here to
my great surprise: I am appointed Bishop of Covington!
I have learned to dread the episcopal dignity, dear Father,
and were I to consult my peace of mind and my f eiars about
eternal salvation, I would recoil from it. But the drcimi-
stances of the nomination, the unanimous verdict o£
friends and of unfriendly confreres, your own views on
the matter as expressed to me very lately, — all tell me that
I may do some good. Hence, if the news is confirmed, in
God's Holy Name and with upright heart, I will accept,
trusting to my feeble though sincere devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus to do some good to the priesthood, every
member of which I have learned to love always, to pity
often and never to condemn." *•

Msgr. De Neve answered from Louvain, Oct 14, 1884:
" I may congratulate you with all my heart over your ap-
pointment to Covington. Whatever the burden of a mitre
may be, I venture to predict that the Covington mitre will,
after a short while, be from seven to eight tons lighter in
weight than the Grand Rapids mitre would have been and
no heavier than the secretaryship in Detroit." *^

Meanwhile the Third National Council of the American
Church had been convoked for November 1884. Father
Maes, not yet consecrated, went to it as Bishop-dect and
played a part at it that showed the trend of his mind.
With telling arguments warmly set forth, he advocated the
project of a Catholic University. Who knows but diat

i« Detroit, Sept. 2S, 1884.

^7 From the allusion in the above we gather that Father Maes had
been spoken of for the bishopric of Grand Rapids.

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he had before his mind's eye at the time the Louvain Alma
Mater and the benefits it was conferring upon his native
land. Catholic higher education lay near to his heart
always- and he was delighted to break a lance in its favor
before the assembled Fathers of the Counril. They were
not chary afterwards in the recognition of the merits won
by the champion of the cause.

Ere the Bishop-elect could receive the episcopal conse-
cration, a hard blow struck him through the premature
death of his vicar-general, Father Brandts, whose help and
long experience in the Diocese he had relied upon, to lighten
the burden of his charge. This good priest is entitled to
at least a passing mention in this narrative. He was bom
in Holland 4 Oct. 1828. He came over to America with
the celebrated Father De Smet in 1854 and, going West,
was raised to the sacerdotal dignity by Bishop Carrell of
Covington. Bishop ToeH[)e appointed him his vicar-
general in 1876 and, upon the shepherd's death, he became
administrator of the diocese, in which capacity he took
part with Bishop Maes in the deliberations of the National
Catholic Council of Baltimore. The Bishop himself con-
ducted his friend's fimeral services in the Cathedral of
Covington, in which city he died on 9 January 1885.

Having paid this last tribute of respect to good Father
Brandts^ the Bishop-elect repaired to Michigan to bid fare-
well to his long-cherished work and to his devoted
friends there; then he traveled back to Cincinnati, where he
arrived 23 January and was waited upon by a deputation
of priests from Covington and Newport come officially to
welcome the new Shepherd. Preceded by numerous car-
riages, he was driven in a coach-and-four, surrounded by
a mounted guard of honor, to his episcopal city. In Cov-
ington, where his arrival was anxiously looked for, the
people in festive array hailed with loud acclaim the great
High Priest who came to them in tiie name of the Lord,

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and escorted him through the brightly illuminated streets
to his residence. The following Sunday, January 2Sth,
the solemn ceremonies of consecration were carried on in
rqg[al splendor. On the morning a stately procession of
seventy-six priests marched out of the Cathedral to bring
the Prelate from his home to the church. Assisted by
Bishop Borgess of Detroit and Bishop MoCloskey of Louis-
ville, the Archbishop of Cincinnati, Msgr. Elder, per-
formed the consecration ceremonies, and Bishop Gilmour of
Qeveland preached the sermon. The services, begun at
ten o'clock, did not end imtil half-pasit two. They were ,

followed by a banquet, and a parade of all tiie Catfiolic
societies of Covington and surrounding country. i

It will not be amiss to interpolate a pen sketch of the
coat-of-arms chosen by the new church-dignitary; for in |

a coat-of-arms we may read the characteristics of will and j

temperament of the man who adopted it. The upper field,
which is blue, is charged with a cross between a star and j

a lily; and the base, which is of gold, is charged with a j

heart in natural colors. On a scroll entwining the crozier I

below the escutcheon, we read the device : Crux tnihi dux.
This motto was the great principle that ruled the Bishop's
actions and whole life.

The new Bishop's friends and acquaintances were proud
and happy for the honor that had come to him and mani-
fested their feelings by appropriate and telling gifts. The
priests of the diocese to whose clerical body his virtues and
zeal had during fifteen years been an ornament presented
him with a crozier; well-wishers from the city of Detroit
acknowledged their indebtedness to his leadership, fatherly
interest and devoted friendship with the gift of a pectoral
crc>ss that bore the inscription : " Presented to the Rt. Rev.
Camillus Maes by his friends in Detroit, January 22,
1885"; finally, his classmates in the seminary of Bruges
remembered him with a goldplated silver chalice. This

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 115

precious souvenir, the recipient was pleased to bestow upon
the Louvain American College, on the occasion of the cele-
bration of the fiftieth anniversary of its existence.

Once the inthronization and consecration ceremonies with
all their eclat and the fatigues attending them were over,
and nothing was left but the aftermath of duties and re-
sponsibilities that they introduced, His Lordship set about
making himself acquainted with his extensive diocese. By
July 24, he could write: " I have traveled over two thirdal
of my diocese and God willing, during the months of Sep-
tember and October I'll finish the last third." "

The Covington Diocese

The Diocese of Covington was established July 29 1853 ;
its first bishop was an American bom, George A. Carrell,
S. J. He directed its destinies until his death 28 Sept. 1868.
His successor, Augustus M. Toebbe, a German, bom at
Meppen, Hanover, ruled from January 1870 to May 2,
1884; he was followed by the subject of our sketdi — a
Belgian. I>oes not this succession of bishops representing
three different nationalities remind us of the Catholicity of
the Chvurdi in America, made up of immigrants from all
nations tuider the sun and ruled over by men chosen from
among die nations represented in the church membership,
regardless of their origin, solely for their qualities as men
and priests?

The area of the diocese was the same when Bishop Maes
began to govern it as when it was first sliced off from
Louisville. It then extended over 17,286 square miles and
counted 8000 catholics with seven priests and ten churches.
In 1885 there were some 43,000 Catholics scattered through
that part of Kentucky lying east of the Kentucky River
and the western limits of the counties of Carroll, Owen,

" Letter to Rev. Sloose, pastor of 'Rumbeke, W. Flanders.

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Franklin, Woodford, Jessamine, Garrard, Rock Castle,
Laurel and Whitley. The increase in priests had propor-
tionately been greater during the incumbency of Uie two
preceding bishops than that of the faithful. There were
fifty-five, four of whom were members of religious orders.
Of churches there were twenty-five, besides fifty-two
chapels, twenty-three stations, three orphanages and two
hospitals.^*

To measure the progress made during Bishop Maes's
administration, it will suffice to point to the correspondent
figures for the year preceding his death. In 1894 Uie
Bishopric boasted seventy- four secular priests, eleven priests!
members of religious orders, 10,915 children attending
Catholic schools, fifty-seven parishes, twenty-five missions
with churches, nine chapels of religious institutions, 11,985
Catholic families, and 60,500 Catholics.

Silver Jubilees

During the long years of his episcopal career, Msgr.
Maes knew by the side of days fraught with anguish, with
trials and cares, days bright with the sunshine proceeding
from grateful and appreciative hearts, from hearts clinging
to the Church with filial devotion and glad always to
manifest that devotion by honoring priests and bishops,
living representative leaders of the great spiritual body,
whose members they are proud to be. Of sudi days which
stand out as beacon lights upon his life's course, we mean
to signal especially two — the twenty-fifth anniversary day
of his ordination and the twenty-fifth anniversary day of
his episcopal consecration.

The silver jubilee of his priesthood the Bishop of Cov-
ington celebrated Dec 19, 1893. It was a grand festive
manifestation in which one archbishop, seven bishops and

»• The Michigan Catholic, Detroit, Sept, 1884.

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a galaxy of priests participated. The Press of Cincinnati
and of Covington devoted lengthy columns in praise of
the life-work of the well-beloved prince of the Chiirch. A
German newspaper — the ''Kentucky Demokrat'' — ^pub-
lished in Covington gave a full-page pictiu-e of the jub-
ilarian with a chronogram expressive of a wish that in the
designs of God's Providence did alas I not find realization:

CaMILLo PaULo antlstltl quInqUe presbYterll LUstr^
aUrea LarglatUr DeUs!

The celebration was so general in the city that the
Catholic Telegraph, of Cincinnati, (Dec 21, 1893) could
write in very truth : " It was made manifest that Bishop
Maes is in reality the beloved shepherd of the flock con-
fided to his care." A grand procession of seven bishops
and some forty priests proceeded at 9 :30 from the Cathe-
dral to the episcopal residence thence to escort the jubilarian
to the Church decked in festal array. Surrounded by hisi
brethren in the episcopacy, by friends and the faithful
mend[)ers of his flock, the jubilarian sang a Solemn Ponti-
fical Mass of Thanksgiving, at which Bishop Watterson of
Columbus, Ohio, preached a soul-stirring sermon. At
noon a banquet was partaken of and Father Brossart^
vicar-general of the dkx^se, presented in the name of the
clergy a one diousand-doUar purse. In the evening there
was a public reception in the course of which the Lieuten-
ant-Governor presented anoAer purse, also of a thousand
dollars, in the name of the laity.

Divine Providence kindly granted the celebration of
another jubilee to Bishop Maes, namely that of episcopacy,
of which he put off the pilblic festivities until June 1910,
to make them coincide with inauguration of the splendid
front of the new cathedral. Again was evidenced how his
flock revered and loved him; again was the rejoicing uni-
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to remain behind their fellow-citizens in honoring the
Catholic prelate. All the houses of the city were festooned
in purple and white colors, seit off by gay streamers of
American bunting. Ten bishops, numerous abbots and
prelates, seventy priests, had come from far and near to
enhance the feast It was a never-to-be-forgotten event.
In the morning all these priests and churdi dignitaries met
the Bishop at his residence and escorted him to the magni-
ficently decorated cathedral. There he offered up a Solemn
Pontifical Mass of Thanksgiving whereof the thrilling im-
pression was enhanced by an appropriate sermon which
the Right Rev. O'Donaghue of Louisville preached. At
night the city witnessed a grand pageant of 7000 men
marching through the principal streets and past the stand
whereon the Bishop and his guests had taken their places.
A display of fireworks interpreted the joyous feelings of
the population and the presentation by the Mayor of a sum
of 4000 dollars from the citizens and of another of 3500
dollars from the clergy was the outward manifestation of
the people's and the priests' appreciation of their Bishop's
work for the city and the Church in Kentucky.**

Without going into the details of it we beg to mention
anotiier telling ceremony within the time of Bishop Maes'$
tenure of office; namely, the commemoration in 1903 of
the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the diocese^
of which the city of Covington was also the chief witnessi
and prime organizer.

Bishop Maes as Builder

Whoever attempts to write Bishop Maes's biography will
fall short of his task, if he does not stop to consider hisi
activity as a builder, which forms part and pared of hisi
whole sacerdotal life. The lessons on architecture which
kind IVovidence permitted him to receive in his youth

^The Enquirer, Cincinnati, June 30, 1910.

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The Right Reverend Camilltis P. Maes 119

stood him in good stead in all his works of material up-
building. We have seen how as young pastor of Mount
Clemens he erected a Catholic school there and how, a few
years later, he constructed at Monroe, for the English-
speaking Catholics, the Church of St. John the Baptist
His chief achievement, however, in the building line, one
that will for all times to come cocmeot his name widi the
city and the diocese of Covington, is without contest, the
magnificent Covington cathedral. It was the dream of his
episcopal career and before the end of his first year's in-
cumbency, he had set his mind and heart upon honoring
God with a temple that would proclaim aloud the glory of
His sovereign majesty. With patient perseverance and
with the firm will of one decided not to give up the fight
short of victory, he wrought for the realization of his pro-
ject and he died with the knowledge, that all but minor
details of the tuidertaking were completed.

A work so gigantic in its scope as the Bishop had set
before his mind's eye requires means, large means. He
began with the gathering of those means very early, stoutly
looking ahead into the distant future for their accumula-
tion and their timely and meet employment. He presented
the first subscription-list a year after ascending the episco-
pal thrcne; but years went by ere the hand could be laid
to the actual work of building.

In golden letters should we like to write down the names
of those whose liberal contributions made their shepherd'^
dream a reality. The principal single gifts were— one of
fifty thousand dollars from Mr. James Walsh; one of
twenty-five thousand dollars from his son, Mr. Michael
Walsh, and in 1905, another from the same, of 100,000
dollars, for the completion of the cathedral front and of
part of two steeples flanking it; one of 10,000 dollars from
Mr. Peter CyShaughnessy; and many donations of looo
dollars.

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The Bi^op chose a Detroit architect to make the plans
of the main structure; but the monumental facade was
by a Covington technicist. First ground for the build-
ing was not broken until May i, 1894, and on 8 September
1895, the comer-stone was laid with all the splendor of
this liturgical function. His Grace Archbishop Elder, of
Cincinnati, and His Lordship Bishop Foley, of Detroit,
were present at the ceremony, the latter being the orator
of the day. On January 27, 1901, the edifice was solemnly
dedicated. Fourteen bi^iops were present on that occasion
and the concourse of people was enormous. At the Mass
of Thanksgiving Bishop Spalding of Peoria preached the
sermon. Up to that time 250,000 dollars had been spent
on the construction, and during the four years following
50,000 dollars more added to the amount, and the end wasi
not yet, although the first estimates did not go beyond
the 250,000-dollar mark for the finished structure.

The Covington cathedral, as it stands to-day, is a splendid
work of art, of pure Gothic, and modelled after Notre
Dame church. Paris. The two towers of the facade are
as yet imfinished and another fifty thousand dollars, ac-
cording to the lowest estimates, would be required to finish
them. The exterior which pleases the eyes and lifts the
heart to the higher spheres towards which its ogival arcades
and bold lofty lines point .with speaking and thrilling
effect, is not belied by the interior, whose stately grandeur
is an exalted hymn of praise to the God made Man who
dwells and is worshipped therein. Beautiful stained-glass
windows, one of which, the second largest in the world,
and all but two the work of Mimich arti^, tell the wor-
shippers a story of faith and devotion just die way the
Bishop wanted it to be told; for he himself directed the
execution of the subject-themes represented. These
themes are the Blessed Sacrament and the Virgin Mother
of Him we adore in the Sacrament.

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Tlie Right Reverend Camilltis P. Maes 121

" Here one does not need a prayerbook : It is there in
glass looking down upon the worshippers," once began
Bishop Maes in an address to his people, as he fixed his
glasses to his eyes and pointed to the many-colored talking
windows. He might have pointed also to the mural deco-
rations of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament which,
under his inspiration, were painted by Franz Duveneck,
a Covington artist, and speak quite as effectively as the
colored windows. They represent the Sacrifice of the New
Law and of the Old in three groups, which afford to the
eye a grand ensemble tersely pen-pictured by the Bishop
in the Cincinnati Telegraph of January 15, 1904: "The
dominant thought of the whole conception is Jesus Christ,
the God-man, life and center of the whole created world,
ever atoning for the sins of men, that they may have life
abundantly." i

Covington, yes, America is proud of this magnificent
cathedral, to which the late Bishop had hoped to crown,
by the completion of the steeples, in 191 6. That hope was
scattered by Ae grim destroyer— <leath. The main work,
however, was finished and finished without mortgage on
the future, without encumbrance upon the successor, who,
with hands perfectly free, could go on, at once putting
the finishing strokes to an undertaking of which the bokl-
ness, when in its first stages of execution, appeared fash-
ness, especially in the light of the relatively small Catholic
population with whose free donations it had to be carried
on, of the prejudices to be conquered, of the opposition td
be won over. When first ground for the building wasj
broken in 1884, Covington had scarcely forty thousand
inhabitants, with a proportion of Catholics rather below
the average, among whom love and appreciation for
Christian art was no more developed than elsewhere in the
United States at that epoch. They had but few specimens
to show of Catholic churches built on classical architectural

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lines. Bishop Maes actually played the part of a pioneer
in that field. Wherefore has his name been heralded
throughout the country together with the names of the
foremost cathedral and church builders of recent years.
Truly did the " Record ", of I^uisville write, Jan. 28, 1904 :

"Christian ardiitecturei in Kentucky finds its highest
expression and development in the cathedral of Covington
dedicated under the title of Mary. It is, or in other words,
it will be, when completed, the most classic, monumental,
spacious and superb ecclesiastical edifice in our state."

We might close the diapter of Bishop Maes's building
activity with the construction of the Cathedral; but for
the sake of being complete, we will add that he undertook
another grand work in 191 2 — die erection of a new
hospital for CovingtonrSt Elisabeth's. The building was
estimated to cost 350,000 dollars, of which 110,000 dollars
were collected at the first appeal to the citizens. It is now
built and in charge of the Franciscan Sisters of Aix-la-
Chapelle.

EucHARisTic Congress "

Bishop Maes played a prominent part in all the Euchar-
istic Congresses held in the United States and through
them he did much for the extension of the devotion to
the Blessed Sacrament. His influence in that direction
was felt throughout the length and breadth of the latid
and the fruits borne of that influence cannot be adequately
estimated or prized. His intense love for the Eucharistic
Lord, he manifested incessantly by his telling share in
every eucharistic movement — in the promotion of frequent
Communion, of public veneration of the Blessed Sacra-
ment, of the Priests' Eucharistic League, of the Eucharistic
Congress, etc. !

Of the Priests' Eudiaristic League, he was for years
the Protector in the United States, where the earliest

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The Right Reverend Camilli^s P. Maes 123

statistics of member^ip gave forty-five members for all
the dioceses of the country. This was shortly after 1887,
the year in Which Faither Eymard founded the League and
had it canonically erected in Rome. At 'first it stood in
America under the direction of the Paris Board; but in
1891, it was governed by its own board set up in that year
at St. Meinrad's Abbey, Indiana. As the membership in-
creased rapidly from that time on, diocesan directors were
appointed wherever warranted. In Dec. 1893 ^^^ States
numbered 250 members; July 5th, 1894, they were credited
with 360 out of 29310 for the whole world; and in 1914
they boasted 10,443. 'I^s success was greatly attributable
to the exertions of the Bishop of Covington, who led also
in the launching of the eucharistic conferences and cong-
resses to which the League was sponsor. The latter have
of late years developed into grand manifestations of love
and rever^ice towards die Blessed Sacrament and have
exercised an untold influience over the hearts and minds of
hundreds of thousands of Catholics and Protestants as
well.

The holding of a general Eucharistic Congress for priestd
members of die League, which had long been a day-dream
of the Apostle of greater devotion to the Blessed Sacra-*
ment in America, found, in spite of ever cropping up diffi-
culties, realization at last, through the Bishop's fine diplo^
macy, whidi smoothed away one opposition, one rugged-
ness after the other, and emboldened him to invite a few
members to meet him at Covington Mardi 7, 1894. Five,
one bishop among them, answered the invitation, and pre-
sided over by their host, they held the meeting at which it
was decided to assemble all the priests adorers of the
Eucharistic League at Notre Dame, Indiana, Aug. 7th and
8th. A oonvocalion was sent to them for those days and
brought togother under the leadership of the Bishop of
Covington a gathering of six bishops, four abbots, and

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some 175 priests, who discussed ways and means for the
promotion of their society, which meant promotion of the
interests of the adorable Sacrament of the Altar. One
practical result of their discussions was the agreement to
publish a special English periodical for the benefit of the
members of the League, who up to that time had had to
content themselves with either a French or a German paper
printed in Europe. This American Eucharistic publica-
tion became a reality imder the title of Emnumuel, shortly
after the convention adjourned. Otfier results were the
decision to hold the thereupon following year a Eucharistic
congress for priests, and the nomination of Bishop Maes
as Permanent President of the Eucharistic Congress.*^

Although the meeting of Notre Dame was of fair pro-
portions, it had not the wide scope of a congress repre-
sentative of the membership of the League from all states;
and, therefore, we may call the meeting held at Washing-
ton. Oct. 2 and 3, 1895, the first general Eucharistic Cong-
ress of the United States. Monsignor Maes, who had
been a member of the Committee that prepared it, was also
its zealous and efficient chairman. The title of Permanent
President of Eucharistic Congresses in the United Stated
and of Director of the Eudiaristic League was solemnly
renewed to him and subsequently officially recognized and
confirmed by the House of Archbishops. Not fewer than
nine ardibishops, twelve bishops and 300 priests convened
at Washington. Archbishop Satolli, Apostolic Delegate
to the United States, graced the meeting with his presence
and brought the greetings and encouragement of Pope
Leo XIII. From that time on Eucharistic congresses suc-
ceeded each other in the United States uninterruptedly,
being held at Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincin-

"Scc American EccUsiatical Review, Nov. 1895, entirely devoted
the Eucharistic League and its first convention.

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 125

nati, etc. They contributed to ^rengthen and extend the
Faith and gave a mighty impulsion to the veneration tx>'
wards the Blessed Sacrament. There is no need to enter
into the detaib of these Congresses; but we cannot refrain
from making special mention of the third one, which wa^
held in New York City from 27 to 29 September 1904.

In the letter of invitation which Bishop Maes sent to his
colleagues on May 21 of that same year, the object of the
gathering was thus set forth:

" To have our Catholics value the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass and avail themselves of the privilege of assisting at
it daily; to make them realize the permanent presence of
Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of His love, and bring them
to visit Him in the Tabernacle more assiduously; to make
them experience the blessings of spirrtual life by the fre-
quent reception of the Body and Blood, without the eating
and drinking of which they can have no life in time — such
are the aims of the Bishops and Priests who are active in
the furtherance of these congresses."

This appeal was heard and the New York Congress was
a great event in the Catholic Church History of the United
States. Monsignor presided over the deliberations and en-
joyed the privilege of opening the proceedings of the second
day with the singing of the Pontifical High Mass. At one
of the sessions he appointed a committee to draw up resolu-
tions denouncing the Frendi Government for its anti-reli-
gious laws and tendering to the Holy Father " a reverential
recognition and profound admiration for his apostolic stand
in favor of true htmian liberty and essential human rights
as against the behests and threats of an infidel faction that
has unfortunately possessed itself of the government of a
once great Catholic nation,"

Grandly magnificent and glorious was this third Euchar-
istic meeting and so prominent was the part played in it by
our alumnus, that the American papers of the day bestowed

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126 American Catholic Historical Society

upon him quite appropriatdy -the title of Father of the
Third Eucharistic Congress. At Pittsburg we see Bishop
Maes presiding over the Congress that met there 15, 16, 17
October 1907 and we lisiten to him speaking among other
subjects on Daily Communion. His program was clear,
succinct, pointed:

" The days of frequent communion are upon us. Ne-
glect of it has ruined France. Reverence no longer ex-
cludes loving familiarity. The more we love, the more
we wish to see the object of our love. We priests will work
tuvtil our people become frequent daily communicants.
The Pope has directed us to do so. No objection can hold
against the expressed will of the Representative of
Christ." "

Also at the great World Eucharistic Congress, mighty
pageants of Faith and Religion, whose echoes still tingle
in our ears, the Bishop came forward as a champion of
Eucharistic devotion. In 1902 he was present at the Con-
gress of Namtu* and delivered the opening address; in 1907
he was at Metz, speaking frequently in the dcKberative
sessions; he was at Montreal in 1910 and had much to do
with its surpassingly great manifestation in honor of Jesusi
among us as in the days of His flesh. As President of the
Eucharistic Congresses in the United States and Protector
of the Eucharistic League, he, on May 10, sent a strong
appeal to the thousands of priests members of the League.
It was printed in Emmanuel, reprinted in the Catholic
papers, copied throughout the land and generally acted
upon, as results proved. In September 191 2 he was also
at Vienna, taking part in that year's glorious Euchar-
istic demonstration, which amazed the world by its might
and magnificence. A month previously he had shared
in the deliberations and devotional exercises of the re-

22 Emmanuel, Nov. 1907, pp. 271-2.

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 127

gianal congress of the since fated Ypres. Wherever pos-
sible he was in the van in promoting the honor due to the
Blessed Sacrament. The desire to do so prompted: — ^the
conception of the soul-inspiring frescoes in the chapel of
the Blessed Sacrament in his cathedral; the foundation of
the Kentucky Tabernacle Society; whose headquarters are
at the Academy of Notre Dame of Providence, Newport;
the imsistance with which he ever came back in his pastorals,
in numerous articles of the periodical press, in the retreats
that he preadicd to priests and seminarians, to the point
that Jesus in the Tabernacle must be the focus of the
spiritual life.

A significant case in point, which along with many others
goes to prove that Bishop Maes made the spreading of the
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament a life task, is a discourse
he had read by Father S^hrciber, paster of St Boniface's,
Detroit, at the Fourth General Assembly of the Michigan
German Catholics held at Detroit, Sept. 1895. In this
paper he recalled in the striking, clear language quite his
oiwn, the duties Catholics owe to the Blessed Sacrament.

All hail to Thee, Reverend High Priest, for the priceless
services thou didst render to a cause noble before others,
the cause of the voluntary captive of our chtuxhes!

Bishop Maes and Higher Education

We now turn to Bi^op Maes's activity in the field of
education. Far-seeing as he was, knowing that light must
shine from above, he keenly felt the capital importance of
higher education for the Catholic Church in America: it
was a subject of constant care and attention with him. We
have seen how, even before his episcopal consecration, he
pleaded the cause of the Catholic University of Washington
at the Council of Baltimore, by the choice of his brethren
in the Episcopacy, who thereby appreciated his ability and
zeal, he was directly and actively connected with it from

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128 American Catholic Historical Society

the very outset in 1887 as secretary and member of the
Board of Trustees and he remained so connected for over
twenty years. But even previously to that, he acted as a
delegate of the American Bishops to Europe, to secure able
teachers for the instituticwi. Upon this mission he visited,
without attaining the object he had come for, however,
three scholars of great repute : Louis Pastor, the Historian,
who was at the time professor at Innsprudk and whom he
invited to accept the Chair of History at the contemplated
American University; Bickcl, at the time teaching also at
Innispruck and later at Vienna, to whom he offered the
Chair of Hermeneutics and Oriental Languages; and Jung-
mann, professor at Louvain, whom he had wished to secure
for lectures on Dogmatic Theology.

Whilst furthering the interests of the Washington Uni-
versity, Bishop Maes did not forget the claims the
American College of Louvain had on bis attention. He was
an altminus and felt grateful for what he owed the beloved
Alma Mater; he knew the condition i of the Church in
America, knew how sacerdotal vocations there f dl short of
the needs and was fully conscious of the benefits: for
American youths of a course of study in a European
seminary. Never, therefore, did he hesitate to set forth
the advantages of the American College, when circum-
stances were such as to call for his advocacy of the institu-
tion. In serving the College he was convinced he served the
Church as well. Some of the best work for the Ameri-
cantun he did through his membership of the Board of
Bishops of the Louvain College, to which he was appointed
at the Council of Baltimore in 1884 together withi Ardi-
bishop Janssens of New Orleans, then still Bishop of
Natchez, and Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco.
When Archbishop Janssens died, Bi^op Maes succeeded
him as President of said Board and Bishop John L. Spald-
ing became its third member. He did not look upon that

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 129

presidency as a mere honor, btrt as a real obligation: it
prompted him upon several occasions to take active per-
sonal steps in order to further the welfare and progress of
the institution. Thus at times he came to its rescue with
pecimiary gifts and by bestowing the weight of his prestige
and influence to appeals for prompting pecuniary contribu-
tions from its alumni. His oft-^repeated generous assist-
ance recalls the favors of his namesake Canon Maes of
Bruges in the early days of the College.**

In 1897 the President of the College Board came to
Louvain to propose the connexion of the College, for the
sake of increasing its efficacy, with the University. To
that end he entered into conferenoe with the Belgian
Bishops and succeeded in having the connexion become a
reality in 1898. Again he it was who secured by his ener-
getic interference the introduction of the two years' course
of philosophy. He pleaded for that improvement in 1904
and in 1906 it was a settled fact.

The Belgian Govemmenft having in 191 2 granted a legal
status to the two endowed Universities of Brussels and
Louvain, Bishop Maes gave his full approval to the trans-
fer of all the College real estate and buildings to the Corpora-
tion Sole of the University — a good business transaction;
for the institution is thereiby exempt from paying the high
inheritance taxes to which it was st:A>ject under the old
regime of ownership by private individuals. At the time
of Msgr. De Neve's demise, when the buildings were of
small value comparatively to what they are now and the
tax rate low, the taxes paid ran up to some eleven thousand
francs.

The Bishop's appreciation of the importance of the Col-

■• J. Bittremieux : Belgen in Amerika, p. 311, in Annalts dt la Soci^ti
d'Emulation pour Viiude de THistoire, Bruges, Aimdc 1909; and J.
Van Dcr Hey den: History of the Louvain American College, passim,
Ceuterick, Louvain, 1909.

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lege and the attachment he bore to it are strikingly illustrated
in the fact that he gave his consent, after Msgr. De Neve's
retirement in 1891, to assume its rectorship. The Propa-
ganda had given its approval and the coming to Louvain
was assured, when protests arose from an imexpected
quarter — from the Belgian Bishops. They considered it
impolitic to have a bishop at the head of a filial institution
of the University, whilst the head of the University was
but a Monsignor.

When, in 1907, the American College cddbratcd the
fiftieth anniversary of its foundation, Bishop >Maes witii
Bishops Van der Vyver, Fox and Meersdiaert redconed it
an honor to assist at the great family feast then held and it
was His Lordship of Covington who sang the Scicmn Poi>-
tifical Mass of Thanksgiving. He also sent Holy Orders
to the students of that year, after having previously preached
the usual spiritual exercises to them. It was his way, and
a very exemplary one, to give encouragement to higher
education.**

We will close the subject of higher education with the
mention that Monsignor Maes was one of the projectors
of the monumenal work tmdertaken and carried to com-
pletion by American Catholics with the collaboration of
Catholic scholars all over the world — of The Catholic
Encyclopedia.

Monsignor Maes and the Parochial Schools The
Faribault Plan

But if Monsignor Maes had the interests of higher
education at heart, he was no less devoted to the cause of
the parodiial schools. The school question is a burning
one everywhere nowadays, and in the United States it is a
question of life and death for Catholics and their Faith.

•*J. Van Der HtjdcniTke Louvian American College, passim.

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 131

At one time they contended with difficulties that came very
near being fatal and if they came out of the ordeal un-
scratched, with a new lease of life and stronger than ever,
the Bishop of Covington is entitled to a share of the credit
for the victory. The influence of his work and word in this
field was widely feh. All his life long his voice rang like
the bugle call to battle in favor of the erection of private
schools alongside of the state^paid anti-religious schools.
Costs and hindrances were no consideration in his mind
where Christian education was at stake. In the pulpit, in
pastoral letters, in public gatherings, in private meetings of
the Bishops, in the press, everywhere he led the crusade in
defense of the Catholic schools. He was never so happy and
pleased as when he could act at the blessing of a new school,
or could be present at a feast of school children; for it
gave him an opportunity to encourage the cause whidi he
regarded as noble beyond all calculation. A parish with-
out a school looked to him a contradiction, a nonsense.

In 1888 Bishop Maes repaired to the Motheriiouse of
the Sisters of Divine Providence of St. Jean de Bassel,
Lorraine, to secure help for the schools of his diocese. His
mission was a success; for in 1889 three Sisiters went to
Newport, near Covington, founded the Convent of Mount
St Martin, now Provincial house, Novitiate and Scholastic
cate for the United States. They opened' their school
there with three pupils and in 191 2 diey had nearly four
hundred, without counting those at a parochial scfaoc4 at
Newport From Mount St Mattin they have radiated
to various dioceses of the United States and now conduct
three academies, one infant asylum, four homes for French
governesses and servant girls, twenty-four parochial
schools, and they have charge of the household of the
archiepisoopal residence and of St. Mar/s Seminary, Balti-
more; of St. Qiaries CoUq;e, Catonsville, Md., and of the
Catholic University. Some three hundred Sisters and

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132 American Catholic Historical Society

novices is the membership of the Community at <tius writ-
ing. Truly, Bishop Maes did a great good work in bringing
these fervent religious to his diocese; he shared in their
merits, for he led their efforts to give the best of thdr lives
and of their talents in the rearing of youth for the stem
duties whose fulfillment leads to the eteimal repose of
Heaven.

In connexion with the favor shown by Bishop Maes tq
Catholic education in all its degrees, it is worth while to
put in evidence the part he played in the contest that
waged for a time around the parochial schools. The
history of that struggle has not, as far as we know, been
fiiUy written. Now that the din of battle is no longer
heard, may we be pardoned for writing what we learned
on the subject from good and reliable sources. But let usi
first state briefly how matters stood when the fight b^;an
and how it began.

In the wake of the Third National Council of Baltimore
Catholic schools sprung up everywhere on the initiative of
the pastors and in compliance with the decrees of the
Council. The erection and maintenance of these schools
ISud a heavy burden upon the Catholic people, who, after
paying the State-school taxes, had still to pay for their
own private schools. Aiming at lightening that burden,
Archbishop Ireland, in the diocese of St. Paul, entered into
a contract with the State School Boards of Faribault and
of Stillwater for the further maintenance by the Boards
of two hitherto Catholic schools and presided over by Re-
ligious. According to the clauses of the contract, the
Sisters, who were returned as teachers, must accept the
State program and follow it in all its particulars; they were
not to teach religion during the regular school hours, but,
outside of these, they might devote as much time to the
teaching of religion as they saw fit. The plan pleased
neither Catholics and, after a very short time of trial, it

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 133

was given up at both the above-named towns; but it stiU
works in districts where the paretits are exclusively, or
almost exclusively, members of the Church. The opposi-
tion to the compact gave rise to heated discussions not in
Minnesota only, but sdl over the States. Rome was appealed
to and decided in favor of A'rchbishop Ireland; but did
not thereby allay the storm or settle the question. The
Archbishops meeting at New York on Nov. 16, 1892, heard
a set of fourteen propositions read to them by Archbishop
SatoUi in the name of Pope Leo XIII. They all concerned
the school question. Monsignor de T'Serclaes, in his com-
prehensive work Le Pape Lion XIII writes and comments
at length on them.

Briefly stated the propositions meant neither more nor
less than that in districts where there were no Catholic
schools or where they did not come up to the stondard re-
quirements, the Catholic children might attend the public
schools without let nor hindrance, provided however that
all dangers for the Faith and morals of the children be' elimi-
nated. One of the articles, the VIII, expressed the wish
that an understanding be arrived at between the civil and
the ecclesiastical authorites for the maiiftenance of State
schools that would be acceptable to all. Such was the
theory; but what of the practical application? The Arch-
bishops who heard them read were far from agreeing with
them. Thus the Archbishop of Cincinnati upon reaching
home, called a meeting of the Bishops of his province and
commtmicated to them the news that he brought from New
York. Everybody was startled and the propositions were
on the spot uiMUiimously voted down. Bishop Maes moved
to write at once to the Pope for the sake of calling atten^
tion to the practical side of the question, which was sure
to bring about the utter ruin of the Catholic schools within
a short time, because the Catholics' refusal of further sup-
port of them was inevitable. The motion, carried without

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134 American Catholic Historical Society

delay. Leo XIII lent a favorable ear to the letter of the
Bishops from the Cincinnati Province; for he soon after
addressed to each Bi^op in the United States a request for
a personal expression of opinion on the subject. The
answers were so emphatic and concordanit, that the four-
teen propositions remained a dead letter and were soon all
but forgotten. The parochial schools went on with their
task as before, increasing, multiplying, pek-felctingj theif
standards, woricing themselves up to a par with the pid>lic
schools and in many instances succeeding in surpassing
them. The part played by Bishop Maes to save them from
the shoals upon which they threatened to founder through
the untimely publication of the XIV propositions warranted
the words of " The Catholic Telegraph ", June 29, 1910 :
" Also has his wisdom, illuminated from above, saf e-
gfuarded die Catholic sdiools,'' and Monsignor de Becker
was right when he wrote: " When the true history of the
crisis which came within an inch of compromising forever
the magniificent efflorescence of Catholic schools in the
United States will be written, a just and shining homage
will be paid to the enlightened zeal and pastoral energy
displajred by the Bishop of Covington on that memorable
occasion." *•

The Catholic EIxtensiok Society— The Federation
OF Catholic Societies

Essentially a missionary, the late Bishop of Covington
gave from the very banning an enthusiastic support to
Father Kelley's Extension Society : he was one of its Board
of Governors; he favored it with all his might; lent without
sitint a helping hand to all its numerous and beneficent un-
dertakings for the diffusion of Catholic teaching in the
United States and its dependencies; stood by it in weal
and woe; upheld it; commended it; spread it.

•• The American CoUege BuUeHn, VoL VIII, p. 5.

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The Right Reverend Camillus P, Maes 135

Likewise the Federation of Catholic Societies recognized
in Bishop Maes, who was one of its Directors, a leader
always alive to all the interests which the Federation took
in hand.

Missions to Non<!)atholics

A man, priest and bishop conoemed about the rights and
the primordial welfare — ^thc moral and spiritual— of the
members of his Church, could not be indifferent to the
happiness here below and hereafter of those not to tiie
manor bom. Oh no! his great big heart went out to them
and particulariy to the most forsaken ones of those not of
the one fold and the one shepherd. In his diocese they
were the dwellers of the mountain districts, known for
their roughness, their spirit of independence, their chafing
at all restraint. We have the following pithy and clear tenet :
'* Eye for eye, tooth for tooth ". Bishop Maes felt him-
self to be indebted also to these uncouth children of nature;
he fdt it to be incumbent upon him to do what he might
in order to soften the roughness of their ways by the meeU
teaching of the Gospel. The first mission he sent them wasi
small— three priests, who, at the cost of sacrifices as yet
untold, opened the way, sowed the seed, watered and tended
the tender young shoots for a short time and when they
were beginning to see the ripening of the fruit, repeated
visits of the fell destroyer to the diocesan clergy com-
pelled them to leave their newly-planted vineyard in
the mountains for the organized parishes of the
plains, lest the children of the Faith should be neglected
and should lose the Divine gift The temporarily deserted
ones were later on provided for in another way. Accord-
ing to a pastoral letter of 27 December 1905, the Bishop
founded at Richmond, Kentucky, an EvangelistsI' Home for
diocesan missionaries, whose principal duty was the instruc-
tion of non<^tholics. Dimng six months of the year.

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thdr field of operation was the mountain counties of Cen-
tral Kentucky ; and the winter months, in whidi work in the
mountains is rendered practically impossible by the severity
of the weather and the lack of practicable roaxls, were con-
secrated to the preaching of missions, especially to non-
Catholics, in the diocese at large, at the invitation of the
local pastors from whom they accepted no other compensa-
tion but their kind hospitality.

Bishop Maes's concern for the conversion to the Faith of
iKm-Catholics made him of course prize quite highly the
work of the Apostolic Union, of the Paulist Fathers; hence
we see him preside in April 1904 over the Conference of the
Missionaries to non-Catholics. The occasion suggested to
him the following glowing lines addressed to Louvain : " I
am presiding here over the conference of the misionaries to
non-Catholics under the auspices of the Apostolate Union of
the Paulist Fathers. It would do your heart good to meet
these earnest, self-sacrificing, laborious priests, some of
whom without a roof to shelter their heads, travel alt
through their vast field in the South, preaching, teadiing,
lecturing, in halls, in shacks, in schoolhouses, wherever
they can get an audience and a hearing to enlighten those
who sit in the shadow of death. I deem it the honor of
my life to have been called upon to preside at their delibera-
tions and I wish I were one of them ! "

In 1 910, the discovery of coal in the mountain fastnesses
of Kentucky laid new cares upon the devoted shepherd;
for such discoveries, followed immediately by expk>ita-
tion, generally allure into the country people from variousi
lands and climes, whose spiritual wants raise complicated
and unusual problems. Poles, Italians, Slavs, flocked into
Kentucky with the opening up of the minesi and they called
for priests of their respective nationalities to alttend to their
higher needs. An Ejiglish company, before beginning
operations in the the eastern districts of the diocese, applied

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The Right Reverend Camillus P. Maes 137,

to the Bishop for pastors to look after the men they ixv-
tended to settle there and who were to be Poles and Slavsi
exclusively. This prompted him to write to Monsignor
de Becker July 1910:

"An English company is opening mines in one of the
eastern counties of the diocese and they announce their in-
tention of emplojring Catholic Poles and Slavs only ; have
you a seminarian of that nationality who will be ready for
ordination next year? "

Pastoral Letters

Bishop Maes's Pastoral Letters were exceedingly prac-
tical, clear cut and to the point. In " The Hierarchy of
the Catholic Church in the United States'', Maurice R
Egan wrote: " The Pastoral Letters of Bishop Maes make
a library of edification and instruction in themselves. He
has the art of saying the right thing at the right time and
of never saying too much." Among others, his Pastorals
on the observance of the Sunday rest, (Oct. 1900) oni the
Jubilee of the Dogma of the Immaxndate Conception, (Sept
1904) on the Centenary of George Washington, on the
Sacredness of Matrimony, were held up by the Catholic
Press as models of the kind and Were universally praised.

Rumors of Promotion

Several times there were rwxtors abroad that Monsignor
Maes would leave the Diocese. Once, as we have had
occasion to say, he was on the point of parting with it tp
become Rector of the American College of Louvain. Then,
after the death of Archbishop Janssens, of New Orleans,
June 10, 1897, it was universally believed that he would
go to New Orleans as archbishop. If he did not go, it
was, as was whispered about, for diplomatic reasons. Felix
Faure, President of the French Republic, thought that the
See of New Orleans, for years the appanage of French

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prelates, ought to be filled by an archbishop of French
birth or ancestry. The Quai d'Orsay worked in that sense
at the Vatican and having found a hearing with Leo XIII,
Bishop Chapelle became Archbishop Janssens' successor,
I December 1897.

Finally after Archbishop Elder's death, 31 Oct. 1907,
Bishop Maes's appointment to the see of Cincinnati seemed
a foregone conclusion. On the tema sent by the Bishops
of the Province to Rome, he occupied the first place; yet
he was not chosen, because the Holy See opined that since
times and local circumstances have to be reckoned with in
the choice of Bishops, the nationality of a candidate in a
country of many nationalities is also an important con-
sideration : wherefore it found it preferable to place a pre-
late of German ancestry at the head of the vacant Arch-
bishopric of Cincinnati and it selected the Rt. Rev. Henry
Moeller, then Bishop of Columbus.

Bishop Maes's Bibliography

More than anything else the writings of a man ^ow hia
trend of mind, his ideals, his heart's affections, his worth,
his influence over other minds and hearts. Therefore do
we append to this biographical ^etch a list of the prin-
cipal literary contributions of the Kentucky Prelate. In-
complete though it be, the list speaks loudly enough and
confirms The Catholic Telegraph*s judgmenit: ''Bishop
Maes is not an ordinary churchman. A cultured gentle-
man, he exercises a refining influence in the commimity
which is favored by his residence. As a scholar, he hasi
made himself felt, unostentatiously, though none the lesal
effectually, not only in his own diocese, but also in the
wider Catholic educational circles of his country."

It will be interesting to know that the man who ex-
ercised the greatest influence upon the literary work of
Bishop Maes, was the Flemish poet, Guido Gazelle. It was

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The Right Reverend Camillus P, Maes 139

in the first years of the existence of the Flemish periodical
Rond den Heerd; Msgr. Maes was then student in the
Seminary of Bruges and Guido Gazelle was assistant at
St. Walburga's in the same city. From the lowly dwelling
of the little known and still less appreciated curate went
out a real power which attracted and held spellbound a
chosen few young seminarians, of whom was Camillufli
Maes. There they found thrilling enthusiasm for the
nobler productions of the mind and were taught to listen,
to enquire, to think, to write. " Rond den Heerd " was a
school with a master without commission to teach who
taught as effectually as the best and he taught young Maes
the power of the pen in the promotion of God's cause and
the welfare of souls.

To Rond den Heerd Bishop Maes contributed :

1. Bricvcn uit Mount Clemens, Michigan, V, S. A., Vol.
V, 1870, passim; Vol. VI, 1871, passim.

2. Naar Amerika: An account of his journey to the
States from Courtrai, where he left April 16, 1869,
until he set foot upon American soil. May 9, 1869.
Vol. VIII, 1873, passim.

3. Brand in de Amerikaansche Sparrehoschen: Vol. VIII,
pp. 179-181.

4. Vlaamsche Hidsgezinnen op de Gier-eilanden : Vol.
VIII.

5. Amerikaansche Legende van de Scheppinge: Vol. IX,

1874.

6. Godeeloozen: Vol. IX. (a poem)

7. Amerikaansche Legende: Onsterfelykheid der siele:
Vol. X, 1875.

8. Eerste Zendelingen in Amerika: Vol. X; Belgische
Zendelingen in Amerika, Pater Ludovicus Hefmepin,
O. S. F, (1650-1701), ibid. Petrus Antonius Mcdou
(1753-1827) ibid, passim.

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9. Brieven: Michigan in Amerika, tdt Monroe, Michigcmz
Vol. X (187s) and Vol. XI (1876), passim.

10. Het Borstkruis van den Amerikaanschen Kardinaali
Vol X (187s).

11. De Legende van den Schellevisch; een Kaitelegende :
Vol. X.

12. Suikerriet: Vol. XL

TO THE AMERICAN ECCXBSIASTICAL REVIEW :

13. The First Eucharistic Congress to he Held in America:
Vol. XI, pp. 342-347. This article is an appeal to
American prie^, in preparation for the first euchar-
istic congress.

14. Education of our Clerical Students: Vol. XIV, pp.
204-212. A review of the prescriptions of the Council

of Trent anent the education of priests.

15. Preparcftory Seminaries for Clerical Students: VoIj^
XIV, 312-321. This is a pleading for "mixed col-
leges" ; it contains many practical hints, facts and
data on the origin and the organization of the Petits
and the Grands Shninaires.

16. The Theological Seminary: ibid., pp. 435-445. This
contribution furnishes suggestions for the conduct of
a seminary.

17. Altar Breads and l^^heaten Flour: Vol. XXXV, pp.
579-594. The adulteration of the flour destined for
sacramental purposes is herein viewed and means to
secure tmadulterated flour are proposed.

18. The Rev. John Francis Rivet, Missionary Priest ai
Fort Vincennes, India, (i 795-1804), VoL XXXV,

pp. 33-51 and 1 13-124.

19. Translation of the article: Decision of the Holy OfUce
on the "Comma Johanneum" by Minsignor Lamy,
professor at the University of Louvain: Vol. XVII,
pp. 448-483.

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The Right Reverend Camilltis P. Maes 1411

TO THE CATHOLIC WORLD :

20. Hendfick Conscience — ^A study which made the Flemish
novelist known and appreciated in the United States.

21. The Symbolism of Shoes— ^A study on the spiritual sig-
niiicatiQa of shoes in Holy Writ

TO HISTORICAL RESEARCHES, N. Y.

22. History of Monroe, Michigan, This historical paper
begun at the time of Father Maes's selection for the
secretaryship of the Detroit Diocese was never finished.

TO EMMANUEL :

23. Eucharistic Towers. Two articles appeared on that
subject in the periodical, both illustrated. '^Emman-
uel", a monthly magazine and the official organ of
" The Priests' Eucharistic League '\ was founded by
Bishop Maes and edited by him from i895-'i903.
Since the latter date it has been edited by the Fathers
of the Blessed Sacrament, N. Y.

TO THE NEW CATHEDRAL CHIMES :

24. The New Cathedral: Vol., May 1892. The New
Cathedral Chimes was founded by Bishop Maes as
an aid for the construction of the Covingiton Cathedral.
The above article was written for its maiden niunbers
which bears date May 2, 1892.

TO THE NEW YORK ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL :

25. Louise Lateau. This paper was published with an
illustration of Louise Lateau's house at Bois d'Haine,
tmder Maurice Francis Egan's editorship of the Maga-
zine, New York, 1879.

26. During the secretar)rship at Detroit, Bishop Maes was
a frequent contributor to the Children's Magazine,

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142 American Catholic Historical Society

27. In January 191 2, he founded at Covington, The Christ-
ian Year, weekly paper of general information and the
organ of the Diocese of Covington.

TO CALENDAR OF THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN BERCHMANS:

28. Dedictory Sermon at the Blessing of the Church of
St. John Berchmans. Feb. 1908.

29. The Pastoral Letters of Bishop Maes from quite a col-
lection.

30. La Visite Episcopate fdte d Louise Lateau par Sa
Grandeur Monseigneur Caspar Henri Borgess, iwque,
de Detroit, le 20 Juillet 187/, publiie par S. G. Mon-
seigneur Camille Paul Maefs, iveque de Covington,
Kentucky (in 8, pp. 24) Louvain, Imprimerie " Nova
et Vetera", 191 3.

31. Forbain Janson en Amerique, This is a manuscript of
some hundred pages on the Bishop of Metz banished
from France by Louis Philippe.

32. In 1901 Bishop Maes published in pamphlet form at
Monroe, Michigan, the Funeral sermon which he
preached in the chapel of the Sisters Servants of Mary,
Monroe, at the Obsequies of his friend Msgr. Edward
Joos, Vicar General of the Detroit Diocese. (19 pp.
in 8).

33. The most extensive literary work we owe to Bishop
Maes is the Life of the Reverend Charles Nerinckx.
(635 pp. 80). It was puUi^ed in Cindmiati in 1880
and has been spoken of at lengtfi in this biographical
sketch of a countryman of Father Nerinckx, who con-
tinued in Kentucky an apostolic work that earned for
the latter the title of S. Paul of Kentucky.

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The Right Reverend Camillus P, Maes 143

TO THE CATHOUC HISTORICAL REVIEW :

34. Flemish Franciscan Missionaries in North America
(1673-1738).

Such was the man who presided over the destinies of the
Diocese of Covington for thirty years, departing this life
for the eternal repose of Heaven the nth of May 191 5.
Free-hearted and open-handed all through life, Monsignor
Maes's death reflected his pilgrimage here below. He left
no earthy treasures besides a well-stocked scientific library,
which he bequeathed to the Catholic University of Wash-
ington, and 2500 dollars, of which he bestowed 2000 upon
St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Covington, Ky., 300 upon St.
Joseph's Orphanage, Cold Springs, and 200 upon St. John's
Orphanage, Covington.

His last inanimate remains lie buried side by side with
those of his two predecessors amid the departed ones of
his Covington flock, which he loved so well and served so
faithfully and with whom his name and his deeds will ever
be held in grateful veneration.

J. BlTTREMlEUX^ D. D.

J. Van der Heyden.

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WORK OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY IN THE UNITED

STATES, HARTFORD, I851-I872— PROVIDENCE

DIOCESE, 1872-1921

In 1 85 1, the first invitation came for the work of the
Sisters of Mercy in the New England States. Bishop
Bernard J. O'Reilly of the Diocese of Hartford ^ requested
a foundation of Sisters with the consent of Bishop
O'Connor of Pittsburg. The new opening was to be made
in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, then the centre in
New England of the anti^atholic strife, familiarly known
as Knownothingism.

Mother Francis Xavier Warde was wisely chosen to
direct this new and momentous tmdertaking. With her
Sister companions, Sister M. Camillus O'Neal, Sister M.
Josephine Lombard, Sister M. Joanna Fogerty, and Rev.
James O'Connor, the Bishop's brother, as protector. Mother
Francis Xavier Warde left Pittsburg by stage coach on the
evening of March 6, Ash Wednesday, 1851. The route was
by way of Harrisburg, through Lancaster to Philadelphia,
then on by way of New York. The travelers arrived in
Providence, Rhode Island, on the evening of March 11,
after five days spent in the coach and wa3rside inns and the
probable stop-over to hear Mass on Sunday at Philadelphia.

