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32X

' ■''tmmi i miiiiM t.t,

^'mitt t'OOiiituumttittk

LIFE AND TIMES

OF THE

Most Rev. John Carroll,

BISHOP AND PIPST AHOHBISHbP OP BALTIMORE.

EMBRACING THE

HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

-M,* IN THE

1763-1815.

■<

H
«

WITH PORTRAITS, VIEWS, AND FAC-SIMILES.

JOHN GILMARY SHEA.

NEW YORK:

JOHN G. SHEA,

1888.

COPVRIOHT, 1888, BY
JOHN GILMARY SHEA.

The illuitrations in ihit work are cofyrighfed, and reproduction is/orbidden.

Edward O. Jknkins' Sons,

Printers and Elecirotvptn^

30 North William Street, New York.

TO THE PATRONS

His Eminence, John Cardinal McCloskey; His Eminence
James Cardinal Gibbons; their Graces, the Most STm A

COBRIO^, D.D.; JOHN J. WiLUAMS, D.D. ; PATRICK J. '^i'

wJ^n' ^'""i^^^ ^- ^'««^«' ^•^- B. J. McQuAiD, DD •
John Conrov D.D.; John Ireland, D.D. ; John L. SpIldino'
D.D. ; James Augustine Healy, D.D. ; P. T O'Eeilly D D '
Eichard Gilmour, D.D.; Stephen V. Eyan, D.D.; HenrV

S™ Z ^- ^^''''' ^•^•' ^^N^« M. Bradley, DD-
Boniface Wimmer, D.D.- Et. Eev. Mors. Wm. Quinn- T s'

iTuKcLiTV- '''''^^; ■'^^^^- Corcoran; VERY Eevs!
I. T. Heoker; Michael D. Lilly, O.P. ; Eobert Fulton. S J •

T. STEFANINI, C. p. ; Eevs. A. J. DoNNELLY ; E. AND P. McSWEEi,'

T ' ^ .: ^^«^«="'' !>•»• ; John Edwards; C. McCready-
q''?^. T ^''a'^^'" ^- ^- »o^«H=«rY; W. Everett; Thomas
T.™ n ^™«' J- ^- Kearney; J. J. Hughes; Thomas
Taappe; Charles P. O'Connor, D.D.; P. Corbigan; William
McDonald; Patrick Hennessey; Laurence Morris; John
McKenna; M. J. Br ,phy; St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy- Sr
JOHNS College, Fordham; The Congregation op the Most
Holy Eedeemer, New York; St. Louis University; St
Xaviers College, Cincinnati; Messrs. Patrick Farrelly-
Bryan Laurence; David Ledwith ; Jose F. Navarro-

FnwTro^i?"'^''' ^"^"^ ^- ^°«^=^' E^«^^« KelS;
Edward C. Donnelly; John Johnson; William E. Grace^

Charles Donahoe; W. H. Onahan; Pustet & Co. ; Benz^ger
^HoU """^ ^"°^"' ^^^^' ^^^=« * Co.; Hardy &

BY WHOSE REQUEST AND AID THIS WORK HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN,
THE PRESENT VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

Tf.

States

Louisi

1763

period

of the

bishop

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PREFACE.

Tf.e volume here offered to the patrons of the work em-
brp.oes the History of the Catholic Church in the United
States, m the original diocese of Baltimore and in that of
Lomsiana and the Floridas, carrying the narrative from
1763 to 1815. In the growth of Catholicity during that
penod the Most Reverend John Carroll, Prefect-Apostolic
of the United States, Bishop of Baltimore, and first Arch-
bishop of that See, stands as a noble and central figure for
nearly thirty years of that half century the controlling and
guiding mind in the affairs of the Church. Only during
the last decade of colonial days was he absent from his
native land : then his priestly labors began ; he witnessed
the struggle for national existence, full of patriotic sympathy
and giving his country's cause all the support compatible
witli his sacred calling.

The efforts of Bishop Challoner at an early date to be
relieved of his responsibility for the transathntic portion
of his flock, and to obtain the appointment of a Vicar-
Apostolic : the difficulties that arose, and the subsequent
project of extending the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Que-
bec to Pennsylvania and Maryland when the conquest of
Canada had brought all Northern America under the British
sway, have never yet been made known. Researches in the
archives in England, Canada, and Rome, for which I am

(11)

PREFACE.

especially indebted to His Eminence Cardinal Tascherean,
Canon Johnson, Very Rev. H. Van den Sanden, and Very
Rev. Charles A. Vissani, O.S.F., have enabled me to give a
connected account of this interesting movement. For the
history of the Church in this country at that period I have
drawn mainly on the archives of the Society of Jesus and
on a series of letters by Father Joseph Mosley, which I owe
to the kindness of Mr. Alex. T. Knight.

The part taken by Catholics during the Revolution had
been so strangely misrepresented, that it was necessary to
present the truth distinctly, and to give some notes of the
action of the Chaplain of the French embassy, as well as of
what little can be ascertained of the clergymen who accom-
panied the French army and fleets. The part taken by the
Catholics northwest of the Ohio could not be overlooked.
Documents obtained from the late Father Freitag, C.SS.R.,
the Quebec Archives, the Registers of Detroit, Vincennes,
Fort Chartres, and Kaskaskia have been used carefully.

After the Revolution the organization of the Clergy, the
steps taken to obtain an Ecclesiastical superior, the strange
intrigue to place this country under a bishop to reside in
France, and the final appointment of Dr. Carroll as Prefect-
Apostolic, are presented at length by the aid of the Maryland
records, extracts from the archives of France and Spain, for
which I am indebted to Mr. Robert de Crevecoeur, and the
Hon. J. S. M. Curry, TJ. S. Minister to the Court of Spain,
and to Seiior Santa Maria, Custodian of the Archives.

The correspondence and papers of Archbishop Carroll from
1785, for which I am greatly indebted to the late Rev.
Charles I. White, D.D., and Bernard U. Campbell, and to
the unceasing kindness of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons,
have been the guide in tracing his Episcopal career, with
the archives of the Maryland province, the writings of

PREFACE.

Messrs. Dilhet and Tessier of Saint Sulpice and documente
placed at my disposal by Very Rev. A. L. Magnien, Supe-
nor of St. Mary's, Baltimore, as well as local information
and notes from many sources. I am indebted for important'
aid to the Fathers of the University College, Dublin, and to
the Provincial o: the English Province, as well as to Wm. S.
Preston, Esq., and the late Ambrose A. White.

For the illustrations I have given credit in various parts
of the work, but I must express special indebtedness for in-
formation and aid to Miss E. C. Brent, of Washington, to
the Weld family of Lulworth Castle, as well as to the Car-
melite nuns, S. M. Sener, Esq., and Professor J. F. Edwards
and his great work, "The Bishops' Memorial Hall," at the
University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

To Major Edmond MaUet, Oscar W. Collet, Kev. W. P.
Treacy, as well as to Right Rev. John Moore, D.D., Bishop
of St. Augustine, and Right Rev. Camillus P. Maes, D.D.,
Bisliop of Covington, and Most Rev. Cornelius O'Brien, D.D.,'
Archbishop of Halifax, and the Most Rev. Michael A. Corri-
gan, D.D., Archbishop of New York, I return thanks for
constant and valuable assistance.

John Gilmaby Shea.
Elizabeth, N. J., July 22, 1888.

LIFE
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CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

"IHD OF THB BEY. JOHN CARROLL TO ni8 CONSKORATION AS
BI8HOP OK BALTIMORE - THE CATHOLIC CHCBCH IK THE
-ENGLISH COLONIES AND THE UNITED STATES, 1763-1790.

CHAPTER I.

HIS LTFB TO HIS RETURN TO MARTLAND IN 1774

^'Ttlf Om"r"V?'"^.''' *"' ^hurch-Blrth-AtBohemia-

-Professed Father-Jesuits expelled from France-At Bru«S
-Makes a Tour with Hon. Mr. 8tourton-Tho Society^JT
pressed by Pope Clement XIV.-HUreatment of thTje ulUat
A ufd^i^^rw ''r''^-^^ '« England-Cha^ainrioM

CHAPTER n.

RKLIOION m THE BRITISH COLONIES. 1768-1774

"""vllllSot'o? r T'^'f '^ Wm-J„risdietion ^f the
vjcars-Apostohc of London-Powers to Bishop Petre-Blshoo

a Bhl or vr"'r''' ^'^'" *« ^ '•''"-'d -'^ to have
!ltinn P, y'^^^'-AP^^tolic appointed for AmericP,-Opp«^

^ie7ifMarv In" r^"; p'" tWs project -Labors of the Mission-
-Newto? "^1"^ ""'^ «Pf"°«y'-«'>'«-Frederiek-Port Tobacco

-Pattr 1? oT"'' """'"^''''Pt Missals-Father Mosley

-Father Farmer-Church begun in Baltimore-Catholic Hiil
landers on the Mohawk-.Jesuits notified by Bishop Sot;
lTl!?^"""'"'7^''' *i"«^^ ^^'-^'^- John Can^Ub^
Bri ish rt" V ""? Creek-Catholicity in Florida under
rl^TuvT'*''^' retire -Turnbull's colony of Minor-
cans. Italians, and Greeks-Dr. Camps and Father CasasnoTi

(16)

CONTENTS.

— Ill-treatment of Minorcans — Catholicity in the Country north-
west of the Ohio — Rights under Treaty— Toleration of Catho-
lics — Fathers Bocquet and Collet — Fathers du Jaunay and
Potier — Father Meurin returns— Bishop Briand's Pastoral to
the People of Kaskaskia— Rev. Peter Gibault 47

CHAPTER III.

TETE QUEBEC ACT AND ITS IKFLtJENCB ON THE ENOLIBH COLONIES.

The Country northwest of the Ohio under Military Rule— Passage
of the Quebec Act— Opposition in England — Excitement in the
Thirteen Colonies — Insult to Bust of King— The trouble sub-
sides—First printing of Books for Catholics 181

CHAPTER IV.

THE CHURCH AND CATHOLICS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAB.

The Catholics and their Priest driven from the Mohawk— Canadi-
ans espouse the American Cause — Catholic Regiments — A
Priest appointed Chaplain by the Continental Congress —
Washington suppresses " Pope-Day "—Rev. John Carroll ac-
companies Commissioners to Canada— Catholic OflJcers and
Soldiers— Catholic Indians — Catholicity under the Constitu-
tions of the several States — Rev. Mr. Mosley's Cace- Rev.
Messrs. De Rittc and Fanr.er— Tory Papers and Benedict Ar-
nold denounce the Patriots for tolerating Catholics— A pro-
jected Royal Regiment of Roman Catholic Volunteers— Its ut-
ter failure — Catholic Ambassadors from France and Spain —
Father Bandol's Discourse before Congress— d'Estaing's Ad-
dress— Rochambeau's Army- French Chaplains— Father H.
de la Motte— Religion in the Northwest — Gibault's Services to
the American Cause— Catholicity restored at Natchez, Mobile,
and Pensacola — The Minorcans revolt and remove to St, Au-
gustine — Missionary Labors in Maryland and Pennsylvania—
F. Bandol's Address on the Capture of Comwallis 141

CHAPTER V.

THE CLEROT IN THE UNITED STATES SOLICIT A SUPERIOR FROM THE
POPE— THE FRENCH INTRIGUE- DR. CARROLL'S CONTROVERSY WITH
WHARTON — UB IS APPOINTED PREFECT-APOSTOLIC.

Death of Bishop Challoner— Bishop Talbot declines to exercise Ju-
risdiction in the United States— Arrival of Rev. Leonard Neale
—Meeting of Clergy at Whitemarsh— A Plan of Government
proposed— Petition to the Pope for a Superior drawn up and

VERY

181

141

CONTENTS.

aent— Scheme to place Catholics in the United States under a
Bishop to reside in France and to be nominated by the King
--Franklin beguiled into supporting the Scheme-The Nun-
cios iVote-Congress declines to act-Frank'In disabused rec-
ommends Rev. John Carroll - Information requested from
him-He is appointed Prefect-Limits of his Jurisdiction-
Kev. Mr. Wharton renounces the Faith and issues an Address
-Rev. John Carroll pubhshes a Reply - Catholic Books
pnnted in the Country-The Form of Government adopted-
Kev. Mr. Carroll receives official notice of his appointment
and a Letter from Cardinal Antonelli-His restricted powers. .

CHAPTER VL

204

VERY BEV. JOHN CARROLI,, PREFECT - APOSTOLIC OF THE UNITED

8TATEC, 1784-1790.
His Views as to the Situation-Letter to Cardinal Antonelli-Rela-
tion of the State of Religion in the United States- Growth of
Religion -Congregation at New York and Father Charles
Whelan-8t. John de Crevecoeur— Spanish Chaplain— Gem ,
Priests— Catholics emigrate to Kentucky— Fathers de 8t Pie.,
and de Rohan-The Very Rev. Prefect begins his Visitation-
l<irst Confirmation— Troubles in New York— Death of Rev
Messrs. Geisler and Farmer-Spanish Minister lays Corner-
stone of St. Peter's Church, New York-Dr. Carroll decides to
take up his Residence in Baltimore-Hagerstown-Remarkable
Conversion of Mr. Livingston-Conewago-Goshenhoppen-
Larhsle-Greensburg-Rev. Mr. Mosley and bis Chapel of St
Joseph— The General Chapter— Allowance to Dr. Carroll-He
urges the establishment of an Academy— Plan adopted— Op-
position-The beginning of Georgetown College-Rev Pat-
rick Smyth-His Attack on Dr. Carroll and the associated
Clergy-A Church begun in Boston— Rev. C. F. de la Poterie—
Rev. Mr. Ryan at Charleston. S. C.-Canon Cleary in North
Carolina— The Germans withdraw from St. Mary's, Philadel-
phia and begin Holy Trinity-Deaths of Rev. Messrs. Mosley
and Lewis-Trouble in New York-Dr. Carroll's authoritv de-
fled-Necessity of a Bishop-Petition fo the Pope for the ap-
pointment of a Bishop-Application forwarded by the Spanish
Government^The Pope permits Clergy in the United States to
nominate the first Bishop and fix the place for a 8ee-Dr Car-
roll nominated as Bishop of Baltimorc-The Choice approved
-Bui erecting the See of Baltimore and appointing Rev. John
Carroll first Bishop-The Constitution of the United States

18 CONTENTS.

prohibits Religious Tests— The Honor due to Charles Pinckney
—Opposition— Amendment prohibiting the establishment of a
Religion or preventing the free exercise of any or infringe-
ment of Rights of Conscience— The Catholic Address to George
Washington— His Reply— Dr. Carroll decides to go to Europe
for Consecration— Consecrated by Bishop Walmesley in the
Chapel of Lulworth Castle— His Seal— Publishes an Account
of the Establishment of the See— His Letter to Pope Pius VI.

249

BOOK II.

EIGHT RKV. JOHN CARROLL, D.D., BISHOP OF BALTIMORE, 1790-
1808 — ADMINISTRATOR OF LOUISIANA, 1805 — ARCHBISHOP
OF BALTIMORK, 1808-1815.

CHAPTER I.

RIGHT RET. JOHN CARROLL, BISHOP OF BALTIMORE— ADMINISTRATION,
1790-1800— APPOINTMENT OF RIGHT RET. L. GRAES8EL, COADJUTOR
—OF RIGHT REV. LEONARD NEALE, COADJUTOR.

Installation in Baltimore— Address— Attempt to have a Bishop at
Oneida— Publication of Catholic Books— The Bible— The Sul-
pitians propose to come to the United States— Rev. Francis
Charles Nagot— Establishment in Baltimore— Extent of Dio-
cese defined- Carmelite Nuns of Antwerp found a Convent at
Port Tobacco— Condition of Diocese— Rev. John Thayer and
his Conversion — Stationed at Boston — His Controversies-
Bishop Carroll in Boston — The Passamacjuoddies ask for a
Priest— Rev. Francis Ciquard— First Diocesan Synod of Balti-
more—Circular on Christian Marriage — Pastoral Letter-
Bishop's reply to Strictures on his Signature— A Coadjutor so-
licited—Form of Oath— Arrival of French Priests— First Ordi-
nation—Yellow Fever- Death of Right Rev. Ijawrence Qraes-
sel, Coadjutor-elect— Father Fleming and his Defence of Cath-
olic Truth— His Death— Poor Clares and other Religious— The
Public Library, Baltimore— Right Rev. Leonard Neale pro-
posed as Coadjutor— An Orphan Asylum— Miss Alice Lalor
and the origin of the Visitation Nuns— Rev. John Floyd at
Fell's Point— Schism at Trinity Church, Philadelphia- Father
Renter and the Schism in Baltimore — The Augustinians
—Lancaster— New York— The Irish Dominicans— Rev. Peter
H. La Valinii^re- Church in A. ..any— New England— Rev.
Messrs. Matignon and Cheverus— Prosecution of Rev. John

CONTENTlr^

Cheverus-Prince GalHtzin-His OrdinaJor. and Pennsylvania
Mission-The Bishop of Louisiana-CliarlestGn. 8. C -Georcia
-Country nortliwest of tlie Oliio-Bishop Hubeit-Rev P Gi
bault-Detroit-Rev. Edmund Burlce-Tlie Prefecture-Apos-
tolic of tlie Scioto-Very Rev. Dom. Didier. OS.B-SiLi-
tmns in the West-Rev. Donatien Olivier-Rev. B. J. Flaffet-
Rey. John F. Rivet-Rev. Gabriel Richard-Church in Vir
ginia-Visitation in Pennsylvania-Church in New Jersey

869

CHAPTER II.

BIGHT BEV,

JOHN CARROLL, BISHOP OF BALTIMORB - RIGHT REV
LEONARD NEALE, COADJDTOK, 1800-1806.

Consecration of Bishop Neale-A Franciscan Province-Father
Paccanari-The Pious Ladies-Church at Natchez-Bishop
Carroll dedicates the Church of the Holy Cross, Boston-Mar
nage of Jerome Bonaparte -Churches in Georgetown and
Washmgton-The former Jesuit Fathers in Maryland unite
Suirior ^°7^y '".K^-'^-Rev. Robert Molyneux appointed
Supenor- Church in Kentucky - Rev. 8. T. Badin-Rev
Charles Nerinckx-The Trappists-First brick Church-The
Dominicans-PlansforaCathedral-An aged Priest-Cession
of Louisiana-Bishop Carroll appointed Administrator 493

CHAPTER III.

THE CHURCH IN LODI8IANA, 1763-1793.

The Bishop of Santiago de Cuba-The Capuchins-Father Cyril

de Barcelona and Spanish Religious-Churches restored at

• ^.''^'•»«^' Mobile. Pensacola-Right Rev. Cyril de Barcelona,

Bishop of Tricali and Auxiliar of Cuba, 1781-1793-His visita-

n?«'-7 xt'^"^"'""*'""''^- '^'""°'»« Hassett and Rev. M
OReilly-Natchez, New Orleans-Church destroyed by Fire
-Rebuilt by Almonaster-The Ursulines- Bishop Cyril re-
moyed-Erection of Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas-
Kight Rev. Luis Peiialver y Cardenas, first Bishop, 1793-1801
-His Reports and Labors-Right Rev. Francis Porro y Peinado
-Cession of Louisiana to France and then to the United States
-Rev. Thomas Hassett, Administrator-His Report-The Ursu-
incs-Death of Canon Hassett-Very Rev. P. Walsh, Adminis-
tni tor-Father Anthony Sedella and his Schism-Bishop Car-
roll appoints Rev John Olivier Vicar-General-Sedella refuses
to acknowledge him-St. Louis and St. Genevieve-Brief em!
powering Bishop Carroll to appoint Rev. C. Nerinckx or a^-

other Priest Administrator ... . ,,„

540

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE, 1806-180P

Bishop Carroll lays Cornerstone of Cathedral — B. H. Latrobe,
Architect — St. Patrick's Church erected by Rev. Mr. Morau-
ville — St. Mary's erected by the Sulpiiians — The division of
the Diocese — Georgetown College — The Sulpitians recalled —
St. Mary's College — Pius VII. advises Rev. Mr. Emery not to
give up Baltimore — Pigeon Hills — Church in New England —
St. Patrick's built at Damariscotta, Maine— The Visitation
Nuns — Georgetown College — Clergymen proposed for new
Sees

698

CHAPTER V.

DrVISION OF THE DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE — ERECTION OF THE SEES
OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, AND BARD8T0WN — LAST
DAYS OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL, 1808-1815.

Bishop Concanen — His endeavors to leave Italy — Death at Naples —
Death of Very Rev. Robert Molyneux — Father Kohlmann ap-
pointed Vicar-General and subsequently Administrator of New
York — Delay in the arrival of the Bulls erecting the new Sees
— Consecration of Bishops Cheverus, Egan, and Flagct — Pas-
toral of Archbishop Carroll and his Suffragans — Arrangements
for the maintenance of the Bishops — Louisiana — Rev. Mr. Si-
bourd sent — The Canadian Border — Mount St. Mary's College
— Mrs. Seton and the Sisters of Charity — Archbishop Carroll,
Administrator of Dutch and Danish West India Islands — Cor-
respondence with the English Hierarchy — Invested with tho
Pallium— A Provincial Council proposed — Bishops Flaget and
Egan - Questions — War with England — Archbishop's Circular
— Rev. Gabriel Richard, a Prisoner — New Churches — Te Deum
for restoration of Pope Pius VII. — Archbishop's Pastoral —
Washington and Baltimore— St. Inigoes pillaged— Death of
Bishop Egan — Archbishop's Circular on proposing Candidates-
Interference in Europe — Appointment of Bishop Connolly of
New York — Attacks made on Archbishop Carroll — Restoration
of the Society of Jesus — Georgetown College — Very Rev.
William Du Bourg appointed Administrator of Louisiana —
Victory at New Orleans — Very Rev. Mr. Sil)ourd, V.G. —
Archbishop Carroll sustains him — Illness and Death of Arch-
bishop Carroll — His obsequies — Estimates of his Character and
Work 621

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Chapel at Lulworth Castle
England, where Bishop Car-
roll was consecrated. Front-
ispiece.

House at Upper Marlborough,
Md., where Archbishop Car-
roll was born. From a wa-
ter-color made by W. Sey-
mour in 1883 . 24

Jesuit College at Lii^ge, where
Carroll studied and taught... 83

Eleanor Darnall Carroll, moth-
er of Archbishop Carroll . . 45

lit Rev. Richard Challoner,
Bishop of Debra, V. A. of
tlie London District 53

StJIary's Church at Lancaster
Pa

Fac-simile of a page' of Father
Schneider's manuscript Mis-
sal _ _

Bishop Challoner's Notiflcatioii
to the Maryland Missionaries
of the Suppression of the So-
ciety

Church of St. Ignatius,' St. 'ini-

goes, Md

Seal of Church of St.' Peter at
Mosquito. Fla.. and signature

of Rev. Dr. Camps

Signatures of Fathers Meurin

and Luke Collet us

Signature of Rev. Peter GibaulV. 124
Signature of Rev. Francis Louis

tUmrtier de Lotbini(^re
Signature of Rev. John B. de

Hitter

Invitation of French Minister to

attend the Te Deum

Discours prononce, .... par

leR. P. Seraphin Bandot. 178-4
Signature of Rev. H. de la Motte 180

144
163
171

195

197

. . 203

208

Rt Rev. John Francis Hubert,
Bishop of Quebec 185

Chapel in the fort at St. Aun-us-
tme, defaced by the English.

Signatures of Revs. Robert
Molyneux and Ignatius Mat-
thews

Signature of Father ' Seraphin
Bandol jgo

Fac-simileof Register of Father

i! armer g^g

Chalice used by Archbishop
Carroll, from the original at

iVotre Dame, Ind

Portrait of Archbishop Carroil
from the painting by Paul •
engraved by Tanner. To face.' am
Signature of Cardinal Antonelli 224
Signature of Rev. L. Graes-

sel 2'yn

Signature of Rev. Paul de St!

Pierre 2.^2

Signature of Rev. P." Huet de

la valiniere 283

St. Peter's Church, New York,

from Colton's engraving
Rev. D. Cahill's Chapel and

House, Ha^erstown, Md

Site of Liviiig.ston's House
Drawn by James B. Taylor
Church of the Sacred Heart

and Residence, Conewago
Signature of Rev. James Pel-

lentz

Rev. Joseph Mosl'ey's" cimpe'l
House, — Elevation, 297 •

Ground Plan '293

Commencement of tlie Bull
erecting the See of Baltimore 338

Close of the Bull 344

^V.S®^- Charles Walmesley!
D.D., V.A., Bishop of Rama. 856

(21)

284
288
289
293
294

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAOR

Interior of the Chapel at Lul-
wortb Castle, where Bishop
Carroll was consecrated 868

Orouud Plan of Chapel at Lul-
wortb Castle 360

Rear Entrance to Chapel at
Lulworth Oastle 862

Certitlcate of the Consecration
of Bishop Carroll 8&*

Seal of Archbishop Carroll 865

Crucifix brought from Rome by
Rev. John Carroll 868

The Rt. Rev. John, Bishop of
Baltimore, from the London
engraving of 1790 870

St. Mary's College and Seminary 881

Portrait of Afother Frances
Dickinson 884

Signature of Mother Frances
Dickinson 885

Signature of Rev. Francis Bee-
ston 400

Signatures of Rev. Anthony
Gamier and Wm. Du Bourg. 406

Signature of Father Matthew
Carr, O.S.A 426

First Catholic Church in Al-
bany, N. Y 488

Signature of Rev. Francis A.
Matignon 442

Signature of Rev. Prince De-
metrius A. Qallitzin 448

Portrait of Rev. Prince Deme-
trius A. Gallitzin 446

Signature of Rev. P. X. Bro-
sius 444

Signature of Rt. Rev. Luis Pe-
fialver y C&rdenas, Bishop of
Louisiana 460

Portrait and Signature of V.
Rev. Edmund Burke, V.Q.,
afterward Bishop of Sion,
and V. A. of Nova Scotia. . . 476

Signatiu-es of Rev. Messrs. Ja-
nin and Levadoux 488

Signature of Rev. Donatien
Olivier .484

Signature of Rev. Gabriel
Richard 489

Signature of Bishop Denaut, of
Quebec 489

Portrait of Rev. Gabriel Rich-
ard, from a contemporaneous
print 490

Signature of Rev. John Dilhet. 491

rAa«

St. Peter's Church, Elizabeth-
town, Pa 496

Signature of Rt. Rev. Leonard
Neale, D.D., Bishop of Gor-
tyna, and Coadjutor of Balti-
more 600

Church of the Holy Cross, Bos-
ton, dedicated by Bishop Car-
roll in 1808 510

Residence and Church at Port
Tobacco, Md 512

Holy Trinity C;hurch, George-
town, D. C 614

Rev. Charles Nerinckx 627

Church of St. Francis Xavier,
Leonardtown, Md 529

Present condition of St Pat-
rick's Church. Danville, Ky.,
first Catholic brick church in
the State 581

Signature of Father Thomas
Wilson, O.P 582

Portrait of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton,
from the miniature by St.
Memin To f aci page 536

Signature of Rt. Rev. Cvnl de
Barcelona, Bishop of Tricaly,
Auxiliar of Santiago de Cuba 548

Signature of V. Rev. Thomas
Hassett, P. P. of St. Augus-
tine, Canon of New Orleans,
Administrator of the Diocese. 663

Signature of Rev. Michael
O'Reilly 558

Signature of Rev. Michael
Crosby 668

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Luis Pe-
fialver y C&rdenas, Bishop of
Louisiana, from a drawing
by Gregori 576

Cathedral, New Orleans 586

Signature of V. Rev. John Oli-
vier, V.G 595

Old Ursuline Convent and
Chapel, New Orieans 597

Cathedral, Baltimore, in its or-
iginal form . From Fielding
Lucas' "Picture of Balti-
more" 599

St. Patrick's Church, Fell's
Point 601

Portrait of Rev Francis Charles
Nagot, founder of St. Mary's
Theological Seminary, Balti-
more 610

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

St. Patrick's Church, DamariE>-
cotta, Maine 618

Georgetown College, from the
Potomac 619

Portrait of Archbishop Carroll.
From the painting by Stuart. 621

Portrait of lit. Kev. Richard
Luke Concanen, O.P., first
Bishop of New York.
From a drawing by Greg-
ori To face page 624

Signature of Bishop Concanen. 625

Signature of V. Rev. Anthony
Kohlmann, Administrator of
New York 628

Signatures of Bishops Chev-
erus of Boston, £gan of
Philadelphia, and Flaget of
Bardstown 682

Mount St. Mary's Seminary.
From a pen and ink sketch
by Rev. 8. Brute m 1822 ... 644

PAQI

House on Paca Street, Baiti
more, where Mrs. Seton
founded her Community . .

Signature of Mrs. E. A. Seton.

View of St. Joseph's House
near Emmittsburg, worked
at the Roman Catholic Or-
phan Asylum, New York,
by Mary A. Richards, a.d.
1819

Interior of St. Joseph's Church,
Philadelphia. From an old
water-color preserved there. . „„

Signature of Rev. Francis Neale 685

Our Lady of Prompt Succor at
New Orleans. From an en-
waving issued by Bishop
Du Bourg 672

Archbishop Carroll. From the
wax bust in the Bishops'
Memorial Hall, Notre Dame,
Indiana 680

646
648

600

654

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2 *

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erat

Chi

BOOK I.

LIFE OF THE REV. JOHN CARROLL TO HIS CONSE-
CRATION AS BISHOP OF BALTIMORE. -THE CATH-
OLIC CHURCH IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES AND
THE UNITED STATES 1763-1790.

CHAPTER I.

HIS LIFE TO HIS RETURN TO MARYLAND IN 1774.

The Catholic Church is a fact and a factor in the life of
our repubhc. In spite of the antagonism shown in former
days by tlie English government and the colonial legislatures,
in spite of the bitter opposition of most Protestant sects, in
spite of the Protestant bias and tone of our Federal and State
systems, our public schools, our press and literature, the
Catholic Church grows. It has attained such a development
in the country that it numbers probably eight millions who
actually profess its faith, and receive its ordinances, with per-
haps some two or three millions more, who, led by hope of
advancement or sinking into indifference, assume a kind of
neutral position, apt to adhere to their religion if it suits
their worldly prospects, inclined to ignore it for social or
political ends. The influence of such a body, regarding only
those who maintain the faith, unison in creed, worship, disci-
pline, religious thought, and impulse, upon the country and
its future, is certainly worthy of serious thought and consid-
eration. To understand the actual position of the Catholic
Church it is necessary to trace its past, and appreciate duly

2 (ac)

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the men and events which more potently c(»ntrolled its life
and polity.

Amon^ these the Most Reverend John Carroll, first Bishop
and first Archbishop of Baltimore, holds a commanding
place. Pious, learned, sagacious, conversant with the char-
acter and ideas of the ruling classes in England, and the con-
dition of those who suffered under the penal laws ; a careful
observer of the condition of affairs on the Continent, where
atheism by the operation of secret societies had gained power
among rulers and nobles, only to affect their ruin, he had
taken a patriotic part in the struggle of America for freedom,
and in full harmony with the providentially great statesmen
of that critical time, sought to base the foundations of our
new republic on the solid ground of eternal justice. Great
experience, great trials patiently and hopefully bonie, great
prudence, sound judgment, the purest patriotism, intelligent
loyalty to the Church of which he was an unblemished min-
ister, fitted him in the highest degree for moulding into a
bmly of active zeal and faith the little nucleus of Catholics in
the country, which had for more than a century been under
the ban of England's penal laws, copied with features of sin-
gular malignity in the colonies.

How admirably Dr. Carroll accomplished the important
and delicate task confided to him, is recognized in the vener-
ation ever since paid to his name, not only in the great and
prosperous Church that has grown up from the small begin-
nings which he fostered, but in the universal judgment of
impartial men who have had occasion to speak of him.

Notwithstanding penal laws and laws to prevent the immi-
gration, especially of Irish Catholics, into the province of
Maryland, a few arrived from time to time ; among them,
soon after the commencement of the eighteenth century, was
Daniel Carroll, son of Keane, a native of Ireland, but related

HIS BIRTH.

by ties of consanguinity to tlie fauiUy of that name already
prominent in the province. He became a thriving merchant
and in time married Eleanor,' the daughter of Henry Darnall
of Woodyard, a lady who had received a finished education
in Fnmce, and who displayed, in forming the character of
her children, a mind enriched with piety and every accom-
plishment to fit her for tlie task. John Carroll was born
January 8, 1736, at Upi)er Marlborough, Prince George's
County, Maryland, where his father had established his home.
The house where the patriarch of the Catholic Church in this
country first saw the light is still standing, but a dark grove
of murmuring pines covers the site of Boone's chapel, where
he was probably baptized, and in childhood went with his
parents to kneel before the altar of God. The graveyard of
the present church of the Holy Rosary was used in those old
days, and probably holds the remains of some of his kindred.
John Carroll's boyhood, under the training of his excellent
mother, gave him the ease, dignity, and polish which marked
him through life. At the age of twelve he was sent to the
seat of learning which the Jesuits, notwithstanding the penal
laws, had established at Hermen's Manor of Bohemia, on the
eastern shore of Maryland. Here as Jacky Carroll he pre-
pared for the course in the Jesuit College at St. Omer.
Ever devoted to the education of youth, this learned order
had, whenever opportunity offered, endeavored to give the
sons of Catholic settlers the classical and moral training befit-
ting their social station, but under a hostile government the
ejristence of such academies always proved a short one. They
had opened a school in Maryland soon after the settlement,
of which we get occasional glimpses ; then a Latin school in

' Tbe name Eleanor was a family one of the Darnalls. The oldest
gravestone at St. Thomas', Charles Co., is of " Eleanor Darnall. 9 Mav
1705." '

UPB kjF iCHBISHOP CARROLL.

N«w l\j*i, under the ^ J^nim'Btratiou of Governor Doiif^iin,
and early Ui tlio next century these zealoUH tum'umnricH so-
lecteil a rtite whicii they had acquirtnl at Bolierriiu, on a
hraOi'li of thi; i%lk, for a now in titution. The colltgo and
cha^x'l Ifj*^ the nam'' of St. Xaveriu.-':, and Bto^'d within Iialf
a mile of .'liti }>> ./ndary line of the tlireo oci "tieH on the
Delaware, the site h. ving^ teen selected, iwrhaps, lo facilitate
removal, in case of necessity, l)eyond the juriwliction of
Maryiiuul ofiicials, the more huiuano policy of Penn's colony
affording a safe refuge. An old oliapol still HtandH in a fair
state of proHervation, hut the graHs of the lawn covorH the
site where the little college stood when (Jarroll attended it,'
though the ancient wrought-iron cross bronght over by Cal-
vert, that marks the spot, was prolwihly a venerable relic there
even in his day.

At the academy in Bohemia young Carroll, entering about
1747, had as fellow-richolars his relative, Chiu-lei: Carroll, the
future signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Robert
PNint. The talent, love of study, and solidity of character
«i..)wn by young John's pious and amiable life, proved that
»»pportunitie8 for a higher and more thorough course would
not be lost by him. The institutions of learning then estab-
lished in the colonies and the great universities of England
were in that day closed to the Catholic pu])il ; nor was liberty
granted the oppressed adherents of the ancient faith to found
and endow schools and colleges for the education of their
children. The only resource for Catholics lay in the coun-

' " Of this school, whicli may he called the predecessor of Georgetown,
no history is pi-, /irved : even the buildinp in which it was held was
pulled down fifty years ago." Woodstock Lett«'rs, vol. vii., p. 4. For
the earl" Catholic Grammar Schools, see an article by Rev. W. P. Treacy,
" U. S. Catholic Hist. Mag.," i., p. 71. There were Jesuit schools in
England also to which Maryland Catholics sent their sons. ' ' The Pres-
ent State of Popery in England," London, 1788, p. 19.

ENGLISH COLLKOES ABROAD. ^

trit'H on the (Continent wlicro their faith was profoMed. At
various pointH, Rotne, Donay, b)uvain, ]»ariH, Seville, Coiin-
hra, St. Onjor, Salamanca, coliogcH were hnilt and ci flowed
to ^'ivo the none of CJatholics in the HritiHh doiniiiionH an op-
IKtrtunity to atHpiiro an education Buited to tlioir rank in life.'
The generouH aid from large-hearted jK-oplo in all landH helped
to create and endow thewe iiiHtitutions ; Htill, there were hut a
favored few Catholics in Anu^rica who could afford to send
their sons and daughters beyond the sea. Laws forbade them
to obtain an edu(;inon iit houio, laws puniwhed them for send-
ing their childrrn ab?< ad, yet many a family, like one from
which the v\ riter springs, risked all for the good of their off
spring, and '>»t it. Probably the laws of no nation contain
such a series of enactments, aimed at reducing a class of its
subjects to ignorance, as do tliose of Great Britain and her
colonies.

The effect of this continental education on the young Cath-
olic gentlemen and gentlewomen was clearly seen. As a
class they were far superior in the last century to their Prot-
estant neighbors, who, educated at liome, were narrow and
insular in their ideas, ignorant of modem languages, and of
all that was going on beyond their county limits and its fox
hunts and race . The Catholic, on the contrary, was conver&-
ant with several languages, with the current literature of
Europe, the science of the day, with art and the great gal-
leries where the masterpieces of painting and sculpture could
be seen. He returned to England or his colonial home after
forming acquaintance with persons of distinction and influ-
ence, whose correspondence retained and enlarged the knowl-
edge he had acquired.

' Petre, " "^^otice8 of the English Collegt'M iiid Convents established on
he Contini ,' Norwich, 1849 ; Treacy, " Irish Scholars of the Penal
Days— Glimpses of their Labors on the Contment," New York, 1887.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Young John Carroll, it was Boon determined, should pur-
sue a thorough course at the great Jesuit college in the town
of St. Omer in French Flanders. A year spent in prelimi-
nary study at Bohemia prepared him and his fellow-students
to enter that great institution founded by the English Jesuits
about 1590, aided in no small degree by Philip II. of Spain.'
It opened with thirty-three pupils, but its average was above a
hundred for a long series of years, and sometimes nearly two
hundred filled its classes. The course was very thorough,
and St. Omer's College enjoyed a high reputation for the
proficiency of its students in Latin, and especially in Greek.
One peculiarity of its system was that during dinner a
student could be called upon by the rector to speak extem-
poraneously on any subject. It was rare that some visitors,
often men of high rani:, were not in the refectory, and the
readiness and skill with which the scholars rose and spoke,
with no time or notes to prepare a discourse, were a subject
of universal astonishment.

In this great institution, John Carroll spent six years., and
even among its briUiant scholars won a high reputation. His
father did not long survive his departure, dying in Maryland
in 1 750.' At the close of their course of rhetoric, the collegians

' Woodstock Letters, vii. , p. 5.

« "My father " [Daniel Carroll] "died in 1750 and left six children,
myself, Ann, John, Ellen, Mary, and Betsy." Letter of Hon. Daniel
Carroll, brother of the Archbishop, to James Carroll in Ireland, Dec. 20,
1763. ' ' My eldest sister Ann is married to Mr. Robert Brent in Virginia.
They have one child, a son. My brother John was sent abroad for his
education on my return, and is now a Jesuit at Lif'ge, teaching philosophy
and eminent in his profession. Ellen, my second sister, is married well,
to Mr. Wm. Brent in Virginia, near my eldest sister. She has three
boys and one girl. My sisters Mary and Betsy are unmarried, and live
chiefly with my mother, who is very well." lb.

The oldest rfon, Henry, wasdrr ^ned " when he was a boy at school and

A NOVICE.

of St. Omer generally proceeded to the CoUcges of the So-
ciety in Rome or Yalladolid to pursue the higher branches of
learning. Young Carroll had, however, decided on his vo-
cation. He felt that he was called by Providence to enter
the religious life, and attached to the learned and pious
priests who had directed his studies, he appUed for admission
into the Society of Jesus.

The novitiate of the English province of the order was
then in an ancient abbey at Watten,' a small town about six
miles from St. Omer, which the bishop of that city had be-
stowed upon the Jesuit Fathers. Carroll's virtues and amia-
ble character, as well as ability and studious disposition, caused
his application to be favorably received, and in 1753, on the
eve of Our Lady's nativity, the favorite day in the English
province for entering on the religious life, he was admitted
to the novitiate and assumed the habit which a Stanislaus,
an Aloysius, an Elphinstone had associated with youthful
sanctity. With him as fellow-novices, were Joseph Hather-
sty destined to labor and die in the M'arylaiid mission ; Wm.
Home, Peter Jenkins, George Knight, Joseph Emraott,
Joseph Tyrer, all in time zealous and useful members of the
Society. A fellow-countryman, Robert Cole, and the future
Church historian, Joseph Reeve, were already in the novitiate
when he entered. After the two years of retirement devoted to
meditation, and training for spiritual life, under Father Henry
Corbie, in the novitiate, then composed of some sixteen as-
pirants, Carroll was sent to the College of the Society at
Liege, to prepare for elevation to the priesthood by a course

Deposition of Elizabeth

many years before the death of his father
Carroll, 1810.

n,-o^^"*«" ''""""* '■'"' ^"^^'^ ^'■''™ ^*- <^'"«'-- ^ ''0"^e"t- once occn.

Sato \lmuT ?r":; """' '""^"^'^^ '"^ '^^ '^"■'^"^" J««"i»^ for a novi.
tiate in 1611-2, and finally opened in 1622. Foley. " Records." v.. p. 194

ffSi LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

of philosophy and theology, with the kindred sacred studies
under Father Charles Eousse or Koels. It is not unusual for
the young members of the order to be employed for some
years in teaching in the colleges, but Cai-roU was not thus
called away from his preparation for the altar. The scholas-
ticate then numbered about twenty-five pious and talented
youth. He was ordained priest in 1759, attesting his mastery
of theology by a public defense of his tlieses.

The young priest was then appointed to a professor's chair
at St. Omer. and his ability as a teaclier and guide of youth
maintained the ancient reputation of that seat of learning.
He was next employed at Liege, as professor of philosophy
and of theology in the scholaeticate, forming young members
of the order to be invested with the awful dignity of tlie
priesthood.' Whether training young gentlemen for their
career in the world, or the scholastics of the order for their
future mission duties, the dignified American Jesuit evinced
equal judgment and skill.

After a certain number of years in the order, the member
of the Society of Jesus takes his final vows. Preparatory to
this Father Carroll had renounced in favor of his brother
Daniel and his sisters Ann, Ellen, Mary, and Betsy, his
claims to the property of his father. The last vows are pre-
ceded by a second novitiate of one year, and by an examina-
tion in theology. Only those who combine great learning,
the highest virtue and ability as directors of souls, are ad-
mitted to the class of professed Fathers ; most of the mem-
bers of the Society take the vows of Spiritual Coadjutors
formed. In the case of Father John Carroll there was no

' Daniel to Jiimcs Carroll, Dec. 20, 1762. " His tliPoloj;ic.<il manu-
scripts, which he i)r('i)are(l for his own ii.se, citlicr as student or profes-
sor, are still preserved in Georgetown College library." Woodstock Let-
ters, vii., p 6.

udies
alfor
some
thus
liolas-
eiited
istery

chair
y^outh
•ning.
3ophy
nbers
if the
their
their
ineed

smber
)ry to
■other
h his
e pre-
mina-
iiing,
•e ad-
iriem-
jutors
as no

mnnu-
profp3-
:kLet- ■ a* (88)

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

question. He took the four solemn vows and became a Pro-
fessed Father on the 2d of February, 1771.

The order, which had from its foundation expected and en-
countered the buffetings of adverse fortune, was now breast-
ing the most feai'ful storm that had ever arisen against it. A
vast conspiracy against revealed truth and civil order had
been growing like a canker in the vitals of Europe. Blinded
rulers encouraged it, the nobility widely favored it, and the
discontented masses of the populace were ready for the wiltl-
est excesses. Governments seemed struck with blindness, un-
able to see the results to which the revolution must lead, the
overthrow of the altar and the throne.

The Society of Jesus was regarded by the anti-Christian
leaders as an able and energetic corps, of which it was neces-
sary to deprive the Church before the grand attack was made.
The House of Bourbon, holding the thrones of France, Spain,
and Naples, became the tool of the conspirators. France
struck the first blow. In 1762 the Parliament of Paris or-
dered all the Jesuit colleges to be closed, and soon after
issued a decree depriving the members of the Society of all
property corporate or personal. This was followed by edicts
of banishment unless they renounced their order and took an
oath prescribed by these tribunals which assumed higher au-
thority in ecclesiastical matters than the Pope.

The English Jesuits, driven for the faith from England,
had sought hospitality in France. They had committed no
offence against the laws ot the kingdom and were not sul)-
jects. But without a shadow of law or regard f(»r judicial
forms the Court decreed the seizure of the College of St.
Omer and the expulsion of the members of the Society of
Jesus attached to it.

One aged Jesuit alone seemed to rouse any sense of hu-
manity in the hearts of the stolid executioners of the edict of

AT BRUGES.

the Jansenistic and infidel parliament. The aged Father
Levinus Brown, the friend of the poet Pope, was left in the
college to breathe his last at the age of ninety-four.

The persecuted English Jesuits looked around for a place
where they could continue the work of educating their
young countrymen. The ancient city of Bruges in xVustrian
Flanders, appreciating the benefit of such an institution, in-
vited the Fathers to establish their college within its walls
and the gov ernment officially sanctioned it by Letters Patent.'
Tlie Jesuit Fathers trusting to the good faith of the Austrian
government, accepted the invitation, and agreed to erect a
college in that city. The scholars from St. Omer, led by
Father Joseph Reeve, made their way across the frontier and
through the woods to Bruges, where the community took up
tiieir residence in an old Spanish dwelling-house. The es-
tablishment at St. Omer comprised the Great College, and a
preparatory institution for younger boys, known as the Less
College. Both these resumed their coui«c. J, Bruges, and
there Father Carroll continued his functions as professor.'

The government, as if anxious to secure the Jesuits per-
manently, and prevent their regarding Bruges as a mere
temporary home, constantly urged the Fathers to proceed to
the erection of suitable buildings. They accordingly ex-
pended £7,500 in the purchase of ground for the two col-
leges, and began the erection of a fine building for the Less
College, at a very great outlay. This taxed their resources so
completely that they were compelled to defer for a time the
plan of erecting their main institution.'

' Foley, " Records of the Society of Jesus," v., p. 168.
_ » Archbishop Carroll, " A Narrative of the proceedings in the suppres-
sion of the two English Colleges at Bruges iu Flanders. lately under the
government of the English Jesuits."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

"While Father Carroll was co-operating in the attempt to
build up this new college and maintain its efficiency, he was
selected by his Superiors to make a tour through Europe with
the young son of a Catholic nobleman, Lord Stourton, who
liad requested that the American priest should undertake the
duty.

Setting out with his young charge in 1771, he visited the
romantic country of the Vosges, traversing the provinces
of Alsace and Lorraine, where the memory of good King
Stanislaus was still revered by all. They then crossed the
Rhine, and entered the territory of the German Empire and
journeyed to Carlsruhe, sufltering on the way from fever and
ague. Heidelberg with its University and learned professors
welcomed the Jesuit and his distinguished pupil ; then fol-
lowing the Rhine through lands teeming with grain and
wine, the tourists reached Cologne, where they admired the
still unfinished Cathedral. The Reverend Mr. Carroll's
journals of part of the tour have been preserved, and show
that he was an obscrvunt and thoughtful traveller.

After visiting Augsburg and Munich the tourists struck
into the Tyrol, and journeying in the slow and deliberate
fashion of the last century, crossed the mountains by way of
Trent, till the soft vowel sounds of Italy replaced the harsher
German tones. At Yerona PVlier Carroll's Italian was re-
quired, and he found that he lacked readiness in the lan-
guage ; but this was soon acquired, as they made their way
to Bologna and finally to Rome.