1 The Diocese of Hartford, established by Pope Gregory XVI, Sep-
tember 18^ 1843 embraced at the time of erection the States of Connecticut
and Rhode Island, and a portion of south-eastern Massadiusetts. The
Catholic population of Hartford numbered 600 adults while Providence
had 2000 Catholics. In consequence the first Bishop, William Tyler
fixed the episcopal residence at Providence. His two immediate suc-
cessors also, Bi^op Bernard CyReilly and F. P. McFarland continued
to live at Providence until the diocese was divided in 1872, when
Providence was made a distinct episcopal see under its first bishop,
Thomas F. Hendricken.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 145

A poor dwelling, scantily furnished, awaited the little
band of Missionary Sisters on High Street. Room capacity
was limited, in cons^uence, no provision had been made
for a chapel; however a temporary altar was soon in posi-
tion and on the next morning, March 12, the Sisters had
the happiness of hearing Mass and receiving Holy Com-
munion in their first Convent-home in New England.
Their souls, strengthened by the Divine Sacrament, and con-
soled by the Real Presence in their midst, the Sisters went
about with renewed courage to make their work effective in
this new field of endeavor.

The first work of the Sisters was the organization of the
Cathedral Sunday School in the basement of the Cathedral,
Saints Peter and Paul. This took in the children of the
different city-parishes. In a short time, however, the
number so increased as to render the opening of separate
Sunday Schools in the different parishes imperative. Qasses
in Christian Doctrine were also organized at the Convent
for those who had not the opportunity early in life for
adequate instruction and preparation for the Sacraments.

Toward the end of August, 185 1, the first public cere-
mony of Religious Reception * took place in the Cathedral
of Saints Peter and Paul on High Street, later, Westminster
Street. Clothed in the vesture of brides, three young ladies,
candidates for the Mercy Sisterhood, received the habit and
veil of the Institute after the celebration of High Mass, Right
Reverend 'Bishop CVReilly oflBciating. The Reverend
Father McElroy, S. J. who conducted the Sisters' August
retreat, preached on the occasion. This ceremony, as pre-
scribed by the ritual, is at all times impressive, to the people

* The first Novitiate, 1851, comprised the following members : Sister
M. Stsmislaus, Mary Ami Spain ; (Sister M. Bernard, Marie Reid ; Sister
M. Bor8:ia, Catherine Douglass; Sister M. Patricia, Ellen Whealan.
Sister M. Stanislaus had been for some time a pupil at the private
school in Binghamton, conducted by Mrs. Edward White (sister of
Gerald Griffin) and her daughters, from 1836 to 1852.

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146 American Catholic Historical Society

in Providence seventy years ago, it was unique in its solemn
grandeur.

Visitations of the sick and the poor began with the com-
ing of the Sisters to Providence. This was, so far as we
know, the first welfare service* rendered in this rigid
puritan city. These visitations were not confined to city-
districts but took in the neighboring parishes and wherever
the Sisters' ministering care was needed. Many poor
families received food and other forms of relief from the
Sisters' own meagre supply. Later, the peo[de of the parish
left baskets filled with food at the Convent to be distributed
among the poor. These charity-missions were generally
attended on foot, the street car was then unheard of, and
the modem touring car might well have been viewed in the
light of " Aladdin's Lamp." Insults and acts of rowdy-
ism, inspired by the " nativists " were not uncommon on
these missions of Mercy in the formative period of the
Mercy Institute in New England.

In September the Sisters were invited to take charge of
the Cathedral School of Saints Peter and Paul in Provi-
dence. This school had been established somt years previous
and placed in the care of three lay teachers, two ladies and
a gentleman. Classes were held in the basement of the
Cathedral with two htmdred pupils enrolled. When the

• It is very probable that the first social welfare service conducted in
New England, was inaugurated in Boston in 1832 when Sister Ann
Alexis and two 'Sister-companions, Sisters of Charity from. £lmmitsburg»
Maryland (Mother Seton Community) came to establish their work
in schools, orphanages, hospitals and the visitation of the sick.

As early as 181 7 the Ursuline Sisters were in Boston, but being
strictly a teaching-order, the scope of their work does not include work
in hospitals, orphanages and the visitations. This Community of
Ursulines removed from Boston to Charleston, July 17, i8la6 and opened
a boarding school in the Convent. On the night of August 11, 1854
the building was destroyed by fire, the work of the Know-nothing
" Nativists **, No compensation for this great loss has ever been
made.— See Shea's Hist, of Cath. Ch. in U. 5"., vol. ITT. pp. 126-474 seq.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 147

Sisters went there in 1851, a survey of the basement-school
showed how "necessity" or poverty had become "the mother
of invention''. Two rows of benches, long and narrow, placed
at each end of the large room, were used for seats. Boards
fastened to the walls with hinges and lowered when needed,
then held in place by supports, were the desks used in this
early school. The present-day disciplinarian in a class room
splendidly equipped with modem " steel standards " may
perhaps, look askance upon these primitive conditions, yet
the products of the school seventy years ago were a visible
proof that " boards " and " benches " did not preclude real
school work.

An Academy also was opened at St. Xavier's with ten
pupils in register. This was the humble beginning of the
present well-equipped St. Xavier's Academy and High
School, the first Catholic Institution of its kind in the State
of Rhode Island. Two rooms, the one used for a music
room, the other for enlarging the chapel during the Sisters*^
religious exercises, were utilized for academy purposes.
The Sisters proved themselves veritable stage-managers, so
adept did they beccnne in shifting the " setting " for the
various scenes; a change, however, was imperative if the
Sisters were to provide for the increase in applications for
admission, both to the Sisterhood and to the Academy. The
need forced a change in October, 1851, when the Sisters re-
moved to a three-story stone residence on Broad and Clav-
erick Streets, purchased during the summer by Bishop
O'Reilly. This building consisted of six rooms and attic.
The lower three rooms served as a parlor, refectory and
kitchen, when not in class use. Rooms in the second floor
were utilized for Chapel, community-room and novitiate.
The last two served also for class, during school sessions.
The attic was converted into sleeping apartments.

A frame house in the rear of the Convent was fitted up
for a Girls' Orphan Asylum, twelve little girls were sheltered

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148 American Catholic Historical Society

here. This was, so far as we know, the second of its kind
tinder Catholic auspices established in New England, the
first home for Orphans had been opened in Boston in 1832,
and placed in care of three Sisters of Oiarity* (Mother
Seton Community) from Emittsburg, Maryland.

During this year, 185 1, the Sisters were invited to open
a school in St. Patrick's Parish in the city of Providence.
The number of pupils enrolled was two hundred. The
mission was attended from St. Xavier's Convent until 1870,
when it was deemed expedient that the Sisters should reside
in the parish in order to carry on with less hardships other
activities : welfare work in the parish, the care of the sick
and the poor in their homes and the instruction of adults
for the Sacrament.

Despite the unfriendly spirit of sectarians and the Know-
nothing movement, together with the lack of acccmimoda-
tions in their first Convent-home, the new foundation was
remarkably signalized in the number of vocations to the
Mercy Sisterhood.

The Catholic Directory of 1852, within a year after the
Sisters' advent to Hartford Diocese, shows a record of Six:
Professed Sisters, Seven Novices and Nine Postulants in the
Community. The first activities of the Sisterhood as ac-
credited by the Catholic Directory of the same year, 1852,
are worthy of note.

" Sisters of Mercy, Providence, R. I.

" The Institute of Mercy embraces the following
objects : the care of the sick and the support of female
orphans; the support and protection of virtuous but
poor and destitute young women until provided with
situations; the visitation of the sick and providing the

* Sister Ann Alexis, Sister Blandina and Sister Loyola.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 149

sick-poor with such comforts as circumstances may
enable; the education of female* children."

" The Sisters also opened an Academy in their Con-
vent where all the branches essential to a complete
education are taugh by Sisters eminently qualified.

Orphan Asylum

" The Sisters of Mercy have opened a female orphan
asylum at their residence. Twelve little orphan girls
are cared for at the Convent."

Cathedral Free School

** The Sisters of Mercy have charge of this school,
in which, they teach daily, three hundred little girls."

St. Patrick's Free School

" The Sisters of Mercy are in charge of this school
and teach daily in it two hundred little girls."

Hartford 1852-1872

The rapid increase of the number of aspirants to the
Mercy Sisterhood made possible the opening of Free Schools
in Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut. The first
foundation from Providence was made in the city of Hart-
ford, St. P^rick's parish, May 11, 1852, six Sisters with
Sister M. Paula Lombard, Superior, comprised this colony.
Their first residence, a two-story brick house on Franklin
Street, was blessed and given the title, St. Catherine.

The little Hartford community was cradled in poverty but
its inception was rich in germinal growth and spiritual

^ It was the custom in the early pioneer days to give girls only in the
charge of the Sisters in Schools and Orphanages. This custom later
was discontinued, due probably to the firm stand of Bishop Hughes of
New York when the Sisters of Charity were to be withdrawn from the
Orphanage in New York, 1846.— See Life of Archbishop Hughes by
Hassard, pp. 269-302.

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150 American Catholic Historical Society

activity and vigor which the mature product testifies. School
was opened in the well-lighted and weU-ventilated basement
of St. Patrick's church recently completed. Two Sisters
had charge of the girls' and the boy's primary department.

In 1858 the chapel which occupied about one-third of the
basement was converted into class rooms to accommodate
the large increase in attendance. In 1861 the primary and
intermediate grades numbered 'about two himdred pupils.
These, formerly in charge of male teachers, were given over
to the care of the Sisters in 1862. Six Sister-teachers were
now employed in the parochial school. In 1866, a new
school building, a three-story eight-room brick structure was
erected on Allyn Street. The boys' intermediate grades
were given in charge of the Christian Brothers while the
Sisters retained charge of the primary department of boys
and continued the school in the basement of the Church.
Some years later, these classes also were given accommoda-
tions in the Allyn Street school ; the large hall formerly used
for assembly purposes having been converted into class
roms.

Meantime, the Convent on Franklin Street could no
longer comfortably accommodate the Sisters and the growing
number of orphans. An urgent appeal for the opening of
an Academy made the already overcrowded Convent ar-
rangements more complex. The new Convent on Church
Street, then in course of erection, would not be in readiness
for some time. However, the acquisition of a spacious
dwelling on Trumbell Street simplified matters ; it served the
triple purpose of Convent, Academy and Home for Orphans.
When the Sisters moved into their new Convent on Church
Street, the number of Academy pupils on roll was thirty and
about the same number of Orphans. Later, young ladies
living at such distances as to render it impossible to attend
day school, were received here as boarders.

In 1864, a new two and one-half story brick building was

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy i5i»

erected on the Church property as a Home for Orphan boys.
It was blessed and placed under the patronal care of St.
James. In 1868, the Sisters opened a parochial school in
St. Peter's parish, the second school under their charge in
Hartford. Three Sisters residing at St. Catherine's Con-
vent went daily to teach in St. Peter's. In 1866, when the
school was first opened it was placed under the supervision
of the Board of Education. This controlling power, how-
ever, proved unsatisfactory. In 1868, thcf Sisters of Mercy
were invited to re-open the school, the higher grades in the
boys' department, however, were given in charge of male
teachers. The Sister-teachers of St. Peter's made their
home at St. Catherine's until August 1870, when a tem-
porary home on the historic Charter Oak Place, was pro-
vided for them. An Academy was opened at the Con-
vent with nineteen pupils in register. In 1872, at the divi-
sion of the Diocese, St. Catherine's Convent became the
Mother-house of the Sisters of Mercy in the diocese of
Hartford, Connecticut.

New Haven 1852- 1872

On May 12, 18512, the day following the opening of St.
Catherine's Convent, Hartford, a second foundation sent
out from Providence, opened a Convent and School in St.
Mary's parish, New Haven, Connecticut. A comfortable
hcMne awaited the Sisters on George Street. The blessing
of the house followed their arrival, and the Convent was
given the title, St. Mary. Those who welcomed the Sisters in
their new Convent witnessed a pathetically tender scene,
when two little orphan girls came to the Sisters eager for
shelter and a home.

The old St. Mary's Church formerly owned by a Con-
gregational Society, had been used for school purposes years
before the coming of the Sisters to New Haven and the
school placed in charge of a lady teacher, highly qualified as

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152 American Catholic Historical Society

the efficient work of her pupils showed. When the Sisters
took charge of this school there were on record two hundred
pupils. Three parishes were represented in the student-body
namely, St. Patrick's, St. John's and St. Mary's. The
orphan girls of school age attended the parochial school.
An Academy was opened at the Convent. Here they could
accommodate sixty pupils. The removal of the Orphans to
St. Francis' new Orphan Asylum in 1864, greatly aug-
mented room capacity in the Academy,

A second school was opened in New Haven in the parish
of St. Patrick in 1854. The Sisters of Mercy were invited
to take charge of the girls; male teachers were provided
for the boys until 1867, when they too were given over to
the care of the Sisters. In 1862, the crowded condition
of the school warranted the erection of a new building near
Hamilton Street, facing Wallace Street. The following
year, 1863, ^^s school was ready for class work. The
school continued to grow and called for three additional
teachers in 1867.

During this year, 1867, the Reverend Matthew Hart,
pastor of St. Patrick's Church, succeeded in obtsuning from
the Board of Education legal recognition for his schools,
which were now placed under the supervision of that Board. |

This legal recognition extended also to the Sister-teachers |

whose salaries, like the public school teachers, were com- j

mensurate with the school grade taught. At this time there
were seven hundred children in the schools. Late in the !

year the Parish School buildings on Hamilton and Wallace
Streets were leased by the Board of Education. After
many alterations in the structure of the buildings and a
greater expenditure for furniture and equipment, schools
were re-organized January 17, 1868. There were eight
grades, including primary, intermediate and grammar de-
partments. Ten Sisters, nine teachers and a principal, were
in charge at the beginning, later another Sister was added to

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 153

the teaching-staff. The high standard of efficiency in the
Schools recognized by the Board of Education estabUshed
the prestige of the Sisters of Mercy as teachers in New*
England.

Meantime an addition to the corps of teachers at St.
Mary's taxed its accommodation capacity. To facilitate
matters, St. Patrick's teaching-staff whose headquarters
were at St. Mary's, took up their residence in a temporary
Convent-home on Chapel Street, October 2, 1869 and re-
mained there until the fall of 1870 when a residence on
Franklin Street was purchased and remodeled for their use.

The increase in the Catholic population of St. Patrick's
parish was a proportional increase in school attendance
which called for additional class rooms. These could be
found only in the erection of a new building. Accordingly,
a three-story structure designed for school rooms, library
and reading rooms for the young men of the parish, also a
large hall for assembly purposes, were erected on Wallace
Street.

In 1872 at the division of the diocese, New Haven be-
came a branch house of St. Catherine's Convent, Hartford,
the Mother-house of the Sisters of Mercy in Connecticut.

Meantime the third school entrusted to the Sisters of
Mercy in the city of Providence opened in St. Joseph's parish
in the sacristy of St. Joseph's Church, 1854. A new school
building was at this time far advanced in course of erection.
When it was ready for school work, there were enrolled,
boys and girls, one hundred and sixty pupils. The girls were
given into charge of the Sisters ; a male teacher was given
supervision of the boys. After a short existence this sdiool,
because of econcnnic and financial conditions, was dosed;
however, it was reorganized for the scholastic year of 1856.
In 1858, the school was again closed and the building was
converted into a pastoral residence. Seventeen years later,
1875, Reverend Daniel Kelly, the pastor of St. Joseph's

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154 American Catholic Historical Society

began the erection of a new school, a three-story brick build-
ing on John Street. After the death of Father Kdly in
1877, the school property passed into the hands of the
Jesuit Fathers; the school remained closed until 1879 when
it was re-opened for girls only. The 'boys attended the
Christian Brothers' school. A high-school department was
added in September 18S1, and continued until 1891 when
St. Xavier's Academy became the central high school for
the parochial schools of the city.

Newport, R. I.

In the same year, namely, 1854, the Sisters were invited
to open a school in Newport, R. I. They arrived there
May 3rd, the following week school opened with an atten-
dance of sixty pupils. The 'Convent, a small cottage which
formerly served as a Church during the week while the new
edifice was in course of erection, was moved to a tract of
land, the gift of Mrs. Goodloe Harper and Miss Emily
Harper, descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, whose
home was in Baltimore and who spent their summers at
Newport. A new wing was added to the Convent making
a combination convent and school.

The convent was blessed and give the title, St. Mary's of
the Isle. The Sisters b^an at once the visitations of the
poor and the sick. Many large donations were placed in
the hands of the Sisters to be used in relief of the destitute.
Those who contributed largely were Mr. Charles Mixtur,
Mr. Sidney Brooks,* Mr. Royal Phelps* and Miss Emily
Harper. At the opening of the School two Sisters were
sufficient to manage the classes. Later, when summer
visitors benefited by the health-giving climate, made New-

B Both non^Catholics. The former was probably a kinsman of Charles
Timothy Brooks, bom at Salem, Mass., June 20^ 1813 ; died at Newport,
R. I., June 14, 1883. iHe was an American Unitarian clergyman and
author, noted chiefly as a translator from the German.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 155

port their permanent residence, the attendance at St. Mary's
called for more teachers. In 1862, the Naval Academy
ships from Annapolis were stationed here. Ehiring their
stay daughters of Naval officers and of professors in the
Academy, nearly all of southern families, were among the
student-body of St. Mary's of the Isle.

The need of a Select School hastened the opening of an
Academy in October, 1867 in St. Mar/s Convent. Twenty-
eight girls from the Parochial School enrolled as first pupils.
The organization of an Academy relieved pressure in the
parochial school until the new school was in readiness in the
spring of 1867. The new building was a three-story struc-
ture designed for school purposes and an assembly hall.
Two class rooms on each floor were opened at the beginning.
The boys' higher intermediate-granmiar and high school
grades were given in charge of a male teacher until 1871
when the Sisters were invited to assume the responsibility.
The High-school Course was not formally added to the cur-
riculum; however, many of the pupils remained at school
imtil they completed almost the entire course usually pre-
scribed for an accredited High School, bookkeeping, type-
writing and stenography were also given. The Normal
Music Course was taught in all grades. The dass-rooms
hitherto not in use were now made available. A circulating
library of two hundred volumes was inaugurated in the
Sunday School department in 1868.

The old Convent, Saint Mary's of the Isle, no longer a
fit dwelling was removed and a spacious building, three and
one-half stories in height, was erected on the site of the
old building in 1880. Additional improvements were made
in 1892, which gave the Academy more convenient quarters.
The Atademy, at this time, 1892, had on record a total
attendance of eighty- four pupils, girls, 66; boys, 18.

In order to economize class-room space the interior of the
school building was altered and improved in 1889. In 1893,

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156 American Catholic Historical Society

the school records show a total attendance of 556 pupils;
girls, 272, boys, 284. Eight pupils, six girls and two boys
were graduated at the end of the scholastic year 1893.

Meantime St. Xavier's Academy was so far successful
as to attract the leading non-Catholic families in the city of
Province and vicinity. In consequence, various creeds were
represented in its student-body, no religious test being re-
quired as a qualification for registration. In view of sub-
sequent events this Academy was a potent factor in chang-
ing the attitude of men's minds toward the Sisterhood and
Catholic belief in general. Its cultural influence was far-
reaching. The non-Catholics who attended the Academy, as
well as the Catholics, marveled at the high degree of intellec-
tual and spiritual culture embodied in the humble teaching-
staff of the Academy. The children's enthusiasm found an
outlet within the home circle. Here were discussed the rare
qualities of mind and heart of those religious women, who
formerly had borne in silence the insult and opprobrium of
the then native culture.

This religious strife, which was still rife in the city as-
sumed a new and active form on March 20, 1855, as the
records which chronicled this anti-Catholic movement and
propaganda inform us. The actual condition of affairs in
Providence may be tolerably well gleaned from the follow-
ing communications :

Providence Journal,
March 21, 1855.

" An article headed ' An American Girl Confined in a
Nunnery,' appeared in the ' Tribune ' yesterday, that Miss
Newell a young lady of this city, having in prospect quite
an amount of property, was persuaded to enter the Convent
of Mercy, by undue influences, and that she was not allowed
to visit her mother who was dangerously ill. The follow-
ing communication was handed to us by the young lady, at
whose request we called at the convent last evening. We

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 157

found there one of her relatives and the Mayor who, with
commendable promptness, had gone to investigate the sub-
ject. Her story, as repeated by herself, was this: Some
years ago she became inclined to the Roman Catholic faith,
and after deliberation she made up her mind to join that
communion. This step was naturally opposed by her family
and in deference to their wishes she postponed it; but sub-
sequently she was baptized in this church. After she became
twenty-one years of age, she determined to enter the Con-
vent of Mercy. She said that she was led into this by her
conviction of right and that although she regretted to offend
her family, she saw no prospect of their becoming reconciled
to it, and as she had fully determined upon it and was of
age she delayed no longer; that she was perfectly free to
go and come as she pleased, and went into the streets daily ;
free not only to go out but to stay out, and that she could
return to her family whenever she pleased. She indignantly
denies that she had manifested indifference to the sickness
of her mother, and said that, being told that her mother
was ill on account of her going into the convent, she
thought that it would only have a bad effect if she went to
see her at present, unless with the intention of staying; in
which view of the case the friend who at first asked her to
go assented.

" We have no doubt of the truth of her statement, and we
understand that His Honor the Mayor was equally con-
vinced of it. As Miss Newell's fortune has been referred
to, it may 'be proper to state that she became entitled, on the
death of her father, to about $5,000.

" However unpleasant it may be to see a young lady of
Ugh intelligence and character, forsake the religion of her
father, and devote herself to a conventual life, instead of
remaining in the society which she is so well qualified to
adorn, there is certainly no law against it in the land of
Roger Williams, and she must judge for herself."

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During this visit to the Convent, Mr. Knowles, the Mayor
of Providence, personally requested Mother Warde in com-
pany with her Sisters to leave the city, lest a fate worse than
the destruction of the city be meted out to them. She in-
quired if he could not in his official capacity prevent a riot
and the probable bloodshed. He replied that he was power-
less in face of such force • of armed men. Mother Ward's
answer called for not a little courage: " If I were chief
magistrate of the city; I should know how to prevent a riot
and keep order." When again he urged her to leave the
city, her reply was characteristic of the great Mother's hero-
ism,^ " We will remain in our house and if needs be die
rather than fly from the field of duty wherein God has
placed us."

The answer to the calumny published in the "Tribune "
under date March 21, 1855, is found in Miss Newell's com-
munication which is worthy of inserting here :

To THE Editor of the Journal :

" The insertion of these few lines would confer a
great favor upon one with whom the public has deemed
proper to interfere most unpardonably. They are

*Ten thousand of the Know-nothing party were expected to join
the Providence-riot in behalf of their "YaiJcee" brethren. — Annals,
Vol. Ill, p. 3»

In (May, 1844, ^out thousand " Nativists " of Philadelphia attempted
to bum the Convent of the Sisters of Charity of the B. V. M., who-
were in charge of the Sdiool of 'St. Michael's. They were prevented
by the Irish who took up arms against them. The following day four
thousand of the Know-nothing party assembled on "Independence
Square" where their fury received new fuel in the form of speeches,
etc. On {May 8, St. Michael's Church was destroyed and sixty houses
of the Irish set on fire. St. Augustine's Church, library and house
were destroyed' during the night.

See " Kenrick's Diary and Visitation Records ", 1830-1851, p. 221 et seq>
and " Kenrick-Frenaye Letters ", p. 189 et seq.

''Life of Mother Warde by a Sister of Mercy, Manchester, N. H.,.
p. 170.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 159

simply to declare the statement published in the " Tri-
bune" of today, concerning her entrance to the Con-
• vent of Mercy, utterly false. In the present case she
believed the shrinking from appearing before the public,
which, under common circumstances, delicacy always
prompts, would be only an inexcusable silence, since
here the honor of revered friends is concerned.

" She has been admitted to the Convent at her earnest
request, and only after long consideration on her own
part, of the state of life she desired to embrace, and
the statement with r^^ard to her fortune is as exag-
gerated as others which the paragraph contains.

" In applying for admission to the Superior of the
G>nvent, she was guided by a firm conviction of right
alone, instead of romance and fascination, and had at
that hoiw, as now, only the desire peaceably to follow
the dictates of her conscience in a land of boasted
liberty and equality of rights."

(Signed) Rebecca Newell.
Tuesday, March 20th.

Truth thus transmitted began to conquer. A complete
victory, however, was not effected until the failure of the
planned attack mentioned in the following communication :

Editorial

Providence Journal,
March 22, 1855.
" Some mischievous fool, following the lead of the
stories about Miss Newell, which the young lady her-
self contradicted in our paper of yesterday has de-
clared in the streets an invitation for a mob to assemble
in front of the Convent this evening.

" The nearest way to the watch house is by College
Street, but if any rowdies prefer the more roundabout
course of annoying and insulting defenseless women in

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their own house, they can accept the invitation offered.
The placard * would be most atrocious if there was any
chance that its suggestions would be acted upon, but
this we do not regard as possible.

" Should an attempt be made to violate the laws,
the authorities lack neither the disposition nor the
means to preserve the peace of the city, and they would
have the support of all the friends of law and order of
every Party."

Despite the " Journal's " able pen defense of justice and
equity, the mob at the appointed time and place, approached
the Convent but were not prepared to meet a band of sturdy
Irish Catholics who were ready armed to defend the Sisters
with their heart's blood.

The arrival of Mr. Stead, former owner of the Convent
property, and Bishop O'Reilly put to shame the hooting
mob.* The Bishop's words are characteristic; " The Sisters

* The following is a copy of the placard :

AMERICANS!
" To Whom These Presents May Come.
"Greeting:

Whereas, certain rumors are afloat, of a certain transaction,
of a certain ANTI-SAM party in the vicinity of the comer of
Claverick and Broad Streets, every true Native American Bom
Citizen, is requested, one and all, to assemble there Thursday
Evening, March 22nd, 1855, at 8 o'clock precisely. There with
true regard to 'Law, and consulting the feelings and sympathies
of SAM, proceedings of the most solenm and unquestionable
nature will be transacted.

" One and all to the Rescue ! I
"The Password is "SHOW YOUBjSBLF."

* During the civil war, one of tiie Providence rioters having been
wounded in battle was taken to the Military Hospital, Jefferson City,
in charge of the .Sisters of Mercy. Recognizing the Religious habit he
told tiie Sister-nurse of his part in the Convent attack and his subse-
quent conversion to the Catholic Faith due to the example of Mother
Warde and the heroism of Bishop O'Reilly.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy i6i,

are in their home, they shall not leave it for an hour. I shall
protect them while I have life and if necessary register their
safety with my blood." The combined forces of law and
moral suasion proved effective, and the mob quietly withdrew,
thus ending the last and most violent form of religious an-
tagonism in Providence. The city's return to normal con-
ditions was marked by the wide-spreading influence of the
Sisters and a greater religious tolerance in general.^^

During the year 1854, the Catholic population of the
Diocese of Hartford mmibered fifty-five thousand. Owing
to the vast increase, Bishop O'Reilly thought it expedient to
augment the number of priests, and religious, and to bring
Christian Brothers into his diocese. With this end in view, to
bring recruits for the priesthood and religious for the schools
from Ireland, he sailed for Europe, December 5, 1855. His
mission having been accomplished, he embarked for America
on the ill-fated Pacific which was evidently lost at sea with
all on board.

The death of Bishop O'Reilly was an irreparable loss
to the whole diocese but was felt with a special keenness by
the Sisters of Mercy in whose activities the Bishop was
heartily interested; he had brought them from Pittsburg,
the first Community of Religious women in the diocese and
in their work for education and the care of Orphans and
the poor, he was a leading and potent factor. To Bishop
O'Reilly more than to any other, perhaps, New England
owes the establishment of its system of Parochial Schools.

^* Mother Warde went quietly among the men who were cotigregated
in the rear of the Convent enclosure, exhorting them to self-control and
exacting a promise from each not to fire unless in self-defense. One of
the rioters seeing the influence she exerted over the men exclaimed.

"We made our plans without reasoning the odds we will have to
contend with in the strong controlling force the presence of that nun
commands. The only honoraUe course for us to follow is t<» retreat
from the ill-conceived fray, I, for one, will not lift a hand to harm
these ladies."— ^ee Life of Mother Warde by a Sister of Mercy, Man-
chester, N. H., p. 171.

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i

The growth and development of the Sisters of Mercy in
the diocese of Hartford from 1851 when they came there,
four in number, until 1856, is remarkable and perhaps with-

: out precedent in the United States. When in 1858, Rt. Rev.

Bishop McFarland, the successor of Bishop O'Reilly, came
to the diocese of Hartford, he found it in a flourishing con-

I dition. The schools conducted by the Sisters of Mercy

j were an earnest of the future.

The Catholic Directory of 1857 gives the number of Pro-

i f essed choir Sisters in the Diocese, thirty- four, with fourteen

I lay Sisters, twenty Novices, and eight Postulants. Three

Academies were under their charge: St. Xavier's in Pro-
vidence, R. I., an Academy at their Convent, St. Patrick's
New Haven; another Academy St. Catherine's, on Church
Street Hartford, Connecticut.

The Sisters also had charge of the following Free Schools :
In Providence : a Free School for Girls with four himdred
in attendance; St. Patrick's Free School for Girls, three
hundred pupils registered; St. Joseph's Free School for
Girls, three hundred and sixty pupils; at St. Patrick's,
Hartford, the Sisters were teaching two hundred children;
in St. Mary's, New Haven, a Free School, imder the charge
of the Sisters with three hundred pupils ; St. Patrick's New
Haven, a Free School for Girls three hundred pupils re-
gistered ; Free School of Girls, Newport, two hundred pupils
in attendance.

In the Directory of 1858, St. Xavier's Academy shows
an enrolment of fifty pupils ; St. Catharine's, Hartford, fifty-
five; St. Mary's, New Haven, fifty. St. Mary's Orphan
Asylum, Providence, shelters fifty-five orphans; twenty
orphans are cared for in Hartford Asylum and the Home
for Girls in New Haven cares for thirty-five.
Total (including parochial school pupils in 1857) 2325.
The Bishop himself gave personal instructions in the
sciences and the classics to the Sisters, many of whom l>e-

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 163

came proficient scholars under his instnKtion.

In 1857, Mother Warde, having been invited^ sent six
Sisters to found a Convent in Rochester, then in the diocese
of Buffalo, New York. In the same year (1857) Sisters
of Mercy from Rochester went to Buffalo to take charge of
a Parochial School there.

The year 1858 had a double signficance to the Providence
Community: the consecration of Bishop McFarland, suc-
cessor of Bishop Bernard O'Reilly, and the passing of
Mother Warde to the Manchester Community. At the con-
secration of Bishop McFarland, Bishop Bacon from Port-
land made his first appeal for a community of Sisters of
Mercy to open schools in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Father McDonald, pastor in Manchester, strongly urged this
appeal. After waiting some months and not seeing any
evidence of a favorable response, Bishop Bacon again visited
Providence with the sole purpose of a personal interview
with Mother Warde. He pointed out to her that the only
solution to the problem of keeping the faith in the children
of his diocese lay in Catholic education. With the con-
sent of Bishop McFarland the • request was granted.
Mother Warde, whose term of office had recently expired^
was appointed by her successor, Mother M. Josephine Lom-
bard, Superior of the new Foundation. July 16, 1858, the
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, marked the departure
of the new foundation from Providence and their subsequent
entrance into Manchester.

During Bishop McFarland's episcopate, a new impulse
was given to Catholic Education. He directed the work
and assured its success by increasing the number of schools
throughout the diocese and by steadily raising the educa-
tional standard. The Cathedral School, Lime Street, by his
zeal and wise counsel so increased that four times the
number of Sisters were needed where a few years previous
three or four sufficed. In 1859 the Sisters of Mercy took

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charge of the boys' schools in Providence, The f oUowingf
year i860, schools were opened in South Street, Providence
for boys and girls.

Meantime the spiritual energy at work in the chain of
parochial schools in the North was transmitted to the South.
In 1859, Bishop Verot of Florida came to Providence to
invite the Sisters of Mercy to open a school in his diocese.
With the consent of Bishop McFarland a community was
selected for this new field of labor. This was the first school
of the Sisters of Mercy, Mother McAuley Fotmdation, on
Southern soil. A Boarding School and Day School were
accordingly opened in historic St. Augustine, Florida,
Mother M. Liguori Major, a convert, was appointed Sup-
erior.

A second foundation was sent from the Mother-house in
Providence to the South on November i, 1866, to open
schools in Nashville, at the personal request of Rt. Reverend
Patrick Feehan, Bishop of Nashville, Tennessee. (Later first
Archbishop of Chicago 1880-1902). Six Sisters with
Mother Mary Clare McMahon formed the Community
which established St. Bernard's Convent and school in the
episcopal city.

Immediately after the war, Sdsters were sent to reinforce
the Commtmity in Columbus, Ga., which had been founded
in 1862 from St. Augustine, Florida. A second detach-
ment left St. Xavier's in 1868, to aid the Community in St.
Augustine which suffered untold hardships during those
turbulent times.

Pawtucket

In the summer of 1861, the Sisters of Mercy were invited
to take charge of the girls' department of the parochial
school,*^ on Grace and George Streets, which had been

^^ This school building two and one-half stories in height was erected
in 1854. In 1859 a two-story annex was erected to accommodate the
children who came from Central Falls, Valley Falls and Lonesdale»
<listances of from one to three miles.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 165

established in the Immaculate Conception parish, Paw-
tucket," in 1855, and given into the charge of lay teachers.
Two Sisters went daily by stage from the Mother-house,
St. Francis Xavier, Providence, until the completion of the
new Convent, St. Joseph's, April, 1862. Ehiring the erection
of the Convent, the men of the parish ably assisted the
pastor, the Reverend Patrick G. Delany, some by contribut-
ing a da/s labor, others by providing vehicles for hauling
purposes.

In 1863, the boys of this school were given in charge of
the Sisters, the male teachers who had had charge having
resigned. This increase in labor necessitated the addition
of two Sisters to the teaching-staff. The remodeling of
the Convent in the summer of 1868, made possible the open-
ing of an Academy and a boarding school in the following
September. At the opening the Academy records show an
enrolment of fifty children, ten of whom were resident
pupils.

The nearness to St. Francis Xavier Academy, Providence,
with its superior advantages made a boarding school in
Pawtucket impracticable, consequently it was closed to
make room for the growing community. The Academy,
however, continued until the completion of the new school,
St. Mary's, September 7, 1891. At the opening of this
school the Sister-teachers, eight in number, were prepared
for five hundred pupils only; it was found necessary how-
ever to open two additional rooms to accommodate the eight
hundred children who waited to be enrolled. Temporary
seats and desks were provided until school-furniture could
be procured.

Two Sisters reinforced the teaching-staff. The pupils
were reclassified into nine grades. Ten class rooms were in
use. In 1893, the school records show an enrolment of

^^ Pawtucket formed part of Bristol Co., Mass., till 1861. A portion
of North Providenoe was annexed to it in 1874.

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755 pupils; giris, 330; boys, 325. Graduates, 10. The
Sunday-school records show an enrollment of eleven hund-
red children; boys, 500; girls, 600.

In May, 1887, a second school was opened in Pawtucket,
in St. Joseph's parish. A private residence situated in the
center of a tract of well-kept land on Wallcott Street, was
purchased for a Convent. A large barn on the premises
was fitted up for school purposes. On September 5, 1887
four hundred children assembled for registration. The
attendance overtaxed the limited cmpacity of the "bam"
school; to relieve this congested condition a small frame
building was erected nearby for the use of lower grades.

On the removal of the primary grades the school was re-
organized and the children classified into twelve grades. At
the close of the term examinations *' were held by the
pastor and his assistant. The year 1893 Jnade many
changes in Church property. A new School was impera-
tive; the Convent needed many improvements; accordingly
both school buildings were removed to Denver Street, re-
modeled and used for school purposes until the erection of
the new building on the old Convent ground, the Convent
having been removed to the site of the old school building.

In September 1863, the Sisters organized their fourth
school in the city of Providence, in the Inunaculate Con-
ception Parish. This school, a two-story church-annex had
been in charge of lay teachers. The Sisters made their
home at St. Francis Xavier's Convent and continued in
charge of the girls' department in the Immaculate Concep-
tion school until July, 1867, when they were withdrawn and
the Sisters of Charity assumed charge. In 1905 the Sisters
of Charity were recalled to the Mother-house and the
Sisters of Mercy again assumed charge.

^^ It was not uncommon in New England during the pioneer days of
parochial schools to conduct the examinations at the public closing
exercises.

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IVork of the Sisters of Mercy 167

WOONSOCKET, R. I.

On August 20, 1869, a foundation of Sisters of Mercy ar-
rived in Woonsocket from the Mother-house, St. Xavier's,
Providence, to organize a parochial school in St. Charles'
parish. The school, a brick structure, on the comer of
Daniel and Earle Streets had been built in 1859 and en-
trusted to lay teachers. When the Sisters went there in
1869 they found that an eight-grade classification had been
established, subsequently high-school subjects were added
to the curriculum. An Academy was also inaugurated at
the Convent, St. Bernard's.

To meet the conditions consequent on a growing school
and academy, each with limited capacity, a large barn was
altered and improved so as to meet classroom requirements.
Late in the scholastic year the senior department of the
academy was transferred to this building; the jimior grades,
however, were retained at the Convent until 1873, when
a convent-annex was erected, thus giving more comfortable
quarters both to pupils and teachers. The academy at this
time had in register one hundred and twenty-five pupils,
many non-Catholics among the number. The greater part
of the simi total were French Canadians.

The number of pupils in attendance in 1879 was large
enough to make the erection of a new school a manifest need.
To preclude the hardships consequent on the long daily
tramp to school, the new brick building, two and one-half
stories in height was erected on River Street, a site con-
venient to the greater number of children. On the f e^st of
St. Michael, September 29, 1879, the formal opening took;
place, after the blessing of the school which was placed
under the patronage of St. Michael. The registration
marked one hundred and seventy pupils.

The growth of the French Canadian student-body at St.
Michael's made a community of French Sisters desirable.

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Accordingly in the summer of 1880, the Order of " Jesu-
Marie** arived in Woonsocket to assume charge of the
new school in the Precious Blood Parish. No Convent
was in readiness to receive the Sisters, they therefore
made their home with the Sisters at St. Bernard's Convent
until the fdlowing October, 1880. The opening of the
French school naturally drew French children from St.
Bernard's Academy which rendered the up-keep of the latter
practically needless, however, it continued until 1887 when
a need of greater urgency elsewhere called for the Sisters*
services. Prior to the advent of the French Community,
the French Sisters of Mercy from St. Bernard's visited the
sick, organized societies and classes in Christian Doctrine,
instructed converts for the Sacraments, and took care of
the altar and Mass appurtenances in the school-hall, which
was used for divine services for the people of the Precious
Blood Parish.

New Bedford

A call from New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1873, came
to the Mother-house in Providence for Sisters to takc|
charge of the hospital established in St. Lawrence's parish.
The hospital, the first institution of its kind opened in the
city, was inaugurated by Rev. Lawrence McMahon, sti>-
sequently, Bishop of Hartford, 1879-1893. On January
I, 1876, a yearly report of the Secretary, Stephen W. Hayes,
gives one htmdred and ten patients treated during the year.
These were listed as natives of the following countries:
United States, Ireland, Scotland, England, Western Islands,
Cape de Verde Islands, St. Helena, Denmark, Port Natal,
New Zealand, Holland, France, Norway, Canada, Germany,
Spain, West Indies and China. Twenty-nine of the patients
thus registered were Americans ; the Irish numbered thirty-
six. The majority of the total number were charity-
patients.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 169

Ten years later, 1883, ^ parochial school was opened in
St. Joseph's parish, New Bedford and given in charge of
eight Sisters of Mercy. The school attendance numbered
three-hundred and eighty children. Within a month over
four hundred were recorded. High-school subjects were
introduced from the beginning; however, it was not until
1884, that the High School course was formally inaugu-
rated. The first High School class was graduated in June
1887. ^^ 1S8S, it was found necessary to convert the large
assembly hall into classrooms. The total attendance in
1 891 was seven hundred and fifty-five pupils, boys 367; girls
388. A second school, St. Mary, was opened in New Bed-
ford, St. James' parish in 1885. Eight classrooms were
utilized at the begiiming. When the children completed
the grammar grades, the pupils who desired to continue
school work were tranferred to St. Joseph's High School.

On March 12, 1904, the diocese of Providence was
divided and New Bedford became part of the newly created
diocese, Fall River. The Sisters of Mercy in the Diocese
of Fall River became an independent community.

Fall River

Three Sisters of Mercy from St. Xavier's Convent, Pro-
vidence, arrived in Fall River, Mass. February 23, 1874 to
open a school in St. Mar/s parish. Later, five Sisters
were added to the teaching-staff. No arrangements had
been made for the opening of a parochial school, an Academy
was, in consequence, established in the Convent, a rented
tenement, March 19, 1874. Four rooms were used for
school purposes at the beginning, later two additional rooms
were utilized.

In 1875, St. Mary's old church was remodeled to answer
school purposes until better accommodations could be se-
cured. Meantime a private residence on Second Street,
sufficiently large to answer the dual purpose of Convent and

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Academy, was purchased, and schcx>l opened in December,
1875. The children registered were from the following
parishes : St. Mary's, Sacred Heart, St. Patrick's and from
those sections of the city which now constitute the parishes
of The Immaculate Conception and Notre Dame de Lourdes.

A second school in Fall River was established in the base-
ment of the French Canadian church, St. Ann's, September,
1879, by two French Sisters of Mercy from the Mother -
house, St. Xavier's, Providence. One hundred and forty
children registered at the beginning. Qasses were con-
ducted in the English and French languages. Due to the
constant increase of French population, it was thought ex-
pedient to introduce a French commtmity of Sisters; ac-
cordingly, Sisters of the Holy Cross, having been invited
assumed charge. The Sisters of Mercy while teaching at
St. Ann's school made St. Catherine's Convent their home.

In St. Patrick's parish, 1886, the third school in Fall
River, entrusted to the Sisters of Mercy was established
with a registration of two htmdred and fifty pupils. The
destruction of St. Patrick's school by fire, August 20, 1890,
caused much inconvenience; however, February 1891, saw
the school again in operation with a High School course
added to the curriculiun. In Jime, 1893, St. Patrick's had
a school attendance of four hundred and eleven pupils.

A Home for Orphans, St. Vincent's, was opened at Fall
River by three Sisters of Mercy from Providence, R. I. in
1885. At the opening there were seven little orphans. The
building was formerly a hotel, one of the many structures
erected on the property known as " Forest Hill Gardens."
The charity of thfe community at large was made practical
in donations of large stuns of money, clothing and
groceries. Amusements for the orphans were also provided
by the generous people. Fall River became the episcopal
residence of the bishop of Fall River Diocese created March
12, 1904, and also headquarters of the Sisters of Mercy in
the new diocese.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 171

Valley Falls

On August 26, 1878, six sisters of Mercy arrived in Valley-
Falls, R. I. from the Mother-house in Providence to open a
school in St. Patrick's parish. The school opened in Sep-
tember 1878, with three hundred and fifty children in attend-
ence, eight grades. Later a High School was opened but
was discontinued in 1892. The Convent, a dwelling erected
to accommodate about five families, was in an imdesirable
locality, the Sisters, however, remained here until 1880,
when St. Thomas' School was erected adjoining the Con-
vent.

Central Falls

In 1883, two Sisters of Mercy from St. Xavier's having
been invited, cq)ened a school in the basement of the French
Canadian Church of Notre Dame, Central Falls, R. I. At
the beginning the registration was small, in a month or
two, however, the enrolment showed an attendance of one
hundred and thirty pupils. The classes were conducted in
both English and French languages. The Sisters made
St. Thomas' Convent, Valley Falls, their headquarters.

Meantime the parochial school in St. Edward's parish
which had been opened in 1877 and conducted by secular
teachers, was placed under the supervision of the Sisters
of Mercy in 1881. School was held in the basement of the
St. Edward's Church while the new church was in course
of erection. The school attendance at the opening was one
Tiundred. In 1889, the old church was made convenient for
school purposes. The school record now showed an attend-
ance of one hundred and sixty pupils. In 1892, the upper
floor which had been used for an assembly hall was con-
verted into class-rooms, three of which were put to im-
mediate use. Three Sisters were also added to the teaching-
staff.

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In 1893, there were on roll two hundred pupils. This
year the school conferred diplomas on its first graduating
class. Owing to the death of the esteemed pastor, Rev. J.
A. Fimiigan, who was a tireless worker in the cause of
Catholic Education, there were no public exercises. Prior
to the year 1892, the Sisters teaching at St. Edward's made
St. Xavier's their home. In September, 1892, the former
pastoral residence became the headquarters of the Sisters of
St. Edward's.

In 1888, the statistics of the diocese of Providence as
given in the Annals * are as follows :

Convents, 11; Academies, 4; hospital, i; orphanages, 2;
parochial schools, 16; Sunday-schools, 20. In these institu-
tions there are 270 orphans, 319 pupils in the academies,
6165 pupils in the parochial schools; graduates pursuing^
higher studies, 99; Children of Mary, 2803; Angels'
Sodalities, 121 3; Infant Jesus' Sodalities, 957; Rosary
Societies, 395; Altar Societies, 1287; other sodalities, chiefly
boys' 463; Sunday-schools, 8100; Literary Societies, 90 J
Ladies' Aid Societies, for providing clothing and other
necessaries for the poor, 619. These are under the charge
of 159 Sisters of Mercy. From 185 1 to 1888 the number
professed Sisters is 225 ; the number of deaths 49.

The Catholic Directory of 1896 lists for the Providence
diocese; Sisters; 172; Asylums, 2; Orphans, 350; Acade-
mies, 2; Parochial Schools, 14; Pupils, 6775. i

In September, 191 5, the Sisters of Mercy assumed charge
of St. Mary's School, Wood Street, Bristol. It opened
with an attendance of seventy pupils. There are at present
( 192 1 ) 282 pupils classified in seven grades, taught by eight
Sisters. In 1916, a parish school was established at St.
Ann's, (Italian) Providence with three hundred children
recorded. The curriculum calls for eight grades. Nine

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 173

Sisters in charge. Two Convents were established in 1917.
St. Joseph's Convent, Mendon Road, Ashton, where the
Sisters have organized classes in Christian Doctrine, sewing
and embroidery was opened. They also visited and took
care of the sick in their own homes. Sacred Heart School,
Tauton Avenue, East Providence was established with six
grades, taught by four Sisters.

Home for Orphans

The initial step in the organization of a home for orphans
was taken in 1851, when two little orphan girls were brought
to St. Xavier's Convent to be sheltered by the Sisters. The
asylum opened in a one and one half story frame building
near the convent and served as a diocesan institution until
1853, when orphan asylums were opened in Hartford and
New Haven by the Sisters of Mercy who had established
schools in those cities in 1852. The transfer of orphans
from Providence to Hartford and New Haven precluded
for a time taxed capacity in St. Xavier's, however the
asylum was overcrowded in 1853. Plans were then pro-
jected by Bishop McFarland for the erection of a new
shelter, a brick building adjoining the Convent. These
plans were presented to Mother Xavier Warde who for
some time previous had been struggling with the academy-
accommodation problem. In Bishop McFarland's project,
Mother Warde found the key to the solution of her problem.
By altering the original design and extending the building
ten feet beyond the orginal plans, more ample quarters could
be secured for the academy. With the Bishop's approval
the modified plans were carried out, the Sisters assuming the
debt of the academy-annex. The building was completed
in 1856, and the greater number of orphans removed to the
new bmlding which was given the title, St. Mary of the
Ascension. The smaller children remained in the old build-
ing.

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The next step was to provide for the orphan boys. With
this end in view, the Bishop purchased ground on Prairie
Avenue, South Providence, and in 1861 the erection of a
three and one-half story building sufficiently large to ac-
commodate boys and girls was begun and completed in 1862.
It was placed under the patronal care of St. Aloysius, the
legal title being " Rhode Island Catholic Orphan Asylum ".
In April, 1862 the orphans were transferred to St. Aloysius'
Home, one of the finest buildings in the city of Providence.
There were at this time thirty-eight orphan girls in the in-
stitution. In 1864 there were two hundred and nine in-
mates ; boys, 1 1 1 ; girls, 98.

During this year, 1864 the orphans from the State of Con-
necticut were transferred from St. Aloysius' Home to Hart-
ford, St. James' Orphanage, which was recently completed.

In 1865, the spacious building erected four years previous
could no longer accommodate the number of orphan boys
and girls. It was found necessary in 1865 to purchase an
old church, St. Bernard's, and move it to a lot adjoining the
orphanage. This building supplemented the domestic de-
partment and provided class-rooms and play-rooms for the
smaller children. Here also was baked all the bread the
hungry little mouths could consume. An Industrial School
was inaugurated at St. Aloysius' Orphanage, Providence,
January, 1867. About twenty-five sewing machines were
installed; during the two years subsequent, this department
became a veritable shirt-factory, supplying the demands of
a New York firm.

When Bishop Hendricken came to Providence in 1872,
he established a nursery for children whose ages ranged
from one to two and one-half years. At the opening there
were about fifteen little ones cared for, the number soon in-
creasing to twenty-three. A matron assisted by the older
girls in the orphanage was given charge of the little ones.
Children under one year were boarded by a Catholic colored

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 175

woman until they were old enough to be cared for in the
nursery.

Bishop Matthew Harkins, the successor of Bishop Hen-
dricken to the See of Providence in 1887, took the same
interest and paternal care of the Orphans. One of his
first activities was the erection of a wing to the orphanage.
With this addition the building comfortably accommodated
over two hundred children. In 1892, there were two hun-
dred and fifteen orphans.

From the beginning, the Orphans were maintained solely
by the uncertain income derived from fairs and entertain-
ments, which were organized by the Sister. Bishop
Harkins took the first step to place on a solid basis the
revenue for the support of the Orphans by parochial assess-
ments. The Orphanage has at the present time, 192 1, 300;
boys, 170; girls, 130; eighteen Sisters in charge.

The Tyler School **

This school is the development of the Cathedral or Lime
Street School which had been established by Bishop
O'Reilly in 185 1, and the South Street School, erected and
opened in 1864. An Academy for boys had been inaugu-
rated by Bishop O'Reilly prior to his departure for Europe
in 1855, ^^ quest of a reinforcement of priests for his diocese
and Christian Brothers for his schools.

After Bishop McFarland came to Providence the
Academy for boy« was closed, 1858. To relieve the
crowded condition of the South Street School in 1885, the
larger boys in Lime Street School were transferred to La
Salle Academy which had been opened on Fountain Street
by the Christian Brothers.

When the Tyler School was opened in 1890, there was a

** So called in loving memory of Rt. Rev. William Tyler, convert
and first bishop of Hartford diocese. He was consecrated in the Cathe-
dral of Baltimore, March 17, 1844, died June 18^ 1849.

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school attendance of 571 pupils; 196 boys and 190 girls
were transferred from Lime Street School, while South
Street School sent 90 iboys and 95 girls. An Industrial
Department was opened in the basement which afforded in-
struction in manual training, cooking and sewing. The Man-
ual Training department adopted the Sloyd System which
included mechanical and free-hand drawing, woodwork and
wood-carving. Professor Shephard, a graduate of the
Cooper Institute, was placed in charge. The domestic
science department which had on record forty pupils em-
braced cooking and sewing. It was superintended by Miss
Hughes of Boston.

In 1893, the Industrial Department gave its first public
exhibition. According to the local paper which chronicled
the event, the cooking class gave evidence of its practical
knowledge in the form of bread, cakes, cookies, puddings,
pies, meats, fish and various forms of plain and fancy cook-
ing. The Manual Training exhibit consisted of wood-turn-
ing, wood-carving, scrolls and various forms of hand-craft
Drawings which evidenced careful instructions were also
presented to the public.

The Development of St. Francis Xavier's Academy

From its inauguration on High Street, September, 185 1,
to the present time, 1921, St. Xavier's academy has been
progressive not only in the usual grammar and high school
branches, but also in Music and Art. Its removal to a more
commodious building in Qaverick Street in 1856, greatly
augmented the capacity for prospective pupils. In 1865 an
important annex, St. Mary's of the Ascension, was erected
which housed comfortably ninety-five pupils, thirty of whom
were resident pupils. This addition also made possible
a reservation of rooms for the music and art departments
which reached a high degree of efficiency during the latter
part of the sixties and the early seventies. The art de-

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JVork of the Sisters of Mercy 177

partment occufned nearly the entire second floor. An im-
portant asset was the establishment of the library containing
five hundred bound volumes on art and the great master
artists.

In 1871 when wax-work became popular, a class to
promote hand-craft was organized and a room set apart for
the purpose. Later two cases of wax-work, the handcraft
of the Sisters, were sent to the Rhode Island State Fair.
" A Luncheon in Wax " won much attention not only f rwn
the judges but from the public at large. The '' Luncheon "
consisted of " oysters on the half shell and oysters on the
plate, slices of buttered bread and celery, breast and shoulder
of the chicken with gravy, slice of cheese, pot of baked
beans, small loaf of brown bread, hard-boiled egg sliced,
oyster crackers, pickles, cranberry sauce." * The work was
so true to nature as to deceive the judges who refused to
believe the work was wrought in wax, and invited the public
to inspect the " original well preserved." At the request
of the Sisters the work was tested publicly which resulted
in the ** incredulous " being convinced. The medal offered
by the Rhode Island " Society for the Encouragement of
Domestic Industry" was awarded to the Sisters of St.
Xavier's Convent, and testified to the high degree of merit
of their work in handcraft. Subsequently, a piece in needle
work representing " Ossian and Malvina " when Ossian tells
her of the death of her hu*and, attracted sufficient attention
as to merit for the Sisters a special diploma for proficiency
in handcraft from the State fair officials.

The division of the diocese in 1872 caused many changes
in the Hartford Community, the greatest of which was the
inauguration at St. Catherine's, Hartford, of an independent
Mother-house of the Sisters of Mercy in Connecticut. Sister
M. Pauline Maher was chosen first Superior. Sister M.

* Sisters of Mercy in Providence, p. 73.

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Bernard Reed was made Superior of the Sisters of Mercy
in the newly created diocese of Providence, St. Xavier's
Convent continued to be the headquarters of the Sisters of
Mercy in Rhode Island. Each community numbered
seventy Sisters. A Boarding School was established at St.
Catherine's Convent, Hartford in the following September,
As a natural sequence the children from Connecticut attend-
ing St. Xavier's Academy withdrew, and enrolled at St.
Catherine's. This withdrawal was followed by a brief in-
terlude in the growth of St. Xavier's Academy. Its re-
moval to Bayview in 1874, proved an important change in
the subsequent development of the boarding school. St.
Xavier's then became a day school for young ladies. In
1920, it became a high school for day pupils only.

The Academy curriculum embraced three departments;
junior, intermediate and senior. The senior department
included general history, bookkeeping, natural philosophy,
rhetoric, English literature, etymology of English words,
physical geography, etiquette and Church history. The
electives were algebra, geometry, Latin, French, German,
astronomy and geology. Lectures were given during the
month on mineralogy, botany, hygiene and mental philo-
sophy; classes in needlework also were held during the
month.

Bayview Seminary

This Institution, one of the finest of its kind in New
England is the logical development of the idea which
first inaugurated St. Xavier's Academy in its modest
quarters on High Street, 1851. It opened in the residence
which had ibeen erected on a tract of thirty-six acres which
was purchased in July, 1874. Sixty pupils were recorded at
the beginning; 50 boarders and 10 day pupils. The site is
splendidly located, commanding an excellent view of
Narragansett Bay and the surrounding country. The cur-

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 179

riculum as given in records of 1893, is based on the same
principle as that of St. Francis Xavier's Academy, namely,
the r^^r four year's High-sdhool com'se together with
special and partial courses. These courses afford instruc-
tions in general history, Church history, English literature,
history of the English language, rhetoric, moral science,
civil government, algebra, geometry, astronomy, psycholc^,
botany, chemistry, physics, geology, Latin,* French, Ger-
man,* normal music courses, short-hand,* drawing,* type-
writing, composition, elocution (by professor), calisthenics
and sewing. Its library contained, in 1893, over one thous-
and bound volumes besides pamphlets, periodicals, etc.
Some of the most prized volumes are the works of Long-
fellow, the poet's personal gift to the Institution. Cabinets
of minerals, geological specimens, shells, etc. are of great
value.

The music department afforded instructions on the organ,
piano, guitar and harp. A course in vocal music had also
been established. The art department embraced work on
china, in crayon, pastel, oils and water colors; ornamental
needlework was also included in this section of the Semi-
nary. Frcnn its establishment the growth of this institution
has been steady. It seemed a safe abiding-place of know-
ledge, piety and virtue to non^atholics as well as to Cath-
olics. This is verified in a letter written by a United States
army offerer from Fort Brown, Texas, dated October 7, 1878,
to the editor of the " Pilot " in which he tells his attitude
of mind toward the Catholic Sisterhood when in 1878 he
brought his daughter to the Seminary to be educated. He
was not " predisposed in favor of Academies conducted by
the Sisters of Mercy .... this was the result of ignorance
on my part .... I had not taken the trouble to learn for
myself and, like thousands of others, indolently adopted the

* electives.

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assertions of those no better informed than myself, that
they were simply ' proselytyzing institutions ' and that the
attainments of those entrusted with the education and with
forming the minds of our young women were simply super-
ficial. ..."

This officer refers also to the " courteous treatment of
visitors " by the Sisters, and their willingness and evident
anxiety to exhibit the progress made by the pupils ....
so different from the demeanor shown in some other in-
stitutions where I have found the presence of parents seem-
ingly irksome to the teachers. . . ."

The letter closes with ** the hope that it may meet the eye
of some parent who may happily be in doubt and who seeks
to send a daughter where purifying influences predominate,
and where education is not a mjrth."

(Signed) " Theodore J. Eckerson,

" Brevet-Major U. S. Armyr

During the life of service extending through a period of
seventy years, the Academy of St. Francis Xavier and its
outgrowth, St. Mary's Seminary have graduated over seven
hundred pupils.

The Sisters of Mercy in Providence diocese have from
their arrival in 1851 to the present time 192 1, attended
zealously to the intellectual as well as the spiritual sides of
the child's nature. The religious ferment which confronted
them on their arrival in the city of Providence, threatened
to make complex the problem entailed in establishing the
activities of their Institute. The problem, however, solved
itself when brought face to face with the stable principles
of justice, and equity, and evidences of social betterment
resultant of their works. Not satisfied with keeping abreast
of other schools they have endeavored to equip their own
with the best, intellectually and materially, so as to render
greater service to the community at large. For this reason

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy i8i

many of the Sisters have equipped themselves with college
training so as to make their works more efficient.

During the epidemic of influenza, 191 8, the Sisters
throughout the diocese gave generously of their services in
nursing the sick in St. Joseph's Hospital, Broad Street,
under the direction of the Franciscan Sisters ; in the Rhode
Island Hospital, they ably assisted the doctors and nurses of
that Institution. In Pawtucket and Woonsocket they
rendered excellent service in the local hospitals while the
epidemic lasted. District nursing was also established in
the cities, towns and villages where the Sisters' ministering
care was needed. Complete statistics of the work of the
Sisters during the epidemic are not now within our reach.

The Sistebs op Mercy in the I>iocsse of Pkovu)ence, Rhode Island,
HAVE Charge of the Institutions here Listed, 1921

Religious Girls

Convent of St. Francis Xavier, 'Religious Novitiate,
Normal Training School, Summer School. ( Men,
I ; Women, 3) 4 35

St. Francis Xavier's A(5ademy, 60 Broad St.,
Providence, R. I., High School, Commercial
High School 16 J94

St. Mary's Academy, High School, Elementary,

Spring St., Newport, R. i 2 12

Elementary School, Grades, 8 6 107

St. Mary's Seminary, >Higfa School, Commercial High
School, East Providence, R. 1 19 106

Elementary Schools

Grades Eight

PROVIDENCE Religious Boys and

Girls

Tyler School 21 836

St. Ann's School (Italian) 4 412

Qeary School, John St 19 802

St. Edward's, Branch Ave 3 357

Immaculate Conception, West River St 10 510

St. Patrick's, Davis St 8 507

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!

BRISTOL

St. Mary's School, Wood St. Grades seven 7 282

EAST PROVIDENCE

Sacred Heart School, Tauton Ave. Grades six 4 132

NEWPORT

St. Augustine's (School, Harrison Ave. Grades nine. 7 262

St. Mar/s, Levin* St. Grades eight 8 405

PAWTUCKET

St Joseph's School, Walcott St. Grades eight 11 494

St. Man^s School, George St. Grades eight 12 578

VALLEV FALLS

St. Paitrick's iSchool, Broad St. Grades eight 10 55^

WOONSOCKET

St Charles' School, Eagle St. Grades eight 9 349

ASHTON

St. Joseph's Convent, Mendon Road, Christian Doctrine Qass 180
Christion Doctrine, Sewing and Sewing and embroidery
embroidery classes. classes «... 125

Institutional Schools
Grades eight
St Aloysius' Home, Orphan Asylum, Elementary

School, 493 Prairie Ave., Providence, R. 1 10 J05

Mercy Home, Orphan Asylum, Elementary School,
Newport, iR. I. Grades nine 4 64

Total Number of Sisters in the Diocese 280

Hi^ Schools and Academies 3

Elementary Schools 14

Home for Orphans 2

Total Number of Sister teachers 188

Total Number of children under their control (Christian Doctrine

Qasses and Sewing Gasses non-inclusive) 7527

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DIOCESE OF HARTFORD, 18724921

At the time of the division of Hartford diocese in 1872
there were over four thousand pupils in the schools con-
ducted by the Sisters of Mercy and about three hundred
orphans cared for in the Homes. The number of Sisters in
the Community was equally divided, seventy established in
each diocese. St. Catherine's Convent, Hartford, became
the Mother-house of the Sisters of Mercy in Hartford
diocese, Sister Mary Pauline Maher was chosen superior.
St. Xavier's Convent, Providence, remained the Mother-
house of the Sisters in the newly-created diocese, Sister M.
Bernard Reed, Superior.

Although there was no dearth of vocations to the Mercy
Sisterhood from its foundation in New England yet the
rapid expansion of parish schools was so steady as to admit
of no interlude for the proper religious training of young
teachers for the new missions. To relieve this constant
pressiu-e, the ever renewed demand for more teachers, Bishop
McFarland appealed to the Sisters of Mercy in Ennis, Ire-
land, for a sufficient number of Sisters to establish two mis-
sions in the diocese, one at Middletown, the other in Meriden,
Connecticut. In answer to the appeal, a reinforcement of
eleven Sisters left Ennis, April 26, 1872, and arrived in New
York on May 6, where they were met by Very Rev. Father
Walsh who escorted them to the Convent of Mercy on
Houston Street. On the following day they set out for
their future home in Connecticut. Their arrival was a
marked contrast to the quiet entrance of the Sisters into New
England twenty-one years previous. A large concourse of
people awaited them at the depot, in Meriden. Carriages
were in readiness, and a band was waiting to furnish music
en route to their new Convent-home on Liberty Street. St.

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Elizabeth's Convent, Middletown, became the Mother-house
of the Ennis foundation. Mother Mary Agnes Healy was
the first superior. St. Bridget's Convent, Meriden, re-
mained a branch house of St. EUizabeth's, Middletown, until
1876 when it became an independent Community. Mother
Mary Teresa Perry was chosen superior in Meriden. Their
first activities were among the poor and the sick of the
parish. Instruction classes in Christian Doctrine were also
established. In the following September free schools for
girls were opened both in Middletown and in Meriden. The
opening attendance at Meriden was so large as to call for
an additional number of class-rooms. In January, 1875, at
the request of Bishop McFarland the Sisters at Meriden
established a boy's department with two hundred pupils in
attendance. Subsequently, they visited and formed classes
in Christian Doctrine in the State Reformatory. The Ennis
foundation remained an independent Community until 191 1
when, at the request of ecclesiastical authorities, all com-
munities of the Mercy Sisterhood in Connecticut were united.

One of the first cares of Bishop McFarland after fixing
the episcopal residence in Hartford 1872 was the erection
of a St. Joseph's Convent, a large building on Farmington
Avenue, the most desirable section of the city. The build-
ing was completed in 1874 and for some time served the
double purpose of Sisters' Chapel and pro-Cathedral.

During this year, 1874, the headquarters of the Sisters of
Mercy, and the Academy were transferred from St.
Catherine's to Mount St. Joseph's, Farmington Ave. The
Academy remained here until 1908 when it was transferred
to Hamilton Heights.

In 1872 the Mother-house in Hartford, St. Catherine's,
sent out two foundations, the first opened the parish school,
St. Patrick's, in Tompsonville, a manufacturing town of
prospective growth; the second took charge of St. Patrick's
School in Norwich, also a manufacturing town of over six-
teen thousand inhabitants (1870 census).

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Diocese of Hartford, 1872-1^21 185

On August 18, 1873, a Community from Hartford,
opened a Convent and School, St. Michael's, in Westerly,
R. I. The church property is, however, in the Hartford
diocese, situated on the Connecticut side of the Pawtucket
River, the boundary line between the two states. A Con-
vent and School, founded from Hartford, were opened in
Putnam in 1874, and placed under the patronage of Our
Blessed Lady, receiving the title, " Notre Dame." The
next foundation from Hartford was made April 22, 1876,
when St. John's Parish School was opened in Stamford,
situated on Long Island Sound. The next morning, April
23, the first Mass in their Convent Chapel was celebrated by
Bishop Galberry. The absence of factories in Stamford, in
1876, had its advantage in the educational line. The School
year was prolonged and higher courses were given at St.
John's than in many other Parish Schools under the care
of the Sisters.

In 1878, Mount St. Augustine,* a Seminary for small
boys, in charge of the Sisters of Mercy from Hartford was
opened in West Hartford. This Institution was erected on
a tract, containing thirty-three acres, known as, '* St. Aug-
ustine's Villa.'* A second tract containing eighty-five acres
was purchased in West Hartford for the purpose of erect-
ing a Home for the Aged and Infirm. In 1880 this build-
ing was completed, blessed and placed under the patronage
of Mary the Mother of God and given the title, " St.
Mary's." This Institution shelters and has given a home
to htmdreds, who, otherwise, would be destitute. The land
surrounding these Institutions is fragrant with spruce and
pine, and fruitful in abundance with the products of the
farm.

* So named in loving memory of Bishop Galberry, who died October
10, 1878, while on his way to Villanova College, to obtain a much-
needed rest. He was stricken with a hemorrhage and* died in the Grand
Union Hotel, New York. He esUblished The Connecticut Catholic in
1876; since then Hartford Diocese has continued to publish a Catholic
paper.

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In 1876 came the first invitation to the Sisters in Hart-
ford to open a Parish School in New Britain, a town situated
about ten miles south-west of Hartford. Perhaps in no
other town in Connecticut was there more need of religious
instruction and Christian Education than in New Britain,
a busy industrial center, where religion and Christian educa-
tion are the necessary controlling factors. i

St. Bridget's, which had been made the Mother-house of
the Meriden Community in 1876, sent out in 1878 its first
foundation, St. Mary's, Norwalk, a town on Long Island
Sound noted for its factories and fisheries.

Two years later, 1880, St. Elizabeth's Convent, Middle-
town, established in Bridgeport its first foundation, St.
Mar/s, St. Joseph's Convent and school were opened in
Fairfield in 1882 from the same Mother-house, St. Eliza-
beth's. During this year, 1882, the Mother-house at Hart-
ford, inaugurated St. Francis' Convent, school and Orphan-
age in New Haven. The following year, 1883, St. Joseph's
Convent and school were established in Lakeville.

The following are the statistics of 1883 ^s listed by the
Catholic Directory.

HAKTFORD, OONN.

Mount St. Joseph's Boarding School and ') Boarders 70

Academy. j

St Augustine's "Preparatory Boarding School

for Boys.— This institution is intended for

the education of young boys between the

ages of three and twelve years. In it they

receive all the motherly care of the good

Sisters. It is situated about two miles

from the city of Hartford."

WATESBUHY

Academy and Boarding School of the Im- ) ^^ . ., ^ .
maculate Conception } ^o- of pupils not given

I Pupib JO

Pupils 18

WINSTSD

Academy and Boarding Sdiool of St. Mar
garet of Cortona

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Diocese of Hartford, iSi2-ig2i 187;

BALTIC

Academy and Boarding School of the Holy
Family. (Frendi, Belgian and English)

UIDDLKTOWN

Academy of Our Lady of the iSacred Heart Pupils 75

E. RBTDGKPOW

St Joseph's Academy Pupils 218

PUTNAM

Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor Pupils 25

PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS
Th€S€ schools are all graded and free

St. Joseph's Cathedral iSchool Pupils 4^

St. Patrick's Girls 355

St. Peter's Pupils 679

NEW HAVEN

St. Patrick's Pupils 800

THOMPSONVILLE

St. Joseph's Pupils 300

STAPPOKD SPBINGS

St Edward's Pupils 150

NEW BRITAIN

St Mary's Pupils 1045

MIMHJnOWN

St. John's Pupils 300

STAMFOKO

St. John's Pupils 370

PUTNAM

St. Mary's Pupils 500

MEKIDEN

St Rose's Pupils 650

NOKWALK

St. Mary's Pupils 400

NORWICH

St. Patrick's Pupils 275

PAIR HAVEN

St Francis' PUpils 607

FAIRFIELD

St. Thomas' Pupils 130

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ASYLUMS

NEW HAVEN

St. Francis* Orphan Asylum for Boys and \ ^-, ' ' '

^'^'^ I Girls 103

HAVTFOBD

St. Mary's Home for the Destitute and ( Number of inmates not
Aged ( given

Total Number of Academies 8

" " ** Parochial Schools 15

" " •' Orphan Asylums 2

" " " Children, including orphans under the care of

the Sisters of Mercy 7^

During the twenty-five years which followed, 1883 to
1908, eighteen new foundations were made in the State of
Connecticut : eight f rcwn the Mother-house in Hartford, six
from Meriden and four from Middletown. Foundations
from Hartford, were : St. Augustine's Convent and school,
Bridgeport, 1884. St. Peter's Convent and school, Dan-
bury in 1885; Sacred Heart Convent and school, Newi
Haven, 1895; S^- Mary's Convent and school, Norwich,
1903. In 1906 two foundations were made: Sacred Heart
Convent and school, Waterbury, and St. Mary's Convent
and school, East Hartford. In 1907 a Convent and school
(The Immaculate Conception) were established in Hartford.

Meriden f oimdation : St. Joseph's Convent and School, in
1885. Two foundations were made in 1886, Sacred Heart
Convent and school, Ansonia, and St. Teresa's Convent and
school, Riocksville; St. Mary's Convent and school were
opened in New London in 1892; St. Francis' Convent and
school, Torrington in 1893, and an Academy of Our Lady of
Mercy was inaugurated in Milford, 1905. Between 1886
and 1897, f^u^f foundations were established from St.
Elizabeth's, Middletown: St. Mary's Convent and school,
Greenwich 1886; St. Mary's Convent and school, Portland
1887; St. Mary's Convent and school, Newtown, 1895; and
St. Francis' Convent and school, Naugatuck, 1897.

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Diocese of Hartford, 1872-192X 189

Mount St. Joseph's Academy was transferee! in 1907 from
Farmington avenue to Hamilton Heights. This splendid In-
stitution with its modemly-equipped laboratories is one of
the finest Schools in the State. The Academy of Our Lady
of Mercy, Laurelton Hall, Milford, is also atwreast of the
best in its educational advantages. The curriculum in both
academies embraces the regular four years' High-school
course, together with the usual Commercial group. They
are affiliated with the Catholic University and confer both
High-school and Commercial diplomas. The graduates
from both Academies are admitted to the State Normal
school without further qualification test.

In 191 1, after much consideration on the part of ecclesias-
tical superiors, it was deemed expedient that the three dis-
tinct communities of the Mercy Sisterhood in the State of
Connecticut be united. This union was effected in September
of 1911. The newly-united communities number in all six
hundred and ninety members. Prior to the union, Hart-
ford Commimity comprised four himdred and sixty-four
members; St. Bridget's, Meriden, had one hundred and
thirty-four, while St. Elizabeth's, Middlctown numbered
ninety-two. In 191 3, the Novitiate was transferred from
Farmington Avenue to St. Augustine's, West Hartford.

From 1912 to 191 5, seven foundations were established
from Hartford: St. Joseph's Convent and school, South
Norwalk, 191 2; St. Charles' Convent and school, Bridge-
port, 1913. In 1914, a Home for Infants and Maternity
Hospital were established in West Hartford. Connected
with the Hospital is a training school for Niu'ses. During
the year 1921, there were two hundred and ten infants
cared for in the Home, and sixty-nine patients in the hospital
during the past year were attended by seventeen pupil-nurses.
During the year, 1914, Holy Trinity Convent and school
were opened in Wallingf ord. Three Convents and scho(rfs
were established in 191 5: St. Rose's, New Haven; St.
Margaret's, Waterbury, and St. Joseph's, Meriden.

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190 American Catholic Historical Society

The Mercy Institute in the diocese of Hartford, the largest
Community of Sisters of Mercy in the United States has-
at present, 192 1, seven hundred and fifty members. From
its inauguration, as an independent Community in 1872, it
has confined its foundations to the State of Connecticut and
has channeled its energies diiefly along the educational line.
For some years prior to the opening of the Sisters' College *
in Washington, D. C. the Sisters awakened to the fact that
years of experience in teaching did not concern the public
so much as the certification of teachers. With the end in
view, to advance and standardize their work, they availed
themselves of the Summer Courses given at Harvard
University. At the opening of the Sisters' College, 1911,
the Community sent many of its members to the Summer
School, some of whom remained imtil they secured their
college degree. The statistics * following show the f ruitioa
of sixty-nine years of labor in the diocese :

Schools Teachers Pupils

St. Augustine's Novitiate, Normal

Training Sdiool —
Summer »SdiooI, East St., West ) Novices 35

Hartford^ Conn j Postulants ... 17

Mt. St. Joseph's Academy Religious, 18

High School, Commercial 130

High School &

Hamilton Heights, Hartford,

Conn., affiliated with Catholic

University

* During the past decade the Sisters College, Washington, D. C:.
has enrolled 1,917 students representing 42 religious orders. Of this
number 313, the highest representation of any one order, are Sisters
of Mercy. — See Th£ Sisters' College Messenger, April, 192a.

♦Taken from the Catholic (Directory 1921, and the "Directory of
Catholic Colleges and Schools 1921". Records from Hartford give
over twenty-three thousand children in thirty-seven parochial grammar
schools.

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Diocese of Hartford, 1872-1921 191

Academy of Our (Lady of Mercy
High School

G>minerdal High Sdiool
Elementary High Sdiool

Milford, Comi., affiliated wi^

Catholic University l(eligious» 10; Lay, i 170

(Boys
St. Joseph's Cathedral Religious, 17 601 J and

(Girls

Immaculate Conception Religious, 17; Lay, i 829

St Patrick's Religious, 19 725

St. Peter's Religious, 15; Lay, i 853

ANSONIA

Assumption Religious, 13; Lay, i 3Si

BKIDGEPORT

St Augustine's Religious, 18; Lay, i 822

St Charles' Religious, 11 ; Lay, i 527

St Mary's Religious, 8 351

Sacred Heart Religious, 15 ; Lay, i 714

St Peter's Religious, ao; Lay, i 896

Elementaxy tScHooLS Haxtfokd Gsaixbs Eight
Schools Teachers Pupils

GREENWICH

St Mary's Religious, 10 4fi7

GROTON

Sacred Heart Religious, Est 3 Est 100

LAKXVILLB

St. Mary's Religious, 3 94

UERIOBN

St Joseph's Religious, 9 34^

St. Rose's Religious, 9 407

MISDLETOWN

St Elizabeth's Religious, 13 ; Lay, i 682

NAUGATUCK

St. Francis' Religious, 11 ; Lay, i 448

NEW BRITAIN

St Mary's Religious, 25 ; Lay, i . . 1221

NEW HAVEN

St. Francis', Grades 9 Religious, 15 ; Lay, i 747

St Patrick's Religious, 17 709

St Rose's Religious, 7; Lay, i 406

Sacred Heart Religious, 15; Lay, i 670

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192 American Catholic Historical Society

NEW LONDON

St. Mary's Religious, 11 ; Lay, i 594

NORWALK

St. Mary's Religious, 10 ; Lay, i 52a

NORWICH

St Mary's Religious, 8 300

St. Patrick's Religious, 9 3B0

FOKTLAND

St. Mary's Religious, s 244

lOCXVZILE

St. Teresa's Religious, 7 317

SOUTH NORWALK

St. Joseph's Religious, 8 a6g

STAFFOKO SPRINGS

St. Edward's Religious, 4 245

STAMFORD

St. John's Religious, 16 743

THOMPSONVILLE

St. Josepfh's Religious, 9 # . 409

TORRINGTON

St. Francis' Religious, 16; Lay, i 804

WALUNGFORD

Holy Trinity Religious, 8 368

WATERBURY

St. Margaret's Religious, 8 303

Sacred Heart Religious, 8 412

WESTERLY (r. I.)

St. Michael's Religious, 5 196

St. Francis* Orphan Asylum
and Elementary School,

New Haven Religious, 9 440

St Agnes' Home cares for, at the present time (1921), two hundred
and ten infants.

Number of Sisters in Community 750

" " Sister-teachers 460

" " Lay Teachers 16

'' " Academies and High Schools 2

" Parochial Schools 37

" " Orphanages 2

" " Children in Schools 20,942

" Orphans 625

Total number of diildren, including orphans, in the
Diocese of Hartford under the care of the Sisters
of Mercy 21,152

Sister Mary Eulalia Herron.

St. Mary's Convent, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Digitized by GoOqIc

..mi^ ' X,

^^A.

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VOL. XXXIII

x^

sspTKiiaeBi 1922

No. a

IRccorbs

of tbc

Jlnirrican CatijolK

WITH WHICH JS COMBIMEO

AMERICAN CATHOI-T-- TM'^TORICAI* RESEAR€:HBS

Amtrfcn C«tK-:

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^INGL£ NUMBER. 90 CEPfTd

TABLE OF COHTBKTft.

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The Beneficial Saving Fund Society

or PHILADELPHIA
1200 Chestnut Street

Incorporatttd April '^>t 1K53

Resources, T-wenty-frve Million Dollars
Ov«r T-wentx Thousand D«posHor«

Znterest

3.6S°oFer

A nn w y^

OFFICERS

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^^»>|K«6- C(

Records of the
American Catholic Historical Socieh

VoSm. YTTTTT Seftbhbeb, 1922. No. 3

THE REV. CHARLES IGNATIUS HAMILTON CARTER,
V,G. (1803-1879)

BY ELLA M. E. FLICK

Philadelphians are accustomed to speak of historic old
St. Mary's on Fourth Street above Spruce Street as among
the city's most interesting landmarks. After the manner
of Carlyle we might say that it has echoed to the tramping
of many generations close to its gates. It was present at
the growth and expansion of a great industrial city. The
late Martin I. J. Griffin said, in his Story of St. Mary's
that one could go to St. Mary's graveyard and, compiling
the history of those whose ashes made the very ground one
tread upon, write the history of our country.

St. Mary's played no unimportant role in the early days
of the Catholic Chtm:h in America. Up until the nine-
teenth century it was the most important congr^;ation in
the United States. Philadelphia was once the capitol of
the nation, St. Mary's, the City cathedral. The old church
still bears the marks of splendor and glory. Memories
dear to the hearts of historians haunt those old walls — •

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194 American Catholic Historical Society

memories glorious, hollowed, fair as the sun — memories
troubled and sad.

Through the years the points of historical and religious
interest centred in St. Mary's have been well gathered, told
and retold. Not so the story of her priests. Many con-
nect the entire eighteenth century with the sad period known
as the Harold-Hogan-Conwell schism, with its history of
strife, disobedience, and apostacy. St. Mary's was the
battl^jound whereon took place that gigantic struggle from
which resulted little good and much harm. Yet over
against the apostles of darkness God raised up many apost-
les of light. Their life stories somehow got lost by the
wayside.

Very little is heard about the men whom duty called to
follow in the wake of the Rev. Wm. Hogan, to rectify the
wrong impressions, heal the wounds, undo the evil, streng-
then the weak, encourage the good. It was not the task of
a day. These men of God did their work silently, assidu-
ously, by word and example, in season and out of season,
striving to save as many as possible of those who had met
with spiritual shipwreck.

We shall have occasion in the course of this and subse-
quent biographical sketches to bring to light some few of
the hidden apostles of those troubled times. The convert
priests deserve a special mention. Only after years do they
stand out — Carter, Cooper, Stroble, rainbows after the
storm.

The story of Father Charles Ignatius Hamilton Carter
V. G., convert, priest, vicar-general and administrator ad
interim of the Diocese of Philadelphia, is the story of one
whom we might call an ordinary priest who lived, worked
and died in a very trying period. There is nothing very
unusual in his life. He was neither extraordinarily bril-
liant nor uncommonly popular. There have been hundreds

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The Rev. Charles Ignatms Hamilton Carter 195

i
like him in every land, in every centtiry — ^men working in

God's service whose actual work does not impress us be-
cause we take for granted that they should be just what
they are, and should do only what they are doing.

Father Carter's career is not unknown. A historical
sketch by Francis Reuss appeared in these Records some
twenty years back. Making use of these facts as a back-
ground, with the aid of the good memory of some of his
nearest and dearest friends, we present a new picture.
Rather a new light is thrown upon the old picture, show-
ing up things that have long been there, but that lay hidden
from our eyes. " To live in hearts we leave behind is not
to die."

A sketch of the Rev. Charles Carter, the priest, as revealed
in his everyday duties at St. John the Baptist's, Manayunk,
at St. Mary's and later at the Church of the Assumption,
form a character study that is exceedingly interesting?
the more so, because it is a study of action rather than
words. No doubt he considered himself a very ordinary,
prosaic, practical man. His life-book was worked out on
schedule. But not all the system in the world could cover
over the poetry and romance that peep out between the
covers.

The motive power in Father Carter's life was the glory
of God and the salvation of souls. Interwoven into his
zeal for the church was an intense love of the Mother of
God. We get a glimpse of this love in his vow to build a
church in her honor, a vow which materialized later in the
beautiful church of the Assumption, silent witness to-day
to his promise kept. The peculiar circimistances under
which this vow was made, his tender care in carrying it out,
lends a softer tone to a character sometimes considered
severe. This love explains in a way the blending of worker
and dreamer, strength and almost feminine softness ofl
heart.

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196 American Catholic Historical Society

In speaking of Father Carter one of his fellow workers,
looking back upon the past, said of him: " He was a pious,
zealous priest, whose great characteristic was punctuality
and little regard for modem fads. In his time, his most
praiseworthy habits of life and administration made him
the bete noire of his assistants and the clergy in general, as
well as of the people who had not the wisdom to appreciate
sterling qualitites."

His story is one of contrasts. Known in life as a man
of wealth, he died with hardly enough to cover the funeral
expenses. His will contained two bequests : a watch to his
nephew, his books to St. Charles Seminary. Bom in af-
fluence and luxury he lived so sparingly as to be considered
shabby. A story is told of a visit he once paid to his
friend Mr. P. Brady who kept a store at Front and Chest-
nut Streets. On this day Mr. Brady was bade in the count-
ing-room and Father Carter surprised him at work : " Ain't
you ashamed to wear such a shabby, dilapidated, old high
hat when you make calls?" said his friend, looking him
over. Father Carter smiled in his peculiar way, but made
no answer. He placed his old hat on the rack with the
others and pretended to ignore so personal a remark.
Later in the afternoon Mr. Brady went to get his hat to go
over to the Custom House. His hat was gone and in its
place rested Father Carter's dowdy old " stove-pipe ". It
is related that he went to the custom house in his office cap,
but remembering his remarks of the early afternoon he
smiled as he went.

Those who knew Father Carter in late life pictitfe him
to us a rather frail dignified old gentleman. Tall, erect,
soldierly in bearing; milk-white hair, tight thin-lipped
mouth, piercing eyes that looked through and beyond one,
chisled features, long tapering hands. He was handsome.
He was also priestly.

Going back over his life we get very little, as far as

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The Rev. Charles Ignatius Hamilton Carter 197

character manifestation goes, from his early years. He
was bom September 23, 1803, in Lincoln Co., Kentucky^
son of Colonel Charles Carter, army officer, English by
birth. The details of his childhood are not given us. We
are told that his elder sister Caroline married a Mn
Lancaster, a devout Catholic, and entered the Church,
Charles in later life attributed his first leaning towards
Catholicity to Caroline and her pious household. Their
evening prayers, in which even the servants joined, greatly
impressed the boy. At twenty he was baptized. In 1826,
in his twenty-fourth year, he entered Bishop David's Sem-
inary at Bardstown, Louisville, Kentucky.

So little is given us concerning these years that we can
follow them only in sequence of date. There are a great
many things we would like very much to hear about. In
connection with his birth we would be interested to hear
just how he came by his second name — Ignatius. How
well it suited his station, parentage, and soldierly character
we cannot help but marvel. Also we would like to know
something of the mother of such a boy.

Just who prepared and baptized young Charles seems to
be an unsettled question; some say Bishop Flaget and others
Bishop Kenrick. It appears that Bishop Kenrick was very
friendly with the young man throughout his college and
seminary course. It was through him he entered the
seminary. In the life of Bishop Conwell we read: "At
the consecration dinner at St. Joseph's College, where Bishop
Kenrick had served for nine years, one of the speakers was
Mr. Charles Carter, a seminarian, who afterwards was at-
tached to the Philadelphia diocese as assistant at St. Mary's,
and afterwards as founder of the Church of the Assump-
tion. In his address he said : " To you, venerable Prelate
of Philadelphia, we offer the warmest congratulations that
Heaven has favored your declining years with such an able
efficient coadjutor." Again, we hear of Bishop Kenrick's

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198 American Catholic Historical Society

visits to young Carter at Bardstown in 1827 and at St.

Mar/s Seminary in 1830. It was he who arranged for his

transfer to Philadelphia and ordained him at St. Mary's 1

Church in 1832. Throughout these years and the five that

follow, Bishop Kenrick was in constant touch with his con- \

vert, whom we find assisting him at the various exerdses

throughout the diocese. In his own diary ^ we meet the

name Carter many times : " 1835, June, twenty-fifth day.

I went by stage to Lancaster. My companion on the way

was the Rev. Charles Carter, pastor of the church of St.

John the Baptist in the town of Manayunk."

" 1836. Aug. Nineteenth day. I started out on sacred visita-
tion with the Rev. Charles Ignatius Carter as travelling ,
companion. After passing over a distance of twenty miles
by boat, which was drawn by steam, we landed at the town
of Bristol; then by carriage, also drawn by steam, over a
distance of ten miles, we reached the town of Morrisville.
The remainder of the journey, then, of fifty miles to the
town of Easton we made by the ordinary public stage j
coach."

Father Carter in early life was of very delicate health.
In 1837, with his fatherly concern, the Bishop gave him
leave of absence to travel in Europe in the hope that the
ocean voyage and rest from active duty would restore his
strength. We get a glimpse of the feeling between the
Bishop and his young priest from Bishop Kenrick's letter
of January 31, 1837, to Dr. Paul CuUen, Rector of the Irish
College, Rome, introducing Father Carter, whose " sincere
piety will, I am confident, insure him your esteem as it has
won the affections of your esteemed friend in Christ".
This friendship is most interesting to follow. like Father
Carter's own life it is revealed to us only in dates and jot-
tings of passing events. In 1838 he appointed Father

^ Kenrick Diary and Visitation Records,

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The Rev. Charles Ignatius Hamilton Carter 199

Carter procurator of the seminary. In 1841, when the
Bishop retired from the pastorate of St. Mary's he named
him his successor.

We get our first intimate knowledge of Father Carter's
devotion to the Mother of God on his return voyage from
Europe. Up until this period in his life we have but dwelt
in signs and symbols. It is like coming upon him for the
first time— catching him unawares. The raconteur, Mr.
Francis Harold Duffee, bom in Philadelphia, F!a., in
18 10, was altar boy at St. Mary's during the Hogan schism.
He contributed the little incident to the /. C. B. U. Journal
of January 1885 : *

" There was, I have always thought, one incident in the;
life of Father Carter worthy of remembrance and preserva-
tion. I had it from the Rev. gentleman's own lips, while
paying him an evening's visit to which I was kindly invited.

" During his voyage home to this dty, from Liverpool,
on board of one of the Trans- Atlantic steamers, the vessel
ran aground on an unknown and submerged rock in the
Atlantic ocean, near the coast of Canada. The shock and
surprise to the captain and passengers at finding them-
selves in this perilous condition, so unlooked-for on their
part, unnerved them to an extraordinary degree.

" It was during the night the occurrence took place, and
the gloom and fright among the captain, crew and pas-
sengers, was fearful to contemplate. The submerged rock
upon which the vessel grounded was surrounded on all sides
with deep water, that only added to the prevailing appre-
hension, for it proclaimed the possibility of the sinking of
the ship after she was thumped to pieces, and released to
sink in fathoms of water. The horror of that night was
one the Reverend gentleman told me he never could forget.
It was a solemn time for meditation. He at once resolved

^Records of A, C. H. Soc.

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200 American Catholic Historical Society

to pray earnestly to the Almighty for aid and protection in
this hour of his deepest calamity, promising and vowing to
build in commemoration a memorial church to hallow the
event of his miraculous preservation. This religious voW.
was fervently made, and his faith in God's goodness was
not misplaced. The vessel was released from the rock,
with but slight injury, soon after the utterance of his pray-
ers, and came safely into port."

Father Carter redeemed his vow. The Church of the
Assimiption, Twelfth and Sring Garden Streets, Philadel-
phia, stands as a memorial of God's mercy and deliverance.
However, many well filled years intervened between the day
of the solemn promise and the day of its fulfillment.

It is in these ten years we see Father Carter at his best —
Carter the young curate; Carter, the parish priest; Carter,
pastor of old St. Mary's. In a letter written January lo,
1842, by Bishop Kenrick to Mr. Frenaye, one pictures
Father Carter longing to fulfil his promise, his first steps
towards that fulfilment, and the reasons for the delay : " I
have in mind,'* says the Bishop, " to give this appointment
(pastor at St. Mary's) to the Rev'd Mr. Carter. This ap-
pears to be the proper solution. He, indeed, wishes very
much to have, as a church, a building on Tenth street below'
Spruce, which was erected by the Congregationalists ; but I
have absolutely refused. The plan to build a cathedral
church, which I suggested (to Mr. Carter) on this occasion,
cannot be realized during the time of difficulties which we
now experience.." "

Father Carter was a model priest. Holy orders became
him as a crown its king. One never separated men and
minister. That was as he wished. It was a difficult
period in which to work. His influence on the day in
which he lived and worked, his life among his fellow priests,

■ Kenrick'Frenaye Letters, p. 140.

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The Rev. Charles Ignatitts Hamilton Carter 201

are shown in his activities in the diocese. The records of
those days name him a popular but not a spectacular
preacher. The earliest mention of his preaching is found
in the Catholic Herald of January 10, 1833.* In an ac-
count of the Christmas celebration held in the Qiurch of
St. John's in Manayunk in 1832 we get as representative
a picture of Father Carter as could be gathered from any
period of his entire life. The writer, a visitor in the neigh-
borhood, was very much impressed with the young priest.
His letter, after speaking of his invitation to spend the
day " in the country ", the tedious ride in the Manayunk!
coach, runs as follows:

" . . . . We were aroused very early the next morn-
ing by the sound [he wrote] of the bell, and shortly after
5 o'clock repaired to the church, on entering which I was
struck with the neatness of the interior of the building— -of
the altar, and of its decorations, a part of which had, as my
friend told me, been received only a few days before from
an unknown benefactor. The service commenced by the
" Te Deum " chaunted by a full choir — immediately after
which the Rev. Charles Carter, the pastor, commenced the
celebration of High Mass in presence of a crowded congre-
gation. — ^This gentleman, a native of Kentucky, as I was
informed, became a convert to the Catholic faith about five
years ago, and entered into holy orders only a few months
since.

". . . . a group of twelve young ladies dressed in white
robes with white veils over their heads, occupied the pews
nearest to the altar; immediately behind them sat four
young gentlemen, who together with the former, were about
to make their first commtmion. The sermon, as usual on
this day, treated of the nativity of our Blessed Lord in an
impressive and interesting manner, inculcated the necessity

* Records of A, C. H, Society, vol. xxx, p. 335.

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202 American Catholic Historical Society

of imitating that humility of which He had given us so
striking an example. When the time of the Communion
had arrived, the pastor turned round to the Httle flock,
whom it appeared he had been for several months preparing
for this solemnity — ^he exhorted them never to lose sight of
the great action they were about to perform — to consider it
as one of the most important of their lives, whose direction
would probably be in a great measure governed by the
manner in which that action was performed — and never to
stain the innocence with which, he trusted, they were then
clothed. His address drew tears from his young hearers,
and I could observe that the same effect was produced on
many of their parents. The holy sacrament was then ad-
ministered to several persons, including the first communi-
cants, a number that appeared to me very large for the
congregation of Manayunk. The pastor again turned to his
little flock, and recommending them most earnestly to the
protection of the Almighty in all the changes to which they
would be exposed in their passage through life, took a
moving and affectionate leave of them. The music during
these ceremonies was solemn and appropriate. The High
Mass being ended, was followed by a low one, at the ter-
mination of which the congregation dispersed, appearing*
deeply impressed with the scene they had just witnessed and
in which so many had participated. Hearty greetings and
good wishes were exchanged at the Church door, reminding*
me of the salutations wherewith the first Christians greeted
one another at the termination of the Agape. Joy and
lively pleasure beamed in the eyes of the younger members
of the congregation, who with that lively zest peculiar to
children were going home to receive or to enjoy their
Christmas presents — free, for one day, from the yoke of
factory labour. On my return to the church, at 10.30
o'clock, I again found it full, and the pastor engaged in
administering the Sacrament of Baptism to a middle-aged

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The Rev. Charles Iffnatius Hamilton Carter 205

female. After he had received her into the Church, he en-
larged on the advantages conferred on her; the great bles-
sings she had just become heir to; but solemnly warned her
of the obligations she had contracted, which he earnestly
charged her never to lose sight of.

" Scarcely was this ceremony ended when a young lady,
supported by a friend of her own age, approached the rail-
ing of the Sanctuary. There, in an audible voice, rendered
somewhat tremulous by emotion, she declared her intention
to abjure the errors she had been attached to, and to return
to the Cath<dic Church, in whose bosom I understood, she
was bom, but from which she had been seduced by false
and deceptive lights. — Before receiving her recantation, the
pastor, somewhat moved, no doubt, by the recollection that
it was not long since he himself had found a refuge from
his doubts and uncertainties in the same Saving Ark, ad-
dressed the convert, exhorted her to think seriously of the
step she was about to take, and to proceed no further, unless
she f ek perfectly convinced of her errors, and of the truth
of every tenet of the faith she was about to embrace, her
conviction of which should be so strong as to lead her, if
necessary, to seal it with her blood. The young lady, still
persisting, proceeded to read the Athanasian creed, and
to make a full profession of faith. The most breathless
silence prevailed in the assembly during the ceremony, at the
end of which the choir commenced the solemn invocation in
the words of the K3nrie eldson (Lord have mercy on us),
and the priest for the third time, offered up the holy sacri-
fice. The music differed in some parts from that of the
morning. At the gospel, the pastor again addressed the
flock, and after dwelling on the subject of the festival, made
some observations on the species of persecution which he
had reason to fear would be practised on the young lady
who had made her recantation by some of her former as-
sociates, reminding her of the saying of our Lord, " Blessed

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204 American Catholic Historical Society

are ye when men shall persecute you and say all manner of
evil of you/' &c.

" The religious service of the day was closed by Vespers,
and Benediction in the evening. These being ended, the
pastor assembled the select flock, who for the first time, he
had that morning fed with the sacred body of our Lord,
and retiring with them in a body, gave them, as I was told,
a collation."

Father Carter was a bom teacher. He always had a
lesson in view, an evil to correct. The world of his day,
and the world of today, listened to his vcHce. The Catholic
Encyclopedia (vol. xiv, p. 228,) quotes him as observing*
that the method of St. Ignatius was wide and free, since
" one of the first rules laid down by St. Ignatius for the
director of a retreat is, that he is to adapt the exercises to
the age, the capacity, the strength of the person about to
perform them ".

In his time the extravagant dress and amusements of the
period cut into his very soul. St. Mary's was the home of
wealth. Society lived at her very gates. Father Carter, the
pastor of such a flock, tock his responsibility very seriously.
No matter what the occasion, nor who the preacher was, he
got up to say his " few words ". " Moderation in dress '*
was almost a bye-word. One fashion that called forth his
wrath was the huge buckles worn by the ladies of the day.
They jangled against the seats and were a source of distrac-
tion. Also they scratched his fine old walnut pews. He
talked so much and so earnestly about the buckles, that the
smart set, who moved in those circles, took up the cry and
named them " Father Carter Buckles."

Another arrow that pierced his priestly heart was the
late-comer to Mass. No priest ever had a bigger bump of
punctuality than Father Carter. 10.30 was 10.30 and not
10.45 or II o'clock. Again it was a question of "a few*
words on the proper behaviour inside the church ". When

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The Rev. Charles Ignatius Ha$nilton Carter 205

wanned to his subject he would talk on and on, bringing up
all the old grievances — " talking in God's temple, distract-
ing the faithful who had come to pray". God's House
was very near to his heart. His sense of reverence had
never lost it first childish hush. Before his congregation
his words were but echoes of his own life and example.
For him it was God and His glory, first, last and always.

No church in the United States was better cared for than
his church. The beauty of God's house was his first con-
cern. In 1845 St- Mary's was newly frescoed. Marachesi
was the artist. Upon the ceiling was a copy of Father
Carter's favorite subject — the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin. At the four comers were the Evangelists.
Marachesi was very well thought of as an artist. Old clip-
pings of those years are full of his name and fame, with
frequent notice of his exhibitions, in different parts of the
city.

The music at old St. Mary's was most elaborate even on
ordinary days, and the pastor spared neither thought nor
money in its service. At the formal opening, after the re-
decoration of the church in 1845 Des Santos Mass, with
Prof. Des Santos himself as organist, was simg by the choir.
On another occasion we read that Beethoven's new mass was
sung, for the first time in the city, with orchestral accom-
paniment, under the direction of Mr. B. Cross. In the
old minute book of St. Mar/s it is recorded, in the year
1847, that $100, for incidental expenses of choir, and $300
for sanctuary, be placed annually in the hands of the pastor.

In 1844 — during the time of the riots — ^Father Carter's
courage is well illustrated, as well as his strength of mind
and will. His examples of fearlessness are manifold. On
that memorable May night when the mob threatened St.
Mary's, Father Carter came out and stood among his people
in cassock and biretta. He answered the angry throng in
words of defiance. He told them that he, the pastor of

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St. Mary's, would deliver the keys of his church to no one,
save his Bishop, and that if they ever entered that church
it would be over his dead body.

His fearlessness and fire and zeal were well known
among his people. Throughout that dangerous year, when
the sight of a priest called forth insult, and often missile,
he continued to perform his priestly duties publicly. All
hours of the day he was seen moving in and out of the
parish, visiting the sick, cheering the depressed. His very
presence renewed their courage and restored their morale.
Reuss in his account of the period says that " his fine, tall,
soldierly carriage cowed the native American mob ".

Those who saw him in action during these trying days
saw only one side of his character. His dignity was bal-
anced by humility, strength of mind and soul, by a child-
like heart held in check only by the wisdom of manhood.
The many who knew his austerity of manner, his frugality
of life, early hours of prayer, knew too his life among
God's poor. It is here Father Carter the priest best re-
vealed himself.

His hobby, if we could say he had one, was the poor — »
the poor in the city slums, the poor in the shape of little
children in the asylums. He often said that if the rich
were as liberal as his poor, the church would have no money
troubles. He found such genuine joy in his daily round
of duty that he felt no need of recreation of any other
variety. If he took a walk, it was in the direction of some
sick child of the neighborhood, or to some soul in distress.
Sometimes it would be towards the hospital, where he
would spend an hour or so in the wards, singling out the
Catholics, getting them to talk to him, to tell him their
sorrows, and finally their sins. On very special occasions
his recreation might take the form of a visit to a friend.
A part of every day he spent in his school, getting ac-
quainted with his children, watching them at work and at
play, sharing their simple joys and winning their love.

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The Rev. Charles IfftuUius Hamilton Carter 207

During these years of strenuous work, Father Carter's
vow was ever before him. Every now and then it forces
itself into view. The first inkling we get of the new church
in the district of Spring Garden Street, appears in the
Catholic Herald of May 30, 1839:

"One Monday evening, May 27, 1839, a meeting was
held at St. John's church. Bishop Kenrick in the chair ....
and a resolution was adopted to the effect that a church was
needed in that district .... that at least one-third of the
body of the church be left free with benches for the poor
and strangers — that we appeal to the liberality of Catholics,
etc. E, J. Sourin, Sec." Under the same date the Herald
published a letter signed " C ". This letter elaborated on
the idea, dwelling on the long-fdt need of such a church,
explaining the boon it would be, especially to the children of
the neighborhood. That was in 1839. Father Carter did
not get this church on Spring Garden Street until 1847 !

On Sunday May 21, 1848, Bishop Alexander Smith, of
the diocese of Glasgow, Scotland, laid the comer-stone of the
church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Bishop Kenrick preached. The promise to our Blessedj
Mother was accomplished.

In an account of that day the new church is referred to
as the " handsomest in the city ". Seeing that the desire
of his heart was about to be realized, Father Carter spared
neither time nor money. Concerts, musicals, bazaars were
given to raise the necessary funds. One interesting story
is given ' about a fair held for this purpose. The witness,
Andrew Jackson Reilly, a young man at the time, was one
of the participants at this fair. On the wall was a litho-
graph of the purposed edifice. Its beautiful Gothic archi-
tecture caught and held his eye. Spellbound, he stood be-
fore it, thinking many curious thoughts. Father Carter

* Records of A. C. H, Soc, vol. xiii, p. 67.

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spying him there came over and placing his hand on his
shoulder, asked very kindly : " Well my boy, what do you
think of that?" — "I think is very handsome/' the boy
replied, " much superior to anything ever attempted on a
Catholic church in Philadelphia." — Then, pausing a
moment, he went on : — ^" But are you not very extravagant,
Father. Some would be content with one steeple, but you are
to have two." Father Carter's reply is best taken word for
word as Mr. Reilly gives it to us :

" Now, my boy, I will give you a reason, though 'tis not
my rule. When Benjamin Franklin went to fly his kite, he,
living near Second and Race Streets, directed the boy to
carry it out the Ridge Rioad to Pegg's Run, where there
was a blacksmith shop, which still remains. The great
American philosopher had a workman affix an iron point on
the kite, and with the assistance of the boy he raised it in
the air. Having it well steadied, he tied the string to a
post under a shed, used to tie horses while being shod, op-
erating with the silk cord and key to convey the electric
fluid to the leyden jar, and thus bottled the lighting. The
kite hovered immediately above the site where the church is
to be erected, but as no man can say positively the actual spot,
I propose to put up two spires, so that we may say some-
where between these points, happened the most heroic act
ever performed in the interest of science." Andrew Jack-
son Reilly, grown to manhood, used to pass that same
church every morning and evening to and from his business
Many times, he tells us, did his thoughts turn back to " the
great American philosopher and and the relator of his great
deed — the kindly American priest."

The priest's residence Father Carter built out of his pri-
vate means. At his death many wondered what became of
this " private means ". When the record of his charities
was made public it was no longer a cause of wonder, but
rather a subject of speculation as to why it lasted as long as
it did.

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The Rev. Charles Ignatms Hamilton Carter 209

The stories told of money given and small acts rendered
would fill a book in itself. Reuss in his notes said of his
charity : " To institutions of charity he was generosity itself
as long as he had a dollar in his pocket; " and after his
death it was said, " The Sisters have lost their best friend ".
He was a life subscriber to St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum,
also to the Seminary. In 1841 he established a Dorcas
Society at St. Mary's. In i84&-^he time of the famine
in Ireland — ^he was the first priest in the diocese to call a
meeting for relief.

Father Carter was particularly charitable to the relipous
orders then struggling to establish themselves in the Phila-
delphia diocese.