How under more favorable circumstances the Eternal City
would have impressed the American priest cannot be known ;
but it chilled rather than inflamed his devotion. Roiite,
which had treasured the remains of the founder of the Soci-
ety, Saint Ignatius, of Saint Francis Borgia, Saint Aloynius,
Saint Stanislaus, now looked with such disfavor on the orde-

TOUR WITH HON. MR. STOURTON.

to which he belonged that the American Jesuit was com-
pelled to conceal his character; he endeavored to see two
Fathers of his province who were personal friends ; but as
they were out of Rome, he could hold no intercourse with
the members of the Society. He saw sold in the streets
without restraint libels on the Jesuits in which the prayers
of Mass were burlesqued, and treatises assailing the Devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The overthrow of the Society
of Jesus was the comtnon topic, and was expected when
Spain declared her will.

Henry Stuart, Cardinal of York, the last descendant of
James II., who exercised a controlling influence over the
Church appointments in the British Isles, was an open adver-
sary of the Society of Jesus, so that even from the Catholic
bishops in England little sympathy could be expected, if the
worst came.'

After spending some time in Rome admiring the many
scenes and objects that inspire ennobling thoughts in the
scholar and the Christian, Father Carroll and young Stourton
continued their way to Naples, where they passed part of the
autumn, returning, however, to Rome by October 22d, in
oroer to pass the winter in the Eternal City. On the way
they visited Loretto, which awakened earnest devotion in the
heart of the priest.'

Leaving Rome with gloomy forebodings for the future of
the Society in which he had enrolled himself for life. Father
Carroll and his pupil, as summer approached, proceeded to
Florence, then to Genoa— cities that reminded the American
priest of Columbus and Verazzano. Then entering France

' Letter of Rev. John Carroll, Rome, Jan. 23, 1773.
' Letters of Feb. 3 and June 28. 1773.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

he visited Lyons, and travelling on by diligence to Paris, re-
turned to Bruges by way of Liege.

Father Carroll restored his young charge to the hands of
Lord Stourton and prepared to resume his duties In the col-
lege. Notwithstanding the constant reports of an intended
suppression or modification of the order, which all the recent
observations of Father Carroll confirmed, the English Jesuits
at Bruges made no attempt to remove to a place c-f safety, if
any could be found. They tnisted implicitly in the good
faith of the Austro-Belgic government, which had invited
them into Biniges, and given Letters Patent, although fully
aware of the machinations against them.

The direction of the Sodality at Bruges was oflFered to
Father Carroll, but his recent tour had enabled the American
priest to meet many experienced men and study the signs of
the times. Convinced that the Society of Jesus would be
either annihilated or so restricted as to be unable to continue
its work, he saw no avenue open in Europe where all seemed
seething with destructive fires. All convinced him that the
wisest course was to return to his native land. He withdrew
into retirement, to weigh well in prayer the disposition he
felt to join his relatives in Maryland. His religious brethren
were loth to part with one wliose sterling qualities all appre-
ciated, but the question was decided by a higher hand.

On the 2l8t of July, 1773, the Sovereign Pontiff Clement
XIV. signed the Brief " Dominus ac Redemptor noster,"
which, witiiout condemning the memliers of the order for
their doctrine, their life, or their discipline, suppressed the
Society of Jesus throughout the Christian world. Withheld
for nearly a month, this remarkable paper was issued on the
16th of August, and a commission of Cardinals named to ex-
ecute it.

The bishops throughout the world were required to obtain

THE SOCIETY SUPPRESSED.

from each inember of tlie Society under their jurisdiction an
acknowledgment in writing of liis suljmissioii to the brief
suppressing his order. Such a paper was doubtless signed by
Father Carroll and his fellow-religious at the English College
at Bruges. They regarded the suppression as only temporary
and trusted that the Austro-Belgian government which had
invited them, exiles for the faith from a Protestant realm, to
take up their abode at Bniges, would permit them to con-
tinue their good work till better days. They were soon cru-
elly undeceived. The government resolved to enforce the
brief by seizing all the proi)erty of the Society, and to do so
without making the provision required by its terms.

Amid these uncertainties, Father Carroll wrote to his
brother Daniel on the 11th of September, 1773 :

" I was willing to accept the vacant post of prefect of the

Sodality here .... that I might enjoy some retirement, and

consider well in the presence of God the disposition I found

myself in of going to join my relatives in Maryland, and in

t^ase that disposition continued, to go out next spring. But

now all room for deliberation seems to be over. The enemies

of the Society, and, above all, the unrelenting perseverance

of the Spanish and Portuguese ministries, with the passive-

ness of the Court of Vienna, has at last obtained their ends ;

and our so long persecuted, and, I must add, holy Society, is

no more. God's holy will be done, and may His name be

blessed forever and ever ! This fatal stroke was struck on

the 21st of July, but was kept secret at Rome till the 16th

of August, and was only made known to me on the 5th of

September. I am not, and perhaps never shall be, recovered

from the shock of this dreadful intelligence. The greatest

blessing which in my estimation I could receive from God

would be immediate death ; but if He deny me this, may

His holy and adorable designs on me be wholly fulfilled. Is

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

it poBsiblo that Divine Providence should pennit to such an
end a body wholly devoted, and I will still aver, with the
most disinterested charity, in procuring every comfort and
advantage to their neighbors, whether by preaching, teaching,
catechizing, missions, visiting hospitals, prisons, and every
other function of spiritual and corporal mercy ? Sudi 1
have beheld it in every part of my travels, the first of all
ecdesiasticid bodies in the esteem and confidence of the faith-
ful, and certainly the most laborious. What will become of
our flourishing congregations with you, and those cultivati-d
by the German Fathers ? These reflections crowd so fa«t
upon me that I almost lose my senses. But I will endeavor
to suppress them for a few moments. You see that I am
now my own master, and left to my own direction. In re-
turning to Maryland, I shall have the comfort of not only
being with you, but of being farther out of the reach of
scandal and defamation, and removed from the scenes of dis-
tress of many of my dearest friends, whom, Go<l knows, I
sliall not be able to relieve. I shall, therefore, most certainly
Bail for Maryland early next spring, if I possibly can." '

In an account written at the time by Father Carroll we
see the feelings of these English Jesuits and the people
among whom they had resided for the last ten years :

" The news of the dissolution of the order was received
with the greatest anxiety. The magistracy and citizens per-
suaded themselves that the government would not destroy
two settlements so lately authorized by themselves ; and that
tlie bull would have no farther operation resjiecting the Eng-
lish Jesuits than to reduce them to the condition of secular
priests ; l)ut that they would be allowed, if they themselves

' Brent, " Biographical Skotch of the Most Rev. John Carroll, flrat
Archbishop of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1848, pp. 25-7.

THE AUSTRO-BELGIAN CRUELTY.

were willing, to continue the Bame functions they had hith-
erto (liHcharged. Encouraged by these general expectations
of the town, the superiors of the two colleges wrote a letter
to Monsieur Neny, President of the Privy Council at Brus-
sels, who had often declared himself the protector of the col-
leges, and was thought to hold the first share in the goveni-
rnent. In the letter they expressed their alarm on account
of the situation of the Society ; but withal desired to con-
tinue to render the same service to religion and the instruc-
tion of youth, now they l)ecame secular <flergymen, as hereto-
fore whilst they were Jesuits; and if the government should
not judge projjcr to allow any longer of the colleges under
their care, they prayed at least to have time to give warning
to ])arpnt8 to remove iheir children ; and especially reminded
tlie minister of the necessity of such a delay arising from the
situation of several American youths, who had no other
friends in Europe besides the persons under whose care they
actually were."

T1k3 minister invited the two rectors to Brussels, where
evci-y assurance was given that their institution would be
maintained ; and that at all -jvents they should be treated
with respect, allowed to retain private property, and assured
of a competent maintenance.

Even when the Bishop of Bruges received orders to exe-
cute the brief, he told the Fathers " that he was persuaded
that whatever change might happen in the two colleges
would last for only two or three days, after which everything
would be allowed to go on as usual." Lay commissioners
were appointed by the ministry at Brussels to carry into
effect the edict issued by the Empress Maria Teresa ; but so
distasteftd was the task that those appointed left the work to
be done by Marouex, a coarse young upstart.
On the 20th of September this commissioner entered the

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

college and Piuirted the brief and edict to bo rend. Tlie
JcHuit FatherH wore then forbidden to go ont or hold any
intercom-He with imthoiih oiithide, or to write any lettern, or to
continue the nianagoinent of tiie collegeH or the instruction
of the pupiirt, Tlien a deimty of the Ijidioi) revoked the
faculties of the priests for administering the sacraments,
])reaching or catechizing, pennitting them only to say mase
in the jH'ivato chajHjl.

The account-l)(M)ks of the college were seized and an in-
ventory made of all the property, ridiculous search being
made for hidden treasures.

For more than two weeks a constant system of harassing
was kept up. Each of these worthy priests was taken singly
to his room, where he was put untler oath and compelled to
prrxluce his private property in money, effects, or credits.
Even private ])aper8 were taken. All P'ather Carroll's letters
from his mother and kindred in America were doubtless then
seized.

On the evening of the 14th of OctolMjr, 1773, Maronex,
one of the commissaries appointed by the Austrian govern-
ment to rob and harass these exiles for the faith, burst into
the comnunjity room attended by officers and guards. The
young upstart assumed airs of great authority and ordered
Fathers Angier, Plowden, and Carroll to follow him. In
vain they begged the favor of being allowed each to go to
his room for a few moments. This was not permitted, and
the Fathers were conducted at once by guards to coaches
in waiting. They were then taken to the College of the
Flemish Fathers, which had been thoroughly plundered.
There they were confined and left to pass the night on
the hare floor as best they nn'ght. Mother Mary More,
Sui)erior of the English Augustinian nuns, as soon as she
knew of their position, sent her chaplain, Rev. Thomas Ber-

A PRISONER. V-l

iiiiii;t(>ii, who made every exertion to loHBeu their uncle«erved

HUfftTJllgH.

All luit tliree Fntliers, who were dotaiiuMl us hostaf^'B, were
ill 11 slmrt time reieoHod and ordered to Ic vu the country.

At the first intelligence of this nnuxpected violence to-
ward the EngliHh houHew, Henry, Lord Anindell of Wardour,
who waa a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, appealed to
Prince Staremberg, the Austrian prime minister, in their

jR'hldf,'

The .JeHuit« of the English province lost no time in leaving
the ungrateful empire.

Though he had resolved to return to Maryland, the llev.
John Carroll accompanied his religious brethren to England,
and acted as their secretary in the remonstrance which they
addressed to the Frencli government against the seizure of
tiieir pr(H)erty.

As he had renounced his paternal estate in favor of his
brother and sisters, he was utterly without means. But he
was known and appreciated among the highest circles of
English Catholics, and was at once invited by Lord Anmdell
to make Wardour Castle his home. Here he enjoyed the
society of the cultivated friends of that nobleman, and while
acting as cliaplain labored zealously among the neighboring
CatholioB. Wardour Castle had a deep interest to a native
of Maryland, as Anne Arundell, wife of Lord Baltimore,
whose name has been perpetuated in one of the counties of
the State, was born within its walls.

This elegimt leisure was not able to detain the good priest.
He felt that his real mission was in his own land ; though
how Providence was to employ him there he could not fore-

' Cnrroll, " A Narrative of the Proceedings on the Suppression of the
Two English Colleges"; Foley, " Records," v., pp. 178-184.

1 1 '

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

. 1

fee. His affectionate heart prompted him to return to his
aged mother, and he felt that he njust act at once. Eemoved
as he had been from America ever since tlie days of liis boy-
hood, he had never forgotten his native land or its interests.
The growing aversion to English rule had not escaped his
notice, and he beheld with regret that the liome government
instead of a course of conciliation that would have bound the
colonists to the mother country, seemed wantonly, year by
year, to adopt measures that alienated the hearts of the
American people more and more from the sovereign and the
parliament of Great Britain. That the moment would soon
arrive when an appeal would be made to arms, the Rev. Mr.
Carroll was too sagacious not to see. Whatever might come,
the patriotic priest resolved to cast his lot with his country.
Bidding adieu to the members of the order, with whom he
had spent so many happy years in the religious state, and to
the kind friend who had given him so delightful a home, he
staled from England in 1774, bearing faculties as a secular
priest granted by the Vicar-Apostolic of London.

The vessel was one of the last that cleared from England
for the Chesapeake before the Revolution. Rev. Mr. Carroll
arrived in America June 26, 1774, and landed at Richland,
Virginia, the seat of William Brent, who had married his
second sisttr, Ellen. His old classmate at Bohemia and St.
Omer, Robert Brent, now the husband of Carrolj's elder
sister, Anne, lived in tiie same neighborhood. After enjoy-
ing the affectionate welcome of his sistei-s and their families,
the priest thus restored to his country proceeded after a delay
of only two days to the home which his mother had made
for herself and her younger daughters, Mary and Betsy, on
Rock Creek, in Frederick, now Montgomery County, Mary-
land. Her joy at the return of her loving son may well be
imagined, " though the change that time had wrought in him

ELEANOR DABNALL CABROLL, MOTHER OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

(46)

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

from a lad of twelve to a man of forty, made her fail to
recognize him at lirst, so it is said." ' His affection attested
in iiis letters had cheered her widowhood, but she had scarcely
dared to hope for the happiness of ever having him again
beneath her roof."

' Woodstock Letters, vii., p. 9.

' We are indebted for the portrait of Archbisliop Carroll's mother to
the courtesy and interest of Miss E. C. Bruut, who allowed a copy to be
made of the oil painting in her possession.

"■■ — -"V-.™— -

SEMINARY, MARKING BITE OP OLD ST.
MARY'S, MD,

v^^^ryt'^timji'tie

CHAPTEE II.

EEUGION IN THE BRITISH COLONIES, 1763-1774.

The position of Catliolics when the Rev. John Carroll re-
turned to the English colonies in America was a peculiar one.
More than a decade of years had elapsed since England by
the aid of those colonies had crushed the power of France on
the northern continent, and extorted a cession of Florida
from Spain. War stimulated by fanning anti-Catholic fanat-
icism had triumphed, and England had a vast transatlantic
realm to govern, whose direction required the utmost re-
sources of statesmanship. But it is easier to create prejudice
than to dispel it. The British government was learning the
lesson. Had England's conduct in colonial affairs been based
on the great and eternal principles of truth and honesty, her
course would have been simple. But she could not be just
to her new Catliolic acquisitions without arousing elsewhere
the feelings of religious hate which she had implanted and
nurtni ,d by every device and keenly-devised misrepresen-
tation.

The course of Catholics had been con? istent and Christian.
Sir George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, an earnest
friend of equal rights in civil and religious matters, took out
to his Newfoundland colony of Avalon a Catholic priest and
a Protestant minister, and chapels gave the settlers of both
faiths the opportunity to worship God according to their own
wish and choice. Tlie Protestant minister returned to Eng-
liind to denounce this liberality and make charges against
Calvert, which still stand on the records. In founding the

(47)

'If

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

colouy of Maryland his sou and successor, equally desirous
of encouraging the settlers to maintain the form of worship
they desired, took no clergymen olfieially, but erected chapels
for each creed, leaving the people to arrange for a ministry
as they chose. Father Andrew White and another Jesuit
Father came out with the first settlers as gentlemen adven-
tui-ers, under the proposiils issued by Lord Baltimore, bring-
ing out mechanics, laborers, and farmers. As proi)rietor8
they took up lands, and those who followed them did tlie
same. These plantations afforded a support to the Catholic
clerj^y in Maryland, down to th.e suppression of the Society
of Jesus, the chapel being attached to tlie residence of the
priest, for the laws of the colony forbade any sejiarate struc-
ture for Catholic worship, and when Eev. Mr, Carroll landed
in 1774 there was not, so far as we know, a public Catholic
church in the province of Maryland.

The Rev. Mr. Carroll, some years later, thus described the
condition of Catholics in Maryland during the three quar-
ters of the century : "Attempts were fre(inencly made to in-
troduce the whole code of jieual English laws, and it seemed
to depend more on the temper of the courts of justice than
<m avowed and acknowledged principles that ti.ese laws were
not generally executed as they were sometimes partially.
Tnder these discouraging circumstances ('atholic families of
note left their church and carried an accession of weight and
influence into the Protestant cause. The seat of government
was removed from St. Mary's, where the Catholics were
powerful, to Annapolis, where lay the strength of the oppo-
site party. The Catholics, excluded from all lucrative em-
ployments, harassed and discouraged, became, in genonil,
poor and dejected.

'* But in spite of their discouragements their numbers in-
creased with the increase of population. They either had

CONDITION OF CATHOLICS.

clergymen residing in their neigliborhoods or were occasion-
ally vifiited by them ; but these congregations were dispersed
at such distances, and the clergymen were so few that many
Catholic families could not always hear Mass, or receive any
instruction so often as once in a month. Domestic instruc-
tions supi^lied, in some degree, this defect ; but yet very im-
perfectly. Amongst the poorer sort, many could not read,
or if they could, were destitute of books, which, if to be had
at all, mubt come from England ; and in England the laws
were excessively rigid against printing or vending Catholic
books. Under all these difficulties, it is surprising that there
remained in Maryland, even so much as there was, of true
religion. In general Catholics were regular and inoffensive
in their conduct ; such, I mean, as were natives of the coun-
try ; but when many began to be inijjorted, as servants, from
Ireland, great licentiousness prevailed amongst them in the
towns and neighborhoods where they were stationed, and
spread a scandal injurious to true faith. Contiguous to the
houses where the priests resided on the lands, which had
been secured for the clergy, small chapels were built ; but
scarcely anywhere else ; when divine service was performed
at a distance from their residence, private and inconvenient
houses were used for churches. Catholics contributed nothing
to the support of religion or its ministers ; the whole charge
of their maintenance, of furnishing the altars, of all travel-
ling expenses, fell on the priests themselves, and no com])en-
sation was ever offered for any service perfoi-med by them,
nor did they require any, so long as the produce of their
lands was sufficient to answer their demands. But it nmst
have been foreseen that if religion should make considerable
progress, this could not always be the case.

, j> 1

' Account of .K.iulition of roliffion prepared by Bishop Carroll about
1 . .0. It Wits lirst published in the " Metropolitan " for 1881 by Rev. C.
3

'1^

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The Catholics in Maryland from the time of the settlement
of that province had been subject to the Vicar-Apostolic of
England, and when the Vicariate -Apostolic of the London
District was established to the bishops to whom successively
the management of that part of England was confided by the
Holy See. The missionaries extending their labors to New
York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, carried the
same jurisdiction to those colonies. This jurisdiction was
not derived from any express act of the Holy See, but arose
like that of the Archbishop of Rouen in Canada, from the
fact of vessels sailing from ports in the jurisdiction of Euro-
pean bishops who gave faculties, under a settled law of the
Church. Bishop Challoner tells us that the Jesuit mission-
aries in Maryland used at first to ask rather for approbation
than for faculties. But after Pope Innocent XII., by his
Brief issued February 14, 1702, ordained that all missionaries
in Vicariates-Apostolic should obtain faculties from tlie bish-
ops in charge, and not exercise any functions without them,
the Maryland missionaries applied regularly for faculties,'

"All our settltnients in America have Ijeen deemed sub-
ject in spirituals to the ecclesiastical superiors here, and this
has been time out of nn'nd ; even, I believe, from the time
of the archpriests. I know not the origin of this, nor have
ever met with the original grant," wrote Bishop Challoner in
1756. " I suppose they were looked upon as appurtenances
or apperulixes of the English mission. And after the divi-
sion of this kingdom into four districts, the jurisdiction over

C. Pise, who translated it from a French version. The citation here is
from Bishop Carroll's manuscript.

' Pope Innocent XII. had already by his Brief "Ad Pastorale Fasti
giuni," .lanuary 12, 1697, revolied all personal exemptions of religions of
any order in Spanish America. Hernaez, " Coleccion de Bulas," Brus-
sels, 1879, i., pp. 499-500.

PROPOSED VICARIATE-APOSTOLIC.

the Catholicks in those settlements has followed the London
district ' (as they are all reputed hy the English as part of
the London diocese), I suppose because London is the capital
of the British Empire, and from hence are the most frequent
opportunities of a proper correspondence with all those set-
tlements. Whether the Holy See has ordered anything in
this regard I caimot learn," '

A document in the archives of the Propaganda shows that
action was soon after taken.

" The Vicars-Apostolic of London since the time of James
II. have always had authority over the English colonies and
islands in America ; but as it did not appear on what basis
this custom was founded, a decree was obtained in the month
of January, 1757, from Benedict XIV. of happy memory, in
favor of Mgr. Benjamin Petre, Bishop of Prusa, then Vicar-
Apostolic of London, giving him ad sexenniuin jurisdiction
over all the colonies and islands in America subject to the
British Empire, and after the death of that prelate it was
confirmed March 31, 1759, for six years more to Mgr. Eich-
ard Challoner, Bishop of Debra, now Vicar-Apostolic of
London." '

" The said Vicar- Apostolic is so far from any ambition or
desire of increasing his jurisdiction in those parts that it
would afford him great pleasure to be relieved of a burthen
which exceeds his strength and to which he cannot devote
due attention. The great distance does not permit him to
visit them in person. He accordingly cannot have the nec-

' A document showing Bishop Giffard's exercise of jurisdiction in this
country will be found in " Catholic Church in Colonial Days," p. 374.

' J. Fisher {i. e., Richard Challoner) to Rev. Dr. Stonc.r, Clergy Agent,
September 14, 1756. Archives of the Archbishop of Westminster.

» Letter of the Cardinal Prefect to Bishop Challoner, March 31. 1759.
Archives of the Archbishop of Wes'. minster.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

essary information to know and correct abuses : he cannot
administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to the faithful
there, who remain totally deprived of that spiritual aid : he
cannot provide ecclesiastical ministers, partly for the same
reason of distance, and partly from want of money to meet
the expense.

" If the Sacred Congregation, moved by these reasons and
by otliers which may easily occur to the mind, should deem
it more suitable to establish a Vicar-Apostolic over the other
English colonies and islands, it seems that the city of Phila-
delphia, in Pennsylvania, is the most suitable place for his
residence, as being a city of large population, and, what is
more, a seaport, and consequently convenient for keeping up
free correspondence with the other provinces on the main-
land, as Avell as with the islands. This additional reason mav
be given, that there is no place in all the English dominions
where the Catholic religion is exercised in greater liberty.'' '
Bishop Challoner himself thus described the condition of
his transatlantic flock in 175G : ''As to the state of religion
in our American settlements, the best account I can give is,
there are no missions in any of our colonies upon the Conti-
nent, excepting Mariland and Pensilvania ; in which the ex-
ercise of the Catholick religion is in some measure tolerated.
I have had diiferent accounts as to their numbers in Mariland,
where they are the most numerous. By one account they
were about 4,000 communicants ; another makes them to
amount to about 7,000 ; but perhaps the latter might design
to include those in Pensilvania, where I believe there may
be about 2,000. There are about twelve missioners in Mari-
land and four in Pensilvania, all of them of the Societv.

' " Rasguaplio dcHa Religione Cattolica nelle Colonie Iiifjlcsi d'Anio-
rica." Manuscript .u the Archives of the Propaganda, written after 17G;!.

RT. REV. RICHARD CHALLONER, BISHOP OP DBBRA,
V.A. OF THE LONDON DISTRICT.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

■M '

TlicRC also assist feonie few Catliolicks in Virj^inia, x[\Mm tho
borders of Marilaiul, and in N. Jersey-, l)orderin<j upon J'en-
fiilvania. As to the rest of tlie provinces u])on the Continent,
N. England, N. York, etc., if there be any straggling Catli-
olicks, they can have no exercise of their religion, as no
priests ever come near them : nor to judge by what appears
to be the present disposition of the inhabitants, are ever like
to be admitted amongst them," '

The question of providing these Catholics with a Bishop
or Vicar-Apostolic had already been discussed at this early
day. " Some have wished," wrote Bishop Challoner in 175(5,
" considering the number of the faithful, especially in those
two provinces, destitute of the Sacrament of Contirmation
and lying at so great a distance from us, that a Bishop or
Vicar-Apostolic should be appointed for them. But bow far
this may be judged practicable by our Superiors, I know not ;
especially as it may not bo relished by tiiose who have on-
grossed that best part of the mission to thenuselves, and who
may, not without show of probability, object that a novelty
of this kind nn'ght give offence to the governing part there,
who have been a little hard upon them of late years." "

In a report to the Propaganda the same year Binhop Chal-
loner said of the British Colonies in America : " In these
very nourishing colonies, if you except Pennsylvania and
Marylatid, there is no exercise of the Catholic religion, and
therefore no missionaries, the laws and civil authorities pro-

' .1. Fisher (i. e., Richard Challoner) to Rev. Dr. Stonor, Clergy Agent
at Rome, September 14, 1756. Archives of the See of Westminster.

" lb. Bishop Challoner, writing to his agent in Rome, fk-ptember 6,
1763, again speaks of the impossibility of his taking due care of Catholics
at so great a distance as those in America, and mentions his belief that
for the American Continent a Bishop or Vicar-Apostolic in Canada or
Florida would be the most proper. Archives of Archbishopric of West-
minster.

BISHOP CHALLONER.

liibititig it. In PeniiHylvatiia and Maryland the exercise of
religion Ih free, and JesuitH liolding facnlties from hh very
laudably conduct the missions there. There are about twelve
missionaries in Maryland, and, as they w>y, al)out sixteen
tbouwmd Catholics, including children ; and in Pennsylvania
about six or seven thousand under five missionaries. Some
of these also make excursions in one direction into the neigh-
i)oring province of Jersey, and on the other into that of ^'^ir-
ginia, ami secretly administer the sacraments to the Catholics
residing there. It is to be desired that provision sliould be
made for the administration of the Sacrament of Confirma-
tion to 80 many Catholics as are found in Maryland and
Pennsylvania, of the benefit of which they are totally de-
prived. Now that Canada and Florida are reduced to the
British sway, the Holy Apostolic See may more easily efi'ect
this, namely, by establishing with the consent of our court a
Bishop or Vicar-Apostolic at Quebec or elsewhere and in-
vesting him with jurisdiction cer all the other English colo-
nies and islands in America. This would be far from dis-
])lt-a-ing to us, and would redound greatly to the advantage
of sjud colonies," '

There was a source of danger to the Catholics in this
country in the appointment of a Bishop which Doctor Chal-
loner does not openly allude to, and this was the influence
of the Stuarts at Rome. The Holy See recognized Charles
Edward as King of England, and the nomination of Catholic
bishops in the British dominions was virtually in the hands
of his brother Henry, who was a member of the Sacred Col-
lege and generally known as the Cardinal of York. The
Catholics -in Maryland from the beginning had never been

' Bishop Chal loner to the Prefect of the Propaganda, London, August
2, 17«3. lie again urged the extension of the jurisdiction of the Bishop

-of Quebec in a letter March 15, 1764.

il' .

LIB'E OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

I 'IR

strong partisans of the houfie of Stimrt. In the procoedings
against the Society of Jesus, tlie Cardinal of York hud ar-
rayed himself with the enemies of the order, and the Jesuit
missionaries in Maryland and Pennsylvania naturally feared
that any Uishop or Yicar-Apostolie sent over at his nomitia-
tion would be hostile to the clergy here, and as an avowed
Jacobite might involve all the Catholic body in the colonies
in the charge of disaffection to the government, as adherents
of a claimant for whom they really cared nothing.

But Bishop Challoner evidently favored the creation of
separate Vicariates for America. In 17*>5 he wrote to his
agent at Home :

" What you add of settling two or three Vicars-Apostolic
in that [)art of the world, is an object that certainly deserves
the attention of our friends. But I foresee the execution of
it will meet with very gioat difficulties, especially in Mari-
land and Pennsylvania, where the Padri have had so lung
{M)ssession, and will hardly endure a Prefect, much less a
Bishop of any other institute: nor indeed do I know of any
one of ours that would be fond of going amongst them, nor
of any that would be proiHjr for that station, wlio could be
spared by us in our present circumstances."'

And at a later period in the same year he recurred airain to
the subject, showing that it was still under discussion. " I hope
our friends there will not drop the project of settling some
Vicar-Apostolic in those parts you speak of. 'Tis morally
impossible for us to have a pro|)er superinten«lency over
places so remote. And to let so many tlousand Cathclics as
there are in some of our northern Colon es to remain entirely
destitute of the Sacrament of Confirmation is what. I am
sure, our friends will never suffer." '

' Bp. Challoner to liev. Dr. Stonor, Feb. 15, 1765. ♦ lb., May 81 , 1765.

THE (jUEBEC QUESTION.

Tho Maryliind niiHHit)naricH actiiiilly triin8iiiitte(l to Uishcp
Clmlloner u reiiiuiiHtraiu'f agiiiiiHt tlio appointineiit of a liinli-
o|) for tlio colonieH, which was Higiicd by the loading men
among the laity. BiHhop Challoner, however, did not for-
ward tho document to Ilome, and communicuted hirt reasons
to the iiiiKHionerH here. Tho Vicar-ApoHtolic! of London evi-
dently favored tho aj)pointinent of a liinhop in thin country,
or Honie means of placing tho colonies under a J{iHho|) here,
because, as he wrote, "There be bo many thouHands there
that live and die without confirmation." ' The matter seems
to have weighed greatly on his mind. He applied to Rome to
be relieved of the care of tho Catholics in the American colo-
nies, and expressed his regret when tho Sacred Congregation
declined to act on his petition. In reply ho wrote : " It is a
lamentjd)le thing that such a multitude have to live and die,
always d(;prived of the Sacrament of Confirmation. The
Fathers evince an unspeakable repugnance to the establish-
ment of a Bishop among them, under the prete.vt that it
might excite a violent persecution on the part of the civil
authorities. But it does not seem to me that this conse-
(picnce can be feared, if tho Bishop of Quebec, who is not at
so very great a distance from those parts, were invited and
had the necessary faculties to administer Co'itirmutn.n at
least once to these Catholics." *

Canada after the conquest was long without a bishop, the
English government rejecting the priest tirst selected by tlfe
clergy of that province, but Bishop Challoner and others had
looked to the See of Quebec as a mfjans of relieving Catho-
lics in the former British colonies.

" Bishop Challoner to Rev. Dr. Stonor, Sept. 12. 1766.

' Bishop Challoner to his agent in Rome, June 4, 1771. Archives of
the Propaganda.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

" If matters were there once properly settled," he wrote, " I
wish our friends would think of charging the person to be
chosen, or some ocher with the title of Vicar-Apostolic, with
the care of those other colonies, which we at this distance
cannot properly assist, and which are now quite deprived of
tl)e sacrament of Confirmation." '

It seemed a very feasible plan that the Bishop of Quebec
should from time to time visit Pennsylvania and Maryland
in order to confer confirmation and perform other episcopal
acts. In this plan the Maryland missionaries seemed to have
concui-red heartily. We know that the venerable and devoted
Superior of the Jesuits in Maryland, Father George Hunter,
set out from that province for Canada, May 24, 1769, but his
arrival in that province in July, excited the alarm of the
English authorities. The favor shown the Catholics in the
conquered province had already drawn the wrath of the old
colonies upon the British government, and it was averse to
giving any fresh cause of complaint.

Guy Carleton told Father Hunter that he neither could nor
would pennit him to remain, and that he must without de-
lay depart from thence, which he prepared to do forthwith
on a vessel ready to sail to England.

That Father Hunter saw the Bishop of Quebec at this time
and conferred with him is probable from several circum-
stances. The letter of Guy Carleton stating that leather
Hunter called at once upon him, proceeds immediately to
discuss the position of the Bishop. " 1 represented to him
tint a Bishop was allowed the Canadians that they might
have the advantage of a Provincial Clergy, and that any
accession thereto from abroad, even from the king's other

' Bishop CLalloner to Rev. Dr. Stonor, March 15, 1764.

THE QUEBEC QUESTION.

dominions, was altogether unnecessary, and never would be

allowed." '

The English government had never dared to establish
Bishops of the State Church in the colonies, every proposal
to do so having excited an agitation among the Puritan ele-
ment, in which many even of the adherents of the Estab-
lished Church joined. In 1702 Eev. Mr. Talbot, a mission-
ary of " The Society for Propagiiting the Gospel," wrote :
"We have great need of a Bishop here to visit all the
churches, to ordain some, to confirm others, and bless all." "
Three years after the Episcopal Clergy signed a petition to
Queen Anne for a suffragan Bishop.' The matter was pur-
sued for some years ineffectually, and at last in 1722 the
Eev. John Talbot, who had been active in the matter from
the first, went to England, and was consecrated by a non-
juring Bishop, and some years after the Rev. Mr. Welton
did the same. These bishops dared not exercise their func-
tions openly, but some inkling of what had been done reached
England, and Rev. Mr. Talbot was discharged by the Society,
and Welton ordered on his allegiance to return to England.'

If the English government so timidly shrank from allow-
ing a Bishop of the Established Church to be sent to Amer-
ica, it could not venture to incur a storm of opposition by
authorizing a Roman Catholic Bishop to visit Pennsylvania
and Maryland.

But tlie subject was not dropped by Father Hunter, and
he apparently received some encouragement from the Bishop

' Carleton to Hillsborough, July 17, 1769. Abbe Verreau's Repoit,
1874, p. 168. Foley, " Records of the English Province," i., p. 884.

' Talbot to Gillingham, New York, November 24, 1702.

» Hills, " History of the Church in Burlington, N. J.," Trenton, 1876,
p. 68.

* lb., pp. 179-204.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

A Hi

of Quebec. Tlie Superior of the Jesuit mission sailed to
England, and was engaged in adjusting various matters con-
nected with the Church in America, which detained him in
Europe till 1770. During this period the project of visiti
to the colonies by the Bishop of Quebec was taken up at
Rome, as though the objections were regarded as merely
temporary. The Bishop of Quebec, when visiting Nova
Scotia, could easily run down to Philadelphia in one of tlie
vessels commanded by Catholics, as Rev. Mr. BaiUy seems to
have done, simply to go to confession.'

On the 7th of September, 1771, Cardinal Castelli addressed
Bishop Briaud of Quebec on the subject. The Sacred Con-
gregation de Propaganda Fide, learning that there were many
Cathohcs in Maryland and Pennsylvania who, though other-
wise provided with spiritual aid, had been unable for want
of, a bishop to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, was
anxious to relieve them, and saw no way unless the Bishop
of Quebec, as the nearest Catholic Bishop, " would assume
that duty and discharge so conspicuous an act of charity."
" In their name, therefore, I earnestly beseech you not co
decline to undertake a work of this kind, acceptable to God
and most useful to our faith, for which you have on the an-
nexed sheet, faculties granted by our Most Holy Lord. But
if you are so hindered by difficulties that you cannot in per-
son discharge this ministry, I beg, at least, that you will
write back as eariy as possible whether there is any more
feasible way in which the relief can be given to that orthodox
flock. " »

Thatthe English government refused the Bishop permis-

^^^Ca«grain, "Un Pflerinnge au Pays d'Evangeline," Quebec, 1887. p.

■' Letter of Cardinal Castelli to Bishop Briand. Archives of Archbish-
opric of Quebec.

SIGNS OF ACTIVITY.

gion is most probable, as the subject was not again raised, and
no evidence or tradition exists of a visit to tlie old Catholic
colony by the successor of Laval.

The conferring of Confirmation, the establishment of a
Bishop, were to follow one of the great wars of history, a war
which broke the shackles of the Catholic colonist in America,

The triumph of 1763 by which the French and Spanish
settlements east of the Mississippi passed under British sway
apparently appeased for a time the animosity of the people
of the old colonies against the Catholics residing among
them. As no Catholic powei anj longer menaced the fron-
tiers, the professors of the true faith of Christ were not re-
garded as in themselves a source of danger. The existence
of the Catholic Church in Canada was, however, extremely
distasteful, but friendly intercourse with that province began
to exercise a beneficial influence.

The Catholics in Maryland e^Rraed to feel that a new and
better era had begun. Fa' George Hunter was Superior
of the Missions of Marylar ft i. i Pennsylvania, having under
his charge Fathers James Ashbey, Arnold Livers, Matthew
Manners, Augustine Frambach, John Williams, James Pel-
lentz, John Lewis, Frederick Leonard, Lewis Roels, Joseph
Mosley, James Walton, Peter Morris, James Beaduall, and
Itor)ert Molyneux in Maryland, with Fathers Theodore
Schneider, Robert Harding, Joseph Ilathersty, and Ferdi-
nand Farmer in Pennsylvania.

There were signs of activity in many parts. At Frederick
Father John Williams put up a residence and a chapel, soon
to fall a prey to the flames — a loss not soon repaired, as that
was a frontier town often filled with alarm by fugitives from
Indian foes.' Father Hunter rebuilt the manor house at

' Letter of J. W., June 20, 1773. " I find one monument of my folly

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Port Tobacco in a style tliat drew most exaggerated accounts
from unfriendly sources.' Father Ashbey rebuilt the church
at Newtown, under the invocation of St. Francis Xavier,
which, frequently repaired and restored, still remains an
humble frame ed'fice, with its sacristy and modest priest's
room above, its i^iuare bell tower, and cross. "Certainly
few Catliolic churches in this country can boast of such aia
age as that claimed by the Newtown chapel," writes a local
antiquarian. Its old bell has a time-worn inscription on
which the date 1691 is still visible, and which hung in olden
days in the crotch of a tree. Annapolis even had its chapel
regulai-ly attended.

Father Joseph Mosley, who began his labors in St.
Joseph's Forest in 1759, labored at Newtown, St. Thomas'
Manor, Sakia, and Newport before proceeding to the East-
ern Shore, where his long mission ended only with his life.'
In that part of Maryland the chapel at Bohemia was in a
ruinous house, and a mission was projected at Tuckahoe,
and the missionaries were already looking to the purchase'
of ground at Mill Creek Hundred, in the present State of
Delaware.'

" You must not imagine," wrote Father Mosley to his
brother, a priest in England, " that our chapels lie as vours
do; they ai-e in great forests, some miles from any House of

destroyed In FrcdcTicktown ; had the house been built of wood, 'twould
prolmbly have shared the same fate."

' ?I"^'i,' '' ''''""■ "' "'« United States of America," London, 1784 ii
p. 1(9. The tax on Bachelors imposed by the Vestry of Port Tobacco
parish about this time and confirmed by the Assembly, may have been
prompted by a wish to punish Father Hunter and his associates The
pnesta and lay brothers were certainly all mulcted.

' " Woodstock Letters," xiv., p. 61 ; xiii., pp. 73, 284.

'Very Rev. Dr. Carroll's Reply to Rev. P. Smyth, fiishop Becker in

Catholic Standard," July 30, 1879.

Mliiiiiiiliili

ST. MARY'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.

i accounts
he church
is Xavier,
smaiiis an
8t priest's
Certainly
■ such an
tes a local
iption on
: iu olden
its chapel

s in St.
Thomas'
the East-
his life."
was ill a
uckahoe,
purchase
State of

Y to his
18 yours
Fonse of

, 'twould

1784, ii.,
Tobacco
iiive b<?en
«9, The

Hospitality Swamps, runs, miry holes, lost in the

Night, as yet and ever will in this country attend us. Thank
God, we are all safe as yet. Between three and four hundred
miles was my last Christmas fare on one horse." '

The churches which the Catholics were thus rearing on
American soil, betokened a greater confidence than they had
shown, and the evident hope of more kindly consideration at
the hands of their fellow-citizens. The buildings were near-
ly all solid and substantial.

That in Lancaster, begun on the site of the old church, stood
till far in the present century, being used as a school-house
after the dedication of the present St. Mary's Church in 185i.
It was of stone, and really the work of the congregation, if, as
tradition tells, the men gathered the stones from the farmers
in the country roundabout and brought them to the spot,
vt^hile the women mixed the mortar for those who laid the
stone. So well was the work done that the church withstood
the elements till 1881, when this relic of colonial days was
torn down."

Ground had been secured in Philadelphia by the congrega-
tion of St. Joseph, which was feasible under a law permit-
ting Christian bodies to hold lands for burial-ground. The
Jesuit missionaries who held the titles to churclres in their
individual names, adhered to the same system when it
was decided to erect a second church. A portion of this
land secured under Father Harding's influence, and measur-
ing fifty feet in front and running back eighty feet, was con-
veyed by the trustees on the 23d of May, 1763, to Father

lecker in

' F. Joseph Mosley to Rev. Mr. Mosley, July 30, 1764.

' S. 31. Sener, in " United States Catholic Historical Magazine," 1., pp.
43, 215.

/ ■;

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Robert Harding." The erection of the church was apparently
begun soon after, and completed in the following year suffi-
ciently to permit of its use.

The erection of this church so near St. Joseph's may have
been with a view to a separate place of worship for the Ger-
mans, who, though under the direction of another priest, had
attended St. Joseph's. As reported in 1757, the German
Catholics under Father Schneider, in Philadelphia, outnum-
bered those of English tongue under Father Harding, An
indication of this desire to have a distinct church and organ-
ization for themselves, is seen in the fact that the German
Catholics of Philadelphia soon acquired part of the ground
purchased, as their separate cemetery.

The venerable Father Theodore Schneider, the founder of
tliis German Catholic congregation and of the Goshenhoppen
mission, bad meanwhile worn himself out in his arduous
labors. Father Farmer, to whom the care of the Philadel-
phia Catholics of German origin had been assigned as resi-
dent pastor, hastened to the bedside of his fellow religious
and countryman. Fortified by the sacraments of the Church,
Father Schneider " died on the 10th of July, 1764, full of
years, and ricli in the merits of a zealous missionary life.
He was buried in the little church by Father Farmer." ' lio-

' Deed of Daniel Swan and others, individr.iUly to Robert Iliirdinp,
dated May 33, ITfi'^ ; consideration five shillings. It is absolute thoufrh
the words " to build and erect a chapel thereon " are interlined. This
deed was recorded Jan. 29, 1811, by Bishop Egan, us he states exi)rc8sly.

2 " I.iber Baptizatorura et Matrimonio Copulatoruni, uti et Defuucto
rum Phihulelphiie, in Cushenhoiien," etc.— " lii^^torical Sketch of the
Mi8.sion of Goshenhoppen " in Wwidstock Letters, v., pp. 202-218. " In
funcre R. P. Theodori Schneider, S..I., 1704." Notes of F. Fanners
funeral discourse. The inscription on Father Schneider's tomb is
" Hie jacet Rev. Theodorus Schneider, S.J., Mir,3ioni8 hujus Fundator.
Ohiit 10* Julii, 1764. Aetatis 62. Missionis 24. R. I. P."

FATHER SCHNEIDER.

sides the Catholics in Philadelphia, of whom the la8^named
priest took charge, after his transfer from Lancaster, he also
took up Father Schneider's laborious excursions through New
Jersey.

On his long and exhausting journeys, Father Schneider,
we are traditionally informed, more than once was in danger
of his life from bigoted enemies of the faith, although he
was generally supposed to be a physician.

ST. mart's church at LANCASTER, PA.

A remarkable monument of his patience and industry
exists in two manuscript missals, which in his few and
unconnected hours of leisure he copied out, so as to have
a missal at different stations, and thus lighten the load
he was required to carry. Poverty made it impossible
to obtain a supply of missals, but his patience supplied the
want.

One of these preserved at the ancient Goshenhoppen mis-
sion which he founded was written, as Father Schneider
states in a note, to be used in Magunshi, where he said mass
every other mouth. It is in perfect preservation, a volume

*y:

L/F£ OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

six inches wide, seven and a half long, and an inch thick, the
handwriting clear and beautiful.

The church and its attendant missions were for a time
without a pastor, the schoolmaster, whom the good i)rio8t had
placed over the little school ' which he gathered at hi^^ church,
giving private baptism when necessary. Father Frambach,
of the province of Lower lihine, who had arrived in the
country in 1758, extended his visits to this district till Fatliei
John Baptist de Ritter, who belonged to the Belgian prov-
ince, arrived in the country May 31, 1705, and began in the
summer his long and toilsome ministration.'

Of the condition of the Catholic missions in Mi/yland and
Pennsylvania we have at this time a glimpse in a contempo-
raneous report. The mission of the Ast^umption, commonly
called St. Inigoes, a plantation of 2,000 acres, was the resi-
dence of a single missionary, who was supported by the
produce of the place, amounting to £90. At St. Xavior's
mission, Newtown, were three Fathers, Fifteen hundred
acres here yielded £88 for their support. At St. Ignatius
Mission, Portobacco, were three missionaries. The planta-
tions of 4,400 acres produced £188. The mission of St.
Francis Borgia at White Marsh, with 3,500 acres, gave £180
for the maintenance of two missionaries, Rev. John Lewis
and an assistant.

The mission of St. Joseph at Deer Creek, in the northern
part of the colony of Maryland, had 127 acres, producing
£24 for the support of the Father stationed there : and that
of St. Stanislaus, at Fredericktown, had three lots as yet un-

' This school has been maintained, and its long and \i8cfiil services in
the cause of education have been fully recognined by the civil author-
ities. Woodstock Letters, v.

» " Commencement et progrCs de la Religion Catholiquc et Roniaine
dans le Mariland et les autres provinces de I'Amerique Septentrionale."

pu4mMunu4mUknp^iempUmCoepU^uirtv€^
fj^cminki. li^M^iw 1^ ■ M/nptuTTi (ft fttw domui mea cbmin omiiorui
ui vol aukm^uirb'tUltt/rn >mJu/uam la&mum ei tnUdmmquohdit
mkmpb Orme

'^^mt1eijfavt*rn mm e4 ie^rvM hmi C4t)Mii (a Setyre4a

ioi kii/tn ^mUL Cofnmpnurmhd celtira4ur', cpai rwtfra m&^np4ioMie,i-.

(CT7Vnw\ W-i Tiw/niimfrnMm Camefti, ei Mi4 Tne^mjomutnem..

Tw ndn qvs^Mmw^iXmwnt Cmrnmtojmimm^ofimrt/icati-
onim c^ifcfnf, efMua4 uwfuMi im-'J) eMmtM //sj adU/.

Inrrtm Cmn (^iio/rt^m ad'J)cm</mm t^audmriJfvffie/m tneMn.

la. e(mamfnia^mim.iaekGfijhfum iuum /'nDtrrmrto. efqjfekc-
■fuUru^-]^ (MMikve4iAmwtwn^nitamM/lcdt>peMri^dc^rtcaJtu}~
mmnuxm inltndf.Tni/tiM^*Mdintt,4- (/(Ml OmftJ

'Deui. qm cmmsc/kMum tmmparw/ido i.iOfme d mmfmSo'imni,
/^*i2/ tnutHpiua MtpiTtwmiurmiUm fwtui tifad Imprcmuucurren. .

Z dcmtc4i) //^ j (u(Mj

'^^j^<'f"^mn4Ci. idum^hmivtlU^^,qucdrmwinipmiu2e<t^/ga/n,
OiCitammnui^ 0} mmfijfi^iitcerf T>tmHninkmi. mfimipt'nh

(PW m/niffrafumumMnt, u^aukm'ikrtncum M (UviMmi cpe^mfi^
mum fun^ ute^n ou^smDctt), q<u (/pe^rufuf <rmniain ffrwUhut- loruau,-
qu^ (Xt/tun (iaju/)' mmufciii/w fffinliii mHuMaiifn aJi^ qtU^/TipCr-
Spt^rUuttxda^rjefTnojdpwnht alifOutanJefmcHantia.Jfcuiidum

Ss.

FAC-8IMILE OF A PAGE OF FATHER SCHNEIDER'S MANUSCRIPT MISSAL.

(67)

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

productive. The inissionury, Rev. .Tolm WillianiH, who re-
mained here till July 27, 17(j8, depended on a yearly allow-
ance of £30 from the Superior. The mission of St. Mary's
at Queenstown, or Tuckahoe, had now hecome the ri'sidence
of one priest, Father Joseph Mosley, who derived £18 from
a plantation of 200 acres for his support. The mission of
St. Xavit r at Bohemia, on the Eastern Shore, where the class-
icid school gave young Carroll his first insiglit into litera-
ture, had at this time only a single priest. The extensive
plantation of 1,500 acres yielded an income of £108.