In 1 861, at the request of Bishop Wood, the Irish Sisters
of Mercy became affiliated in Philadelphia. The first
colony consisting of seven Sisters, under Mother Mary
Patricia, occupied a small house in Spring Garden Street, in
the neighborhood of the Church of the Assumption, and
from 1861 to 1862 took charge of that parish school.
The Rev. H. J. Heuser, D.D., in his account of Mother
Mary Pittrida Waldron, says of those days :

"What the older ntms never told anybody, but what
everybody familiar with the parish work in those days
knew, was, that Father Cartier, zealous and devout priest
though he was, was also an ultra-rigid economist. He not
only held that those who had made the vow of holy poverty
should keep it, but he believed that it was hurtful to reli-
gious to handle any money at all. He himself, a convert to
the faith, had been raised on a southern plantation where
there were slaves, for it was before the days of emancipa-
tion. In common with his class, he inclined towards abso-
lute government, and held that people pledged to obedience
were to be allowed little discretion. He used to do his own
marketing, and his housekeeper was severly controlled in
the use of what he had purchased in the old Spring Garden

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Market in front of his house. She, having an Irish heart,
got herself into endless trouble by trying to help out * those
poor lambs', the hungry nuns, when she saw their pale
sweet faces, and remembered the vigils they kept, in order
to furnish them with the means to make ends meet. But
Mother Patricia was of noble mold; and there never were
any complaints. In later days Father Carter remembered
it; for he would come to her at the Broad Street Convent,
asking in his brusque way : ' Precisely — do you want any
money?' Before he died he gave her a check for ten
thousand dollars to pay for the house adjoining the Con-
vent, which she purchased. He wanted to be remembered,
he said, when in his grave."

The greatest of his charities, perhaps, he bestowed upon
the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, his " favorite children ",
as he was wont to say. From 1862 until his death in 1879,
he became their self-appointed guardian and protector.
When the little band of five Sisters, under Mother Mary
Xavier (Noble) arrived here from Ejigland and opened
their house at Towanda, Bradford Co. Pa., they suffered
great privations. Father Carter heard of their wants and
went to their assistance. He often sent them generous do-
nations. Finally, he gave his school into their care and in-
stalled them in a house on Spring Garden Street, next to
the church.

When the little community increased, Father Carter set
about to purchase a suitable site for a convent, to be used
as a novitiate and boarding school. In 1864 he purchased
the old Quaker establishment at Sharon Hill and made it
over to the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

The Convent at Sharon Hill was his favorite retreat
from the worries and burdens of his busy life. He would
slip away and spend two or three days among the Sisters.
Each inch of the grounds was familiar to him. A keen
observer, he took in at a glance any improvement in house

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The Rev. Charles Ignatius Hamilton Carter 211

or grounds made since his last visit and was most lavish
with praise. He delighted to look into the future and pre-
dict great achievements for this small band.

In 1877 he built the first chapel at Sharon Hill Convent.
While it was being built he was a constant visitor. He
superintended the work himself, carefully inspecting every
new development. The chapel of to-day stands on the
same spot which he took such pains to select.

About two years before his death, Father Carter had a
vault built in the convent cemetery for his own resting-
place when life's voyage was done. It was his own thought
and desire to be buried there amidst the children who had
been so dear to him in life. Death to him was not at all
an unpleasant thought. He had a beautiful monument made
in Italy to surmount the vault. During the last years of
his life the Sisters frequently found him walking around
his last resting-place, saying his rosary. Once a Sister,
touched at the sight, tried to draw him away : " It does not
make me sad," he said to her, " I think how often the Sisters
will come here to pray, and I shall get a share."

Some of the Sisters at Sharon remember him, the gentle
old white-haired priest. Many others share the memories
and tradition passed down from Sister to Sister. One dear
old Sister who knew him personally, was only too glad to
talk of him and of the " old times ". Speaking of the days
at the Assumption she said: '' All the big events in his life
seemed to centre around Our Blessed Mother — I remember
his birthday, the feast of Our Lady of Mercy — what a
wonderful time the children had."

" Sister," we remarked, " they say he was * hard ' ; some
thought him ' peculiar '." It was opening a storehouse of
memories, very old but very tender. " Hard " she repeated,
thinking it over. " He was hard on wrong-doers — ^but only
until they repented of their evil. His people loved and re-
spected him. They knew he only blamed where blame was

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merited. This was fully exemplified at the time of his
funeral, when many stories were told by some of the poorer
part of his congregation, who had sometimes been rather
sharply reprimanded for their misdeeds, and afterwards
were recipients of material help — in several cases sorely
needed." Then she added : " It was a surprise to many to
find how much good Father Carter had done, known only to
God."

Looking back over those years she gave many instances
of his kindness. '^ We never paid any rent for the house
on Spring Garden Street," she said. " The first months
we were there Mother used to send it in to him but he would
say : * Keep it for the Sisters.' " — '* And the convent at
Sharon," she suddenly remembered, brightening at the re-
collection, " how many little outings we had looking for the
site. Only years afterwards we learned how hopeless they
were, except to give us a ride in the country."

" What of his mother? " we asked. " Did Father Carter
ever speak of his home and early years ? " " Father
Carter," she answered, " dated his life from his entrance
into the Catholic Church. He never liked to go back to
the days before his conversion. He had a nephew, a priest,
who used to come and visit him at the Assumption. He
loved him very much and felt very proud of him."

In the passage near the chapel hangs a picture of Father
Carter taJcen shortly before his death. "What do you
think of it," the little Sister questioned. We stood quite
a long time before it. The determined, firm mouth, and
the kind eyes challenged one to be very cautious, and very
just in passing judgment. " I think I would have liked
him," I parried. "Oh, you would have liked him," she
assured me. " Everybody liked him once they knew him."

Father Carter died September 17, 1879, aged seventy-
six years. Active up until the end, his last entry on the
records of his church was August 25, in the marriage re-

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The Rev. Charles Ignatius Hamilton Carter 213

gister. His illness, if we might call it such, was very short,
very intense. On the night of September 14, 1879, during
a wakeful spell, he lighted a match to see the hour. In a
second his bed was in flames. His assistants rushed to hi»
rescue and carried him out, but the damage had been done.
Three days later he died. His requiem Mass was celebrated
in his church by Archbishop Wood. Bishop CHara
preached the sermon. Out at Sharon he rests, just as he
planned, with his dear dead. The Latin inscription, blurred
and faded with the years, reads to the effect : " To the mem-
ory of Charles Carter, who exercised his priestly functions
for about twenty-five years in Philadelphia. He was bom
in September 1803, in Kentucky, and departed this life in
the fear of God, close by the Church of the Assumption of
which he had been pastor. He chose this as his final rest-
ing-place, in the hope that priests, religious, faithful and
holy virgins may help him by their prayers to God."

Father Carter was truly a very spiritual man, and conse-
quently a very humble man. That is one of the reasons we
find so little about him. The ordinary everyday records
of St. Mar/s and of the Assumption reveal hundreds of
events of which he must have been the central figure. Yet
by name he is not mentioned. When we read in the papers
of that day of celebrations held, feasts observed, parish
events, it is invariably the church that is named. That he
was pastor at the particular time we are left to discover for
ourselves. He considered it altogether secondary how
much or how little of passing praise came to him, provided
God was glorified and souls were being saved.

Coming within a decade of the Rev. Wm. Hogan, Father
Carter had learnt the lessons of humility, condescension,
and an all-embracing charity. In 1826, when he was en-
tering the seminary, the storm which brought so much
ruin in its train, was about to break in all its fury. He
knew the story of St. Mary's and had heard much of what

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had been said about her priests. Young men feared lest
they be among those called to serve there as God's ministers.
Bishops drew away from her. " Three gentlemen refused
to accept the ofiioe of Bishop of that see/' we read in the
life of Archbishop Hughes. The Rev. Michael De Burgo
Egan, nephew of first Bishop of Philadelphia, then Presi-
dent of Mount St. Mary's, Emmittsburg, on February 5,
1827, wrote to Father Hughes, just appcnnted assistant to
St. Mary's : '* From my soul I pity you, for I have some
idea of Philadelphia."

Knowing all these things, having been a sad onlockcr
through his seminary career, having been so near and dear
to Bishop Kenrick, Father Carter did not come into the
fight unprepared. St. Mary's — the most representative
part of his lifework, because the hardest-— paved the way
for the great accomplishments of later years. St. Mary's
with her ancient splendor, wealth, fame and aristocracy,
made or broke the men who served her. Carter was one
of the many who came away bearing a crown. It may
have been in a sense a martyr's crown. To spectators who
could see only the outer and not the inner man it merely
spelled success. That it had been bought at a price which
they themselves would not, or were unable to pay, they
never stopped to consider. For "'tis but a part we see
and not the whole ".

The life story of Father Charles Ignatius Hamilton
Carter is brimful of inspiration to ordinary men and priests
of to-day. His faith in time of stress, his eye for God and
God's glory, as revealed in his care of his church and of
the souls entrusted to his fatherly care, his simplicity and
modesty, when the world about him was mad with gaity,
are chapters in that life story that apply to all of us.
Whether we regard him as boy, convert, seminarian or
priest we can always read in his private life, letters, teach-
ing and public works, the greatness of small actions well

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The Rev. Charles Ignatius Hamilton Carter 215

done, as well as the dignity a pure intention gives to every-
thing. He did not care what anyone thought or said about
him, provided his own conscience upheld him. The world
considered him queer, perhaps, in many things. Some said
he was "hard". His honor, lack of human respect, re-
gard for promises, generosity, were virtues that even his
enemies acknowledged. With it all he was sublimely un-
conscious of anything except duty done, as well as man
could do it. What a happy ending for our own book of
life, if, some hundred years hence, others, turning its torn
and faded pages, can say the samel

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WORK OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY IN THE UNITED
STATES, DIOCESE' OF NEW YORK, 1846-1921

Seven Sisters of Mercy arrived in New York on May
14, 1846, in response to the earnest personal appeal of Right
Rev. Bishop Hughes,* to establish in the great comimercial
and industrial centre, the Institute of Mercy, the purpose and
scope of which are the care of the poor and sick, and the
instruction of the ignorant. Realizing the danger alike to
faith and morals, consequent on the destitution to which
poor immigrant girls* were exposed in the then rapidly

^ Raised to metropolitan rank, July 19, 1850.

> Bishop Hughes became the first Archbishop of New York, July 19^
185a >He received the pallium personally from Pius IX at Rome, April
3, 1857. The "School Question" in New York was legally and
thoroughly tested under his leadership, 1840. It was due largely to the
controversies of this time that school systems in New York and else-
where were changed and modified.— iSee Hassard's Life of Archbishop
Hughes, pp. 215^3-253.

'The earliest American organization for the care of immigrants was
the Charitable Irish Society of Boston, Mass., established Mardi 17,
1737. In Philadelphia, the Hibernian Society for the immigrants from
Ireland, was organized on March 3, 1790.

In 1881, the mission of Our Lady of the Rosary was organized' in
New York, through the efforts of Charlotte Grace O'Brien, daughter of
William Smith O^Brien, the Irish patriot of 184a Miss O^Brien later
became a Catholic. From its opening to the end of 1908, 100,000 girls
were cared for gratuitously by the mission. This mission was sustained
by voluntary contributions. In 1868 a branch of St. Raphael Society
established by the Catholic Congress, held in Trier in 1866, for the
protection of Cerman immigrants, was founded in New York. From
i88p to November i, 1908, 51,719 were cared for by the St. Raphael
Society. The present Leo House, an outgrowth of St. Raphael Society
is not, however, restricted to German immigrants. A society of St
(Raphael was established in New York in 1891 for the protection of
Italian immigrants and given in charge of the Sisters of Qiarity. A
Society under secular management was organized in New York in 1901
for the protection of Italian immigrants. In Oiicago, 1907, an organi-
zation for the care of Dutch and Belgian immigrants was established.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 217

growing cosmopoKtan dty, Bishop Hughes endeavored to
preclude such soul-peril from his diocese by establishing a
House of Protection. With this aim in view, to invite
Sisters to take charge of the proposed institution, he sailed
for Ireland in the year of 1845.

The Mercy Sisterhood was then only fourteen years in
existence and the many demands made on it for foundations
left a paucity in numbers at the Mother-house, St.
Catherine's, Baggott Street, Dublin, as a consequence, the
appeal of Bishop Hughes to Mother Cecilia Marmion, met
with slight encouragement; however, she counseled him to
apply to a house of the Institute, lately established in Lon-
don. If Mother Agnes O'Connor, temporary Superior,
would be willing to assume charge of the foundation, a
colony could then be organized. The Bishop set out im-
mediately for London, where he found the Vicar Apostolic,
RSght Rev. Thomas Griffiths,* imwilling to spare any of the
Sisters then in London. Bishop Hughes, however, sought
an interview with Mother Agnes, who, on learning his
mission, volunteered to take charge of the missionary-band.
She returned first to Ireland, where a Community compris-
ing Sister M. Agnes Horan, Sister M. Monica O'Dpherty,
Sister M. Camillus Byrne, Sister M. Teresa Breen, Sister
M. Vincent Haire, a novice, Miss Burnes, a postulant, and
Mother Agnes O'Connor, superior, was organized. They
left Dublin for Liverpool on Easter Monday, April 13,
1846, where they remained with the Sisters of Mercy, Mt.
Vernon, until the i6th, when they set sail in the " Monte-
zuma " which arrived in New York on May 14, 1846.

Owiilg to ecclesiastical duties which claimed his attention
in the United States, Bishop Hughes had been obliged to
leave Ireland a week prior to the departure of the Sisters ; he

^ Thomas Griffiths, Vicar Apostolic of London district, October, i8j3
to time of his death, August 12, 1847.

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therefore commissioned his secretary, Father Harty, to ac-
company thm on their journey to New York. Bishop
Hughes was absent • on their arrival in New York; how-
ever, provision had been made made by him for their com-
fort. Two Sisters of Charity called at the episcopal resi-
dence and invited them to their home on East Broadway,
where they remained until May 26, when the Gmvent at
Elighteen West Washington Place was ready for occupancy.
On June 18, the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Blessed Sacra-
ment was placed in a room fitted up for a chapel.

The first activities of the Sisters of Mercy in New York
were the care of the sick and poor in their homes, and the
establishment of a free circulating library. The latter en-
terprise brought the Sisters in touch with young immigrant
girls of the growing metropolis. Much good was accom-
plished by means of this undertaking.

On Sq>tember 11, 1846, the first candidate to the Mercy
Sisterhood in New York, Miss Josephine Scton,* the
youngest but one, of the children of Mrs. Elizabeth Seton,
foundress of the Sisters of Charity in the United States,
entered the novitiate, and on April 16, 1847 received the
habit and veil of the Institute, also the name Sister Mary

< Bishop Hughes was in Baltimore attending the sixth Provincial
Coimdl, May iO| iSLiiS.

* Sister Mary Catherine was bom in 1800, entered St. Catiierine's
Novitiate in i&|6, and died 1891. She devoted her life to the sick, the
poor, and the unfortunate. For twenty-five years, she visited the New
York prisons twice a week. She was particularly devoted to prisoners
sentenced to death, in order to prepare tiiem for the end. Non-Catholics
and Catholics alike received her visits, and not a few were converted
to the faith. Her knowledge of Frendi, Italian, German, and Spanish
was a powerful asset on these missions of Mercy. Some estimate of the
work of public welfare accomplished by Mother Catherine may be
formed in view of the statistics (American Cyclopaedia, Vol. XII, p. 395)
of New York courts, under date, October, 1874, which gives 49,351 as
the number of prisoners held for trial, 10,671 were bora in United States
leaving 36^580 of foreign nativity.

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Work of the Sixers of Mercy 219

Catherine. Bishop Hughes was celebrant of the religious
ceremony and preached the sermon. Bishop McQosky,
then coadjutor, later Archbishop of New York and the
first Cardinal in United States, was present with a large
number of local and visiting clergy. Many of Miss Seton's
relatives and friends, the greater number of whom were
non-Catholics, were also present. Thirty years later,
January 6, 1876, Helen Seton, niece of Sister Catherine,
and granddaughter of Mother Elizabeth Seton, entered St.
Catherine's novitiate. On November 14, 1876, she received
the habit and veil from the hands of Cardinal McClosky, a
personal friend of the family. She also received the name
of Sister Mary Catherine. Her profession took place Feb-
ruary 8, 1879.

In accordance with the wish of the CharityOnnnussioners,
whose representative called personally at the Convent, March
II, 1847, the Sisters began the visitations of city hospitals,
prisons and the alms-house; they visited the " Tombs " three
times a week, the State Prison at Sing Sing, also the peni-
tentiary and work-house on Blackwell's Island onoe a month.
Instructions were given by the Sisters every Sunday in the
boys' prison.

The first ceremony of religious reception took place on
December 8, 1846, when Sister Marianne, a postulant in the
pioneer band received the habit and veil from Bishop
Hughes, and was given the name Sister Mary. The fe-st
ceremony of religious profession was held in St. Patrick's
Cathedral, April 27, 1847, following a Pontifical High
Mass. Sister Mary Vincent Haire, a novice in the first
colony from Dublin, made her vows and received the veil
of profession. Bishop Hughes, later (1850), Archbishop,
officiated and preached on the occasion. Since this was the
first ceremony of its kind held in New York, the Cathedral
was filled with people, eager to witness the solemn service.

The next step in public welfare endeavor was the estab-

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lishment of a House of Protection, the opening of which had
been deferred because of limited quarters in West Washing-
ton Place. The famine in Ireland and its dire consequences
compelled many young girls to seek a home in America. The
need of protection and guidance for these girls was impera-
tive. In consequence the property, comer of Houston ^ and
Mulberry streets, formerly the home of the Ladies of
the Sacred Heart, was purchased early in 1848 and incor-
porated by an act of the State Legislature, April 12, 1848.
The Sisters took possession May i, when it was solemnly
blessed by Bishop Hughes and given the title, St. Catherine.
An important annex was erected in 1849, which added
greatly to general accommodations. A select school was
opened; sewing and culinary departments were also estab-
lished. In the former girls who wished to become seam-
stresses were given instructions in plain sewing, needleworii
and embroidery; the latter department afforded instructions
to those who wished to become domestics in private families.
This field of activity was especially dear to the heart of
Bishop Hughes. For its maintenance, and at his wish, col-
lections were taken up in the churches of New York, Jersey
City, and Brooklyn. His solicitude for the virtue of poor
Irish immigrant girls is evidenced in a letter* to Robert

^ Here, in tlie early part of the century a fashionable boarding school,
where the daughters of the leading families of the country were educated,
was conducted by Madame Chegary, a French refugee who fled to
America to escape the terrors of the French Revolution. Later this
property was occupied by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. On their
removal to Astoria, the property fell into the hands of a Mr. Abbott,
subsequently, a Young Ladies Seminary was opened and continued until
the building was purchased for the Sisters of Mercy. It was splendidly
adapted for a Convent Boarding-school.

* This letter was probably written to expose the lack of sincerity in
the part of Mr. Charles CConor, a subaltern leader of the Irish sub-
scription fund, who evidently had annoyed the bishop in his use of the
word "shield" when announcing his contribution ($500.00). — See
Hassard, Life of Archbishop Hughes, p. 309.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 221

Emmet, dated November, 1848, of which the following is

an excerpt.

" The men of Ireland, on their own soil, had ren-
dered the protection of a shield imnecessary. This
unhappily is not the case of the women of Ireland
arriving in this city, young, pure, innocent, unac-
quainted with the snares of the world, and the dangers
to which poverty and inexperience would expose them
in a foreign land. To carry out, then, the spirit of
my remarks, I have to request that the Directory will
transfer to the Sisters of Mercy the $500.00 subscribed
by me, for the purpose of a shield to protect the
purity and innocence of the poor, virtuous and desti-
tute daughters of Ireland arriving in this city, toward
whom, as far as their means will allow, the Sisters of
Mercy fulfill the office of guiding and guardian angels
in every respect."

I have the honor to be, dear Sir,
With sincere respect,

* John, Bp of New York.

The Catholic Directory of 1851 makes mention of the
activities of the Sisters of Mercy as follows :

'' St. Catherine's Convent of Sisters of Mercy, Comer of
Houston and Mulberry Streets, New York.

There is a community of 12 professed religious, 8 novices
and 5 postulants. The various objects of utility which this
Institution embrace are as follows :

First Object: " The House of Protection " in which young
women of good character are protected and supported until
situations are provided for them; thus appl)ang a remedy to
the dreadful evils consequent on poverty and the want of
employment.

Second Object: " The Visitation of the Sick." The Sisters
of Mercy visit the sick-poor every day and carry to them
nourishment and clothing as far as their means admit.

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Third Object: " The Instruction of Poor Girls." To this
important branch of the Institute, the Sisters devote their
best energies ; that the children of the poor may be fitted to
become useful and virtuous members of society.

" Schools for the gratuitous education of the children of
the poor are about being opened. In the House of Mercy
adjoining the Convent, there are lOO poor girls of good
character who are protected and supported until situations
are provided for them."

The • records of the House of Protection, March i, 1853,
show that from its inauguration, 1849, 7*3^5 poor girls
were provided with respectable situations, 1,656 of the most
destitute had received protection and a home in the Institu-
tion. Convent Records of the same year, 1853, show that
700 sick persons had been visited, consoled and instructed,
many of whom had received material aid and relief. Visits
to the jail twice a week have also been recorded. A free
school for children had been established with an enrolment
of 200 children.

The first death in the New York Community was
that of Sister Mary Xavier Stewart, October 11,
1853. Sister M. Xavier was the daughter of Richard
Stewart, an eminent physician of Baltimore. She entered
St. Catherine's novitiate, Houston St., March 20, 1858,
received the holy habit of religion, September 24, 1850, and
made her final vows September 24, 1852. She was buried
from St. Patrick's Cathedral, October 17, her remains being
interred temporarily, in one of the Cathedral vaults. The
cross was borne publicly for the first time in New York in
the funeral procession formed by Archbishop Hughes,
several priests, and the Sisters.

During the first five years, ( 1849-1854) of their establish-
ment in New York, despite unfavorable economic and social

• See Bale/s History of CaihQlic Church in New York, p. 131 et seq.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 223

conditions, the work of charity accomplished by the Sisters
of Mercy is perhaps without a parallel in the United States,
as may be gleaned from the Pastoral of Archbishop
Hughes,*^ 1854, in which he states that up to date nearly
2000 families in destitute circumstances had been visited
and relieved by the Sisters. 8,650 poor girls had been placed
in situations ; the number received and trained in the House
of Mercy was 2,323. A comparative view of these statis-
tics, 1854, and 1853, shows that during the year 1,285 situa-
tions had been procured for poor girls, averaging approxi-
mately, four situations daily; 667 had been given a home
and trained in household work. A Sodality of the Im-
maculate Conception, the first of its kind in the United
States, was organized 1853 ^tnd approved by Pope Pius IX,
in a rescript dated, January 22, 1856.

In November 1854, Mary Devereux,^^ later, Sister Mary

^^See Annals of the Sisters of Mercy , by Mother Austin Carroll,
Vol. Ill, p. 156.

11 Sister M. Joseph, the daughter of Mary and Nicholas Devcreux,
a native of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland, and a descendant of
the Count Reginald IVEvreux, who is said to have come to England
with the Conquerer. Her paternal uncle, Jc^n E. Devereux, Esq., of
Utica, gave hospitality to Bishop 'Connolly, consecrated in Rome, 1814,
second Bishop of New York, while on his visitation of the diocese in
that section of the State. Miss Devereux before her entrance into the
Mercy Institute, November, 1854, had a strong desire to become a
Carmelite nun. Her father, however, wishing her to have a more ex-
tended knowledge of religious orders before making a final decision
proposed a European trip, on which they set out in company widi her
mother and their chaplain. Rev. Michael Clay, early in 1854. They went
to Rome where they were received by Pope Pius IX, who having learned
of Mary's intention, said, in bestowing his blessing, " My child, remem-
ber not to present yourself at the gate of Heaven without a train of
souls who have profited by your example and teaching/' These words
had weight in her final choice of a religious Sisterhood. She entered
St. Catherine's Novitiate in November, 1854. iShe received the habit
and veil on May 3, 1855 and made her vows, June 19, 1857, Archbishop
Hughes officiating on both occasions. Present at the ceremony of pro-
fession were Right Rev. John Laughlin, Bishop of Brooklyn, Right Rev.

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Joseph entered St. Catherine's novitiate and proved a
valuable member of the community, not only in official
capacity, but also as organizer of agencies which sustained
charitable activities. With the permission of Archbishop
MoQoskey, St. Joseph's Society was established in 1864,
and Sister Mary Joseph placed in charge. In 1874 if had
a membership of 1300.

On September 12, 1855, the Sisters of Mercy, having been
invited by Right Rev. John Laughlin, opened a school, St.
Francis of Assissium, in Jay Street, Brooldjm. The fol-
lowing year, September 24, 1856, the Right Rev. Peter
Richard Kenrick, " Bishop of St. Louis requested a founda-
tion from the Mother-house to open, in the episcopal city,
the Parish School, St. Joseph's.

On November 21, i860, a temporary refuge ^* for Home-
less Children was opened on Second Avenue by the Sisters of
Mercy " and sustained by the members of the Sacred Heart

John Timon, Bishop of Buffalo, an old friend of the Devereux family,
and about twenty priests. Mr. (Devereux, while in Rome, invited the
Franciscan Fathers to America and offered them land and money suffi-
cient for their establishment. The lands now occupied by St. Bona-
venture's College, Alleghany, N. Y. are the gift of Mr. Devereux to
the Franciscan Fathers. — 'See Annals of Sisters of Mercy, Vol. Ill, p.
187, et seq. tShea, History of Catholic Church in the United States, one
vol., N. Y., Kenedy, i^, p. 31^7-

^'Brother of Francis Patrick Kenrick, Coadjutor and administrator
of Philadelphia, 1830-1842; Bishop of Philadelphia, 1842-1851; Arch-
bishop of Baltimore, i§5i-i8^.--;Ref erred to as "my brother" in
Kenrick's Diary and Visitation Records, p. 135.

^' The first orphan asylum established in New York, June 26, 181 7,
was a small wooden building in Prince (Street, in charge of three
Sisters of Charity, Sister .Rose White, Sister Cecilia 0*C6nway, and
Sister Felidtas Brady, from Emmitsburg, Mother Seton Community. —
See Shea, New History of Catholic Church in U. 5*., p. 386.

^* Established by Mother Augustine MacKenna. After her death
while removing the vows from the frame, "a paper was found dated
'first Friday, November, i85o,' on which was written a promise made

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 225

Sodality which was organized in 1858. Later, the sum of
$18,060 was collected by this society for the erection of a
permanent Home, St Joseph's, 65 East Eighty-first Street.
On June 19, 1862, a call ^' from the Secretary of War,**
Washington, D. C. came to the Vicar General, Father Wil-
liam Starrs, " for the Sisters to take charge of the Military
Hospital at Beaufort, North Carolina. Father Starrs an-
nounced the official appeal to Mother M. Madeline ToWn, at
this time superior of the New York Community, who selec-
ted from the number of volunteers, seven Sisters for hospital
work; Father Bruhl " was appointed chaplain. Mother M.

to tile Sacred Heart to suffer the blame, shame, and humiliation . . . that
it may be God's will to permit, in order to establish a home for home-
less diildren."--i4nna/j of the Sisters of Mercy, Vol. Ill, p. 209.

*• The Sisters of Mercy had volunteereed their services immediately
on the declaration of war. Archbishop Hughes, in writing to the
Archbishop of Baltimore, on May 9, 1861, stated: "Our Sisters
of Mercy have volunteered after the example of their Sisters toiling
in the Crimean War. I have signified to them that . . . they should
wait until their services are needed." — Hassard, Life of Archbishop
Hughes, pp. 44I-44S.

^* Edwin McMasters Stanton was appointed Secretary of >War by
President Lincoln, January, i852, to fill the unexpired term of Simon
Cameron, who was appointed United States Minister to iRussia by
President Lincoln, January 11, 1862, — See Messages and Papers af the
Presidents t Vol. XIX, Encyclopedic Index A-M, also Century Dictionary
and Cyclopedia.

^'^ Acting administrator for Archbishop Hughes, who, in the fall
of id6i, at the instance of President Lincohi and Secretary Seward,
went to France and England, "in connection with very important
national questions between the United States and these powers." Hav-
ing completed his mission, he went to Rome, where he probably was at
the time the summons came for the Sisters of Mercy to take charge
of the Military Hospital in Beaufort, N. C — Hassard, Life of Arch-
bishop Hughes, pp. 44i-445«

!• A native of Hungary who served in the French Army during the
siege and capture of Algiers. He was sixty years of age and had
an experimental knowledge of army-life and camp-hospitals.— Canv^#
Records,

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Madeline " with Mother M. Alphonsus Smyth, then Bursar
of the Community, accompanied the first band which com-
prised Sister M. Augustine MacKenna, Sister M. Elizabeth
Callanan, Sister M. Paul Lennon, Sister M. Gertrude Led-
with, Sister M. Paula Harris, Sister M. Veronica Dimond
and Sister M. Agatha MacCarthy.

The Sisters embarked on the government steamer
"Cahawba" in the afternoon of July 15. However, the
strenuous task of getting on board five hundred horses de-
tailed for war service, prevented their leaving the harbor
until 3 :oo p. m. July 16. On the night of the i8th, the
steamer ran aground and was stalled for the night. The
next morning the Sisters continued their journey on a
steam-tug, and arrived at the Military Hospital at 5:00!
P. M. July 19. Prior to the war the hospital had been a
fashionable hotel of five hundred rooms, splendidly furn-
ished. At the outbreak of the war, for purposes of forti-
fication, a small garrison of Confederate Soldiers were sent
to Beaufort, a short distance from Fort Macon, which was
captured early in 1862 by the Union Soldiers who later
made a midnight attack on Beaufort, conquered the small
army stationed there, and sacked the hotel, strewing the shore

^* Complete list of Sisters of Mercy, New York G)minunity, who
served in the Military Hospital, Beaufort, N. C during the war:
Mother Mary Madeline Toban> Sister M. Elizabeth GtUahan
Sister M. Augustine MacKenna " '' Vincent Sweetman

" Ignatius Grant* " " Paul Lennon

" Agnes O'Connor " " Gertrude Ledwith

" " Joseph Devereux " " Paula Harris

" " Alphonsus Smyth " " Veronica Dimond

" " Gerard Ryan '* " Francis Murray

" " Agatha McCarthy " " Martha Corrigan

Ellen IRyan Jolly, National Chairman of the Nuns' Monument
Committee, Pawtucket, R. I., lauded the work of the Sisters of Mercy
during the war in a paper which appeared 10 the Catholic News,
February 4, 1922.
♦Still living at Hie Mother-house, St. Catherine's, June, 1923.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 22/

-with parts of pianos, tables, chairs, broken glasses, and
china. No means of obtaining artilfidal light were left in
the building. About two hundred soldiers wounded in the
skirmish, were carried ito the hotel which was now utilized
for hospital purposes. The patients suffering from neglect
and lack of nourishment presented a pitiable sight to the
Sisters who arrived two months later. A survey of the
building revealed a general lack of necessaries for hospital
work.

In face of the knowledge that previous demands had been
made on the War Department without success, and in spite
of present discouragement on the part of the hospital offi-
cials. Mother Madeline made out a list of needs, which she
dispatched to General Foster. In due time a steamer laden
with wash tubs, brooms, scrubbing brushes, lamps, kerosene,
dishes, soaps, etc. also a drug-room supply, arrived in the
harbor. The authority of the Sisters was now established.
Dr. Upham, superintendent of the hospital, assembled the
orderlies and ntu-ses and annoimced that the Sisters had full
control of the hospital, the medical department excepted,
and that they were to be obeyed by all.

Sister M. Augustine MacKenna,*^ a woman of broad

'^Sister Mary Augustine, Ellen MacKenna, was bom cm Christmas
Eve, 1819, at Willville, Monaghan, Ireland, and died August 2, 18813.
She loved to style herself "the daughter of an Irish giant" whidi
her strenuous activity during her years of office in the capacity
of Local-superior, I86^-I^65, Mistress of Novices, id65-i858^ Mother
Superior, 1868-1877, seemed to verify. She received part of her edu-
cation from an " old pedagogue, probably the last of the hedge sdiool-
masters" and from whom, undoubtedly, she imbibed much of her love
of poetry and history. In 1848, during the famine in Ireland, she, in
company with her sister Fanny and brother William, came to America
and established themselves in New York where they obtained employ-
ment Ellen later opened a school in Schenectady and assumed the
responsibility of providing for the "people at home." Her mother's
death, and the subsequent arrival in New York of her youngest brother,
Father MacKenna, relieved Ellen of this care, her eldest brother,
a physician, having settled in Valparaiso, Chili. On the advice of Father

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culture and singular energy of character, was given charge
of the cooking department. Under the Sisters' able man-
agement, the various departments of the hospital soon as- j
sumed an aspect of cleanliness and order. The intense heat !
of the South, together with the hardships endured, soon told |
on the health of the Sisters. Sister M. Paul was the first
to be overcome, followed soon after by Sister Agatha. Dr.
Upham was in attendance and when they were convalescent^
he advised them to return North. Sister M. Paul died soon
after her return to New York. Meantime Sister M. EUiza- j
beth was stricken with the fever, which was thought for i
some time to be serious. She recovered, however, and re-
turned to the Mother-house with Mother M. Alphonsus
whose official duties called her home. Five Sisters now re- i
mained. This number was augmented in a short time by

Hecker, faer spiritual director, Ellen entered St Catiierine^s Novitiate, i

September 2$, 1855, a few weeks subsequent to the entrance of her I

sister Julia, who later was appointed on ^e Brooklyn foundation, I

the first Sister of Mercy to receive the habit in Brooklyn diocese. |

Mother Augustine's two nieces, Margaret and Agnes iRooney, subse- I

quently entered ^e New York and Brooklyn Community, respectively,
the former, Margaret, Sister Dolores, is still living (1922) in the j

Convent of the Holy Eudiarist, Yonkers, N. Y. To her the
writer is indebted for war-records which she had copied from Mother <

Augustine's original data, shortly after her entrance to the Novitiate j

in 187a James L. ^ooney, !LLJ>. nephew of Mother MacKenna and 1

brother of Sister Dolores, edited in 1913 the Catholic Chronologist, I

^e publication of which was highly lauded by Cardinal Farley in- a
letter dated, December 5, 1912, which appeared in the Chronologist,
Vol. II, Nos. 11-23, Nov., 1914. This was, so far as we know, the only
publication of its kind in ^e world.

The Catholic Chronologist continued until 191 5, when a stroke
of paralysis obliged Dr. Rooney to give up the work; nevertheless, he |

made contributions to the Catholic World and otiier periodicals as
late as 1917. He died January 13, 1919, in the 77th 3rear of his age.
At his own request, his MSSw and chronological notes were sent to
(Rev. Peter Guilday, Ph.D. of the Catholic University, Washington,
D. C, and his library to Niagara University, of whose first graduating
class, i860, he was the last surviving member.— i^nna^j of Sisters of
Mercy, Vol. Ill, p. 203 et seq., and Convent Records.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 229

Sister Ignatius Grant and Sister M. Francis Murray. They
were accompanied by six young Irish girls** from the
House of Protection, who volunteered their services, which
proved of g^eat value in caring for the sick and wounded,
and managing household affairs.

On St^ember 19, 1862, Mother Madeline, after
three months of hospital work returned to her duties at
the Mother-house; before leaving, however, she appointed
Sister M. Augustine MacKenna in charge of the hospital
department. Late in October 1862, owing to the severe
winter, General Foster ordered the patients to be removed
to Newbeme. The Sisters were given the use of the
Stanly House,** formerly the headquarters of General
Bumsides. The hospital department consisted of three
buildings and several pavillions recently erected. Sister M.
Gertrude was given charge of one building. Sister M. Paula,
of another, while Sister M. Ignatius managed the third.
Sister M. Francis had charge of the pavillion, Sister M.
Veronica assumed charge of the laimdry and Sister M.
Augfustine was general superintendent. In December 1862,
after the attack of General Foster on Goldsborough, N. C.
the work so increased as to call for more help; accordingly
in February 1863, Mother Superior visited Newbeme,
bringing two Sisters fof hospital work. On her return,
March 10, Sister M. Francis accompanied her. In April,
the patients were so far recovered as to warrant the Sisters'
return, and their services not being needed for hospital duty
elsewhere, they sailed from Newbeme, May 10, and ar-
rived in New York on Ascension Thursday, May 14, 1863.**

>i Bridget Farrell, Jane O'Brien, Ellen Somerville, Annie Gallagher,
Ann Farrelly, and Lizzie Murtha.

** The home of Coveraor Stanley of North Carolina.

** After the war, Jefferson Davis happened to be in a certain assembly
where there were Sisters of Mercy present. Approaching them he
said, "Will you allow me, ladies, to speak a moment with you? I am

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The death of Archbishop Hughes on January 3, 1864, was
the occasion of great sorrow to the Sisters of Mercy in New
York. He had been thdr friend, protector, and patron, and
his loss to them was irreparable. His successor, Bishop Mc-
Qosky, later Archbishop, created Cardinal, March 15^ 1875,
continued the work of charity and education that his illus-
trious predecessor had so firmly established.

During the sixties, the Mother-house, St. Catherine, sent
out two foundations : the first, September 24, 1863 opened a
Convent and School, St. John, in Greenbush, (now Rens-
sdaer) New York, this branch-house became an independent
Community September 19, 1868; the second foundation
established a school and Convent in St. Ann's Parish, Wor-
cester, Mass., October 16, 1864. In 1868, a select school,
St. John the Evangelist, was opened in East Fifty-fourth
Street, N. Y. Owing to a greater need of Sisters' services
among the poor children in the Homes, this school was
closed in 1881.

Soon after the war, the Sisters of Mercy received, from
the City of New York in recognition of their services in tiie
Military Hospitals at Beaufort and Newbeme, N. C, a
tract of land, 65 East Eighty-first Street, on which to erect
an Industrial Home, which was intended primarily to provide
a home, and education for daughters of the soldiers who had
died in the war. Work on the building was b^un May 14,
1866, and on September 8, feast of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin, 1869, the building, under the patronage of
St Joseph, was blessed by Rev. William H. Clowery, eccle-
siastical superior of the Community. Mother M. Alphonsus
Smyth was appointed its first Superior on September 24,
1869. 100 girls were brought from the House of Mercy,

proud to see you once more. I can never forget your kindness to the
side and wounded during our darkest days. And I know not faow to
testify my gratitude and respect for every member of jroor noble
Orderr^Annals of the Sisters of Mercy, Vol. Ill, p. 166.

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 231.

Houston Street, and abotit thirty little girls tinder 10 years
of age, transferred from the Home on Second Avenue,
opened on November 21, i860. Classes for the younger
children were held from 9 A.M. until 12 A.M. and from
I P.M. until 3 P.M. The older girls who were employed
during the morning, had session from 4 p.m. until 6:30
p.m.

Between 1869-1876, St. Joseph's Home, without private
endowments or public appropriations, was maintained by
the exertions and savings of the Commtmity, and the in-
come derived from the academy and boarding-school es-
tablished on Eighty-first Street in 1876. During the same
year this academy was removed to Balmville,** a property
of twelve acres purchased by the Sisters, to make room for
200 orphan children, who were dismissed from the Randell's
Island Institution*** in compliance with the law recently
established (1876) that all destitute children should h6
brought up in the religion of their parents. Two years
later the boarding-school was dosed to accomuKxlate the
larger boys at St. Joseph's Home who were transferred to
Balmville to make room for tiie smaller children.

Meantime, April 14, 1871, a foundation, consisting of

^This property was purchased by the Community from a family
named ButterworUi, in 1876. The last surviving member of the family,
Miss Butterwortii, was in a Community of Anglican Nuns in England.
Becoming unsettled in mind, sHie left i3ae order and became a Catholic,
subsequently, entering the Assumption Sisterhood. Prior to making
her final vows, her father -having died in the meantime, ^e returned
to New York to settle her financial affairs. She received hospitality
from the Sisters of Mercy who, on learning her missi<m to America,
visited Balmville and were so pleased with its property and location that
the purchased followed. After the fire, December i, i8s>i, the Sisters
decided not to rebuild in Balmville. The property again passed into
the hands of a relative of Mr. Butterwordi.

'^The juvenile branch of the city almdiouse is stationed here. It
includes tiie Nursery, the Infant Hospital and the Idiot Asylum.— 7A#
American Cyclopedia, Vol. XII, p. 396.

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Sister M. Evangdista Kidgell, Sister M. Vincent Meldnim,
Sister M. Josephine Cummings, Sister M. Rose McAlecr
and Sister M. Teresa McDonald, was sent from the Mother-
house to open a Convent and school attached to the College
of the Fathers of the Precious Blood, Eureka, Grass Valley
Diocese, California. After some years of struggle and
hardships, the foundation ceased to exist, and the Sisters
affiliated themselves with the San Francisco Community.

The Catholic Directory of 1871 gives notice of the New
York Community of Sisters of Mercy as follows:

" House of Mercy, 33 East Houston Street has ac-
commodations for 100 inmates. These are religiously
instructed, taught domestic economy and provided with
suitable situations.

St. Catherine's Academy, East Houston Street has
a daily attendance of 85 pupils.
St. John's Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, 120 pupils.
St. Joseph's Industrial School 152 pupils.

" This important branch of the Institution of Mercy
was completed and opened during the year 1869, It is
intended for the protection of young girls and female
children of unblemished morals, whose circumstances
render them fit subjects for such an establishment. No
distinction is made with regard to creed or country,
and the children of deceased or disabled soldiers have
primary daim to admission. The children are pro-
vided with the comforts of a home, receive a jrfain
English education, and are taught some trade or useful
and remunerative education."

"The house is calculated to contain between four
and five hundred occupants, is well ventilated and
heated, and in every way suited to the purpose for
which it was designed."

Meantime, St. Catherine's Convent, Houston Street, could

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 233

no longer comfortably accommodate the increasing numbers
of the Community, accordingly, on September 24, 1886, the
Mother-house and Novitiate were transferred to their pre-
sent quarters, 1075 Madison Avenue. During the next
decade, three schods were established from the Mother-
house; on November 22, 1887 in St. Cecilia's parish, an
academy and school were inaugurated at 116 and 118 East
One Hundred and Sixth Street; November 22, 1889, the
school of St. Catherine of Genoa was opened on West One
Hundred and Fifty-third Street, the building having been
purchased by the Community. In 1895, a parochial school
and academy were established at Mt. Vernon, where the
Community had purchased property for that purpose. On
the first Sunday in October, the school and academy were
blessed by Monsignor Farley, later Archbishop and Cardinal.
The Sisters of Mercy have also charge of the Sunday-
schools and Sodalities at St. Thomas' Church, West One
Hundred and Eighteenth Street, St. Francis de Sales' in
East Ninety-sixth Street, and the Church of the Magdalene,
Pocantico, N. Y.

The past ten years were not without struggles and great
financial losses to the Community. On Deceniber i, 1891,
Our Lady of Mercy, Home for Orphans, Bolmville, was
destroyed by fire. Monsignor Farley, later Cardinal, im-
mediately on receipt of the telegram announcing the disaster,
visited the scene of the conflagration and exerted himself to
relieve the distress of the Sisters and children. Rev. Father
Dougherty of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin, pro-
cured clothing and also offered accommodations at Mt Lor-
etto, Staten Island, to the bc^ , who for nearly a wedc were
sheltered in bams and whateverother buildings wereavailable
on the premises. An unoccupied hotel in Newburg, known
as the " Leslie House " was secured and became the tempor-
ary quarters of the orphans and Sisters in charge. The build-
ing was poorly adapted for an orphan asylum, the Corn-

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234 American Catholic Historical Society

munity therefore rented from the city in 1892 a large dwdl-
ing and four small cottages, located at Pelham Bay Paik on
Long Island Sound. The orphans were transferred here
from the " Leslie House " on April 20, 1892, and remained
until 1894, when they were removed to Tarrytown, their
present home. On October 22, 1894, the building in Wil-
son Park, Tanytown, was blessed by AichWshop Corrigan.
Rev. James H. McGean, of old St. Peter's, delivered
the sermon.

This Institution, fittingly furnished and modemly equip-
ped, is a magnificent three-story structure, having a frontage
of one himdred and sixty feet. It is splendidly situated on
a thirty-acre tract, which commands a fine view of the
Hudson. The Convent department is connected with the
main building by a large corridor. On the grounds are the
quarantine buildings, the gate-lodge and several other smal-
ler buildings.

In 1896 we find in the Catholic Directory, that the Institu-
tion of Mercy in New York, comprised—^. Joseph's Home,
St. Cecilia's and St. Catherine's Academy, New York City,
the Institution of Mercy in Tarrytown, N. Y. Academy
and Parochial School, Mt. Vernon, N. Y. Sisters, 71;
Novices, 8; Postulants, 2; PuimIs in Academy, 262; In-
mates in Women and Girls' Homes, 575; in Boys' Home,
439. Total number under the care of the Sisters 1276.
On September 8, 1909 the Holy Eucharist Schod, 86 Lin-
den St., Yonkers, N. Y. was established with a school at-
tendance of 300 children.

On April 29, 1914 the Devin Qare Home for Business
Girls, 415 West 121st. Street, valued at $250,000, the gift
of Mrs. Susan Devin, was solemnly blessed by Monsignor
J. F. Mooney, Vicar General, and the deeds transferred to
the Sisters of Mercy. A suite of rooms was reserved for
the use of the benefactress. Later, the Home for Old
Ladies, 199th Street, valued at $300,000, the gift also of

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 235

Mrs. Susan Devin was presented to the Community. It is
expected that the home will be ready for occupancy June,
1922.

Shortly before the armistice was signed, the orphanage at
Tarrytown was taken over by the government for the use
of disabled soldiers. The orphans were transferred to the
Catholic Protectory. Meantime the war ended; in conse-
quence, the building was never put to government use. A±
this time, the housing situation in the gfreat metropolis was
becoming a taxing and complex problem. To partially meet
the Qty's needs in its great emergency, the Sisters of Mercy
transferred three hundred children at St. Joseph's Home,
E. 8ist Street, to Tarrytown, reserving St. Joseph's Home
for business girls only. Many improvements were made on
the building which occupies nearly a whole block and is cap-
able of housing six hundred children. There are reading,
sewing, and music rooms, also reception rooms to which the
girls are encouraged to bring their friends. A large room
on the top floor was converted into a laundry for the use of
the girls.

On this floor also, a dormitory will be arranged in the near
future where girls who wish to remain but a short time
may have lodging and protection. Many of the residents at-
tend Mass every morning before going to work; but, attend-
ance is not obligatory. The Sisters of Mercy also conduct
a Day Nursery and kindergarten 221 J4 E. 105 St. of which
the average daily attendance is 100. The Sisters of Mercy
in New York continue to visit the hospitals and the sick and
poor in their homes. In accordance with the wish of eccle-
siastical authority, the Sisters no longer visit the prisons,
as this field of apostolic work was given in charge of the
young men in the Seminary at Dunwiddie.

During the seventy-five years of establishment in New!
York, the Sisters of Mercy have given their services in
nurseries, in orphanages, in homes for working girls, in

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236 American Catholic Historical Society

schools and academies, in the ahnshouse, in prisons, among
the poor and the sick, and, when their country needed their
ministrations willingly did they latx>r for suffering human-
ity; Sisters from schools and academies were detailed for
Hospital duty in order that the orphans might not be neg-
lected. Academies have been closed so that the orphans
might be properly cared for. When the Old Ladies' Home
shall have 'been established, the apostolic mission of the 1

Sisters of Mercy in the Archdiocese of New York shall be '

all-embracing — the care of humanity from infancy to old
age.

The Following Institutions AitE in Chasge of the Sisnxs op

MotCY IN THE AjbCH'DIOCESE OF NeW YoKK, 1^20. I

Teachers Pupils
St. Catherine's Convent of Mercy, Religions Novitiate,
Normal Training School, 1075 Madison Ave.

Novices 10

Postulants 2

St. Catherine's High School, Academy, Commercial 1

High School, 539 W. iS2nd St., affiliated with Uni- |

versity of New York.

Religious 5

Lay 3

H. S. and Acad 2

Com. H. S., Est 90

St. Thomas the Apostle School, ii8th St. & St.
Nicholas Ave., Elementary, Grades 8. (Christian
Brothers in charge of boys.)

Religious 10

Lay 13

Girls 400

St. Cecilia's School, 218 E. io6th St., Grades 8.

Religious 14

Lay. 9

Boys and Girls 1020

Our Lady of the Scapular School, 322 E. 29th St.

Religious, Est 9

Girls 350

St. Catherine of Genoa School, 503 W. 152nd St.

Religious 8

Lay 9

Boys and Girls 618

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Work of the Sisters of Mercy 237

iSoly Eucharist School, 80 Linden St., Yonkers, N. Y.,
Elementary, Grades 8.

Religious 8

Boys and Girls 300

St. John Evangelist School, Beacon, Duchess County,
Elementary, Grades 8.

Religious. 4

Boys and Girls 214

Sacred Heart School, 67 South 5th Ave., Mt. Vernon.

Religious. 8

Boys and Girls 380

Academy of St. Thomas, 141 W. ii8th St.

Religious 5

Boys and Girls . 80

St. Joseph's Home for Girls, 47 E. Sist St., New York
City, Elementary, Grades 8.

Religious, Est 14

Girls 360

*Regina Angelorum, Home for Working Girls, i la-
nd East io6th St.
Institution of Mercy Orphan Asylum, Tarrytown,
N. Y., Elementary, Grades 8.

Religious, Est 10

Girls, Est 292

St. Cecilia's Day Nursery and Kindergarten, 222^
105th St., average daily attendance.

Religious 2

Girls 100

Devin Clare, a residence for self-supporting young

girls, Est 125

Home for Old Ladies,t 199th St.

Number of Sisters in the Community 140

Total number of Sister-teachers 98

Total number of pupils including children in Institutional Schools 4905

Number of Parochial Schools 7

Number of Academies 2

Institutional Schools 3

Home for Business Girls 3

Home for Old Ladies i

*Number of inmates not listed.
t.Ready for occupancy, June, 1922.

Sister Mary Eulalia Herron.
St. Mary's Convent, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

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SOME PHILADELPHIA CONVERTS

The thirty-three volumes of our Records contain life-
sketches and accounts of many converts, whose place and
prominence in intellectual and professional life were recog-
nized fifty, seventy and eighty years ago. The purpose of
this paper is not to work over again what has been done in
former issues of the Records: it is not to repeat merely
or to review the results of earlier research. The aim is
first, to gather facts and to assemble points of general in-
terest for easy reference and use; second, to add, here and
there, details of information that are found in later publi-
cations, the correspondence chiefly and the Diary of Francis
Patrick Kenrick.

During the years 1920-1922 we printed in our Records
one hundred and thirty-five Letters of Francis Patrick Ken-
rick to the family of George Bernard Allen. The references
to many converts in these Letters, extending over the years
1849 to 1863 suggested a list of converts named in the
letters. This list was printed at the end of the last in-
stalment of Letters {Records, March, 1922).

In conjunction with the Letters it was planned to publish
an original study of George Allen's on '' The Religion of
Shakespeare''. By some unexplained error the Shakes-
peare study was omitted, though the paper was in type and
ready for publication in March 1922. It was decided then,
in order to carry the Shakespeare study to gather a new
list of Philadelphia Converts, limiting the notices to main
points of interest, which a searcher usually wants to know.

The Shakespeare study will be found at the end of this
list.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 239

AUen, George Bernard/ was bom at Milton, described as
a " farming and lumbering township in the county of
Chittenden", Vermont, December 17, 1808. His father,
Heman Allen, was a lawyer of ** high abilities " and " still
higher qualities " of soul. After completing college course
at the University of Vermont George Allen taught in that
University from August, 1828 to April 1830; later he
studied law under Judge Turner at St. Albans, and was ad-
mitted to practice in the courts of Franklin County in
March, 1831. Ehiring the same year, 1831, he married
Mary Hancock Withington, whose grandmother on the
mother's side was a sister of John Hancock, first signer of
the I>eclaration of Independence.

In May, 1834, Mr. Allen was ordained Deacon, and a
year later. Presbyter in the Protestant Episcopal church.
He officiated at St. Alban's 1835 to 1837, when he resigned
the clerical charge on account of throat trouble. In the
meantime, 1834 to 1837, he had been teaching in the theo-
logical department of the Vermont Episcopal Institute at
St. Albans. This school was then under the direction of
Bishop Hopkins, the opponent of Bishop Francis Patrick
Kenrick, whose Letter in answer to Hopkins developed
later into " The Primacy of the Apostolic See ".* From
1837 to 1845 George Allen taught languages in Delaware

1 Professor Allen signed his name George Allen, and was not known
to the world as George Bernard Allen. The name Bernard Aras given
to him by Bishop Kenrick at the time of his reception in the Giurch.
From a letter of Mr. Gregory B. Keen, Curator of the Pennsylvania
Historical Society, Sept. 23, 1921. The sources of information in this
notice are a sketch of the Life of George Allen by Robert Ellis
Thompson, and a Collection of biographical notes prepared by Mr. Allen
at the request of Gregory B. Keen some time before Mr. Allen's death.
Both ^ese papers were printed in ^e Penn Monthly during the autumn
following George Allen's death, May 28, 1876. The autobiographical
notes cover only the years previous to <Mr. Allen's coming into the
Church, 1847.

* See Kenrick's Letters, p. 258, note.

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240 American Catholic Historical Society

College, near Newark, in the state of Delaware. The latter
year, 1845, marks the beginning of his work at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, over thirty years of actual teach-
ing. First, 1845 to 1847, he was assistant professor; 1847
to 1864 he was Professor of Greek and Latin. In 1864
the burden of the two classics were divided, and Mr. Allen
was given the department of Gredc Language and Literature.
He remained in charge of this work to the time of his death
in 1876.

For particulars about the conversion of George Allen
and his family we depend now entirely upon the Letters of
Francis Patrick Kenrick. The marble slabs over the graves
in the *' Old Cathedral " Cemetery give the information " Re-
ceived into the Church October 13, 1847 "> ^^^ " Received
into the Church October 14, 1847 " for the father and the
mother respectively. The five children probably were re-
ceived with the mother.

In a letter written to his brother in St. Louis, dated the
feast of St. Peter Alcantara (October 19,) 1847, Bishop
Kenrick says : " Last week I received George Allen, and his
wife and five children into the fold of Mother Church. He
came to the faith following the example and encouraged by
the counsel of William H. Ho)rt.* He (Allen) teaches
letters in the University in Philadelphia, and he served in
the ministry in that sect (Episcopalian) a number of years ".
In another letter, written November 30 of the same year,
the Bishop says : " George Allen, who was recently con-
verted to the Faith, is an excellent scholar in Gredc and
Latin letters, is strong in his faith, admirable in humility,

* William H. Hoyt had taken the place of George Allen as rector of
the Episcopalian churdi at St. Albans in 1837. Hoyt was received* into
the Church in July, 1846. After the death of his wife he was ordained
priest, in i877« He died at St. Ann's, New York, December 11, 1883.
Many children and grandchildren were present at his funeral. See
Kenrick Letters^ p. 265, note.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 241

and has a tender loving devotion for the Mother of Godr
and his whole family has the same affection.

From another letter written on ocxasion of the death of
"Little Mary", Easter, 1852, it appears that the Bishop
himself prepared the children personally and instructed them
for reception into the Church. " Your faith ", he says, in a
letter to the father, " will give you fortitude and resigna-
tion. I fed as if I shared your bereavement. She loved
me in her simplicity, as no child ever before loved me. The
words of instruction which I uttered were received by her
with a clearness of understanding and a tenderness of piety
altogether extraordinary". We get glimpses occasionally
of the home life of the Aliens through the letters written by
Kenrick after he went to Baltimore in 1852^— one hundred
and thirty letters 1852 to 1863.**

George Stanislaus Allen, the younger son, went to Ver-
mont, it appears, to study law, about 1859. Later he lived
in Washington, D.C. About 1872 he returned to Phila-
delphia, where he followed his chosen profession— music.

»» From a little note book kept by Mrs. Allen after tfie death of Little
Mary this point is now fixed quite beyond doubt, that Bishop Kenrick did
instruct the Allen children personally in the principles of Faitii. Mrs.
Allen has recorded there her conversation with Miss Johnson, the
Germantown convert, who had just returned from Baltimore. She
reports Miss Johnson's words : " He (the Archbishop) told a great deal
about dear Little Mary. He told what she said when he was instructing
her for her first Holy Communion, when she was just nine years old.
When, explaining about the Blessed Sacrament, he turned to her and
asked if she understood him, she said: 'No, how can I understand;
but I believe.'"

Another note in this little book, which, by the way, had been used
by Little 'Mary to mark her lessons at school, deserves notice here —
Mrs. Allen has written : " Mrs. Bradford sent in one day, soon after we
were Catholics, for Little Mary to go out and play witfi her children.
She asked Mary a great many questions about it — masked if it was true
that we were Catholics, and why we were so. Mary said 'because it
was the only right way.' Mrs. B. said: 'Yes, but we think we are
right.' Mary's answer was : * We used to think so, but now we know.' "

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242 American Catholic Historical Society

He died at St. Albans, Vermont, September 4, 1907, true to
Mother Church. The elder son, Heman, studied music in
Germany, i860 1862. In 1865 he married Miss Clara
Niles of Dansville, New York, also a convert in 1868.
From 1867 to the time of his death, Jan. 27, 1893, Heman
Allen made his home in Chicago. For many years he was
organist in the Holy Name Cathedral, and is said to have
been the first to introduce the Gregorian and Caedlian
music in the middle West. In 1883 he was one of the
orchestra, which, under the direction of Theodore Thomas,
made the tour of the country from ocean to ocean. Heman
Allen was chosen in 1889 to read the paper on Church
Music in the Githolic Congress held in November of that
year in Chicago.*

The two daughters of George Allen, Elizabeth and Julia,
mentioned frequently in the Letters, remained single, thdr
graves are marked together with the father and mother,
and Little Mary, in the Old Cathedral Cemetery, Philadel-
phia, Pa.*

*Two children of Heman Allen are living— Miss Edith Allen, a
teacher in the schools of Chicago and Mary Hancock Allen Merrill, wife
of William Stetson Merrill (also a convert) of the Newberry Library,
Chicago. Tlierc are three sons in this family— John Hancock, Wilfrid
Allen and Harold Stetson Merrill. The memory of "Sweet Little
Mary," Bishop Kenrick's "Pet" is continued in the name of Mrs.
Merrill. George Stanislaus was twice married, and diere were six chil-
dren. One is living, Mrs. Elizabeth Creutz, of Los Angeles, Calif. —
See "Genealogies of the Converse Family and allied families," also A
Hundred Years of Music in America, Chicago, i889» pp. 300-301.

Note. — Mrs. Mary Hancock Allen Merrill died in Chicago, October
16, 1922.

•In Section L, .Range 2, Lot 57, Little Mary's grave is marked by a
low marble block, surmounted by a sleeping lamb. The inscription reads

•Mary Hancock Allen

Died April 10, 1852

Aged 12 years

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Some Philadelphia Concerts 243

The Aliens lived for many years in the house which they
owned at Northeast corner Seventeenth and Chancellor
Streets. There George Allen had cdlected what then was
considered the best Ubrary of Shakespeariana and works on
Chess in America. There as a description of Allen book
collection in the Philadelphia Ledger, January 3, 1888 — »
5000 vols.

The only published work, which George Allen left to
prove his undoubted scholarship, is a " Life of Philodor,*
Musician and Chess Player", printed in 1863. In Ken-
rick's Letter are many allusions to facts of assistance which
he received from Mr. Allen in the preparation of notes and

on a plain marble slab is inscribed

Pray for the Repose of

George Allen

bom December 17, ifio8

died May 28^ 1876

Received into the Churdi October 13, 1847

And his wife

Mary Hancock Allen

bom December 21, 1799

died July 28, 1879

Received into the Church October 14, 1847

Another slab bears the inscription

Pray for the repose of

Julia Allen
bom August 28, 1833

died May 2, 1897

Elizabeth W. Allen

bom April 11, i8ji

died November 10, 1902

• Philodor was the name given to the Chess player's fatiier by Louis
XVII of France. The family name was Danican. The Chess expert
was Francois Andre Danican^ilidori, born 1726^ died 1795. A prelim-
inary note says that ''Two copies" (of the book) "have been printed
on vellum. The first book-printing on vellum executed in America."
But in the Preface Mr. Allen says " Two copies of another little book
of mine (the Novena of St. Anthony of Padua, pp. viii and i-^) were
printed on vellum "—this iNovena was published m i86a

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244 American Catholic Historical Society

in the translation of difficult passages for the second edi-
tion of the New Testament/ published by Kelly Hedian and
Piet, Baltimore, 1862. George Bernard Allen died in
Worcester, Massachusetts, May 28, 1876. The body was
brought to Philadelphia for burial in the Old Cathedral
Cemetery by the side of Little Mary, whose body had been
removed from St. John's on Thirteenth Street, in Sep-
tember, 1855.

Brackett — -Mary Brackett Willcox — 'Wife of James M.
Willcox, was born September 9, 1796, at Quincy, Massa-
chusetts. Married James M. Willcox of Ivy Mills, Dela-
ware County, Pennsylvania in 181 9. Mrs. Willcox was re-
ceived into the Church probably in 1842. Bishop Kenrick;
has noted the fact in the Diary thus :

" May, the first day ( 1842)— Fifth Sunday after Easter,
I confirmed twenty one persons in the home of James Will-
cox, in Ivy township, in Delaware County. He himself and
his wife, recently a convert to the Faith, received together
the Sacraments of Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist,
also a munber of their children. About thirty, altogether,
received Holy Conununion. The grandfather of the said
good man (James Willcox) came and settled here about one
himdred and twenty years ago. Mass has been celebrated
here ever since priests have visited this region at all. The
Rev. Father Farmer, among others, said Mass in this place,
and for forty years, the Rev. Patrick Kenny, who died two
years ago, used to celebrate Mass in the same place. The
Rev. Patrick Sheridan now for six months past, says Mass
here once each month .... the first Sunday. It is the
purpose now to build a church here, on ground which James
Willcox will give for that end ". Kenrick, Diary — p. 204.

Mrs. Willcox died at the Willcox home, Ivy Mills, March

^5ee Letters to the Allen Family printed in the Records, CXXI-
CXXX, CXXXI.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 245

21, 1866. A sketch of the life of Mary Brackett Willcox
may be found in " Ivy Mills" — 1729-1866—" Willcox and
Allied Families" by Joseph Willcox, 191 1, pp. 124-136— <
There also are printed Mrs. Willcox's own brief notes re-
ferring to facts of neariy fifty years of residence at Ivy Mills,
historically valuable.

Brittin, Lionell, designated as " Pennsylvania's first Cath-
oHc Owivert", settled in Bucks County in 1680; in 1688
removed to Philadelphia. Between the years 1688 and 1720
there are recorded twenty-three transfers of real estate in
vicinity of Chestnut and Second — iMarket and Front
streets; convert about 1707; died before January 21, 1721,
the date of probating his will. The late Mrs. Col. John
Devereaux of Wayne, Delaware County, was a descendent
of Lionell Brittin.*

Bryant, John Delavau, was bom in Philadelphia in 181 1.
His father was the Rev. William Bryant, assistant for
some years at the church of the Epiphany (Episcopalian),
formerly at the Northeast comer of Chestnut and Fifteenth
streets. John Delavau Bryant was a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, A.B. in 1839; Master of Arts in
1842, and Doctor of Medicine in 1848. He was received
into the Church at St. John's February 12, 1842. This
was a short time after the death of his father.® For some
time before entering upon the practice of medicine, prob-
ably also later, Mr. Bryant was at the head of a " Select
English and Classical School." This School, on South
Eleventh Street, is advertised during several successive years
in the Catholic Herald:

• GriMfu Researches, 1890, vol. vii, pp. 50-66.

* " The young man Bryant, whose father died a few weeks ago, after
a stroke of apoplexy, while officiating in a church of the Episcopalians,
is coming again to be instructed in the Catholic Faith."— /jTmrtcifc-
Prenaye Letters, January 10, 1842, page 141.

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246 American Catholic Historical Society

St. Paul's English and Classical Academy.

In 1846 the notice runs — " The Eleventh term of St.
Paul's Academy will commence on Monday, Sept. 7 at the
usual place, Eighth street, third door above Chestnut St.

" The patronage of Catholics and the public generally is
respectfully solicited. The excellence of the mental and
moral cuhure here to be obtained is sufficiently known, and
needs no advertisement to set it forth. To those who have
not yet experimentally proved their superiority references is
made to the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia, the Rev.
Qergy and all the Patrons.

John D. Bryant, A.M. — ^Prindpal
Peter Frenaye — ^French Department
M. Merino— Spanish Department"

— CatholicHerald — September 24, 1846.

During the summer of 1855, when an epidemic of yellow
fever was devastating many cities in the South, Doctor
Bryant, with a number of other Philadelphia physicians and
nurses, volunteered to go to the relief of Portsmouth and
Norfolk, Virginia, where the ravages of the dread (Hsease
had left conditions beyond the control of those who re-
mained of the medical profession. Doctor Bryant was on
duty in these afRicted cities of the South from September
to December, 1855. Of the thirty-one physicians resident
in the two cities it is said that not one escaped the fever;
and fourteen out of the thirty-one died. Out of twenty-one
physicians, who volunteered relief, sixteen contracted the
fever, and six died. In North Laurel Hill cemetery is a
monument erected to the memory of Physicians, Druggists
and Nurses who died at Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., in
discharge of their duty during the Yellow Fever epidemic
of 1855.

Doctor Bryant was the author of Pauline Seward, a novet
which enjoyed a healthful popularity, and was several

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Some Philadelphia Com/erts 247

times reprinted Redemptions^ an epic in twelve bocks was
published in 1859. The theme is Sin and The Divine Plan
of Reparation on lines similar to Paradise Lost and Re-
gained. There are points of high merit in this work.
Chief among these are, perhaps, The Devils' Defeat at the
hands of Mary, p. 83 ; The Tempting of Christ in the wilds,
pp. 158 et seq.; Counsels of the evil Spirits to defeat

^ Prof oundest hell t hast thou, in all thy depths,

Worse punishment than this? I, who have fought
With princedoms, thrones, ardiangels, powers, and ne^er
Before created aught did fly, do here,
Before this fragile thing, retreat abashed!
Hdl, hast thou seen my diame? and wilt thou own
Thy Lord, first relegate from heav'n, and now
From earth? For if I reign not conqueror there
Where weakest dwell, who 'inong superiors
Will own my sway?

— ^Bryant's Redtmptum, p. 8I3.

Christ's answer to the tempter (Matt. 4: 5'JC.)
Whence hast thou, Satan, gained tiiis boasted right
To sway earth's goods? to give them or retain?
Whence came they? Not from thee. Where wast thoa then
When earth's foundations deep and strong were laid?

Hiy bold usurpmg of His rights, who made,

No right confers on thee, who artful stole.

But, grant thy boasting, yield earth's goods are thine;

How small thy patrimony, vain thy boast 1

Compared -mftx these vast orbs, which He who made

Rolled at a word with ease through boundless spacer

Earth's meager point, invisible to those,

Is but a mote that floats unseen through air.

And canst thou, vain with such an atom, hope
To buy what in no case becomes thy state,
When He who made all these exhaustless worlds.
And to whom sole allegiance is due
Can whom He will reward with countless worlds?
Judge then (if thou material goods wilt boast)
If it were best to kneel and worship ^ee;

— Bryant* 8 Redemption, p. ITS-

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248 American Catholic Historical Society

Christ 233-239; Soliloqies and final despair of Judas pp.
244.277.

Doctor Bryant died in Philadelphia, August 2, 1877.

Carter, Charles Ignatius Hamilton, bom in Kentucky in
1803. There also he was received into the Church about
1822, influenced, it is said, by the Catholic family life of
his sister, also a convert, who had married Gabriel Lan-
caster. More than forty years of Father Carter's life were
spent in Philadelphia, hence his place in a list of Philadel-
phia converts. His studies for the priesthood were hcgvai
in St. Joseph's Seminary, Bardstown, completed in St.
Mary's, Baltimore; and he was ordained priest by Bishop
Kenrick in St. Mar/s, Philadelphia, August 15, 1832.
Father Carter's first charge was St. John's, Manayunk,
1832-1837. He was at St. Mary's 1838 to 1848, assistant
first, then rector, after Father Barron's depaiture for the
Alfrican Missions in 1841. In 1848 Father Carter was as-
signed to the work of forming the new parish and building
church and school of St. Mary's of the Assumption, Spring
Garden and Twelfth Streets. This new schurch was dedi-
cated to the divine worship November 11, 1849. In 1864
Father Carter acquired the land and buildings of the Jack-
son Academy at Sharon Hill, Delaware County, a boarding
school for girls established about 1835. This school was
then placed under the charge of Sisters of the Holy Child,
to whom Father Carter had been a generous friend since
their first coming to the United States in 1842. Sharon
Hill Academy has been made the Motherhouse and Novi-
tiate of the Sisterhood in America. Here in the convent
grounds rest the remains of Father Carter, who died in the
rectory of the Assumption, September 17, 1879.^^

1^ Father Carter was appointed Vicar General by Bishop Neuman
in x86o. He held this office under Bishop and later (1875) Archbi^op
Wood to the time of his death.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 249

Chandler, Joseph Ripley, was bom at Kingston, Massa-
chusetts, August 25, 1792. For nearly sixty-five years he
was identified with the life and public spirit of Philadelphia.
He held a controlling interest in the United States Gazette,
one of the oldest news periodicals in this country, when it
was sold to the North American in 1847/^ Mr. Chandler
was member of the City Council, 1832- 1848; member of
Congress 1S49 ^^ 1855 ; United States Minister at Naples,
1858-1861. He was a Representative at the International
Ccmrgess held in London, 18712. The date of Mr. Chand-
ler's coming into the Church has not been found. He was
not a Catholic when, July. 1833, he was married to Mary
H. Jones at St. John's. It is certain that he was a Catholic
during the last twenty years of his Uf e.

In 1855, January 10, Mr. Chandler delivered, in Con-
gress, his famous speech on " The Temporal Power of the
Pope " — that is, the subject of the freedom of the Catholics
in their alliance to the State in any form of civil govern-
ment. This Address was reprinted from Congressional Rfe-
cords by the Dolphin Press Educational Briefs in 1909.^'
Mr. Chandler died in Philadelphia July 10, 1880.

Connelly, Pierce — ^bom in Philadelphia, August 9, 1804;
studied for the ministry, and officiated at Christ Church,
Second street above Market, under Bishop William White;
married Dec. i, 1831, Miss Cornelia Augusta Peacock, also
of Philadelphia. The Connellys lived in Natchez, Ten-
nessee, 1832 to 1835, where Pierce Connelly was engaged

" " Mr. Chandler has sold the Gazette to the North American for
$43^000. The managers (of the North American) will have to change
their tone if they wish to keep Catholic patronage." — iPrenaye to Bishop
Kenrick, Kenrick-Frenaye Letters, p. 66.

*^ The occasion for the reprint was a series of " Letters " written by a
clerical bloc of anti-Catholic alarmists during the presidential campaign
of 1908. The ministers were answered by a public statement in form of a
letter addressed to J. C Martin, Dayton, Ohio^ Nov. 6, 1908.

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250 American Catholic Historical Society

in the work of the ministry. In December, 1835, the Con-
nelly family, now four, father, mother and two children left
Natchez en route for Rome. In New Orleans, owing to
a delay in the date of sailing, G>melia Peacock Connelly
made her profession of faith, was received into the Church
and received first Holy Communion at the hands of Bishop
Antony Blanc: Pierce Connelly made his submission to
Mother Church in Rome, March 27, 1836 (Palm Sunday).
The Thursday following, of Holy Week, both husband and
wife received together the Sacrament of Confirmation.
They returned to the United States about the end of the
year 1837. From June 1838 to May 1842 Pierce Connelly
was employed as a teacher in St. Charles' College, Grand
Coteau, Louisiana. In the summer of 1842 Pierce Con-
nelly returned to Europe. His plan was to ask the Holy
See for a canonical separation from his wife in order to pre-
pare himself for the priesthood. The petition for separa-
tion by mutual agreement was granted by the Pope, Gregory
XVT, March 15, 1844. In 1845, July 6, at Rome Pierce
Connelly was ordained priest.

Mrs. Connelly, following the counsel of spiritual direc-
tors in Rome, with the explicit approval of the Pope, devoted
her life to religion in the establishing of the Sisters of the
Holy Child Jesus. She left Rome for England in April,
1846; and opened the first house of the new Sisterhood at
Derby, October 13 of the same year. The three children "
were placed in private schools in England.

In 1848 Pierce Connelly began a series of petty annoy-
ances, which developed into systematic persecution, and the
scandal of what appears to have been a plan to bring the
new Sisterhood under his personal control. The case went

1* There had been five diildren. Two died young, before Hbt separ-
ation, and are buried at Grand Coteau. Mercer, the oldest, died in New
Orleans, 1853, Adeline died in Florence, Italy 1900. Frank is probaUy
still living in Florence.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 251

into the courts in England, Pierce Connell/s plea being
that " he could be held liable for debts, contracted by his
former wife ". After nearly three years of litigation, one
decision in 1850 being unfavorable to Mrs. Connelly, the
final judgment of Privy Council, June 27, 185 1, reversed
the earlier decision of the Court of Arches. This secured
" Mother Cornelia " in her right, agreed upon in Rome in
1846, to proceed in her work independent of Pierce Con-
ndl/s further interference. Pierce Connelly returned to
Italy, where he remained to the time of Us death. He died
in Florence, December 8, 1883, not externally reconciled to
the Church.

Connelly, Cornelia Augusta Peacock — Wife of Pierce
Connelly, of the preceding notice, was bom in Philadelphia,
January 15, 1809. The life work and trials of Mother
Cornelia after the separation agreed upon in 1845, and the
later insane course of Pierce Connelly, and the estrange-
ment of her three children, have hardly a parallel in the hag-
iography of Christian heroes. The marvd is that she per-
severed in the face of difficulties and prejudices that seemed
insurmountable. At the time of Mother Cornelia's death,
April 18, 1879, the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, the first
house of which she opened at Derby, October 13, 1846, had
schools at St. Leonards-on-sea, Mayfield, London, Neuilly
—•Paris, with their American Novitiate at Sharon Hill, Pi.,
the Assumption school, St. Leonard's Academy and St.
James' school in Philadelphia. A women's Hospice was
opened for Catholic resident women students at Oxford in
igoy^^St. Frideswide's, Cherwell Edge, Oxford.

Connelly, John, brother of Pierce Connelly, formerly of
Philadelphia; was received into the Church in Kentucky, in
the "Chapel of St. Mary's Coll^;e, July 23, 1841 "; was
confirmed and received Holy Conununion the following

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252 American Catholic Historical Society

Sunday in the Chapel of the Sisters of Loreto. During
the period of storm, and the later gloom of his brother
Pierce in Europe, John Conndlly remained true to the faith
and the sympathetic friend of Mother Cornelia/^

Cooke, Charles was bom in Philadelphia about 1809; re-
ceived into the Church by Bishop Kenrick, November 15,
1843; di^ March 12, 1849. Charles Cooke was a gener-
ous benefactor to the Seminary. He bequeathed, at his
death the siun of five thousand dollars to Bishop KenricU
for the Seminary. Three of the children of Charles Cooke's
sister, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Cooke Longstreth, wife of
Judge Longstreth, became Catholics before his death, and,
after his death, both the sister and her husband.^' But in
1849 ^^ member of Mr. Cooke's immediate family except-
ing the Longstreth children, were Catholics. He was
buried, therefore in the grave lot of his brother John Cooke
in Laurel Hill Cemetery, where his remains rest now.

Cooper, Francis of St. John's Philadelphia, was re-
ceived into the Church by Father Dubuisson (probably at
St. Joseph's)^ — See Kenrick-Allen Letters — cxxi — ^Francis
Cooper died March 31, 1853— (See Kenrick-Frenaye Let-
^^^. p. 355).

Cooper, Samuel Sutherland — -Was Virginian by birth,
engaged in commerce and shipping in Philadelphia before
1807; was instructed in the Faith by Father Michael Hurley
at St. Augfustine's, and there received into the Church by

1* See Records, March, 1920^ Sketch of the Life of Mother Cornelia
Connelly,

^^See Longstreth below, also Joseph and Lydia Cooke Middleton.
It is a fact worthy of note that the conversion of Oiarles Cooke, in
1843, was followed, widiin a space of less than twelve years, by the
coming into the Church of at least fifteen of his immediate family and
kindred— 4ii8 two sisters Lydia and Mary, their husbands, Joseph
Middleton and Judge Morris Longstreth, the seven Middleton diildren,
and three of the diildren of the Longstreth family.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 253

Bishop Carroll on " Visitation " in the fall of iSo/.^* In
.1808 he was a student in the Seminary in Baltimore, and
was ordained priest in 1818. The work of Mr. Cooper on
American missions extends over a period of about twelve
years. In 1819 he was at Emmit^btirg, Maryland. In
i8(2i, when Bishop England came to the diocese of Charles-
ton, South Carolina, he refers to the mission at Augusta,
Georgia, attended by Mr. Cooper. During the years 1823
to 1827 Father Cooper ministered to the faithful in Rich-
mond, Virginia; 1828-1829 he was in Philadelphia. In
1 831 he left for France, and spent the remaining years of
his life in the diocese of Bordeaux under the jurisdiction of.
Cardinal Cheverus, formerly first Bishop of Boston—^
1810-1823. Father Cooper died December 16, 1843. The
Catholic Directory, 1845, in the notice of his death, recalls
the fact that Mr. Cooper had been one of the early benefac-
tors of Mother Seton's Sisters at Emmitsburg. The
amotmt stated is eight thousand dollars.

Fay, Sigoumey W. — ^bom in Philadelphia, a graduate of
the University of Pennsylvania in the class of 1897; pre-
pared for the ministry, was "ordained", and, for some
time stationed at the church of the Transfiguration, Thirty-
fourth street, Philadelphia, later taught theological branches
in Nashotah Seminary, Wisconsin; was received into the
Church in 1909 at Deal Beach, New Jersey; ordained priest
by Cardinal Gibbons in Baltimore, June, 1910; died in New
York, January, 10, 1919 at the rectory of Our Lady of

*• Mrs. iSeton in a letter written November 20, 1807, speaks of this
fact: ''Mr. Hurley is making brilliant conversions in Philaelphia. A
Mr. Cooper of great intellectual attainments waited a few weeks ago
on Bishop White and odier clergymen of note, inquiring their reasons
of separatum, and ifuKling them, as they a/re, was received on the Visita-
tion at St. Augustine's diurdi. He is of family and fortune, and it
therefore makes a great noise, as also the conversion of one of their
most fashionable women, a Mrs. Montgomery."— Memoir and Letters
of Elizabeth Seton, vol. i, p. 317.

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254 American Catholic Historical Society

Lourdes, where he was visiting his friend Doctor Joseph
McMahon«

Fetterman, Wilfrid Washington was received into the
Church apparently in Pittsburg. Bishop Kenrick's Diar^
notes the fact that "Wilfrid W. Fetterman, a lawyer of
repute, who was converted to the Faith some few years
ago" was among the niunber (one htmdred and ninety)
whom he confirmed in the church of St. Paul, Pittsburg,
May the eighth, 1834. In 1838 Mr. Fetterman, it seems,
was living in Philadelphia. Mark Antony Frenaye in a
letter of the thirty-first of July of that year, reports to
Bishop Kenrick that " Mr. Fetterman continues very ill "
. . . . " His wife is much alarmed ". According to St.
John's Vault Records Mr. Fetterman died December 15,
1838 — ^See Kenrick'Frenaye Letters, p. 19 — also Records,
1912, p. 232.

Foote, George C. was rector of the church of St. Thomas
(Episcopalian) in the White Marsh Valley, near Chestnut
Hill, about 1852 to 1855, when he, his wife and family
came into the Church. Later, 1857 ^^ i860, George C.
Foote was employed as a teacher ("principal") in St.
Augustine's school, Philadelphia. He died in Philadelphia
in 1861."

Haldeman, Samuel Steman, was bom in Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania in 1812; attended local schools; 1826-
1828 studied at Keagy's Academy in Harrisburg; later at
Dickinson College, leaving there in 1830; was at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania 1833- 1834. Lectured on Zoology
in The Franklin Institute, South Seventh Street, Philadel-
phia, 1 841 and after. In 1850 to 53 he held the chair of
"Natural History" in the University of Pennsylvania ,•*
taught the same subject in Delaware College, Newark Dela-
ware, 1855-1858. From 1876 to the time of his death in

^7 See Records, 1901, pp. 261-262.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 255

1880 (Sept. 10) he taught oomparadve philology in the
University of Pennsylvania. Haldeman was received into
the Church at St. John's, Philadelphia, April 23, 1842."
Haldeman was a frequent contributor to periodicals of
his time. There is a list of one hundred and twenty-two
papers, including larger works, on his favorite studies — •
language and natural history — ^printed in the Records, 1898,
page 283-290. Among the larger contributions to these
subjects are two volumes on " Freshwater Univalve Moll-
usca of the United States'', Philadelphia, 1845; '' Mono-
graphie de Genere Leptaxis ", Paris, 1847. Th^ studies in
philology cover a wide range. There are monographs on
the " pronunciation of Latin ", on " the power of the Greek
Z ; on " Pennsylvania Dutch ", on " the Phonology of the
Wyandots"; "some points in linguistic Ethnology, with
Illustrations chiefly from the Aboriginal Languages of
America ".

Haldeman, Horace, brother of Samuel was bom in Lan-
caster County 1820; served as second Lieutenant in the
Mexican war ; was received into the Church by Bishop Ken-
rick in Philadelphia, Nov. 13, 1849; settled in Texas; en-
tered Confederate army in command of " Mechlin's Battery
of Light Artillery ". Died at Calvert Texas, Sept. 11, 1884.

Hare, Robert* — Convert in Philadelphia in 1840 — In a

^* Yesterday S. S. Haldeman, Professor of Zoology, was baptized by
m^^—'Kenrick Letters^ p. 148.

Professor Haldeman was buried from St. Peter's diurdi, Columbia,
Pa., September, 1880.

* Robert Hake is the name of one of the eight lay trustees of St.
Mary's Church elected April 2, 1844. In a record of the minutes of
the Board of Trustees, July 19, 1844, a Bill is presented *' from Robt.
Hare, Esq. for expenses incurred in traveling on behalf of the Church
amounting to (?), which, on motion was ordered to be paid by the
Treasurer".

In this same Board meeting, July 19, 1844, '' Mr. Carter laid before
the Board the resignation of Robt. Hare from membership as Trustee
of St. Mary's Church— which on being read, was accepted ".

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256 American Catholic Historical Society

letter to Bishop Kenrick written Oct. 20, 1840 Marc Antony
Frenay« says : " Mr. Hare has taken an important stq). He
has just made his first Communion at St. Joseph's, and very
soon he will marry Mademoiselle Depestre ".

The Catholic Herald, November 19, 1840, notes that
" Robert Hare will lecture in Caroll Hall soon '\^

Horner, William Edmonds, M.D. — ^was bom at Warren-
ton, Virginia, June 3, 1793 — died at Philadelphia, March
I3> 1853. He studied medicine in the University of Penn-
sylvania, served in miltary hospitals during the war of
1 81 2 on the Canadian frontiers both before and after
graduation. Graduated Doctor of Medicine, University of
Pensylvania 1814. After the end of the war, at the close
of the year 1814, he practiced medicine for some time in his
native place, Warrenton. In 1817 he was assigned to the
position of "Prosector" in the department of Anatomy
under Doctor Wistar in the University of Pennsylvania.
From 1822 to 1852 he was Dean of the Medical School in
the University, and from 1831 to the time of his death Pro-
fessor of Anatomy. He published during the years of his
active teaching (i) Special Anatomy and Histology, eighth
edition, in two vols., 1851. (2) Dissector and Lessons in
Practical Anatomy, fifth edition remodeled by Henry H.
Smith, 1856. (3) Anatomical Atlas.^^

The date of Doctor Horner's coming into the Church re-
mains undiscovered. Bishop Kenrick in his Diary records
the fact of his Confirmation by Bishop Hughes, then Coad-
jutor of New York, thus :

"A|pril the eighteenth day, 1842 Bishop John Hughes
confirmed Doctor William E. Homer in the church of Saint
John the Evangelist (Philadelphia)". In a letter written

^* I have thtis far found no other mention or notice of Robert Hare.
F. E. T.
!•* Allibone, English Authors, under Homer many times reissued.

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Some Philadelphia Cofiverts 25/

to Father P^iil Ciillen (later Cardinal) February 18, 1840,
Bishop Kenrick says : " Dr. Homer, Professor of Anatomy,
was received into the Qiurch by Bp. Hughes previous to
his departure".** Again in 1844, March 18, in another
letter to the same, the Bishop says : " Dr. Homer, an emin-
ent physician, who about six years ago embraced the faith
and was received in the Church by Bishop Hughes, sends
his work on Special Anatomy as a mark of respect to his
Holiness. His daughter, a child I believe, has wrought with
her own hands the marks which are inserted for the reader's
convenience ".**

Doctor Homer was, as indicated by a letter of Bishop
Kenrick, one of the promoters of the plan to establish St.
Joseph's Hospital in 1849." The Resolution of the Hos-
pital's Board of Managers at the time of his death shows
that he was then still one of its staff of physicians—" Senior
Surgeon " — -Doctor Homer died March 13, 1853.

Johnsofir—Miss, of Germantown, Pennsylvania, bom of
Quaker parents ; in 1819. She was received into the Qiurch
in 1845. In 1857 Miss Johnson entered the Novitiate of
the Visitation, Mount de Sales, Catonsville, Baltimore, re-
ceiving the name Sister Mary Bernard. Soon after her
profession in 1858, she was appointed Mistress of Novices.
She held this office many years. She died May 25, 1887. —
See Kenrick-Allen Letters LIII—LXXVIII—XCIX—
CXXXII.

Longstreth, Morris, bom Dec. 3, 1800; married Mary
Elizabeth Cooke, sister of Charles Cooke, a convert in 1843,

••It seems probable from these letters that Doctor Homer was
received into the Church in New York by Bishop (Hughes previous to
a visit to Europe in 1839.

** See Records, 1896, vol. vii, pp. 304-3114.

••The Bishop speaks of a plan to establish a Hospital in the house
which is now the Cathedral Clergy (Residence, in 1846. This was " in
accordance with the design of Doctor Homer."— /Cenficife-Fr«iay«
Letters^ pp. 224-225.

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2s8 American Catholic Historical Society

sister also of the wife of Joseph Middleton, a convert in
1854. Morris Longstreth was twice appointed Associate
Judge of Montgomery County. Judge Longstreth was re-
ceived into the Church a short time before his death about
the end of April 1855. His wife, Mary Elizabeth Cooke
Longstreth came into the Church at the same time. Three
of the Longstreth's children, as given below, had been re-
ceived into the Church before their parents. This probably
was due to the influence of the children's uncle, Charles
Cooke, their mother's brother who made his home with his
sister at " Valley Green " in the White Marsh Valley.

Longstreth, Mary Elizabeth Codce Longstreth, wife of
Judge Longstreth, as above received into the Church in
1855; died, November 30, 1872.

Longstreth, George C. son of Judge Morris Longstreth as
above; baptized March 10, 1847, at the age of fourteen;
died January 15, 185 1.

Longstreth, Joseph C, brother of the above, baptized July
24, 1847; 2t student at Villanova, 1847-1850; died April 29,
1864, the result of illness contracted in the service during
the civil war.

Longstreth, Lydia C, sister of the above; baptized at the
age of seven, together with her brother Joseph; attended
school at Eden Hall; married Jesse Tomlinson; died Nov-
ember 2, 1890. The Longstreths, parents and three children
are buried in the " Old Cathedral " Cemetery."

*« Two old-er children of Judge Longstreth, John and Charles, the
former of whom was for some time a student at Georgetown, did not
become Catholics. The Catholic side of the family name ends with the
death of the mother, Mary Elizabeth Cooke Longstreth, November
50, 1872.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 259

Major, Henry — ^Rector of All Saints' Church, Moyam-
ensing, in Philadelphia. He was received into the Church
May 25, 1846; ** was editor of the Catholic Herald 1847-
1855. ^^ 1846 he published " Reasons f<M: acknowledging
the authority of the Holy Roman See ", known generally as
"Major's Reasons" — ^The book is:

Inscribed

Most respectfully

To the

RIGHT REV. FRANCIS PATRICK KBNRICK, D.D.

Bishop of Philadelphia

In whom the author had the consolation to find

more than a father

in the most momentous period

of his life.

In 1856 Major was estranged from allegiance to the
Church, but returned " repentant and humbled " in less than
two years after his defection. In a letter written at Easter
time 1858, Archbishop Francis Patrick Kenrick says: " He
comes back repentant and himibled in spirit. This is evid-
ent from a letter addressed to me. It appears that he fell
away on occasion of the late definition (the Immaculate
Conception) irritated also by another cause. He hammered
the Church, Priest and Prelates unmercifully; but the grace
of God tamed him, when his wife, who had remained Catho-
lic, told him that the good priest. Father John F. Aiken, S.J.,
wished to visit him "" He made public profession of his
Faith and was received back into sacramental communion
with the Church in the church of the Holy Trinity, Balti-
more, Palm Sunday, 1858. After his reconciliation. Major,
who was then employed in the Postoffice department in
Washington, D.C., published under the pen name of Aug-

** See Kenrick'Frenaye Leiiers, p. 226. Sec also for Major's defection
and later his reconciliation, ibidem, pp. 400-4^4^)^ For Major's work
on the Book of Conunon Prayer, pp. 417-422.

*• Kenrick'Frenaye Letters, p. 409.

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26o American Catholic Historical Society

ustine Bede " Letters to an Episcopalian on the Origin, His-
tory and Doctrine of the Book of Common Prayer".
Kelly, Hedian and Piet, Baltimore 1859.** Major died in
New York, April 23, 1873, was buried in Philadelphia, in
the " Old Cathedral " Cemetery.

Maturin, Basil, bom in Ireland in 1847, ^ graduate of
Trinity Collie, Dublin; joined the "Cowley Fathers" at
Cowley St. John's, Oxford, later came to the United States,
where he earned a reputation as a preacher at St. Qement's,
Philadelphia. He was received into the Church at Beaum-
ont, England in 1897; was ordained priest in 1898; lived as
a chaplain at Oxford. Father Marturin was one of the
eleven hundred and fifty-three whose lives were lost on the
Lusitania which was sunk off the Irish coast, May 7, 191 5.
Father Maturin's ascetic works have a virile force, a clearness
and conciseness, quite exceptional in modem books on the
subject of asceticism. His piiblished works are:

(i) Laws of the Spiritual life.

(2) Some Principles and Practices of Spiritual Life.

(3) Practical Studies in the Parables of Our Lord.

(4) Self Knowledge and Self Discipline.

(5) The Price of Unity.

(6) Fruits of the Life of Prayer. »

(7) Sermons and Sermon Notes.

I
Middletonr—The Joseph Middleton Family, 1854. I

The same note of human interest which appeals to us in

the conversion and the Catholic life of the family of George

Allen, is found again in the conversion and the coming

into the Church of Joseph Middleton, his wife, Lydia Cooke

Middleton and seven *^ children during the month of April,

1854, at their home, " Monticello " *• Chestnut Hill.

»• See Kenrick-Frenaye Letters, pp. 417-422.

'7 There were nine children in this family. One died before the

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Some Philadelphia Converts 261

Middleton, Joseph, bom in 1814, was descended from
John Middleton and his wife, Esther Gilberthorp, who lived
at Chesterfield, Monmouth County, New Jersey in the
eighteenth century. Joseph was the son of Gabriel Middle-
ton of Philadelphia, the youngest of nine children, and the
only child of his second marriage with Margaret McKee
Longstreth. In 1837 Joseph Middleton married Lydia
Barton Cooke, a sister of Charles Cooke, the convert of
1843 described above. The home, " Monticello ", at the
northern end of what is now the "' Wissahickon Drive ", was
acquired in 1839. The walls of the original Middleton
home still remain (1922) a part of the Convent home of
the Sisters of St. Joseph. Here the nine children of Joseph
Middleton and Lydia Cooke Middleton were born. •

Joseph Middleton was received into the Church by Fr.
Michael Domenec, CM., later Bishop of Pittsburg, April
4, 1854. The mother, Lydia Cooke Middleton and seven
children, ranging in age from twelve years to less than one
year, were received in the home "Monticello", April 19,
1854. Three of these children are still living — -Thomas
Cooke Middleton, D.D., O.S.A., bom March 30, 1842, one
of the Charter members, and the first President of the
American Catholic Historical Society (1884) now in his
eighty-first year, at Villanova College. Mrs. Ambrose
Aman (Florence Middleton) bom May 18, 1853, now liv-
ing at Mt. Airy, Mrs. F. X. Kelly (Mary Cooke Middle-
ton), bom April 20, 1850, living now in Philadelphia.
Two entered the " Institute of the Sisters of Mercy " in
Baltimore, Margaret, bom 1848, in religion Sister Mary

conversion of the parents, and is buried in the Friends' burying ground,
"Plymouth Meeting/' Montgomery County. The youngest, Agnes
Brady, was bom after the parents came into the Church, May 6, 1855.
She died Apr. 10, 1859.

*•" Monticello," the Middleton home, now tiie Motherfaouse of the
Sisters of St. Joseph — Mt St. Joseph's Convent and Academy.

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262 American Catholic Historical Society

Bonaventure, died in Baltimore, February 22, 1920; Emily,
bom July 20, 1851, in religion Sister Mary Austin, died
July 3, 1913."

It was through the efforts of Joseph Middleton chiefly,
his persevering energy, earnestness and generosity, that
St. Mary's church was built at Chestnut Hill, on land pur-
chased originally in his own name, and the name of his
wife, Lydia Cooke Middleton, in 1854-1855 (See Records,
1901, pp. 146, et seq.) Joseph Middleton died at hi^ home,
" Woodside " on the heights overlooking the Wissahickon,
October 18, 1887, aged 73 ; Lydia Cook Middleton died nine
years later, 1896, March 31, at the age of eighty- four.

Montgomery, Rachel, Mrs. (bom Harvey), was received
into the Church at St. Augustine's probably in i8o7.** She
attended St. Mary's under Bishop Egan's administration
(See Griffin's Life of Egan, p. 23.) She died at her home,
128 (now 606) Arch street, in 1819.

Newland, William Augustine — was bom in London,
England, November 2, 1813, died at Roxborough, Phila-
delphia, November 28, 1901 — ^Teacher of music, organist
for more than sixty years in Philadelphia churches. He
was educated in Eton Preparatory school and received his
first training on the violin in the Royal Academy; sang solo
soprano and solo alto in St. Paul's Cathedral. He came to
America in 1832; was employed as paper-hanger in
Philadelphia (his father's business in London) ; took
pupils on violin at night, and sang in the chcwr at St. Aug-
ustine's; was received into the Church on Whitsunday,

••The other members of the family now dead, were Lydi» Cooke
Middleton, bom 1844, June 26^ died in 1904, Aug. 4, John Cooke Middle-
ton, bom 1846, July 13^ died in 1847; Virginia, twin, bora with Emily
1851, died April 4, 1859; Agnes Brady, noted above, bora 1855, died
1659^ April la

••See reference in Mother Seton's letter under notice of Samuel
Cooper, above. See 'REOMtDS, 1912, pp. 50-€6.

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Sotne Philadelphia Com/erts 263

1833 by Father Micfaad Hurly at St. Augustine's; married
Susan Colgan in 1834. Mr. Newland was organist at St.
Mary's, then the Cathedral, in 1835. In 1838 he was at
St. Augustine's; 1839 to 1841 at Holy Trinity; 1842-1844
at St. Joseph's; 1844-1852 at St. John's. In 1848-1852 he
taught music at Villanova College; 1852- 1864 he taught
chant at the Seminary at Eighteenth and Race and at Glen
Riddle. 1852-1868 he was for the second time organist
at St. Joseph's; 1868 to 1870 at St Patrick's; 1870 to 1879
a second time at St. John's. From 1879 to 1897 he had
charge of the organ and music in St. John's, Manayunk.
October i, of the latter year, 1897, he retired from active
service after more than sixty^hree years devoted to music
in Philadelphia.*^'

Peacock, Mary Francis, sister of Mother ComeUa Pea-
cock Connelly; was received into the Church while visitingj
her sister Mrs. Connelly at Grand Coteau, Fd>ruary 3, 1840.
In June, 1841, Mary Francis Peacock was received as an
aspirant into the Convent of the Madames of the Sacred
Heart at Grand Coteau; transferred, while still a Novice,
to McSherrystown, Pennsylvania, later to school in Logan
Square, Philadelphia, thence to Eden Hall in 1847; was Sup-
erior successively in Convents in Halifax, Artany, N. Y.,
St. Louis, Mo., Chicago, 111. ; Assistant Superior in Phila-
delphia, 1867; Superior in Richester, New York in 1870,
where she died December 24, 1871.

Robins, Edward, was bom in Philadelphia in 1822, the
son of Thomas Robins, and grandson of Edward Robins of
South Point, Worcester County, Maryland. The Planta-
tion there had come into the Robins family by inter-marriage
with the Whalleys. The homestead had been buik by
Edward Whalley, one of the members of Parliament who

so«iSee sketch of Mr. Newland written 1^ his friend Frands X.
Retiss in (Rbcxads, 1902; pp. 2615-524.

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264 American Catholic Historical Society

signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England.
Through Edward Whalley Mr. Robins was a direct des-
cendant of Sir Henry Cromwell of Hinchinbrook, the
grandfather of Oliver Cromwell. His earliest American
ancestor was Obedience Robins, who came to Virginia in
1621.

Edward Riobins was educated in private schools in and
near Philadelphia; later was engaged in manufacturing and
mercantile interests, and lived for some time in St. Louis.
Subsequently returned to Philadelphia, retired from active
business and went to France to live. He came back to
Philadelphia in 1862, and went into the banking business.
A short time after returning to this country from France
Mr. Robins was received in to the Church in the Sisters'
Chapel at Eden Hall, near Torresdale, where his daughters
were at school. In 1868 he married (his second marriage)
Miss Marie Elise Chatard of the prominent Catholic family
of Baltimore (Her father was the late Captain Frederick
Chatard of U. S. Navy, later Commodore in the Confed-
erate Navy). Mr. Robins was an active member of the
" Catholic Qub " of Philadelphia, organized in 1877. He
was a Director of the Beneficial Saving Fund, and for many
years, by appointment of the Board of Judges, a member
of the Board of Inspectors of the Philadelphia County
Prison, where he exercised a strong Christian influence.
Mr. Robins died March 27, 1896, and was buried from old
St. Joseph's, Willing's Alley, Philadelphia.

Shaw, Oliver A. — 'Formerly in charge of All Saints'
Church, Philadelphia; received into the Church by the
Bishop of Mobile (Portier) April 5, 1853. His son, a
graduate of Spring Hill College, was received a few weeks
before, on his death bed.** (Kenrick-AUen Letters xxxi).

*^.See also Metropolitan, Baltimore, 1853, p. 195 All Saints Churdi,
Episcopalian, Twelfth iStreet, below Fitzwater.

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Some Philadelphia Converts 265

Spencer, Serena — " f onnerly of Philadelphia ", was con-
firmed, together with "Miss Aibcrcrombie, granddaughter
of the late (British) Minister in Washington in 1855 "
(Kenrick- Allen Letters LIV, LV. See also Kenrick-
Frenaye Letters, p. 396.

Strohel, George — ^was bom in London, England, June 14,
.1800; came to Ainerica, studied law, and was admitted to
the bar in Philadelphia February 25, 1828. In 1835 ^^ was
appointed U. S. Consul at Bordeaux; there he met the Rev.
Samuel S. Cooper, formerly of Philadelphia, who directed
his reading. He was received into the Church at St. Joseph's,
Philadelphia, in 1843, ^^^^ studied in Rome, where he
was ordained priest March 8, 1846 for the diocese of Phila-
delphia. Father Strobd was appointed rector of St. Mary's,
Philadelphia in 1848, and remained in that charge to the
time of his death, October 26, 1874.

Waldron, Edmund Quincy Sheafe was bom in New*
Hampshire about 181 1; graduate of Dartmouth Collie,
studied law; was received into the Church by Bishop Ken-
rick in Philadelphia probably in 1841;^ ordained priest,
December 18, 1847. For some years Father Waldron at-
tended mission in South Jersey** from Philadelphia. In
1859 Father Waldron went to Baltimore, where Kenrick,
then archbishop says that he assisted in the literary work of

"In a letter written to Mrs. George Allen, Oct. 4, 1859 Bishop
Kenrick says of Father Waldron: "It is now eighteen years since I
received him into the Church." — See Kenrick-Allen Letters published
in the Records, XCIII.

^* Bishop Kenrick's Diary has the following entry: ''Nbvember the
nineteenth day-nl confirmed twenty-seven n the church of St. 'Mary of
the Assumption in a town called Pleasant Mills (now Millville), in
Atlantic 0)unty, New Jersey. Twenty received Holy Communion.
Under the zealous care of the Rev. Edmund S. Waldron the life of
religion is vigorous in this congregation: but the people live scattered
here and there, from the church.— Dtary, p. 251.

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266 American Catholic Historical Society

the Bible translations." In later years, and up to the time
of his death Father Waldon was Rector of tlie church at
Pikesville, Maryland. He died in Baltimore, April i6,
1888.

Wolif, George Bering, bom at Martinsbtwg (now) West
Virginia, August 25, 1822. His father was the Rev. Ber-
nard C. Wolff, D.D. of the German Reformed church;
studied at Marshall College." After graduating he studied
law, but later took up the ministry (German Reformed) t
received into the Church in 1871. During the same year,
1871, he took editorial charge of the Philadelphia Catholic
Standard. This editorial position he retained to the time
of his death in 1894. In 1876 The American Catholic Quar-
terly was b^^n chiefly under the direction of Mr. Wolff,
the Rev. James O'Connor (this same year Vicar Apostolic
and later first Bishop of Omaha), and the Rev. James A.
Corcoran — George Bering Wolff died at his home in Nor-
ristown, January 29, 1894.

•« See Kenrick'Allen Letters, published 10 Ae RfiCXMtDS, XCIII-XCV.
^ Probably under influence of John Williamson Nevin, founder of the
" Mercersburg Theology/' who was head of Marshall O^lege 1841-1853-

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THE QUESTION ABOUT SHAEESPEARES RELIGION

THE STATE OF THE QUESTION AND A STUDY OF THE

MANUSCRIPT NOTE OF RICHARD DAVIES

"HE DYED A PAPIST"

Br PROP. 6B0R6B B. ALLEN, UniTersitjr of PennsylTania 1845-1876.
Written probably before 1854

The following observations of Mr. Allen on the
problem of Shakespeare's religion are transcribed from
a manuscript written probably between the years 184JB
and 1854. The original is now in the possession of
the American Catholic Historical Society a gift to the
Society from Mr. Gregory B. Keen, of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, and formerly one of the ex-
ecutors of Mr. Allen's Will. The study is offered to the
readers of the Records, not because Shakespeare or
Shakespeare's religion belongs particularly to American
history; but the fact is of historic interest that George
Bernard Allen, a reo^^nized authority on Shakes-
peare, a dose friend formerly of Howard Fumess, a
Catholic, a convert, '"one of the most distinguished
professors in the annals of the University of Pennsyl-
vania,"^ is a pioneer in the endeavor to solve the
problem of Shakespeare's Faith and religion. Before
Richard Simpson took up the question in the Rambler
in 1854 and again in 1858, forty years before the rcK
suits of Mr. Simpson's research were collected and
published by Bowden, Mr. Allen, in this paper, hasi
marked the way to a critical study of one point at

» Sec letter of Morris Jastrow, Jr. to F. E. T. quoted in the Kenrieh-^
Prenaye Letters, i>age J65.

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268 American Catholic Historical Society

least in the problem, the point of external evidence,
i. e. If it is not proved that Shakespeare lived a
Cathdic, it is recorded that " he died a Papist ".