There were four Pennsylvania missions, that of St. Mary,
in the city of Philadelphia, where two priests. Fathers Rohcrt
Harding and Ferdinand Farmer, attended St. Jos«'phV and
St. Mary's churches. They were supported by 1: »."> derived
from rent of property, £20 from London (the Sir John
James Fund), and £25 regular gratuities. The mission of
St. Paul at Cushenhopen, or Goshcnhoppen, directed at this
time by Father John Baptist de Hitter, had a farm of 500
acres, yielding £45 ; and there was besides £20 from London.
The million of St. John Nepomueene at Lancaster was soon
after directed by Father Luke Geissler. The mission owned
three lots in town, paying £4 Ss. ground rent; and £20
came from London. The priest stationed at the mission of
St. Francis Regis in Conewago received £20 from a farm of
120 acres, and as much from London."

There were in Pennsylvania about 3,000 adult " custom-
ers," that is, communicants, as many under age, or not com-
municants. The extent of the excursions made by each mis-
sionary covered a tract about 130 miles long by 35 broad.
Each missionary post paid for the support, bread, meat, and

' The reailcr will notice that the names of these separate missionh differ
from those of the churches.

FATHER MOSLEY.

firiiif of tlio Fathers, and maintained a public meeting-placo
of (Uvino worship, without calling on the tiockH whom they
directed. From the incomes given they had, too, to pay re-
pairs, new buildings, taxes, (juit rents, doctor's bills, and help
to make up a yearly payment of £200, which the American
mission owed to creditors in England.'

In Maryland there were estimated to be 10,000 adult
"Customers" or Communicants, and nearly iis many under
af'c or non-comnmnicants. The niissiunaries were at their
residence generally two Sundays in the month ; durin: - the
rest of the time they were visiting the Catholics in their dis-
trict, saying mass at private chai)el8 or other ])lace8 where
Catholics would assemble. By this time the faithful were
dispersed all over the province.

The hospitality which the Maryland missionaries were
called upon to extend to their people, added considerably to
the aniutal expenses.'

Of the mission of St. Mary's at Queenstown, or Tuckahoe
as then styled, we have fortunately an account by the Father
deputed to the task. Writing to his sister, Father Joseph
Mosley says : " Its a Mission that ought to have been settled
above these 60 years past by Reason of y" immense Trouble
& excessive Rides it had given our Gentlemen that lived next
to it, altho' within 200 miles of it : yet, till these days, no
one wou'd undertake it, either for want of Resolution, or
Fear of y" Trouble, notwithstanding it had contributed much
to y' deaths of several of ours & had broak y" Constitution of

' Rev. F. Luke O'Roiley, of St. Croix, appar- ntly a priest wlio had
come from the West Indies for his health, died at Philadelplila in 1768.
"Pennsylvania Chronicle," December 13-19, 1768; "New York Ga-
zette," December 26, 1768.

' Rev. George Hunter, Statement sent to Mr. Dennett, Provincial,
July 23, 1765.

1 11

,il

;1|

i
I*

70 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

every one wlio went down to it, altho' it was but (wiee a
year, except Calls to y" Sick. I was deputed iu Aug' 1T«14
to settle a new |)lace in y" midst of this Mission ; accordingly
I set off for those Parts of y' country, I examined y" situa-
tion of overv Congregation within fiO mile of it, and before
y" End of that Year, I came across y' very Spot, as Provi-
dence wou'd have it, with land to be sold, nigh y" center of
y' whole, that was to be tended : I purchased y" land & took
possession in March following. On y" l^ind there were
three Buildings, a miserable Dwelling-Ilouse, a much worse
for some Negroes, & a House to cure Tobacco in. My dwell-
ing-House woB nothing but a few Boards riven from Oak Trees,
not sawed Plank, & these nailed togctlier to keep out some
of y" Coldest air : not one Brick or Stone about it, no plaster-
ing, & no chimney, but a little Hole in y" Roof to let out y"
Smoak. In this I lived till y" Winter, when I got it plastcr'd
to keep of y« Cold, & built a Brick chimney, y- Bricks 1 was
obliged to buy & cart above 5 mile. One great Benefit I
had, there was Wood enough about me, so I cou'd not want
Fire. I have as yet y" Place chiefly to clear of y" Woods,
before I can tend anything to any advantage. Our Gentle-
men have supplied me with Negroes, as many as I wanted to
cut down y" Woods, to open a Plantation, in which I suc-
ceed much to my satisfaction : I doubt not but in a Little
Time to accomplish my Ends, & whole Design, & to settle
here a Place mucli lo our future Ease & Comfort. It's true
y* Labours will still be great, yet not to be compared to what
they were, before this Place was settled. The chief congre-
gation is but 10 mile off ; y" 2'»'-20 ; y' S"-, 24 ; 4'" 22 ; 5'" at
Home, 6"'— 22. All these I visite once in two months. I have
two others which I visit but tw" ;e a year. 1" 39 ; y' others
90 mile off. This you'll say is still hard. It's easy D' S^- to
what it was. Notwithstanding y" Trouble I had to pur-

FATHER RITTER.

1^^

jj^gff.

Fatbi

oliase y" Lind, to improve y' Place, to IniiM «fe tend y'
workiiiuii, yet I never neglected any one of uiy nii»HionH on
their due & set Time. It's true 1 could not find Time to
write to you, or to any of my Friends, or ratiier liud I found
Time & been Mover ho willing, 1 could not have found proper
conveniences to write, unleHs I had wrote u])on y" (Irassin
y" open Air. Hut now, Tlumk God, I've tilings a little bet-
ter settli d about me. For I've now a sort > f a House, a Ta-
ble, a Desk, some Chairs, Paper & Ink, Cn idles &c., which
in great part, I wanted all last year." '" I have now my
Cows, my Sheep, Hogs, Turkeys, Geese cfe other Di^'itrhill
Fowl, I've my own Grain «fe make my own Bread

Father Hitler, the energetic successor of the ^ od
Schneider, was constantly visiting his extended di. <^ri .
faith was gaining at Heading. A clergyman of the "'Mrriii
of England wrote from that place, June 25, 1765 : •' The
Popish congregation hero are served by a Jesuit priest once
a iiioiith, and it appears are a considerable body from the
number of communicants among them on Trinity Sunday
last, who are said to liavo exceeded 200." • Father Hitter
certainly secured ground in Reading that year, for he records
an interment in the Catholic cemetery on the 11th of No-
vember ; and his Register gives evidence that he had reared
a little chur<'h before the summer of the following year, for
on the 11th of May, 1766, he records two baptisms in the
chapel at Reading.'

He also visited Haycock's, where the Catholics collected at
Ed. Carty's house, Tinicum, Cedar Creek, which he latinizes

' Father .Joseph Moslcy to Mrs. Dunn, Tuckahoe, Oct. 14, 1766.
' Rev. Alexandc r Murray to Secretary Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel.
' Hegistcr of Goshcnhoppen.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Torreutem (Jedron, the Blue Mountains, Mount Oley (Mon-
tein Oliveti), Miigunshi, Falkner's Swamp, Rich Valley, Alle
Mangel, Paint Forge, seeking far and wide careless and neg-
ligent Catholics, till in 1771 the holy sacrifice was offered in
Easton and Allentown.

From St. Joseph's Father Farmer made extended tours
through New Jersey, from Long Pond, now Greenwood
Lake, on the New York line, Ringwood and Charlottenburg
in that vicinity, to Gothland, Concord, Pikesland, Pilengrove,
the Glass House, Salem, and Cohansey in the South.

About this time thio intrepid priest may have reached
New York ; but the danger attending his visits api)arently
prevented any record being made. There is not only tradi-
tion but a positive statement of Archbishop Carroll, who was
associated on the mission in this country with Farnier for
twelve years, that that excellent priest had a little Catholic
congregation in New York before the Revolution.'

It would seem even that he Inid a recognized chapel which
was burned during the war, apparently in the great confla-
gration which followed the retreat of the American army
after the terrible defeat at Brooklyn. Where this cha])el
stood there is nothing to indicate, but the fact of its destruc-
tion by fire is mentioned some years after by two French
officials in their reports to their government."

' In my boyhood I heard from my grandmother, Mrs. M. \. (MeCur-
trtin) Flanu.tcan, tliat Father Farmer, whom she remembered distinctly
and venerated, had visited New York before the Uevolution. Finding
notliinir to corroborate the fact, which Campln?!!, De Courey, and Arch-
bisliop Hayley stated on my family tradition, I had grown skeptieal, when
I met the positive statement made in the draft of Archbishop CarroU'a
reply to Smyth.

" Letter of Barbe Marbois to the Minister, December 26, 17R4. Letter
of Mr. Otto, Charge d'Affaires to tiie Minister, .Tam-ary a, 178*5. I owe
this correspondence to the kind and friendly courtesy of Mr. Robert 8t.

LETTER OF FATHER MOSLEY.

i'A

There is no indication in Father Farmer's registers of aiij
visits to New York, and it is impossible to fix the time when
he began his labors in that city. Yet the act prohibiting the
very presence of a Catholic priest within the limits of the
colony still stood on the statute-book of New York and was
a])pealed to as still in force, by the British authorities during
the Eevolution, as we shall see hereafter.

In 1770 Father Mosley wrote : " I am still living on a new
settlement, that is a Child of my own Care and Industry. I
was pitched upon as a proper Person to begin it ; it had been
gi-eatly wanted for many Years for y" good of those Parts,
& by y" Plelp of God & good Friends, I began it & have
nigh tiuished it to my satisfaction : We lived on it nigh 7
Years. I confess it has been a very troublesome Jobb to
me ; y° hardest that I ever undertook in my Life. The
Fatigues of a Long and numerous Mission, with y" attend-
ance on this new Place in its Infancy almost worsted me. I
suffered in it, for want of almost every necessary of Life :
& wliich cuu'd not be avoided by any one that shou'd under-
take it, as it lay at such a Distance from any of our Places,
from which alone I cou'd expect any Relief. But thank
God, I can now almost live with some Comfort, as I begin
to have things grow aljout me."

By this time Father Williams had been succeeded at Fred-
erick by Rev. John Walton. Father Joseph Hathersty, after
laboring at Newtown, became an assistant in Philadelphia,
leaving at his early death, May 8, 1771, at the age of thirty-
five, the re])utation of a most holy and zealous missionary."

.lohn (le Crflvecceur, biographer nnd descendant of J. Hector St. John
de Crfivecocur, first French Consul at New York.

' Rev. Joseph Mosley to Mrs. Dunn, September 8, 1770.

• Rev. W. P. Treacy, " Catalogue of our Missionary Fathers." in
Woodstock Letters, xv., pp. 97-^.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

^ .

ill

He was soon followed to the grave bj the Eev. Robert
Harding, who closed his twenty-three years' pastorship of St.
Joseph's Church in that city, in his seventieth year, by a
happy death, on Tuesday, September , 1772.' His un-
bounded charities, his zeal in the nnnistry, his patronage of
liiierican art in the person of Benjamin West, and his sup-
port of the claims of the colonists made him respected and
venerated by all.

" The funeral was the next, day attended by most of the
clergy and respectable inhabitants of the city to the jilace of
interment in the new chapel near the altar, where divine
service was celebrated and a sermon preached from the pul-
pit by the Rev. Mr. Farmer to a very crowded auditory."

In 1770 the Jesuit Fathers in Maryland, undeterred by the
increasing difficulties of the Society, resolved to undertake
the erection of a church in Bah i more. The clergy of the
Established Church had grown so unpopular that when, in
1770, a law granting a revenue to them expired, the Assem-
bly refused to re-enact it. This left no law on the statute-
book under which they could exact contributions from the
people except that of 1702. To this an objection was now
made, that the law was invalid and null, as it was passed
after the death of William III. by an Asseml)ly called under
him and as of his reign. Catholics would not have dared to
raise this question, but when others did they doubtless prof-
ited by the uncertainty.' The discussion of the question was

' ' ' Pennsylvania Packet, " September 7, 1778. The same paper contains
Caspipina (Duche's) Letter, dated .January 14. 1773, referring to Father
Ilardinp. afterward reprinted in " {'a.spipina's liCtters," London, 1777,
i., p. 136. Tliere is a tribute to Father Harding in " Travels from Paris
through Switzerland and Italy by a Native Pcnnsylvanian in 1801 and
1802," London, 1808, p. 225.

' Oambrall, " Church Life in Colonial Maryland," Baltimore, 1885, p.
248.

A CHURCH IN BALTIMORE.

warm, and engaged able men on both sides in the journals
of the day, in public meetings, and courts of law, till the
matter was compromised in 1773.'

The "-reat political movement in the colonies against im-
posing taxes on the people of America without their consent
colored and heightened the controversy, especially after the
Governor of Maryland attempted to im])cse fees by procla-
mation. " The truth is, the American Revolution had then
l)e«nin, for it is a mistake to suppose it commenced in the
days of Bunker Hill and Lexington. It began before. It had
its connnencemeut in the discussions of great principles of
government to which men's minds were brought by the agi-
tation of various kindred questions in all these colonies ; and
Bunker Hill mid Lexington were but fields for the display
of the first overt acts that developed principles of some years'
standing, for the support of which these injured colonies
had, not hastily, but deliberately, resolved to peril all they

had." '

" Abont the year 1770," says a gentleman, who was one of
the little Catholic flock at Baltimore in 1768, " the Catholics
having increased in numbers determined to build a church.
A lot for this purpose, fronting on Saratoga and Charles
Streets, was obtained from Mr. Carroll, and on the northwest
side of it a very plain brick building was erected, of the
n'odest dimensions of about twenty-five by thirty feet, long

' Hawks, " Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of the United
States," ii., pp. 203-269.

» In a newspaper dialogue " Second Citizen " defended a proclamation
of the Governor, in which he attempted to regulate fees, etc., without
the consent of the Assembly. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, under the
signature of "The First Citizen," attacked it with such learning and
skill that Daniel Dulany, the leader of the Maryland bar, attempted to
answer him, but was completely worsted in the controversy. Scharf ,
" History of Maryland," ii., p. 127.

I ■»■

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

known as St. Peter's Church. Mr. John McNabb erected
or superintended the building until the walls and the roof
were completed. It is i)robal)le that the church was then
used for the purposes of worship, although in an unlinished
state. Before its completion the superintendent failed in
business, owing a debt, on account of the building, of two
hundred pounds, in Maryland currency (about five hundred

and forty dollars). The principal creditor, Mr. P , locked

up the church and kept possession of the key until 1 774, or
177o. Griffith, in his Annals of Baltimore, says, ' By a ludi-
crous suit agiiiust Ganganelli, pope of Rome, for want of
other defendant to recover the advances of Mr. McNabb,
who became a bankrupt, the church was some time closed,
at the commencement of the revolution, and the congrega-
tion assembled in a private house in South Charles Street
until possession was recovered.' " '

It would seem that with the growing feeling of toleration
toward Catholics, .iie Maryland priests had ventured to se-
cure a piece of ground and rear a log-cabin on the soil of
Virginia. A Catholic church in Alexandria is mentioned as
early as 1772 in a work of doubtful authenticity.'

In the following year a number of Catholic Highlanders
from Glengarry, invited by Sir "William Johnson, came over
and took up lands in the Mohawk valley, and ))rospered so
that further emigration to New York was cert-.in.'

' This is one of the reminiscences obtained by the historic zeal of Col.
B. U. Campbell. " The Religions Cabinet," 1848. p. 811.

•' Peyton, "Adventures of My Grandfather," London, 1867. Wood-
stock Lettt'rs, xiv., p. 97.

' " An emigration from Qlenparry to Albany in America, had suc-
ceeded so well m to make it certain that another body of emipjanls would
leave the Highlands in a short time. The destitution in that part of the
country was verj- great." Gordon, ".lournal and Appendix to Scoto-

JESUITS NOTIFIED OF THE SUPPRESSION. 77

Wo have seen how the Brief " Dominus ac Redemptor,"
signed by Pope Clement XIV., July 21, 1773, was enforced
at Bruges. It was soon enforced in the American mission.

On tlie 6tii of October Bishop Challoner transmitted to
tlie clergy in the British Provinces, all members of the Soci-
ety, the following :

" To Messrs. the Missioners in Maryland and Pennsylvania :
" To obey the orders I have received from above, I notify
to you by this the Breve of the total dissolution of the Soci-
ety of Jesus ; and send withal a form of declaration of your
obedience and submission, to which you are all to subscribe,
as your brethren have done here ; and send me back the for-
mula with the subscriptions of you all, as I am to send them

up to Rome.

" Ever yours,

" October G, 1773. Richard Deboren, Y. Ap."

The form which they were required to subscribe was as
follows :

" Infrascripti Congregationis Clerieorum regularium Soci-
etatis Jesu dudum nuncupati presbyteri in Districtu Londi-
nensi IMarylandiae et Penii'^ylvanife missionarii, facta nobis
declarati(jne et publicatione Brevis Apostolici a Ssmo Dfio
nostro Clem. PP. XIV editi die 21 Julii 1773 quo proedictam
Congregationem et Sociotatem petiitus supprimit et extiiiguit
toto orbi terrarum ; jubetque illius instituti Presbyteros tan-
quam Sacerdotes sjeculares, Episcoporum regimini et auctori-
tute omnino subjectos esse, nos supradicti brevi \)\ew et
sincere obtemperantes et omnimodo dictae Societatis suppres-

ohronicon and Monaaticon," Glasgow, 1807, p. 127. This is said ia 1773,
so that the emigration probably preceded that year.

t 1*'

( t'

It 1 1

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

sioni humiliter pf 'jjiescentes supramemorati Episcopi Vicarii
apostoliei, taiupiu; i presbjteri sseculai-es jurisclietioni et regi-
miui 1108 oiiinino subjicimus."

By this final blow the English pro^/ince of the Society of
Jesus was annihilated with its Aineri<an mission ; its priests
became isolated clergymen, fnr removed from a bishoj), and
subject to one unable to visit them, and who had declared to
the Proj)aganda his utter inability to supply priests for these
ren)ote churches.

The mission of the Society of Jesus in MarylaiMl which
had suijf'i xl from 1634, a period of one lunulrel and
thirty nine years, was thus aimihilated. Tie novitiu(e and
scliolasticates in Europe which had hitherto snp])lie(l iuIk-
sioners for t!)e wo''k- were already suppressed ; the Fathers
became secular prici^t;.. but the venerable Vicar-Apostolic
of London had no njoans of supplying clergymen for the
extensive missions \)\m ih.o vo sutldenly upon him. From
the \'ory necessity <>f t!i/. circnmi-itances Bishop Challoner
left the Maryland clergy as they were. The Su])erior of
the Mission, Rev. John Lewis, continued to act as his Vicar-
General, appiirently without a new appointment, and held
the office till the death of Bisliop Challoner in 1781.' There
Mere in all nineteen Fathers,' several of them more than

' Some writers (see Woodstock Letters, vi., p. 10) assume that Father
Le\\is iK^.^amu Vicar-General after tlie suppression ; liut as the Superior
of the -Mission had apparently always been appointed Vicar-General, I in-
fer from Bp. Curroll's lanjruage, that Father Lewis continued to act under
powers already conferred, and wliich ceased only on the death of the
Jjishop.

'' At the time ?,f the suppression the Rev. John Lewis was Superior of
the Mission, the priests under him being Rev. George Hunter and John
Bolton at St. Thomas' Manor, Port Tobacco, with Revs. Louis Hocls,
Benedict \eale, Arnold Livers ; the Rev. James Walton and Ignatius .Mat-
thews at Newtown ; Rev. John Lucas and Joseph Doyne at St. Inigoes ;

11.

I '

^J I

; 1

n *

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

sixty years, and only one as young as thirty. Tliero were
some American Fatliers in Europe wlio niiglit return to tlieir
native hinti, but as other iniswionaries in Maryland might
retire to Europe to die among their own Ivindred, the num-
ber was not likely to increase ; and no stops were taken to
keep up a supply of priests in this country. One of the mis-
sionaries, achlressing his sister in England, wrote : "And now
I mention it, I can't do it without tears in my Eyes. Yes,
dear Sister, our Body or Factory is dissolved, of wliicli your
two brothers are members; and for myself I know I am an
unworthy one, when 1 see so many worthy, saintly, pious,
learned, laborious miss rs dead and alive been mem-
bers of y" same, thro' y" last two ages. I know no Fault that
we are guilty oif. I am convinced that our Labours aiv ]m\\\
upriglit & sincere for God's honour & our Neighbour's (tood.
Wliat our Supreme Judge on Earth may think of our Labours
is a Mystery to me. He \\?.s hurt his own Cause not us. It's
true he has stigmatized us thro' ye AVorld with Infamy &
declared us mifit for our Business or his Service. Our disso-
lution is known thro' y'' World, its in every News-Paper,
which makes me ashamed to show my Face." . ..." As

Hev. .John Ashton at Whitemnrsh ; Rev. Bernrtnl Diderick at Boone's
Chapel ; Rev. .John Boone and tlie aged Hev. Thos. Diir.u'es at .Mel wood ;
Rev. .Joseph Mosley at Tuckiihoe ; Rev. .James Franibacli iit Frederick ;
Rev. Peter Morris and Matthiiw Manners at Bohemia ; Hev. Ferdinand I-'ar-
mer and liobert Molyneux at Philadelphia ; Rev. FiUeas Geisleraiid Rev.
.James I'ellentz at Conewaf,'o ; Rev. .J. B. de Hitter at Goshenlioiipen.
(I.ist compiled by Bishop B. J. Fenwick, follo\v<>d by B. U. Campbell,
"U. 8. Cath. Mag.," iii., 171, 365, corrected in Woo<lstoek I.etfers, vi.,
p. 9 ; .XV., p. 98.) These were soon joined by the American Fathers Syl-
vester and .John Boarman, who arrived March 21, 1774; by Fathers
Charles Sewall and Au,','ustine .Jenkins, wlu) arrived May 24 ; and by
Father .John Carroll, who arrived .June 26, accompanied by p-ather
Anthony Carroll, a nutivrt of Ireland, who returned to P^ngland in the
following year.

THEIR DEJECTION.

we're judged unserviceable, we labour with little Heart &

what is worse by no Kule. To my great Sorrow y" S ty

is abolished, with it must dy all that zeal that was founded &
raised on it. Labour for our Neighbour is a J . . . . t's
Pleasure, destroy y* J . . . . t «fe Labour is painful & dis-
agreeable. I must allow with Truth, that what was my
Pleasure is now irteome. Every Fatigue I underwent
caused a secret & inward Satisfaction, its now unpleasant &
disagreeable, every Visit to y° Sick was done with a good
Will, its now done with as bad a one. I disregarded this
unhealthy climate & all its Agues & Fevers, which have
realy paid me to my Heart's Content, for y" sake of my Eule.
Y'^ Night was agreeable as y' Day, Frost & Cold as a warm
Fire or a soft lied, y" excessive Heats as welcome as a cool
Shade or pleasant Breezes, but now y" scene is changed y"
J ... t is metamorphosed into I know not wliat, he is a Mon-
ster, a scare-crow in my Ideas. With Joy I impaired my Health
«fe broak my Constitution in y" Care of my Flock. It was y*
J . . . t's call it was his whole Aim & Business, The J .... t
is no more, he now endeavours to repair his little Remains of
Health & his shatter'd Constitution as he has no Rule calling
him to expose it." '

Yet this natural discouragement soon vanished. Every

' Letter to Mrs. Dunn, Blndon, England, dated 3d October, 1774, and
signed ".Jos Mosley S.J. forever aa I think and hope." Not a single
missionary employed on the Mission here withdrt;w to England as the
troubles a]iproached, or while the war was in progress, sought protection
from the British. In view of the shamefiil charges made against the
patriotism of our Catholic clergy by modern enemies, it is well to bear
this fact in mind. The clergyman who came over with Dr. Carroll,
crossed the ocean on private business, and returned when it was settled,
lie was never actually attached to the American mission. The contractions
in the letter .scarcely need explanation. The words are " Missioner,"
" Society," ".Jesuit."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

single missionary remained at his post, and the Ciitln>lic8
were not deprived ol" their disinterested pastors. One gi-eat
danger was averted.

Meanwhile the English colonies in \u!i>nca had, from the
close of the war with France, h fu u I'l . "istant fever of
political excitement. Acting na sci^aiiio governments, the
several colonies had furnished soldiers and supplies for that
struggle, hut after the peace ut Paris they found that England
insisted on taxing them tliraigh her Parliament, in which
America had no reprt-eiitation. There was at first no tlwui'^'it
of independence. Even as event after event increased the
colonial feeling agninst England, neither the colonies nor the
mother-country seemed to have the least forecast of the ulti-
mate result, althou'rii it was freely canvassed in the council of
the French kiiig.' The colonists claimed only their rights as
British subject- -ud were as proud of being Mich, as any who
resided in Enghind itself. As late as June, 1775, the Con-
tinental Congress asked God to bless "our rightful sovereign
King George III " Engliind neither granted relief nor ex-
erted force, but kept agitation alive, till all loyalty insensibly
died out in the hearts of her American subjects.'

The attempt to raise a revenue by the Stamp Act, which
required all legal and comn.ereial documents to be on stamped
paper, roused a firm and defiant ojiposition, in wbicl.' the
stamps were destroyed and the English ofticials a[)pointed
were forced to promise not vo act. The hw was repealed,
but as the principle that Parliament had tiie right to tax tho
colonies was not abandoned, the spirit of oppositi' , though

' Collcvilk', " Les Missions SecriStes du GenSral-Major Baron de Kalb,"
Paris. mS'}.

'See Letters of John Jay and John Adnras in Bottn, "Is. E. Hist.
Gen. Tlcg.," xxx., p. 326.

^S^-*

PATRIOTIC FEELING.

latent, was watchful and suspicious.' Wlien Parliaint.it ai-
tenipted to tax tea, paints, and ^lass, the opposition becanie
even more bold and decided, unawod by the prewetjce of
troops, and tlie colonies met in a Congress which hoped to
justify its name of Continental. The dispatch of tr()Oi)s to
Auiorica, tin- dosing of the port of Jioston, and the Quebec
Act precij... ited events, and the attempt of (ieneral Gage
iitl3o8ton 10 seize colonial ammunition and stores brought on
the first engagement between English soldiers and American
militia.

In the general fci'ling that pervaded the colonies the Cath-
olics in Maryland and Pennsylvania were in ])erfect harmony
with their fellow-colonists. Among their clergy those of
Anieric!!" birth like Carroll, and ten others who soon after
returned from Europe, were ardent in the claim ] forth
for the rights of British subjects which were denii . them.
Among those of English birth the feeling was apparently
strong, as there is no indicatiun that any of them sought to
return to England, and Duche in his " Caspipiiui's Letters"
bears tribute to the patriotic feeling displayed by Father
Robert Harding at Philadelphia." Among the German
Catholics and tlieir clc-ury, ♦^o whom the political ques-
tions 'vere not as dear u in lligible, there was probably
less act . vity.

1 jje hostile feeh't , oked by the Quebec Act was evanes-
cent. The child fear magi ; i^' dangers soon gave
]>lacc to the practical i^uestio i-foro them.

The newspapers in the colonicf »> eh before 1Y03 teemed
witii articles ai. 1 pa ages f. " i>f hostility to the Church, as-

' " Pennsylvania 1 cket," June 12, 1775.
The Letter was printed in the " Pennsylvania Packet ' ember '

1772 in which also ippeared the notice of Father Hardinjz ith.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

i \

I if

H! 5

8U111C1I a (li£feront tone after the conquest of Canada, and
anti-Catholic items became rare.'

Religious liberty became a theme for popular diecussion,
and when <nce treated could not be restricted to the old
narrow limits." People began to doubt whether " Popery "
was such " an implacable enemy to the general liberties of
mankind": and the discussions of ' ,u Quebec Act after the
first outburst of the old virulence, led to more kindly fcel-

CHURCn OP ST. lONATIUB, ST. INI0OE8, MD.

ings. The best token is seen in the open way in which
Catholics erected churches, and extended their missions.
Not only were the houses of the clergy restored in St.
Mary's County, a residence at St. Inigoes, and a nev; cliapel

' See Extrncis from Colonial Papers in " U. 8. Catholic Hist. Mng.,"
vol. i.. N. Y., 1887.

' 8ec "The Palladium of Conscience : or, the Foundation of Relipious
Liberty, Displayed, Asserted, and Established." Philadelphia, 1773.
Partii'., pp. 27, 47. 69, 105,

CARROLL AT ROCK CREEK.

erected iit Newtown by Father Ashbcy ; a new residence at
St. Thoniiw' by Father CJeorge Hunter, the Frederick cliurch
mid houHe enlarged, the church at Baltimore, begun in appar-
ent defiance of tlie law, was attended throiigli the period of
tlie Revolution by Rev. IJernard Diderick. In Pennflylva-
nia also, at Lancaster and Philadelphia, even greater progress
was made.

Sucli was the condition of the Church in this country when
the Rov. John Carroll returned, with the view of devoting
the rcHt of bin life to mission work among the people of the
colonics, whose political and religious future were alike in a
critical state.

When the suppression of the Society of Jesus dissolved
the English province and its Maryland mission, the members
in America formed a kind of association, using the old jjrojv
erty to afford from its annual income a support to all the
clergy, then somr5 nineteen in number. Rev. Mr. Carroll
was invited to join this association, but as it lacked a formal
Bimction of the Vicar- Apostolic, and of the authorities in
Rome, prudence dictated caution, and he resolved to act sim-
ply as a missionary priest under the faculties he held, rather
than become subject to removal from place to ])lace.

The Rev. Mr. Carroll wished to take up his residence with
his mother and begin a mission in that district, which was
without a resident priest. Possessing faculties from the Vicar-
Apostofc in England, he recognized fully his Vicar-General
in America, but did not feel inclined to yield obedience to a
body constituted without authority from the Bishop or the
Holy See. His life as a religious had been spent on the Con-
tinent, where France and Austria had seized all the property ;
the members of the Society in England had not regarded him
as entitled to any share in the income from any property
there, inasmuch as he had never been on the English mission.

m- (

' S,

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

He was now cut off from any share in the property of the
Society in his native Maryland, and having on making his
hist vows resigned his property to his brothers and sisters,
lie was utterly without means.

His mother and sisters had removed their residence from
his native place, Upper Marlborough, to Kock Creek, near
the Potomac, about ten miles from the present capital of the
country. Here the American priest beheld a field of labor
where much could be accomplished. There were Catholics
in the neighborhood, and many at greater or less distance
who could be reached l>y a priest willing to devote himself
to their service. There were stations in Virginia which iiad
been occasionally attended by the P'athers till the difficulties
of the order diminished the nuu'ber of missioners, and none
came from abroad to replace th, o whose vigor was impaired
by age or over-exertion.

The Rev. Mr. Carroll could attend the district extending
from his motlier's house at Rock Creek to his brothcr-in law
Brent's mansion at Aquia ('reek in Virginia, much more suc-
cessfully than any other priest, and the Vicar-General appar-
ently allotted the district expressly to him.

A room in the mansion at Rock Creek was the first chapel,
and the people gathered gratefully from the surrounding
country, to hear mass and revive their faith in the clear prac-
tical instructions of the clergyman who had won attention in
the polished literary circles of France and the Netherlands
as well as in the castles of the English nolnhty. The little
congregation at Rock Creek grew so rapidly that it was soon
necessary to prepare a special building, and the erection of
St. John's church was begun about half a mile from his
residence.

It was, from idl we know, the first church under secular
clergy established in Maryland, and the first after St. Peter's

THE VIRGINIA MISSION.

churcli in Baltimore, reared by a congregation which sup-
ported a pastor — a system common enough to us now, but
till then unknown in Maryland, where tht Jesuit Fathers
had !naintained the services of religion at their own expense.

The Maryland distrjct thus undertaken by Rev. Mr. Car-
roll had generally been visited at times from Port Tobacco:
the Virginia side was one of great danger. It is said that
Father Frambach from Frederick, visited it only by night,
and slept beside his horse, ready to mount and put him to his
full speed at the slightest warning ; and that more than once
the bullets of the pursuers whistled around the head of the
devoted jii'iest, for whose blood men were thirsting in their
hatred of the Church of the Living God.

By the firesides of Catholic Maryland was long told how
the great Father George Hunter, whose reputation for sanc-
tity was general and enduring, was once summoned at night
by two young men who guided him to the Potomac, ferried
him over by quick and noiseless strokes of the oars, then gal-
loped with him to the cottage on horses ready for them.
After the dying Catholic had been ])repared by all the blessed
means the Church affords for tlie terrible hour, !iis mysterious
guides conducted the good priest down the Virginia roads,
across the Potomac to his own door, and there in the bright
moonlight vanished utterly from sight. No such youths were
known among the Catholics on either side of the river.
That good Father Hunter believed them to liave b^en angels
sent to guide him to a soul whose prayers had reached the
throne of God, has ever since been the tradition in Maryland.'

' Fiithcr Franibiich'H peril is reft'rrcd to by several writers. " The Ju-
bilee at Mount St. Mary's," New York, 1859, p. 32; " U. 8. Catholic
Maarazine," iii., p. 171. The ineident in the life of Father George Hun-
ter is pix-pn on the authority of Father Charles Stonestreet, in ' ' Tlio
Messonarerof the Sacred Heart," xxii., p. 609.

/ #

H II »

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Yet Virginia had been the scene of the labors of Domini-
can and Jesuit before Protestantism set foot on its soil,
which had been bedewed with the blood of martyrs. In the
very outset of Maryland history it had been a field where
Father Altham, the companion of Andrew White, had
labored.

Such was the field on which the American priest, restored
to his native land, began the exercise of his ministry. " He
was obliged to keep a horse for the long journeys required in
visiting his regular stations and attending the sick. It is not
improbable also that he observed the custom of his brother
priests in Maryland at that time of inviting to breakfiist
those who had come from a long distance to partake of holy
comnmnion— a kind and thoughtful proceeding no dcubt,
and characteristic of Maryland hospitality, but none the less
a pecuniary burthen to the host," and in his case a heavy
one in view of his slender resources.'

Til- pastor of Rock Creek gave his brief and occasional
moments of leisure to study, though he suffered from a want
of books, his Uttle personal collection having been seized by
the Austrian government, and there being no large library
accessible to him. He kept up a correspondence with friends
and persons of distinction abroad : and at the same time
many gentleinen .f Virginia and Maryland sought the ac-
quaintance and enjoyed the conversation of the polished
scholar, familiar with many European languages, fully versed
in questions relating to the different countries of the Old
World. He impressed all with his abi'ity and piety, as well

• Woodstoc'.! Letters, vii.. p. 11. The little missal used by R«'v. Mr.
Carroll durinK his mission lifr iit Rock Crock was presented to George-
town Colleire by Bishop C:hftiK-he, of Natchez, and is preserved in the
Library. lb., p. 73. " Georpefown College .lournivl," vi.

CHAPEL AT ROCK CREEK.

as by a cultivated grace and refinement, wliich was his cliar-
acteristic through hfe.*

Writing in 1844, Colonel Bernard U. Campbell says of the
chapel at Rock Creek, then standing :

" At the distance of half a mile from his residence was the
church in which he officiated on Sundays and hohdays, an
humble frame building of about thirty feet square, which
still remains, though often patched and seldom painted, a
frail and tottering memorial of its saintly pastor, and an evi-
dence of the humble condition of Catholics sixty years ago." '

Unfortunately no sketch of it seems ever to have been
made before it was removed, some years afterward, to give
place to a more substantial edifice.'

"When Florida by the treaty of 1763 ceased to be a part of
the dominions of his Catholic Majesty, the inhabitants at first
regarded the change as one to be of short duration. Many
prepared to remain, but the violence of Major Ogilvie and
the first British olficials soon produced a change, and the

' B. U. Campbell, " Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll." '• U. S.
Catholic Magazine," iii., p. 365.

» lb., p. 793.

' My eflforts to obtain a sketch or detailed description of this church
have been fruitless. " Since that time," says the historian of George-
town College in the Woodstock Letters (vii., p. 14), "the old building
has been replaced by a larger frame structure, more neatly kept and at-
tended twice a month by the pastor of Hockville. It bears the name of
St. .lohn's, as doubtless its predecessor did — a tribute by the original
builder to the apostle whose name he bore, and whose virtues he imitated.
Around it lie the graves of many Carrolls, relatives of the first pastor, a-
were also the Brents, Diggeses, and perhap." Fen wicks, Neales, etc., who
are buried here. Within the enclosure of the Ijrents is the grave of his
venerable mother ; the headstone, now after more than fourscore years,
sunk so as partly to obscure the inscription. The old mansion, with its
holy memc.ries of mother and son, was destroyed by fire many years
since, and its site is occupied by a modern dwelling."

' ^'.mt

' N

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Spanish population emigrated almost in a body. To protect
the church property from seizure by the British government,
Don Juan Jose Eligio de la Puente, an officer appointed by
the Spanish monarch, conveyed in trust to John Gordon, for
the nominal consideration of $1,000, the Bishop's House, on
the public square ; the Convent of St. Francis for $1,500,
and the church of Nuestra Seuora de la Leche for $300 ; and
convoyed the site of the new parish church and the still un-
finished walls to Jesse Fish for $100.'

Bishop Morel, of Santiago de Cuba, by a decree d-.ted
February 6, 1761, ordered an inventory to be made of all the
vestments, altars, statues, bells, and plate beh)nging to the
Parish Church and Confraternities of St. Augustine, and
these articles were conveyed to Havana in the schooner
" Nuestra Senora de la Luz." '

In direct violation of the treaty the Catholic inhabitants
were at once subjected to vexations ; the Bishop's house was
seizetl for the use of the Church of England ; the Franciscan
Convent, inasmuch as it had the best well of water in the
place, was seized for the use of the British troops, and extoa-
give l)arracks were erected on the old foundations, with lum-
ber imported from New York.' A general system of de-

' The project, however, failed Gordon was ii wealthy South Caroli
nian and Fish his agent. They purchased largely from the outfjoin-
Spanianls, but the new English authorities refused to allow the deeds to
bt! recorded. The English officials disregarded (intirely the conveyances
of the church iiroperty, and proceeded to take possession of it, in deti-
ance of the provisions of tin- treaty.

' Reports of Don Josf del Kosario Natte in Report of Solicitor of the
Treasury. Januarj- 27, 1847 (Senate), pp. 27-30. " The Case of Mr. .luhn
Gordon, with respect to the title to cert4«in lands in East Florida [lur
cha.sed of His Catholick Majesty'* »'»' i^cto by him and Mr. Jesse Fish,"
London, 177'2.

■■'■ Roman, "A Concise Natural History of E»ist and West Florida,"

DESOLATION IN FLORIDA.

structioh was inaugurated. Of the suburbs of St. Augustine
uo trace was soon left, except the church in the Indian town
to the north of the city, which the Eiighsh converted into a
hospital. The steeple of the Franciscan church stood line a
monument of the sacrilegious work, and the parish church
was soon little more than a heap of ruins.

Thfc fifclesiastical property at Pensacola was no better re-
spected, and as far as possible all trace of her ancient Catli-
olicfty was swept from the soil of Florida.

let. by the twentieth article of the treaty between Spain
and England, the latter power had pledged itself to grant to
the inhal)itants of Florida " the liberty of the Catholic relig-
ion, and that his Britannic Majesty will, in consequence, give
the most exact and the most effectual orders that his new
Eoman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of their
religion according to the rites of the Koinish Church, so far
as the laws of Great Britain permit. His Britannic Majesty
further agrees that the Spanish inhabitants, or others who
had been subjects of the Catholic Ki.i^, in the said countries,
may retire with all safety and freedom, wherever they think
proper, and may sell their estates, provided it be to his Bri-
tannick Majesty's subjects." '

In reorganizing his new possessions the King of England,
by his royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, erected the
two governments of East and West Florida, the Apalaehi-
cola being the dividing line. In the latter, wliich extended
to the Mississippi, Mobile, ceded by France, was inrluded.
The inhabitants in this western part, like the French in
Louisiana, remained as a rule in the country. The Capuchin

Pliiliidelidiia, 1776, pp. 261-1; Hnldemand to Chirfholm, Novembir M,
17(t8; Biymner, "Report :>\- ij.inadian Archives," 1885, p. 449.
' For the legal effect -if tuis clause, see p.

i >»

I U M

4' !"■

\ , f

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Father, John Francis, on the 4th of March, 1763, and twenty-
two days later Father Ferdinand, of the same order, sign as
parish priests. The latter remained, recognized by the Cath-
olics and undisturbed by the English authorities, till the 18th
of April, 1769, when, for the last tune, he assumed the title
of parish priest.

He did not resume his ministry at Mobile till the 5th of
July, 1770, when he made a visit lasting to the 27th, baptiz-
ing' and administering the sacraments. In 1773 he made a
second mission to his old parish, his feeble hand showing
him broken by age. Then there is no trace of any priest at
Mobile till December, 1777, when Father Paul, a Capuchin,
was among the Catholics, baptizing negroes belonging to the
Krebs family. The visits probably extended to some points
on the coast between New Orleans and Mobile.'

The Spanish, who had at first proposed to remain at St.
Augustine and Pensacola, were soon forced by the vexations
of British officials to follow the mass of their countrymen.
The Congregation de Propaganda Fide had not overlooked
their spiritual wants : the Archbishop of Lepanto, Nuncio at
Madrid, was directed to ascertain the condition of the Cath-
olics left under British rule, but he could only reply that
they had all withdrawn from Florida."

It was not in the designs of Providence that Florida was
to be left without a Catholic iiopulation, that a land bedewed
with the blood of so many mart^TS was to l)e lost.

An association in England headed by Dr. Andrew Turn-
bull obtained a grant of lands at Moscpiito Inlet, where tliey
projiosed to establish extensive plantations and manufactories
of sugiir and indigo. To work these, fourteen hundred Mi-

' Repistcrs of Mobile.

« Archbishop of Lepanto to the Cardinal Prefect. April 24, 1764,

THE "MINORCANS."

norcans, Italians, and Greeks were brought over ])y Tuinbull
in eight vessels, which reached Florida June 26, 17G8.
These immigrants were conducted to Mosquito, where the
settlement of New Smyrna was founded.

The Catholic settlera were not left vithout spiritual
guides. The Rev. Dr. Peter Camps, mi&sionary-apostolic,
and Father Bartholomew Casas Novas, a Franciscan from
the Convent of Torro in Minorca, then held by the English,
came with the immigrants and revived the Catholic worship
in Florida as parish priest and assistant of San Pedro de Mos-
quito, and a church under that invocation was soon erected.
This now parish was established by the Bishop of Santiago
de Cuba, to whom the priests were subject, and Dr. Camps
had special faculties from Eome, empowei-ing him to confer
the sacrament of Coniirmation.'

The treatment of these settlers was cruel and oppressive in
the extreme," and though some writers now endeavor to palli-
ate the conduct of Turnbull, the evidence against him is over-
whelming. Nine hundred perished in nine years, although
the baptisms show a natural increase, indicative of getioral
health. Father Casas Novas, for his evangelical boldness in
remonstrating against the cruelties per] et -ated on his flock,
was seized and sent back to Europe. Doci w Tamps, not to
deprive the poor people of his ministry, labored on in silenco.

' The Register of Dr. Camps, bpjrinning in 1768, is extant, showin.:; 2t
baptisms in tlmt your ; 6 in 1769 ; 13 in 1770 ; 2& in 1771 ; 31 in 177:! ;
52,inl773, and 31 in 1774.

'' " The inhabitants of Minorca were originally Spaniards, and hostile to
Encland. Tlioy Iiad been permitted the full enjoyment of their reliirion
and properties, from the cession of the island to Great Britain by the
treaty of Utrecht to the present hour." " The .Justice and Policy of the
late Act of Parliament," etc., London, 1774. The Minorca precedent
suiiiwrted tiie construction of the treaty of Paris in 1703. The arrival of
tlve vessels is noticed in " Pennsylvania Chronicle," July 18-25, 1708.

;

:,]■

^^,.1^1

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Gov. Grant was in full sympathy with TurnhuU, and
when the unfortunate people rose in insurrection, he sum-
niarily tried and hajiged two of them.'

c^^ f^hMf C'^"¥

SEAL OF CnURCn OP BT, PETER AT MOBQUITO
AND 8IONATURK OF REV. DR. CAMPB.

The successful termination of the war gave England also
the territory northwest of the Ohio, the rival dainiB to which
had brought on the hostility between the two countries. Vir-
ginia and other seaboard colonies had set up claims to this
territory, but the British governtnent utterly disregarded
them. The French officers in capitulating in Canada showed
a laudable desire to preserve for the people, who had so gal-
lantly fought beside them, all their religious rights intact.
This' is attested by the Articles of Capitulation between Gen-
eral Amherst and the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of
C^anada, at Montreal in September, 17G0. The twenty-
seventh article provided : " The free exercise ..f the Catholic,
Apostolic, and Roman Religion, shall subsist entire, in such
manner that all the states and the people of the towns and
countries, places and distant posts, shall continue to assemble
in the churches, and to f reciuent the sacraments as lieretofore,

• An outbreak of the Greeks and Italians took place August 19. 170K,
under Carlo Fomi. Letter of August 29. 176H. Roman, "A Concise
IliBtoryof Florida," pp. 268-271; "Pennsylvania Chronicle," October
17-24, 1768.

THE CHURCH IN THE NORTHWEST.

without being nioleyted in any manner directly or indirectly.
Thertc people Hhall be obliged, by the English government, to
pay their priests the tithes, and all the taxes tliey were used
to pay under the Government of his Most Christi-^' Majesty."
To this General Amherst wrote : " Granted as t<> vm free ex-
ercise of their Eeligion ; the obligation of paying the tithes to
the priests will depend on the King's pleasure."

Article 28 read : " The Chapter, priests, curates and nus-
sionaries shall continue with an entire liberty, their exercise
and functions of cures, in the parishes of the towns and coun-
rries." Tuis was granted.

" Article 29. The Grand Vicars, named by the Chapter to
administer to the diocese during the vacancy of the Episcopal
see, shall have liberty to dwell in the towns or country par-
ishes, as they shall think proper ; they shall at times be free
to visit the different parishes of the diocese with the ordinary
ceremonies and exercise all the jurisdiction they exercised un-
der the French dominion. They shall enjoy the same rights
in case of the death of the future Bishop of which mention
will be made in the following article." To this Amherst
wrote, "• Granted except what regards the following article."
The 3Uth article was refused : " If by the treaty of peace,
Canada slsould remain in the power of his Britannic Majesty,
his most Christian majesty shall continue to name the Bishop
of the Colony, who shall always be of the Roman Communion,
and under whose authority the people shall exercise the Ro-
man religion."

"xVrticIe 31. The Bishop shall, in case of need, establish
new parishes, and provide for the rebuilding of his Cathedral
and his episcopal ])alace ; and, in the meantime, he shall have
the liberty to dwell in the towns or parishes as he shall jutlge
proper. He shall be at liberty to visit his diocese with the
ordinary ceremonies, and exercise all the jurisdiction whicli

It- «<'

1 4'

gg i/F£ Of' ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

hiB predeceBSor exercised under the French don.inion save
'ZZ o.th of tidelity, or a pronnso to do noth.ug .>n^a.y
to his Britannic Majesty's service, may be re<pured o h n
An'herst wrote: "This article is co.nprised under the tore-

^"'."Article 32. The co.nmunities of nuns shall he preserved
i„ their constitutions and privileges; they sba" -..t.nue to
live their rules, they shall be exempted fron. lodg.ng any
„>i,itary; and it shall bef..rbid to n.olest then. n> the.r r ^
;^!ous^ercises, or to enter their "--ter.s; ^a.^
slnll ever be given the.n, if they (Vsire them." "Granted.

;: Article 33. The preceding article shall likewise be exe-
cuted, with reg.ml to the communities of Jesuits and Kecol-
^^ and of tlfe house of the priests of St. Sulp.ce at Mon-
treal ; these last and the Jesuits shall preserve the.r r.ght to
„o„nnate to certain curacies (parishes) and nuss.ons as^ here
tofore" "Refused till the King's pleasure be known.

'^ Article 34. All the conununities and all the pnests, shall
preserve their moveables, the property and revenues of the
Lgniories and other estates which they possess ,n the co ony^
of what nature soever thr," be ; and the san.e estates shall be
preK^rved in their priv : ■ ... riglits, honors and exe.npt.ons.

This was granted. ,

Their care extended to the Indians. Yau<lrcml s 40th
article read: "The Savages or Indian allies of lus most
^ian Majesty, shall 1. maintained in the lands t^^^^^

l,,l,it : if they ehuse to re.nain there, they .-hall not be u.o-
lested on anv pretense whatsoever, for having earned arm«
and erved his most Christian Majesty; they shall have, as
r:;: the FrenclUiberty of religion, and Shan keep...

mi^ionaries. The actual Vicars-General an. the B hop
when the Episcopal see shall be filled, .hall have lea^e to
^d to them new missionaries when they shall judge .t nee-

I Mil

xilOHTS OF LATUOUCa.

OMwary." " Granted except the hwf article, which has been
already refused."

Under thene articles tl.r Chuiob vaa maint,, icd not only
in what we now call Canada, bnl the weHtem parts sub-
jc't to the Govern. , General of Mew Fruuce, at the begin-
ning of the war, from the frontier I'ne of posts l)etween
Niagara and Fort Dii(|Mesne to the Mhstiiseippi, south of the
gnat lakes. From this the French sought to except the
territory south i.l' thf watershed of the Wabash and Illinois
Rivers which had been t' illy subject to Louisiana; but the
English government insisted on including all the territory
north and west of the Ohio.

Tlie English authorities took possession of the western
country under these articles, while negotiations for a general
' 'caee wen- in i)rogresh, v.r were the religious rigl s of the
jMonle ovc -oked by the diplomatists. The French king in-
sist the free exeicise < '' the Roman Catholic religion
shall I' iiaintained there, an< the King of England will
give thf most precise and effi , tiiui orders that his new Ro-
man (' liolic subjects may, as licretofore, make jmblic pro-
fession of their religion according to the rites of the Roman
Church." '

The English ultimatum conceded this : " As to what con-
cerns the public profession and exercise of the Roman Cath-
olic religion in Canada, the new subjects of his Britannic
IVlajesty shall be maititained in that privilege without inter-
ruption or molestation."

The preliminary articles of peace signed at Fontainebleau
in November, 1702, provided: "His Britainiic Majesty on
his side agrees to grant to the inhabitants of Canada the lib-

' Smitli, " History of Canadii ; from its first Discovery to the i ace of
V,m," Quebec, 1815, i., pp. 367-369.
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33 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(7(6) 872-4503

■

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

erty of the Catholic rehgion. He will in consequence give
the most exact and effectual orders that his new Koman
Catholic Bi^bjects may profess the worship o then- rel g,on
according to the rites of the Koman Church as far as the
laws of Great Britain permit." r . . * PorJ«

As finally ratified, February 10, 1763, the treaty of Pans
contained this same stipulation.

The position of the Catholics dwelling m Northern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin-to use our pres-
ent names-was thus gxiaranteed by articles of capitulation,
and by a treaty long and carefully considered. It was con-
ceded at the time that the clause, "as far as the laws of
Great Britain permit," did not mean permit in England,
for that would have swept away all liberty whatever, but as
far as the laws of England permitted it to be professed in
territories that lay without the realm. Provinces, and cities,
and islands occupied by Catholics, had by the fortune of war
passed at times under English rule, so that the distinction
was well known, and the case of Minorca was familiar and

T6C6Dt

«In 1765 the Lords of Trade sent the following query to
Sir Fletcher Norton and Sir William De Grey, then At-
torney and Solicitor-General. ' Whether his Majesty s sul>-
iects, being Roman Catholics and residing in the countries
ceded his majesty in America by the treaty of Paris, are not
subiect, in those colonies, to the incapacities, disabilities, and
penalties, to which Roman Catholics in this kingdom are sub-
let by the law thereof I ' To which query those great men
answered on the 10th of June : ' That they were not. And
the advocate, attorney, and solicitor-general, in their joint re-
port to the Privy Council upon the propositions of the Board
of Trade, presented on the 18th of June, 1768, state it to be
their opinion: 'That the several acts of pariiament, which

TOLERATION.

impose disabilities and penalties upon the public exercise of
the Roman Catholic religion do not extend to Canada : and
that his Majesty is not by his prerogative enabled to abolish
the dean and chapter of Quebec, nor to exempt the Protest-
ant inhabitants from paying tithes to the persons, legally en-
titled to demand them from the Roman Catholics.' " '

Lord Thurlow too declared : " The free exercise of their
religion by the laity, and of their function by the clergy, was
also reserved." '

By the highest legal opinion in England therefore the
Catholics in our Northwestern territory 9fer& by the Treaty
of Paris secured in the full and complete enjoyment of their
religion as under the French rule, and of course in the pos-
session of their churches and ecclesiastical property, to such
an extent that not the King himself by his royal prerogative
could deprive the priest of his tithes, even from those not of
his faith.

The only restraint was that the Jesuits were not assured of
permanence in their Indian missions, but in point of fact the
three remaining Fathers, Potier, du Jauuay, and Lefranc
were never dirturbed.

The English authorities had very naturally refused to con-
cede to the King of France the nomination of future Bish-
ops of Quebec; but the Episcopate was recognized, and the
Dean and Chapter were, by sound legal authority, held to be
beyond the power of the English throne to suppress them.
The jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec and of the Vicars-

«.nJ"^ff' f"f'^' '"'.** ^°"''^°^ ^^^ ^^^ ^'^tof Parliament for making
more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Que
bee, etc. London, 1774, pp. 80-31.

' Consult ^ to the effect of the Treaty of Paris in Canada. "The

" 2nV p'yr'r^lf- *"^ '^' ^*'^°"*=« ^ ^"^^''^^^ Colonies,"
American Catholic Quarterly," x., p. 240.

''\.U

"■Mi

III

100 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Capitular during the vacancy of the see over our northwest
territory, was thus fully recognized by England. Priests
were maintained in their parochial and other rights, the relig-
ious orders and coninmnities retained their property, and the
people were free to enjoy the ministrations of their religion.
The first step in regard to the Catholics of the West was a
proclamation issued at New York by General Thomas Gage,
Commander-in-Chief of his Britannic Majesty's forces m

AlTlGnCH I

" Whereas, by the Peace concluded at Paris, the 10th of
February, 1763, the country of the Illinois has been ceded to
his Britannic Majesty, and the taking possession of the said
country of the Illinois, by the troops of his Majesty, though
delayed, has been determined upon ; we have found it good
to make known to the inhabitants—

" That his Majesty grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois,
the liberty of tiie Catholic religion, as it has already been
granted to his subjects in Canada. He has consequently
Len the most precise and efEective orders, to the end that
his new Eoman Catholic subjects of the Illinois may exercise
the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the
Romish church, in the same manner as in Canada

" That his Majesty, moreover, agrees that the Irench in-
habitants or others, who have been subjects of the inost
Christian king, may retire in full safety and freedom wher-
ever they please, even to New Orleans, or any other part of
Louisiana; although it should happen that the Spaniards
take possession of it in the name of his Catholic Majesty and
they may sell their estates, provided it be to subjects of his
majesty, and transport their effects, as well as their persons,
without restraint upon their emigration, under any pretence
whatever, except in consequence of debts, or of criminal
processes.

GAGE'S PROCLAMATION.

101

y
it

fi-
st
r-
[)f
ds
id
lis

18,

ce
ia1

" That those who choose to retain their lands and become
Bul^jects of his Majesty, shall enjoy the same rights and priv-
ileges, the same security for their persons and effects, and the
liberty of trade, as the old subjects of the king.

*• That they are commanded by these presents to take the
oath of fidelity and obedience to his Majesty, in presence of
Sieur Stirling, Captain of the Highland Regiment, the bearer
hereof, and furnished with our full powers for this purpose.

" That we recommend forcibly to the inhabitants, to con-
duct themselves like good and faithful subjects, avoiding by
a wise and prudent demeanor, all cause of complaint against
them.

" That they act in concert with his Majesty's officers, so
that his troops may take peaceable possession of all the forts,
and order be kept in the country. By this means alone they
will spare his Majesty the necessity of recurring to force of
arms, and will find themselves saved from the scourge of a
bloody war, and of all the evils which the march of an enemy
invo their country would draw after it.

'• We direct that these presents be read, published, and
posted up in the usual places.

"Done and given at headquarters. New York— signed
with our hand— sealed with our seal at arms, and counter-
signed by our secretary, this 30th of December, 1764.

" Thomas Gage.
" By his Excellency, G. Matnrin." '

It was apparently intended to include in the terra Illinois
country all the territory northwest of the Ohio. The fall of
Canada had created a kind of panic in this part, and many
supposing that France would retain Louisiana crossed the

I Brown, " The History of Illinois," New York, 1844, pp. 212-18.

Pt ji

102 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Mississippi River. The administrative Council at New Or-
leans seized the Jesuit Fathers in the portion subject to
Louisiana, and ordered the destruction of their churches,
after selling all the personal property at their missions. The
Eev. Forget Duverger, assuming an authority he did not
possess, pretended to give a title for the property of the
Seminarv of Quebec and left the country. No priests were
left anywhere in the northwest except Father Simplicius
Bocquet, Recollect Father, at Detroit, which had capitulated
to the English under Major Rogers, November 29, 1760 ;
the Jesuit Father du Jaunay, at Arbre Croche, Father Le-
franc, at Mackinac, and the Recollect Father, Luke Collet,

at Fort Chartres." _

The French in the West submitted, but the Indians could
not brook the defeat. Pontiac, the Ottawa chief, organized
an immense conspiracy, embracing tribes from Lake Superior
to Georgia. A simultaneous attack was made on all the
Encrlish frontier posts, and settlers were butchered and houses
given to the flames. Fort Sandusky, Fort St. Joseph, Fort
Michilimackinac, Fort Ouiatenon, Fort Miami and FortPres-
quile. Fort Le Boeuf and Fort Venango, were all taken.
In some cases not a soul escaped to tell the tale of the sur-
prise or defence. In others a few survivors remained as
prisoners in the hands of the excited red men.

The English authoritico, as we have seen, in speaking of
the Articles of Capitulation, had peremptorily refused to per-
mit the Jesuits to maintain their Indian missions, full of the
ignorant prejudice which prevailed against the devoted mem-

" Fort Michilimackinac was occupied by the English September 28,
1761 and Green Bay in October, but Fort Chartres, in Illinois, did not
lower the French flag till 1765. See Farmer, " History of Detroit and
Michigan," Detroit, 1884, p. 234: Kelton. "Annals of Fort Mackinac,
1884, pp. 36-7.

FATHER SIMPLICIUS. jQg

bers of the Society ' Their justification was now complete
Il.e two Jesuits, submitting to the designs of Providence
had hibored to reconcile the Indians to the change of flag'
The Ottawa Indians at Arbre Croche, Father du Jaunav's
mission, were less hostile to the English than the other tribes
and bands : " for the great influence of the priest du Jaunav
seems always to have been exerted on the side of peace and
fnendship." When the Chippewas came to Arbre Croche
with the survivors of Michiliniackinac, the Ottawas took them
from their captors, where they received kindlv treatment by
the missionary's influence exerted in their favo- Father du
Jannay did niore ; he set out through the country, swarming
w. 1. hostile Indians, to bear to Major Gladwin at Detroit a
letter from Captain Etherington, telling of the loss of his
post and of his condition. The priest fulfilled his dangerous
errand, passing thror.^h Pontiac's camp, and two days after-
ward was on Ins way back to the mission, where his presence
was so essential.'

At Detroit Father Simplicius continued his parochial func-
tions under the new govc nment, -' to which," he says in an
entry .n his Register, «it has pleased Divine Providence to
subject us. He seems, too, to have acted in concert with
Major Gladwin in suppressing public scandals.' Rogation
day m May, 1763, was celebrated by him in the usual man-
ner; the procession issued forth from the fort, although

' •' Some of the American governments, as the newspapers inform us
■ •■ Regl-te de SI. Anne du DeliDil," December 11. 1708.

104 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Pontine and his warriors were already encamped near the
town. Father Potier at Sandwich exerted all his authority
to keep the Hurons from joining Pontiac, and those who
still retained the faith hearkened to his persuasions and

menaces. ,

During the siege of Detroit the church-bell at St. Anne s
was silent for a time, but the Commandant directed the Catii-
olics to adhere to tiieir old customs, and once more the An-
gelus sounded over tiie waters.'

At last in his isolation tidings reached Bocquet tiiat Quebec
had once more a Bishop entiironed in the Cathedral of Laval."
« I presunied enough on tiie king's goodness to Hatter myself
that in his resolution to permit us the free exercise of our
holy religion, he would allow us to have a Bishop in partibm
with the titie and authority of apostolic legate, and I regarded
our lot as a happy one. But a titular Bishop of Quebec,
with all tiio prerogatives and honors attached to his dignity
and his title-but a French and European French bishop-
but a bishop selected from the very clergy of Quebec-this,
my Lord, in our actual position I do not understand and
cannot weary exclaiming O AUititdo ! But it is thus timt
God vouchsafes to visit his iieople, and to make us feel Imn,
and exercise over us his greatest mercies, when He seemed
fartiiest from us, and we seemed to have lost all hope."

The powers conferred on Father Simplicius by Bishop de
Pontbriand were continued by Very Rev. Mr. Montgoltier,
Vicar-General of tiie diocese during tiie vacancy of tiie see.
Bishop Briand had such confidence in tiiis faitiiful son of St.
Francis tiiat in the summer of 1768 he made him his Vicar-
General, and Father Simplicius signs in that capacity on the

' Pontiac Manuscript in Farmer, p. 530.

« He arrived at Quebec June 28. " New York Gazette." July 81. 1766.

THE CHURCH AT DETROIT.

105

28t]i of June.' More fortunate than the other priests in the
West who lived isolated from each other, he had near him
Father Peter Potier, whom he styles a holy religious and
after a time rector of the parish of Notre Dame du Sud.*
Fatiier Potier was frequently in Detroit. He was a master
of tiic Huron language ; he compiled a Huron grammar
based on Chaumonot's and a work containing the Radicals
and their derivatives to enable others to acquire the language,
and was most diligent in copying, even in duplicate, manu-
scripts left by his predecessors. Many of his works, in a
minute but clear hand, are preserved to this day.

Detroit with two zealous priests enjoyed with its sur-
rounding settlements a great advantage in suffering no inter-
ruption in the divine offices or the administration of the
sacraments. In a frontier settlement there were abundant
occasions of sin, and the priest was called upon to entreat,
exhort, and reprove. Yet at Detroit, even under the change
from Catholic to Protestant rule, vice did not become fre-
(jueiit.

In 1766 a foundling appears in the Register, and the
course adopted is worth notice. The entry is as follows :

" In the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-six the sixth of March was baptized Marie born that
night, whose father and mother are unknown to us. The
godfather was John Baptist Durant, the godmother Mary
Angelique Rochelot, who declared that they could not sign.
Which is attested.

" f. SiMPUCIUS BoCQUET,

" Recollect Missionary."
" In concert with the Sieur Legrand justice of the peace

' " Registre de St. Anne," July 26, 1764, October 2, 1774
«Ib., October 89, 1770.

"("'"'"(HfMsm^^^B

|mH

■HUHj

^^^^^H

' .-'^

f '

lOfi

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

in this city, we have given the said Miiry to the Sieur and
Dame Bouron to be brought uj), nourished, supported and
instructed in all the duties of the Catholic, Apcwtolio and
Roman religion, as their own child, and in compensation for
their care, pains and expense the said Mary on her side shall
he obliged to obey, serve, respect them, etc., in all proper
duty as becomes a christian girl towards her father and
mother and those who hold their place towards her, and this
to the age of twenty years, according to the laws and usage
of the colony. At Detroit this 7th March, 17(50.

" f. SlMPLICIUS B0€QUET,

" Recollect Missionary."

In October, 1707, in compliance with the decision and
positive orders of Bishop Briand, dated August 7th, Father
Simplicius declared a marriage contracted in January to be
mill and void and the issue illegitimate : but the Bishop
granting a dispensation to remove the disability of consan-
guinity the parties were remarried and the child declared
legitimate.'

The parish under his control embraced l)oth sides of the
river, but he earnestly implored the Bishop to make the op-
])osite shore a distinct parish under Father Potier, who could
attcTid it as well as minister to the Huron Indians. An acci-
dent that befell him in Chaleurs Bay made him dread the
water, and the crossing in a canoe was at times very danger-
ous. He had, in fact, given up most of the people there and
their tithes to Father Potier. The parishioners, encouraged
by the prospect of a parish priest to themselves, rebuilt the
Huron church, which was falling in ruins. The Bishop
adopted his suggestion and in a letter of October 21, 1707,

' Rpffister. Letter of Father Simplicius dated October 21, 1787, citing
Bishop's decision of August 7tb.

f '

FATHER LEFRANC.

1()7

I'litliur Boc<iiict aiiiiounceB that ho hud placed Father Potier
in poHsesHion of his new parish.

Most of the houHCH in Detroit were occupied by English
tniders, otdy ton being held by Catholic fainilios in 1707, and
Father ISiniplicius had to take to his own house the children
to be prepared for their first conitnunion, lodge, feed, and
even clothe these little ones till he had instructed them, some
l)eing so ignorant that they could not even make the sign of
till! cross.

With rare occasions of intercourse with Yincennes or Kas-
kaskia, seeing the Indians uncontrolled sinking into vice and
misery, Father Simplicius was full of foreboding.' The Eng-
lish coniinandants were always ready to interfere, and over-
whelmed the priest with quotations from English laws, of
which he, of course, knew nothing, but was kept in constant
dreiid of drawing down on himself unwittingly prosecution
from the new rulers of Canada. The dissolute in this way
made the English commandant protect them iu their licen-
tious course,"

Previous to the conquest in 1755, the Bishop of Quebec
had extended to Detroit a plenary indulgence to all who ai>-
proaclied the sacraments during the days of the carnival,
even when the Blessed Sacrament was not exposed. It had
proved a great auxiliary to the missionary, who sought a re-
newal from Bishop Briand.'

When Father Lefranc retired from his Green Bay mission
is apparently unknown, but the church plate, including the
ostensorium presented to the church by Perrot, was taken to
Michilimackinac and left in the hands of Father du Jaunay.

' Letter to Bishop, April 27, June 80, 1767.

' Letter. April 8. 1768, May 12. 1768.

' Letter, September 22, 1767. October 5, 1767.

108

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

That jfood priest in time took tip liin residence ot Arbro
Croc'ho, uiul erected a churdi tliero on the hanks of Like
Michiffsm- "'» fl<w'k wee greatly attached to him, and long
after pointed out the place of IiiH favorite walk. In tiiue he
waH recalled or determined to return to Canada, lie Hold
the ground he had purchaeed, and left hiH Indian flock.
They were ho moved by this, insirtting that they had given
liim no real cause of complaint, that on his departure they
set Are to their church.'

When Father du .faunay too was recalled, ho took all the
church plate, consisting of two chalices, two ciboriums, and
two monstrances, and deposited them with Father Potier, at
the Huron mission, near Detroit. The Perrot ostenwirium
was borrowed for a time, and used by Father Simplicius
IJocquet, to be finally carried back to Green Bay, lost, and re-
covered in our time.'

Father Simplicius found that under the English sway many
of his parishioners avoided paying their tithes, and though
the English commandant would have aided him to enforce
the payment, he looked rather to a letter from the Bishop.'
The next year, 1770, he wrote: "I am in the greatest pov-
erty in the worid ; all the townsfolk since the change of gov-
ernment have retired to the cottw ; there are not more than
six Catholic houses in the town," and two of these were oc-
cupied by families whose lives were no credit to the faith.

' Annnles ile la

' Letter of Father Himpliciua Bocquet, July 18, 1771.
Propagation de la Foi," ii., p. 102.

' Father Simplicius seems to have bought it ultimately from F. Potier.
Letters of Father Simplicius Bocquet to Bishop Briand, ,Iuly 18, 1771,
May 1. 1773. At this time the few Catholics at Michilimackinac claimed
the plate from that post as belonging to their church, and not to the So-
ciety of .lesus.

> Letter May 12. 1769.

i i

IMMORALITY AT DETROIT.

100

When an iilartn of Ttulian attack came, tlio people gutlieretl
from the farms into Detroit for the Hake; of protection.

The Jubilee of that .year he propoHod to observe as he had
(lone the last. lie opened it with a solemn procession to a
cross erected (outside of the city; for five days ho made the
vinits to the st? *ion8 with the wune solemnity ; and during a
fortni/rht he renewed rheni daily to one of the chapels of the
church; he made an exhortation every morning and evening,
followed by the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and
closed it on ^ mday with a procession and the Te Deum.'

About this time the pastor induced his people to repair
the church of St. Anne, but in June, 1771, the steeple was
struck by lightning and greatly damaged. The aged Fran-
ciscan was beginning to yield to his intinnities, but though
his Superior at Quebec urged him to return, he would n(.t
aitaiulon his jwst, till the Bishop could send a jjriest to suc-
ceed him.' The libertines at Detroit were especially anxious
at this time to compel him to withdraw, and molested him
greatly ; but he held linn and denounced vice unshrinkingly."
In January, 1774, wo find on the Register the solenm ex-
communication of two persons living in adultery. The entry
tells how they were " guilty for two years of adultery, all the
more scandalous as it was public and obstinate, notwith-
standing, that from time to time, we have spared neither
charitable reujonstrances, nor entreaties, nor threats ; every-
thing has been tried on our part to make them return to the
true paths of justice and innocence, deaf to the voice of a
God, as awful in His chastisements as He is good and en-
couraging to those who return to Him with all their hearts
Dv perumce, and implored Hi.s tender mercy, whereas we have
given them to understand not only in private by our exhorta-

' Letter Oct. 3, 1770. » Letter July 18, 1771. ' Letter Aug. 16. 1773.

M ■

110

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

I I

tions and our charitable advice, but by three juridical mm-
inons with the intervals directed by the sacred canons, by a
liiiiliff or usher, acconipained by two witnesses, all of which
might intiniidate their hearts and move them, has served only
to harden them, they have despised it all, and have drawn on
themselves by their obstinacy the just indignation of our holy
mother Church, formerly theirs also, but whom they have
compelled to expel them from her bosom, and abandon them
to all the depravity of their heart. In consequence, and in
the just fear that members as corrupt as these, iriay infect
others— In the name of Jesus Christ and the Church His
Spouse, and the authority of the Most Illustrious and Most
Reverend Mouseigneur Brilland, Bishop of Quebec, our il-
lustrious prelate, this day, January 23d, m the present year
of otir Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four,
we have denounced at our parochial mass during the Homily,

the said and as excommunicated and cut off from

the Church, deprived of its suffrages, and its sacraments, and
delivered to the power of Satan. And by the same authority
we forbid under pain of excommunication all persons to sa-
lute them, speak to thetn, or converse with them in any
manner and in any place whatever, except in cases of charity
and necessity laid down by law, imtil coiivinced of their fault
they have publicly received absolution.

" f. SiMPU. BocQUET, M.R., cure et Yic.-Gen."

It is (^ratifying to find that his censures took effect, for
the next entry records their repentance and submission, and
the official absolution from the censures inflicted on them.'

In the autumn of 1772 Father Simplicius, now a man

' Reglstre de Sainte Anne du Detroit. There is a similar case in Febru-
ary, 1774, and another in Octol)er, 1774. Father Bocquet did not allow
vice to go unchecked.

TRIBUTE TO FATHER SIMPLICIUS. m

of seventy, was attacked with jaundice, followed by local
troubles, and in the spring, while attending a sick call, he
was so affected by the coid that he became insensible, but by
medical care he was enabled to get through the laborious
duties of Holy Week and Easter-time.'

Tlie Sulpitian, Rev. John Dilhet, who was for a consider-
able time at Detroit some years after, pays tribute to the
good effected by Father Simplicius. "He governed the
I)arish with great zeal and judgment ; he prevented abuses
creeping in, such as honorary rights to seats in the church,
holy water for royal officers, who claimed it; he had a
chanter paid by the trustees, a school for the instruction of
the children ; he purchased a large bell, a silver gilt mon-
strance ; suppressed a great many scandals, such as unlawful
marriages, liquor-dealers who caused drunkenness among the
Indians, public keeping of mistresses, seditious trustees re-
volting against his authority. He succeeded in suppressing
these abuses and scandals by his firmness, his prudence, and
a patience that nothing could disturb. His memory has re-
mained in benediction at Detroit, where all who had seen
him even in his old age, and when his mind had lost its
vigor, never failed to proclaim his virtue and the esteem
which the parish entertained for him and his good qualities." "
In July, 1775, he was ordered by Richard Berenge Ler-
noult, Commandant at Detroit under Jehu Hay, to proceed
to the marriage of a couple ; but as the giri, an orphan, had
by the connivance of her uncle and aunt been taken from
her proper guardian, her grandmother, Father Bocquet,
though he officiated, added this note :

" Note that if in the preceding marriage we deferred to

.•t':S

' Letter May 1, 1773.

' Dilhet, " Etat de TEglise ou Diocese des Etats Unis.'

112

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the decision of the Commandant, it was because the girl who
lived under her aunt i)aillet (one of the worst women in the
disposition of her mind whom I have known), wife of her
uncle, dit des Buttes St. Martin, it was because the said uncle
and aunt had themselves caused her to be carried off in spite
of Dame Widow St. Martin, grandmother and guardian of the
said Angeliqne Godet, and because under the English domi-
nation I could not refuse to marry them, and feared that the
Commandant himself would marry them in English fashion,
and that thus tlie scandal occasioned by my refusal would be
followed by acts on tlie part of other unnatural children, who
would adopt the same course of disobedience to their father
and mother or other holding their place.

" SiMPLICIUS BoCQUET,

" Recollect Missionary Vic.-Genl."

This gives us a picture of the interference of these military
lieutenant-governors in the West and their oflicials in affairs
of the Church.

Yet if the good Recollect had diflBculties he had consola-
tions also, and bears testimony to the worth of Zachary
Cicotte, long trustee of the church, I>ieutenant and Aide-
Major in the Militia, remarkable through his long life for his
liberal charities, who died in August, 1775, after a painful
illness, borne with the most jierfect resignation.

After the Jesuit Fathers had been carried off by order of
the I^uisiana Council, and Very Rev. Mr. Forget Duverger
withdrew, the Catholics in Indiana and Illinois were almost
entirely deprived of religious succor. The only priests remain-
ing were two Sons of St. Francis, Fathers Hippolyte and Luke
Collet at Ste. Anne de Fort Chartres. The former had minis-
tered there from May, 1759, and the latter from the month (.i
May, in the year 1761 They attended the declining settli'-

F. MEURIN RETURNS.

113

ment at the old French fort and its depepi mc chapels, the
Visitation at Si. Philippe and St. Joseph at Prairie du
Rocher. In his last entry, June 17, 1764, Father Hippolyte
styles himself "Ordinary missionary of the said parish."
With his withdrawal Father Luke was left alone, calling
himself "parish priest" on the 5th of June, and on the
t?th of August he wrote in his register, " being the only
missionary in the country," ' but the next year deatli closed
his ministry in the West. No priest could be expected

SIGNATURES ON FATHERS MEURIN AND COLLET.

from Canada, where the death of the bishop and the ruin
of the country gave little hope that the distant missions
could soon be supplied with ministers of religion. Father
Meurin felt for their spiritual destitution. He applied to
the shameless Council in Louisiana for permission to return
to his old field of labor rather than be sent to France. It
was a heroic resolution in a man already advanced in years.
He had no means, and no provision was offered for his sup-
jx.rt. The property of the Society had been sold ; that of the
Quebec priests was in other hands. Yet no sooner had Father
IMeurin received the permission he solicited than he set out.
His health during his twenty-one years' mission had never
been good, yet he went fearlessly on, trusting in Divine
Providence, and disregarding all the hardships before him.

' Rcj,'ister of St. Anne de Fort Chartres. I am indebted to O. W.
Collet, Esq,, of St. Louis, for liis copy. Father Luke died Sept. 10, 1765.

114

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

provided he could once more minister to the French and
Indians, whose poverty he was content to share. Touched
by his zeal the Louisiana authorities promised to solicit from
the Court an allowance of six hundred livres, equiv ■ ent to
$120 a year,' but before he set out they assured him that
Louisiana was no longer included in the diocese of Quebec,
and insisted upon his promising in writing that he would
not recognize any other ecclesiastical superior than the Supe-
rior of the Capuchins at New Orleans, who alone, they de-
clared, had and was to possess jurisdiction in the province.
Of this they were by the earliest opjx)rtunity to furnish him
evidence. This stipulation Father Meurin signed, adding
that if it pleased the Sovereign Pontiff to confer jurisdiction
on the most miserable negro, he would be as submissive to
him as to the most deserving of bishops. Thus pledged to
correspond neither with Quebec nor Rome, the lone mission-
ary returned to the desolated chapels of Illinois and Indiana.*
His faculties were those verbally given him by Very Rev.
Forget Duverger on his departure.

He made his toilsome way up the Mississippi, and the Regis-
ter of Kaskaskia, opened by him in an old account-book which
he managed to secure, attests on the 30th of September, 1764,
a burial performed before his arrival on the 8th of that month.'

Father Meurin's care extended to the French on both sides
of the Mississippi, and he soon l>ecame convinced that he
had been imposed upon at New Orleans, for early in 1765
lie records the church and parish as in the diocese of Quebec.
Consciour how unable he was to fulfil the duty of jxistor to

' " Bannissement des Jesuit«s de la Louisiane," Paris, 1865, p. 60.

* F. Sebastian L. Meurin to Mgr. Olivier Briand, Bishop of Quebec,
March 23. 1767.

' " Registre de I'Eprlise Paroissiale de I'lmmaculfee Conception de Notre
Dame dcs Kaskaskias."

ILLINOIS.

115

''I'll

60 many scattered Catholics, he appealed to Father Dagobert,
the Capuchin Superior at New Orleans, and to the Fathers
of his couiiiiunity, for priests to aid him. He wrote to the
Jesuit Fathers in Philadelphia, who could give him only
their sympathy. He wrote to the Abbe de I'Isle Dieu, agent
at Paris for Canada, but no relief came. The Ee'collect
Father, Luke Collet, gladly welcomed the Jesuit priest, and
we find him at Kaskaskia in June and July, 1765.

The British authorities even made exertions to obtain a
priest for Illinois. An aide-de-camp of General Gage on the
L>4th of June, 1766, wrote to Father Harding, " requesting
hinj to recommend a priest of his religion, if he knew of any
well attached to His Majesty's person and government, to go
to the IHinois, the king's new subjects in those parts having
repeatedly applied to him for that purpose." '

Rev. Mr. Meurin's residence was at the wooden church of
St. Genevieve, on the western side, then in " Le Grand
Chump," three miles south of the present place of that
name," and his visits across the river were as frequent as pos-
sible ; but they did not extend to Vincennes, where Stephen
Phillibert gave private baptism to the children born in the
post, and proclaimed the banns. " This Illinois country,"
wrote Father Meurin in 1767, "consists of only six villages,
each of about fifty to sixty fires, not including a considerable
number of slaves. These villages, on account of their dis-
tance and situation, would each require a priest, especially in
this English part. The parish of the Immaculate Conception
at the Kaskaskias, that of St. Joseph at Prairie du Roeher
(which is only a succursal of St. Anne at Fort Chartres, now

' Guy Carleton to the Earl of Hillsborough, July 17, 1769.
• Rozier, "An Address. 150th Celebration of the Founding of Sainte
Genevieve," St. Louis, 1885, p. 10.

116

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

' i'

abandoned by the inhabitants), and the parish of the Holy
Family of the Kaokias or Tamaroas, and the Indians. It is
twenty-five leagues from the first village to the last. On the
French or Spanish side beyond the river are situated the
village of St. Genevieve, title of St. Joachim, on which de-
pend la Saline and the mines, and thirty leagues higher up
the new village of St. Louis, which is made up of the rem-
nants of St. Philip and Fort Chartres. These two villages
are as large as the former in inhabitants or in red or black
slaves. Saint Joachim or St. Genevieve is my residence, as
it was stipulated in the conditions for my return to this
country. From it I come every spring and visit the other
villages for Eastertide. I return again in the autumn and
whenever I am summoned on sick calls. This is all my in-
firmities and my means enable me to do, and this displeases
and prejudices the people at St. Genevieve, who alone main-
tain and support me, and they complain of it. In this state
the people, and especially the children and slaves, lack suffi-
cient instruction, and deprived of a pastor's vigilance, they
are insensibly li)sing piety, and giving themselves up to vice.

" There are still many families here, in which religion pre-
vails, and who justly fear that it will die out with them.
They join me in beseeching you to take compassion on their
children, and to send them at least two or three priests, if
yotir Ix)rd8hip c^uinot send four or five, who would be neces-
sary, one of them with the title of Vicar-Geueral of your
Lordship.

" I endeavor to keep up the use of the public offices and
prayers in my absence, to aid them to sanctify Sundays and
holydays. There are many already who no longer come
to church, or com.e only to show disrespect. Some, indocile
or insolent, say openly enough that I have no authority, that I
am not their pastor, that I have no right to give them advice,

VINCENNES.

117

and that they are not obliged to listen to me. They would
not have dared to speak so while Messrs. Sterling and Farmer
were commandants. Under the rule of these two, no one
dared commit the least disrespect.

" For the last year St. Anne's church has been without
roof or doors, &e.

" The post of Vincennes on the "Wabash among the Mi-
ami Pinghichias, is as large as our best villages here, and
needs a missionary even more. Disorders have always pre-
vailed there: but have increased in the last three years.
Some come here to be married or to perform their Easter
duty. The majority caimot or will not. The guardian of
the Church publishes the banns for three Sundays. He gives
certificates to those who are willing to come here, whom I
publish myself before marrying them. Those who are un-
willing to come here, declare their mutual consent aloud in
the Church. Can such a marriage be allowed ? " *

The keeper of the church at Vincennes, was Stephen
Phillibert dit Orleans, who ga\'e private baptism to new-
born children, and kept a register of these baptisms and of
burials.'

Notwithstanding the articles of Capitulation and the pro-
visions of the Treaty of Paris, the English government was
not disposed to grant the promised toleration of the true faith.
The instructions to the governors breathed extreme hostility
to the Church. Bishop de Pontbriand died during the war ;
his Cathedral was in ashes. The Kev. Mr. Montgolfier was
elected by the Chapter to be presented to the Pope as the
next Bishop, but on proceeding to England, was not permit-
ted to cross over to the Continent to receive his bulls and be

' Letter to fiisliop Briand.

' Phillibert's entries extend from January 11, 1764, to 1769.

118

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

consecrated Bishop of Quebec. Tlie Rev. Olivier Briand
was then elected on the 11th of September, 17G4 ; but though
he went to England, he could not obtain the sanction of the
English government for a visit to France in order to obtain
consecration. At last, after a delay of more than a year, it
was intimated to him indirectly that if he went to France
and was consecrated, no oflfence would be taken. Acting on
this hint, Mgr. Briand proceeded to the Continent : the Sov-
ereign Pontiff approving the choice of the Chapter of Que-
bec, issued his bulls on the 2l8t of January, 1706, making
him Bishop of Quebec. He lost no time in obtaining con-
secration, and on the 28th of June, reached his episcopal
city, whence he issued a pastoral letter to his flock.

The tidings of the kidnapping of the Jesuit Fathers in the
Illinois country, and of the conduct of Rev. Mr. Forget in
forsaking his mission, had reached the Bishop in France,
and had filled him with anxiety as to this unexpected spirit-
ual destitution of his children on the reuiote frontier.

When he reached Canada, however, Father du Jaunay,
who had descended to the St. Lawrence, cheered the Bishop
by the intelligence that Father Meurin had so courageously
returned to the Illinois country. It took a great load off his
mind. In June, 1707, he wrote : " I cannot sufficiently ex-
press the joy I felt on learning from Father du Jaunay that
one Jesuit remained in the unfortunate Illinois and Miseis-
sippi country. Since Providence without regard to my un-
worthiness has laid upon me the heavy and fearful burden of
the Quebec bishopric, I have always been in a mortal anxiety
as to the lot of the poor Christians cf your districts." ....
" Yes, your presence in those places fills me with consola-
tion ; for I hope that you will kindly bestow your care on
those forsaken people. I bless the Almighty a thousand
times for having inspired the English with goodness and

•. I

F. MEVRIN APPOINTED VICAR-OENERAL. 119

consideration for you, and authorizing your ministry." ....
'• I send you very ample letters of Vicar-General. You will
use them wherever you may be in that extensive part of my
diocese, the limits of which are immense, and which I my-
self do not know. It is at least sure that they extend to all
the territories which the French possessed in North Amer-

ica

)> 1

With this letter the Bishop sent a pastoral on the Jubilee
to enable the Catholics on the Mississippi to gain it.

As .s(»t)n as the joyful news reached the solitary Jesuit of
the arrival of a bishop on the banks of the Mississippi, he ap-
l)ealed to Mgr. Briand to send priests. In a seqond letter he
wrote : " I am only sixty-one years old ; but I am exhausted,
])ioken down by twenty-five years' mission work in this coun-
tiT, and of these nearly twenty years of malady and disease
show me the gates of death." » " I am incapable of long ap-
plication or of bodily fatigue. I cannot therefore supply the
spiritual necessities of this country, where the stoutest man
could not long suffice, especially as the country is intersected
by a very rapid and dangerous river. It would need four
priests. ^^ If you can give only one, he should be appointed for
Kaokia."

The good priest wrote thus at this very point Cahokia,
where he had been for three days, but was compelled to leave
three-fourths of the work there undone and return to Saint
Genevieve to attend a man dangerously sick.

Bishop Briand knew full well the value of this devoted
priest. He sent a pastoral letter to the people of Kaskaskia,
who had written asking for a priest, and he wished the letter
read to all the French congregations. His letter to Father

' Bishop Briand to F. Meurin, June, 1767.
' Letter from Cahokia, May 9, 1767.

120

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Meurin, August 7, 17(57, enclosed his conunist'ioii us Vioar-
(Tcneral, iiiul cheered In in by the promise that two priests
sliouhl l)e sent to the Illinois country in the spring.'

This mark of fonfidence on the part of the IJishopof Que-
bec, placed the missionary in a difficult iwsition. Although
the powers of Vicar-(ieneral extended to New Orleans, he
knew well that they would be regarded as a violation of his
agreement to recognize no superior but the head of the
Capuchins in Louisiana, although they had never according
to their promise exhibited the authority they claime<l to
possess.

P''ather Meurin did not ])ublish Ins letters of Vicar-General,
but the fact became known, and it was told in New Orleans.
Rocheblave, Conunandant, asked Father Meurin by what au-
thority he announced a Jubilee, and on Avhom he depended.
When the missionary replied that it was by the authority of
the Bishop of Quebec, whose Vicar-General he was, de
Rocheblave declared : " I know no English bishop here, and
in a post where I command, I wish no ecclesiiwtical jurisdic-
tion recognized except that of the Archbishop of St. Domin-
go." ' A decree was at once made proscribing Father Meu-
rin, and orders were issued for his arrest as a State criminal
for recognizing a jurisdiction not admitted by Spain. A
friend hastened to warn him of his danger, and Father Meu-
rin left Saint Genevieve, crossing the Mississippi to English
territory. There he at once took the oath of fidelity as a
resident of the Illinois country before the conquest, and was
safe from Spanish prosecution.

His ministry could after that l)e exercised only in Illinois.

' Bishop Briand to Father Meurin, August 7, 1767 ; Letters mnkinjr
him Vicar-General for the Illinois, Tamarois, and New Orieans, April
28, 1769. " Archives de I'Archoveche de Quebec,'" C. 235.

' Letter of F. Simplicius Bocquet to Bishop Briand, May 12, 1768.

*<»-.,..

KASKASKIA PASTORAL. 12I

There ho found much to do. He pr.K;laitned the Jubilee,
and iniiiiy profited hy tlie oeeaflion to fulfil duties long neg-
lected. At Cuhokitt all conimunioaiit*' except two received
holy communiou.

The labors of the missionary were strengthened by this
puHtoral adtlressed especially to liis flock :

" To the Inhabitants of Kaskaakia :

"August 7, 1767.
" It is about two months, our dear children, that I wrote
to the Reverend Father Meurin to confide to him uiy powers
(.f Vicar-General. I write to him again to confirm them to
him anew. My intention is that you should obey him as
myself. I expect to send you next spring one or two
missionaries to aid him to root out among you the vices
v,hich I know prevail there, for I have been informed that
the spirit of piety is greatly diminishing among you. When
Fiither Meurin takes the trouble to visit you, many do not
come to the church, or come only to show a want of res[Hict ;
there are even some indocile persons, who in some of thj
parishes which he attends, refuse to recognize him as pastor,
siiy that he has no right to admonish them, and that they are
not obliged to hear him ; others have the temerity to marry
without having their marriage blessed by the priest. I write
to Father Meurin, in order that he may put a stop to all
these disorders, or rather, my dear children, it is you your-
selves, whom I address with confidence; it is to those among
you who are most Christian, (for I still learn with consolation
thai there are families among you in which relifjion shines
with lustre,) it is they, I say, whom I wish to remind that
Jesus Christ has confided to each one of us the care of our
neighbor. Strive then to edify each other and lead each
other to virtue. You know well that the holy Catholic relig-

XifJf Of RCH'^MMOF CARROLL.

ion ill which /'"♦» Wi Sd i ''« hwppiness «»f l»^iij; l)oni, will
lie nmiiituiiied M««eafter amougf >'<»«, owly ho far ati yoW thow
affection for it^ «Dd an yuti ohmrw its ref^rnlutiuiiH with i^<>til
and nt> if vrere of yourwivcH. I cannot, uh wiih formerly
(lone, exeft , t'ofiy violence ngainnt traIl^/fes8orB, hy culling on
the civil ]X)wif U> compel them to return (o their n- ity. It
depcndH then o»* yoMi -n-f^es, my dear children, to w 'ntain
yoiirnelveH in the practice if good and to sliow hy your re-
Hpcct for my Vicar-General, and hy your docility in practin-
ing the counselH he gives you that you are animated not hy
fear of temporal penalties, l)Ut hy the love of your religion,
and a dcHire for your Halvation. Moreover I warn you that
if yon (leHpiwe this advice which I give you, as your father, I
will hereafter pay no attention to your |)etition8 and that I
shall regard you an nieml>erH of my diocese who no longer
deserve my attention. For know that I make a great effort
in promising to send you priests ; I see their numher daily
diminishing in my diocese, and I liave hnt feehle resources
to snpply them. From every side they call u|K)n ine for
prietUt and I cannot give them. I do not know by what
secret movement of God's grace 1 have felt impelled to j)refer
you • . many others. The gain of your souls and the sad
condition to which you have long been re<luced hiw touched
me, and you come up before my mind more vividly even
than if you were before my eyes.

•' •{• John Olivier, Bishop of Quebec." '

This pastond of Bishop Briand, read to all the congrega-
tions, filled the good with consolation, as they felt that the
head of the dioces*: hud not forgotten them and their spiritual
wants. Many who had begun to think themselves utterly

' Archives of the Archbishopric of Quel)ec.

PRETENDED SALES OF CHURCH LANDS, laa

.il.ut.(lont'(l ro8mne<l courugu, and re-entored the way of Hal-
vatioii.

In tliiH iK-ttor Htato of feeling Father Mmirin en,|eav„r..d
t.. rocorer the proixjrty of the d.urch. KankaHkia chand
and th.. (.enu'tery at Cahokia, after the vvm<m of the cuntry
to Kn-lan<l, had lajen Hold l.y an otHcial from Now OHeann
to John HaptiHt HeauvaiH, who agreed to denioliHh the chapel
and not t.. cdtivate the ground. The Hale waH illeg„l • and
HeanvaiH leased tlie chapel for n varehouHo and the ee.uetery
fur a garden. The altar, window., uh well an many of the
artu-les nned n. divine v.^rship, were used in the hounen of
the place.

In endeavoring t. ...cure the ,,roperty of the Seminary of
(2uel.ec at Cah«.kia ne was coinpelle<l to appeal to Forhen the
Cotnnmndant, hut that officer would not aid him, and even
torhade Imn to aHHume the title of Vicar-General.

The people generally did not recogruze him astheir parish
l.ne8t. and although he had been atten.ling them for four
years, refused to pay hi,n any tithcH : hut one ..f the English
Comn.andantH extorted six dollarH for every marriage Corpus
rhr,st, whi.-h had in French days been colel,rate<I with ,>omp
the .nd.tm taking part in the procession, was now celebrated'
withu. the diurch, as the Com.nandants would not allow the
nnhtia to appear.

The chapd at Fort Chartres was menaced by the river
and Father Meurin, with pious care, removed to Prairie du
Rod,er the renjains of Rev. Mr. Gagnon, and of the Recol-
lect I-ather, Luke Collet.'

Bishop Briand directed Father Meurin to insist on the res-
tituhon of all church goods under pain of exco,„munication.
A8 to the pretended sales of church lands l.y those destitute

"ather 8eb. L. Meurin to Bishop Briand. .Tune, 1767.

i M

■i li

, til

124

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

of autliority to give a valid title, he decided that the people
themselves were to take the matter in hand, and repay the
purchasers their outlay, if they bought in ignorance and in
good faith. In regard to tithes the Bishop was peremptory.
" No tithes, no sacraments. It is an offering made to God,
which the Church assigns to the support of the mission-
aries ; and even if tliere were scarcely any missionaries, it
must be paid. Except in case of poverty, you must be firm,
and do not fear ; provided prudence and charity direct you,
as I am confident they will. Keligio^i is free." '

The first priest sent to assist Father Meurin was the Rev.

FAC-BIMILE OP SIGNATURE OP BKV. PETER QIBAUT.T.

Peter Gibaiilt, who had been educated at the Seminary of
Quebec, on the last remnant of the Cahokia mission property,
an annual payment of 333 livres.' He was ordained on the
feast of St. Joseph, in the year 1768, and set out at once for
the Illinois country, where he was to play a conspicuous part.
He went with the full consent of the English authorities and

' Bishop Briiind to Father 8. L. Meurin, April 26, 1769.

' A •' rente " on the Hotel de Ville. In 1768 the Seminnry transferred
all its rights in the Tamarois property to Bishop Briand and the Faliriciuc
of the parish of the Holy Family at Cahokia ; but the En.trlish conunaud
ers in Illinois would not allow Rev. Mr. Meurin or Gibault to oceupy
the Seminary estate, although the purchasers set up no claim. Cardinal
Taschereau, " Histoire du Seminaire de Quebec," inedite. Rev. P.
Gib>iult to Bishop Priand, .July 28, 1768, 177rt.

MICHILIMACKINAC.

125

l,v General Gage's own desire.' His journey was delayed by
constant rams ; on reaching Michilimackinac, the firct of the
posts within the district assigned to him, he began to hear
confessions, remaining till late every night In order to accom-
modate all, for .nany of the voyageurs had not seen a priest
f(,r three years and some not even for ten. Rev. Mr Gibault
spent a week at the post to effect all the good possible, bap-
tizing the children, and blessing one marriage.^

Some of the Indians whom Father Du Jaunay had attended
also came, and Rev. Mr. Gibault confessed all who knew
French enough to express themselves. These good Indians
still mourned the' loss of their missionary, as much as they
did the day he left them.