The Question About Shakespeare's Religion

The discussion concerning the religion of Shakespeare
has always hitherto been conducted with a view to answer-
ing the question in its widest scope, and has sought its proofs
almost exclusively in the expositions of faith put into the
mouths of his characters. As such expressions are purely
dramatic, it is obvious that no perfectly satisfactory resultsi
can be obtained from them directly — ^at all events none have
been drawn. The Protestant inquirer finds him to have
spoken as a true son of the Established Church should have
done, while the Catholic can conceive that no one but one
who was a Catholic at heart could have said certain things
which he has said. Protestants have been divided in their
opinion of his religion ; for although Bp. Wordsworth holds
him up as quite a model churchman, the Rev. Mr. Birdi
(an ecclesiastic of the same establishment) proves him to
have been an atheist. In like manner Charles Butler put
the name of Shakespeare foremost among the Poets who
have held the Catholic faith. The Oxford editors of the
Rambler (a superior Catholic periodical) gave tiieir opinion
quite decidedly that Shakespeare was no Catholic at all.*

When it is thus proved that certain results are not to be

2 This statement in reference to the Rambler enables us to fix a time
limit for the origin of Mr. Allen's study. In the Rambler of August
26, 1848, is a review of the work of W. J. Bircb— "An Inquiry into the
Philosophy and Religion of Shakspere" (sic). Hie view of the
reviewer in this paper is quite clearly that "Shakespeare was no
Catholic" In July, 1854 and March, April, May, 1858 of the Rambler
are articles, not signed, but now known to have been written by Mr.
Richard Simpson, in which the writer brings out points of evidence
and shows strong probabilities for holding that Shakespeare remained
true to the old religion. Mr. Allen's study evidently was made some
time between 1848 and 1854.

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The Question about Shakespeare^ s Religion 269

obtained from the examination of internal evidence, it be-
comes obviously desirable to ascertain whether there be any
external evidence to the point; and, if such evidence exists,
then to weigh well its authority, and to see what support it
may receive from the internal evidence and from circum-
stances, which might not amount to evidence by themselves.
Now it is a singular fact that although one piece of such
direct external evidence has been known and published
since 1790, it has never been seriously scrutinized, and has
even been tacitly ignored. It is to this one piece of evidence
that I now direct attention.

In 1688 the Rev. William Fulman bequeathed to the Rev.
Richard Davies, Rector of Lepperton in Gloucestershire and
Archdeacon of Lichfield, several Ms. volumes of biography,
which he had himself written. Fulman (Davies ?) made
additions to this collection; and at his death in 1707 the
whole passed into the Library of Corpus Christi College,
Oxford, where they now are. Malone printed the artide
in this MS. which related to Shakespeare in 1790. Halli-
well has reproduced the same article, with the interlined
additions of Davies printed in italics. From this I copy
it as follows :

" William Shakespeare was borne at Statf ord upon the
Avon in Worcestershire about 1563-4. From an actor of
plays he became a composer. He dyed Apr. 23, 1616, aetat.
53, probably at Stratford, for there he is buried, and hath a
monument. Much given to all unluckiness in stealing venir
son and rabbits, paticularly from Sir Lucy, who had hiwi
oft whipt an sometimes imprisoned, and at last made him
Hy his native country to his great advancement; but hist
rising was so great that he is his Justice Clodpate; and calls
him a great man; and that in alusion to his name bore three
horses rampant for his arms. He dyed a papist.''

It may account for the n^lect, under which this distinct
and positive testimony has lain, that Collier, in his life,

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270 American Catholic Historical Society

omitted the last sentence, that the Rev. W. Hudson ha^
done the same: and that Wm. Knight in his Biography (of
Shakespeare) has made the same mutilation. Nutt and
Pullman (?) do not give the document; they merely allude
to it. The Rev. Mr. Hunter and Halliwell bestow but like
attention op the passage, but they present it honestly.

Let us examine this piece of testimony as it stands.

(i) It (the testimony) is that of a man of unimpeached
and imimpeachable character — a beneficed clergyman, after-
ward a higher ecclesiastic of the Church of England (2) The
Rev. Rector of Lepperton lived in the ndghboring county
of Gloucester, forty or fifty miles south of Stratford; as
Archdeacon of Lichfield (if he resided there) about the
same distance to the North. He lived, therefore, where he
was likely to have more than one opporttmity to gather up
traditions of the place on the spot. (3) He made few ad-
ditions to the biographical notices left by his friend: the
arciunstances therefore, that he made additions to that of
Shakespeare indicates that he was aware of Shakespeare'si
having been eminent enough to deserve special notice, and
that he had made special inquiries (or, at the least, had re-
ceived special information) in his case. (4) He show^
himself ecclesiastically ignorant of plays and players : he is
the man likely, therefore, (argues Mr. Collier) to have re-
corded simply what he heard, without altering or interpret-
ing it. (5) He must have gathered his information
(whether at Stratford itself, or from others who had been
there) about the same time as Batterton [ ?] and Dorsdale
[ ?] did (unless he merely recorded 'between the date of get-
ting Fulman's MS. and his death what he had learned
earlier, which makes the case stronger in his favor) — ^i. a
between 1688 and 1707. The information gathered by
these three men at this period appears to have been derived
from nearly the same sources, with this exception in the
Rev. Mr. Davies' favour, that he had obtained more detailed
information on some points than the others.

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The Question about Shakespeare^ s Religion 271

It deserves to be noted that reasonably good authority
for the Life of Shakespeare must have existed until very
near the period at which Batterton, [ ?] Davies and Dors-
dale made their inquiries. Lady Bernard [?] (Shakes-
peare's granddaughter), who lived near Stratford, did not
die until 1669-70: and the inn at Stratford was kept from
at least 1669 to 1702 by one of the descendants of Joan,
Shakespeare's favorite sister. The domestic incident of
Shakespeare's apparent reconciUation to the old Qiurch was
Hkely to be among the traditions retained by these descend-
ants. As an ecclesiastic he (Davies) had naturally inquired
and learned about the Poet's religion. Batterton, the player,
and DorsdaJe, the lawyer, might be expected to be less in-
terested on this point, and therefore either not to have in-
quired or not to have thought it worth while to preserve the
answers. (6) It is the admission of an adversary, and
therefore to be construed as strongly in favor of what is re-
ported, as that of a Catholic would be against. It is the
case of an eminent ecclesiastic of the Church of England
that one, whom the witness regarded as a distinguished
author, had abjured, on his death bed, the religion which he
had before ostensibly professed, and had sought reconcilia-
tion with a Church, which was then even more, far more
odious in England than now. Mr. Davies cannot have been
one of those churchmen, who, at different periods, have
leaned towards Rome; for he speaks of the Catholic as a
''Papist", a term never applied except as a term of re-
proach. The phraseolgy, too, is as curt and dry as possible.
Davies appears to have recorded with a certain gusto his
informant's gossip about deer-stealing; but what he learned
of Shakespeare's change of religion he records like an
honest man, who feels bound to tell the truth, but who was
determined to make as short work as possible with the
bitter pill. (7) Let it be remarked that the language of
the reverend witness is not only curt, but positive. There

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272 Atnerican Catholic Historical Society

is no : " It is said ", " Some persons believe," and the like. It
is not said that his writings show him to have been a Papist
Davies records drily and positively as a fact what had been
told him as a fact If he collected his information on the
spot (as Halliwell supposes), it is not likely that he woukl
have accepted so unwelcome a statement without inquiring
into the evidence for it : and although he has given no such
evidence, he has made his own statement with the positive-
ness of one who knew he had nridence. (8) It is not posi-
tive merely, it is precise. Nearly all the writers who have
mentioned Davies's statement, have entirely overlooked
this, its peculiar characteristic. They appear to understand
Davies as sa3ring that Shakespeare was a Catliolic, i. e. that
he had been through life a Catholic—^ statement which they
would be at liberty to impugn by producing language at
variance with the opinions and feelings of a true Catholic
in his works, by pointing out the impossibility of his being
a favorite author or player had he been a Catholic, and so
on. But Davis says nothing of the kind* He says that
" Shakespeare died a Papist ". The very expression showd
that Davies does not give the fact as an inference from
Shakespeare's works. It seems surprising that this precise
statement should be understood in any other sense, than that
Shakespeare, after having lived in communion with tiie Pro-
testant Church of England (so far as he had any particular
churdi communion), became reconciled to the Churdi of
Rome in his last sickness, and died a Catholic

If the Rev. Mr. Davies had added to this naked state-
ment : " This I was told at the Maidenhead Itm by the inn-
keeper, a grand-nephew of the IV)et," not a mouth could
reasonably be opened to deny it, or argue against it As it
is, although it must be taken prime fade as authentic until
it is invalidated, it is quite open to discussion : it is compet-
ent for an objector to show (if he can) that there are suf-
ficient antecedent probabilities to overcome Ae authenticity

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The Question about Shakespeare's Religion .273

of a single writer, even if he be one of such weight as the
Archdeacon of Lichfield : and it is competent for a defender
to show (if he can) that Davies's positive statement is so
amply sustained by every antecedent probability, and so
little weakened by the antecedent improbabilities urged
against it, that no necessity is fek (for) knowing* from
what particular source it was derived."

Now it is difficult to say what precisely are the antecedent
probabilities. The Rev. Joseph Hunter calls it " exceed-
ingly improbable ", but he is far enough from shewing it to
be so, for he admits that Shakespeare's religious opinions
(as gathered from his works) prove him to have been at
least as far removed from Geneva as from Rome, that, in
^ his aversion to the Puritan party within the Church of
England, he had a kind feeling towards the Old Faith.
Such a state of mind is by no means inconsistent with taking
a further step on his deathbed. Halliwell scouts the idea
without, apparently, thinking it worthy of one moment's
serious consideration. Mr. Neill, arguing solely and ably
against (the view that) Shakespeare lived a Catholic, pro-
ving, that is, that Shakespeare could not have been a popular
favorite as a dramatic author or actor, if he had been an
avowed Catholic; and that, had he been a serious Catholic
even in disguise, he could not have uttered certain un-
Catholic sentiments of his without hypocrisy. (Saying this
Neill) thinks he has disposed of the question, when he has
not even approached it The truth is, the diange of a bom
Englishman from the national Church to the Church of
Rome appears to a loyal, sturdy supporter of Chtirch and
State to be a step so thoroughly un-English — ^it is so un-
allowable to him, that he himself could ever under any cir-
cumstances be induced to take such a step, — that it is no
wonder Himter, Halliwell, Collier, Wordsworth, and the

•This should read, perhai^s: that no necessity is felt for further
proof to show from what i>articular source it was derived.

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274 American Catholic Historical Society

rest, should look on the statemenit that the m3rriad-iniiuied
Shakespeare had been guilty of so mad an act as too improb-
able to be believed upon any testimony short of the verdict
of twelve jurymen.

Mr. Allen's paper ends here quite abruptly. A note on
the margin, referring evidently to the closing sentence,
says : All this belongs elsewhere after reciting the statement.
— ^It appears, from this marginal note, that Mr. Allen's plan
originally was a more complete development of arguments
and reasons to sustain the eight points of evidence, which
he has studied thoroughly here and brought out clearly and
strongly. A complete syniopsis of notes and references to
sources, ten pages of foolscap, in which volume, page and
the edition of works cited are caKfully noted, seems also
to point to a plan of wider range and devdopment This
Synopsis has not been printed in the Records for obvious
reasons. First — ^It was arranged evidently only to serve
as an aid to Mr. Allen's persfctfial study and search. The
frequent abbreviatkms in the text would make the editing
of it an extremely difficult task. Second — ^The references
usually are to the older and recognized authorities on the
life of Shakespeare, not now generally available outside
the collections of public libraries. The existence of the
nanuscript synopsis, however, proves the thoroughness, the
character of Mr. Allen's critical wwk.

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Voc. XXXIII

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Records of the
American Catholic Historical Socieh

Vol. XXXIII Dbcekbeb, 1922. No. 4

THE BLACKGOWNS AMONG THE ABNAKIS

BY CARMITA DE SOLMS lONES

Religious light, in the Western hemisphere, broke in the
far North- West. Long forgotten records in the Vatican
prove that Catholic bishops were in Greenland and Iceland
in the fourteenth century and that Peter's Pence was col-
lected there and sent to Rome.

Andre Thevet, the celebrated French traveller and cos-
mographer, explored the eastern coast of North and South
America in 1556. Returning from his missionary expedi-
tion he was made almoner to Queen Catherine di Medici
and Historiographer and Cosmographer to her son, the
King of France. He wrote Les singidaritiz de la France
antartique, autrement nommi Amirique, and La cosmo-
graphic universelle. In his reports appears Maine's an-
cient name, " Norembega," which place the Indians called
" Agoncy ". Succeeding geographers have copied Thevet's
vivid description of the river Norembega. Except for the
explanation of Gomez' chart, made in 1525, and copied by
Rebault on his map in 1529, Thevet's account of Penebscot
Bay is considered the most exact.

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276 American Catholic Historical Society

In 1604, de Monts, another French explorer, accompanied
Champlain to the West. He visited Mount Desert and en-
tered the Penobscot River, which he called Pentagoet. On
June 18, 1605, he sailed past the mouth of the Penobscot
and entered the Kennebec. He raised a cross and estab-
lished a colony on the Island of St. Croix, taking possession
of it in the name of Henry IV of France. It was during
his visit to Mount Desert that the first Christian service in
Maine was held, bearing out the State's motto " Dirigo " —
Head.

While de Monts was planting the French standard at St.
Croix, representatives of English power arrived off the
coast. Thomas Arundel, first Lord Arundel of Wardour,
and a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, desired to found
a refuge in the New World for English Catholics per-
secuted at home. He financed an expedition commanded
by George Weymouth, who sailed from Ratcliff, England,
in the Archangel, on March 31, 1605. On May 18, Wey-
mouth sent a boat's crew ashore on an island that he named
St. George, but which is now known as Monhegan, a cor-
ruption of the original Indian name, Menahan, an island.
On the following day, which was Pentecost Sunday, he
sailed into the harbor which he called Pentecost. This was
later changed to Boothbay Harbor.

At the suggestion of King Henry IV of France, who was
probably inspired by Thevet, Father Coton, Provincial of
the Society of Jesus, sent Fathers Pierre Biard and
Enemond Masse to New France to enlighten the Indians.
They attempted to embark at Bordeaux in 1608 but found
an apparent disposition to prevent such a step. In 16 10
they were at Dieppe, waiting to sail with Potrincourt, the
patentee of Port Royall. As passage was refused the
Jesuits by the two Huguenot owners of the vessd they re-
tired to tiie CoU^je of Eu. The protectress of the mission,
the Duchesse de Guerchville, then collected from sympath-

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 277

izers at Court sufficient money to buy the shares of the
Huguenots. These were transferred to the missionaries,
making them partners of Potrincourt and giving them a
fund for their support.

They sailed with Biencourt, the son of the Proprietor,
and landed at Port Royall on June 12, 161 1. They found
there a French priest, Messire Jesse Fleche of Langres.
From the accounts he sent to France the colonists were his
chief care, although some of the natives were hastily bap-
tized by him. This priest was probably one of those men-
tioned as being in what was called Maine in 1609. No
doubt his unsatisfactory reports helped to stir the French
king to action.

A chapel, the first in Maine, stood on Neutral Island in
the Scoodic River, but no mention has been found of a
mass celebrated there until that by Father Biard in October,
1611.

Fathers Biard and Masse immediately set about learning
the Micmac language, spoken by the Souriquois Indians at
Port Royall. The ill behavior of Biencourt caused difficul-
ties that were reported to Madame de Guerchville. Owing
to the impossibility of making satisfactory arrangements
with Potrincourt she determined to found a mission on
the Kennebec. A vessel was fitted out, under the command
of La Saussaye. It arrived at Port Royall in March, 1613,
and took the two priests aboard. With a lay brother,
Gilbert du Thet, and Fathers Quentin and Lalemont, who
had come with La Saussaye, they sailed for Mount Desert.
The pilot's mistake took them to the east side of the
island. There they planted a cross, offered Mass and oc-
cupied it in the name of France. The settlement was called
St. Saviour.

One day Father Biard, while exploring the mainland,
heard loud lamentations. He beheld a brave holding his
dying child in his arms, surrounded by the wailing villagers.

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278 American Catholic Historical Society

He immediately baptized the infant and prayed for its
recovery. His prayers were heard. This was the first
sacrament administered in what is now the State of Maine.
It created a very deep impression on the Indians who hence-
forth regarded Father Biard as almost supematiaral.

A fort was built at the settlement and the stores landed.
Those not to remain were preparing to embark when a
violent storm arose. Some English fi&hdng vessels, com-
manded by Argall, were driven on the coast. Hearing of
the French settlement the English attacked it. The mission
was burned and Brother du Thet, who was mortally
wounded, died the next day. His hopes were realized, for,
said Father Biard : " On departing from Honfleur, in the
presence of the whole crew, he raised his hands and eyes to
Heaven, praying God that he might never return to France,
but that he might die laboring for the conquest of souls and
the salvation of the Indians." Thus periled the first
Abnaki mission. Only the lonely grave of du Thet, at the
foot of the broken cross, remained to guard the land. The
behavior of the English had a lasting effect upon the
Indians.

Argall permitted some of the colonists to escape and they
apparently reached their original destination on the Ken-
nebec. Over the gate of the fort that they built there was
a chapel. Our Lady of Holy Hope, its only entrance from
the rampart. The old plans still exist.

The other colonists and the priest were taken to Virginia,
although Argall had promised to send them to France.
The Governor of Virginia ordered the commander and his
prisoners to return and destroy Port Royall but the vessels
were scattered by a storm. That bearing the missionaries
landed at the Azores. In a Catholic port, and without a
commission, Argall was at the mercy of Father Biard.
The compassionate priest made no appeal to the Portuguese
authorities and the vessel finally reached England whence
the priests returned to France.

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 279

Pierre Biard was born in Grenoble, in the south of
France. He was able and deeply learned. After his return
to France he became a professor of theology at Lyons.
While a chaplain in the army he died at Avignon, Nov-
ember 17, 1622. In a letter to the head of his order, in
Paris, dated Port Royall, June 30, 161 2, he says:

I have been on two journeys with M. de Biencourt, one of
perhaps a dozen days, the other of a month and a half, and
we skirted all the coast from Port Royal to Kinebequie, west-
southwest. We entered all the large rivers, St. John, St.
Croix, Pentagoet and the aforesaid Kinibequie; we visited the
French, who wintered here this year in two places, on the
river St. John and on the St. Croix; the men from St. Malo
on the St. John, Captain Plastrier on the St. Croix.

He tdls of a mysterious light, " red and bloody, like
scarlet," that appeared in the sky, gradually shaping itself
into pikes and spindles and hanging over the habitations
of the men of St. Malo. The apparition lasted ten minutes.
It then faded but immediately commenced again. The
natives considered it a sign of war, and cried : " Gara gara;
enderquir Garagara;" which means, "We shall have war.
Such signs indicate war." The following evening all was
confusion and anger amongst the people, "but," says
Father Biard, "the compassion of God held them in
check."

The second journey with the Sieur de Biencourt was un-
dertaken with the idea of learning the disposition of the
Indians to receive the Gospel. They arrived at Kinnibequie
on the day of St. Simon and St. Jude, October 28, 161 1.
The English had been there in 1608 and were driven away
by the Indians in consequence of ill usage. On an island
named Emeteni the French raised a cross, bearing the arms
of France, as a symbol of their object.

In November the expedition returned to Port Ro)rall,

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28o American Catholic Historical Society

stopping in accordance with a promise made the Indians,
at Pentagoet, which river empties into the Bay of Fundy.

You cannot divine [says Father Biard] what is the Nor-
embega of the ancients if it is not this. ... To give a general
summary, this is the fruit of our journey. We have begun
to know and to be known ; we have taken possession of these
regions in the name of the Church of God, placing there the
royal throne of our Savior and Monarch, Jesus Christ, in his
holy altar; the savages have seen us pray, extol, enjoin by
our sermons the images and cross, the manner of living, and
like things, [they] have received the first apprehension and
seeds of our holy faith, which will shoot forth and germinate
abundantly some day, if it pleases God, when they receive a
longer and better cultivation.

Enemond Masse, the companion of Father Biard, was
bom in 1574 and entered the Society of Jesus when twenty-
two years of age. When sent to America he was Socius of
Father Coton, Provincial of the Order. After escaping
from Argall he returned to France and did his utmost to
promote the mission on the Kennebec. In 1625 the mission
was restored and Father Masse went to Canada where he
labored among the Algonquins and Montagnais imtil
Quebec was taken in 1629 and he became a prisoner. In
1633 ^^ returned to Canada, where he remained until his
death on May 12, 1646. More than forty years passed
after the enforced departure of Fathers Biard and Masse
before another missionary was sent to the Abnakis.

Six years after the jubilee of 1625, Commander Noel
Bruart de Sillery, Knight of Malta, renounced his brilliant
life at the court of King Louis XII and became a devout
cleric. In 1637 he founded Sillery, a mission station some-
times called St. Joseph's, on the banks of the St. Lawrence.
Here were sheltered many Algonquins and Montagnais
whose love for the faith taught them by the bladcgowns
had caused them to give up their nomadic lives.

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 281

Amcwig the neophytes at Sillery was Charles Meiaskwat.
Hearing, in 1642, that some Abnakis had been taken and
cruelly treated by pagan Algonquins, Meiaskwat and Nico-
let, an explorer, hurried to their rescue. Nicolet perished
in a rapid but Meiaskwat arrived in time to save the Indians
whom he took to Sillery. There they were sheltered and
nursed at a Hospital of the Nuns, now situated at Quebec.
When recovered one returned to his village, armed, equip-
ped and supplied with provisions. Meiaskwat accompanied
him and went to visit the English at Augusta, which was
then called Coussinoc. He so extolled the Christian faith
that a desire to know it was kindled among the Indians. A
chief went with him to Quebec where he was converted and
baptized. Others followed and soon every Abnaki village
had several converts. On Assumption Day two sagamores
went to Quebec to ask for blackgowns, as they called the
priests, to instruct the tribe. M. de Montgomery, the gov-
ernor, a Knight of Malta, received them gladly and when
peace was made with the Iroquois in 1646 he sent Father
Gabriel Druillettes to the Kennebec.

Father Druillettes set out August 19, 1646, accompanied
by Noel Negabamat and some Indians. His principal sta-
tion, called " The Assumption," was a mile above the Eng-
lish post at Long River, on the upper Kennebec. He in-
structed the Indians and as a preliminary to baptism re-
quired of them three things : That they renounce intoxicat-
ing liquors; live in peace with their neighbors, and give
up their medicine bags, etc. They agreed to these demands.

Although the English had just passed a law at Pl)rmouth
calculated to prevent the activities of the Jesuits, they wel-
comed Father Druillettes, as did Father Ignatius de Paris,
Superior of the Capuchins on the Kennebec.

After laboring in the vicinity until May the priest an-
nounced his departure. Profound grief was displayed by
the Indians but Father Druillettes was forced to obey and

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reached Quebec in June. In September the Abnakis plead
in vain for his return, repeating their appeals during the
next two years. Missionaries were few and the Capuchins,
feeling that their own services should be sufficient, asked
that Father E>ruillettes be not sent back. But before 1650
the Capuchins were removed by de la Tour and on the last
day of August of that year the priest set out for the Ken-
nebec. His guides in attempting to shorten the trip, missed
the way. The hardships of the journey and the consequent
sufferings were incredible After twenty-four days they
reached Norridgwock, the chief Abnaki village. The joy
of the Indians was extreme. " I see well," said a chief,
" that the Great Spirit who rules in Heaven deigns to look
favorably on us since he sends us back our patriarch."

Within a few months baptism was administered to those
prepared during the previous visit. Father Druillettes con-
tinued his labors on the Kennebec until March, 1652, when
he again returned to Quebec. Once more, in 1656, he was
sent to Maine where he spent a winter with his beloved
flock. In the spring of 1657 he took his final leave of them.

Father Gabriel Druillettes was bom in 1593. He em-
barked at Rochelle with Garreau and Chaband in May,
1642, and arrived in Canada on August 15 of the same year.
During the winter, which was spent with the Algonquins,
he completely lost his sight, but it was miraculously re-
stored while he was offering Mass for its recovery. From
then on he was with the neighboring tribes. In 1656 he
travelled about the country with exploring parties. He in-
structed Marquette and in 1666 followed him to Sauk St.
Marie, remaining there until 1679. ^^ April 8, 1681,
he died in Quebec, aged eighty-eight years. Nearly forty
years of his life had been spent with the Canadian mission.

No regular pastors were sent to Maine at this period.
The converted Indians went to Sillery and then to Chau-
diere where the mission of St. Francis de Sales was estab*

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 283

lished. Two years after the departure of Father Druil-
lettes from the Abnaki mission priests were sent there but
were not permanent. It was only after the decided op-
position of the Fishery Company had been overcome that
the Kennebec mission was restored by the two Fathers
Bigot, father and son, members of the family of the French
vicompte Bigot, who erected a church at Norridgwock in
1688.

" Norridgwock (Indian name Naurankouack) was about
80 leagues from Pentagoet, which was 100 leagues from
Port Royal. The village was on the Kinibeki which emp-
tied into the sea at Sandkerauk, 5 or 6 leagues from Pem-
quit. Ascending 40 leagues from Sandkerauk one reached
Naurankouack."

Territorial disputes arose between the French and Eng-
lish and resulted in war. The missionaries remained with
their charges and endeavored to teach them the practice
and the blessings of mercy.

Following the Fathers Bigot were Fathers Julian Bin-
neteau, Joseph Aubery, Pierre de la Chasse, Stephen Lau-
vergat, and Layard. Time has left few details of their
efforts and their sufferings. The best known of them all
was Father Sebastian Rale who was sometimes called
" The Apostle of the Indians." His name is spelt var-
iously as Rale, Ralle and Rasle. He was bom in 1658, in
Franche Comte, of a distinguished family. Before leav-
ing France he taught Greek in the College of Nimes.
Writing to his brother "At Naurankouack, the 15th. of
October, 1723," he says: " It was the twenty-third of July,
1689, that I embarked at La RocheUe, and after a voyage
of three months sufficiently fortunate, I arrived at Quebec
the thirteenth of October of the same year." About 1695
he went to the Abnaki mission on the Kennebec, after doing
similar work in other localities, and remained there until
his death.

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284 Americam Catholic Historical Society

Father Rale arrived at the beginning of King William's
War, a period that Cotton Mather called a ten years'
agony. He found a small church and almost all the
Abnakis converted. Soon after his arrival another tribe
came to investigate the rumors they had heard of the new
religion. They, too, were converted and the missionary
visited their camp. As a result the AmaUngins and
Abnakis appear to have coalesced.

The war of 1703 between France and England involved
the Indians and the colonists. The Puritans of New Eng-
land, in their effort to overthrow Catholicism, sought the
life of Father Rale. In 1705 a party of New-Englanders
under Captain Hilton burnt the church and profaned the
sanctuary at Norridgwock. The Indians were absent
from the village at the time but on their return built a new
chapel of bark. Soon after, while on a difficult journey,
Fatfier Rale fell and broke both legs. When able to move
he returned to the mission where his faithful Abnakis re-
pulsed every effort of his enemies to induce them to be-
tray him.

The peace of Utrecht in 171 3 ceded Maine to England.
Some of the Abnakis went to Canada, but the majority re-
mained with Father Rale who prepared to rebuild the
church. An offer to do this for the Indians was made
by the English governor, on condition that they dismiss
their blackgown and accept one of his ministers. The
reply of the Indians contains the key to the whole Indian
situation. It explains the relations of the French and
Indians as contrasted with those of the English and the
red men.

When you first came here, you saw me long before the
French governors, but neither your predecessors nor your min-
ister ever spoke to me of prayer or the Great Spirit. They
saw my furs, my beaver and moose skins, and of this alone
they thought ; these alone they sought, and so eagerly that I

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 285

have not been able to supply them enough. When I had
much they were my friends and only then. One day my
canoe missed the route ; I lost my path and wandered a long
way at random, until at last I landed near Quebec, in a
great village of the Algonquins, where the Blackgowns were
teaching. Scarcely had I arrived when one of them came to
see me. I was loaded with furs, but the Blackgown of France
disdained to look at them : he spoke to me of the Great Spirit,
of heaven, of hell, of the prayer, which is the only way to
reach heaven. . . . Thus have the French acted. Had you
spoken to me of the prayer as soon as we met, I should now
be so unhappy as to pray like you, for I could not have told
whether your prayer was good or bad. . . . Keep your men,
your gold and your ministers : I will go to my French father.

The Church was rebuilt by the French, but the English
built some little chapels in 1721.

An imsuccessful mission was started by Governor Shute
at Portsmouth but the missionary, the Reverend Mr.
Baxter, a Protestant clergyman, withdrew to more comfor-
table quarters. For some time he continued a written
argument with Father Rale on the subjects of Latin and
theology.

Troublesome times ensued and the English encroached
upon Norridg^ock. They determined to secure Father
Rale, notwithstanding the guardianship of the Indians.
Two himdred and thirty men imder Colonel Westbrooke
were sent to the village during the himting season of 1722
in the hope of finding the priest alone. The old men and
the incapacitated had been left at home with the women
and children and there was no one to defend the village.
But the English were seen by two yoimg braves who dis-
covered their design and gave the alarm. Father Rale had
only time to consume the Sacred Host, take the altar vessels,
and flee to the woods. While hiding behind a tree he
watched the English searching for him. Unsuccessful,

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286 American Catholic Historical Society

they returned to the village and pillaged the church and
cabin, carrying off chests, papers, the inkstand and the now
celebrated Abnaki Dictionary. The story is told in Colonel
Westbrooke's own words in his letter to Lieut-Gov. Dum-
mer:

Ft. Georges, March ye 23d. 1722/3. ... On the South
side close by it [the fort] was their Chappel, 60 foot LcMig
and 30 wide Well and handsomly finished within and with-
out and on ye South of that ye Freyers Dwelling house. We
Sett fire to them & by Sun rise next morning consumed them
all.

The Dictionary is carefully preserved in the safe of the
library at Harvard and is one of the most valuable results
of early philological labors on Indian languages. The
original forms a MS. quarto of two himdred and twenty
pages, some of which are blank. It was published in the
Memorial of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
New Series, Volume i, pp. 370. Father Rale began the
work in 1691 and constantly added to it for thirty-one
years, when it was stolen by the English.

Following the withdrawal of the English from Norridg-
wock the priest nearly died of starvation, suffering g^reatly
until relief from Quebec reached him. The outrage roused
the Indians to war. Their blackgown remained with them,
constantly on the march with the main body of warriors as
the only means of safety, although urged by them to go to
Quebec temporarily.

At Naurankouak, this 15 October, 1722, [Father Rale
writes to his nephew in France] for more than thirty years
that I have lived in the midst of forests with savages, I have
been so much occupied with instructing them, and forming
them to Christian virtues, that I have scarcely had time for
frequent letters, even to those persons who are most dear td
me. ... I am in a district of that vast extent of country

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 287

which lies between Acadia and New England. Two other
missionaries are occupied, like m)rself, with the savage Ab^
nakis, but we are far apart from one another. ... I have;
built a little church which is suitable and very well appointed
{triS'omSe). I have held it a duty to spare nothing, either
for its decoration, or for the beauty of the ornaments which
serve in our holy ceremonies. . . . Two chapels have been
built about three hundred paces from the village, one dedi-
cated to the most Blessed Virgin, and where her statue is
seen in relief, is high up the river; the other, dedicated to
the guardian angel, is low down the same river. ... As it is
needful to control {fixer) the imagination of the savages, too
easily distracted, I have composed some prayers of a nature
to make the august sacrifice of our altars enter into their
minds^" they chant them or else repeat them in an audible
voice during mass. . . . After Mass I teach the catechism
to the children and young people. A great number of aged
persons are present at this service. . . . The rest of the morn-
ing to midday is set apart for hearing all who have anything
to say to me. It is then they come in crowds to impart to<
me their pains and anxieties, or to communicate to me the
matters of complaint they have respecting their associates, or
to consult me touching their marriages or other personal
affairs. I have to instruct some, to console others, to re-
establish peace in families at variance, to calm troubled con-
sciences, and to correct some others with reproofs tempered
with sweetness and charity.

In the afternoon I visit the sick, and go through the cabins
of those who need special instruction. If they hold a council,
a thing which often happens among savages, they send one of
the chief men of the assembly to ask my assistance as to the
result of their deliberations, I repair at once to the place
where the council is held; if I judge that they take a wise
part I approve of it; if, on the contrary I find something to
say to their decision, I unfold to them my opinion, which I
support by solid reasons, and they conform themselves to
it. My advice always shapes their resolutions.

It only remains to refer to the feasts to which I am called.

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.... I give the benediction upon the meats. . . . The dis-
tribution having been made I say the grace {les graces). . . .
At times I have hardly the leisure to say my prayers and take
a little rest during the night. . . . When the savages go to
the sea to pass some months in the pursuit of geese ....
they build on an island a church which they cover with bark
and near which they set up a little cabin for my residence.
I am careful to take along a portion of the ornaments and
divine service is attended with the same decency and the same
concours of people as at the village.

You see, my dear nephew, what are my occupations. As
to what concerns me personally I assure you that I neither
see, nor hear, nor speak, anything but savage. My food is
simple and light. I have never been able to acquire the taste
for the meat and smoked fish of the savages ; my nourishment
is nothing but Indian com, which is pounded and of which
I make every day a kind of porridge that I cook with water.
The only relish that I add to it is in mingling a little sugar
to correct the insipidity of it. There is no lack of sugar in
these forests. [He speaks here of maple sugar.] .... The
whole Abnaki nation is Christian and full of zeal for the
maintenance of its religion. This attachment to the Catholic
faith has hitherto caused the nation to prefer our alliance to
the advantages they might realize from the English, their
neighbors. . . . Here is the bond that unites them with the
French.

In 1723 the missions were so reduced that a priest went
to Europe seeking aid for the Abnakis whose only offence
was a preference for Catholicism and the French. Before
concluding peace the following year, the English resolved
on a final attempt to kill Father Rale. On August 25,
1724, a band of two hundred English and Mohawks, with
seventeen whale boats, under Captains Harmon, Mounton,
Brown and Bene, suddenly surrounded the village. The
braves seized their arms and rushed to meet them but the
priest was the first to appear. He had been warned of the

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The BlackgozvKS Among the Abnakis 289

attack but owing to the time of year disbelieved the report.
Aware of its object, he hoped to save his flock by sacrific-
ing his own life. He had just reached the mission cross
when a volley laid him dead at its foot, with seven chiefs
who had gathered round him. His body was found pierced
with bullets, his scalp torn off, Ws skull crushed, his mouth
and eyes filled with mud and his limbs fractured. On
their return to their war-blasted homes it was buried by his
converts where the altar had stood, among the ruins of the
church. His torn and riddled habit was sent to Quebec.

English historians represent the martyred Rale as spend-
ing his last moments in a hut, defending himself and kil-
ling an English prisoner. Dr. Harris in a paper published
in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, II., Volume
viii, and Dr. Francis in his classic Biography, both acknow-
ledge these aspersions to be entirely unfounded. The
French account is from the lips of surviving Indian partici-
pants. Father Rale, esteemed a martyr by Catholics, and
a blood-thirsty inciter of Indian warfare by many Protes-
tants, was the greatest of the Abnaki missionaries. His
position was trying. He could not counsel the Indians to
submit to the iniquitous treatment of the English. But
though he urged resistance there is no evidence that he in-
cited cruelty. His influence was the only restraining one
the Indians knew. A governor of Maine stated: "that
when the old man expired before the altar he had reared,
the barbarism, which he had only in a manner controlled,
broke loose." The example set -by the English, the only
one left, was not an elevating one.

Father Rale was trained in the old faith and in opposi-
tion to reforming ideas. He was deeply impressed with
the papal program of the day, namely the extirpation of
heresy, and of the conversion of the heathen in America,
even at the cost of mart)rrdom. He was the choice of an
elect order for a peculiar service, a "chosen vessel," and

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his service promised the greatest suffering and least worldly
advantage. He was learned, zealous, laborious, careful of
his flock's religious progress. From his arrival in Quebec
in 1689, a young man of thirty-two, until his death thirty-
five years later, a partial cripple of sixty-seven years, his
life was spent in solitary, unrelieved labor in a wilderness
among savages. He was a pioneer of civilization as well
as of Christianity in Maine. The Indians were so dishear-
tened by his death that many of them went to Canada; and
the village and mission were for the time praoticaily aban-
doned.

On the twenty-ninth of August, 1833, Bishop Benedict
Joseph Fenwick, S. J., of the See of Maine, visited the
site where the village of Norridgwock had stood. After
addressing the great multitude gathered there for the occa-
sian he ordered raised a monument to the memory of Sebas-
tian Rale on the spot where, one hundred and nine years be-
fore, his multilated body had been laid to rest. The shaft is
a single block of granite surmounted by a cross and raised on
a pedestal. The Latin inscription at the base tells of the
pastor and his flock. In all the monument is twenty feet
high.

The martyr's life among the Abnakis has been made the
subject of a tale by Henrietta Tozier Totman of Maine.
It was published in The Trail of the Pioneer, by Maine
Clvb Women. In a note the author states : " The decision
of Father Rale against whatever odds, to struggle on for
the cause of human justice and a closer following of Christ,
is one of the noblest examples of moral heroism." Sketches
of the priest's strong box, of the chapel bell and of the
monument illustrate the text.

Letters from Father Rale to Governor Vaudrent of
Canada and to relatives in France give graphic descriptions
of conditions in Maine in the seventeenth century and of his
labors and trials.

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The Blackgoums Among the Abtiakis 291

After repeated requests from the Indians for a mis-
sionary the Superior at Quebec sent Father James de Sir-
enne to Norridgwock in 1730. Under his care the mission
again prospered.

Father Germain was the last of the old Jesuit mission-
aries in Maine. His station was at St. Anne, an island in
the St. John, near the side of the present town of Frederic-
ton. From there he visited the various tribes scattered
throughout Maine, where for several years there were no
resident missionaries and where the churches had been
burned and many of the converts killed. The Jesuits and
the Recollects had 'been suppressed by the English. From
these two orders many of the missionaries had been drawn,
and, as the old mcmbtrs died their places were unfilled.
During this period of practical desertion of the Maine mis-
sions, a wave of Protestantism began to sweep over the
State. The Congregationalists took the lead. In an effort
to conteract this Bishop Carroll of Maryland, a member of
the Society of Jesus, succeeded in 1784 in sending Father
Qquard, of the Congregation of St. Sulpice, to Old Town
where he remained for ten years.

Father Ciquard was bom at Qermont, France, and was
ordained a priest in 1779. He joined the Sulpicians and
when the French Revolution broke out was Director of the
Theol<^cal Seminary at Brouges. He came to America
to join his order at Montreal but was not permitted by the
English authorities to enter Canada. He labored in the
United States and New Bnmswick until, finally, he was al-
lowed to go to St. Francis de Sales where he remained for
many years. He was much revered there and in Montreal
where he died.

The annals of Maine abound with invoiuntary testimony
of the efforts of the early missionaries to bring light into the
darkness of its forests. The Collections of the Maine His-
torical Society, The Proceedings of the same organization,

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292 American Catholic Historical Society

and many other works quote letters written to the proprie-
tors in England by their agents in Maine concerning this
work. About 1689 Jeremy Dummer, Agent for the Pro-
vince of Massachusetts Bay, of which Maine was then a
part, wrote to the English King: "that many French
Popish Priests reside among the Indians in these parts ".
In a Memorial, dated Casco Bay, June 3, 1701, a proposal
was made to the Indians by the English to " enter into an
Union with us in the true Chris. Rdig., separated from
those foolish superstitions and plain Idolatries with which
the Roman Catholics and especially the Jesuits and Mission-
arys have corrupted it, etc." The answer of the Indians
is, as always, to the point. It clarifies the difference in the
motives of the French and English pioneers.

Ind, Ansr, It much surprizeth us that you should propose
anything of Religion to us, for we did not think that anything
of that nature would have been mentioned.

Furthermore nothing of that nature was mentioned when
the peace was concluded between all Nations. Furthermore
the English formerly neglected to instruct us in Religion which
if they had offered it to us we should have embraced it and
detested the Religion which we now profess, but now being
instructed by the French we have promised to be true to the
God in our Religion, and it is this we propose to stand by.

An Answer to the First Query Propos'd by the Rt. Honblc
the Lords of Trade, etc., referring to the Province of the
Massachusetts Bay. ... In the neighborhood of this Pro-
vince to the North East or towards Nova Scotia there arc
two tribes of Indians one of them known by the name of
Kennibeck Indians one hundred fighting men who live chiefly
at a place called Noridgiawack within a Sort of Fort made
of Wood and where, is a small chapel and a Jesuit. . . . both
tribes too much inclined to the French Interest thro the
influence of the Jesuits who have allways one among them.

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 293

The story of the English hatred of the missionaries could
be drawn out indefinitely by the letters sent to England by
various agents in America. They convict the English of
intolerance and their dealings with the Indians convict them
of commercialism. An abstract from the Collections of the
Maine Historical Society says : " With the English adven-
turers at this time the national spirit and conunercial ad-
vantage were moving considerations. The French, who
shared the Roman faith and discipline with their Spanish
exemplars, took with them their spiritual guides and made
the conversion of the heathen and the authority of the
church a kind of higher nrie and argument in all their un-
dertakings in America. Thus in any national or individual
expeditions, especially, according to Father Biard, those
that promised suffering and little honor, expeditions beau-
coup penible et peu honorable, the Jesuits were likely to
have a hand."

Michdet treated the Jesuits with extraordinary severity.
He particularly attacked the character and motives of the
Canadian missionaries. His " words have a bitterness that
comes from deep-seated prejudice and to a fair critic the
sting is lost." In answer to Michelet the Jesuits published
in Paris in 1864 the evidence of their trials and labors.
From the archives in the Vatican Library were collected
and translated original letters covering the early part of the
seventeenth century.

Another author says : " The Company of Jesus, so called,
has probably been more spoken against than any other of
the monastic orders, for the simple reason that its trained
ability and free methods made it the most efficient of all
such orders. Indeed, it might be called the order ' of all the
talents '."

Speaking of the Indians the English historian, Pen-
hallow, says : " I asked one of their chief sachems where-
fore it was that his people were so bigoted to the French,

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294 American Catholic Historical Society

considering that their traffic with them was not so advant-
ageous as with the English ! The savage gravely answered,
' that the Friars taught them to pray, but the English never
did! ' There was too much truth in the reply. . . . The
Frenchman came to his pagan soul with the knowledge of
his faith and of his God, and showed more zeal to gain his
confidence and his affection than to secure his furs."

John Minot wrote from Marblehead, October 4, 1725, to
his father. Colonel Stephen Minot, a merchant in Boston;
" I observed the Jesuits allways gain'd more on them [the
Indians] by their blameless watchfuU carrage to them then
by any other of their artful methods. Example is before
precept with them."

A petition from Wm. McClenachan, Clerk, to Governor
Belchers of Massachusetts Bay Providence, May 28, 1740,
says : " Your Pet'r further shows that by the Royall
Charter granted to this Province Toleration is granted to
all denom'ns of Christians Except Papists."

The following letter from Governor Shirley to the Duke
of Newcastle indicates the attempts made to substitute Pun- '

tanism for Catholicism. ** Boston, Aug. 15, 1746. ... '

.and removing the Romish priests out of the province and
introducing protestant English schools and French Prote-
sant ministers, and due encouragement given to such of
the Inhabitants as shall conform to the Protestant Religion,
and send their children to the English Schools, the present
Inhabitants might probably at least be kept in Subjection to
his Majesty's Government."

These attempts were not wholly successful. One hun-
dred years later Bishop John B. Fitzpatrick, successor to
Bishop Fenwick, resolved to revive the old Abnaki mission
of the Assumption on the Kennebec. He gave it into the
care of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, who had
founded it. In 1848 Father John Bapst was sent to Old
Town, the sequestered spot on the river that had once been
Norridgwock. \

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The Blackgoums Among the Abnakis 295

Less than a decade later Father Bapst was in charge of
the parish of Ellsfworth, Maine. The secret society known
as " Know-Nothings," had recently been organized with
the avowed object of destroying Catholicity. Outrages
were numerous and Father Bapst did not escape. One day
while he was hearing confessions the venerable man was
dragged from his house, stripped and placed on a rail. He
was carried some distance ex]x>sed to insults and taunts.
The rail broke and the priest fell to the ground. He was
then tarred and feathered and left lying there apparently
helpless and alone. To the intense surprise of everyone he
said mass the folk>wing morning. I

In a letter to John O'Kane Murray, writer of A Poptdw
History of the Catholic Church in the United States of
America, the learned missionary, Rteverend Eugene Vest-
romile, D.D., says :

It was the year of the Know-Nothings, and the Bostonians
yet recollect the trouble which this secret organization, led
by that rascal profanely called the Angel Gabriel, caused
them. On Sunday evening a mob numbering many thousands
had come to attack and demolish St. Mary's church, and to
murder the priests in the house attached to it. I was obliged
to pass through the mob to attend a sick call. Had they known
who I was, I do not know what would have become of me.
But I took the precaution of disguising myself.

I was soon afterwards sent to Maine. My first reception
in that State often reverts to my mind. It was in the times
of outrages at Ellsworth towards Rev. J. Bapst, S. J. I was
going to him. By steamer I went to Bucksport; there I
took the stage for Ellsworth, and I had no objection to be
known as a priest. We landed at the hotel, and it was whis-
pered all around " A priest ! A priest ! " Some commenced
to bark at me, others to laugh, others to sneer, others to
threaten and snap their fingers at me. I wondered whether
I was in a town of dogs, savages, or wild animals! ... I

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296 American Catholic Historical Society

simply asked where the priest's house was. It was indicated,
and when I reached it, I found all the windows smashed, and
learned from the housekeeper, who was sick, that the day
before, the mob had assailed the house with stones, and
smashed many things; and that Father Bapst had gone to
Bangor. By telegraph I received a message to go to Bangor.
At nine P. M. I went to the hotel to engage the stage for
Bangor at one o'clock A. M. ; and in returning to the house I
was followed by a number of men, threatening me. I was alone
and the street was solitary. They walked behind me threat-
ening and cursing the priest. I stopped to let them pass on,
which they did, but they finally stopped at the comer where
I was to turn to the right to the house. Perceiving theif
wicked intention, I determined not to go to the house, but
to continue my way up the hill, feigning to go elsewhere. I
wore a white duster and a white straw hat. ... At one A. M.
the stage called for me and I was glad to get out of Ellsworth.
I must add, that after the affair of Ellsworth, when they
tarred and feathered Father Bapst, I attended that missicKi,
and twice saw the tar and feathers intended for me; ... I
need not mention that they threatened to shoot me.

The object of the Know-Nothings was " to resist the in-
sidious policy of the Church of Rome and other foreign in-
fluence against the institutions of our country, by placing in
all offices in the gift of the people, or by appointment, none
but native bom Protestant citizens". An oath bound all
members to remove " all Roman Catholics and all foreigners
from office ".

When Maine became a state in 1820 there were few^
Catholic churches. The retarded growth of religion was
slow to resume. An increase in industries and consequently
in population brought greater need and the supply came with
the demand.

The See of Maine and New Hampshire was instituted in
1853, with eight priests who shared the persecution that has
been the fate of every denomination in turn. They were

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The Blackgowns Among the Abnakis 297

turned out of town, and hunted, and the churches were
burned.

The Catholic population in 1874 was 80,000, with
twenty-three schools. In 1884 a separation occurred be-
tween the two states and in Maine, under the brilliant
leadership of Bishop Walsh, the church made remarkable
advances. Catholics in 1920 ntmibered 160,638, with one
hxmdred and forty-two priests, many educational institu-
tions, hospitals, orphanages, asyliuns and homes. Not-
withstanding this advance. Father Dennis A. McCabe, of
the parish of Whitefield, is as much a missionary as were
his distant predecessors. He was bom in Ireland in 1875
and was brought to America by his parents while a youngf
child. When seventeen years of age he returned to Ire-
land and completed his education at the Jesuit CoU^je at
Mimgret, County Limerick, where Bishop Curley and six
other American bishops received their training.

Father McCabe was sent to the Cathedral in Portland
and then to St. Dominic's in the same city. He served in
several other parishes in Maine and was for five years Ad-
ministrator in Augusta. His home parish is at Whitefield,
Maine. It covers an area of twenty by seventy miles.
Tremendous difficulties caused by extreme cold and heavy
snows must be overcome and the priest is often in danger
of freezing to death while on visits to the sick and dying.
The temperature drops to forty-five degrees below zero.

In 191 6 Father McCabe purchased some property at
Boothbay Harbor, the Pentecost Harbor of Weymouth's
time, and started to build a church. For some time he had
been saying mass in dance halls and other public places but
after the acquisition of the property it was said in the house
already standing there.

The first stone for the church was laid on the day that
America declared war against Germany. The Pope had
just added the title, " Queen of Peace," to the Litany, and

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298 Afnericcm Catholic Historical Society

"Out Lady, Queen of Peace," seemed a fitting name for
the only war church in America. The building was started
in April, 1917, and on the second Sunday in July, 1917,
when the foundations were complete, mass was said in the
open air, on a rough platform laid where the altar was to
be.

The church is finished except for the tower which is in-
complete, and the ten-foot gilded cross that will surmount
it is still lacking. The walls are unceiled and garden
benches take the place of pews. But the altars are in place
and tres omee, to use Father Rale's words, and the stained
giass windows are installed. It is Father McCabe's earnest
hope that everything will be in readiness for the dedication
in the summer of 1923.

On an imwooded hill the church stands high above the
harbor. Every entering and departing vessel must pass it
and the great cross will be to them a beacon more inspiring
then a light.

There are only about a dozen Catholics in Bootfabay
Harbor, but on Sundays in summer, at the one Mass, the
church is full. Boats laden with gaily-clad worshipers
come from all directions and discharge their freight at The
Priest's Pier. The sight is beautiful and suggestive. The
church is open from June until October, when the summer
visitors are at the nearby resorts, and Father McCabe re-
sides at Boothbay Harbor and serves the surrounding islands.
At other times he is at Whitefield. He comes to the Har-
bor to say Mass two or three times a week during these
months. Too much credit cannot be given him for what
he has accomplished in the face of determined opposition
and financial difficulties.

Maine, one of the first Catholic states, slipped away. It
has now many strange beliefs and very little fervor. But
the influence of the missionaries upon the Indians has not
been lost. Only a few weeks ago some Abnakis came to

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The Blackgonms Among the Abnakis 299

the church bringing a papoose. Father McCabe, with the
same joy in his heart as had cheered and supported Father
Biard three hundred years before, baptized the infant that
the faithful Indians had brought to their blackgown of
to-day.

At last, Tanto, their hated god who lived " far in the
West " has finally disappeared into the darkness of oblivion,
into the obscurity of a sun that has set. And Squanto, al-
though beloved, who lived " where we cannot tell, on high,"
has followed him, their places taken for eternity in the
simple Indian minds and hearts by the knowledge of the
love and the glory and the mercy of Jesus Christ.

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THE REV. SAMUEL SOUTHERUND COOPER

(1769-1843)

BY ELLA M. E. PLICK

In the order of time Father Cooper prececkd Father
Carter among the priests who worked at Old St. Mary's.
His stay there, however, was so short tha* he was only a
visitor, as it were, one who gave himself tmstintedly in time
of trouble, and then after a period of what he considered
his usefulness, went to carry the blessings of his priestly
ministry to other souls. It is not therefore because of any
great work accomplished in Philadelphia that he deserves
mention. It is rather from the point of interest of char-
acter that he appeals to us, as well as for the fact that he
was mainly instnmiental in the bringing into the Church of
George Strobel, who later became Father Strobel, and the
immediate successor of Father Carter at St. Mary's. Thus
it seems fitting that a sketch of his lifework should find
a place in this series of biographical sketches between that
of Father Carter and Father Strobel.

Samuel Cooper's life is both interesting and instructive.
As a man and as a priest, he left the impress of his per-
sonality on his time. Of a character strong and original he
attracted and influenced those whom circumstances threw
in his path. As a priest he was among the most widely
known and most esteemed of his day. In him we find one
of those striking surprises in life — a man who b^ns by
setting the world agog with gossip, who amazes, hypnotizes.