It was apparently intended that Rev. Mr. Gibault should
t.ke up his residence at Cahokia, so a^ to revive the old
Tamarois mission; but that settlement had dwindled away •
the tine property, orchards, house, mills, and barns erected
by the heminary priests, were crumbling to ruin ; the church
was little better.^ Kaskaskia was the important place, and
the inhabitants generally wished him to make it his resi-
dence. The disinterested Father Meuri,;, to leave to the new
M..ss.onary the more populous posts and best means of sup-
port mthdrew to Cahokia, spending part of his time at Prai-
rie ,lu Iu)cher, where the twenty settlers offered to build him
a house, and suj^pb^all his needs. In fact they gave him a

' Peter Gibault, son of Peter Gibault and Mnrv <Jt t„
Montreal, X^ , n.T. Tan.uay. ^l^^^ ^.^^^ "^^
Rev. Pierre Gibault, the Patriot Priest .f .1.,. w ," •' '" ' ^^"^^
Catholie." Sei.ten,l.er 30, I882! ' '" ^^"«l'i"gton

•' Hev. P. Gibault to Bishop Briand ,Iulv oq i7flfl ..r> •
.Mi.hilin,aekinac,"July 23, 1768. ^ ' ^^^'' «<'S>«t'-e <le

'Hev. P. Gibault to Bp. Briand, February IT 17fiQ .. n • . ^

S':,.''""'""'" "' '■'"■'»-"■■• co-pZi'i D..!r K,t

1 1

(ml -tfi

,i iffl.fll'ii

(i ■

li •

'I il j|<

'■III ■»'
III"

; »

f h

|: 1

1 ■ '

\ i

i ■

1 II
1

128

iJF£7 OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

horse and caleche, as well as a servant. The people of Kas-
kaskia, influenced by the dominant party in Louisiana, were
hostile to Father Meurin as a Jesuit, and many would not
recognize him at all ; indeed not ten men had been to com-
munion in four years. Rev. Mr. Gibault, accordingly, took
up his residence at Kaskaskia, where he was well received by
the British Commandant, and on the 8th of September, 1768,
he records a baptism in the " Register of the Immaculate
Conception," styling himself "parish priest of Kaskaskia."
He also visited Saint Genevieve, which Father Meurin could
enter only by stealth at night ; but that veteran visited Fort
Chartres and St. Phihppe.

The young Canadian priest entered on his duties with zeal
and energy, but was soon prostrated by the "Western fever,
violent at first, then slow and enervating, but he rallied, and
went on bravely with the work before him, the magnitude of
which became daily more appalling. At Kaskaskia by hav-
ing prayers every night in the church, and by catechetical
instructions four times every week, he revived faith and de-
votion, lie brought nearly all to their Easter duty in 1700,
and a better spirit prevailed, the tithes being promi)tly paid.'
Besides Kaskaskia there were other villages and hamlets ; it
was only by consttrnt travel that he was able to reach the
scattered Catholics, who had long been deprived of the ser-
vices of a priest. Besides the inhabitants of French origin
and the Indians of the former missions, he found Catholics
in the 18th (Royal Irish) regiment, which was stationed 't
Kaskaskia, the commandant giving the men every facility to
attend to their religion.'

' Rev. P. Gibault to Bp. Briand, February 15, 1769.
' Rev. P. Gibault to Bp. Briand, June 15, 176$
Packet," October 5, 1772.

" Pennsylvania

VINCENNES. j2^

The next year Rev. Mr. Gibault blessed the little wooden
cl>apel which had been erected at Paincourt, our modern St
Louis.'

Vincennes on the Wabash, although a place of some eid.t v
or nmety fa.nilies, had not seen a priest since Father Devenvii
w;.s carried off in 1763 ; as a natural consequence of this con-
dition, vice and ignorance were becoming dominant; yet the
people earnestly solicited a priest. There were two cluster, of
Cathohcs at St. Joseph's River, and some at Peoria, Ouiate-
11011, and other points.'

Bisliop liriand encouraged these isolated priests, and gave
them wise and temperate counsels for their conduct in cor-
recting evils that had grown up, while the people were left
without priest or sacrifice.' Evidently at the instance of
Fatlier Meurin and to give that missionary greater authority,
the Bishop of Quebec had made the Rev. Mr. Gibault his
Vicar-General. That priest succeeded in inducing the peo-
ple to resume the payment of tithes, which though onlv as
in Canada one-twenty-sixth of the produce, not one-tenth
amonnted in 1769 to two or three hundred bushels of wheat'
and five or six hundred of Indian corn. *

In the winter of 1769-70, Very Rev. Mr. Gibault set out
for \,ncennes, although hostile Indians waylaid the roads
killing and scalping many. Already he could report that
twenty-two of his people had fallen victims to the sava-e foe
since he reached the Illinois country. The frontier priest al-
waj ^m these day^^ peril, carried a gun and two pistols.

■■ Father S L. Mourin to Bp. Briand, June 14, 1769. At Ouiatenon
tliere were 14 Froneh families, and 9 or 10 at the .junction of i^'Z

:::;;;:"«t 1:^ ""'■ ''^^"' ''■^'"' ^^ '"^ cat.on. atV- :

■' BLxliop Briand to Father IFeurin, :\rnreli 23. 1770

■\ ;■■^

i I;

128 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

He reached Vineennes safely, and after deploring the
vices and disorders that prevailed, tells of his touching re-
ception. " However on my arrival, all crowded down to the
banks of the River Wabash to receive me ; some fell on their
knees, unable to speak; others could speak only in sobs;
some cried out : ' Father, sjive us, we are almost in hell '; otliers
said : ' God has not then yet abandoned us, for He has sent
you to us to make us do penance for our sins.' ' Oh, sir,
why did you not come a month sooner, my poor wife, my
dear father, my dear mother, my poor child M'ould not have
died without the sacraments.' " ' Father Meurin attests the
good which his younger associate accomplished and joined
him in urging the Bishop to send a resident priest to the

Wabash.'

Yerv Rev. Mr. Gibault spent two months at Vineennes,
laboring earnestly to revive religion in the people, and foniwl
a IVsbyterian family settled there, who asked to be instructed
and received into the true fold. Animated by his zeal, the
people began to rebuild tlie church, which he made a very
neat wooden structure of considerable height. The priest's
house was a large one with a fine orchard, a garden aii'l
farming lands attached. He wished to make it comfortable
for the expected priest. The Catholics in the district w.mv
estimated at seven or eight hundred, eighty being farmers
cultivating the soil.'

Having reanimated the faith at Vineennes, the active

I Letters of Viciir-Qcneral for the Illinois and Tamnrois, May 3, 17fiH.
" ArchevtVlu' dv QuelxT," V. 249. Very Uev. P. Gilmult to Bp. Hriand,
June 15, 17(i9. In this Utter he notes that Pontiac had been killed by a
Peoria at Ciiliokia, two months before.

'' Same to same, .Tune 15, 1770.

^ Very Hev. Mr. Gibault to Bp. Briand, .Tune 15, 1770. " Registre dc
Vineennes."

FATHER MEURIN.

129

])rie8t set out for Kaskaskia, escorted by a guard of twenty
men. When he got back to liis residence he found the Span-
iards in possession of the western shore of the Mississippi,
l)iit that they had come unattended by a priest. He there-
fore continued his missionary visits to St. Genevieve and St.
Louis, and in 1770 proposed to the Bishop to extend iiis
labors to Peoria, St. Josepli, Michihmackinac, the Miamis,
and Weas. But the failing healtli and memory of Father
Aleurin made it impossible to leave him alone to attend the
Illinoi.s missions, and on the withdrawal of the English troops
the acts of Indian violence became fearfully frequent. Thrice
(lid Kev. Mr. Gibault fall into their hands, escaping with life
only on his promising not to reveal their presence in the
neigliborhood. Amid all these trials and labors he sank into
discouragement, and implored the Bishop to send him to
some other niission, or at least to allow him to go and make
a retreat where he might recover a true ecclesiastical spirit.

At last in 1772 he was able to announce that the Capuchin
Father Valentine had reached St. Louis as its parish priest,
and the next year Father Hilary of the same order took up
liis residence at old Saint Genevieve. These priests were
sent by Father Dagobert, the Superior of the Capuchins at
New Orleans, wno acted in utter disregard of the Bishop of
Quebec'

In 1774 Father Meurin received frotn New Orleans the
news that a brief of Clement XIY. had been published extin-
gnishing the Society of Jesus. He had for years been with-
out a provincial or local superior ; he now threw himself on
the charity of Bishop Briand. " Free, I would beseech and

' DoIuTfy, "Address." p. 0; T?ozier, "Address," p. H. Very Rev
Mr. (JiLiiuli to HLsliop Hriai.d, .June 20, 1772. The Ciitholics in Eiiirli.sli
Illinois at this time asked tlie Hi.shop to retrencli some of the holidliys
Monday and Tuesday after Easter and Pentecost lb
6*

, f ,:,..

. f.i'''M-f>;

Ml-

: •

; 1

•I'S

|!S|

iiiii

180

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

bet? your charitable goodness to be a father to me, and admit
absohitely among the number of your clergy, instead of an
auxiliary as I have been since February 1, 1742. I should
deem myself happy, if, in the little of life left me, I could
repair the cowardice and negligence of which I have been
guilty in tlie space of thirty-three years. If you will adopt
me, I am sure you will i)ardon me and ask mercy for me."

In the wliole Mississippi Valley the Brief of the Suppres-
sion affected only this one lone Jesuit, laboring manfully to
keep religion alive in the Western wilds.

In 1775 Rev. Air. Gibault visited Canada. Then returning
to his laborious post, he reached Michilimackinac in Septem-
ber ; but waited in vain till November for any opportunity of
proceeding further. As lie could not winter there or reach
the Illin(»is country, he returned at great risk to Detroit,
steering the canoe which was paddled by a man and boy who
had never before made the trip. In constant peril from the
ice and with great suffering, he at last arrived at Detroit.
" The suffering I have undergone between Michilimackinac
and this place," he wrote, " has so deadened my faculties
that I only half feel my chagrin at being unable to proceed
to the Illinois. I shall do my best not to be useless at De-
troit, and to relieve the two venerable old priests who attend
it." '

When it was ascertained that Canada would be permitted
to retain its clergy and religious institutions, many Acadians
and persons who had emigrated to France embarked for that
province.' This recalled some who, under the first impulse,
hod crossed to the west bank of the Mississippi, and pre-
vented the total removal of the population.

' Letter to Bishop Briiind, December 4, 1775.

' " New York .lournal," October 23, 1766 ; " New York Mercury,"
February 3, 1767.

CHAPTER III.

THE QUEBEC ACT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE ENGLISH COLONIES.

After the Conquest of Canada, the King of England by
proclamation established the four governments or provinces,
Canada, East and West Florida, and Grenada.

For some unexplained reason, perhaps through mere igno-
rance, the limits given to Canada were not those of the
French province of that name, which included Northern
Ohio and Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin : Lower Indiana,
in(fluding Vincennes and most of Illinois, having been sub-
ject to Louisiana, as we have seen. England, however, took
tlioni as part of Canada, yet the southern line of the new
English government of Canada, as fixed by the royal procla-
mation of 1763, was a line from Lake Nipissing to Lake
Chaniplain.

Miissachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia all
laid claim to the territory northwest of the Ohio under their
charters, but the English government did not for a moment
recognize the shadowy claims of the seaboard colonies to ter-
ritory which their people had never been able to reach, much
less to occupy, and with which, even at this time, there was
no direct communication or trade. The people in the unor-
ganized territory were governed from New York by the
British Commander-in-Chief, through officers appointed by
liim. The people had neither French nor English law, Init
were at the caprice of petty military tyrants.' \ pamphlet

! ni

');•

" Detroit before 1775 was not governed by any system whatever, mid

(131)

182

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

l.:l

emanating from the French in IHinois in 1772, while stating
that tliey had liitherto derived little henelit from their
dependence on the English king, expresses the belief that
had government fullj understood the position of affairs
" they would, doubtless, before this time have granted us a
civil government, by means of which we should not have
been subjected to the impositions and oppressions of our past
tyrants "...." and we have no doubt that the enjt>yment
of our religious rights will soon be confirmed to us and the
administration of civil government established among us."

It recognized the services of the missionaries, to whom
indeed civil order was mainly due. " We have had a long
experience of the exemplary piety and virtue of our worthy
Fathers Aleurin and Gibault," it says, while urging the peo-
ple to establish a school and pay a schoolmaster in each
village." That any forms of civilized life prevailed was due
entirely to the few priests and their influence. Lieut.-Gen.
Gage, by a proclamation issued April 8, 1772, ordered "all
those who have established themselves upon the Ouabachc,
whether at St. Vincent's or elsewhere, to quit those countries
instantly and without delay, and to retire, at their choice,
into some one of the colonies of his Majesty." The peojile
of Vincennes, who were thus threatened with wholesale evic-
tion, sent to Genera] Gage a protest claiming, with some ex-
aggeration indeed, that they had been settled there for seventy
years, and that they held their lands under grants made by
the order and under the protection of his most Christian

tlie commanding general antl his suhonlinatps conld do as they choso."
C'ampbfU, " Outline of ihi' Political History of Mic'liij,'an," Detroit, 1876,
p. 134.

' '• Invitation Sericusf aiix HahitantM des Illinois," siirni'd " Un Habi-
tant des Kiuskaskia," printed apparently in 1772, pp. 13, 15.

DEBATE ON THE (QUEBEC ACT.

133

iiKiji'Hty. Gage, however, insisted on a definite statement of
eiicli Hcparate grant.'

It is easy to conceive the alarm which this conduct spread
through the Northwest territory, where the Catholic settlers
saw no future hefore them but a repetition of the fate that
had overtaken their unfortunate fellow-countrymen and fel-
low-Catholics in Acadia.

But in England a kindlier feeling toward the Canadians
hegan to prevail, and it was regarded as a necessity to allow
tlioiu for a time at least to live under their own French laws,
and enjoy their religion unmolested, leaving the introduction
of Englirth laws and systems to be the gradual work of time.
With the same view it was deemed best, in compliance with
the wishes of the people in Canada, to reannex the territory
northwest of the Ohio to Canada, and allow all the French
R^ttlcmonts to be under a uniform system. The people of
Canada demanded the reannexation of that district as a right.'
This led to the introduction in 1774 of a law known as
the Quebec Act. It passed the House of Lords without op-
position, but in the lower chamber a long and earnest debate
ensued, in which Edmund Burke, Barre, Fox, and Lord John
Cavendish took part. The establishment or recognition of
French law and of the Catholic religion was a terrible bug-
bear. That a Catholic priest should under the English flag
openly discharge his sacred ministry and exact tithes from
his people, was in those days to the English mind something

' Dillon, "The History of Indiana," Indianapolis, 1843, i., pp. 100-1.

' "They intrcat your Majesty" "to restore to Canada the

same limits which it liad before, and to include the coasts of Labradore

in the province of Quebec ; and those parts of the upper country which

liiive been taken from it, since it cannot maintjiin itself without its usual

•eonuiierce." " Petition from the Inhabitants of Quebec to the King," in

• Tiie .Iu.stice and Policy," etc., London, 1774, p. 72.

*■'•'«

184

LIFE OF AliCIIBISHOP CARROLL.

■i '

IIH

iippalliiig. Every imtioiial and religious prejiuHee vvuh
arouned. Lord North in one of liia replies well obwerved :
" Whatever the (King'n) proelaination may have done, it
certainly <iid not repeal the definitive treaty. The proclama-
tion gave a free exercise of tlie Roman Catholic religion, an
far tw Britinh laws would permit, (ireat Britain, undoubtedly,
would penint that exercise to the extent of this bill ; it would
]>ormit likewise, that in the colonies of America, the Roman
Catholic religion might have this provision. Hut what doet:
this Act give i It gives the clergy the enjoyment of their
accustomed dues and rights. They must have been there ;
they must have had their accustomed dues and rights before.
The bill does not origiiuite them ; it gives no rights, it creates
no dues. If they had them not before, this bill does not
give them. Therefore, if any clergyman, under this bill,
should claim his dues, lie must show he liad a right to tliem
before."' Burke admitted this: "You have got a people
professing the Roman Catholic religion, and in possession of
a maintenance, legally appropriated to its clergy. Will you
deprive them of that? Now that is not a question of estab-
lishment ; the establishment was not made by you ; it existed
before the treaty ; it took nothing from the treaty ; no legisla-
ture lias a right to take it away ; no governor has a right to
suspend it. This principle is confirmed by the usage of every
civilized nation of Europe. In all our conquered colonies,
the estjd»lished religion was confirmed to them ; by which
I understand, that religion should receive the protection of the
state in those colonies; and I should not consider that it had
received such protection, if their clergy were not protected." '

' Sir Henry Cavendish, " Debates of the House of Commons in Ihe

year 1774, on the hill for the government of the province ol

Quelwc," London, 1889, p. 63.

• lb., p. 223.

U W

ITS PROVISIONS.

VST)

The bill panned the Commons, June 13, 1Y74, by a vote of
50 to 20, and receiving tlie royal asHcnt on the 22d, became
law throughout England and America, to which it exprcKnly
applied.

Ifnder it the French settlers were freed from the tyranny
(»f military despots, their lands and churches were secured
to them, except such as were held by religious orders and
conununities, and the (piestion of tithes so long held in
alH'yaiice was settled, and the ptirihli priest had a legal title to
his tithes in Michigan, Indiana, IllirioiH, Wisconsin, and by
parity at Natchez and Mobile, at St. Augustine and Pensa-
cola.

The proposal of the Quebec Act had excited great indig-
nation among the fanatical portion of the Protestant pojmla-
tid'i, and tiie city of London had sent into the House of
('ommons a violent and intolerant protest agiunst its passa<»-e.
Tiie newspapers took up the cry, which was re-echoed by the
journals then published in America.

The sections of this famous act which affect the history of
the Church in this country, are those fixing the limit of the
province of Quebec al »ng the western line of Pennsylvania
to the Ohio, and down that river to the Mississippi, and the
following provision : " And, for the more perfect security
and ease of the minds of the inhabitants of the said province,
it is hereby declared, That his Majesty's subjects, professing
the religion of the Church of Rome of and in *':o said prov-
ince of Quebec, may have, hold, and enjoy the free exercise
of the religion of the Church of Rome, subject to the King's
supremacy, declared and established by an Act made in the
first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, over all the do
minions and countries which then did or thereafter should,
belong to the imperial crown of this realm ; and that the
clergy of the said church may hold, receive, and enjoy their

186

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

|i '

acouHt()iii(.'<l (liicH iind riglitH with roHpect to such perfcous uiily
HH nhiill profetiH tlic Miiid ruligioii."

Tlie only oath to Im) oxiicted of tlio Cutholics in that prov-
ince wiiB in these wordH :

"I, A. B., do Hincerely proiriiHo und swear, That I will be
faithful und bear true allegiance to his Majesty, King George,
and him will defend to the utmost of my power, against all
traitorous conspiracies and attempts whatsoever, which shall
be made against his person, crown, and dignity ; and I will
do my utmost endeavor to disclose and make known to his
Majesty, his heirs and suecessftrs, all treasons and traitorous
conspiracies and attempts, which I shall know to be against
him or any of them ; and all this I do swear without any
equivo<'ation, mental evasion, or secret reservation, and re-
nouncing all pardons and dispensations from any power or
person whomsoever to the contrary. So Iielp me God."

By the terms of this " Act for making more effectual pro-
vision for the government of the province of Quebec, in
North America," ' the Catholic Church, in what is now
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, was de-
clared free from the pains and penalties of the penal laws of
England and her colonies • and the parish priests and others
acting under the Bishop of Quebec were maintained in all
the dues and rights which they enjoyed under the French
rule.

This concession to the Catholics aroused bitter feelings in
the colonies as well as in England. The newspapers of the
day c(»ntain articles, songs, and s<paib8 against the King and
Parliament, and the Continentjd Congress in September,
1774, characterized the act as " in an extreme degree dan-

' The QnelK-c Act was published in full in the " Pennsylvania Pack-
el," September 5, 1774.

EFFECT ON THE WEST

137

jriToUH." ' Arficli'H in tlio joiirimlH reprewrih'd the colon icx
UK •' HiirrouiKli'd on nil huIou h^- eneinicH. A PopiHJi Krcndi
fjovcrnrnont in our reur Het up for the cxprt'HH purpoHC of
(It'Ktroyin^' our libcrtit'H." ' Another writer drew a terrible
l.ictiiro of what wim to Iit-fall the land. " We may live to
Hv our I'hurcheH converted into inaHHiionses and our landn
|iiuiidcrcd of tythcH for the Kupport of a Popish ck-r^ry. Tiie
Inquisition nmy erect her standard in PeniiHylvania, and tlie
city of I'hiladclphia may yet experience the carrmge of St.
llartholomcw'K day." ' The handful of Protestants in Can.
uda, wli(» had hoped to ride the (^itholics with a rod of in.n,
showed their disgust in protests/ and l»y adondiig the bust
of George III. with a nutre, beads, and pectoral cross.'

The (iuebee Act cortaitdy became the law of the land, and
the CathoHcH of the Northwest territory accpiired rights under
it which could not l)e disputed. It wiw, however, regarded
i.y the old English colonies as the last of the wrongs done
thcin. Among the resolutions adopted by the Continental
Congress, October 14, 1774, was one enumerating acts of
i'arliamcnt which were declared to be infringements and
violations of the rights of the colonies ; P|)ecifying '* the act
passed in the same session (12 Geo. III.) for establishimr the
Hoinan Catholic religion in the province of QueVc'c." The
Address issued by Congress on the 5th of Septend)er, 1774,
" to the People of Great Britain," says : " We think the
Legislature of Great Britain is not authorized by the Consti-
tution to establish a religion, fraught with sanguinary and

' "Pennsylvania Packet," September 19, 1774.

♦ lb., September 26, 1774.

• Cnractacus in " Pennsylvania Packet," October 31, 1774.

* lb. November 14. 1774. Smith's " History of Canada." ii., pp. 68-9.
' Smith's " History of Canada," ii., p. 73.

*.tii

188

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

impious tenets, or to erect an arbitrary form of government
in any quiirter of the globe.'' " By another act the dominion
of Canada is to be so extended, modelled and governed, as
that by being disunited from us, detached from our interests
by civil as well as religious prejudices, that by their numbers
daily swelling with Catholic emigrants from Europe, and by
their devotion to administration so friendly to their religion,
they might become formidable to us, and on occasion be lit
instruments in the hands of power to reduce the ancient free
Protestant colonies to the same state of slavery with them-
selves." Other passages, too, pictured the Roman Catholics
as helping England to enslave America.

This address was from the pen of John Jay, in whose col-
ony of New York a flag was run up with the legend, " No
Popery." The " Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies,"
more moderate in tone, condemned the Quebec Act for ex-
tending the limits of that province to the northern and west-
ern boundaries of the old colonies, and establishing tlie Ro-
man Catholic religion, instead of merely tolerating it, as
stipulated by the treaty of peace.'

' ' ' Extracts from the Votes and Proceedings of the American Conti-
nentiil Congress, held at Phihidelphia, Hth September, 1774," etc.. New
York, 1774, pp. 4, 9. 10, 17, 25-7. "An Englishman's Answer to the
Address from the Delegates to the People of Great Britain," New York,
1775, says, p. 22 : " T am still more a-stonished at what you tell us of the
fruits of their religion."— " But if the actions of the different sects in
religion are enquired into, we sliall find, by turning over the sad historic

page, that it Wius the sect (I forget what they call them, I mean the

sect -which is still most numerous in New England, and not the sect
which they so much despise) that in the last century deluged our island
in blood ! that even shed the blood of the sovereign, and dispersed im-
piety, bigotry, superstition, hy|«)crisy, jiersecution, nuirder and relwllion
through every part of the empire." See "The Quebec Act and the
Church in Canada," "American Catholic Quarterly," 1885, p. 601. To
make the act more odious in the old colonics, it was reported that the

PATRIOTISM.

139

But the people at large were not deluded by politicians
and zealots who sought to trade on their religious prejudices.
Tl'-ore is no trace of any hostility shown during this excite-
ment to the Catholic settlers in Maryland or Pennsylvania.
Events were marching rapidly, and the pretended fears of
political leaders deceived few.

Catholics everywhere were in full sympathy with the pa-
triotic movement. A Protestant minister might, like the
Rev. Samuel Peters in Connecticut, draw down on himself
the vengeance of impetuous whigs, but no one raised a doubt
as to the fidelity of the priests in Maryland and Pennsylvania
to the cause of America. As the struggle became imminent,
priests like the Rev. John Carroll, who had been employed
in Europe, hastened back to share their country's fortunes ;
and in the event, as we shall see, the French-speaking Cath-
olics and their priest at the West secured that territory to
the republic.

The growth of a better feeling toward Catholics after the
close of the wars with France and Spain, is seen in the fact
that Catholic books were for the first time printed, not anon-
ymously as in England, but openly. Apparently the first
book thus issued was a prayer-book, entitled " A Manual of
Catholic Prayers. ' In the multitude of thy mercy, I will
come into thy House ; I will worship towards thy holy Tem-
ple in thy Fear.' Psalm v. 8. Philadelphia : Printed for
the Subscribers, by Robert Bell, Bookseller, in Third Street,
MDCCLXXIV."'

At the same time Bell issued proposals for printing by sub-
scription Bishop Challoner's " Catholic Christian Instructed."
Subscriptions were received " by Robert Bell and also by

kinjr was nbout to ruise an army of 30,000 Canadian Catholics, in order
to irush them. ' New York Journal," November 3, 1774.

140

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Arthur John O'Neill, Fourth Street ; Patrick Ilogaii, Tallow
Chandler and Soap Boiler, Pear Street ; James Gallagher,
Storekeeper, Front Street, Philadelphia ; William Cullen,
Storekeeper, Pottsgrove ; Mark Wilcox, Paper Maker, Con-
cord, Chester County ; Welsh, Storekeeper in Balti-
more-town, Maryland."

An advertisement in the "Annapolis Gazette," May 29,
1T77, and " Pennsylvania Evening Post," December 28,
1778, also notices a prayer-book : " New Publications to be
sold at Mr. William Gordon's in Cornhill St., Annapolis, ....
'A Manual of (Roman) Catholic Prayers, for the use of
those (Roman Catholics) who ardently aspire after devotion
(salvation),' " etc. The work referred to is probably not Bell's
book, but " The Garden of the Soul ; or, a Manual of Spir-
itual Exercises and Instructions for Christians who living in
the world, aspire to Devotion. The Seventh Edition cor-
rected. London printed. Philadelphia : Reprinted by Jo-
seph Crukshank, in Market Street, between Second and Third
Streets."

CHAPTER IV.

THE CHPRCH AND CATHOLICS DURING THE REVOLUTIONART WAR.

The condition of the Churcli in the country east of the
Mississippi in 1774 has been portrayed. The Catholic bodies
were widely separated; in tliose of French and Spanish
orip'n the royal aid was withdrawn, and the people were
tlifioouraged. The suppression of the Society of Jesus cut off
all hope of further missionary supply from that order, and
the prospect for the future was bleak enough, as no provision
for the maintenance of a clergy and divine worship was
made.

The Jesuits in Maryland and Pennsylvania formally ac-
cepted the Brief and became secular priests. The property
of the order in Illinois, like that in Canada, was taken by the
English government, which to this day holds the latter as a
trust.' In Maryland the title to the property had not been
held by the Jesuits as a body corporate, but by individual
members, al' British subjects, and had been transmitted from
one to another by will or deed ever since the settlement of
the country. On the suppression, Bishop ChJloner sent the
Brief to Maryland for the adhesion of the members in that
and tlie adjoining province, but neither he nor the Sovereign
Pontiff took any steps in regard to the property.

' Tlie Illinois and other lands must Lave passed to the United States by
the treaty of 1783 under the same trust, to apply them to the purposes
for whioh they were given. " Memoire aur les Biens des .Jesuites en
(^.nadii," Montreal, 1874, p. 90. If government sold the laud, the pro-
ceeds belong to the Catholic Church, or justice is a mockery.

(141)

'.-'iii

142

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

\it

r-f:

The outburst of bigotry in New York, excited by the
Quebec Act and stimulated by narrow-minded fanatics like
John Jay, caused the only serious trouble experienced by
Catholics during this period. A number of Scotch High-
landers, chiefly Catholics from Glengarry, had, as already
stated, settled near Johnson Hall, in the Mohawk Valley, to
which they liad been invited by Sir William Johnson. They
were attended by the Rev. John McKenna, an Irish priest,
educated at Louvain. Comparatively strangers in the coun-
try, many speaking English imperfectly, the immigrants
knew little of the points on which the colonists based their
complaints against the English government. They soon
found themselves denounced as tories, papists, and friends of
British tyranny by the fanatics near them. They were dis-
armed by General Schuyler, and before the spring of 1776
began to withdraw to Canada, by way of Oswegatcliie, aban-
doning the homes they had created in the wilderness. Their
siifferin*^ were great, one party subsisting for ten days on
their dogs and herbs they gathered as they went. Their
priest, more obnoxious than his flock, withdrew with a com-
pany of 300, and took up his abode with the Jesuit F'atliers
at Montreal.

Thus did anti-Catholic bigotry deprive New York of in-
dustrious and thrifty settlers, and send to swell the ranks of
the British army, men who longed to avenge the defeat at
Culloden, men eager to draw their claymores against England.

Otic of these parties of Catholics flying from persecution,
was attacked by Indians from St. Regis,^ and several were
killed.'

' Alli.n McDonald to Congress, March 25, 1776, complaining of arrest
near Johnstown, "American Archives," v., p. 41.'}. Thomas Oummer-
sall, "New York Colonial Documents," viii,, p. 683 ; Ferland, " Vic de
Mgr. Plessis," p. 60 ; English edition, p. 82. Rev. Mr. McKenna, when

CATHOLICS DRIVEN OUT.

143

The Rev. John McKenna was the first resident Catholic
priest among the settlers in New York after the Jesuit
Fathers in Dongan's time, nearly a century before.

The influence of the same spirit manifested itself also in
Baltimore, where John Heflfeman, a Catliolie, had opened a
school. We are told " that the laws against Roman Catholic
teachers still existing, some persons actuated by worse mo-
tives broke up Mr. John Heffernan's school, and he also left
the place." '

So, too, John Maguire and his wife, Margaret Tuite, who
had resided in Delaware, were hunted out by over-zealous
whigs, and their son Thomas, born at Philadelphia, May
9, 1776, became one of the most able and distinguished
priests in Canada, holding many important positions in that
province, and negotiating its affairs in England and Rome.'
He was apparently the second Cathdlic priest of Pennsylva-
nia birth. Yet Catholics were swelling the ranks of the
army which the colonists raised in defence of the rights
chey claimed as British subjects, and as the British liberties
handed down from their ancestors.'
When the petitions and remonstrances of the American

the Hessians arrived in Canada, finding that many were Catholics went

from company to company preaching and confessing in German which

he spoke fluently. SchlOsser, " Brief wechsel," Thiel 4 Heft 23 p 318

" N. Y. Revolutionary Papers," ii., p. 196. Tryon to Dartmouth ' Feb-

niary 7, 1776. Capt. McDonald's letters. " N. Y. Historical Society "

1882. pp. 224. 275, 857. The result was that in 1778. Bishop Hay couH

declare to Sir John Dalrymple. "that nearly all the emigrant.s who had

left the Highlands a few years b-jfore were now wearing his Majesty's

uniform." Gordon, "Journal and Appendix," Glasgow. 1867, p. 144.

' Scharf. "The Chronicles of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1874, p. 1.30.

' Tanguay, "Repertoire General du Clerge Canadian," Quebec 1868
p. 151. ' '

'"Pennsylvania .Journal," .January 24. 1776. McCurtin's Journal
m " Maryland Papers," Philadelphia. 1857, p. 11. '

?> »

I ;^

•

! '

144

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

colonidts failed, and the English government, adhering to its
policy, increased its military force in Massachusetts, it was
evident that force would be met by force. The English
opened the war by the advance on Lexington, and soon after
finding themselves encircled by troops in Boston, attempted
in vain in the Battle of Bunker Hill to break through the in-
vesting army. The struggle once began, the otlier colonies
were called upon to send troops ; then the Catholics of Mary-
land and Peimsylvania, with many in other parts, shouldered
their muskets. The advance into Canada found so many
there ready to join the Americans against their old enemies
that two regiments were formed, known as " Congress' Own,"

fac-simile of signature of rev. l. c. de i.otbini±re, chaplain of

congress' own.

one of them Livingston's, having a chaplain duly commis-
sioned by the Continental Congress, the Rev. Francis Louis
Chartier de Lotbiniere of the Order of Malta, who served
with the regiment.'

' " They have appointed a priest called LotWni^re to absolve the people :
tlicy give him ii salary of 1,500 livres, and promise him a bishopric."
"N. Y. Historical Collections," 1880, p. 221. The Rev. Mr.Lotbinitre's
f ommission bore date .Jan. 26, 1776. Ilamersly, "Army Register." Wnsh-
ington, 1881, p. 32. Tanguay, " Repertoire General," Quebec, 1868, p. 103.
Bishop Briand, Appointment Oct. 2, 1770. The Canadian Corps was at
Fishkill, November 12, 1776 " N. Y. Revolutionary Papers," i., p. 534.
Hazen's Repiment was on the right of the American storming party at
Yorklown. The Canadians who ioined the American cause were excom-

DEATH OF F. SITTENSPEROER.

145

All Canada would have been won but for the influence of
John Jay's bigoted address to the People of Great Britain, in
which the Canadians and their religion were assailed in the
grossest terms. The change of sentiment caused by this ill-
timed and unchristian address, led to the defeat of Montgom-
ery and to the decline of the American cause in Canada.
Something should now be said of the condition of the
Cliurch at this time.

In 1775 the Catholic mission lost one of its zealous mem-
bers by death. This was the German priest. Rev. Mathias
Sittensperger, known in Pennsylvania and Maryland by the
name of Manners. He expired at Bohemia, on the 10th of
June, attended by Eev. Mr. Mosley from Tuckahoe, of a
dysentery which was epidemic on the Eastern Shore, and gave
the two missionaries abundant occasions for the exercise of
their zeal. The Rev. Mr. Mosley was urged by his family
to return to England, but he saw the mission losing priests,
and no clergymen coming to take their place. He would
not desert the field in which he had so long labored. " I see
that I am a very necessary Hand in my situation," he wrote,
'• and our Gentlemen here won't hear of my departure." So
lie stuck manfully to his post, his "Single Horse-Chair,"
carrying far and wide through the peninsula of the Eastern

nuinicated by the Bishop of Quebec, and those who returned to Canada
were denied (lie sacraments even on tlieir death-bed, unless they openly
recognized that tliey had committed sin by joining the Americans.
Cliristian burial was as a consequence denied them, and they were buiied
by the roadside. Dc Gaspe, " Les Anciens Canadiens," 1877, pp. 183-4.
Another priest in Canada who sided with the Continental Congress,
was the Sulpitian, Hev. Peter Iluet de la Va'.iniire, cure of Ste. Anne du
Sud. lie was sent out of Canada by the English authorities in 1779, and
ordered to embark in the fleet which left Quebec October 25. He came
to the United States, and his name will recur in our pages. Ilaldimand
to Bishop of Quebec, October 14, 1779, in Brymner, " Report in ('anadian
Archives," Ottawa, 1887, p. 473.

140

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Shore the benefits of reh'gion.' Meunwliile lie wiis preparinji;
to l)uild a chnri'h-htmse on the plantation, and while the war
was going on, bravoly undertook it.

In 1775 the Rev. Bernard Dideriek was assigned to the
Baltimore mission, and the Catholics, we have seen, gained
possession of their church in a very curious way. From this
time it was attended monthly, we are told, but only a low
mass was sjiid, and the Acadians complained to the Abbe
Robin of the difference they found between the Maryland
clergy and their old priests at home.' Though some of the
leading men even retai.ied the old prejudices againet Cath-
olicity, a more liberal spirit was rapidly gaining ground.
Virginia had in the number and violence of her penal laws
against the clergy and people who professed the ancient faith,
exceeded all other colonies. Under the new impulse she
showed a complete change, and her statesmen were foremost
in advocating religious liberty. With this sentimcat Wash-
ington was imbued, and he showed it on taking command of
the (Continental army which held the British in Boston.

In the calendar of England the fifth of November had
4x^en kept annually as a holiday to commemorate the discov-
ery of the Gunpowder Plot against James I. There it was
" Guy Fawkes' Day." Puritans could not very consistently
hold celebrations to denounce Catholics for attempting to

' Letter August 16, 1775.

' Robin, " Nouveau Voyage dans rAm6rique Septentrionale en Tan-
nee 1781," pp. 98-101. His account is by no means accurate and some
of bia blunders curious. Thus be says: "Maryland is inhabited by
many Catholics. The city of Fredericksburg in Virginia, 1ms several
churches, w well as Charles Town capital of C-'arolina. Ail Ihc.'^e cburcbes
in North America were subject to the jurisdiction of a Bishop in jiartibuH
residing in London," etc. He evidently mistook his hasty notes. He
piobably not«d the church at Fredericktown, Marylaud, and several
( Impels in Charles Co., Maryland.

END OF ''POPE day:

147

kill the father, when they thenieel es actually killed the m\\.
]3ut as the neglect to observe iho day might be censured,
they shrewdly compromised the matter— " Guy Fawkea*
Day" became " Pope Day " in New England. A figure to
re])re8ent the person whom the majority of Christians on
earth honored as their Supreme Pontiff was carried in mock-
cry through the streets of Boston and other New England
towns, and finally burned amid the huzzas of the rabble.
Occasionally there were several processions, and on one occa-
sion the adherents of two rival popes in Boston attacked each
i>ther with great fury.'

Soon after General Washington took command of the
American army he was informed that " Pope Day " was
to be celebrated in camp. The insult to the Catholic relig-
ion was distasteful to his more liberal mind, and as Congress
was making every exertion to win the favor of the Cana-
dians, and the Catholics in the Northwest and in Maine, he
saw how impolitic such an exhibition of bigotry would be.
He accordingly issued the follo^ving order, which abolished
" Pope Day" forever, the celebrations of 1774 having been
the last :

" November 5th. As the Commander-in-Chief has been
apprised of a design formed for the observance of that ridic-
ulous and childish custom of burning the effigy of the Pope,
he cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be
officers and soldier ) in this anny so void of common sense as
not to see the impropriety of such a step at this juncture ;
at a time when we are soliciting, and have really obtained
the friendship and alliance of the people of Canada, whom

" "Weekly Post-Boy," November 18, 1745, under Boston news.
•Mnssaclmsetts Gazette," November 7, 1765; 8. G. Drake, "The His-
tory and Antiquities of Boston," Boston, 1856, pp. 662, 709, 752, 772.
" U. 8. Catholic Historical Magazine," ii., p. 1.

• ft'! Am

i *

148

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

we ought to coJimder as hri'throii eiiilmrked in the Haiiie
cause — the defeiit't' of the liberty of Ainerica. — At this June-
ture, and under siieli circiunHtances, to he inHultin^ tlieir re-
hfijion, in so inoimtrons as not to he suffered or excused ;
indeed instead t)f offering the most remote insidt, it is otir
duty to address inihlic thanks to these our brethren, as to
tliem we are indebted for every late happy success over the
common enemy in Canada."

Yet as late as Novend)er 5, 1774, the Pojie in effigy liad
been paraded with the devil throngli the streets of not only
New England towns, but even of (Charleston, and burnt on
the Common, in presence of a numerous crowd of people.

The Rev. Mr. Carroll was in the midst of active j)atriot8 ;
his brother Daniel and his kinsman, Charles Carroll of Car-
rollton, were already prominent, the latter exalted in the
public estimation by his recent victory over Daniel Dulany,
the ablest lawyer in America.

On the 15th of February, 1770, the Continental Congress
resolved "that a committee of three — two of whom to bo
members of Congress — be appointed to repair to Canada,
there to pursue such instructions as shall be given them by
that body." Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase, mem
Ixjrs of Congress, were selected as Conmiissioners with Charles
Carroll of Carrollton, whose fluency in French and wliose
religion would secure him a hearing. Congress went further
and refjiiested the Rev. John Carroll to join the Commis-
sioners itnd assist them in such things as they might think
useful.' The patriotic priest was ready to risk life, but would
not compromise his priestly character. He left his flock

' Washington's Writings, iii., p. 144. " New York Joiinml," Decern-
l)er \'t, 1774. .Journals of Congress. " American Archives," v., p. 411.
8paldiug, " Life of the Most liev. M. J. Spalding," p. 2:58.

THE MISSION TO CANADA.

149

for a time to go and lend his influence to induce tlie Cana-
dians to remain neutral in the struggle between England and
iier ancient colonies.

In a letter to his mother he thus describes his journey to
Canada :

" "We have at length come to the end of our long and
tedious journey, after meeting with several delays on account
of the impassable condition of the lakes ; and it is with a
longing desire of measuring back the same ground, that I
now take up my \^en, to inform you of my being in good
health, thank God, and of wishing you a perfect enjoyment
of yours.

" We came hither the night before lafit and were received
at the landing by General Arnold, and a great body of offi-
cers, gentry, etc., and cMiluted by firing of cannons and other
military honors. Being conducted to the General's house,
we were served with a gla-s of wine, while people were
crowding in to pay their compliments, which ceremony being
over, we were shown into another apartment, and unexpect-
edly met in it a large assembly of ladies, most of them
French. After drinking tea, and sitting some time, we went
to an elegant supper, which was followed with the singing of
the ladies, which proved very agreeable, and would have
been more so, if we had not been so nmch fatigued with our
journey. The next day was spent in receiving visits, and
dining in a large company, with whom we were pressed to
sup, but excused ourselves in order to write letters, of which
this is one, and will be finished and dated to-morrow morning.

"I owe you a journal of our adventures from Philadelphia
to this place. When we came to Brunswick in the Jersey
government, we overtook the Baron do W , the Prus-
sian General who had left Philadelphia the day before us.
Though I had frequently seen him before, yet he was so dis-

•: i"''

;r — ;;l

Iff

iL •

lii

100

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

guiHcd in furs, that I Hcareo knew liiiu, and nevor, never be-
held a more laii^hablo object in my life. Lilie other Prun-
eian otHcerH, he appears to ine as a man who knows little of
polite life, and yet has picked up so much of it in his piiHsage
through France, as to make a most awkward appearance.
When we came to New York, it was no more the gay, po
lite place, it used to be esteemed, but was become almost a
desert uidess for troops. The people were expecting a bom-
bardment, and had therefore removed themselves and their
effects out of town ; and the other side the troops were work-
ing at the fortifications with the utmost activity.

" After spending some disagreeable days at this place, we
proceeded by water up to Albany, about 1(50 miles. At our
arrivid there, wo were met by Cieneral Schuyler, and enter-
tained by him, during ■ .ir stay, with great jwliteness and
very gentecly. I wrote to you before, of our agreeable situa-
tion at Saratoga, and of our journey from thenco over Lake
George to Ticonderoga : from this latter place we end)arked
on the great lake of Champlain, about 140 miles to St. John.
We had a passage of three days and a half. We always came
to in the night time. Passengers generally encamp in the
woods, making a covering of the f)ougli8 of trees, and large
fires at their feet. But as we had good awning to our boat,
and had brought with lis good beds, and plenty of bed-
clothes. T chose to sleep on board." '

At Montreal tlie Rev. Mr. Carroll called upon the Hev.
Peter Rene Floquet, who had like himself Iwlonged to the
Society of Jesus, when the fiat of tlie Sovereign Pontiff dis-
solved that illustrious body. But the Canadian priest wm

' Lfttor May 1, 1776, Brent, " Biogmphical Skotcli of the Most Rev.
John Onrroll. first Archbisliop of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1848, p. 40.
"American Archives," v., p. 1168.

* If)

''il

1.1 <

FEELTNO IN CANADA.

ini

Hcvcrely censurefl by \m hiHliop for \m courtony o/i tliiw oc-
ciiHion and for udiiiittiiig t<. their Eimtur oommiiiiion Caniidi-
luiri Horviiiff in tlio AmericMii army.' The Maryhind \mv»i
waiting oil otliers of the Ciiiiadiaii ciorgy, found tiiut it wart
too hitc to diwc'U8H the (jiiention of union with tlie revolted
coionieH or even neutrality. Tiie JiiHhop of Quebec and \m
clergy with few exeeptionH, HatiHtied witli the Quebec Act,
which they regarded justly m only the honest fulHInicnt of a
so!<'inn treaty, were diripowed to adhere to the llngliHh gov-
criiuient, ratlier than trust to the vague cxpresHions of tlio
I lilted ColonicH, wluwe Htatiite-bookrt still bore the niost bit-
ter and unchristian enactments against all adherents and
priests of the ancient Church: which liad denounced the
(jiiehec Act with the coarsest ribaldry, and whose ' double-
faced (\)iigress,' met them with specious and plausil)le jilirases
while it denounced them to the people of Enghuid.'
The American priest found himself, when coming to por-

' Lettt-re of Hl'v. P. U. Floquel to Uishop Hrinnd, June 15, 1770 • No-
vember 29, 1776.

•' Extniit of a Letter from ('aniulii, dated Montreal, 24tli March, 177,'5:
"The Address from tiie Continental (;on>,'resH, attracted the Notice of
some of the principal Canadians, it was soon translated into very toler-
alile French ; the decent Manner in which Hie Itelif,'ious Matters wtre
loueii'd ; the Encomiums on the French Nation, Haltered a V -.le foud
of Compliments. Tiiey iK'ffped tlie Translator, ns he had succeeded so
well, to try his hand on that Address to the People of (inut Britain ; he
liad equal Success in this, and read his Performance to a numerous Audi-
ence : but when he came to that Part which treats of tiie new modelling
of the Province ; draws n Picture of tlie Catholic Ueli^ion, and the Cana-
dian Manners, they could not contain their Resentment, nor express It
l)ut in broken Curses Oh ! the p<Tfldiou8 doubh l;,ced Congress ; let us
bless and obey our benevolent Prince, whose llumanitvis consistent,
and . ^i.tuis to all Keligions, let us abhor ali who would seduce us from
our Loyalty, by Acts that would dishonour a Jesuit, and whose Ad-
dresses like their Itosolves. are destructive of their own Object." " N.
Y. Gazette & Weekly Mercury." April 10, 1775, No. 1326.

.^fTin

ffin ;

^*-5»W

ir)2

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

tray the toleration of his countrymen, confronted by the Rev.
McKenna, the victim of their bigotry, by the address which
Jay had penned, and by the hostility some of the Continental
officers and soldiers had shown to the Canadian clergy. The
favorable feeling which had prevailed at first, was rapidly
disappearing, and the majority listened to the voice of the
Bishop of Quebec, who counselled fidelity to the sovereign to
whom they had sworn allegiance.'

After various ineffectual attempts to produce a favorable
impression on behalf of the colonies, the Rev. Mr. Carroll
resolved to return with Mr. Franklin, whose health com-
pelled him to leave the matter in tlie hands of the other
Commissioners. On the 12th of May, the Rev. Mr. Carroll
proceeded to join Mr. Franklin at St. John's, where they
embarked, and with some difficulty reached Albany. They
left that city in a private carriage furnished by General
Schuyler, and were in New York by the 27th, and in Phila-
delphia early in June. The attention paid by the Catholic

' " The Governor finding all his eflforta inelTectual in raising the militia,
applied to the Catholic bishop for his spiritual aid and influence, who
sent a mandate to the subordinate clergy of the several parishes, to be
read by them after divine service to their parishioners, exhorting them to
take up arms in defence of their country : no persuasion could, however,
induce them to stiind forth in the hour of danger." VV. Smith, " History
of Canada," Quelle, 1815, ii., p. 76. " .Vtfempts had been made to en-
list Irish Roman Catholicks. Ministry knew tho,"? attempts had l)een un-
successful. The Canadians had been excited to take a part in the (luarrel :
they had wisely declined to interfere in the business." Duke of Richinond
in the House of Lords. " American Archives," vi., p. 138. The bigotry
of a few deprived the American cause of all this advantage in Canada.
Some writers have taken English Iwasta of the regiments of Irish Catho
lies whom they were going to raise (see "Annapolis Gazette," May 25,
1775, October 26, 1775, November 1«, 1775, July 31, 1777 ; " Pennsylvania
Journal," January 3, 1776,) as proof that such regiments were actually
raised : when in fact it was the utt^'r failure to recruit in Ireland, tx>
which the Duke of Richmond alluded, that forced England to go to Ger-
man princes to hire troop; .

If;

CATHOLICS IN THE SERVICE.

158

])rie8t to the aged patriot, produced an influence which never
faded from Franklin's mind.'

The Eev. Mr. Carroll resumed his missionary duties at
Rock Creek, visiting the dependent stations, devoting his
leisure to study, unless drawn from it by calls of those who
more than ever sought the society of the now honored and
accomplished priest.

From the commencement of the struggle the Catholics in
the country had been in sympathy with the patriots ; many
entered the army or enrolled themselves in the militia, which
no longer refused admission to the sons of Mother Church.
Pennsylvania sent Colonel Moylan and Captain Barry of the
Navy, Colonel Doyle, and Captain Michael McGuire. Mary-
land contributed Neales, Boarmans, Brents, Semmes, Mat-
ti'iglys, Brookes, and Kiltys. The rank and file contained
TUinibers of Catholics.'

Archbishop Carroll wrote boldly to a maligner of Catholics
in his day : " Their blood flowed as freely (in proportion to
their numbers) to cement the fabric of independence, as that
of any of their fellow-citizens. They concurred with per-
haps greater unanimity than any other body of men in ree-
om mending and promoting that government from whose
influence America anticipates all the blessings of justice,
peace, plenty, good order, and civil and religious liberty." '
At another time, referring to New Jersey's unjust exclusion
of Catholics from ofHce by her Constitntion passed during

'Works of Fmnklin, i., p. 404; viii., pp. 182-3. "American Ar-
rhivos," vi., pp. 610, 1027-8. "Journal of Charles Carroll of Carrollton"'
Baltimore, 1845, p. 75.

•' McSherry, " History of Maryland," Baltimore, 1849, pp. 379, etc.

' To the Editor of the " Gazette of the U. States," .Tunc 10, 1789 ;
Brent, " Biographical Sketch of the Most Rev. John Carroll " Baltimore
1843, p. 97.

164

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROIL.

the war, he wrote : " At that very time the Aiiiericau army
swarmed with Roman Catholic soldiei's, and the world would
have held them justified, had they withdrawn themselves
from the defence of a state which treated them with so
much cruelty and injustice, and which they then actually
covered frotn the depredations of the British army." '

The Catholic Indians in Maine, though long without a
resident priest, had not lost the faith. Their position on the
frontier made it important for the Americans to win them
over, and througli them obtain at least neutrality from the
tribes beyond their territory. These Indians were already
favorably disposed, and Washington wrote from his camj)
before Boston in 1775 to the Indians on the St, John's.
Delegates came headed by Ambrose Var to confer witii the
Council of Massachusetts at "Watertown. In their language
they showed their religious feeling : " We are thankful to
the Almighty to see the Council," was their greeting. They
declared their intention to adhere to the cause of the colo-
nists ; but they added : " We want a Blackgown or French
priest. Jesus, we pray to, and we will not liear any ' prayer'
that comes from old England." That this was an earnest
wish on their part was evident from the fact that, before they
left, they once more retpiested the Council to obtain a priest
for them. The General Court expressed their gratificatioji
at this love of religion and declared their readiness to obtain a
priest for them, though they did not know where to find one."

P^ifty years had wrought its changes ; and the same body
that offered a reward for the scalp of a Jesuit missionary on
the Kennebec and finally compassed his death, was now anx-
ious to give the Indians of those parts a Catholic priest.

' Brent, " Biographical Sketch of the Most Rev. John Carroll," Balti
more, 1843, p. 143.
'' " American Archives," vii., pp. 838, 848.

UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTIONS.

155

Then the Penobscots came to give their adhesion to the
cause of independence, headed by tlieir chief Orono, whose
iijiine Maine bears proudly to this day. They, too, asked a
iniest, and decHned a minister from their New England
friends. Loyal tliroughout to the American cause, Orono
and his people would not compromise their faith. " We
know our religion and love it ; we know nothing of you
and yours," he replied when urged to attend Protestant
services.'

Under the necessity of their position most of the colonies,
on throwing off allegiance to Engknd and her king, adopted
C'o!istitutio!is for their future government as States of the
American Union. Some of these show that the principle of
religious equality had been heartily adopted ; others tell us
tliat tlie old bigotry, so zealously taught from the pulpi<- of
the minister and the desk of the schoolmaster, had not yet
been rejected by the patriots of that era.

Although the principles of rel" . < freedom and equality
had made progress during the wu :, i,he American Eevolu-
tion, the Constitutions adopted by the several States and the
laws passed to regulate the new governments established,
show that the peo])]e and their leaders had not risen to the
level of the Catholic Calvert.

Ne''' Hampshire first adopted a very meagre constitu-
tion at Exeter in 1776, in which no illiberality appears ; but
in that of 1792, in spite of opposition, the sixth article pro-
vided for " the support and maintenance of the public Prot-
estant teachers," and section 14 enacted that members of the
House of Representatives " shall be of the Protestant relig-
ion." The Governor, Counsellors, and Senators were also
re(}nircd to be Protestants (sections 29, 42, (51). This exclu-

i*l

" Americiin Archives," vii,, p. 1238.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

sion of Catholics from oflSce has been maintaiaed thfoiigh
the present ceutury.'

In Massachusetts (1779-80) Congregationalism was virtu-
ally maintained as an established church, although in tenns
the Constitution guaraniieed equal protection to every deuoni-
inatiou of Christians, and declared that " no subordination
of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be
established by law,'' but it authorized towias to lay taxes
" for the institution of the public worship of God, and for
the support and maintenance of public protestant teachers
of piety, religion and morality, in all cases, where such pro-
vision shall not be made voluntarily " (Part i., §§ 1, 3).'

In the New York Convention (1777) John Jay had been
the persistent enemy of religious equality and even of tolera-
tion. When the section on naturalization came up he pn)-
posed an amendment requiring the person applying to
"abjure and renounce all allegiance and subjection to all
and every foreign king, jirince, potentate, and stato in all
matters ecclesiastical and civil." Although Morris and Liv-
ingston earnestly opposed the amendment, it was carried,
and no Catholics could be naturahzed ; all were excluded,
as they could not abjure and renounce subjection to the
Pope in ecclesiastical matters. When the section on tolera-
tion came up, John Jay moved an amendment giving the
Legislature power at any time to deny toleration to any sect
or denomination. When this excited debate, he withdrew it
and offered another, " Except the professors of the religion
of the Church of Rome, who ought not to hold any lands or
be admitted to a participation of the civil rights enjoyed by

' " A Collection of the Constitutions of the Thirteen Uoited States of
North America," Glasgow, 1783, p. 11.
' lb., p. 41.

1 1 s

UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTIONS. 157

the members of this State, until such time as the said pro-
fessors sliall appear in the Supreme Court of this State, and
tliore most solemnly swear, that they verily believe in their
consciences that no pope, priest or foreign authority on
earth, hath powei to absolve the subjects of this State from
tlieir allegiance to the same. Aud further, that they re-
noinice and believe to be false and wicked the dangerous
iiiul damnable doctrine that the Pope, or any other earthly
authority, hath power to absolve men from their sins, de-
scribed in and prohibited by the Gospel of Jesus Christ ;
and particularly that no pope, priest or foreign authority on
earth, hath power to absolve them from the obligation of
this oath." This vile and slanderous attack on the Catholics
was rejected by a vote of 19 to ]0. Jay then introduced
unotlier amendment, and though Morrift^nd Livingston again
fought the battle of human rights and equal liberty, Jay's
last amendment wiis virtually carried. As passed, the Con-
stitution (Art. XXXVIII.) shows the aninms of Mr. Jay.
"Aud whereas we are required, by the benevolent principles
of rational liberty, not only to expel civil tyranny, but also
to guard against that spiritual oppression and intolerance,
wherewith the bigotry and ambition of weak and wicked
priests and princes have scourged mankind : this convention
doth further, in the name and by the authority of the good
people of this State, ordain, determine and declare, that the
free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and wor-
ship, v/ithout discrimination or preference, shall forever here-
after be allowed within this State, to all mankind. Provided
that the liberty of conscience hereby granted, shall not be so
construed, as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify prac-
tices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State."
The next article excluded mi.usters and priests of all denom-
inations from holding any office under the State. But the

VHT 7t«IMfnifW

I*'

1 !;'

108

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Legislature, following the spirit of the " weak and wicked
priests and princes " and of Mr. Jay, made an oath of otHce
Kiieh that no Catholic could t^ike it, and prevented Catholics
from abroad from becoming naturalized as citizens of New
York State.'

New Jersey also in her Constitution, adopted at Bur-
lington July 2, 1776, professed liberty of conscience in
Article XVIII., but in the next enacted " that no protestant
inhabitant of this colony shall be denied the enjoyment of
any civil right, merely on account of his religious principles ;
but that all persons, professing a belief in the faith of anv
protestant sect, who shall demean themselves peaceably under
the government, as hereby established, shall be capable of
being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a
liiember of either branch of the legislature, and shall fully
and freely enjoy every privilege and imirmnity, enjoyed by
others, their fellow-subjects."

Catholics were thus excluded from office.

Pennsylvania (1770) in her Constitution (Sect. IV,), clearly
and explicitly declared " that no person, who acknowledges
the being of a (Jod and a future state of rewards and punish-
ments, shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be dis-
qualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under
this commonwealth." It required belief in the inspiration
of the Old and New Testaments."

Delaware (177fi) required an oath of belief in God the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and in the inspiration of the

' " .Journal of the Provincial Convention of New York," pp. 842-860.
Extracts contributed by me in Bayley, "A Brief Skctcli of tlie Kiirly
History of the Catholic Church in the Island of New York." Constit'i-
tion of the State of New Y'ork, 1777. Carey, "American Museum," ix.
(19;.

« "A Collection," etc., p. 104.

UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTIONS.

U)9

Scriptures (Art. XXII.) ; and forbade the establishineut of
any one religious sect in preference to anc-ther, and excluded
clergynien and preachers of the Gospel, from all civil otKce^,
while they continued in the exercise of the pastoral function
(Art. XXIX.).

The Maryland Constitution (1776) provided that " Every
gift, sale, or devise of lands to any minister or sect, except
tor the erection of a church or use as a burial-ground," should
1)0 void. All officers were required to subscribe a declaraticjn
of belief in the Christian religion.

Virginia (1776) declared all men entitled to the free exer-
cise of religion,' and ten years after placed a distinctive act
on her statute-book. After a long preamble, in which all in-
terference by the State with the religion of the people is con-
demned, the State of Virginia in the year 1786 enacted :

" Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, that
no man shall be compelled to support any religious worshij),
place, or ministry whatsoever ; nor shall be forced, restrained,
molested, or burthcned in his body or goods, nor shall other-
wise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief.
But that all men be free to profess, and by argument to
maintain, their opinion in matters of religion : and that the
same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil
capacities.

" And though we well know that this Assembly, elected
l»y the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only,
have no power to restrain the act of succeeding assemblies,
constituted with powers equal to our own ; and that there-
fore to declare this act irrevocable, would be of no effect in
law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare that the
rights hereby asserted, are natural rights of mankind ; and

Ordinances

of Virginia. Williamsburg : 1776, p. 5,

'ti

,,(

160 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

tliat if iiny act Hhall be hereafter passed to repeal the present,
or to narrow its opemtion, such an act will be an infringe-
ment of natural rights." '

But the Constitution of North Carolina, 1770 (Sect.
XXXII.), read: "No person who shall deny the truth of
the protestant religion, shall be capable of holding any office
or place of trust or proiit in the civil department within thin
State." Yet it declared : " All men have a natural and un-
alienable right to worship Almighty God, according to the
dictates of their own consciences." '

And South Carolina (1778) in the twelfth and thirteentli
articles of her Constitution, declared that " No person shall
be eligible to a seat in the senate," or "to sit in the Ik ise of
represtnitatives," "unless he be of the protestant religion."
And it had this clear and distinct article : " The Christiiin
Protestant shall be deemed and is hereby constituted and de-
clared to be the religion of this State. That all denominations
of Christian Protestants in this State, demeaning themselves
peaceably and faithfully, shall enjoy equal civil and religious
privileges." It was also provided, that no church should be
incorporated, unless it subscribed five articles, including justi-
fication by faith oidy, and the Scriptures as the sole rule of

faith.'

Tlic Protestant Church was thus established by law.

It was virtually only in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mnry-
land, and Virginia that penal laws against Catholics were ab-
solutely swept away, and the professors of the true faith ad-
mitted to all rights of citizenship, though Connecticut and
Georgia placed no apjiarent restriction.

1 "Annual Register." London, 1786, pp. 68-4. " Anierican Museum."
1789, ii., p. 501.
« " A Collection," etc., p. 127. 176, 814. ' lb., pp. 185. 193-4.

I»» '»':

HEV. MR. MOSLEY'S CASE.

161

Rhode iHlatul indeed repealed the clause denying toleration
to Catholics, and Connecticut had no express enactment, but
prior law established Congregationalism.

Though the Constitutions might in general terms proclaim
the doctrine of religious ecpialitj in the eye of the law, yet
statutes were passed that in many cases left very little liberty.

Wo can thus see that Dr. Carroll was just in condemning
the rehjctance shown in many parts of the country to lay
aside old prejudices and admit to equal rights the Catholics
wiio had so promptly and unanimously supported the na-
tional cause.

During the war the Catholic clergy coiitinued their labors,
and so far as researches go, only one was at all molested.
His case did not arise from disloyalty, but from a scruple of
conscience.

Rev. ^Ir. Mosley was still laboring ze<dously on the Eastern
Shore, cut oil from his fellow-priests. His Easter commun-
ions numbered about tifty, while the confessions of those too
young to make their first communion, carried his number of
parishioners approaching the sacraments to more than three
hiiiidred. His list of converts shows his zeal, for at his death
they mnnbered 185, not a few probably received into the
Church in their last n)oments.

The good priest apparently took no part in the political
excitement raging around him, but was not molested. Yet
when the new Maryland Legislature on the 1st of March,
1778, prohibited any minister of religion to preach unless he
took a prescribed oath, the good priest's conscience was
troubled. He could not consult other priests to learn how
they regarded it. " I must confess," he says, " that I thought
that taking such an oath, was taking an active part in changes
of government, which I conceived was acting out of charac-
ter, and beyond the business of a clergyman. I conceived

'•a

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102

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

that swearing to defend to the utmost of my power, and tak-
ing up arms was much the same thing. It is true a clergy,
man may advise and approve of a just war, but the greatest
Justice of it, will not entitle him to take up arms." I'nder
this scruple he did not take the oath, but he says : " Every
Iloman Catholic took it in due time, under niv tiirection.
not one excepted, which I think you will judge, that it
must speak .t kind word, and be powerful in my favour,
with them that may any way be disposed to censure me."
When he ascertained that his fellow-priests had taken the
oath, he presented himself before an adjourned court in
Talbot County, to take the oath. It was objected, however,
that the prescribed time had passed, and he therefore sent a
petition to the Assembly. A special act at last enabled hin,
to preach. In those days a sermon at a futieral was held
indispensable, and Rev. Mr. Mosley notes in his diary, " No
sermon, not having qualified by an oath to be taken by Law,
jjy all that would preach." ' Tlie Legislature passed an act
to meet his case, and on the 12th of September, 1780, he
notes : " Burial at Mr. William Young's, Queen Ann's Co.
Sermon, having qualified by a jmvate act for myself."'

From Goshenhoppen Father do Ritter continued his visits
to the usual stations, attending the church in Reading and
opening a mission in Allentown, where the house of Francis
Cooper seems to have been the first meeting-place of Cath-
olics. Easton, too, was visited from Augtist, 1709, Nicholas
Hucki being the host of the missionary. His zeal was re-

' The law of December 8, 1777, Sec. 10, imposed a treble tax on non-
jurors ; and Sec. 17 prohibited nonjurors from " preaching or teaching
the gospel."

' Acts Deoemlier 3, 1777, and June, 1780. Diary of Father Mosley.
" Mr. Mosley'H Kca-sons for not talking the oath of fidelity to the State."
Woodstock Letters, vol. xv., pp. 137-143.

THE PENNSYLVANIA PRIESTS.

163

warded by conversions, and he notes that (M the 26th of
December, 1775, he received tlie profesHion of faith of Fred-
eric Uhuer, a Lutlieran. The convert's wife was a Catholic,
and had tauglit her little eight-year-old daughter her prayers
and fidelity to her religion. The stepfather endeavored to
drag the child to the Lutheran meeting, but she stoutly re-
sisted, and though he endeavored to teach her Lutheran
prayers, he suddenly yielded to God's grace and came to
seek instruction for himself and baptism for the child, who
had been only privately baptized. The little Catharine,
when Father Hitter examined her in her catechism, ai
swered him so promptly and correctly, and with such evident

'Xtil/ty'

lii^

FAC-8IHILB OP 8I0NATUBE OF FATHEIl DE BrTTEB.

attachment to the faith, that the missionary recorded the cir-
cumstance in his Register.

The converts were Lutherans, Calvinists, Pietists, and peo-
ple of no religion, and .ve have lists of those received into
tlie Church by bim some years later, showing his zeal and
devotedness. The baptisms in the various missions attended
by him increased from 42 in 1766 to 69 in 1781, by a grad-
ual augmentation.'

Father Farmer, from his church in Philadelphia, extended
his apostolical excursions far and wide. In 1763 his labors
were chiefly in the city and New Jersey, then in Chester
County, and the next year as far as Goshenhwppen and Hay-

' "Liber Baptizatoram," etc., Goshenhoppen. The first entry of a
baptism at Allentown is March 25, 1774.

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164

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

cock. His rnisHioim in 1765 were ndvanced in New JorHcy
from PikcHlund and (ioiger's in Suleni County to BuHkin>?
Uidge in SoinerHct County, and to Tliti^ood, in the niiiiiiig
tliHtrict of I'ii>waic County, near the Now York line. Tin's
hiHt. with otiier piactvs in the vicinity, Charlottenburj? and
Long Pond, now Greenwood Lake, were evidently homes of
(terman CatholicK. brought over to work the iron mines and
furnaces established there. This little body of Cathoiies
finally gathered around the church when it was ere<'tod at
Macopin. The groat mass of other Catholics was in Salem
County, but the Rev. Mr. Farmer visited Burlington, (ilouceH-
ter, Hunterdon, Morris, and Sussex Counties, in his zeal to
minister to the widely-scattered Catholics. We obtain some
idea of the places he visited from his registered baptisms,
nund)ering 110 in 17r)5. 120 in 1767, 110 in 1768, 102 in
1771, 133 in tiie following year. Even after the war of the
Revolution had actually begun he was diligent in his visits
to Northern Jersey, and he records 139 baptisms in 1775.
His yearly journey to this mining district was made about
the month of October, 1775, 177(i, and 1778; but in the
spring of 1777 and 1770 and the summer of 1780.'

At an early period of the war, the stjitesmen of America
saw that the hope of ultimate success depended, to a certain
extent, on their securing recognition from some of the great
European powers, and if possible forming an actual alliance.
The colonies which a quarter of a century before had given
their sons and their means to wrest Canada from France, now
turned to that country for aid to deprive England of her
transatlantic possessions, as French stiitesmen had foreseen.

The struggle had already excited attention in Europe, and

' Father Farmer's Register, preserved at St. Joseph's Church, Pliila-
delphia.

>-%

A FRENCH MINISTER ARRIVES.

160

(.'atholic anny oflScers like rjifayctte, KuHuiunko, du Portail,
Oiiruit, Mottin do la Haline, PulaHki, Troiirton du Coudray,
navy officerH like l)ourvillo and Pierro lamdaiH,' wore already
in America aiding by their nkill and experience the brave
but untr^iined levies of the ( 'ontinotital CongreHH."

On the (Ith of February, 1778, the King of France made
a treaty of amity and commerce with the now republic,
"The United States," which were thus forniallv recognized
as an independent nation. A defennivo treaty of alliance
was also sig'ied, and a great Catholic power can o forward to
extend to America iier sympathy and aid.

p]arly in May a French fleet Baile<I from Toulon, bearing
to our shores Conrad Alexander Gerard, as the lirst ami " ■■■*
dor from the old continent to the republic. Tie arj* 1 in
August, and with him began the diplomatic body, rt jr; ■^i-nt-
ing foreign powers near the United States. The i.<c -i vea.
Spain declared war agaitist England, and she too sent i. -^i-
resentative to the American Congress in the person of Sefior
Miralles. Thus the first diplomatic circle at the American
seat of govennnent was Catholic, and openly so, for these
envoys celebrated great events either in their own countries
or in the United States, by the solemn services of the Cath-
olic Church, to which we find them inviting the memiiers

' llilliard d'Auberteuil, "Essais Illstoriques ct Politiques de In Revo-
lution de rAmerique Beptentrionale," p. 300, etc.; "N. V. Revolution-
ary Papers," !., pp. 448, 450.— Du Coudray was appointed to a post
with the rank of major-general, August 11, 177H, but joined the army as
a capt^un, and was drowned in the Schuylkill in September. Ilis funeral
obsequies took place at St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia, and on that
occasion the Continental Conijri'ss for the first time attended a Catholic
church. Mottin tie la Balme after serving in the cavalry Woo killed in a
well-planned and rapidly executed plan to capture Detroit.

» SouWs, " Hisloire <',« Troubles," Paris, 1787, iii., p. 28.

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LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

of the Continental Congress and the high officers of the
Republic.

French fleets were soon in American waters, and ere long a
French army was welcomed on American soil. The Catholic
priests hitherto seen in the colonies had been barely tolerated
in the limited districts where they labored ; now came Cath-
olic chaplains of foreign embassies ; army and navy chaplains
celebrating mass with pomp on the men-of-war and in the
camps and cities. The time had not yet come for complete
religious freedom, which gained slowly ; but progress was
soon made. Rhode Island, with a French fleet in her water,
blotted from her statute-book a law against Catholics.

The French chaplains in both arms of the service came
in contact with Catholics in all parts, and the masses said in
the French lines were attended by many who had not for
years had an opportunity of attending the holy sacrifice.

We have no details of the services of these priests, and
few even of their names. The Abbe de Glesnon, hospital
chaplain, resided at the Widow Brayton's house in Newport,
and during the stay in Providence at Benjamin Allen's.'
The Abbe Robin arrived at Boston in 1Y81, and was
there for some time.* The Rev. Mr. Lacy, an Irish priest,
was also an hospital chaplain, and traversed the country from
Boston to Virginia ; ' the Carmelite Father Paul de St. Pierre,
who was afterward on the mission in the Mississippi valley,
is also said to have been a chaplain in Rochambeau's army.

When the alliance of Congress with France and the ap-

' Lists furnished by H. T. Drowne in Stone, "Our French Allies,"
Providence, 1884, pp. 222, 323. No other priest is naired in those lists.

' Robin, " Nouveau Voyage dans I'Amerique Septentrionale," Philadel-
phia, 1782.

» " The Journal of Claude Blanchard," Albany, 1876, pp. 165, 184.

TORY HOSTILITY.

167

proach of a Frencli fleet became known, the Tory papers en-
deavored to excite the old anti-Catholic prejudice against tlie
American cause. One writer said : " You were told that it
was to avoid the establishing or countenancing of Popery ;
and that Popery was estabhshed in Canada (where it was only
tolerated). And is not Popery now as much established by
law in your State as any other religion ? So that your gov-
ernor and all your rulers may be Papists, and you may have
a Mass-House in every comer of your country (as some
places already experience.) " '

Other journals gave imaginary items of news such as they
asserted would soon be common in the papers. This will
serve as a sample of pretended news ten years ahead of time :

"Boston, November 11, 1789.
"The Catholic religion is not only outwardly professed,
l)iit has made the utmost progress among all ranks of people
liere. owing in a great measure to the unwearied labours of
the Dominican and Franciscan Friars who omit no oppor-
tunity of scattering the seeds of religion, and converting the
wives and daughters of heretics. We hear that the buildin.f;
formerly called the Old South Meeting-House, is fitted i:p
for a Cathedral, and that several other old meeting-houses are
soon to be repaired for convents." '

Accounts of the burning of Quakers and heretics by order
of the Inquisition were also given in the same vein. In a
series of papers addressed " To the People of North Amer-
ica," the writer dilated on the encouragement given by
Congress and its leaders to that faith. " In very many dis-
tricts of the Continent, and in some of New England," he

' Rivlngton's " Royal Gazette," January 6, 1779.
» lb., March 17, 1779.

rii '■■: ^1?

168

LIFH: OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

proceeds, " where popery was formerly detested, and scarcely
a papist was to be seen, numbers of popish books are now
dispersed, and read with avidity. I could name a member
of the rebel Council in one of the New England colonies,
who was formerly considered as a zealous Protestant dis-
senter, who not long since harangued a large assembly of
people on some of the disputed points between Protestants
and Papists ; such as the invocation of saints, purgatory,
transubstantiation, etc. After palliating each of these, strain-
ing the sense to ])ut the most favorable and least offensive
construction on them, and softening them with as much art
as the most subtle disciple of Loyola could use, he finally de-
clared that he saw nothing amiss or erroneous in them ; and
his audience seemed to be wonderfully pleased and edified.
J could name another Protestant dissenter, whose antipathy
to popery seemed formerly to border on enthusiasm : yet
who lately declared his wish to see a popish priest settled in
every county throughout America." '

The Tory papers held up to ridicule and scorn the conduct
of the Continental and State ofliicials in approving by their
presence the worshij) and rites of the Roman Catholic
Church.

Thus one announced : " On the 4th of November, the
clergy and selectmen of Boston paraded through the streets
after a crucifix, and joined in a procession for praying a de-
parted soul out of purgatory ; and for this they gave the ex-
ample of Congress and other American leaders on a former
occasion at Philadelphia, some of whom in the height of
their zeal, even went so far as to sprinkle themselves with
what they call holy water." *

■ " New York Gazotk«," .Inly 26. 1779.

• Rivington's " Royal GiizctU'," December 11, 1782.

THE ''ROMAN CATHOLIC VOLUNTEERS:' 169

When General Benedict Arnold, lured by British offers,
sought to betray into the hands of the enemy the important
titrategic post which he commanded, and fled to their lines,
he addressed a proclamation to the oflicers and soldiers of
the Continental army, in which he holds up to reprobation
the conduct of the body governing the republic. "And
v^hould the parent nation cease her exertions to deliver you,
what security remains to you, even for the enjoyment of the
consolations of that religion for which your fathers braved
the ocean, the heathen and the wilderness 'i Do you know
that the eye which guides this pen, lately saw your mean and
j)rofligate Congress at Mass for the soul of a Koman Catholic
in purgatory, and participating in the rites of a Church
against whose anti-Christian corruptions your pious ancestors
would have witnessed with their blood." '

The English government hoped about this time to draw
some of the Catholics in America to their military service,
tlio whole tendency among them being for the side of Con-
gress. It was accordingly proposed to create a regiment of
Roman Catholic Volunteers. As no Eoman Catholic could
liold a commission under English law, the oflScers were, of
course, Protestants. They were Alfred Clifton, lieutenant-
colonel ; John Lynch, major ; Mathias Hanley, Nicholas Wier-
gan, and Thomas Yelverton, captains ; John Peter Eck, John
I^oill, and Patrick Kane, lieutenants ; John Nowlan, quar-
termaster." After the capture of Philadelphia the English

111

' Arnold's Proclamation, October 20, 1780, in Almon, " Remeni-
lirnncar," 1781, p. 21.

■' Mills and Hicks, " British and American Register," 1779, p. 97, under
tho heading, " Late Roman Catliolick Volunteers," showing that it was
no longer in existence. Clifton, "an English gentleman of an Irish
mother," tlgures in the Black List and may have been a resident; or
held property in Pennsylvania like Elliott : but none of the others appear.

170

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

!f m

hoped to make the project successful by inducing Kev. Fer-
dinard Farmer to become chaplain of this regiment. The
German priests not being British subjects, or able to become
naturalized under colonial law, had apparently abstained from
any interference in political affairs, but Father Farmer would
not lend the influence of his name to the enemies of America.'
The Catholic religion, once proscribed through the length
and breadth of the land, had put off her garment of sackcloth.
Catholicity was recognized by the Continental Congress, and

' F. Ferdinand Farmer to a priest in London, March 2, 1778 ; Wood-
stock Letters, xiv., p. 196. The following is an advertisement relating

to this Regiment :

For the Encouragement of all

Gentlemen Volunteers,
Who are willing to serve in his Majesty's Regt. of
Roman Catholic Volunteers,
Commanded by
Lieut. -Col. Commandant,
Alfred Clifton,
During the present wanton and unnatural Rebellion,
I .D No Longer,
The sum of Four Pounds,
will be given above the usual Bounty,
A suit of New Cloaths,
And every other necessary to complete a Gentleman soldier.
Those who are willing to shew their attachment to their King and coun-
try by engaging in the above regiment, will call at Captain M'Kennon,
at No. 51, in Cherrj -street, near the Ship Yards, or at Major John
Lynch, encamped ui Yellow-Hook, where they will receive present pay
and good quarters.

N. B. — Any person bringing a well-bodied loyal subject to either of
the above places, shall receive One Guinea for his trouble.
God Save the Kreo.
— " N. Y. Gazette and Weekly Mercury," .July 13, 1778, No. 1894.

Bancroft says positively "In Philadelphia Howe had been able to
form a regiment of Roman Catholics," v., p. 295. The very reverse is
true. It never existed except on paper. The recruiting in 1778 failed,
and the " List " for 1779, printed in the latter part of 1778, calls it " The
late." The regimeni •« already defunct.

Vous etes prie de la part
du Miniftre Plenipotentiaire de
France, d'affifter au Te Deum,
qu'il fera chanter Dimanche 4 de
ce Mois, a midi dans la Chapelle
Catholique neuve pour celebrer
rAnniverlaire de I'lndependance
des Etats Unis de TAmerique.

A TbtiaMphie, U 2 ^uilktt 1 779.

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1-4

CONGRESS AT ST. MARY'S CHURCH. 175

by the Commander in-Chief of the American army : It was
recognized by tlie State of Pennsylvania, the Legislature this
year, in reorganizing the College of Philadelphia, having
constituted as one of the Trustees, " the Senior Minister of
the Roman Catholic churches in Philadelphia."

As the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
approached, Mr. Gerard prepared to celebrate it by a relig-
ious service at St. Mary's Church in Philadelphia, and issued
an invitation in this form :

" Mb.

" You are invited by the Minister Plenipotentiary of
France to attend the Te Deum, which will be chanted on
Sunday, the 4th of this month, at noon, in the new Catholic
Cliapel, to celebrate the Anniversary of the Independence of
the United States of America.

" Philadelphia, July 2, 1779.

" Philadelphia, Press of Francis Bailey, Market St."

To this function the President and members of the Conti-
nental Congress were invited, and on the occasion a sermon
was preached by the Rev. Father Seraphin Bandol, Recollect,
diaplain to Mr. Gerard. As it was probably the first Cath-
olic discourse communicated by the press to the people of
the Thirteen United States, it is not unworthy of being
inserted.'

" Gknti-emen : — "We are assembled to celebrate the anni-
versary of that day which Providence had marked in his
Eternal Decrees, to become the epocha of liberty and inde-
pendence to thirteen United States of America. That Being,

''Si

' Fiic-siiniles of the Invitation and Address are given from originals in
llie Ridgway Library, Pliiladclphia, by the courtesy of the Librarian ;
my uttentiou Laving been called to them by my friend, C. R. Hildeburn
Esq.

1 1 1

176

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

whose Almighty huiul holds all exiHtenco l)eneath its domin-
ion, uiuioubtedly prodiices in the dei)th8 of His wisdom,
those groat events whicli astonish tliu universe, and of svhidi
tlie most presumptuous, though hiRtrunientuI in accomplish-
ing them, dare not attribute to thfimselvos the merit. But
the finger of God is still move ]iecuiiarly evident in that
hapi)y, thiit glorious revohitioii. which calls fortii this day's
ffstivity. lie hath struck the oppressors of a people free
and ))eaceaMe. with the spirit uf delusion which renders the
wicked artificers of their own proper misfortunes, Vun\u\
me, my dear brethren, (ritizens of the United States, to ad-
dress you on this occasion. It is that God, that all-powerful
God who hath dirocled your steps, when you knew not
where to ai)ply for > ounsel ; who, when you were without
arms, fought for you with the sword of Justicp ; who, when
you were in advor.>ity, poured into your hearts the spirit of
courage, of wisdom and of fortitude, and who hath at lengtli
raised uj) for your snppt)rt a youthful sovereign, whose vir-
tues bless and adorn a sensible, a faithful, and a generous
nation. This nation has l)lended her interests with your in-
terests, and her sentiments with yours. She participates in
all your joys, and this day unites lier voice to yours, at the
foot of the altars of the Eternal God, to celebrate that glori-
ous revolution, which has placeii the sons of America amoiig
the free and independent nations of the earth.

" We have nothing now to apprehend but the anger of
Heaven, or that the measure of our guilt siionld oxcfcd Ilis
mercy. Let us then prostrate o'lr-selves at the fe» of the
immortal God who holds the fat^ i>f empires in h. iiands
and raises them lip at His pleasure, or breaks them down to
dust. Let us conjure him to enligb* ii our enemies, and to
dispose their hearts to enjoy that tranf]uilllty and ha])pines.s
which the revolution we now celebrate has established fnr a

\k A

F. BANDOVS SERMON.

177

great part of the human race. Let us implore him to con
duct U8 by that way wliich His Providence haa marked out
fur a union at so desirable an end. Lot us offer unto him
hearts imbued with sentiments of respect, consecrated by
reh'gion, by humanity, and by patriotism. Never is the
august ministry of His altars more acceptable to His Divint;
Jlajesty than w! n it lays at His feet homages, offerings and
vows, so pure, so vvortliy the common parent of mankind.
God will not reject our joy, for lie is the author of it ; nor
will He reject our prayers, for they ask but the full accom-
j)Iishment of the decrees He hath manifested. Filled with
this spirit let us, in concert with each other, raise our hearts
to the Eternal. Let us implore His infinite mercy to be
pleased to inspire the rulers of both nations with the wisdom
and force necessary to p^ rfect what it hath begun. Let
ill a word, unite our voices to beseech Him to dispense liis
l»lessings upon the councils and the arms of the allies, and
that we may soon enjoy the sweets of a peace wliich will
cement the union, and establish tlie prosperity of the two
onipireo. It is with this view that we shall cause that canti-
c'e to be performed which the custom of the Catholic Church
hath consecrated to be at once a testimonial of public joy, a
tlianksgivinij for benelits receiv, h , in Heaven, and a prayer
fur the Coal luaiice of its n^'-Tcies." '

Early in 1780 Don Jn ^iralles. the Spanish envoy, pro-
cec k'd to the Camp of ishing*^" but is there prostrated

' " Discours prononce le 4 Jnillet, jour <le lAnniversalre de I'lndepen-
dence, dan 'Eglisc Cat' >Hq»i , park' rend Pere Seraphin Bandot,

RccoUet, A\ iionicr de sun Excellence Mi. Gerard, Ministre Plenipoten-
tiairp dc Fruiiceaupri'sdeH Ffats UnisderAmerique Septentrionii'''. . . ."
Philadi'lphla, folio, 1 leaf. In English, in " Connecticut and I n rsal
Intpllisoii "r," New London, August 18, 1779; Westcott, " llisli of
Philadelpi i." ch. 365.

« . ...

178

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

by a piilinoiiiiry ft'vt>r. Ilin Hecretary, FranciH Kciuloii, who
had remaiiu'd at I'liihulolphiu, loarning of this, not out for
the cainp witli Fatlier Scrupliin Ikiidol. After receiving
the h>8t sacnuiKJutH with great piety and contrition from the
liandH of the liucollect priest, Sefior MiralleH expired in
the afternoon of April 28, 17H0. He was buried the next
day in the common burying-ground near the church at Mor-
riwtown, foihjwcd to the grave by (J( ral Washington, sev-
eral of the geiHinil officern anil members of Congress walking
as chief mourners, four artillery officers l)earing the coffin,
and six acting as pall-l)earers. The French cha(>lain recited
the Catholic burial service at the grave and blessed it.'

On the 4th of May a M.lemu requiem was oflFered for the
repose of his soul at St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia, at-
tended by the mcnd)er8 of the Continental Congress, and l)y
Mr. de la Luzerne, the French minister. The empty cata-
fahpie was to the curious a matter of great surprise.'

The Count d'Estaing, after anchoring with his fleet in the
harbor of Boston in 1778, published an address to the Caiia-
di tns in the name of the King ( i Franco. lie told them
that being of the same blood, speaking the same langu.ige,
having the siime customs, the same laws, the same religion,
it would be far more to their interest to shake oflf the yoke
of the English than to fight against their old countrymen.'
He said : " I shall not observe to the ministers of the altars.

' Francisco Rcndon to Don Jose de Galvoz, Philiidclphia, May 8, 1780 ;
Thaclier, " Military .Journal during the American Revolutionary War,"
Hartford. 1854, pp. 162. 193.

' See Rivlngton's "Gazette," Monday, May 22, 1780. Moore, " Diarj-
of the American Revolution," New York, 1860, pp. 267-8.

' SoulJs, " Histoiro des Troubles," ill., p. 65. The " Extralt du Jour-
nal d'un Offlcier de la Marine de I'Escadre de M. le Comte d'Estaing,"
1782, p. 38, makes no allusion to the address.

D'ESTAING'S DECLAMATION.

179

tliiit their evHiigelic efforts will re(iuire tlio Kpeciul protec-
tion of Providence, to prevent fuitli being (liininiHlicd hy
example, by worldly interest, and by Bovereifrns whom
force has imposed upon them, and whose political in-
dulgence will 1.0 lessened proportionubly as those sover-
I'igns shall have less to fear. I shall not olist'rve that it
is necessiiry for religion, that those who preach it should
form a body in the State ; and that in Canada np other Iwly
would be more considered, or have more power to do good
tlian that of the j)rie8t8, taking a part to the govcniment,
hiiice their respectable conduct has merited tlie conlidence of
tiie people." '

The effect of this address throughout Canada and the
iKtrthwest territory was very great. Many of the clergy and
people were tilled with hope of recovering their lost nation-
ality, so that the English authorities were tilled with alarm.'
The Indians, too, who had clung to their old attachment to
the French, were no less affected. Those in Maine solicited
a priest. Ilotkcr, general agent of the French navy and
consul at Boston, when sending to the St. John's Indians,
then near Machias, the Declaration of Count d'Estaing,
wrote: " Brethren— Believe me that I am penetrated with
the keenest grief, at my inability to send you a priest.
I^.iru for your consolaticn that I have written to the King
t'> ask him for one, as well as to Mr. Gerard, Minister
rieitipotentiary to Congress. I have no doubt the King will
send you one : he loves you too much to refuse you. In the

• D'EHUiing, "A Decliiration addrossed in the name of tlie Kinjr of
France to all the ancient French of Nortli America." Printing offlct of
F. F. Dcmauge, On board of tlie Languedoo, Boston Harbor, Octolxr
as, J 778; Annual R.gister, 1779, p. 357; Ne^v York Colonial Docu-
ment, X., pp. 1165-7.

» Brymner, " Report on Canadian Archives."

180

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP C " RROLL.

i! '

meantime love Jesus Christ with all your souls and remain at
peace." '

In the operations between the English and French naval
forces a vessel belonging to the latter was captured and car-
ried into New York. The officers were paroled, and among
them was the chaplain, Rev. H. De La Motte, an Augustin-
ian. The Catholics in the city, hearing that a priest was
actually on Manhattan Island, asked him to say J.iass for
them. Not wishing to give umbrage to the British author-
ities, Father De La Motte solicited permission to comply with
the pious wishes of these people. His retjuest was refused,
but understanding English imperfectly the priest supposed
that the necessary sanction had been given. A place was

'./.au.

T^'

<CL/^.y

FAC-8IMILE OP 8I0NATCHE OF REV. H. DE LA MOTTE.*

found, and he said mass l)efore the few Catholics then in
New York. The British commander at once arrested Father
De La Motte for violating his parole, and confined him in
prison, not improbal)ly the old Sugar House in Crown Street,
near the Middle Dutch Church, and here he was detained
till an exchange was effected. The paper published in New
York in the English interest subse(juently referred api)rov-

' Letter to Ambrose St. Aiibinc, Noel Pres, Nicholas Hawawna, and
others, Boston, November 17, 1778.

' The signature reads : Friar II. De La Motte, Religious Augustiniau
priest, chaplain on the King's men-of-war.

iii i

FATHER DE LA MOTTE.

181

iugly to this action as evincing the zeal of the authorities for
the Protestant religion.'

Father De La Motte must have l^yen released early in 1779,
and set out for Boston, passing through Gen. Sullivan's camp.
He was entertained at Providence by Mr. Laurence. On
reaching Boston, the Council of Massachusetts agreed to send
hiiri as a missionary to Machias, " where," wrote Gen. Gates,
'■ he may be useful in bringing the Nova Scotia Indians to
our interest." '

Father De La Motte reached Maine in May, and on the
IDth sent the following letter to the Indians living near Pas-
sun laquoddy :

•^ My Children :

Knowing that for a very long time you sigh and beg
'vith the greatest ardor for a priest to instruct you for your
Eternal salvation and bring you back to the way of the
Lord : I cannot, my children, but applaud such pious senti-
ments, and such Christian and holy views to obtain the bless-
ing of the Almighty on all your enterprises. The King of
France our common father, always occupied with your own
liappiness, and to convince you, and to give you an authentic
innrk of the sincere friendship which he has always enter-
tained for you", and which he will continue to cherish, if you
lire willing to merit its continuance, sends me t(> you, my
children, in concert with the United States of America our
dear allies and good friends, to remind you of your duties,
your obligations, and your engagement to so good a prince,
in order to defeat soon and completely our common enemy

' I'apinian in " To the People of North America, No. 9"; RivinTton's
" Hoyiil Gazette," July 17, 1779.

» General Horatio Gates to Major-Gen. Sullivan, Boston, February 22
1779. ^ '

Wii

182

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

and then enjoy in full peace, the heritage of your fathers.
Oui- common Father will neglect nothing to fulfil your de-
sire and happiness utterly. Your appeal which reached the
foot of his throne, has excited the tender sensibility of his
heart in your behalf; may you, my children, correspond
to it!

I hope, my children, soon to enjoy the happiness of see-
ing you all together at Machias. I look forward to the mo-
ment with the greatest impatience. I will speak to you more
at length at our first interview. I arrived here ytsterday at
2 P.M. I write you to-<lay and send you as a proof of the
inviolable devotedness and attachment I feel for you, a wam-
pum pledge Hh of peace, which the bearer will deliver to you
in my name and which I beg you to accept in the same senti-
ments in which I salute you, your chiefs, your women, and
children, and I am for life with the most sincere friendship,
'^''ours affectionately,

friar H. Dk La Motte, Augustinian

Religious priest.
Chaplain on the Royal ships of the line.'

How long Father La Motte contimied with the Lidiaiis is
not known, but the next year the Passamaquoddy Indians
having no missionary, resorted to the priest on the St. Join;,
although Colonel Allen, the agent, endeavored to dissuade
them.i'

The Bishop of Quebec, notwithstanding the existence of
war throughout the country, did not neglect the western por-

' Translated from the oricinnl lent to me by the lute Rev. Fiither Fiei-
tag, C.SS.R. La Motte is evidently alluded to in Blanchard's Journal,
p. 03.

' Letter of Do Valnais, French Consul at Boston, to the Indians, Au
gust 23, 1780.

H 11

V. REV. J. F. HUBERT.

183

tion of his diocese. In 1778 he appointed the Rev. John
Francis Hubert to the parish of the Holy Family at Caho-
kia. The Canadian priest undertook the dangerous task and
reached the post assigned to him, but he apparently found it
impossible to effect much good there, as he withdrew in the
following year.

At Detroit the aged Franciscan, Father Simplieius Boc-
(juet, still maintained the faith, struggling courageously wjjth
the evil elements in his parish. The Sulpitian, Rev. John
Dilhet, who was stationed at Detroit in the early part of the
])resent century, says of the last of the Recollect priests at
Detroit : " He governed this parish with much zeal and pru-
dence ; he prevented abuses from creeping in, such as honor-
ary rights to seats, to holy water, and so forth, claimed by
royal officers ; he required the Trustees (fabrique) to support
a chanter ; he maintained a school for the instruction of the
children ; he bought a large bell, and a silver gilt ostensorium ;
suppressed great scandals, such as illegal marriages, the sale
of intoxicating liquors to the Indians, public concubinage,
seditious opposition by trustees (marguillers) to his au-
thority. He succeeded in banishing these abuses and scan-
dals by his firmness, prudence, and imperturbable patience.
Hence his name is still in benediction at Detroit, where
all who saw him even in his old age, and when his mind
hud lost some of its vigor, never cease to extol his virtues
and tiie esteem the whole parish entertained for him and his
good qualities."* But his strength began to fail, and the
firm hand grew weak. In 1782 the Bishop of Quebec sent
Very Rev. John Francis Hubert as liis Vicar-General in the
West, He reached Detroit in October.

' Dilhet, " Etat dc I'Eglise Catholique ou du Diocese dos Etats Unis,"
pp. 103-4.

f 4

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184

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The veteran Father SinipHcius, recalled to Canada, had al-
ready bidden farewell to the flock whom he had so long
directed in the way of salvation.' On his way down to the
house of his order, he met at Isle Carleton the Rev. Louis
Payet," who had been appointed parish priest of Detroit.
His friend and fellow-laborer, the Jesuit Father Peter Potier,
stricken down with apoplexy, had died at Sandwich, July 16, ]
IT^jl, the laist of the old Jesuit missionaries of the West.'

The Rev. Mr. Payet was installed as parish priest at De-
troit in October, 1782, and assumed the administration also
of Sandwich. He set to work with zeal to rebuild the pa-
rochial residences, to repair the churches, and lay out a new
cemetery.*

The jurisdiction of the Very Rev. John Francis Hubert as

' His Register goes on regularly to September 21, 1780. Then follows
a blank space, and a baptism in 1780 without month or day. A new
register begins Heptember ,5, 1781, with an interment and a baptism l)y
" Hubert, Priest, Vicar-General." After an entry by him October 10,
comes a baptismal entrj' October 11, signed Payet, priest, and other entries
to Oo.'ober 31. Then follows the entry of a bapti.sm .June 18, year not
stated, ;u the hand of and signed by fr. Simplicius Bocquot, Recollect
missioniiry, parish priest and Vic i.r General. The entry immediately
following, is a baptism signed ' ' Payet ptre cure " (parish priest). He died
March 24, 1787. Tanguay, " Reix;rtoire General," p. 107. He had been
in America from .Tune, 1743.

* According to Tanguay, " Repertoire General." p. 12."), he was born at
Montreal, August 25. 1749, and wa.s ordained February 26, 1774. He re-
mained at Detroit till .June 22, 1786, and w.-us parish priest at Chambly in
the same year.

* Letter of Rev. Mr. Payet to Bishop Rrii ^1 .Tanuary 8, 1783. He
signs as pari.sh priest in the Rcgi-sicr of St. Ai.n's, Detroit, October 22,
1782, a few previous entries iH'ing signed merely " priest." Father Du
.Taunay died in the same year, February 17. Rev. Peter Potier, born
April 2, 1708, entered the Society Si pKinber 28. 1729, came to America
in 1743. Martin, "Catalogue des Meiiil-r" ? la Compagnie de Jesus,"
No. 194.

* Letter of Rev. Mr. Payet to Bi.shop Briand, July 13, 1783.

J !