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The Rev, Samuel Southerkmd Cooper 301

and becomes a leader of the lovers of pleasure, then one day
awakens and with all the suddenness of a St. Paul finds
himself face to face with God. He realizes the emptiness,
the vanity of a life of mere leisured idleness. Quickly and
with the same zeal which he displayed as a leader of the
worldly, he turns hermit and startles men with his penances
and life of toil.

With ail the instincts of a great nature, more than or-
dinarily endowed, Samuel Cooper, like many of the saints
of old, was intense. In early life he played with the same
whole-hearted zest with which in later years he worked.
The ardor that made him so fascinating a dance and dinner
partner, during his social career, burned in later years, like
a mighty fire, for Christ and souls. The generosity that,
prompted him to give, until his friends bowed down and
almost worshipped him, afterwards made him penniless for
God and the church. His talents, charm, popularity — each
hdped him to serve his new master, Jesus Christ, as once it
had helped him to serve the world.

Men sometimes imagine that God's saints, on entering
His apprenticeship, lay aside the human traits that made
them so lovable. A little thought would be sufficient to
convince the most doubtful that such is not the case.
Grace perfects nature, does not destroy it. Hence, we can
imderstand that those same lovable qualities, which in the
natural order attract men, perfected by the grace of God,
make them the saints they become. After all, goodness has
only to be known to be loved. No one ever turned away
from a truly holy man. H his justice made him hard, or
his piety made him narrow, an influence other than God had
a hand in the process.

The ways of Providence are truly wonderful, but no-
where more intensely fascinating than in the workings of
Grace in the souls of men, leading them into the sublime
heights of sanctity or drawing them from the ways of

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302 American, Catho.lic Historical Society

sin into tiie path of right and truth. God drew Samuel
Cooper, as He had previoudy drawn Ignatius, by the way
of the cross. On a bed of pain and physical suffering,,
close to the edge of the great beyond, his thoughts turned
towards his Maker and the world to come. He saw Christ
in a new light. " Oh, for a friend like Christ ! " he yearned
on reading over the story of the Gospels, " What a friend
was He to man ! " — Such was the opening chapter in
Cooper's new life of grace. On that sudden realization of
the Gospd picture of a friendship divine, we might say he
modeled his life. Father Cooper was a friend to man, a
friend patterned as dosely as possible on Him, who cen-
turies before, spent thdrty-^hree years going about doing
good.

It is the blending of the natural and supernatural that
makes Father Cooper such an appealing study. His life
is full of htmior and pathos. Stories abound. How pleased
we all are to come upon a really human story, in a biography
or in a life history of one we admire. We may be very
much interested in the cold recital of facts, dates, accom-
plishments that make the sum total of that life, but let the
eye fall upon a letter, written when the brain throbbed with
life, a word spc^en when the heart was full, even someone's
" remembered " account, and we skip over the pages be-
tween. Our hero, or heroine, for the moment, lives again.

Samuel Cooper, once converted, was a fiery apostle,
athirst for souls. During his long life of nearly seventy-five
years he worked determinedly, unrdentingly. In those up-
per circles into which his canly life gave him entrance,,
among his but recently claimed brethren in the Presbyterian
denomination, among the little ones in Christ's vineyard he
spent his days, seeking to do his Master's work.

His was a full life, a varied life. Two continents claim
his priestly labors and kindly deeds. Htmting the world
for God he found Him in his home dty. Owner and cap-

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The Rev. Samuel Souiherkmd Cooper 303

tain of a vessel, he travdfcd the high seas in quest of ad-
venture. He found it; but it was other than that for
which he was looking. He ended by taking service in the
barque of Peter and cast anchor in a little insignificant
town in Kentucky.

Second to his zeal in leading others into the true fold,
i¥as his charity. In his days of industry he acquired con-
siderable wealth. Mother Seton was the recipient of nearly
his entire fortune. In speakhtg of Father Cooper, co-
founder of her wonderful institute, she said in a letter to
an intimate friend : " He wiU never let us want what he
can give. We never see him or even thank him for his
pure benelovence. Many strange beings there are in this
world." It was from Father Cooper that Mother Seton
^;ot the strange injunction which she laid on all her super-
iors " Never to refuse sisters to Virginia, for the sisters
were to convert Virginia."— Charity, zeal, and a disinter-
•ested love of Christ are the high lights on that picture which
Father Samuel Cooper set himself to copy, in the hospital
in P^ris, in 1807.

The clergy list of the EWocese of Baltimore for 1819 ^
contains the following brief sketch of Father Cooper :

Rev. Samuel Southerland Cooper, born at Norfolk Va,
1769; ordained from St. Mary's Seminary by Archbishop
Marechal, in 1818; deceased at Bordeaux, France, Dec. 16,
1843. — Bom of Protestant parents, he followed the sea for
some years, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits: whilst
travelling abroad, the claims of the Catholic Church impressed
bim at Paris ; he was received into the Church, at Philadelphia,
in 1807; he entered St. Mary's Seminary in 1808. He con-
tributed largely from his private fortune to Mother Seton's
Foundation of the Sisters of Charity. He was pastor at

^ Rev. E. Devitt, S.J.

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304 Am€ric(m CathoUc Historical Society

Augusta, Ga. ; assistant at St. Joseph's, Philadelphia ; on mis-
sions of South Carolina, North Carolinia and Virginia- He
visited the Holy Land in 1824, and went to France in 1831 :
he assisted Cardinal Cheverus in his last moments at Bor-
deaux, and finished his career in that city ; he died poor, hav-
ing spent an ample fortime in works of charity.

The American CathoUc Historical Researches contain an
article on Father Cooper, by Martin I. J. Griffin, entitled
" The Toothless Priest, Rev. Samuel Southerland Cooper ".
Wherever his name is mentioned the same anecdote follows.
The story itself varies, but the fact always remains that he
was so conspicuously handsome, that, in a spirit of mortifi-
cation, he had his teeth extracted. The time and motive
assigned for this act differ. Father Jordan says, in an ac-
count of the deed, that it was in early manhood, while Mr.
Cooper was still a ship captain. A Sister of Charity of
that day, repeating her version of the story, remarked that
Father Cooper, when charged with the intention, disclaimed
it. Whatever the motive, his name is always linked with
the incident. Also the idea is commonly conveyed that he
was an extremely handsome, charming gentleman, fastidious
in dre^, devotee of pleasure, the best billard player in town,
splendid dancer and " leader of the Assembly in 1800 ". In
contrast, we read of this same man, after his conversion :

His penance and austerities were extreme and seemed be-
yond the power of endurance. In his person, God seems to
have vindicated, by miraculous interference, the character of
the priesthood, when depreciated in public estimation, by the
conduct of unworthy men.*

Father Cooper's mother's maiden name v^ras Southerland.
Through a farmer marriage to Richard Dale, of Ports-
mouth, Va., she was mother of the celebrated Richard Dale.

■ Rev. J. Connell's Caiholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia,

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The Rev. Samuel SouiherUmd Cooper 305

who was thus half-brother of Samuel Southerland Cooper.
No doubt Richard Dale's Ufe of daring in the American
Navy, where he served as first lieutenant under the famous
Paul Jones on the " Bon Homme Richard " in the battle
with the " Serapis*', September 23, 1779, and commanded
a squadron in the Mediterranean, 1801-02, during the hos-
tilities with Tripoli, gave Samuel Cooper his liking for the
sea.

The Cooper household were members of the Established
Church of England. Samuel, though of an open inquiring
mind, was a sceptic in religious matters. This was partly
the result of environment and partly of ignorance. His
conversion, after the Grace of God, he owed to his love for,
as well as to his untiring search after, truth.

One day in 1805 or 1806, after having studied every
faith, beginning with his own, after having talked with
ministers of every denomination, among them Bishop
White, of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Pennsylvania,
he heard Mass in St. Augustine's Church, Philadelphia.
For the first time in his life his soul was satisfied. He
spoke of the event to a friend, Mrs. Richard (Harvey)
Montgomery, herself a convert only nine months before.
She carried on the good work already started, by lending
him a book on the teachings of the Catholic Qiurdi. Mrs.
Montgomery, says the Rev. Doctor Middleton, in a sketch
of her life in the American Catholic Historical Records,
" was a woman of strong intellectual character, lo)ral to her
church, amidst sacrifices of no Kttle weight." She was
most interested in Samuel Cooper. She knew of his long
search for peace. She had also experienced the difficulties,
as well as the sorrows, of such a search. It was in her
home he met Father Hurley, who prepared him for entrance
into the true fold.

Mr. Cooper spent ten years studying for the priesthood.
Shortly before his ordination he went on a visit to Rome

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3o6 American Caiholic Historical Society

and cm his return in 1818 was ordained. During the last
years of his seminary career, taking very Ktcrally the Gospd
injunction, " Go sell what thou hast, and come follow me,"
he sought to dispose of his worldly goods. We read in the
Kfe of Mather Scton that through his director, Abb6
Dubourg, then President of the Sulpidan Seminary, St.
Mary's, Baltimore, Md., he offered to give $10,000 to
charity. That very same day, Mrs. Seton, future found-
ress of the Sisters of Chairity, had come to this same worthy
priest, Fr. Dubourg, also her director, offering her services
for the poor. From this little seminary in Baltimore, and
the seemingly accidental meeting of three zealous souls,
sprang that great order of women, whose history of charity
is known throughout the world.

In 1820, after having spent the first nine months follow-
ing his ordination at Emmitsburg, and nearly two years
doing missionary work in the south. Father Gx>per was
requested to come to Philadelphia. On leaving Enumts-
burg he had gone to Augusta, Ga., as suocesor to the Rev.
Robert Browne, O.S.A., who had gone to Rome with a
petition for the erection of a See in North and South
Carolina and Georgia. The petition was granted by the
Pope and John England was appointed first Bishop of
Charleston.

Father Cooper did his greatest work in the South.
Charleston /'iSis-i&iS) had just passed safely through a
schism which for a while threatened discord in the South.
In an account of that period a writer very aptly quotes the
words of an early Jesuit superior writing to his holy
founder : " Those who are sent thither ought to be angels."
Pastors in the United States were r^jarded as missionaries
removable at pleasure. The men who offered their services
in the South lived in poverty hardly believable. In the
Diurnal of Bishop England for the year 1820, the name of
Father Cooper is mentioned several times : " Jan. 18th," we

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The Rev, Samuel Southerland Cooper 307

read, " came up the river, landed at Savannah; there had
been no priest here since October, when the Rev. Samuel
Cooper of Atigusta spent twdve days in the city. "... ."
Feb. 27 — ^appointed Revd. Denis Corkery to do duty in
Qjlumbia and Chester (S. C.) and in Locust Grove,
Georgia, under superintendence of the Revd. James Wallace
and Revd. Samuel Cooper."

In the light of the work accomplished in the South, lus
experience during the schism, and his great influence and
social standing in Philadelphia, the request for Father
Cooper to come to Philadelphia is not tmnatural. The Con-
weM-Harold-Hogan Schism had just begun. He was looked
upon by many as a possible mediator in that troubled period.
His friends, no doubt, were calling for him from all sides.

Just how badly Father Cooper was wanted in the North
is very plainly shown in the letters of Bishop Conwell to
Archbishop Marechal of Baltimore: " " In 18211 Bishop Con-
well had been at Lancaster two days before Pentecost. H«
had left Baltimore for Georgetown on Jime i, and was
afterwards at Emmitsburg .... He had hoped to see
Father Cooper, who had started for Baltimore; and he re-
quests that Fr. Cooper be permitted to oome and labor in
Philadelphia." . . . . " Father Cooper had done much good
in Philadelphia." . ..." He had great influence among!
Philadelphians. Permit him to oome to our assistance."
. . . . " Let Father Cooper be sent immediately; the people
want him." " He (the bishop) understood that Father
Cooper was willing on his part to come." It would seem,
says Griffin, that Bishop Conwell heard from the Arch-
bishop on the same date, June 15, for he writes again to
express his satisfaction that Father Cooper had acceded to
the request to come to Philadelphia. On June 20th Father
Cooper had arrived and brought with him the AixWbishop's

» " Life of Bishop Conwell/' Records of A, C. H. Society,

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3o8 American Catholic Historical Society

" decision and judgment on the proceedings ". This is a re-
ference to the long-desired " opinion " of Archbishop
Marechal cited in regard to the Hogan Schism. On July
22nd, Conwell writes from St. Joseph's, where he and his
household had taken refuge : " They have made St. Joseph's
a very gemted church and have most crowded congregations
at all Masses. Cooper is very useful." Hogan and his par-
tisans were in full control at St. Mary's and, after violence
had marked the collision of the two parties on that site, the
followers of Hogan and the followers of the Bishop, Bishop
Conwell withdrew to St. Joseph's, where those who were
faithful to his authority, gathered about him.

From a picture drawn by Griffin of the time of the elec-
tion riots of 1822,* we understand better just what a re-
straining, helpful influence Father Cooper, with his sane
judgment, must have had, on the excited, overwrought
parishioners.

The trustees [says Griffin] took possession of the church
and lest any bishopite should take possession of it it was bar-
ricaded, with a watchman constantly on guard. My father
with other hot-headed young Irishmen determined that they
would get possession of the church, before the day of election,
if they had to sacrifice a limb, yea, life, for it. Good Father
Cooper was taken into confidence, but he disapproved of the
plot. " No matter," said they ; " that was because he was not
an Irishman and only half a Catholic."

Just how long Father Cooper remained in Philadelphia
we do not exactly know. Scarcely a year. In the entries
in 1823 his name is again recorded in the South. His in-
fluence in Philadelphia, however, did not cease with his de-
parture. Again quoting from the life of Bishop Conwell :
" In the beginning of 1824 the Rev. Samuel Cooper, a parti-

*A. C. H. Research, Vol. XIII, p. 149.

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The Rev. Samuel Southerland Cooper 309

cular enemy of Hogan's who had done much service for
the Bishop, in Philadelphia, was in the Holy Land." He
wrote letters from Jerusalem to Bishop Conwdl. These
were ait first copied by hand and extensively circulated
among the people. Finally the Bishop had them published
in pamphlets and circulars. The notice which follows is
from the Philadelphia Gazette of February 2, 1825. Under
the heading " News from Jerusalem " we read :

The numerous friends of the Rev. Samuel Southerland
Cooper now on his journey home, from visiting the Holy
Land, are naturally anxious to see a letter lately received
from him, giving an account of his travels through Palestine
and the present state of Jerusalem. But as the original is
damaged by coming through so many hands, they cannot be
gratified any longer by seeing it to their satisfaction, other-
wise than in print. x

The following letter, no doubt one of the many spoken
of above, v^ras a copy in the possession of Miss Maria Jones,
Philadelphia, and was published in Griffin's article men-
tioned above on Father Cooper. It gives a very fair picture
of the simple faith and child-like piety of the writer.

Leghorn, Oct. 22, 1824.
I arrived in this city a few days ago, from my journey ta
the Holy Land, and although I have been exposed to many
hardships yet I have the satisfaction to find that my health
is good. The dangers arc many — ^the climate, during the sum-
mer months, is bad, and in many places pestiferous. The
wandering Arabs and the war which is being carried on with
so much animosity between the Greeks and the Turks, in-
creases the danger for travellers. I have visited Judea and
Galilee ; those countries were once delightful, but they are now
desolate, and present an awful lesson to the human mind. I
passed the Lent and Easter at Jerusalem, and had the consola-
tion to celebrate Mass on Mount Calvary, where the Divine
Redeemer was crucified for the sins of man, and also in the

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Holy Sepulchre, where He was laid after He was taken down
from the Cross. The feelings on such occasions you may easily
conceive. It would take too much time and would extend
far beyond the limits of a letter, to describe the various
interesting places in and near the City of Jerusalem.

From this city I went to Bethlehem. It is now a small
village, but there is a venerable Catholic Church and Convent
built on the spot where the Divine Saviour was born and laid
in the Manger. Here I had the happiness to say Mass. From
Bethlehem I went to the place where St. John the Baptist was
bom, and to the desert, where he preached to the people who
came out to see him. I likewise visited Nazareth of Galileo
There is a magnificent church and convent built here on the
place where the house of the Blessed Virgin Mary was, and
where the Angel announced that she was to be the Mother of
the Redeemer of the World, as recorded in the Gospel of St.
Luke, chapter ist, verse 26th. The altar which is erected to
commemorate this great event, is truly beautiful — rich lamps
are always burning before it, and the spot where the Blessed
Virgin stood is marked by letters of gold engraved in white
marble. At this altar I had the happiness, though unworthy,
to say Mass.

FrcMn Nazareth I went to the river Jordan, and to the Sea
of Galilee and Tiberide. There is a small church built here,
near to the water's edge, where the Divine Saviour ate fish
with the Apostles after His resurrection, and where He gave
St. Peter the supreme power to govern His Church, as re-
lated by St. John, chapter 21st. It is now the pious custont
for all travellers who visit this spot to eat fish from the same
place.

From Tiberide I went to Capharnaum. It was in this city
the Saviour preached to the Jews concerning the Mystery of
the Blessed Sacrament, as related in the 6th chapter of St.
John. This city now lays in ruins. Some pillars and large
square stones of the Sync^^gue are yet to be seen, and the
largest I ever beheld that were used for a building.

From Capharnaum I returned by way of the Desert, where
the Blessed Saviour multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed

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The Rev. Samuel Southerland Cooper 311

the multitude who followed Him from thence to the land of
Galilee, where He changed water into wine ; and from thence
I passed by the small village of Naim, where He raised to
life the widow's son.

From 1823 until 1827 Father Cooper labored on missions
in Richmand, Va. In 1829 he was again at St. Joseph's
(St. Mary's), Philadeilphia. In 1830 we find him ait Wil-
mington, Delaware. At each place his stay was very brief.
The longest of any was at Richmond, where he remained
three years. Mr. Keiley in his " Memoranda " says : " Of
the pious missionaries to whom the Catholics of Richmond
are indebted, the best remembered is Dr. Samuel Cooper,
one of the most eloquent preachers ever heard in Richmond."

Among the most interesting features of Father Cooper's
life was his friendship with Bishop Cheverus, afterwards
Cardinal, whose chaplain he became in 1831. From his
first meeting with Bishop Cheverus until the Cardinal's death
in Father Cooper's arms in 1836, Cheverus was his inspira-
tion and exemplar. In connection with the Cardinal's
death in Bordeaux, France, we read, in the life of the Car-
dinal: • I

The news of his death, although not unexpected, occasioned
as profound sorrow as if the event had occurred suddenly.
Throughout the Archiepiscopal palace all manifested the deep"
est grief. The confessor of the Cardinal, a venerable priest
(Fr. Cooper), who had come from America to Bordeaux, to
spend with the Cardinal the last days of an infirm old age,
was the only one who shed no tear, although the traces of
grief were visible on his countenance. " I would weep with
you," he said to others, " but I cannot ; for if I have lost a
friend, heaven has gained a saint."

During his life in Bordeaux Father Cooper received many

* " Cheverus in France," A, C. H, Research,

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important personages into the Church. He also made many
influential friendships and took part in some very preten-
tious affairs in the old palace.

Father Cooper loved the French. Many of his teachers at
the seminary had been Frenchmen. Some of these beloved
friends in America he met again in France — ^Albbe Dubourg,
later Bishop of Montauban, France; Fr. Grassi, superior at
Old St. Joseph's in 1814, later Rector of Propaganda, Rome.
Although at a distance, he also kept in touch with some of
his old associates — ^Father Du Bois, who became Bishop of
New York, Father Brute, Bishop of Vincennes. Cooper,
Du Bois, Brute, had spent many happy days together at Em-
mit^burg in 1818. Among some notes of Mother Seton
were some words of Father Brute: " O life of the servants
of God here below, of poor, little souls trying to please Him
— ^the hard labors of His Du Bois ; the mighty desires of His
Cooper; the sweet peace of impotence to His Gab (riel) and
His Bet(sy). Great, great, great Lord! — tender Sav-
iour! '•

Father Cooper had a heart of gratitude. He never for-
got the smallest of favors. To St. Augustine's Church,
Philadelphia, in whose blessed walls he was granted his first
and greatest of favors, he gave $3,000 in thanksgiving.

His was a thoughtful generosity that loved to take pains,
to add the personal touch that means so much to the re-
cipient. Mother Seton in a letter written in 1810 entuner-
ates some gifts lately received from Mr. Cooper: " A barrel
of honey, one of treade, of which we make great use; a box
of Smyrna figs, and seventy or eighty yards of pelisse flan-
nel, besides pieces upon pieces of India muslin. . . ." It
was given in the days of the little community's struggle
with poverty — ^the cold winter days of their humble bqafinn-
ing. Money never could have taken the place of his own

•Simon. Gabriel Brute; Elizabeth (Betsy) Seton.

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The Rev. Samuel Southerland Cooper 313

wise selections, oftentimes little luxtiries no Sisters of
Charity woidd ever have indulged in unless given to them.

Father Cooper was humble, sincere, terribly in earnest.
He had also the failings of his good qualities. He was
impulsive, impatient of results, over zealous. Bishop Eng-
land on one occasion remarks in his Diary on Father
Cooper's " injudicious zeal ". Just what this " injudicious
zeal " may have been we are not told. He was undoubtedly
an extremist, which accounts for some of the eccentricities
which we find in his career. That he was also capricious
and very fond of change, we infer from the many appoint-
ments of short duration. But as these were traits of nature
which in a way accounted for his choice of the sea as a pro-
fession, and indirectly were the means of his finding the true
faith, we can hardly expect him to lay them aside with his
wordly habiliments.

In the South, in Philadelphia, in Bordeaux, he was well
loved, well remembered. In all three places traditions of
his sanctity remain. The traits that made him so lovable
in the world of finance and society made him a better, more
helpful priest. We can say of him what Father Dubourg
said of Cardinal Cheverus, that he had never lost one of the
many friends he had possessed in the course of his life, ex-
cept by death.

If any attribute were to be singled out in the character of
Father Cooper we would say it was his realization of God
and His relationship to man. He realized better than many
the gifts of God and the Church. A late-comer, he strove
to make up in ardor what he had lost in time. At his ordin-
ation he was forty-eight years old, an age at which most
men are settled and adverse to change. Bom in the very
heart of Protestantism, his faith and his priesthood were
gifts given him in exchange for labors before which many
more timorous souls would have faltered. It is difficult to
tear down a house whose foundations had been laid in a

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previous generation, a house which you have learned to
love, a house warmed by friendships of a lifetime, and
lighted with pleasure fruits of a self-earned fortune.

It is interesting to trace the influence Cardinal Cheverus
had upon Father Cooper. The life of the Cardinal gives us
a very fair picture of those years spent in France.

An American gentleman once called on the great and good
Cardinal Cheverus, and while talking with him of his old
friends in America, said that the contrast between the Car-
dinal's position in the episcopal palace in Bordeaux and in his
former humble residence, when he was Bishop of Boston, was
a very striking one. The humble and pious prelate smiled,
and, taking his visitor by the arm, led him from the stately
hall in which they were conversing into a narrow room fur-
nished in a style of austere simplicity : " The palace," said
he, "which you have seen and admired is the residence of
the Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux ; but this little chamber
is where John Cheverus lives"

At all times poor, the Cardinal and his household, during
the revolution in France, became almost destitt^e. Again
turning to the life of the Cardinal, we read :

The revolution had diminished his charities by depriving
him of twenty-two thousand livres, annually, in consequence
of the retrenchment made by the Chamber of Deputies in the
emoluments of the clergy. Nevertheless, in order that the
poor might suffer as little as possible from the diminution of
income, he made the most rigid retrenchments in the expenses
of his household; he retained only a single servant to attend
him in church, on his journeys, and in his palace ; reduced the
expenses of his table, already very frugal, as mucH as decency
would permit; and denied himself things which seemed most
indispensable; even going on foot over muddy roads, and de-
fying rains and snows, choosing to endure privations himself,
rather than that the poor should suffer.

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The Rev. Samuel Southerland Cooper 315

Shortly before his death in 1836 Cheverus, only recently
proclaimed Cardinal, went on a visit to his beloved Sulpi-
cians.

" In the midst of all these honors/' we read, " the Cardinal
was constantly sad. His elevated soul saw clearly the noth-
ingness of all the grandeur, and found in it nothing satisfac-
tory. " Of what importance is it," said he, " to be enveloped
after death in a red, purple, or black shroud? When we have
seen thrones fall, and still see daily the very foundations of
society shaken, how can we help feeling that there is nothing
permanent here below? How attach any value to human
beings?". ... "Oh! how glady," he said to the young men
of the seminary of St. Sulpice, " how gladly would I exchange
this red cap for yours."

Reading the life of the great cardinal it is very easy to see
where Father Cooper got his lessons in humility, holiness,
and heroic virtue.

Father Cooper died on December 16, 1843, ^tged seventy-
six years, at Bordeaux, France. He was sick only a few
days with a cold which developed into pneimionia. Sur-
roimded by loving friends, everything that science could do
for him was done, but to no avail.

He died poor. Eighty dollars, the remains of his worldly
wealth, were used for Masses for his soul. His few simple
belongings were given to the needy.

In the Catholic Directory for 1845 appears the following:
** Dec. 1843, died at Bordeaux, France, Rev. Samuel Cooper,
a convert to the Faith, who for many years edified the Church
in the U. S., by his charity and penitential life. Rev. Mr.
Cooper was a great benefactor to the Sisters of Charity in
this country, having furnished them with $8,000 ($10,000)
as a means of entering upon their laudable undertaking."

Reviewing that copy of the Master which Father Cooper
strove so diligently from the early years of his conversion

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to leave us in his own life, we can say " Well done ". We
can set it up as a model to encourage others to work at re-
producing the original in their own lives. Such copies act
as an inspiration and are very effective towards the repro-
duction of the one and only masterpiece, Guist.

With all the qualities that make a good captain of the
seas of earth, he steered his own frail vessel, a body animated
by all the dynamic force of a great and noble soul, into the
wider, deeper channels of life. Out on the great deep he
wrestled with the angry winds, stirred up by the passions of
men, the cross-currents of his own heart, and terrible storms
of Satan, all of which are dangers to so many worthy ves-
sels even nearing port. Captain Cooper, still at the helm,
brought his ship safely home, ready to greet the Lord of
the seas and winds, the Master who comes walking over the
waters to save us lest we perish, " It is I : fear not." For it
is only He who can say in moments of our great dangers,
" Winds and seas, be calm ! "

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WORK OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY IN THE UNITED
STATES, DIOCESE OF LITTLE ROCK, 185W921

Four Sisters of Mercy from Naas, Ireland, made a foun-
dation, and began the missionary labors of their institute in
the diocese^ of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 185 1, February
6. Little Rock had been established by papal brief of Nov-
ember 28, 1843. It comprised the State of Arkansas and
that part of the Indian Territory which had been assigned
ro the Gierokee and Choctaw nations. The Reverend
Andrew Byrne was named first bishop of the new diocese.*

^The ignorance of backwoodsmen in Arkansas at tius time is evi-
denced in the following incident related in the Annals : " While travel-
ling through the country in search of his flock, Bishop Byrne, a man of
great personal magnetism, was accosted by woodsmen, the leader of
whom addressed the Bishop thus; ''Is it really true that a Catholic
Bishop has come to Little Rock? " ** I, believe it is," he returned. Gazing
inquiringly at him, the stranger continued emphatically: "Then you
must be the man* The Bishop acquiesced. " Pardon me " said another,
"but I always thought Catholic clergyman wore horns." "Well you
see," said the prelate, smiling, " I have not put on mine this morning."
A pleasant conversation ensued and the woodsmen left the Bishop's pres-
ence less ignorant than when they entered it" Annals of the Sisters of
Mercy, Vol. Ill, p. 338.

' In 1850 a colony of three hundred Catholics in charge of Father
Hoar of Wexford migrated to America with the intention, and accord-
ing to the design of Bishop Byrne, of settling in Little Rock and its
vicinity. On their arrival in Little Rock, owing to the death of the
Vicar General, Father Francis CDonoghue, who alone knew the
Bishop's plan, no shelters were ready to receive them. Sheds were
their temporary refuge. Many of them died of ship-fever, others, dis-
couraged went to Iowa where they built a prosperous settlement known
as "New Ireland". Eight families remained in Little Rock while a
few settled in Fort Smith. The frustration of his colonization plan
was a hard blow to Bishop Byrne. The three ecclesiastical students who
accompanied the colony to America, Mr. O'Reilly, Mr. Behan, both from

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He was consecrated in New York, together with John Mc-
Qoskey, later the first American Cardinal, and William
Quarter, first bishop of Chicago, March 19, 1844. Father
Byrne, Irish by birth, had labored on the missions in the
diocese of Charleston, South Carolina and in New York
City since 1827. The following notice from the Catholic
Directory, 1844, will help us to understand conditions, and
the character of the work to be done in the new diocese by
the bishop, his clergy and the Sisters in their missionary
enterprise.

" Three Catholic families have not settled within the
limits of Arkansas for the last three years and a half.
The Bishop has lately travelled on horse^back over five
hundred miles and met only two families who professed
the faith. He states with reluctance and pain, that he
has received in his whole diocese, no more than thirty-
one dollars for three years and a half, towards his
maintenance; hence must the Bishop look to the charity
and benevolence of the friends of religion abroad to
enable him to provide both for himself and his clergy,
food and raiment on the missions of Arkansas; for
were all his flock, scattered as they are over a distance
of fifty-five square miles, assembled together, they
would not form a large congregation."

The inadequecy of spiritual helps in the vast regions of
the State of Arkansas was one cause for the gradual ebbingf
of spiritual vitality among the hardy woodsmen. Spiritual
restoration, therefore, could become operative and life-giv-
ing only by providing those auxiliaries, the need of which
had occasioned spiritual loss. The proWem confronting

Maynooth; and Mr. Martin, of All Hallows, were ordained on the
Feast of St. Patrick, March 17, 1851. Father O'Reilly was appointed
vicar general to the post made vacant by the death of Father O'Donog-
huc-^Annah of the Sisters of Mercy, Vol. Ill, pp. 354-355. iCatkolic
Chronologist, June, 1914, gives John Bahan).

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 319

Bishop Byrne was a vital one and its solution lay in the plan
which he later adopted, to establish Catholic education in
his diocese. After acquainting himself of the purpose and
scope of the several religious orders, by studying their rules
and activities, he decided that the Mercy Sisterhood was
the Institute best fitted to assist him in his arduous t^k of
regeneration.

Unable to obtain a foundation of the de^red Sisterhood
in the houses already established in America, Bishop Byrne
sailed for Ireland in the auttmm of 1850 to invite the Sisters
of Mercy of Baggott Street, Dublin, to his diocese. He
called at the Convent and stated the object of his coming.
Mother M. Vincent Whitty, then superior of the Mother-
house in Dublin, was unable to provide from Dublin a
foundation for Little Rock; however, she directed him to
the Community at Naas, where, she assured him, he could
secure hdp for his undertaking. She visited the Sisters
at Naas herself before the arrival of the Bishop. In con-
sequence of this visit the Bishop found little difficulty in
securing a colony to undertake the long and perilous jour-
ney, and to face the hardships incident to missionary life.
Mother M. Teresa Farrell was named superior of the
Little Rock Community, and Sister M. Agnes (Green),
Sister M. de Sales (O'Keefe), Sister M. Stanislaus (Far-
rell) together with eight postulants were chosen to be her
co-laborers. They sailed for America in the John O'Toole
November 30, 1850, an entire section of the ship having
been reserved for the Sisters' use by Bishop Byrne.

The scenes incident to leave-taking are usually pathetic;
for these valiant souls, whose farewell was to be probably
forever, whose offering was one of unselfish love, the trial
must have been a supreme test of true Christian charity.
The human heart of Bishop Byrne was keenly alive to this
painful separation; but the generosity of the Apostolic
spirit bore bravely the severance of the most sacred of

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human ties — ^love of kindred. Three hundred emigrants
on board the vessel gave the Sisters immediate scope for the
activities of the Institute. Their days were spent in teach-
ing the children, instructing the adults, and caring for the
sick among steerage passengers. A storm arose which
drove the vessel to the coasts of Scotland, eight hundred
miles out of its course. It was thought for a time that all
on board must perish; however, Christmas day, 1850,
dawned without a cloud, and the beauty of the day, follow-
ing such a perilous experience, was a lasting memory with
those on board the vessel. The early Masses were cele-
brated by Bishop Byrne; Father Sheehan, a young priest
who accompanied the Bishop to America, read the later
Masses, at the first of which the Bishop preached. On
January 23, they landed in New Orleans, and remained
with the Ursuline Sisters * tmtil February 2, when they set
sail up the Mississippi and Missouri in a river boat, the
Pontiac, and arrived in Little Rock, February 6, 1851.
This was the first Community of Sisters of Mercy * to be
established west of the Mississippi River. They went to
California from Ireland in 1854.

The vicar-general * Father Francis O'Donoghue, to

* The Ursuline Convent in New Orleans dates back to 1727.
*0n October 11, 1838 three Sisters of Loretto from St Genevieve,

Missouri, opened a school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with Sister Agnes
Hart in charge. On August 20, 1839, Sister Agnes died and was the
last to be buried without a coffin according to an ancient custom. Years
later when it was necessary to disinter many of the bodies owing to the 1

spread of the river, the body of Sister Agnes was found petrified. It
was removed to the new cemetery and an inscribed monument erected
over the grave. The Sisters in Loretto remained in Pine Bluff until
1842, when the school was closed, and the Sisters removed to St.
Ambrose, Post Arkansas. In 1845 they were recalled to the Mother-
house, Loretto, Kentucky. See Loretto Annals of the Century by Anna
C. Minogue, pp. 112-113.

* Father Francis O'Donoghue, while travelling through the diocese |
to afford the sparsely scattered settlers an opportunity of complying

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 321

whom was entrusted the building of the Convent, had died
during the absence of Bishop Byme, in consequence, no
home awaited the Sisters. The Bishop willingly gave them
his own house, a one-story frame building, until their new
Convent erected at the Sisters* own expense with funds
which they brought from Ireland, should be ready for oc-
cupancy. Meantime the Bishop made his home with Judge
David W. Carroll, while the ecclesiastical students resided
among the settlers.

On the day following the Sisters' arrival, visitations of
the sick poor were begun. Qasses in Christian Doctrine
were organized on the following Stmday with an attendance
of two children ;* on the following Sunday five children were
present, the number increased, however, until the register
reached two hundred.

The Sisters heard Mass and made their spiritual exercises
in the Cathedral which adjoined their temporary residence.
A building opposite the Cathedral was utilized for school
purposes. On the first Monday in September, school opened
with an enrolment of thirty-five children, the greater number
of whom were non-Catholics.

A reading of the curriculum of St. Mary's, Little Rock,

with their religious obligation, arrived at the cabin of a family named
<yRdlly. Mrs. O'Reilly who noticed the exhausted condition of the
priest bade him rest while she prepared some refreshments. The good
priest, worn out from his long travels, threw himself on a rough couch,
the only resting place the inner room could boast of, and was soon fast
asleep. When the meal was ready Mr. O'iReily went to call the tired
missionary and found him dead. His breviary was opened beside him
and his hat covered his face, probably a protection against flies. The
next day the pioneer priest was buried near the old cabin. Later the
family left the wilderness and the grave was forgotten. The services of
a surveyor were secured to search for the grave but it was never found.
♦The names of the two are given— Adele Carroll, probably of the
family of Judge David W. Carroll, and Cassie Reider. The five of the
Sunday following were, in addition to tiie two former, Brigid Ryan,
Emily Sellers and Lizzie Prasche.

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given in the Catholic Directory, 1853, will show that the
school conducted by the Sisters of Mercy seventy years ago,
might be viewed as a near approach to our present-day
High-school course :

St. Mary's Academy.

" This Institution is beautifully situated on the
square at the corner of Louisiana and Ellizabeth
Streets. The buildings are spacious (a large bride ad-
dition recently being erected) and the extensive grounds
offer a delightful resort during the hours of recrea-
tion."

'' The courses of studies will be solid and extensive,
embracing the English, French and Italian Languages ;
History, Geography, Philosophy including Astronomy
and the use of the globe; Arithmetic, AlgAra, Botany,
Vocal and Instrumental Music. Drawing and Paint-
ing and all kinds of useful and ornamental Needle
Work. Parents may rest satisfied that every atten-
tion, consistent with the spirit of a firm but mild gov-
ernment, will be paid to the comfort of the young
ladies placed in this Institution, while the utmost care
will be taken to nourish in their minds those princi-
ples of virtue and religion, which alone can render
education profitable; no undue influence shall be ex-
ercised over religious opinion of the pupils, however,
for the maintenance of good order, all will be re-
quired to conform to the external discipline of the
house."

Terms: Board and tuition, including bed and bedding
per annum, $120.00.

For daj scholars : First class, per quarter $7-00

Second " " " 6xx>

Third " " " S-oo

Fourth " " " 4.00

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 323

Extras per quarter Music and use of piano 6.00

Vocal Music S-<»

Guitar S-<X)

Italian 1 6xx)

Frendi S-oo

Painting & Drawing 7-50

Washing 4.a>

Physician's fees per annum 4x0

" Payments to be made semi-annually in advance. I£
required the Institute will furnish boarders with books
and stationery at the current prices. No deductions
will be made if any pupil leaves before her quarter
shall have terminated, except in cases of sickness."
Observation: To prevent interruption in the classes,
visits will be limited to Thursdays, and made to the
pupils only by parents and guardians, or persons
authorized by them. The annual vacation will com-
mence on the 15th of July and terminate on the first
of September."

" Bulletins will be transmitted every six months to
parents and guardians informing them of the health
and proficiency of the children or wards, all communi-
cations must be addressed to Mother Teresa Farrell,
Convent of Mercy, Little Rock, Arkansas. A new
foundation of the order of Mercy will be established
near Fort Smith and Van Buren, this year."

On March 10, 1851, the first candidate to the Mercy
Sisterhood in Arkansas, Miss Margaret Fitzgerald, an Irish
lady of exceptional culture and refinement, entered St.
Mary's Novitiate. Three months later, June 22, 1851, the
first ceremony of religious reception took place, Right
Rev. Bishop Martin John Spalding of Louisville, officiated.

The sacrifices and services of the Sisters were rewarded
in the constantly growing school attendance. The building
could no longer accommodate the nunAer who sought ad-

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324 American Catholic Historical Society

mission, accordingly a brick structure, formerly a meet-
ing house, was purchased and the interior converted
into class-rooms. Young ladies from a distance enrolled
as resident pupils. Despite its isolation, St. Mary's school
" soon swelled to hundreds " of whom scarcely twelve were
Catholic. This manrdous success evoked the anti-Catholic
hatred of the Presbyterian minister, Mr. Green, who, in
order to rouse public opinion, called a meeting of his am-
gregation " to warn thom against the errors of popery and
to draw aside the veil that hid from pirfdic view the real
character of the individuals called nuns who had just come
among them.'' He also sent a circular to Pine Bluff, a
village a short distance from Little Rock, stating that on a
certain day he would deliver a lecture on the ** Turpitude of
Rome " in the Courthouse. Bishop Byrne thought things
were come to such a pass as warranted intervention; he,
therefore, sent Rev. P. Behan,* a man of subtle ii^dlect and
sound judgment to meet Mr. Green at the Courthouse.
Before the hour appointed for the lecture, Mr. Green died
suddenly. This incident, looked upon by the settlers as
a visible proof of God's provident care of the Sisters,
was the means of checking temporarily the further progress
of anti-Catholic fanaticism. Subsequently, however, a
strong wave of Know-nothingisra swept over Arkansas caus-
ing many annoyances to the Sisters who were advised by
Catholics and non-Catholics alike, to leave the State. As
a consequence of their refusal, a plot to destroy the Convent
was about to be perpetrated, when two brothers-in-law, lead-
ers of the undertaking, quarrelled, and taking aim simultan-
eously shot each other, both dying almost instantly. This
catastrophe again was looked upon by the rioters as a super-
natural warning. It evidently had an influence on the dis-

* Annals of the Sisters of Mercy, Vol. Ill, p. 336. Catholic Chron^
oloffist, June, 1914 gives Rev. J. Bahan.

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 325

membennent of the Know-nothing party in the State.
There were no more anti-Catholic uph^vals.

In spite of anti-Catholic propaganda, and in face of the
isolation and the hardships of early days, the Sisters were
encouraged by the steady growth of thdr boarding school
and Academy. Many young ladies, daughters of Irish im-
migrants, accompanied Bishop Byrne on his return from a
business trip to New Orleans in 1852. Many others came
from various parts of the State and enrolled as resident
pupils.

Nine months after the arrival of the Sisters, November
I, 185 1, the new Convent ^ was blessed by Bishop B3rme and
placed under the patronal care of Our Lady of the Im-
maculate Conception. The chapel, a room scarcely large
enough to hold an altar and two prie-dieux, was enlarged
for religious exercises by opening folding doors which
separated it from the Community room.

In 1853 the first school in charge of the Sisters of Mercy
outside Little Rock was established on the historic camping-
ground of Fort Smith.' The Church property, purchased

^The first Catholic Qiurch, built ia Arkansas in 1840 by Father
Richarbole,* was incorporated in this Convent Fatiier Richarbole left
Little 'Rock in 1844, ^tnd later was drowned by falling off the gangway
of a sailing vessel in New Orleans. The church property was sold at
public sale in New Orleans and purchased by Abbe Maenhaut, who later
sold the property to Bishop Byrne for two thousand dollars to be ex-
pended in Masses for the repose of his soul. The property was trans-
ferred to the Sisters of Mercy, also the obligation of having the
Masses said.

* Annals of Sisters of Mercy, Vol. Ill, p. 362, footnote. Catholic
Chronologist, June, 1914 gives this name Father Richard Bole.

^A few straggling houses, some wigwams and soldiers' barracks
were all that Fort Smith could boast of in 1853. The Convent situated
in the depths of a forest was at once the open prey of wild beasts and
treacherous Indians. The proximity of these great warriors of an
ancient race was terrifying to the Sisters. On one occasion a Sister
while singing in the music-room felt the presence of some one in the
room. On turning a tall Indian wrapped in blankets and decorated with

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326 American Catholic Historical Society

in 1852 by Bishop Byrne while on visitation of the diocese,
consisted of several buildings, the headquarters of General
Zachary Taylor during the Mexican War. Here, Mother
M. Teresa and four Sisters were brought to direct the re-
modeling of the building for school and convent purposes,
March 4, 1853. Two rooms in the barradcs were fitted up
for the Sisters, and schools were opened for boys and girls;
classes in Christian Doctrine were also organized. A'
boarding school under the patronage of St. Ann and mod-
eled on St. Mary's Academy, Little Rock, was opened in
1854. Indian children were educated here, many of whom
embraced the Catholic faith.

Owing to the great inconvenience • of travelling to Little
Rock, three novices, stationed at Fort Smith, made their
vows at this house in 1855. Bishop Byrne officiated at the
ceremony, at the conclusion of which he congratulated the
Sisters on the successful progress of their work and the
growth of the Sisterhood, " then to be found so far at the
utmost bounds of civilization, close by the encampment of
the wild sons of the forest." ^^

beads, copper rings, and other regalia peculiar to the tribe, stood before
her. iSeveral others were watching at the window. After inviting
them in the Sister continued the singing. At this juncture other Sisters
appeared, the Superior bringing rosary beads some of which she pre-
sented to the chieftain, who, after selecting the longest, distributed the
others to his companions, giving to each the next in size according to
his rank. This little act of kindness and hospitality on the part of the
Sisters endeared them to the Indians. When the Bishop came among
them he invited the Indians to bring their wives and children to the
Convent where the Sisters entertained them with music and singing,
after which followed instructions in Christian Doctrine.

* Their isolation was almost complete. It was often impossible to
get in or out of the State. In 1856, Mother M. Teresa on her way
from Ireland with six other Sisters was obliged to remain in Helena
for seven weeks waiting for die June flood. In August, 1874, R^v.
Henry Beyley, S.J. conducted the Sisters' Retreat in Little Rock. This
was the first Retreat given by a priest to the Sisters of Mercy in the
State of Arkansas.

loCit., Annals of the Sisters of Mercy, Vol. Ill, p. 343.

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 327

From the Catholic Directory, 1855, we glean that no free
school had been opened in Little Riock thus far. The notice
reads :

" St. Mar/s Academy."

" Number of pupils, including boarders, 45.
A school will be opened this year on the Convent
grounds for the gratuitous education of poor female
children."

Five years later, i860, the Catholic Directory gives the
following notice of the work and institutions supervised by
the Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock diocese.

" Convert and Academy of St. Ann near Fort Smith,
Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary
Baptista Farrell, Superior.

St. Mary's Academy, Little Rock, under the charge
of the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary A. Craton," Sup-
erior.

St. Catherine's Academy, Helena, tmder the charge
of the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary Teresa Farrell,
Superior.

Elsewhere in the same Directory, i860, we find:

"Convent and Academy of St. Ann, Fort Smith,
Arkansas."

" This is the Mother-house and Novitiate of the
Sister of Mercy in the diocese, and is situated one mile
from Fort Smith, and three from Van Buren. The
grounds attached to the Academy are extensive and
beautiful, embracing three hundred and twenty acres.
Steamboats from New Orleans land passengers within
one mile of the Convent, when the Arkansas i^ navig-
able."

Terms: Board and tuition per session of five months
$60.00

*i Mary A. Carton— ^fmaii.

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328 American Catholic Historical Society

Day Scholars per Session

First Class $I4X)0

Second Class I2XX)

Third Class lojoo

Music, Drawing, French, Italian etc, form extra
charges. All communications to be addressed to Sister
Mary Baptista Farrell. Convent of Mercy, Fort
Smith, Arkansas."

Meantime, the increase of scho(rf-work and the dearth of
vocations among the native element, forced Mother M.
Teresa to look to Ireland for co-laborers. In May, 1856,
in company with Sister M. Vincent, Mother Teresa sailed
for Ireland and returned to Little Rode the following year,
1857, with five candidates for the Mercy Sisterhood.

The ceremony of the religious reception took place at St.
Mary's Convent, Little Rock, June 15, 1857. The chapel
being too small to accommodate all who wished to attend the
ceremony, a portable altar was erected at the front entrance
to the Convent. The procession of priests and rdigious,
the music prepared for the occasion, together with the ser-
mon delivered by the Bishop, made no little impression on
the spectators. In February of 1858, the Sisters were in-
vited to open a school in Helena, Philip's County, at that
time the richest section of the State in lands and the most
thickly populated.

In order to secure the steady advance of Catholic Educa-
tion in his diocese, Bishop Byrne sailed for Ireland in 1859,
to secure reinforcements for his schools. On his retiun he
was accompanied by twelve young ladies, aspirants to the
Mercy Sisterhood, and several young men, candidates for
the priesthood. The young ladies were sent to Little Rock
to b^n their novitiate training at once; the Bishop, how-
ever, remained at Helena several months to superintend the
erection of a new Academy for girls, to be known as St.
Catharine's. Sixty children from Helena r^stered in the

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 329

day school, others came trom the State of Mississippi, con-
veyed hither in " dories " and " dug-outs." ^

The following advertisement of St. Catherine's Academy,
Helena, appears in the Catholic Directory, i860.

** St. Catherine's Academy, Helena, Arkansas,
Under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy."

'' The buildings are spacious and convenient and are
situated on the heights over Helena, affording an ex-
tensive and commanding view of the city and waters
of the Mississippi.

" The locality for a female academy cannot be sur-
passed, if equalled, in the United States. Steamboats
passing up the Mississippi from New Orleans almost
every hour, will land yotmg ladies witMn sight of St
Catherine's. The course of studies will be solid and
extensive, embracing all the branches of education,
taught in the best and oldest schools in the country.

'* The scholastic year is divided into two sessions of
five months each.

Terms: Board and tuition per session of

five months : $70.00

For Day Scholars

First Oass, per session $20.00

Second Class, per session i&oo

Tlisrd Class, per session 16.00

Fourdi Class, per sessioo 14*00

Fifth Oass, per session 12.00

" Bulletins will be transmitted at the dose of every
month, informing parents and guardians of the health,
proficiency and conduct of their children or wards."

The breaking out of the Civil War and the death of
Bishop Byrne in 1862, checked seriously the then increas-

^' Small river boats.

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330 American Catholic Historical Society

ing current of Catholic Education in the State of Arkansas.
In the summer of 1861, Bishop Byrne, while in Fort Smith
on a visitation of the diocese, was stricken with a fever
from which he never fully recovered. In October, 1861, he
was improved sufikiently to warrant his return to Little
Rock, but failing to gain strength there, and thinking a
change of climate might benefit him, with one attendant he
went to Helena in February 1862; before leaving, how-
ever, he signed and transferred the deeds of the convent-
property to Mother Alphonsus Carton.

The death ^* of Bishop Byrne, June 10, 1862, was a
severe blow to the Sisters and to the entire diocese. He had
been " a voice crsdng in the wilderness " to his widely
scattered people. To the bereaved Sisters, from his first
visit to the Convent in Naas, Ireland, when in 1850, he
went there to seek co-laborers in his apostolic work, to his
death, he proved a kind father, a protector and friend to
the valiant women who shared with him the hardships that
had to be undergone in the work of building up the spiritual
life of the diocese.

The two years following after the death of Bishop Byrne
marked a period of struggle, suffering, and want for the
Sisters of Mercy in Arkansas. Their three Convents were
situated within an area of military activities and constant
struggle between south and north. The defeat of General
Price at Pea Ridge, Mary. 6-8, 1862, and his subsequent
retreat to Little Rock were attended by much suffering on

^* The body of Bishop Byrne» wrapped in purple silk which the Sisters
bad on hand, was buried in a cypress box, no coffin being then available.
Nineteen years later the body was disinterred and remained three days
in the Sisters' chapel when the second obsequies took place^ the final
resting place of the great pioneer priest being a crypt under the vestibule
of the new cathedral. There were present on this occasion Bishop
Patrick John Ryan, Coadjutor then in St. Louis, later, in 1884 Arch-
bishop of Philadelphia; Bishop Fitzgerald, Little Rock; Bishop Neraz,
San Antonio, Texas; Bishop Watterson, Columbus, Ohio; Bishop
Gallagher, Galveston, Texas; Bishop McCloskey, Louisville, Kentucky.

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 331

the part of the men from wounds, cold, and exposure. An
emergency hospital was opened in a brick building, the pro-
perty of the Sisters, opposite the Convent. Here were
brought almost immediately twenty-five war-victims. Owing
in a large measure to the meagre supply of rations and cloth-
ing alloted to the sick and wounded, the death rate was very
high. Forty coffins, it is said, were the daily output of the
coffin factory which stood where St. Andrew's Cathedral
now stands. Aside from the horrors of actual warfare the
Sisters suffered also from scarcity of food and clothing.
For two years they knew not the taste of tea nor coflfee ; shoes
were fifty dollars a pair and hard to get at that, haUt material
oould scarcely be had at any price." Seven soldiers detailed
for guard duty by the Confederate officers, personal friends
of the Sisters, protected the Convent during the night.
Several companies from Louisiana camped about the town
and its vicinity. When sickness visited the camp the Sis-
ters to6k, care of the ailing, also after the skirmishes.
The Confederates held Little Rock until September 10, 1863
when it fdl into the hands of the Federals under General
Steele, who at once assigned guards to protect the Convent.
This military guard continued for seventeen months.

When the Federal soldiers entered Little Rock they en-
camped on the Convent property in ignorance of the nature
of the institution. They appropriated for their own use the
hay and oats from the bams on the premises and destroyed
the fence which separated the Sisters' property from the as-
signed camping-ground. On one occasion, as given in the
Annals, a cow owned by the Sisters strayed through the
broken fence. A Sister who was somewhat perplexed as to
how she could reach the cow said, " There must be Catholic

^* Confederate paper money was so depreciated in value that calico
was sold at $40 a yard; spool of thread cost $20; a ham $150; a pound
of sugar $75; and a barrel of flour $i!200. — See McMaster's School His-
tory of the United States, one vol. edition, page 423.

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332 American Catholic Historical Society

Irishmen among these Northern soldiers. If they see the re-
ligious habit they will respect it." With a child as a compan-
ion, she advanced towards them. A soldier seeing die Sister
approached at once. " Will you be kind enough, my friend,
said she, ''to turn our cow back into tiie endosure?
'' Certainly, madam," said he in accents that suggested the
banks of the Suir, " can I do anything dse for you? " ^*
The Sisters and the new regiment became the best of friends
and when the Sisters could not procure food for the children
orphaned by the war, the Federal Soldiers gave of their own
meagre supply. The Federal officers also treated the Sis-
ters with Idndest courtesy.