V. REV. J. F. HUBERT.

185

Vicar-General of Quebec, extended over the Illinois country,
and he made attempts to meet the spiritual wants of the peo-
ple from Vincennes to Kaskaskia ; but the dangerous condition
of the country prevented his accomplishing much, for he aa-
hered to England, while the Kev. Mr. Gibault, and the Catho-
lics in the Illinois country, had recognized the United States,
as their fellow believers had done in the East.
The whole Catholic body in the United States was quick-

RT. REV. JOHN FRANCIS HUBERT, BISHOP OP QUEBEC.

ened by hope of better days, and showed by their unswerv-
ing fidelity from first to last how well they deserved them.
Their clergy had never used any influeiice except for the
national cause, and the Eev. John Carroll was regardod as
the representative man among them. The American priests
sympathized like their kinsmen in the struggle; the Ger-
man priests had no attachment and no tie to bind them to
England, and even tlK few born in Great Britain, who
might easily have ^eft \ .c country by entering tlie Eng-
lish lines, clung to their flocks and to the land which

I 11

}, *

. !. '':C

\l:l

i ill

«!«■

186

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Providence had appointed for their final labors. Not one
left tliis country,'

One priest in the West had during the war shown an act-
ive zeal and energy in the cause of America. Tliis was the
Rev, Peter Gibault. We have seen the early labors of this
priest, wlio was sent to aid Father Meurin in his great work,
as he labored to maintain the principles of religion in the
hearts of the rude frontiermen. Succeeding Father Meurin
at Kaskaskia, he sought to revive religion in the hearts of his
soinewiiat lawless flock, Vincennes was without a ])riest ;
Phillibert, who bore the sobriquet of d'Orleans, was notary
and guardian of the cliurch. He gave private baptism to the
children, made entry of the mutual consent of persons desir-
ing to be married, and buried the dead. In this lie does not

' The assertion of Bancroft, v., p. 29.'), that " the great mass of its (the
Roman Church's) niembcrH .... who were chiefly newcomers in the
Middle States, followed the influence of the Jesuits," " who cherished
liatred of France for her share in the overthrow of their order," is utterly
ungrounded. The Catholic priest.s are all known : there is no charge of
Tory proclivities against any one of tliem. Tory writers like Smyth and
Eddy, familiar with Maryland, where most of the priests wore, never
claim the Catholic clerg}' as friendly to their side. Maryland historians
fell of Tory influence and even insurrection, but this was in places on
the Eastern Shore where there were no C'atliolics, priest or laymen. The
list of those outlawed or punished as lories in Maryland contains no
names recognizable as those of Catholics. The Penn.sylvania Black List
is singularly free from Catholic names, and Sabine's Loyalists gives no
Catholic. Tills stigma on the Catholic body is a blot on the great histo-
rian's work, and it would be interesting to know from what local author-
ity as to the priests in Maryland and Pennsylvania he derived this libel
on the character of the purest of men.

Wharton, though he renounced the Catholic faith, acknowledged th;it
his Catholic countr>Tnen were true to the national cause. " Far from
wishing to embitter the minds of their fellow-citizens against the Roman
Catholics of America, he is proud to see them elevated to that ecjual re-
spectability to which as zealous supporters of their country's freedom,
and as a Christian Society, they are essentially entitled."— A Reply to the
Address to the Roman Catholics, Philadelphia, 1785, p. 97.

r Urn It

REV. PETER OIBAULT.

187

seem to have had any special powers as in the case of the
Acadians. It was not till March 7, 1775, that we see Rev.
Mr. Gibaiilt baptizing, marrying, and interring the faithful
at Vincennes.' It was, however, only a short visit, and he
did not return to the litii town on the Wabash, so far as the
Kegister shows, till June, 1777.

Soon after his return to his residence at Kaskaskia, the
Illinois country became involved in the great struggle which
l)egan at Lexington. The English by their forts at Detroit,
Kaskaskia, and Vincennes controlled the West, and thence
instigated the Indians to lay waste the frontiers of tlie Atlan-
tic States. Colonel George Rogers Clark proposed to the^
Virginia government an expedition to capture the posts and
secure the country. Receiving the necessary authority he
assembled a small force, and pushing through the woods with
great caution and secrecy, surprised Kaskaskia, on the night
(if July 4-, 1778, taking Rocheblave, the commander, and his
garrison prisoners. The people were at lirst not inclined to
submit, but the Rev. Mr. Gibault, better informed as to the
dispute between England and her colonies, saw that the in-
terest of his flock required that they should join the Amer-
icans, — a wise decision, since Illinois, e: [K sed to attack from
the Continental troops on the east and the Spyiards on the .^
west, could not depend on English aid. When he asked
Clark whether he " would give him liberty to perform his
duty in his church," '* I told him," says the America.) com-
mander, "that I had nothing to do with cliurches, more ti »n
to defend them from insult. That by the laws of the State,
his religion had as great privileges as any other." The little
town was soon enthusiastic over the change, the oath of alle-
giance was taken, and by the influence of the people of Kas-

' " Registre du Poate Vincennes."

t -f

I' f i

( ^:

i t

188

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

kaskia, Cabokia also acknowledged the new rule. Friendly
iutprcourse was at once opened with the Spanish iiuthorities
on the western bank of the Mississippi, and the Illinois coun-
try was delivered from all fear of attack. Clark then pro-
posed to march upon Vincenues, but the Rev. Mr. Gil)ault,
to convince the American ofiicer of his attachment, offered
to undertake to win that town for him, if Clark would per-
mit him and a few of his people to go ; he had no doubt of
gaining their friends at Vincennes to the American side.
Rev. Mr. Gibault set out with Dr. Lefont, the physician at
Kaskaskia, and a few others, bearing a proclamation issued
by Col. Clark. The influence of the priest was suflScient,
and he soon returned with the welcome tidings that Vin-
cennes had raised the American flag.' The effect on the
Indian tribes was great. Seeing that the French and the
missionary accepted the friendship of the Virginians, tlie
Kaskaskias, Peorias, and Michigameas proposed peace ; and
when Clark sent a messenger to the Kickapoos and Pianke-
shawF), near Vincennes, they also agreed to lay down their
arms. The tribes in the northwest hearing the result soon
came to propose peace. Thus the frontiers were at once re-
lieved from most of the Indian depredations, and the French
settlers in the West became citizens of the United States ;
that this was effected l)y Clark without the loss of a single
man was due mainly to the influence of Rev. Peter CTil)au]t.
The English could not see so large a district wrested from
riiem without making an effort to regain it. Celoron, at
Fort Ouiatenon, prepared to begin a campaign, but fled on
the approach of a detachment. Hamilton, with a large force
from Detroit, liowever, occupied Vincennes, and menaced

' Hamilton to Carleton, August 8, 1778. Brymner, " Report on Ar-
chives," 1882, p. 17.

HIS SERVICES.

189

Kaskaskia. Clark sent Kev. Mr. Gibault across the Missis-
sippi with the public papers and money, and the patriotic
priest set out in January, 1779, attended by a single man,
and was detained three days on a little island by tlr Hoating
ice. When Clark, informed by Francis Vigo, hl Italian
merchant, of the real state of affairs at Vincennes, resolved
to attack Hamilton, Rev. Mr. Gibault was again active,' and
Clark marched out, part of his force consisting of two com-
panies of the Catholic citizens of Illinois, connnanded by
Captains McCarthy of Cahokia and Francis Charleville. Be-
fore they left Kaskaskia, Rev. Mr. Gibault addressed them,
and gave his parishioners absolution. Vincennes was taken
after a sharp action, in which the Catholic soldiers did their
duty manfully, and the old mission Indians gave valuable
aid. Before the little church at Vincennes, Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor Henry Hamilton surrendered the ])lace. " No man,"
says Judge Law, " has paid a more sincere tribute to the ser-
vices rendered by Rev. Mr. Gibault to the American cause
than Clark himself." " The services he rendered Clark in
that campaign were acknowledged by a resolution of the
Legislature of Virginia in 1780." "Next to Clark and
Vi<:o, the United States are indebted more to Fatlier Gibault,
for the accession of the States, comprised in what was the
original Nothwestern Territory, than to any other man."
"With this testimony, the historian of the Church may speak
of the " good man and pure patriot," Rev. Peter Gibault,
" his patriotism, his sacrifices, his courage and love of lib-
erty." '

' Hamilton was extremely anxious to seize Rev. Mr. Gibault. Letter
t(i Haldimand, December 28, 1778. lb., p. 24.

M.aw, "The Colonial History of Vincennes," Vincennes, 1858, pp.
h^-rt ■ " Colonel Oeor>re Rogers Clark's Sketch of his Campaign in the
Illinois," Cincinnati, 1869, pp. 33-65.

lii

' 'h

V'i

' ■■+;

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;' ifl

190

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Tlie Illinois country, rerlnced to the authority of the
United Statt's, was by the Act of 1 ul, and by its settle-
ment, part of C^anada ; England had never recognized, nor
did the Continental Congress recognize, the claim of any of
the States to it. but Virginia at once assumed to annex it to
her territory, and in 1778 organized it as the County of
Illinois, placing it under the control of a Lieutenant Com-
mandant. Under this extension of Virginia rule some of the
barbarous punishments, hitherto unknown to the French
Catholics and never witnessed in Canada, were inflicted.
Slaves or servants condcted of killing t)r attempting to kill
their masters were burned alive. Two such cases are recorded
in a volume kept by Todd, the Virginia connuandant. Gross
dishonesty in a modern writer has attempted to make the
Kev. Mr. Gibault,' the only priest then in the Illinois coun-
try, and the Catholic Church at large, responsible for tiiis
hideous Virginia system, and to transform it into a case of
witchcraft punished through the influence of the Catholic
Church : but Todd's record says nothintr of witchcraft.
The Church had nothing whatever to do with the matter.

The Virginia rule, unfouD''.. 1 In right, proved far from
beneficial to the people. C-i'M''*'"*^ »* J^^st took a step to ])nt
an end to the conflicting < ics'-af-, by passing on the 13th of
July, 17S7. "An Ordinance i'nr the government of the ter-
ritory of the United States, northwest of the River Ohio."
This organic act s.ived " to the French and Canadian inhab-
itants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, St. Vincent's,
and the neighbouring villages, who have heretofore professed
themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now

I E. Mrtllpt, " Vorj- Rev. Pierre Gibiiult, the Piitriot Priefst of the West,"
in " Washington Catholic," September 30, 1782. As to Virginia's claim
to Illinois, see N. Y. Revolutionary Papers, i., p. 145.

.,1

WEST FLORIDA.

191

in force among tlicni, relative to the dcHO and crnveyanee
(»f property.''

After Spain declared war against Engin d, Don Ikrnardo
t vez, Governor of Louir^' ma, l)egan oi)tiation8 ag;un»t the
Eni<li8h on the Gulf of Mexico. He s-urprised Fort Manchac
September 7, 1779, compelled Baton iumge sUi render on
the 2l8t, and with it Fort Pai.aure at Natchez. Following
up this KuccesM he invepted Mobile in the following Bj)ring,
;ind that 'ty yielded March 12, 17.S0. Then after a vigorous
-lege he I'iuced Pensacola in May.' Thus in all Western
I lorM,, and the English portion of Louisiana up to Natchez,
tlie Catholic Church recovered all its former right and
(iig!iity.

TIh' parish rejrister of M< ' 'le, kept hitherto in French,
beginc it this poi"*^ in Spanish wiili this beading :

" On ill. 12t' .y of March, 1780. the fort of Mobile sur-
rendered to \v L'atholic Majesty, tl 'tieral of the Expedi-
tion being u Brigadier Don Bei' > de Gal vez, kniglit
penaionei in +he Koyal and distingiiihlied order of Charles
III., Governor of the Pro\nuce of Louisiana, Colonel of the
permanent regiment thereof, etc., and Don Jose Espeleta,
Colonel of the Infantry Regiment of Navarre, luu-ing re-
mained as commandant of said fort and its district, he deter-
mined that the parish of this city should be called Purissima
Conception — Immaculate Conception."

Father Salvador de la Esperanza, a Mercedarian religious,
was left as parish priest, and the services of the Catholic
Church were restored to all their former pomp and solem-
nity. Father Salvador remained till near the close of the

' "Account of the Expedition of Don Bernardo de Galvoz," American
Museum, xii. ; App., ii. Brewer, "Alabama, Her History, Resources."
etc. Montgomery, 1872, p. 380, says tlie 14th, but the Register may be
relied on.

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33 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTEU.N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

192

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

year, his last entry being on the 2d of November. In June
of the succeeding year he was succeeded by the Capuchin
Father, Charles de Velez, who signs as parish priest to March
23, 1782. On the 10th of December, 1783, Father Francis
Notario, a Dominican, signs as parish priest, followed Nov.
12, 1784, by the Capuchin Father, Joseph de Arazena.'

After Galvez invested Pensacola with a fleet and army
and compelled its surrender May S, 1781, there, too, a new
Register was begun by the Capuchin Father, Peter de Velez,
as Beneficed Parish Priest of St. Michael's at Panzacola and
Chaplain to the Garrison. His first act was the burial of
Anthony Soler, July 4, 1781, and the first baptism that of
Diego John Michael, son of John Francis Florin and his wife
Catharine Alois, on the Slst of July. Father Velez belonged
to the Capuchin province of Andalucia, and retained his po-
sition in the parish till June, 1787, assisted from the summer
of 1785 by the Capuchin Father, Stephen de Valoria, who
succeeded him." While Catholicity thus regained its freedom
and aiithority in Western Florida under the Spanish flag, the
little colony of Minorcans, who kept religion alive at New
Smyrna, had undergone vicissitudes. Although Dr. Turn-
bull had engaged himself in his contract to give the colonists
who came over to cultivate his indigo plantations fifty acres
of land for each head of a family and twenty-five for each
child at the expiration of three years, he not only never ful-
filled this stipulation, but treated the unfortunate people as

' Register of Mobile. In November, 1785, the Abbe de Lescuses signs
in Frencli as parish priest.

5 " Libro primero de Asientos . . . de esta yglesia Parroq" de San Miguel
de Panzacola conquistada por las armas de N. C. M. comandadas per ei
Mariscal de Campo, el S^ D". Bernardo de Galvez el dia ocho de Mayo,
1781 afios." Colonel Arthur O'Neill was the first Spanish governor of
Pensacola.

THE ''MINORCANSr

193

slaves, oppressing them with excessive labor, under which
many died. The Kev. Dr. Peter Camps, tlieir first parish
priest, with his assistant, the Franciscan Father, Bartholomew
de Casaa Novas, erected the Church of San Pedro de Mos-
quitos. The register of the baptisms at his church, extending
from August 25, 1768, and that of marriages in part, is still
preserved. The Rev. Dr. Camps, in view of the difficulty of
any visitation by the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba, was em-
powered to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation for twenty

years.'

Seeing their numbers thinned by cruelty and disease, the
poor creltures rose against their cruel oppressor in 1769, but
Dr Turnbull was a member of the Colonial Council and the
Governor was devoted to him. Five of the leaders were
taken to St. Augustine, tried, convicted, and sentenced to
death. Two were actually hung, one of the others being
compelled to act as hangman. The rest of the people were
terrified by severe punishments, and their condition was*ren-
dered worse, if possible, than before. In 1777, when they
should have been installed in farms of their own, they re-
solved to seek redress, and led by the brave carpenter, Fran-
cis Pellicer, they abandoned New Smyrna, and set out for St.
Augustine, the old men, women, and children in the centre,
the able-bodied men armed with sharpened poles. They
numbered about six hundred, including two hundred children
born in Florida. Governor Moultrie, more honest than his

. Dr. Camps. " Petition to the King," October 28. 1786. He then had
Veen 6 years' cln the mission, without salary, and had ^eptj^.s flock safe
from loss by heresy. Notes from the archives of the B.shopnc of Ha-
vana made by Rl. Rev. John Moore, D.D.. B.shop of St. Aug^stme.

On the 17th of March, 1787, he was nominated for a canonry m Ma-
jorca, and October 26, 1784, was allowed a dollar a day. In his petition
he askea leave to return to his native island of Minorca.
9

194

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

predecessor, examined the case, proceedings were instituted,
their indentures were cancelled, and the survivors declared
free from a contract which Dr. TumbuU on his side had
failed to carry out. As the Minorcan colony did not wish
to return to a spot where they had undergone such frightful
sufferings, a part of the city of St. Augustine was assigned
to them, and their descendants remain there to this day, ad-
hering to the faith to which they clung. Two descendants
of Pellicer have been adorned witli episcopal mitres in the
Church of the United States-— Right Rev. Anthony Dominic
Pellicer, Bishop of San Antonio, and Right Rev. Dominic
Manucy, Bishop of Mobile and Vicar-Apostolic of Browns-
viHe.

The Rev. Dr. Camps accompanied his flock on their pil-
grimage from the land of bondage. He made in his Regis-
ter the following entry :

" Note.— On the 9th day of November, 1777, the Church
of San Pedro was translated from the settlement of Mosquito
to the city of St. Augustine, with the same colony of Maho-
nese, which was established in said settlement, and the same
parish priest and missionary apostolic, D'. D". Pedro Camps.
" Dr. Pedro Camps, parish priest." '

At St. Augustine the parish church restored by Bishop
Tejada was in ruins, his house was used for the Church of
England service, the Franciscan Convent was occupied by
the troops, Nuestra Sefiora de la Leche was a ruin, the chapel
in the fort defaced and desecrated. Doctor Camps was

' This is perhaps unexampled, the transfer of a parish from one place
to another. Rev. Dr. Camps was still parish priest of Jlosquito, and
not of St. Augustine, so that when Spain recovered Florida he was not
recognized as incumbent of St. Augustine, but another clergyman was
appointed parish priest and Dr. Camps remained by his sanction to attend
the Mahonese, though not regarded even as assistant.

REV. DR. CAMPS.

195

without means to erect a cbapel for his flock, who had been
wronged of the fruit of their labor. He said mass iii the
liouse of Carrera, near the city gate.'

Though the British flag still floated over Eastern Florida,
the strange series of events had restored Catholicity from St.

CBAPEL IN THE FORT AT ST. AUGUSTINE, DEFACED BY THE ENGLISH.

Augustine to Baton Rouge, and mass was regularly oifered
in Pensacola and Mobile.

■•If

• Heuri de Courcy de La Roche-Heron, " La Ville do Saint Augustin,"
in tlie " Journal de Quebec," March-April, 1856.

196

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

In the country subject to the Continental Congress the
clergy continued their labors amid the trying times of
the war, those in Maryland exposed to the depredations of
British cruisers, which, entering the Chesapeake, ascended
the Potomac, plundering plantations and inviting negro
filaves to seek freedom under the protection of the English
flag. The old Jesuit estates still held by the clergy were
cultivated by slaves, the only form of labor to be obtained,
but the rule of the clergy was so light that " a priest's negro "
was a proverbial expression for a slave who was pretty much
his own master. It was noticed and remarked that the ne-
groes on the clergy plantations, instead of accepting the
British invitations, fled from the plantations to avoid being
carried off against their will.' Much damage was, however,
done to their estates by the British cniisers, which never
spared them in their predatory visits to the Chesapeake. St.
George's Island was taken and held for a time by Lord Dun-
more; the Rev. Mr. Hunter's house at Port Tobacco was
menaced, and the priests' house at St. Inigoes showed, till its
destruction by fire in our times, the hole made by a British
cannon-ball which passed through the wall in Rev. Mr.
Lewis' room, just above his bed. Their residence at New-
town, Md., was oflFered and used as a hospital for Contmental
soldiers."

On the 16th of June, 1779, Maryland monrned the loss of
the holy Father George Hunter, who expired at Port To-
bacco in the 67th year of hip age. " He was truly a holy
man," wrote the future Bishop of Baltimore to his friend,
Rev. Charles Plowden, " full of the Spirit of God and the

' Rev. J. Carroll, impublished reply to Smyth.
' Woodstock Letters, iv., p. 67 ; Gov. Lee to Lafayette, April 8^ 1781,
in Scharf, " History of Maryland," ii., pp. 442-3.

•'

.♦',:r

PENNSYLVANIA AND MARYLAND.

197

zeal of souls. His death happened during the hot months
last summer, which always had a terrible effect upon his
health."

At this time Rev. Robert Molyneux was in Philadelphia,
attending to the Catholics there and giving lessons in English
to the Chevalier de la Luzerne, showing an active zeal in the

^(Ttfe-r^CZ^yy^U^

FAC-SnriLE OF BIONATCRE OP REV. HOBKKT MOLYNEUX.

education of his flock. A school had been maintained, and
in 1781 a subscription was started for the purchase of the
building and the lot on which it stood. The liberality of the
people is shown in raiping £180 3s. toward meeting the
whole cost of four hundred pounds, and in a further sub-
scription of £54 17s. 6d. toward the erection of a new
Eichool-house in the following year. This school was north
of St. Mary's.' His associate. Rev. Ferdinand Farmer, still
attended the missions in New Jersey. Rev. John Ashton
was in Maryland. Rev. Ignatius Matthews succeeded Father
Hunter at Tort Tobacco, Rev. James Walton, and " that man

FAC-SraniE OF BIGNATITRE OF REV. IGNATIUS MATTHEWS.

without guile," Rev. Austin Jenkins, at Newtown Manor,
Rev. Mr. Carroll still serving his mission at Rock Creek."
Unable to obtain the Holy Oils as usual from England, and
intercourse with Canada being likewise impracticable, the

' Woodstock Letters, xiii., p. 33.

» Letter April 27, 1780 ; Woodstock Letters, vii., p. 75.

' I

198

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

misfionaries in Philadolj)}iiu applied to the Bislio]) of Santi-
ago de Cuba, and oik were tlience supplied with the consent
of the Xing of Spain.'

When the combined armies of the United States and
France forced Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown, the
Minister of France invited Congress, the Supreme Executive
Council, and the Assembly of Pennsylvania and others to,
attend in the Rojnan Catholic Church at Philadelphia during
the celebration of divine service and thanksgiving for the
capture of the British connnander.

A discourse was delivered on the occasion by the Franciscan
Father Seraphin Bandol, chaplain to the Minister of France.

FAC-SnrfLK OF BIONATURE OF FATHER SERAPHIN BANDOL.

" Translation of a discourse delivered on the 4th instant, in
the catholic church in this city, before the honourable the
Congress, his Excellency the Minister of France, and many
other gentlemen of distinction. By M. de Bandole, chap-
lain to the embassy of France :

" Gentlemen : — A numerous people assembled to render
thanks to the Almighty for his mercies, is one of the most
affecting objects, and worthy the attention of the Supreme
Being. While camps re-sound with triumphal acclamations,
while nations rejoice in victory and glory, the most honour-
able office a minister of the altars can fill, is to be the organ
by which public gratitude is conveyed to the Omnipotent.

' Letter of Dr. .lose de Gnlvez, .luly 17. 1779, in reply to a letter of
Dn. .Ttmn de Mirnlles, May 16, 1779. I am indebted to Rt. Rev. Bishop
Moore for this information.

,?J*-'.-\._

F. BANDOrS ADDRESS.

199

"Those miracles which he once wrought for liis chosen
])eople are renewed in our favour ; and it would be equally
ungrateful and impious not to acknowledge, that the event
which lately confounded our enemies and frustrated their
designs, was the wonderful work of that God who guards
your liberties.

"And who but he could so combine the circumstances
wliic'h led to success ? We have seen our enemies push forward
amid perils almost innumerable, amid ob-^lacles almost insur-
mountable, to the spot which was designed to wit aess their dis-
grace ; yet they eagerly sought it as t'aeir theatre of triumph I

" Blind as they were, they bore hunger, thirst, and incle-
ment skies, poured their ])lood in battle against brave repul)-
licuns, and crossed immense regions to confine themselves in
another Jericho, whose walls were fated to fall before another
Joshua. It is he, whose voice commands the winds, the seas
and the seasons, who formed a junction on the same day, in
the same hour, between a formidable ileet from the south,
and an army rushing frotn the north, Uke an impetuous tor-
rent. Who but he, in whose hands are the hearts of men,
could inspire the allied troops with the friendships, the con-
fidence, the tenderness of brothers i How is it that two na-
tions once divided, jealous, inimical, and nursed in reciprocal
prejudices, are now become so closely united, as to form but
one? Worldlings would say, it is the wisdom, the virtue,
and moderation of their chiefs, it is a great national interest
which has performed this prodigy. They will say, that to
the skill of the generals, to the courage of the troops, to the
activity of the whole army, we must attribute this splendid
success. Ah ! they are ignorant, that the combining of so
many fortunate circumstances, is an emanation from the all
perfect mind : that courage, that skill, that activity, bear the
sacred impression of him who is divine.

l< •

2()0

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

" For how many favours have we not to thank him dnrinj^
the course of the present year ? Your union, whidi was at
first supjwrted by justice alone, has been consolichited by
your courage, and the knot which ties you together is become
indissoluble, by the accession of all the states, and the unani-
mous voice of all the confederates. You present to the uni-
verse the noble sight of a society, which, founded in equality
and justice, secures to the individuals who comjwse it, the
utmost happiness which can be derived from human institu-
tions. This advantage, which so many other nations have
been unable to procure, oven after ages of efforts and misery,
is granted by divine providence to the United States ; and
his adoreable decrees have marked the present moment for
the completion of that memorable liappy revolution, which
has taken place in this extensive continent. While your
counsels were thus acquiring new energy, rapid multij)lied
successes have crowned your arms in the southern states,

" We have seen the unfortunate citizens of these states
forced from their peaceful abodes ; iifter a long and cruel
captivity, old men, women and children, thrown, without
mercy, into a foreign country. Master of their lands and
their slaves, amid his temporary affluence, a superb victor
rejoiced in their distresses. But Philadelphia has witnessed
their patience and fortitude ; they have found here another
home, and though driven from their native soil they luive
blessed God, that he has delivered them from their presence,
and conducted them to a country where every just and feel-
ing man has stretched out the helping hand of benevolence.
Heaven rewards their virtues. Three large states are at once
wrested from their foe. The rapacious soldier has Ijeen com-
pelled to take refuge behind his ramparts, and oppression liiis
vanished like those phantoms which are dissipated by the
morning ray.

zm.

li ^-

REV. F. FARMER.

901

" On this solemn occasion, we might renew our thank§ to
tlie God of battles, for the success he has granted to the arms
of your allies and your friends by land and by sea, through
the other parts of the globe. But let us not recal those
ovfiits which too clearly prove how much the hearts of our
tiiemies have been obdurated. Let us prostrate ourselves at
the altar, and implore the God of mercy to suspend his ven-
c-cance, to spare them in his wrath, to inspire them with senti-
iiit'iitsof justice and moderation, to terminate their obstinacy
and error, and to ordain that your victories be followed by
peace and trancjuility. Let us beseech him to continue to
slied on the counsels of the king your ally, that spirit of wis-
dom, of justice, and of courage, which has rendered his reign
w) glorious. Let us entreat him to maintain in each of tlie
titates that intelligence by which -the united states are in-
t;])ired. Let us return him thanks that a faction, whose
R'bellion he has corrected, now deprived of support, is anni-
iiiiuted. Let us offer hira pure hearts, unsoiled by private
hatred or public diesention, and let us, with one will and one
voice, pour forth to the Lord that hynm of praise by which
christians celebrate their gratitude and his glory." '

In 1781 Father Farmer again visited his scattered flock in
New Jersey. Starting in Burlington County in February,
this indefatigable missionary, still active for his advanced
years, visited Salem and Gloucester Counties in April, and
tlion ill May was in the northern part of the State, in the
iron district around the beautiful sheet now known as Green-
wood Lake, but then called by the more prosaic title of Long

I " Pii. Packet or the General Advertiser," Novtiuber 27, 1781, No.
S12. The Abbe Bandol remained some years after the war, attached to
tiic French embassy, and returned to France in the spring of 1788.
lie had been 10 years here. (Letter of Very Rev. Dr. Carroll to the
Ximcio at Paris, March 5, 1788.)
9*

», ■• '

Li2

•jil

. ' ' I.

SOS

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Pond, and down to Poin|)ton PliiinH. In .luno und Jul)' he wuh
H^uin at I'liiladclphia and in Lower JerHcy ; then in Septem-
ber, crohwiiig to (ireenwich, N. J., he made hiw way to Mount
IIojK', (treenwood Lake, Iiin|rwoo(|, and hearing of Canadian
and Acadian Catliolics at Fishkill, pashed through the vallev
by a well-known route. Wo can coneoive the joy of these for-
lorn (,\itholio8 at the Hudden appearance of a priest, lie re-
cords the baptism of fourteen near Fishkill, in New York, with
names like Moidy, Merlct, Porteau, Ferriole, liouvet, Latieur,
Pollin, Constuntin, Feniole, Varly, Guilmet. Carrying his
clm{)ol service ii« ho did, we may infer that he said mass, at
this time, October, 1781, in the Canadian camp near Fishkill.
lie returned by way of llingwood and Pompton, l)iit be-
fore the end of tho mouth wuh at Cohanzy, in Salem County.
The bajitisms of the year jwrformed by this wonderful mis-
sionary numbered 170. Tho next year he twice traversed
New Jersey from Cohanzy to Greenwood, baptizing 12i>. In
1783 we trace him again as he plods through the State, till
tho close of June, on his mission to keep alive the faith
among the Catholics. In the autuuui he made his way again
to Fishkill, where ho remained from the last day of October
to the fourth of November. He probably entered New York

KAC-8IMlt.E OF REOISTER OF FATHER FARMER.

City at once after its evacuation by the British troops on the
2r)th of that montlu'

llegislur of Rev. Ferdinand Furmer.

J!)

! I

DOM OAUTHEY.

203

According to some French works a Cistercian Father,
Doin Gttuthey, pubUshed in I'hihidelpiiiu in 17«;J a prospec-
tus inviting subscriptions for ii system (f eoiivoying niessages
1)V Mieans of tubes, but investigation lias not obtained any
n' if of the presence in this country of the scientific priest,
tliiirt n'cognized as the inventor of tlie sjx'aking tul)e.'

I Tlic Records of the American Phllosophlcnl Society contain no iillu-
-lon to Huch a propoaul, and uu copy of tlie ProHptctus Lus yet lieuii
fuuud.

''^^^y^

CHALICE USED BY ARCHBISHOP CAHROLL.

.'Ill

■ ! I'

Ill

■^.!4

CHAPTER V.

THE CLERGY IN THE UNITED STATES SOLICIT A 8CPEKI0R FROM
THE POPE— THE FRENCH INTRIGUE— DR. CARROLl's CON-
TROVERSY AMTH WHARTON — HE IS APPOINTED PREFECT-
APOSTOLIC.

During the continuance of the conflict between Great
Britain and the United States, direct intercourse between the
two countries was, of course, suspended, and from an early
period of the Revolutionary war, correspondence, even by
way of France or Belgium became almost impossible.

Before the close of the war the venerable Bishop Challoner
died on the 10th of January, 1781, and the Rt. Rev. James
Talbot, who had been consecrated Bishop of Birtha, on the
24th of August, 1759, and had from that time acted as coad-
jutor, became Yicar-Apostolic of the London District, witli
jurisdiction over the faithful in the United States. " But,''
as Dr. Carroll subsequently wrote, " whether he would hold
no correspondence with a country which he perhaps consid-
ered as in a state of rebelli- .n, or whether a natural indolence
and irresolution restrained him, the fact is, that he held no
kind of intercoiu-se with priest or layman in this part of his
charge. Before the breaking out of the war, his predecessor
had appointed a Vicar, the Rev. Mr. Lewis, and he governed
the mission of America during the Bishop's silence." '

Bishop Talbot went further; when in 1783 the Revs.
John Boone and Henry Pile, two Maryland priests belong-
ing to the suppressed Society, who had been unable to return
to their native land during the war, applied to the Bishop

' Carroll, " Sketch of Catholicity in the U. S."
(204)

ACTION OF THE CLERGY.

205

for faculties, he refused to give them, and declared that he
world exercise no jurisdiction in the United States, These
two iM'iests apparently then wrote to the Propaganda for
faculties, and thus brought the condition of affairs in the
United States before the Head of the Church.'

The Maryland clergy, fearful of exciting prejudice against
themselves, made no attempt to restore the dependence on
England ; all their writings show that they desired only to
have a local Superior chosen from their own body, and sub-
ject directly to the Pope.

Yet for a few priestd, all members of an order so recently
suppressed by one of the Sovereign Pontiffs, to obtain a hear-
iiicr or favor at Rome, seemed almost impossible, the more
especially as the country had no ambassador at Rome to lay
tlie matter before the Holy See. But this cons: ation did
not prevent their taking action.

Left to themselves, the clergy in Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania, after the suppression of the Society of Jesus was for-
mally notified to them, lived under pro^^8ional and informal
regulations. The regulations or statutes of the Vicariate-
Ajiostolic of London were not apparently comnmnicated to
them or enforced.

After Rev. John Carroll arrived in 1YY4, no other priest
came over from Europe, the war which followed preventing
further intercourse with England. Rev. Anthony Carroll,
who accompanied him, returned to Europe the next year ;
Rev. Matthias Manners died at Bohemia, June 15, 17Y5 ;
Rev. Arnold Livers at St. Inigoes, August 16, 1777 ; Rev.
George Hunter at St. Thomas', August 1, 1779 ; Rev. Peter
Morris at Newtown, November 19, 1782. Thus had their
little band been fearfully thinned in less than ten years.

1 Roman memorandum on a letter from Maryland to the Propaganda,
November 10, 1783. The two priests came over in 1784 (Foley, Treacy).

fit

206

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

With the peace in 1783 came the Rev. Leonard Neale
destined to exercise a great iiiflueuce in his native land us
priest, Vicar-General, Coadjutor Bishop, and finally Arch-
bishop of Baltimore, as well as founder and director of the
first Monastery of Visitation Nuns in this country. Leonard
Neale, son of William and Anne Neale, was born October
15, 1746, at their mansion near Port Tobacco, in Charles
County, of a family long settled in the Province of Mary-
land, the founder of this family. Captain James Neale, hav-
ing arrived here before 1642, when we find him privy coun-
cillor. His Avife had been one of the maids of honor to
Queen Henrietta Maria, and the name of the consort of Kino-
Charles I. was perpetuated for generations in the family of
Neale. Captain Neale had lived for some years in Spanisli
and Portuguese territory, and four of his children, born out
of England, were naturalized in Maryland after his arrival.'
Young Leonard was sent to Europe at the age of 12 by
his widowed mother ; he entered the Jesuit College at St.
Omer and continued his academic course there and at Bruges
and Liege. Feeling, like several of his family, that he was
called to serve God in the religious state, he entered the So-
ciety of Jesus at Ghent on the 7th of September, 1167.
AVhen the Society was suppressed six years afterward he was
a priest and pursuing his third year in theology at Liege.
He purposed returning to America, but undertook a mission
in England. After a time, finding that a field for mission-
aries was opened in Demerara, he offered to serve in that
unhealthy colony, where the authorities allowed no public
worship to Catholics. On the 4th of May, 1780, he obtained
faculties for the mission from the Most Rev, Ignatius Busca,

' Davis, " ,'3ay Star of American Freedom," New York, 1855, pp. 85,
150, 248, 268.

MEETING AT WU MARSH.

ao7

Archbishop of Emesa and Apostoiie i^uncio at Brussels. He
probably reached Demerara the same year and labored with
zeal among the Indians and the colonists, addressing a report
on his labors to the Prefect of the Propaganda in 1Y82. He
is sjiid to have left Demerara in January, 1783, having re-
tiolved to labor in his own country. On his home voyage he
fell into the hands of British cruisers, but arrived in Mary-
land in April. He was welcomed by his missionary brethren
there, as well as by his kindred, and after attending the
meeting called at Whitemarsh, was stationed at Port Tobacco.

The priests in Maryland and Pennsylvania had long felt
the want of some organization to preserve the property then
in the hands of individuals, and to maintain some form of
discipline till the Holy See provided for the wants of the
Church in the United States.

A letter was addressed by several of the clergy to the Rev.
John Lewis, who still continued to act as Vicar-General of
the Yicar-Apostolic of London. In this they asked him to
attend a meeting which they regarded as absolutely necessary
for the preservation and well-government of all matters and
concerns of the clergy, and the service of religion in this
country. As Rev, Mr. Lewis concurred willingly, the meet-
iiii; was called at Whitemarsh, Maryland, on the 27th of
June, 1783. It was attended by the Revs. John Carroll,
John Ashton, Charles Sewell, Bernard Diderick, Sylvester
Boarnian, and Leonard Neale, the last representing also the
Revs. Ignatius Matthews, Louis Roels, and John Bolton, who
wore unable to attend.

At this meeting views were interchanged, and the plan of
a form of government was submitted. This was then com-
iimnicated to all the priests in Maryland and Pennsylvania,
aiul as it was found not easy to bring all together, districts
were formed, from each of which the clergy were to send

\i\

!/.

208

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

delegates. Meanwhile the clergy of the Southern District,
meeting at Newtown, Septeuibr ;• 23, 1783, to the number of
seven, two being absent, suggested several amendments to
the Plan and Rules, and showed less jealousy of the Suiie-
rior in spirituals ' than liad been manifested at the general
meeting.

The delegates of the Districts met at "Whitemarsh on the
6th of November, and were the Rev. John Lewis for the
Northern District, comprising Pennsylvania and the Eastern
Shore of Maryland ; John Carroll and Bernard Diderick for
the Middle District, comprising the Western Shore of Marv-
land, exclusive of St. Mary's and Charles Counties, which
formed the Southern District, represented by Rev. Ignatius
Matthews and Rev. James Walton.

The plan was here thoroughly discussed and revised ; but
the final adoption was deferred to a future meeting.

About this time, and evidently under some resolution then
adopted, a committee consisting of the Revs. John Lewis,
Bernard Diderick, Ignatius Matthews, James Walton, and
John Carroll were appointed to prepare a petition to the
Pope, asking that the Rev, John Lewis should be formally
constituted Superior and invested M-ith power to administer
confirmation, bless chalices, and impart faculties to the priests
in the mission.

The Superior, Rev. John Lewis, enjoyed the respect of all
missionaries, and Dr. Carroll wrote of him : " It is happy
that the present Superior is a person free from every selfish
view and ambition," and at this time no other Superior
seems to have been desired.

The petition to the Sovereign Pontiff was in these words :

' Proceedings at a meeting of the Southern District ' f the Cler'n-
September 23. 1788. '

! I

-,<1

''/'/' AUKOLL.

-!•;, I •">;;. to the nuin! •

■•,'»iet.i fcL'Veral aiiu'iuliiieir

' -voii less jcaluu'^y of the "^

'. till uiiiaifested at the l!>

' Mtriots met at Wliitcmarsh <■
lite Ht'V. .John Lf\vif( 1«.
.... iVnusvhaiiia and tho K., •
< ;irroll and Jieriiard I)idi;ri(
■.•iing tho Western Sliorf of M
St. Man'.-- and Charles Conntir
ithern Disti-ict, i-oprcisented hy \l\-\. i
»i:tit' cw- ,t:i<i iiev. Jamos \Va1ti.>n.

The plan was here thoroughly discussed and n \i ni
tin; thud adoption whh deferred to a future meetin;.'.

A1x)Ut this time, and evidently under Mum? rewdutio;

ad<»pted, a committee couiJisting of the lievs. John I

' >iderifk, Ignatius Matthews, James Waltoi,

•II wen- ;«}»poi;ited to ]»re])are a petition ;

- rli;.t fhr ;1, ^^l^, Tpvvik should he h.\

h power to adin:
fandties to thf j

n.n\ iCev. John i.i ' lyed. the re!*jX'Cf

ind Dr. rarroll v. ..i> <•! him: " [', i
. •,- Snn'''Hor 1^ i rH'i>.iii fn-c tV,.ni v\{::v\ ■
.'' : ' I : ' ., . ..iher Sn. ■

■ !i-ed.

: -eifrn Pi^ufiff was in

: thfi Bouthmu District Of tlie ( '

MOST RtV. JOHN CARROLL.

ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE

Ill

" Most ]

"We,

James ^^

the Tl
t( igetlier
tlie fjooc
mure rei
proving
our bret
timt we,
America
sary spir
residing
(piently
rulers oi
our eccL
])reme ci
wo. jilae
Holiness
anew tlu
John Lc

icai

-A

<ul»ject
delegate
to priest
ent; tl

lia

one or n

and disti

" Mor

the

bless

during t
il alta

aiK

lit" conii:

PETITION TO THE POPE.

2U9

• Most Holy Father :

" We, John Lewis, Bernard Diderick, Ignatius Matthews,
,1 nines Walton, and John Carroll, nuHsioniiry priests, residing
ill the Thirteen United States of North America, assembled
tdijether from the neighboring stations to take counsel for
the j^ood of the missions, our fellow-priests residing in the
more remote parts of this mission, agreeing herein and ap-
proving by letter, in our name and in the common name of
our brethren, with all respect represent to your Holiness,
tliiit we, placed under the recent supreme dominion of United
America, can no longer have recourse, as formerly, for neces-
sary spiritual jurisdiction to the Bishops and Vicars-Apostolic
residing in different and foreign States (for this has very fre-
([uontly been intimated to us in very positive terms by the
rulers of this Republic), nor recognize any one of them as
our ecclesiastical Superior, without open offense of this su-
jireme civil magistracy and political government. Wherefore
wo. placed in this difficult position, have recourse to your
Holiness, lmml)ly beseeching you to vouchsafe to confirm
anew the ecclesiastical Superior whom we now have, namely,
John Lewis, a priest already approved and confirmed by the
N'ic'ur-Apostolic of London, to whom this whole mission was
subject before the change of political government, and to
delegate to him the power of granting the necessary faculties
to priests coming into these missions, as it shall seem expedi-
ent ; that said Superior may delegate this power to at least
one or more of the most suitable missionaries as the necessity
and distance of time and place may require.

" Moreover, as there is no Bishop in these regions, who can
liless the holy oils, of which we were deprived for several years
ihirinw the confusion of the war, no one to bless the chalices
iind altar stones needed, no one to administer the sacrament
of confirmation, we humbly beseech your Holiness to em-

^i^^^l

. J- -.-

111

iMi i

210

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

power the miid Jolin LewiH, priest, Sii])erior, to ijerfonn tliese
thiiigH in tlio preHcnt neoessity, aiul until otherwise provided
for tliis luiswion by your JIolineHs, tiiat our faitlifiil, living in
many dangerH, may l)e no longer deprived of tlie Sacrament
of Confirmation nor die without Extreme Unction according
to the rite of the Church.

" Moreover, we also pray your Holiness to bestow on this
mission the indulgences of the Jubilee, and to extend to the
missionaries the ample faculties which may seem seasonable
in these viu^t and remote regions racked by a long bitter war,
where on account of the constant n)ilitary movements, neither
the Jubilee on the exaltation of your Holiness to the See < f
Peter, nor the Jubilee of the year 177i">, could be pronnd-
gated, much less celebrated or enjoyed.

''This, ]\[ost Holy Father, is what we the aforesaid peti-
tioners, missionary ])riests iu these regions of United North
America, lunubly solicit from your Holiness' sui)reme wisduiu
and providence for the gootl of the Catholic religion." '

This petition was forwarded through Cardinal Korromeo,
and was evidently i)resented, as it is in the llomau Arcliivcs.
When its tenor became known, fears were entertained tliat it
was not sutficiently respectful, and another jietition somewhat
similar in purport, but asking the aj)pointment of a Superior
to be elected by them, declaring that the Tinted States woidd
not permit a liishop, and specifying the faculties and certain
olKces which the clergy desired to recite, was drawn up ami
forwarded to Rome, but apparently arrived only in time tu
be nsed as evidence of tlie resi)ect of the American clergy.'

Rev. Mr, Carroll was not oidy one of the committee aj)-
pointed to draw up this memorial, but was requested to send

' Archives of the PropaRiindn, Rome.

' Petitiou iu Archives of the See of Baltimore.

\-r-:^,,..^.i

CARROLL'S VIEWS.

211

it to a friend at Koiiie tlirougli whom it iiiiglit he i)res<nite(l
t(i the Sovereign Pontiff. Tiio nieniorial waw signed hy Uev.
Mr. Lewis, and in tratimnitting it, tiie Rev. Mr. Carroll wrote:
" Von are not ignorant tiiat in these United States onr re-
ligious systetn has nndergone a revolution, if possible, more
extraordinary than our politieal one. In all of them free
toleration is allowed to Christians of every denomination ;
and |)articularly in the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, and Virginia, a eonnnunicatlon of all civil right-*,
witiiout distinction or diminution, is extended to those of
our religion. This is a blessing and advantage which it is
our duty to preserve and improve, with the utmost i>rudence,
liy (lenieain'ng ourselves on all occasions as subjects zealously
attached to otir goverinnent and avoiding to give any jeal-
ousies on account of any dependence on fctreign juris(licti<in8
more than that which is essential to our religion, an acknowl-
edgment of the Pope's spiritual 8U])remacy over the whole
Christian world. You know tiiat we of the elergy have
heretofore resorted to the Vicar-Apostolic of the Londoti
District for the exercise of si)iritual powers, but being well
a('([iiainted with the temper of Congress, of our assend)lieB
and the people at large, we are firmly of opinion that we
shall not bo suffered to continue under such a jurisdiction
whenever it becomes known to the publick. You may be as-
sured of this from the following fact. The clergy of the
Church of England were heretofore subject to the Bishoj) of
London, but the underage taken at this dependence was so
gn.'at, that notwithstanding the power and jirevalence of that
sect they could find no other method to allay jealousies, than
hy withdrawing themselves as they have lately done, from all
obedience to him.

" Beihg therefore thus circumstanced, we think it not only
adviseable in us, but in a manner obligatory, to solicit the

« 1

312 ' FE OF AIWIIBISHOP CARROLL.

Holy See to place the episcopal p were, at least such im
most emHjntial. in the liiindH of oik' ai«oii(f«t us, whose virtui'
knowlod^', and iiiff^rity of faith, shall he cortitietl hy oup.
»eh I • We Hhall aiiiu to this letter such powern an we jii(|fr,>
it absolutely necessary he (^lioukl he i ivested with. We niiglit
aiiii /u^y very cogent reasons for h ving aiuonjrst thetn, a
pert*ou th us enii)owered, and for want of whom it is iinpossi-
hle to conceive the inconvenience haj)peMin^ every day. If
it ho poflsihlo to ohtain a j;rant fnmi Koine for ventinj^ thcMe
powers in our Superior jiro Inttpore, it would l)c iiiont do-
sirahle. We shall endeavor to have you aidetl in tin- appli-
cation, by a recoinrnendafion, if posnihle, from our own coun-
try and the minister of France. You will know liow to
avail yourself of so favorable a Russian minister at Rome;
and if Afr. Thorpe will be pleased to untl.Ttake the manajro-
meiit (»f the business there, we will with ciieerfulnecs and
gratitude "answer all expenses which he may incur in the
prosecution of it. lie will be the judge, how and whether
the arnu'xed petition ought in prudence to be presented to
His Holiness, but at all events the powers therein contained,
are those which we wish our Superior to be invested with." '
Hut while the Catholic clergy in the United States were
thus, in a legitinuite way, a])plying to the Sovereign Pontitl"
for the appointment of a Superior, and giving intelligent ex-
pression to the wants of the clergy and peo]>le, and showinir
their condition under the new systems of govermnent, a
scheme had been formed, apparently in the French embassy
at Philadelphia, to impose on American Catholics a French
bishop residing in Europe.'

' Letter of Rev. .Tolin Carroll. Novemlier 10, 1783. Italian fnm«Iiitit.r)
iu Archives of Propajfiinda.

' In an ndditiomil niemorandum in Froncli, appended in the arcl-ivvK
at Rome to the well-known note of the Nuncio, is the following ; " TLcrc

rf!

THE FRENCH INTRIOUE.

213

before the nieinorial of the Catholic clor^ in Amerit i
had been ex|HMlitt'(l, the Nuncio of the Poihj at Paris, Prince
I'ainphilo Doria, ArchlMwhopof Seleucia, had Ihjci approached
to ()l»tain hirt favor for the ])roje('t. Acting in ignorance of
till' real condition of affairH in the United StateH, the repre-
w'litative of the Pope addressed to Benjamin Franklin the
tiilluwinj;, in which the idea of a French superior is clearly
indicated, and the H|)iritual government of Catholics viewed
lis a matter to he scilled by the King of France and Congress :

"The iSuncio Apostolic has the honor to transmit to Mr.
Fnitiklin the sul (joined note. He requests him to cause it to
1)1' pi( -t ntcd to the Congress of the Ignited States of North
America, and to support it with his influence.

" July 28, 1783.