As a natural consequence of war the Fort Smith and
Helena Communities were not without their share of suf-
fering and privation. Military engagements took place
almost within view of both Convents. In Fort Smith Con-
federal soldiers, mere boys, striplings, could be seen in
scattered groups, protected only by tattered ck)thing, their
shoeless feet covered with rags. Many of these youths the
Sisters knew personally, and thdr hearts yearned for the
boys of the sunny South who never before felt the pene-
trating blasts of Northern winters.

In a large bam on the Sisters' property General Steele,
in the name of the government, proclaimed the n^^oes
free. The riotous revelry of the emancipated slaves struck
terror into the hearts of the Sisters. Crazed with liquor
the '' f reedmen " armed with knives and dvib& roamed the
streets of the village where only a few white men could
then be found. Women barred windows and doors against
the sinister mob. When the tuibulent enthusiasm ceased
and normal conditions were restored the Sisters thanked
God for what they considered a visible proof of His Divine
protection in answer to their prayers.

i»Cit., Annahy pp. 3^-370.

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 333

The paralyzing effects of the war on Catholic Education
in Arkansas were felt most disastrously in Fort Smith and
Helena, the former on the Texas border, the latter on the
banks of the Mississippi.^' The Schools in Helena ^^ never
regained their former prosperity. The pay-^school, the
Sisters' main support, was dosed owing to a lack of patrons
whose property had been confiscated, and who were obliged
to seek livelihood elsewhere. For ten years the Sisters la-
bored and struggled to keep open the doors of their schools,
the way to Catholic Education, but on January 23, 1868,
they were obliged to return to their Mother-house in Little
Rock.

On December 8, 1875, the Convent in Fort Smith was
destroyed by fire. This great loss, following dosdy after
their partial recovery from finandal straits due to war and
its consequent '"hard times'', was a severe blow to the
Sisters. The following year, however, a new Convent was
erected with greater, dimensions and more convenient
quarters.

The fourth foundation of the Sisters of Mercy in Arkan-
sas was made in Hot Springs ^ from the Mother-house in

^* When the river broke througjb the levees, the streets were generally
flooded to a depth of sixteen feet. At such times the Sisters visited
the sick in skiffs. The Convent, reached by thirty-three steps was suffi-
ciently high to escape serious damage. During the war official com-
munications were brought in a small steamer to the general, who resided
near the Convent. In 1867 when Bishop Fitzgerald paid his first visit
to the Convent, the boat which conveyed him hither was fastened to the
porch of the Convent diuring his stay.

1^ In the summer of i86^, Helena was held by a Union force of
4,000 under Gen. Prentiss, the river also being guarded by a large
gunboat On July 4, the Confederates, yfioo men under Gen. Holmes
made an unsuccessful attack 00 the city with a loss of 173 killed;
6S7 wounded, and 776 missing, in all 1,636. The loss to the Union force
did not exceed 250 killed an^ wounded, no prisoners. — See American
Cyclopaedia, p. 617.

^* The Springs, 57 in number, rich in medicinal value, vary in tem-
perature from 93° to 150^ and discharge about 500,000 gallons a day.
— See American Cyclopaedia,

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334 American Catholic Historical Society

Little Rock in September, 1880. The Sisters' residence, the
gift of Rev. Patrick McGowan/* was ill-suited for a com-
bination Convent and School. Six rooms were however,
prepared for school purposes. Owing to the unsettled con-
dition, a result of Government claims against property
owners, the settlers were not able to give much pecuniary
aid to the Sisters. These disputes over property claims
were finally settled by artntration, but with great financial
loss to many of the settlers, who, if they wished to retain
their houses and lands, were obliged to re-purchase them.

For the purpose of opening an Infirmary in July, 1888,
a building near the Church erected for hospital purposes
at the cost of twenty-five thousand dollars was purchased by
Doctor Keller, of Hot Springs, at the instance of Father
McGowan, for ten thousand dollars. Two thousand dollars
were paid immediately, the balance to be paid from the
proceeds of a farm then up for sale owned by Father Mc-
Gowan in New Qascony. The building was solemnly
blessed and placed under the patronage of St. Joseph on
the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy, September 24, 1888.
Hot Springs was peculiarly adapted for hospital purposes
because of its health-giving waters. *• In 1895 the Sisters
of Mercy were invited to take charge of the school opened
in St. Patrick's parish, North Little Rock.

The visitations of the side and the poor in their homes,
and the inmates in prison formed no small part of the active
life of the Sisters of Mercy in the State of Arkansas. In-
structions in Christian Doctrine were given to the prisoners.
Those on whom the death sentence had been pronounced

^*The last priest ordained by Bishop England, April, 1840.

^ In the early missionary days of Father McGowan the poor settlers
brought food to the Springs and boiled eggs and potatoes in its waters.
At that time there were no doctors in the village and bath tubs were
unheard of. The sick and the ailing, the white man and the Indian
alike bathed there, and often cures were wrought, ^us proving the
efficacy of its healing properties.

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 335

yearned for and found the consolations yrhich religion alone
could give. An incident that occurred in Hot Springs and
narrated in the Annals of the Sisters of Mercy shows the
power of God's grace in the soul conscious of guik. It
deserves notice here:

Bernardino Casat, twenty-five years of age, of Spanish
extraction and a native of New York, was sentenced to
death in expiation of the crime of murder. His youth, per-
haps, appealed strongly to the people who believed in his
innocence and who brought the case to the Supreme Court
for further trial. The decision of the lower court however,
was not revdced. The young man confessed his crime to
the Sisters, also to the priest in confession. As the day
of execution approached, the feeling of the non-Catholic
people reached almost the state of frenzy. They threatened
the priest if he did not save the yoimg man, his own life
would be in jeopardy. The priest, who was the most re-
spected man in the State, soon lost favor among the people
and could not leave his house without a guard. The Sis-
ters who held sacred the confession of the condemned man
counseled him to confess his guilt openly, thus saving in
expiation of his crime, the reputation and the life of the
priest. A full confession followed.

Sincerely penitent and grateful for all favors both spiri-
tual and temporal, he expressed himself in a letter written
to the Superior of the Convent on the eve of his execution : ♦

" Dear Mother : . . . With unrelenting grief I address
this little farewell to you as a token of my appreciation of
the kind and tender motherly devotion you and your dear
Sisters have bestowed on me in my trying moments of
anguish and despair. No mouth can utter the abtmdance

*The letter is rather effusive, characteristic of a temperament and
nationality not American. But there is no doubt of its genuine feeling
and sincerity.

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336 American Catholic Historical Society

of gradtude that exists in my heart — . I, who was not
worthy to stoop at your feet or grovd in the dust beside
you, but by the divine intercession of our Holy Mother, the
Blessed Virgin, inspired to you, you have directed me to
the right course. ... I, who have broken the law of
nature and man, will soon be brought to appear before the
Holy Tribunal where justice and mercy, are bestowed on
all sinners, to answer for my numerous crimes that I com*
mitted through my weakness — I, who have the heart and
instinct of God's creatures, and who rebelled against His
divine will through older heads and evil influenoe. . . .
Mother, should I gain the reward of a true penitent, I will
remember the dear Sisters who directed me to my Redeemer,
and fitted my soul for His heavenly kingdom. So, mother,
accept my sincere f arewdl from one who was once lost but
is now found. ... I give my dying thanks to you and the
priest and all the dear Sisters . . . , and if my thoughts
can be collected in my future home I will pray for all the
Sisters of your holy order.

I remain, in Faith, Hope and Charity, Dino Casat''

During the seventy years of labor in the Diocese of Little
Rock the Sisters of Mercy have contributed their part to
make strong the social value of religion which alone makes
for social reform. Their expansion has not been wide as
compared with other foundations of pioneer da3rs but this
may be due perhaps, to the other causes, causes which are
present everywhere in the South, due, in some measure, to
conditions which followed the Civil War.

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Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock 337

Statistics.
At pbbsent« 1922; the Sistsks op Mercy in the Diocese or Littlb Rock

HAVE CHASGE of THE FOUjOWING InSTTTUTIONS

Mount St. Mar/s Convent, Religious
Novitiate and Normal Training
School Rein Est, 30; Nov., 18; Post., 12

Teachers

Mount St Biary's Academy

ReL Lay.

High School, Commerdal 8 i

High School, Elementary, Grades, 8 7

Our Lady of Good Counsel School, Elementary,
Grades, 8 Est, 4

St Patrick's School, North Little Rock,

Elementary, Grades Est, 3

St Ann's Academy, Fort Smith, Elementary,

Grades, 8 Est. 9

Our Lady of Springs Sdiod, Hot Springs,

Elementary, Grades, 8 Est, 4

St Joseph's Academy, Mena, Elementary,

Grades, 8 Est, 4

St Edward's Infirmary and Training School for Nurses, Fort
Smith. Patients during the year 600

St Joseph's Infirmary and Training School for Nurses, i Cedar
Terrace, Hot Springs. Patients during the year iioo

Total Number of Pupils 1374

Total Number of Teachers (Religious) 39

Total Number of Teachers (Lay) i

Total Number of Sisters in the

Community Est., 125

Novices 18

Postulants 12

Sister Mary Eulalia Herron.

St. Mary's Convent, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

J

PupiU

JSO

139

lop

Ert.,

175

Ert.,

113

Ett,

383

Ert.,

, 115

Est..

1 100

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THE SISTERS OF THE L H. M/

Few books are fortunate enough to have their Foreword
strike so clearly the keynote to the whole wodc, and create
so adequately an atmosphere conducive to an intelligent and
sympathetic perusal, as the well written and timely Story of
the Founding of the Congregation of the Sisters Servants
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and their Work in the
Scranton Diocese. The Right Reverend Michael J. Hoban,
D. D., to whom, very appropriately, the book is dedicated,
gives this keynote and atmosphere to the work under discus-
sion. Thus he speaks of its purpose : " Devout Catholics
are always pleased to read the story of the successful accom-
plishment of any work intended for the greater glory of.
God and for the benefit of their fellow-men. The history
of the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Im-
maculate Heart of Mary, is such a story."

The founder of the Congregation, the Reverend Louis
Florent Gilet C. SS. R., was born at Anvers, Diocese of
Malines, Belgium, on the 17th of January, 181 3. Ordained
in 1838, he remained four years in Belgium giving Missions,
and was then appointed to the American Missions. Shortly
after his arrival in Baltimore the Redemptorists decided to
found a Mission in Michigan and Father Gilet was ap-
pointed the first Superior.

The little town of Monroe was finally selected as the most
suitable place for the establishment of the new Foundation
which was intended primarily for the large number of

^The Story of the Founding of the Congregation of the Sisters
Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and their Work in the
Scranton Diocese. By a Member of the Scranton Community.

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V

The Sisters of the I. H. M. 339

French residents in this section of the country. While
laboring earnestly to keep religion alive in the hearts of the
people entrusted to his care, Father Gilet was planning to
put into operation a project that he had been revolving in
his mind for some time. '^He foresaw that if his work in
Michigan was to endure, it must be built on the sure
foundation of Christian education. In the whole cast ter*
ritory embraced in the Detroit Diocese there was not one
Catholic school outside the city of Detroit. . . . Father
Gilet realized that he must have schools in which the know-
ledge, love and service of God would be given due im-
portance." As it seemed impossible to obtain religious to
teach the schools that were so necessary, he decided to lay
the foundation of a religious community which, with the
help of God, would develop itself later.

Miss Teresa Maxis, a young lady whom Father Gilet had
met in Baltimore, had expressed a desire to give herself to
God in the religious state. Father Gilet sent for her, and
on her arrival in Monroe, word was sent to Miss Charlotte
Ann Schaaf of Baltimore, who also aspired to the service
of God. These two with Miss Teresa Renauld formed the
first Community of the Congregation of the Sisters, Ser-
vants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

For this infant Congregation, Father Gilet prepared a
rule founded on the Rule of St. Alphonsus. This being;
submitted to Bishop Lefevre, was approved by him; and
the little Community was formally established on the first
Sunday of Advent, Nov. 30th, 1845 when the two eldest
candidate, Teresa Maxis and Charlotte Schaaf, were clothed
in the new habit and made thdr vows according to the for-
mula of the Redemptorists' Rule. The third member,
Teresa Renauld, was received on the 8th of December.
Miss Maxis took the name of Teresa and was appointed the
first Superior.

Fortunate indeed were these Sisters, and indeed the whole

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340 American Catholic Historical Society

Gmgregaition with its hundreds and thousands of members
in later times, to have as their first Spiritual Director so
holy and wise a priest as Gather Gilet. No one can fully
appreciate the importance of early training, not only for the
individual religious, but also — and especially — for the Com-
munity itself. The pious teadiing and practice character-
istic of a youthful organization became the traditions that
are held up as guiding examples for its future members.

The three members of the first community at Monroe
were weU fitted for teaching when they became Sisters, and
their training along these lines was continued afterwards.
But, important as this training is, there was something still
more important— ^he personal sanctification of the mem-
bers. Father Gilet realized — and always acted on this
realization — that to be a religious teacher one must first of
all be a rdigious. ** He unceasingly endeavored to foster
in them the spirit which St. Alphonsus had bequeathed to
the Redemptorists — a spirit of charity, humility and sim-
plicity." Their charity was to guard and keep safe the
community spirit, and also to lead them to help with their
tenderest solicitude the poor, the ignorant and the aban-
doned souls. Htunility would aid them to perform this
naturally repugnant work, and simplicity would purify their
motives, give them a singleness of purpose, that of pleasing
God alone in all things. It is to this spirit thus inculcated
in the banning of its existence that the Congregation owes
its marvellously fruitful harvest of souls in the Vineyard
of the Lord, and its wonderful increase in members and
influence.

In addition to the severe trials inevitable for a newly
formed Commimity of Sisters in a sparsely settled r^on
far away from the thickly inhabited centres of dvilization,^
there were two others that severely tested the spiritual
stability of the new Congregation and gave evidence —
clearer probably than any other — that God Himself had laid

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The Sisters of the I. H. M. 341

the foundations and was supporting the superstructure of
the work. Less than two years after the first R^ption,
Father Gilct was called away from the life of the Com-
mtmity ; and ten years had barely elapsed when the Redemp-
torist Order withdrew its members from Michigan. These
were hard blows. The spiritual fathers were taken away
from their charge in the tender years of its infancy, but
the " Lord kept the city " and other instruments and re-
presentatives of His power soon took the places of the
devoted founders.

In 1857, Rev. Edward Joos was sent to Monroe and ap-
pointed Director and Superior of the Sisters. In a short
time he was relieved from the pastoral care of St. Mar/s
and left free to devote himself ^dy to the work of direct-
ing the Community. '' He felt that this was the work that
God had destined him to do, and for forty-three years he
devoted all his energies, his hopes, his prayers, his sacri-
fices to the upbuilding of the Congregation of the Im-
maculate Heart of Mary in Michigan. 'His authoritative
voice proved to be the strength of the growing Community.
His spiritual and pedagogical teaching laid safe and secure
the foundation upon which rests their wide reputation as
ideal religious teachers."

FOUNDATION IN PENNSYLVANIA

Surely the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart have been
signally favored by God in the exceptionally able and de-
voted priests given to them as Direcstors and Spiritual
Fathers in the beginnings of their existence, just when they
stood in greatest need of this assistance. This is true not
only of their career in Michigan, but also of their early life
in Pennsylvania at Old Saint Joseph's, and their later
foimdations in other parts of the State.

The name that will ever be associated with the first estab-
lishment of the Sisters in Pennsylvania is that of the Rev.

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John Vincent O'Reilly. With his advent " dates the begin-
ning of Catholic organization in northeastern Penna. As
early as 1852 (he) had established at St. Joseph's a college
for young men, and four years later he had founded an
academy for yoimg girls. In the establisment of these two
college Father OReilly had the cordial support of his
Bishop, Right Reverend John Nepomucene Neumann, who
in his very first pastoral letter had declared his intention of
having a Catholic school in every parish. . . . The coll^;e
was conducted by the Fathers of the Holy Cross from
Notre Dame, and the Academy by the Sisters of the Holy
Cross from Saint Mar/s Indiana.*'

The Sisters of the Holy Cross being recalled in 1858,
Father O'Reilly was looking around for a Congregation to
take their place when he heard of the new Community
founded in Monroe. " With the advice and cordial assent
of Bishop Neumann, (he) wrote to Bishop Lefevre and
Mother Teresa. Bishop Neumann also wrote, sa}ring that
he would gladly welcome the Sisters of the Immaculate
Heard of Mary into his diocese.'

Mother Teresa and her little commimity were overjoyed
at receiving this invitation from a Redemptorist Bishop.
She was anxious to be again in touch with the Redemptor-
ists so that the Rule of the Congregation which had been
begun by a member of this Order could be perfected by
other sons of St. Alphonsus. "Besides, the community
was growing, and as no new missions were being opened in
Michigan, the mission in Pennsylvania would open a new
field and serve to make the congregation better known."

Lack of space prevents us from quoting her answer to
Father O'Reilly in its entirety, but we cannot refrain from
giving the following significant extract because we believe
it reveals one reason for the remarkable growth of the
Congregation, and their success in the work of spreading
Christ's Kingdom on earth : " I cannot help expressing to

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The Sisters of the L H. M. 343

you my satisfaction on hearing that it is among the poor
that we are to labor. It is exactly what we like. We have
no desire of bdng established in large cities or among the
great ones of the world."

Bishop Neumann's first visit to the new community was
naturally a memorable event. He gave them their first re-
treat, and the lessons he inculcated then have become tradi-
tions in the life of the Sisters ever since — ^traditions that
have been faithfully honored in the observance. How
simple and how comprehensive, too, are sentences like
these, to quote from his conferences and meditations dur-
ing this ifirst retreat: "Your chief study is your rule. If
you observe it faithfully and conscientiously, God will bless
your work. ... I am fully convinced that a Sister who
possesses comparatively less learning but is faithful to God
will have more success than others, who are perhaps better
educated, but who do not observe their rules faithfully.
If we would be religious teachers, we must first be religious,
r^fular in the observance of rules, lovers of silence and
retirement and patient under trials."

Soon after the arrival of the Sisters a Novitiate was
opened at Saint Joseph's. Vocations were numerous and
the first reception and profession took place on July 24th,
1859. Bishop Netmiann presided and gave the habit to
seven postulants, two novices being professed. So rapid
was the growth of the Congregation at Saint Joseph's that
in less than a year and a half they were able to answer a call
from Bishop Neumann to open a Mission at Reading, and
on August 3rd, 1859, seven Sisters took possession of their
new home in that city. A boarding school in addition to
the parish schools for the boys and girls of St. Peter's was
opened in the early Fall. A Novitiate was also started with
a steady growth in the number of applicants for admission.

This latter became the sole Novitiate for the Sisters in
Penna., when Bishop Wood closed the Novitiate at Saint

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344 American Catholic Historical Society

Joseph's and transferred the novices to Reading. This
condition obtained until 1871, when a new Novitiate was
established at Scranton which had been erected into a new
diocese three years before.

DIOCESE OF SCRANTON

Passing over the brief resume of the Congregation's pro-
gress in the Mother Diocese of Philadelphia, we shall now
turn to the main portion of the book which deals with his-
tory of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart in the Diocese
of Scranton.

Some years before the erection of the new diocese, Saint
Joseph's college had been destroyed by fire, and shortly
afterwards the Sisters' Academy in the same place was
dosed. Thus a note of intense pathos is struck in the
early history of the Sisters in what is now the Scranton
Diocese. As the author well describes the scene : " The
convent at Saint Joseph's was never occupied after the Sis-
ters left it, and it gradually fell into ruin. The drives and
walks were neglected till nature's luxuriant growth grad-
ually covered up every vestige of ruin and decay. The
owners of the land, Father O'Reilly's nieces and nephews,
having always held this place, the scene of the venerable
priest's labor and sacrifices, sacred; and no plow has ever
turned the sod of the hallowed spot. . . . Saint Joseph's
College and Saint Joseph's Academy are now only memor-
ies, but the love of ediKation and the aspirations engen-
dered by their influence in the past still is in evidence
among the people. . . . Saint Joseph's! What holy mem-
ories cluster roimd its well-loved name! The sacred light
no longer bums before its altar; its ruined walls no more
re-echo the fervent prayers of nuns or children; but its
wdl-taught lessons animate the loving hearts of their des-
cendants until time shall be no more." How wonderful and
inscrutable are the ways of God! The marvelous structure

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The Sisters of the I. H. M. 345

of Christian education in the Scranton Diocese was built
upon the foundations laid at old Saint Joseph's, but the
material, physical foundation had but a brief existence. It
was the spiritual that counted, for it alone endures.

When Bishop (yHara, the first incumbent of the newly
created See, came to Scranton there were in his Diocese
only nine Catholic schools. Six of these were under lay
supervision and the remaining three were taught by the
Sisters of the Inmiaculate Heart, then numbering fifteen.
These were under the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia
Mother House at that time located at Reading. The
Bishop was not long in laying his plans for the educational
future of his Diocese. These included the forming of a
separate foundation of the Congregation of the Inunaculate
Heart in his own diocese. On the 6th of August, 1871,
he assembled the fifteen Sisters at Laurel Hill Academy
and conducted for them the exercises of the annual retreat.
At the close of the retreat he announced to them his plan
of forming a separate f oimdation, leaving to the individual
Sisters the choice of remaining in Scranton or returning to
Reading. Three of the Sisters elected to return, leaving
twelve for Scranton. To these pioneers was added another,
Sister M. Egidius of Reading, who volunteered to join
the new foundations. Sister M. Joseph, at the time
Superior at Pittston, was appointed as Mother Superior by
Bishop CKHara. The Novitiate was opened on the Feast
of our Lady's Nativity, Sept. 8th, 1871, six postulants
presenting themselves on this day to begin their term of
postulancy.

It was especially necessary to secure an exemplary Mis-
tress of Novices, a position always most important, but
especially so in a new foundation. The choice fell upon
Sister M. Aloysius who had been received at Monroe, and
was, therefore, one of the first menibers of the Congrega-
tion. Concerning her efforts in Scranton, we quote the

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following: "Morther Aloysius' marked characteristic was
love of rale and exact obedience. The same love she in-
fused into the novices who had the good fortune to be
trained by her. In her instructions the * common life ' was
her favorite theme, and she sought to correct in her novices
any peculiarity of character that nught prove an obstacle
to their conforming themselves to this very essential point
in community life. She also tried to cultivate in them an
intericM" spirit, and with this end in view taught them to
love and value the virtue of silence, often saying to them,
' if we wish our Lord to remain with us, we must shut the
door to other company.* She herself never seemed to be
distracted from the present of Jesus in her soul."

The first school founded by Bishop O'Hlara was St.
Cecilia's Academy in the city of Scranton. The Novitiate
had been started at Susquehanna, but this was intended to
be only a temporary location. Within a very short time
a building was erected in Scranton to serve as a Novitiate
and also a resident and day school. The house was opened
and blessed on July 2nd, 1872, and the Academy started on
Sept. 26th of the same year. The work done at St. Cecilia's
attracted a large number of students and soon the building
proved to be too small. In 1873 preparations were made
for enlargement. A new building of brick, three stories
high, was completed in May, 1874. From this the Novi-
tiate was removed in 1876 to Carbondale, where it remained
until the erection of the present Mother House, Mount
Saint Mary's, in 1902.

During Mother Mary Joseph's term of office, the Sisters
took up their first work outside of the strictly educational
line. In 1875 Bishop CHara founded Saint Patrick's
Orphanage and the Sisters were given charge of it. Over
this Mother Anastasia was placed as first Superior.

In 1877 Mother Mary Joseph was succeeded by Sister M.
Francis as Mother Superior. Bishop O'Hara, feeling that

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The Sisters of the I. H. M. 347

the community was not large encnigh as yet to elect a Sup-
erior, chose the new incumbent himself, and, as the con-
tinued progress of the Sisters proved, made no mistake in
his selection. At the outset of her term the new Superior
encotmtered difficulties of a finacial nature. " It was a time
of financial depression, and for the first few years very
skillful management was required to make ends meet. The
crisis was successfully tided over and the community put
on a firm basis. Practical lessons in thrift were also given
to the pupils in the school."

In spite of her necessary immersion in financial affairs
and in the work entailed by the founding of six new schools.
Mother Francis found time and energy to aid in other
works. It was during her term of office that the Good
Shepherd Sisters were established in Scranton. To assist
them in their efforts, the Bishop organized a Catholic
Ladies' Aid Society, and placed Mother Francis at its head
as president. Her generous and wise direction was of
great service, not only to the splendid work of the Good
Shepherd Sisters, but to other charitable activities in the
city. Although the letter of the Rule of the Immaculate
Heart Sisters did not seem to include this kind of work,
we can see from the ready response of Mother Francis to
the request of the Bishop, that she was zealous enough to
be moved by the deep spirit of charity that formed the
foundation of the Rule.

During this period the first news of Father Gilet, the
founder of the Order was received by the Sisters. One
can imagine the joy of the spiritual daughters of this holy
man at hearing from him after an interval of forty-two
years' absolute silence. Through Sister M. Qotilde of
Villa Maria, West Chester, who had entered the community
at Reading as a French exile, the discovery of Father Gilet's
whereabouts was made. We quote from a letter written
shortly after this by Father Gilet to illustrate the marvelous

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workings of God's Providence : " In truth your founder —
for the work was commenced by me — ^what was he? A
young priest, full of zeal for the truth, but without exper-
ience in God's ways — ^without resources. However, not-
withstanding such a feeble instrument, what constitutes
your glory is the fact that, by a continual correspondence
with grace and your perseverance in the midst of difficul-
ties-— I might say hourly sacrifices — ^you are elevated to the
eminence which you to-day hdd, and which has made your
community one of the brightest ornaments of &e Church
in the United States. Glory to God! Qroy to Mary!
Honor to you all, privileged children, chosen ones of the
Queen of Heaven." Father Gilet was called to his re-
ward at one o'clock in the morning of the fourteenth of
November, 1892.

The new Superior elected to succeed Mother M. Francis
was the first novice to be professed in the Scranton Diocese,
Mother Mary. Probably the most noteworthy event bear-
ing upon the progress of the Sisters during her tenure of
office was the establshment of the High School and CoU^;e
of St. Thomas Aquinas in Scranton. This was the first
institution of its kind in the Diocese to be conducted by
male teachers for boys alone. Its significance for the work
of the Immaculate Heart Sisters lies in the opportunity it
gave them to pursue, under Catholic influences, that higher
education which was beginning about that time to be more
largely accorded to women, and demanded of them in their
capacity of teachers.

During the summer of 1897, the first institute was in-
augurated by Mother Mary, It was held in St. Thomas'
College Hall. These institutions were continued from time
to time with wonderful fruit. The inception of higher
educational courses for the Sisters is thus referred to: " To
the young Sisters of the rising generation the terms * sum-
mer school ' and * college extension work' are quite f amil-

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The Sisters of the I. H. M. 349

iar. With their present advantages for higher education it
may be diflicuk for them to conceive conditions in that
regard some twenty-five years ago, when no Catholic col-
lege had as yet opened its doors to women. The few*
pioneers among the religious ladies who proved the conven-
tions and sought entrance to the universities were looked
upon with disfavor. It was, therefore, no small advantage
to the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to have the
advantages of a private university within the sacred walls
of their own cloister, with so eminent a professor as Rev-
erend Father McGoldrick."

In 1897 another event of importance took place.
Mother Mary received a request from Tillamook, Oregon,
for Sisters to take charge of a school in that far-off place.
" Ais yet the Scranton Sisters had made no new founda-
tions outside the diocese, and it was the wish of the Bishop
that they should continue to develop within the province
arther than extend themselves beyond. When he learned
that the new school was within the Archdiocese of his good
friend, Archbishop Grosse, he gave a willing consent to
Mother Mary to visit the place and accept the school if ^e
wished to do so."

The invitation was accepted and the school started, but
after a few years the Sisters were withdrawn from Tilla-
mook and were given charge of St. Lawrence Academy in
Portland, Oregon. Thus, in a few short years, the infant
Order, having divided and subdivided itself, was still able
to reach out to the farthest West for newer and even wider
fields of activity. Only another illustration and proof of
the act that the work at home gains rather than loses by
sacrificing some of the workers in the interest of other and
distant fields that cry out in their dire need for men and
women to help gather the harvest of souls.

In 1901 Mother M. Cyril succeeded Mother Mary as
the head of the community in the Scranton Diocese. " The

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completion of the new Mother House and the payment of
its immense debt was the task that confronted Mother C}rril
at the banning of her term of office. After the opening
of the schools, Mother C)rril turned her attention im-
mediately to the new building. Three or four times a wedc,
and often every day, she contrived to find time to visit
Mount Saint Mary's and that, too, in spite of a street car
strike and a long distance to 'be traversed on foot. ... By
September, 1902, the novitiate of Saint Rose's and the re-
sident claisses of Saint Cecilia's had made their abode in
the new mother house. The vacancy of Saint Rose's novi-
tiate made possible the establishment of a resident school
there for small boys."

The completion of Mount Saint Mary's gave additional
impetus to the higher education of the Sisters. At the
opening of the first Institute held in the new college, His
Eminence, Cardinal Falconio, presided and took occasion
•in his address to emphasize the contribution of the Catholic
laity to the marvellous progress of Christian education:
" He counselled the Sisters to keep in mind that the teach-
ing of youth in their own personal sanctification was a
factor that ought never to be lost sight of, and that their
measure of success in moulding character would depend on
their own progress in holiness."

The wonderful impetus given to the normal and college
education of the Sisters during Mother Cyril's term of
office is probably the outstanding fact in all the jrears of her
government. As a result of her foresight more than eighty
percent of the five hundred teachers in the Scranton com-
munity of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary, are fully certified and trained for the work they are
doing. A very large percentage of these religious teachers
hold degrees from colleges and universities of international
standing.

Among the noteworthy events of Mother Cyril's period

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The Sisters of the I. H. M. 351

of rule was the founding of the communities of Saint Cyril
and Methodius, and of Saint Casimir. The pressing need
of looking after the children of the Slovak and Lithuanian
immigrants appealed to the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart,
and the work of caring for these children was b^^ dur-
ing Mother Mary's term of office, and culminated later in
the founding, under the direction of the Immaculate Heart
Sisters, of the two communities just mentioned. Their
rapid growth and wonderful work clearly show the designs
of Divine Providence in inspiring the Immaculate Heart
Sisters to add to their already numerous and burdensome
duties the training of the first Sisters of these new Orders.

Mother M. Germaine was elected to succeed Mother M.
C)rril on August 7th, 191 3. She was well fitted for her
new work. " Dtuing her long service as examiner of
schools, she had ample opportunity to study the school
system inaugurated and test its results. She was thus in a
position, by reason of her experience, to direct the congre-
gation toward an all-important end, the education of the
children committed to its care." Foreseeing that the rapid
growth of both seminary and novitiate would in a short
time necessitate the erection of new buildings, she immed-
iately began making provision for the raising of naoney for
a building fund. The work begun by her, interrupted by
the world war, is still going on. During her term of office
the plans for the opening of St. Alphonsus' School in New*
York City, b^^n by Mother C)rril, were carried to com-
pletion, and the projected work began a reality, thus adding
one more to the Missions established outside the Scranton
Diocese.

It was about this time that the Sisters were given an op-
portunity to further the work of foreign missions. The
Very Rev. James Walsh, Superior of the Catholic Foreign
Mission Society of America, was anxious to have the
Teresians, associated with the work at Maryknoll, trained

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352 American Catholic Historical Society

in the principles of the religious life. Accordingly he wrote
to Mother Germaine, asking her assistance. Bishop Hoban,
being heartily in favor of the i^an, the request was granted.

The stress of missionary work did not prevent Mother
Germaine from perfecting the plans for the advancement of
higher education. In January of 191 7 the first step was
taken toward obtaining a charter for Marywood Collqje.
On( June 4, 1917, after various details had been attended
to, Attorney Hoban sent to the coU^re a copy of the com-
pleted Certificate of Incorporation with the final decree with
regard to the granting of the charter signed by H. M.
Edwards, Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
Thus the work was finally brought to a happy conclusion.

Mother M. Germaine was succeeded as Superior by
Mother M. Casimir on August 7th, 1919. " The first work}
Mother Casimir was called upon to undertake abroad was
the management of the Casa Regina in the city of Attoona.
The work of the Casa was new to the Sisters of the Im-
maculate Heart, but it is in line with the latest phases of
social service." The formal opening took place on De-
cember 3rd, 1919. The Sisters assumed charge on January
6th, 1920 and quiddy showed their adaptibility to new con-
ditions by the ^endid work they aocomplished.

Another phase of social work was undertaken the same
year as the Casa Regina at the request of the Right Rev-
erend Bishop of Scranton. This was the management of
Saint Joseph's Shelter and the opening of a day nursery in
connection with the institution. Sister M. Clare was ap-
pointed Superior with two Sisters to help her, and the work
was begun in June, 1920. Since its opening the Nursery
had accommodated on an average of thirty children a day,
showing that it is supplying a long-fdt need in Scranton.

Under Mother Casimir's direction, the Scranton com-
munity again assisted in the founding of a new congregation
of religious. The new community has for its object the

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The Sisters of the L H. M. 353

care of destitute children. This is the fourth time the Sis-
ters aided have in a work of this kind, thus laboring vicar-
iously for the immeasurable good of the souls helped by
the new congregations.

Mother Casimir was, in the meantime, energetically, en-
ergetically engaged in the principal work of the Order.
New courses were added to the curriculum of Marywood
College, and, in general, the work of the grade and high
schools showed continued improvement. The Diamond
Jubilee of the founding of the Order at Monroe, Michigan,
was fittingly celebrated during her tenure of office, and with
a description of the various events connected with this
anniversary the well written and scholarly volume comes
to a close.

There is one fault we have to find with the book, and
that is, the omission of an alphabetical index. This would
be of good help to students of Catholic Church History in
this country. And without doubt the work will be fre-
quently consulted. It is a very illuminating and exhaustive
contribution in its own field to the rapidly growing list of
books bearing on the progress of the Church in this country.
Having read the book with deep interest, " Let us now there-
fore," in the words of Bishop Hoban's Foreword, " praise
these women of renown and our spiritual mothers in their
generation. Let the people show forth their wisdom and the
Church declare their praise, for these were women of mercy
whose godly deeds have not failed. Their bodies are
buried in peace, but their names live luito generation and
generation."

H. C. Schuyler.

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INDEX

LIST OF ARTICLES

PAGO

American Catholic Historical
.Society, Report of Board
of Managers 91-0

'Blackgowns among the Ab-
nakis, The, Carmita de
Solms Jones 275-299

Carter, The 'Rev. Charles
Ignatius Hamilton, Ella M.
R Flick 193-213

Cooper, The Rev. Samuel
Southerland, 1796- 1843. Ella
M, E. Flick 300-316

Gerard, Conrad Alexander,
Minister Plenipotentiary to
America, from Louis XVI.
Elizabeth S. Kite 54-91

Index of the Records of the
American Catholic Histor-
ical Society i-d

Jesuits, The^ by Rev. Thomas
J. Campbell, S. J. Book Re-
view 9-28

PAGB

Maes, The Right Reverend
Camillus P. Maes, D.D.,
Bishop of Covington, J.
'Bittremieux and J. Van
Der Heydeh 97-143

Shakespeare's Religion, The
Question about, George B.
Allen 267-2741

Sisters of the L H. M., The,
H. C. Schuyler. Book Re-
view 338-353

Sisters of Mercy, Work of
the, in the United States.
Sisiter Mary Eulalia Herron

144-192, 216-237, 317-337

Some Plhiladelphia Converts,
F. E. Tourscher, O.S.A. 238-268

Wiiitc, Mrs. Caroline Earle,
Reformer. James Campbell

29-53

GENERAL INDEX

Adams, John 74

Adams, Samuel . .74-76, 83, 86, 98
Agatha, (Mac Carthy) Sister

M. 22$

Agnes (Healy) Mother Mary 184
Agnes (Horan) Sister Mary 217
Agnes (O'Connor) Mother . . 217*
Allen, George Bernard'

7 238, 239-244

Allen, George Stanislaus 241*

lAlphonsus (Smyth) Mother

M. 226

Arkansas, First Catholic

Church in 325 ^ote

Arundel, Thomas 276

Aubery, Fr. Joseph 283

Augustin-e (Mac Kenna), Sr.

M 226, 227, 229

Bacon, Bishop 163'

Bally, Father 2

Bapst, Father John 284, 295, 296
Becker, Monsignor, de 134

Berkenhout, Dr. 61, 70, 75, 76, 90
Bernard, Sister M., (Marie

Reid) i4g

Bcyley,, S. J., Rev. Henry,
gave first retreat to Sisters
of Mercy in Arkansas .326 note

Biard, Fr. Pierre 276-280

Biard, Fr 293

Bibliography, Bishop Maes's

Bigot, Fr 283

Binneteau, Ft 283

Birch, Rev. Mr 268

Blackgowns among the Ab-
nakis, Fathers Biard^ Masse,
Fleche, Quentin, Lalemont,
Dmiillettes, Bigot, Binnet-
eau, Aubery, de la Chasse,
Lauvergat, Layard, Rale,
Sirenne, Germain, Ciquard,
Fenwick, Fitzpatrick, Walsh,
Bapst, McCabe 275-2991

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356

Index

PAGBt

Bole, Fat3h«r Richard 325 note

Borgess, Bisliop 107, 109, iii, 114
Borgia^ Sister M. (Catherine

Douglcss) 145

Bowdoin, James 79, 80

Brady, P 196

Brennan, Rev. Thomas C. . . . 8

Brittin, lionell 24s

Brooks, Charles Timothy 154 note^

Brooks, Sidney 154

Brossart, Father 117

Browne, Rev. Robert, O.S.A. 306

Bruhl, Father 225)

Brute, Bishop 312

Bryant, John Dclavau 245-248I

Btimes, Miss 217

Butler, Rev. Thomas R. i

Buyse, Fr. Theophil 109

Byrne, Right Rev. Andrew 316-318
Camillus, (Byrne), Sister M. 217
•^Camipbell, Rev. Thomas J.,

S.J

Carlisle, Earl of 58^ 65, 69, 73

Carrell, Bishop George A. 113, 1151

iC^rroll, Archbishop 3|

•Carter, Colonel Charles 197

Carter, Rev. C.I.IL Sketch of

193-215, 24a
Catherine, Sister M. (Jose-
phine Seton) 218, 219

CatherinjeiSisteiiMary (Helen

Seton) 219

Catholic Extension Society,

The 104

Cecilia (Marmion), Mother . 217
Chandler, Joseph Ripley

249 and notes

Chapelle, Bishop 138

Chevorus, Bishop, later Car-
dinal 3, 304, 311. 313

■Gquard, Fr 291'

Clare (McMahon), Mother

Mary 164;

Clinton, General 5^ 65, 68, 69, 73
Qowery. Rev. William H. . . . 230
Coates, Mrs. Florence Earle . 5a
Connelly, Cornelia Augusta

Peacock 251

Connelly, John 251-252!

Connelly, Pierce 249-251

Converts, Some Philadelphia

238-268

Conwell, Bishop 3, 7, 198

Cooke, Charles 2521

Cooper, Francis 253

PACK

Cooper, Samuel Strtherland,

Sketch of 252-253^ 300-316

Corkery, Rev. Denis, appointed'
to Columbia and ^CThester,

S.C 307

Croquet, Father 5

Cullen, Eh-. Paul 198

Davies, Rev. Mr.

267, 269, 270^ 271, 272, 273'
Deane, Silas 74. 75, 76, 81, 84, 90

Denlay, Rev. Patrick G 165:

,Dc Neve, Monsignor

106, 108, 112, 128

•Dc Smet, Father 113

Devereux, Mary (Sister Mary

Joseph) 223, 224 and notes

iDevin, Mrs. Susan, benefactor
of the New York Sisters
of Mercy, founder of the

Devine Clare Home 234

Devitt, Rev. E. I., S.J 4

I>ougherty, Father 233

tEXrayton, William Henry

63, 64, 65, 77, 83
•Druillettes, Fr. Gabriel

281, 282, 283

Du Bois, Bishop 312

Dubourg, Father 306, 313

du Thet, Gilbert 277, 278

Earle, Thomas, father of Mrs.
C:aroline Earl White, Editor
of the " Col«umbian Gazette,"

etc 2g, 30

Eckerson. Theodore J 180

Eden, William . . .58, 65, 69, 73, 78
Education^ Bishop Maes and

127-130
Egan, Rev. Michael De Burgo 214
Elder, Archbishop ..119, 120, 138
Elizabeth (Callanan) Sister

•M 226)

Filing, Father 9

England, Bishop 4, 6, 306^ 313

Eulalia, (Herron) Sister M.
Work of the Sisters of
Mercy in the VS.

144-192. 216-237. 317-337
Evangelista (Kidgell), Sister

M 233

Faict, Monsignor 100^ loi

Farley, Cardinal 233

Farmer, Father, S.J 2

Faure, Felix 137

Fay, Signourney W., Sketch
of 253-254

Digitized by VjOOQIC

Index

357

PAGE

Federation of Catholic Socie-
ties and Bishop Meas 135

Feehan, Right Rev. Patrick . 164
Fenwick; Riglht Rev. Benedict

Joseph, S. J 29d

Ferguson, I>r 58

Fetterman, Wilfrid Washing-

ton> sketch of 254

Finnigan, Rev. J. A. 17a

Fitzpatrick, Bishop John B. . 294

Flaget, Bishop ipT)

Fleche, Rev. Jesse 277

Flick, Dr. Lw F 5» 6, 92

Flintham, Miss 6

iFoley, Bishop 12a

Foote, George C 254

Foster, General 227, 225!

Franklin, Benjamin 81.

Galberry, Bishop 185 note

Gaston, Judge 4

Germainv Father 29I'

Germain, Lord George .68* 71, 72

Germaine, Mother 351

Gertrude (Lcdwith), Sister

M 22(6

Ghyoot, Rev. Bruno 98

Ghyoot, Rev. Edward 98, 99

Gilet, Rev. Louis, Florent,
C.SS.R., founder of the
Sisters L H. M. 338, 339,

letter of 34»

Goetz, Father 3'

Griffin, Martin L J 7, 193

Griffiths, Right Rev. Thomas 217

Gruber. Father 25

Gucrchville, Madame de 277

Haldeman, Horace .255 and notes
Haldeman, Samuel Steman 254-255

Hallo well. Benjamin 80

Hare, Robert 255-256

Harkins, Bishop Matthew ... 175

Harper, Miss Emily 154

Harper. Mrs. Goodloe 154

Hart. Rev. Matthew 152*

Harty, Father 218

Hendricken, Bisihop Thomas

F 144, 174

Hendrickx, Father E. W. 109, no

Hennaert, Fr. Peter 109

Herron, Sister M. Eulalia.
Work of the Sisters of
Mercy in the U. S.

144-192, 216-237, 317-337

Heuse, Rev. Dr 6

Hoar, Father, of Wexford . . 317

PAGB

Horner, William Edmonds,

M. D. sketch of 256-257

Hoyt, William H 240

Hudson, Rev. W. 27a

Hughes, Archbishop

214, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 22I{

Hurley, Father 309

Index of the Records of the

AjCH-S. 1-8I

(n Memorian>-~Caro]ind Earle

White 50

In^stitutions in chairge of the
Sisters of Mercy in the
Diocese of Hartford, in
1883, 186-188; in 1921, 190-
192 ; in the Diocese of Pro-
vidence^ 181-182; in the
Diocese of New York, 236-
237 ; in the Diocese of Little
Rock, 337

Ireland^ Archbishop 132, 133

Janssens, Archbishop 128, 137, 138

Jay, John 83, 85. 89

Jesuits, The. Book Review . 9-28
Joanna (Fogarty) Sister Mary 144J

Johnson, Miss 241, 257

Johnson, Judge R. L 7*

Johnston, George

57, 58^ 60, 64, 72, 77
Joos, Monsignor Edward 106, 341-

Jordan, Father 304'

Josephine (Cummings) Sister

M 23a

Josephine (Lombard) Sister

M 144. i63» 224

Keating, Joseph Percy 7

Kelly, Rev. Daniel 153, I54

Kenny, Rev. Patrick 4

Kenridc, Francis Patrick 3, 7,

197. 198, 207, 214, 224, 238, 241

Kenrick, Peter Richard) ...4. 224

Kino, Father Eusebio 19

Kite, Elizabeth S. Reports of
Conrad Alexander Gerard,
Minister Plenipotentiary to

the U. S. 1778-1779 54-91

Knowles, Mayor 158

la Chasse, Rev. Pierre, de ... 283I
Lainez, General of the Society

of Jesus 12, 19

Lalemont, Father 277)

Laughlin, Right Rev. John .. 224/i
Laurens, Mr. . . 58, 77. 78, 84, 85
Lauvergat, Father Stephen . . 283
Layard, Father 283

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358

Index

PAGS

Lee, Arthur 6i, 74, 84, 90

Lee, Francis Lightfoot .84, 88, 90
Lee, Richard J&enry

61, 75. T(i. 83, 84, 85, 88, go
Lefevre, Bishop 100, loi, 102,

loa, 104, 108, lOQi, no
Lemke. Rev. Peter Henry,

O. S. B 5

Lenhart, Father John, O. M.

Cap. 5

Ligouri, TMajor) Mother M. 164

Longstreth, George C 258

ILongtreth, Joseph C 258

Longstreth, Lydia C 258

Longstreth, Mary Elizabeth

'Cooke 258

ILongstreth, Morris 257-258

iMcAuley, Mother 1G4

McCabe, Father Dennis A.

297, 298-299
McCIoskey, Bishop

114, 219, 224, 230

McCIoskey, John 318

McDonald, Father 163

McElroy, Father, S. J 145

McFarland, Right 'Rev. F. P. 144,
162, 163. 164, 173, 175, 183, 184

McGean, Rev. James H 234

McGk>wan, Rev. Patrick 334

McMahon, Rev. Lawrence . . . 168
Madelin, (Tobin) Mother M.

225, 226, 227

Maenhart, Abbe 325, note

Meas, The Righit Rev. Camil-
lus P. Bishop of Covington,
97-143; his youth, 97-102;
first charges in America,
102-106; bishop of Coving-
ton, 1 1 2- 1 15; takes promin-
ent part in Eucharistic Con-
gresses, 122-127 ; and higher
education, 127-130; and the
Faribault school plan, 130-
134; and the Catholic Ex-
tension Society, 134; and
missions to non-Qitholics,
135-.137; bibliograpihy, 138-143

Maguire, James 7

Major, Henry 259-260

Mariane, Sister 219

Marquette, Father 282)

Masse, Father Enemond

276, 277, 280

Matignon, Rev. Doctor 4

Maturin, Basil 260

PAGE

Maxis, Teresa, (Mother
Teresa) first Superior Sis-
ters I. H. M 339

Maxwell, General 61

Meade, Admiral R- W 7

Meiaskwat, Charles 281

IMerdcr, Oardinal 8

Middlcton^ Rev. Dr., O.S.A. . s
Middleton, Joseph . . .260, 261, 262
Missions to Non -Catholics 135-137

Mixtur, Charles 154

Moeller, Right Rev. Henry . . 138
Monica, (O'Doherty) Sister

M. 2i7»

iMontgomery, Mrs. Rachel . . 262
Mooney, The Right Rev.

Monsignor J. F 234

Morris, Miss Elizabeth 45

Morris, Gouvemeur 83

Mosley, Father Joseph, S.J. 4
Mother Francis Xavier Wardc

I44» 158, 161, 163, 173

Mother Seton 312

Mott, Lucretia 30

Muckle, Richatxis 38

Nerinckz, Father no, 142

Newell, Rebecca 158, 159

Nolan, Edward J ,53

O'Brien, Charlotte Grace 216 note

CyConnor, Bishop James 5, 6

O'Connor, Rev. James 144

•O'Donaghue, Right Rev.

(Denis) 118

O'Donoghue, Father Francis

317, 318 notes

O'Hara, Bishop 2i3f

O'Reilly, Bishop Bernard 144,

145. 147, 160, 161, 162, 163, 175

O'Reilly, Rev. John Vincent 342

Paca, William 831

Paez, Father Pedro 21

Patricia, Sister M. (Ellen-

Whealan) 145

Patricia, (Waldron) Mother

M 209, 210

Paul (Lennon), Sister M. 22(5, 228
Paula, (Harris) Sister M. 226,229
Paulina (Maher) Sister M.

177, 183

Peacock, Mary Francis 263

Phelps, Royal 154

Purcell, Bishop 6

Quendn, Father 277*

Question about Shakespeare^s
religion. The 267-274i

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359

PAGE

Rale, Father Sebastian 5, 283,
2^4, 284, 285, 286, 288, 290, 298
Records of the American
Catholic Historical Society,

Index to the 1-8.

Renauld, Teresa 339

Report of the Board of Man-
agers of the A. C. H. S. .91-96

Ricd, Father 14

Richarbole, Father 325 note^

Richard, Father 103!

Robins, £d>war<i 263-2641

Rodrigue, Aristide, Jacques

Andre, William 7

Rose (McAleer) Sister M. . . 232
SatolH, ArchlMshop, Apostolic

"Delegate to the U. & 124

Schaaf , Charlotte Atm 3391

Schall, Father, S. J 14

Schreiber, Father 127

Schuyler. Rev. H. C The
Sisters of the I. H. M. Book

review 338-353

Seton, Helen (Sister M.

Catherine) 219I

Seton, Josephine, ('Sister Mary

Catherine) 21a

Seton, Mother Elizabeth

219, 303, 306
Shakespeare's religion. The
Question about written in
1854. George B. Allen .267-274

Shaw, Oliver A 264

Sisters, I. H. M., Foundation

in Pennsylvania 34^-35^

Sisters of Mercy, Complete
list of the New York Com-
munity who served in the
military Hospital, Beaufort,
N. C. during the Civil War 226
Sisters of Mercy. Work of
the, in the United States,
Sister Eulalia Herron

144-192, 216-237, 313-337
Smith, Bishop Alexander . . . 207

Smith, Captain John 1,7

Smith, Sara Trainer 6, 8

Spalding, Bishop of Peoria . . 120

Spencer, Serena 265,

Stanislaus, Sister M. (Mary

M. Spain) 14SI

Starrs, Father William 225

Stewart, Richard 222

Strobel, George 265, 300

Sirenne, Father James, d^e .. 291

page:

Sillery, Noel Bruart, de 280

Sullivan, Major Genersd 80

Temple^ John- 60-62, 75-81, 84-88, 90
Teresa, (McDonald) Sister

M. 232

Teresa, (Breen) Sister M. . . 217
Teresa, (Perry) Mother

•Mary 184

Thevet, Andrew 275, 276

Thomson, Charles 67

Toebbe, Right Rev. Augustus

M Ill, 113, IIS

Toursdier, Father, O.S.A. . . 6, 8

Trumbull, Jonathan 80

Tyler, Bishop William ...144, 175
Van cRenterghem, Father

IQ2, 103, 104

Verbiest Father, S. J 14

Verot, Bishop 164

Vincent (Haire) Sister Mary

217, 219
Vincent, (Meldrum), Sister

M. 233

Waldron, Edmund Quincy

Shaef 265-266

Waldron, Mother Mary Pat-
ricia 209, 2ia

Wallace, Rev. James 307

Wain, S. Morris 38, 39

Walsh, Very Rev. Father ... 183
Warde, Motiicr Francis Xavier

144, 158, 161 note, 163, 173
Washington, General George,

letters of 66, 8a

Watterson, Bishop 117

Wcntwoith, Paul 8r

Weymouth, George 27^?

Whate, Mrs. Caroline Earle,

Reformer, Jane Campbell 29-53

White, Madam Julia 30

White, Richard P 30

White, Thomas Earle 48

Willcox, James Mark 8

Willcox, Joseph 4, 8

Willoox, Mrs. Mary Brackett. .

244-24S

Willcox, Thomas 7

Willing, Charles 42

Wimmer, Arch-Abbot 5!

Wolff, George Dering 226 and notes

Wood, Bishop 209

Wordsworth, Bishop 268

Xavier (Noble) Mother

Mary 210

Xavier (Stewart) Sister

Mary 222

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