'* KoTE. — Previous to the revolntiou which has jugt been
ooni])leted in the United States of North America, the Cath-
olics and missionaries of those provinces depended, in spirit-
ual matters, on the Yicar-Apostolic residing in London. It
is now evident that this arrangement can be no longer main-
tained, but, as it is necessary that the Catholic Christians of
the United States should have an ecclesiastic to govern them

exist in Frnncc four cstiiblishmonts of Euglisii mnnkH wlioso total rove-
iiucs may amount to 50 or 00,000 livrcs. Tlicse monkH (moines) arp few
in numlKT. Tlio want of subjects renders tliose wlio arc l(,'f t at least use-
less. It might he possible for the King of France, in order to gratify the
Cinirt of Rome, and bring closer the bonds of friendship with the United
Stales, to permit these establishments to he used to form, instruct and in
part maintain the ecclesiastics to l)e employed in America. To attain the
object better, it would l)e advantage nis that one of the Bishops named
by the Holy See, should he a subject nf the King and reside in France,
always at hand to act in concert with his Holiness and the American
Minister and aii>ipt with them, means to form ecclesiastics agreeable to
Coii;;ies8, and useful to American Catholics." What a scheme for the
enslavement of Catholics in this country 1

■-a

214

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

in matters pertainintir to religion, the Congregation de Pn,-
paganda Fide, existing at Rome, for the establishment and
preservation of missions, have come to the determination to
propose to Congress to establish in one of the cities of the
United States of North America, one of their Catholic breth-
ren, with the authority and power of Vicar-Apostolic ami
dignity of Bishop, or simply with the rank of Apostolic Pre-
fect. The institution of a Bishop Yicar-Apostolic appears
the most suitable, inasmuch as the Catholics of the United
States may have within their reach the reception of Confir-
mation and Orders in their own country. And as it may
sometimes happen that among the members of the Catholic
body in the United States, no one may be found qualified to
undertake the charge of the spiritual government, either as
Bishop or Prefect-Apostolic, it may be necessary under such
circumstances, that Congress should consent to have one
selected from some foreign nation on close terms of friend-
ship with the United States." '

The Nuncio also transmitted to the French minister in the
United States a letter addressed to the Senior Catholic mist^ion-
ary. Later in the year, on the 15th of December, Dr. Franklin,
though he saw that Congress could not interfere, wrote from
Passy to the Count de Vergennes, prime minister of France :

" SiB : — I understand that the Bishop or Spiritual person
who superintends or governs the Roman Catholic clergy in
the United States of America, resides in London,' and is sup-
posed to be under obligations to that Court, and subject to

' " Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution," Boston
1829, iv., pp. 158-9.

' At this time the Vicar-Apostolic in London had exercised no author-
ity for eight years, and, as we have seen, actually disavowed any juris-
diction in the United States.

V. K

FRANKLIN DUPED.

215

be influenced by its Ministers, This gives me some uneasi-
ness, and I cannot but wish that one should be appointed to
that office, who is of this nation and who may reside here
among our friends. I beg your Excellency to think a little
of this matter and to afford me your counsels upon it. "With
the gi'eatest respect, I am,

" Sir,
" Your Excellency's most obedient and most

humble servant,

«B. Feanklin."

But for the positive evidence we could scarcely believe
that Dr. Franklin lent himself to a plan for treating his
Catholic countrymen in this manner and helping a conspir-
acy to subject them not to a Superior chosen from among
themselves, but to one nominated by the French court and
residing in France.

A letter of Barlie Marbois, French Minister to the United
States, indicates that the whole scheme originated with him ;
it represents the Catholies in America as having been directed
during the war by Jesuits who favored the British,' and spoke
of the rancor of the Jesuits against the house of Bourbon.^

' This is Bancroft's rendering,' of Marbois, wlio wrote, " The Ciitholics,
always directed by the Jesuits in this country, have been ill-disposed to
th'^ Revolution ; they are not better disposed toward us." " La Revolu-
tion " does not mean the American Revolution at all, but the Voltairean
ideas of the day, and to make it mean " favored the British," shows

* Mnrbois to Vergennes, 27th March, 1785, cited in Bancroft, ' History
of the Formation of the Constitution," New York, 1885. It is incon-
ceivable how Mr. Bancroft could have adopted this silly and mendacious
nonsense for history and used it to malign his own countrymen. The
Enslish .lesuits suffered mainly from the Austro-Belgian government,
not from the Bourbons. Not a line written by them shows any such
rancor as Barbfi Marbois invents ; and not a priest who had been a mem-
ber of the suppressed Society in this country favored the British during
tlie war.

216

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Tlie Count de Vergennes, on receiving Franklin's letter,
made a memorandum, which shows that he did not adopt tlie
idea of a Vicar-Apostolic for the United States residing i„
Paris. He knew somewhat of the Catholic Church, if Frank-
Hn did not.'

The French minister consulted the Archbishop of Bor-
deaux, whom Franklin had already approached, and the
Bishop of Autun in regard to the matter. Monseigneur
Cice, Archbi«liop of Bordeaux, rephed with great prudence
and caution.

" I regard it a duty, Count," he wrote, « to inform you of
the proposition just made me by Mr. Franklin. The object
is to secure to religion among the Cathohcs in the United
States, more order and facility in the number and choice of
ministers necessary for them. I reasonably presume that in
tins matter Mr. Franklin is the interpreter of the wishes of
his Catholic fellow-citizens. He seems to desire, that to at-
tain more securely what they propose, they should have in
France a titled ecclesiastic, ai)pointed to provide for the wants
of the Church." '

Doctor Franklin, so far from being the interpreter of the
wishes of his Catholic fellow-countrymen, was acting without
their knowledge, and to their detriment, as well as in direct
opposition to then- petition to the Pope.

The American envoy evidently did not see the object of
the intrigue, or he might have obtained information ifor the
^ uncio. As it was, the documents were transmitted by him
to the Continental Congress, and reached that body, when it

Ills memorandum is. " Mr. Franklin represcnte que I'Eveoue oham'
(le la direction du clerge Catliolique en Amerique residant H ^ondres 11
pst de notre inferret de nommer ,\ cette place une personne qui nuisse
denieurerdansles Etats Unis."
' Jlfrr. de Cice to Vergennes, Decemlwr -.'7, 1783.

ACTION OF CONGRESS.

217

contained no Catholic member, Daniel Carroll's term of three
years having just expired, and Thomas Fitzsinions, the Cath-
olic member fiom Pennsylvania, having resigned his seat.
The reply of Congress was made without the knowledge of
the Catholic body and on no representation of their position
and wants. The determination of Congress was not guided
hv those Catholic gentlemen, who would have indignantly
exposed the attempt of intriguing men to force an alien
Superior on the Church in this country after slandering the
Catholics and their clergy.

On the 11th of May, 1784, as we read in the "Secret
Journals of the Acts and Proceedings of Congress," it was
" Resolved, That doctor Franklin be desired to notify to the
apostolical nuncio at Versailles, that Congi-ess will always be
pleased to testify their respect to his sovereign and state ; but
tiiat the subject of his application to doctor Franklin, being
purely spiritual, it is without the jurisdiction and powers of
Congress, who have no authority to permit cr refuse it, these
powers being reserved to the several states individually." '

I^lean while information of the French intrigue reached the
former English associates of the American missionaries. The
Rev. Charles Plowden at once wrote to Dr. Franklin, and
the Rev, ]\Iessrs, Sewall and Mattingly, natives of Maryland,
then in England, also wrote to that American minister, " to
expose to him the degree of respect and consideration due to
the missionaries now in America, and to desire that no pro-
])osals might be admitted without the participation and con-
sent of you in particular," wrote Rev, Mr. Plowden to Dr.
Carroll, " and of the other missioners and the principal Cath-
olic gentry in the country." "

' " Secret .Journal of Congress, ' Boston, 1821. vol. iii.. p. 493.
' Rev. Charles Plowden to Rev. John Carroll, September 2, 1T84, in
10

218

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The information thus given uinst have opened the eyes of
Dr. Franklin, and as he had formed a liigh estimate of Eev.
Mr. Carroll during the mission to Canada, he must have felt
not a little chagrined to find himself made even indirectly
the medium of impeaching the loyalty of the Carrolls and
other patriotic American CathoHcs, priests and laymen. It is
certain that he at once determined that sound policy required
him to favor the appointment of an American missionary as
Superior of the Catholics in the United States, and he cer-
tainly from this time exerted all his influence to press the
ai)pointment of Rev. Mr. Carroll, to whose qualiiications he
could bring the testimony of personal knowledge and daily in-
tercourse for a considerable period.'

Barbd Marbois soon wrote that the project of nominating
a P>ench priest must be abandoned, but his imputations on
the loyalty of Catholics have remained in the diplomatic rec-
ords, without a line to justify the maligned Catholics.

The only result was, apparently, that, whereas the clergy
in the United States had in the first instance solicited the
confirmation of Rev. Mr. Lewis as Superior, and subsequent-
ly permission to choose a Superior, the Sovereign Pontiff de-
termined to act " proprio motu," and selected an American,
as least likely to excite remonstrance.

' u. a.

B. U. Campbell's " Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll."
Catholic Magazine," iii., p. 376.

" Nothing," wrote Rev. Mr. Carroll, "can place in a stronger light the
aversion to tlie remains of the Society, than the observation made by you
of a negotiation being carried on, relative to the affairs of religion, with
Dr. Franklin, without ever deigning to apply for information to the
Catholic clergy in this country." . . . . " When I first heard that the
Nuncio w!is treating with my old friend. Dr. Franklin, I had thous;hts
of writing to him, and should certainly have done it, had I not been
afraid of placing myself in a conspicuous point of view."— Letter to Rev.

C. Plowden September 15. 1784.

' Rev. John Carroll to Rev. Mr. Thorpe, February 17, 1785.

THE FRENCH INTRIGUE.

219

During all this proceeding, the Catholic clergy and people in
tlio United States were not only not consulted, but were kept
in profound ignorance of the intrigue. Hints of it at last
reached them from friends in Europe. Rev. Cliarles Plow-
den wrote : " There are certainly some oblique views, most
probably directed to the property of the American mission,
and to the obtaining superiority over the missionaries. The
note delivered to the Nuncio proves their wish to exclude
every Jesuit from trust or honor ; and equally betrays the
puliey of the French ministry (' the nation most friendly to
Congress ') who by bringing forward a Frenchman, or per-
haps an Irish Frenchman, would use religion as an instru-
ment to increase their own influence in America." '

The question of the appointment of a Bishop before the
Revolution had excited fears among the clergy in America,
who naturally dreaded an appointment made on the nomi-
nation of the Cardinal, Dnke of York ; at the present crisis,
a nomination through the influence of the French court,
where a pretended philosophy was sapping all religious faith,
seemed fraught with still greater danger to the future of the
Church in the United States.

France as a government at that time had no pretext what-
ever for intermeddling in the afifairs of the Catholic Church
in the United States. While aiding the insurgent colonies in
their struggle for freedom, she had done absolutely nothing
for the Catholic body. There is no trace up to this time of

'Letter to Rev. .Tobn Carroll, September 21, 1784. " U. 8. Catli.
JIaij.," iii., p. 376. It seems to me from a study of the whole matter,
iliat it was simply a petty intrigue of Barbe Marbois, to effect the nomi-
nation of some French priest to the projected Vicariate. Barbe Marbois,
August 15, 1784, wrote to Rayneval : "Above all things, I believL' we
ought not to think of making the choice fall upon a French priest."
Wlien he found that the Catholic clergy were in communication with the
Pope, he gave the matter up.

I!- .iJn

220

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

any aid given in erecting churches, or supplying them with
priests, plate, vestments, or books.

The chaplains of the French embassy, army, and fleet made
no exertion to obtain additional priests for Catholics here, and
apparently rendered very slight service to the Catholics scat-
tered through States which they entered. The use made of
Father La Motte in Maine was more political than religious,
and the work of the Abbe Robin, a chaplain in Rochambeau's
army, shows more of the weak sentimentality made fashion-
able by the encyclopaedists, than a robust Catholic faith.

Many of the French officers were open adherents of that
school, and harmonized with the deistical American public
men : Masonic lodges were established in the French camp,
and many officers enrolled.

The Catholics in the United States who in their religious
capacity had received no sympathy or aid from France, did
not dream of any sudden interest in their aflairs. But the
schemes and plans failed. The matter had been considered
at an early day in the councils of the Sovereign Pontiff
Pope Pius VI.

The same Providence which, by what seemed its death-
blow, saved the Church in Canada from being involved in
the whirlpool of the French revolution, directed the councils
of the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VI., and saved the Church in
the United States at this juncture. It was not ambitious ab-
bes of the French court who were to influence the Church in
the United States, but priests tried in the tire of persecution,
who met exile as their heroic brethren met the axe rather
than palter with schism and infidelity.

Wlien the Memorial of the priests in America was laid be-
fore him, Pope Pius VI., enlightened by means of which we
do not fully know, decided on a course of action, and it was
in i)erfect accord with the wishes of the Catholics in Ameri-

THE NUNCIO'S LETTER.

221

ea, tlioagb it was inspired by higher hopes and pointed to a
more glorious future, than any here then dared to imagine.

The Memorial of the American clergy was referred to the
Congregation de Propaganda Fide, and the Cardinal Prefect
seems to have sought further information in regard to the
position of the Church, as appears by the following letter
which the Nuncio addressed to the Rev. John Carroll :

"Paris, May 12th, 1784.

"The interests of religion, Sir, requiring new arrange-
ments relative to the missions in the United States of North
America, the Congregation of the Propaganda direct me to
recjuest from you a full statement of the actual condition of
those missions. In the meantime, I beg you will inform me
what number of missionaries may be necessary to serve them,
and furnish spiritual aid to Catholic Christians in the United
States; in what provinces there are Catholics, and where
there is the greatest number of them ; and lastly, if there are
among the natives of the country, fit subjects to receive holy
orders, and exercise the functions of missionaries. You will
greatly oblige me personally, by the attention and industry
which you will exercise in procuring for me this information.

" I have the honor to be, with esteem and consideration,
Sir, your very humble and oljedient servant,

" >i> J. Archbishop of Seleucia,
" Apostolical Nuncio.
" To Rev. John Carroll, Maryland."

With it was the following

" EXTRACT OF A MEMORANDITM.

"1. To have exact statements of the conduct and capacity
of the ecclesiastics and missionaries who are in the different

993

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

States of North America : wlio among them might be the
most worthy, and at the same time, agreeable to the members
of the assembly of those provinees to be invested with the
character of bishop in partibus, and the qnality of Vicar-
Apostolic. It is thought that it will be convenient for him
to tix his residence where there is the greatest number of
Catholics.

" 2. If among these ecclesiastics there is a native of the
country, and he should be among the most worthy, he should
be preferred to all others of ecpial merit. If otherwise,
choice should be made of one from some other nation. In
default of a missionary actually residing in those provinces, a
Frenchman will be nominated, who will go to establish him-
self in America, in the State above designated.

" H. To know the probable number of the ecclesiastics and
missionaries, as well as how nuuiy that of the Catholics in the
different States, and their standing would render necessarv ;
we think that it is in Pennsylvania and INIaryland there is
the greatest number— it would be to the purpose to know if
there are also any in the other States.

" 4. To know whether there are schools in these States
where Latin is taught ; such that the young men of the coun-
try who might wish to jirepare for the ecclesiastical state
could study their humanities, before passing to France or
Kome, there to enter at once on their philo8oi)hical and the-
ological studies." '

But the Sacred Congregation did not await any reply to
this correspondence of the Nuncio at Paris. The reports of
Bishops Challoner and Tall)ot in their own archives, and the
jiajK'rs of the English province of the Society of Jesus, af-

' Campbell, " Life and Times of Arcbblsbop Carroll "; " U. S. Catb
Mag.,"iii., p. 378.

APPOINTMENT OF A PREFECT-APOSTOLIC. 223

tordod a far clearer klea of the comlitioii of the Church in
the United States than these documents implied. There
wore clergymen in Rome who couhl give information as to
till' qualitications of all the priests in Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania. The Secretary of the Congregation de Propaganda
Fide, in an audience on the 0th of June, 1784, presented to
liis Holiness, Pope Pius VI., a report on the Church in the
United States, and the Sovereign Pontiff ratified the appoint-
ment of Rev. John Carroll as Superior of the Mission in the
Thirteen United States of North America, and conferred
ujxin hini power to administer the Sacramenf of Confirma-
tion during his Superiorship.

It is strange so much effort was required, and so many dif-
ficulties prevented tlie Catholic body in the United States
with their ancient churches, and regular succession of ])riests,
from obtaining a concession which had through the influence
of Spain been granted to Dr. Camps for his little fiock in
Florida, to the Superior of the Franciscans in New Mexico,
and about this very time to the Superiors of the same order
in Texas and California.

The decree organizing the Catholic Church in the United
States as a distinct body, and appointing the Very Rev. John
Carroll, Prefect-Apostolic, was issued by Cardinal Antonelli,
Prefect of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, on
the 9th of June, 1784.

The official documents were transmitted through the Apos-
tolic Nuncio at Paris, who, on the 1st of July, called upon
Dr. F'ranklin and acquainted him that the Pope had on his
roconmiendation appointed Mr. Carroll, Superior of the Cath-
olic Clei'gy in America, and stated that he would probably
be made a bishop before the end of the year.'

' Sparks, " Life and Writings of Franklin," i., p. 581.

.. til

224

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The decree of the Cougregiition de Propagiifi<la Fide wiw
ill this form :

" Tlie yacred Congregation on the report of the Rev.
Stei)hen liorgia, its 8ecretarj, declared Superior of the mis-
sions in the thirteen United States of North America, the
Rev. John Carroll, Kccular priest, with authority to exercise
the functions which regard the government of the missions,
according to the tenor of the decrees of the Sacred Congre-
gation, and of the faculties granted to him, and not otherwise,
nor in a different manner.

" Given at Rome the 9th day of June, 1784.
" S. Borgia. L. Cakdinal Antojjeuj, Pkefect."

FAC-8IMILE OP SIGJfATCRE OP CARDINAL ANTONELLI.

"xVudience of the Most Holy Father, held June C, 1784.

" Our ;^^ost Iloly Father, hy divine Providence, Pojie
Pius VI., on the report of the undersigned, secretary o.' .he
Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, granted to the
Rev. John Carroll, Superior of the Mission in the thirteen
Fnitt'd States of Xorth America, the faculty of administering
the sacrament of Confirmation, in tiie said provinces during
his superiorshij) — the said faculty to he exercised in accord-
ance with the rules prescribed in the instruction published
by order of the Congregation on the 4th of Afay, 1784.

" Given at Rome in the house of the Congregation, on the
day and year above named.

" Stephen- Borgia, Secretary of the

Sacred Congregation de prop, fide."

END OF ENGLISH JURISDICTION.

22/5

To remove nil doubt as to hiw jiiriHilk'tioii, Ciirdiiml Aut(v
nolli, on tlie lOtlj of June, addresHud a letter to Ki^ht Rev.
James Talbot, I). I)., Ulnliop of liirtha, Vicar-Aporttoiic; of
tliu London DiHtrict, informing him that on the petition of
tlie Catholic nuHsionaries in the United States, Iuh IloIinesH
had appointed the Rev. John Carroll, a man of tried i)iety
and zeal, and invested him with necessary and seasonable
fiiculties, in(lei)endent of any other ecclesiastical authority
except the Sacred Congregation, and that his IIolineHs in-
tended at the earliest possible moment to establish a liishoj)
or Vicar-Ai)ostolic in that country. The Cardinal Prefect
notifies Bishop Talbot, as the one to whom the s])iritual care
of those Catholics had been previously confided, expressing
the hope that he will cordially approve the step,'

Thus ended by an official act the jurisdiction of the Vicar-
Apostolic of London over the Catholics in the United States,
which had been exercised for about a century till the war
began, and I'ishop Talbot disclaimed all authority in this
portion of America.

It was apparently overlooked at the time that parts of the
United States, the Catholic Indians in Maine, the Canadians
in Northern New York, and the country northwest of the
Ohio, were still to be regarded as within his diocese by the
Bishop of Quebec, and that the Natchez district also had
been taken from the British during the war, and reannexed
to Louisiana, so that the services of religion bad been restored
there by priests of the diocese of Santiago de Cuba.

While the organization of the Catholic body in the United
States was engaging the attention of the Sovereign Pontiff,
the Rev. John Carroll had found it necessary to come before

' Cnrdlnnl Antonulli to Bishop Talbot, Juuu 19, 1784 ; Archives of
Archbishop of Westminster.
10*

-If

JlB

^H ;

' - if .

vM:i

8S6

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the Amcric'iin piihlic as an aiH)l<)^iHt for the Catholic faith,
aud a (loft'iuler of itH polity and dootrino.

The Kev. Charli's IK-nry Wharton, a native of Maryhnid,
and a ini'nilK,'r of the Sofiety of Je«nH, till the hrief of P„,„'
Clement XIV. diHHolved that religiouH order, had while actinjr
an chaplain of the Catholic congregation in Worcewter, Eiig-
land, accpiired repntation there and in his native country l»y
a " Poetical p:piHtle to IiIk Excellency (teorg-.' Wiwhington,
Esq.'" In 17M he renigned his charge in England and re-
turned to America, where donhtH as to his orthodoxy and
even of his Ixjlief in Christianity had preceded him, for he
was reported to have been an associate of Hawkins, a priest
who had openly apostatized and to have himself renounced
the faith and priestlu.od in letters to Worcester. Rev. Uv.
Wharton brought no faculties from any Bishop in England,
and made no attempt to e.xercise the functions of the priest-
hood. I Te took up his residence with his brother on an estate
belonging to tliem, and paid a visit to Rev. Mr. Carroll, who
seemed to forni a favorable opinion of him.' He remained
there till the following year, when he proceeded to Philadel-
phia, and printed '• A Letter to the Koman Catholics of the
City of Worcester from the late chaplain of that Society,
stating the motives which induced him to relinquish their
Communion, and become a member of the Protestant
Church." Skilfully written by a nuin already favorably
known, the pamphlet attracted attention in this country and
in England, wliere it was speedily reprinted. He circulated
it widely in Maryland, and it found many readers.

It opened by describing liimself as troubled in conscience

' Printed at Annapolis, 1770; Keiirintcd. London, 1780; Springfield

Mass.. 1782.

J Rev. J. Carroll to Rev. C. Bowden, September 26. 1783 ; April 10.
1784.

THE WHARTON lONTROVEKSY.

•327

by tho dogmu, that «»ut of the (!liurfh there wan no Halvatioii.
Iliivirg rejected thiw dogtiiii. dniihtH hej^an to ariHe as to othem
nearly connected with it. lie .k-precutes the idea that lie was
iiitlurnced hy the alUireinctitH .f pleaHur*', althoiijith he admits
that for Home time he liad cu.iHidered tlie law of ceHlmcy an a
cruel UHurimtion of tho iiialieiiahle rij^ditH of mitiiro, and then
he proceeds to attack Transulmtaiitiatioii and Infallihiiity.
With a 8how of learne«l investigation, liis tract was really
hased on well-known Protestant works of controversy, and
repeated many false and garbled cpiotations.

The defence of the truth could not employ the same arts, it
could indulge in no high-flown rhetoric or specious reasoning.
To expose and refute tho arguments, recpiired examination of
the authors cited, and no great liltrary was possessed l»y the
Catholic clergy at that time. To the extensive collections of
hooks then in the country, Rev. Mr. Carroll found it difficult
to obtain access personally or througli friends.' But even
with his limited resources he prepared a reply which met
every charge of the unfortunate man. Dr. Carroll's work,
•• An Address to the Roman Catholics of tho United States
of America. By a Catholic Clergyman," was printed at An-
napt>lis by Frederick Green in 17«4, and forms a pamphlet
of 11 (> pagct>.'

Like all Dr. Carroll's writings, it had a peculiar dignity
and equanimity, was free from all acerbity and harshness :
and was admirably fitted to exercise a beneficial influence on
the public mind. In one point he had a peculiar advantage.
Mr. Wharton, who had chosen to remain in England during

' LettcTH of Rev. Mr. Molyneux to Rev. John Carroll, cit«(l in " U. S.
Cntii. .Mag.," ill, p. 664, etc.

•' Wharton's pamphlet was reprinted in London in 1784 ; and of Rev.
Dr. Cnrroll's nn edition was isHucd in the same city, but with unwarruut-
able notes : followed by a correct edition at Worceater in 1785.

H ■'■■*

' t']

228

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the struggle, could not impeach the loyalty of the Catholic
clergy and people of America, and his anonymous poem to
George Wasliiiigton did not i)lace him on a par with Dr.
Carroll, who came back at the beginning of the Revolution
to share his country's fortunes, and who had at her call pro-
ceeded to Canada to advance her interests.

The tone of Dr. Carroll toward his unhappy relative was
courteous, but showed his pain and sorrow. "Of all con-
siderations," he writes, " the most painful was, that I had to
combat him, with whom I had Iteen connected in an inter-
course of friendship and mutual good offices; and in coiniec-
tion with whom I hoped to have consmmnated my course of
our common ministry in the service of virtue and religion.
But when I found these expectations disappointed, when I
found that he not only had abandoned our faith and com-
munion, but had imputed to us doctrines foreign to our be-
lief, and having a natural tendency to embitter against ns
the minds of our fellow-citizens, I felt an anguish too keen
for description ; and perhaps the chaplain will experience a
similar sentiment when he comes coolly to reflect on this in-
stance of his conduct. It did not become the friend of tol-
eration to misinform and sow in minds so misinformed the
seeds of religious animosity.

" Under all these distressful feelings, one consideration alone
relieved me in writing; and that was the hope of vindicating
your religion to your own selves at least, and preserving the
steadfastness of your faith. But even this jjrospect should
not have induced me to engage in the controversy, if I coidd
fear that it would disturb the harmony now subsisting
amongst all Christians in this country, so blessed with civil
and religious liberty; which, if we have the wisdom and
temper to preserve, America may come to exhibit a proof to
the world, that general and equal toleration, l)y giving a free

THE WHARTON CONTROVERSY.

229

circulation to fair argument, is the most effectual method to
l)ring all denominations of Christians to an unity of faith."

As Mr. Wharton himself raised the question by denying
that sensuality had influenced him. Dr. Carroll said: "I
must entreat him with an earnestness suggested by the mo«t
perfect good-will and zealous regard for his welfare to con-
sider the sanctity of the solemn and deliberate engagement,
which at an age of perfect maturity he contracted with Al-
mighty God. I pray him to read the two exhortations of that
enlightened doctor St. Chrysostom to his friend Theodorus,
who like the Chaplain, liad renounced his former state, in
which by a vow of celibacy he had consecrated himself to
Almighty God."

Dr. Carroll begins by refuting the charge that ignorance
results from the genius of the Catholic religion, and ref utt
by the arguments even of Protestants his claim that Catho-
lics cannot make an impartial examination of their faith.
Then he takes up the point on which Wharton laid most
stress, the claim that " the Roman Church is the mother and
mistress of all churches, and that of her communion no salva-
tion can be obtained." He shows distinctly that this is not
asserted in tl.e Creed of Pope Pius IV., to which Wharton
referred, and that Catholic theologians did not limit salva-
tion to those in communion with the Church. " The mem-
bers of the Catholic Church are all those, who with a
sincere heart seek true religion, and are in an unfeigned dis-
position to embrace the truth whenever they find it. Now
it never was our doctrine, that salvation can be obtained only
by 'those actually in tlie connnunion of the church,' united
in the profession of her faith and the participation of her
sacraments, through the ministry and government of her law-
ful pastors."

He shows that the Catholic doctrine is free fron unchari-

V 1

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I ' r J

-41

230

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

tableness and liable to none of the charges alleged by Whar-
ton. He appealed to the religious comnuinities entirely de-
voted to the relief of human misery, as well as to individual
W(.rks, to prove that Catholic doctrine does not, as Wharton
asserted, " chill by early infusions of bigotry the warm feel-
ings of benevolence." He appealed to the work of those re-
ligious orders by which even Protestant nations profited,
whose chief work was the redemption of captives from the
piratical States of Barbary.'

He showed how, in a controversy with a Deist, Wharton's
own arguments would be used against himself ; and that if
all religious truth is to be tested by indivithial senses and un-
derstanding, the man who rejects the Scriptures or the whole
scheme of Christianity can justify his course by that test, as
fully as he assumed to do.

Wharton's argument against the infallibility of the Church
he shows to be sophistical, making our Lord's promise that
the gates of hell should not ])revail against His (Miurch to
mean sinq^ly that the great and essential tenets of the Ajws-
tles' Creed should never be lost, as though the Church and
ihe tenets of the Creed were one and the same. He shows
the weakness of the arguments adduced to explain away the
other texts cited to sujiport the infallibility of the Church,
by giving them not their clear and evident meaning, but a
construction of his own. He shows how the Chuieh from
the apostles' time has always exercised the authority of de-
ciding controverted ])oints, and that whoever refused submis-
sion was cast out from the Church. " The Church has always,
from the first era of Christianity, exercised the right of judg-

' TIk' United States Oovcrnnicnt in eiirly days sent money tlironirli tlie
Orders for tlie Redemption of Captives to rescue American citizens in
tlie Harbary States.

THE WHARTON CONTROVERSY.

231

iiig iu matters of faith, and requiring obedience to her deci-
sions ; the monuments attesting it are certain and visible.
Tlie exercise of such a right without infallibiUty would be
vain and nugatory ; therefore she is infallible." The Cath-
olic taking his faith and the Scriptures alike on the authority
of the Church iinds them to harmonize, and requires no
forced construction of the words of Holy Writ to sustain his
belief ; he takes the very words as they are.

Wharton cited as errors into which the Church of Eome
had fallen, Transubstantiation, Purgatory, Auricular Confes-
sion, and the Power of loosing and binding, doctrines not
taught in Scripture or delivered in them witl^ the greatest
obscurity. Dr. Carroll at once met the point here assumed
by Wharton, as by many others without proof, that the
Clmrch can teach nothing that is not explicitly laid down in
the Scriptures. Dr. Carroll put the question squarely. " He
knows, that we (Catholics) have always asserted, that the
whole word of God, unwritten as well as written, is the
Christian's rule of faith. It was incumbent then on him,
before he discarded this rule, to prove either that no more
was revealed, than is written ; or that revealed doctrines de-
rive their claim to our belief, not from God's infallible testi-
mony, but from their being reduced to writing. He has not
attempted this ; and I will venture to say, he would have
attempted it in vain, even wi.h the assistance of his Chilling-
worth," . . . . " But if the testimony and tradition of the
Catholic Church is to be necessarily admitted for receiving
the Scripture itself, which, according to him, is the sole
standard, the only rule of Protestant belief, why is her testi-
mony to be rejected, when offered in evidence of other points
of fiiith ? Why not as well admit it in favor of transubstan-
tiation and purgatory, as of the lawfulness of infant baptism,
of the validity of baptism administered by heretics, of the

' 'ft* y

f .'I

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A ^ ( * ' Iff.

232

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

obligation of abstaining on Sundays from servile works, &c'.
Scripture authority for these and other points admitted by
Protestants, there is certainly none." Wharton had cited
two passages from St. Chrysostom ; Dr. Carroll showed tlmt
the first of these was not from St. John at all, but from mi
unknown writer, who had evidently adopted the Manioha'aii,
Montanist, and Arian heresies. The second passage had no
reference to the rule of faith. The holy Doctor, answering
those who wished to explain away the words of Scripture
against riches, says that they ought to be disregarded, and all
these things be estimated by the rule of Scriptui-e. This was
not at all declaring that no man is to believe anything that
he cannot find explicitly laid down in Scripture, and Dr.
Carroll turned against Wharton his admission that those who
were unqualified to enter upon a critical inquiry as to the
texts, meaning, and harmony of Scripture, " must rely piiii-
eipally upon the authority of their teachers." "After exalt-
ing private judgment as the sole interpreter of Scripture, he
is obliged to confess, that the generality of mankind must be
guided in religious matters principally by the authority of
their teachers, for he will hardly deny that the generality of
mankind are neither by education, or abilities, or leisure,
qualified to enter upon the inquiries necessary to judge for
themselves. Did Jesus Christ then leave a rule of faith so
inadequate, as not to be capable of application to much the
largest portion of mankind i " The Catholic Church has and
has always had its body of teachers. " It is as certain that
the apostles appointed other pastors to succeed them, as it is
that they founded churches. The actual pastors then of
these churches descending in a lawful and unbroken line of
succession frotn them, are certainly sent by the apostles and
by Christ himself, since thoce churches have always subsisted
and still subsist."

FATHER ARTHUR O'LEARY.

283

He then maintained that as the Scripture alone is not a
•i-euoral and sutBcient rule of faith, he might well contend
IJiat transubstantiation, purgatory, auricular confession, and
the power of absolving are to be received as Christian doc-
trines, on the authority of the Church ; he proceeds, how-
ever, to consider Wharton's arguments and at once convicts
hiiu of garbling Bellarmine, of misquoting the Second Coun-
cil of Nice, and similar acts, and he refuted clearly the argu-
iiieuts against the Eeal Presence, Purgatory, and Sacramental
Absolution.

Though Wharton's tract drew out replies also from Rev.
William Pilling, Rev. Joseph Berington, and Father Arthur
O'Loary,' he deemed it necessary to counteract the influence
of Dr. Carroll's work : and issued "A Reply to the Address
t > the Roman Catholics of the United States of America,"
Pliiladelphia, 1785 : but it was labored and weak, doing little
lo strengthen his position.

Father Arthur O'Leary, in his reply to Wharton, criticised
a note of Dr. Carroll's reflecting on Pope Clement XIV. and
his suppression of the Society of Jesus. They do not appear
ever to have met, but the American priest and the brilliant
Irish Capuchin were correspondents. In one of his letters
Dv. Carroll wrote : " I find that you are not pleased with my
note on the late Pope ; and that you think I was mistaken
in attributing to him a time-serving poHcy. Peace to his
s])irit and may God have mercy on his scil, but whatever
allowance charity may wish for him, the pen of impartial

' " A Caveat addressed to the Catholics of Worcester against the In-
sinuating Letter of Mr. Wliarton." Ily William Pilling. London, 1785,
12ino, pp. 100. " A Keview of the Important Controversy between Dr.
Carroll and the Reverend Messrs. Wharton and Hawkins, including a
Defense of the Conduct of Pope Clement XIV. (Ganganclli) in Suppress-
ing a Late Religious Order," etc. By the Rev. Arthur O'Leary. 8vo,
London, 1786, pp. 94.

pMfi

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iff

234

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

history will not join yon and Mr. Pilling in attributing to
Lis public conduct (and to that the destruction of the Jesuits
belongs) the virtue of benevolence. You think that your
intimacy with the good Cardinal de Luines gave you oppor-
tunities of information which I had not : on the contrary, I
think that having spent in Italy the two years immediately
preceding our dissolution, and the last of them at Rome ;
and mixing in all companies, and not being much with my
own Brethren, I had means of collecting knowledge which
were perhaps wanting to Cardinal de Luines himself ; and I
certainly saw repeated instances of conduct, which upon the
coolest and most unprejudiced consideration apjiear irrecon-
cilable, not only with benevolence, but even with common
humanity, aiid the plainest ])rinciples of juatice. At tho
same tinie I do not take upoti me to say that the whdle
weight of this misconduct fell upon the Pope, unless it be
for withdrawing himself totally from business and trustinc
his authority to men who so shamefully abused it ; I hope
you v.'ill excuse this liberty ; your writings express a five
soul ; and I cannot think you would wish me to dissemble
the feelings of mine. But though I communicate them to
Mr. O'Leary, I have neither and)ition to make them i)ul)lit'
nor fear to do so, if occasion re(piire."

Berington. in his rejjly to "Wharton, had cited a k-tter of
Dr. Carroll, to which he gave an interpretation never in-
tended by the Jesuit Father. In writing \o Father O'Leary,
Dr. Carroll says: "A few eo])ies of Mr. Beriiigtoji's late
work had reached America before your letter : l)ut I am not
the less obliged to you for your kitid intention of sending it.
With that gentleman I had a slight acquaintance in Europe,
and some correspondence lias existed between us, occasioned
by his former publication on the Behavior of the English
Catholics. In a letter to him and before I had a thou<rht

EFFECT OF THE CONTROVERSY.

23.")

of over being in tiiy present fetation, I expressed a wish that
the pastors of the Church would see cause to grant to this
extensive continent jointly with England and Ireland, etc.,
the same privilege as is enjoyed hy many churches of inti-
iiitely less extent : that of having their liturgy in their own
liiiiuiiiige ; for I flo indeed conceive that one of the most
y,(. pillar prejudices against us is that onr public prayers are
uiiiiitoUigible to our hearers. Many of the poor people, and
the negroes generally, not being able to read, have no tech-
nical help to confine their attention. Mr. Berington's brill-
iaiit imagination attributes to me jirojects which far exceed
i„v iK.wors, and in which I should find no co-operation from
my clerical brethren in America, were I rash enough to at-
tempt their introduction upon my own authority." '

The controversy with Wharton brought the Eev. Mr. Car-
roll once more prominently before the Catholics of the United
States, for the work, though anonymous, was, at once, ascribed

to him.

It had not contributed to his elevati(>n to the position of
Suiierior of the Catholics in the United States ; but it con-
vinced the Sovereign Pontiff and his council that they had

1 Dmft of Letter of Very Rev. .John Carroll to Kev. Arthur O'Leary.
\t this time many Catholics in England looked forward with despair to
111.' future of religion in English-speaking countries, and thought the ex-
istence of the Church there much longer impossible without conceding
to i.rcvailin!j prejudice whatever could be yielded. The mantle of
pn.pliecy had not fallen on any of them ; and indeed had St. Paul of
Ih,. Cross, or St. Benedict Labre, or any other Saint of that day foretold
tint in a'een.urv there would be a hir>rarchy in England, Ireland, and
Scotland, Canada, the United States, India, Australia, with a cardinal ni
•ilnaist every one of those parts, provincial councils and synods held, and
a (General Council convened, at which one-fourth the Bishops were from
F n-lish-speaking countries, it would have been regarded as an evidence
„f Insanity, not' of sanctity. That Carroll, thrown so long among the
hading Eiiglish Catholica, fiit some of their despondency, is scarcely to
!)(• wondered at.

T9Mtr'' \ ,

2.'30

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

chogen wisely. The priest, disposed to look witii forebodin^r.s
a ; to the future, was, Moses like, to lead tlie cliosen pcDj^i.
toward the Promised Land, thou^dj he was not to live to sec
it ill full possession of its heritage.

Tile interest excited h_y the discussion iietween Dr. Carroll
and tlie unfortunate Wharton emboldened C. Talhot, a Dui,-
lin printer and bookseller, who had settled in Philadolpliii,,
to issue in 1784 an edition of Reeve's History of the 01,1
and New Testament ; it was the first Catholic work appar-
I'litly Issued liy any publisher on his own account. All Cath-
olic books that had previously appeared were, so far as infor-
mation shows, struck off by printers for some of the clei-jtry,
who obtained subscriptions enough among the flock to justify
their undertaking the publication.

An edition of Challoner's "Catholic Christian Instructed"
vvas printed at Philadelphia in 178.5, and also a Spelling
Primer with an abridgment of the Catechism annexed.'

' The following are works of Cntliolio authors, printed in this country
in and before Mm, iuchiding those issued by Protestants for tlieir ow'n
use :

1729. Sesuenot, " Letter from a Romish Priest in Canada." Boston
^V"^' '^f'"!''**' '"Tlie Imitation of Christ." Germantown.
1750. PYnelon, " I)i.s.serlation on Pure Love." Germantown.
17«8. "Memoire de.s llabitans et Negocians de la Loiiisiane." New
Orleans.

1772. " Invitation 8erieuse au.x Habitants des Illinois." ? Philadelpliia.

1773. " Dcr Kleinc Kerapis, oder Kurze Sprllehe und Gebiltlein aiis

denen meislens unbekannten Wcrkleiii dcj Thonuu a Kemi)is."

Germantown.
"Catholic Manual." Philadelphia.
" The Garden of the Soul." Philadelphia.
Challoner, " Catholic Christian Instructed." Philadelphia.

1778. D'Estaing, "Declaration . . . aux anciens Franvais." Boston.

1779. Baudot, " I)isc(mrs prononce le 4 Juillet." Philadelphia.
1781. Wharton, "A Poetical Epistle to George Washington." Anna-
polis. 1783. S|>ringficld.

1774.

CATHOLIC BOOKS.

237

I'.cfore tlie Revolution the printing of CatlioHc books was
niissible oul.v in Pennsylvania, and there was done cautiously.
Dr. Carroll wrote : " Amongst the poorer sort many could
IK it read, or if they could, were destitute of books, which, if
to h(3 had at all, must come from England : and in England
the laws were excessively rigid against printing or vending
( 'atholic books."

The faithful in iSmerica were not indifferent: and in one
wny or other secured uiany Catholic books. The edition of
C'li!illoner's Bible isi^ued in 1703-4, not improbably at Dublin,
liiis Catholics in America in its list of subscribers. "A Man-
ual of Catholic Prayers," followed apparently by ('halloner's
"Catholic Christian Instructed," was printed by Robert Rell
at Pliiladelphia in 1774, and with "The Garden of the
Soul," l^rinted by Crukshank, were perhaps the oidy prayer-
books issued in this country for the use of Catholics before
tlie Revolution.

On the 2<ith of August, the Rev. Mr. Carroll received a
letter from Rev. Mr. Thorpe at Rome, announcing his ap-
pointment. Dr. Carroll replied at once, thanking his cor-
respondent most cordially for his active and successful en-
deavors to render service to the Church in America : " I say
successful," he wrote, '' not because your partiality, as I ])re-
snnie, joined to that of my old cheerful friend, Dr. Franklin,
siii,'gestf'd me to the consideration of his Holiness, but because
you have obtained some form of spiritual government to be
a(lo])tcd for us."

Though informed of his appointment as Prefect-Apostolic,
but without official notification from Rome, the Rev. Dr.

1T83. Kon)]iis, " Of the Imitation of Christ." Philadelphia.

1783. Hurke, " Address to the Freemen of S. Carolinii," Philadelphia.

1783. Hobin, " New Travels in North America." Philadelphia.

1783. Robin, " Nouveau Voyage dans TAmerique." Philadelphia.

■li'' ■

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888

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Carroll kuw the day ii])i»roiichiiig to which the Dek'gatcH df
the Clergy had adjourned, and when they were to decide '^\\
the proposed Form of Government. His nomination liad
been made without any solicitation on his part, and wiflidur
taking tiie views of the jjriests in this country. Tiic Pi-ctVi r
elect could not, therefore, feel assured as to the manner in
which his ai)pointment would be regarded.

When the Chapte.' opened its first session on the 11th df
October, 1784, ho attended as a simple delegate, and no otli-
cial notice of his promotion was taken. " The Form of (Jov-
ernment" in nineteen articles and " Rules for the particular
Governnjent of Members bek)nging to y'' Body of y" Clergy"
were adopted and declared to be " binding on all persons, at
present, composing the Body of Clergy in Maryland ami
Pennsylvania."

The Form of Government was signed for the Rev. John
Lewis, Superior, by his deputy, Rev. Joseph Mosley, by
Revs. Lucas Geissler and Robert Molyneux, Beriuird Didc-
rick and John Carroll, Ignatius Matthews and James Walton,
delegates to the Chapter from the three districts, and by sev-
eral otiicr priests who attended. Rev. Joseph Mosley, John
Ashton, Sylvester Boarman, Charles Sewell, Francis Beeston.
and Francis Neale.

Under the system thus proposed, the priests in Maryland
and Pennsylvania were to form a body corporate, which was
to hold, until the rotoration of the Society of Jesus, the
property formerly held in the names of members of tliat
order individually. The affairs of the corporation were to
be nuinaged by a Chapter composed of two deputies from
each of the three districts, chosen by the priests belonging to
the corporation stationed therein.

This Chapter was to meet every three years, and was to
appoint a Procurator-General, who was to have the general

THE "CHAPTER."

239

cliarge of the property. The titles of the huule were to bo
liold l)y trustees, ami the gentlemen so appointed were to
ii-ive bonds, and the Chapter was to adopt means to prevent
tlie alienation of any part. The Chapter was empowered to
make new rules, which were to. have force when approved
bv the districts or a future meeting of the Chaj)ter. It also
hail the right to hear and determine complaints and appeals.

Vacancies in the Chapter were to be supplied by tiie dis-
tricts at once. At the triennial meeting the Procurator was
to make a report on the particular condition of each estate,
80 that the Chapter could examine the general state of the
temporal affairs, and the profits or losses in each.

The members of tlie Chapter were in ignorance of the
powers to be conferred upon Rev. Mr. Carroll, or indeed
whether he would accept the position.

The P'orm of Government shows their distrust of the Su-
perior to be appointed, who might after all be a perfect
stranger to them and the country. The last article provided :
" XIX. The person inveated with spiritual jurisdiction iu y"
country shall not in y' quality have any power over or in the
temporal property of y'' clergy." Article XIII. declared :

•' When any person not before incorporated into y" Body
cif Clergy desires to be admitted therein, tlie Superior in
Spiritualities, on being well certified of his doctrine, morals
and sufficient learning, shall propose him to y° members of
chapter of the District where his services are wanted, and
ill ease of his being accepted by them, some member of
Ciiapter in that district shall lay l)efore him y" general regu-
lations of y" l)ody of clergy, and require him to sign his sub-
mission thereunto : direct him to repair to y"" place allotted
for his residence. But if y" members of Chapter do not
agree to receive him into their District, then y* said Superior
is to propose him to any other where there is need, and pro-

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240

TJFK OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

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ceecl in y" naiiie manner a» alkjvo. It no DiHtriet will lulrnit
liiiii, lio iH t<t be iiifi)riiitMl, that ho does not l)clong toy' Hodv
of (Jler{i;y, y' lie owes no serviceH to, and conseciiauitly Ih not
entitled to any provision from them ; and wiu'ii any meiiiltt'i-
of y" Hody of Clerj^y thro' diwontent leavort hi« former itjace
of reHidence withont y" approbation of lawfnl authority and
applyes for another place he is not to i»o impowd on any
district without their consent expressed l»y y' mend^ers nf
Chapter."

Every priest who nnjijht thereafter seek admission into the
Corporate Hody, was to he re(iuired to suhsc'rihe this fonmila :

"I j)romise to conform myself to y" forms and re^jjulations
estjdjlished for y ' Government of y " Clergy residing in Marv-
laii<l aud Pennsylvania so long as I expect maintenance and
support from them."

Another Section (XIV.) read : " With respect to memhe^^
actually forming part of the body of the clergy there shall bo
no arbitrary power of removing them at will, or for greater
conveinence ; but when a vacancy happens which the good of
religion re(piires to be supplied, the meiid)ers of chapter of
the district in which the vacancy Her, shall endeavor to pre-
vail upon the person they judge Httest to accept of the vacant
charge, application having been first made to the superior in
spiritual i bus."

And Article XVI.: "When the Superior in spiritualibus
has withdrawn his faculties from an\ clergyman, on a'coimt
of his misconduct or irregularity of life, the procurator gen-
eral shall have power to (k'prive him o' any maintenance
from the estates of the clergy."

The Rules iov particular government of members belong-
ing to "y" body of y" Clergy" re<piire each to subscribe a
promise Ut subnnt to the common inles and regulations of
government as long as he should remain amongst them. Each

THE "CHAPTER:'

241

pricHt was to he nmiMtained out of the eetatc on which he re-
hiclod and to receive thirty pouiidH a year. Wlien iiutapaci-
tiited hy age or intiniiity, this allowance waH to continue
wlu'tlier he remained on any of their entatert, or wont cIhc-
wliere; hut no allowance waa to he made to any one residiufr
with Kecularrt, uidesH with the sanction of the (Miapter. A
HtaiKlinj? committee, conmHtingof Rev. MesHrs. Lewifl, Farmer,
and Diggew, was appointed to liear and determine all differ-
ences among memhcrs,

*' To prct^erve charity among the incmherH of the clergy in
tliiw misBion, every one must fre(iuently pray for each other,
and HJiy ten rnasses for every person dying in the service of
this mission ; and the ineinhers of the private chapters may
direct wluit masses or prayers shall he said for other purposes
in their respective districts. Every clergyman shall say one
irniss every year for the sujHjrior in spiritualihus during his
life-time, and after his decease. And for the late superior,
Rev. John Lewis, after his death, also fifteen, and particularly
all shall he mindful soon after the 2nd Novemher, to say an-
nually one mass for deceased henefactors."

The Form of Government was thus adopted.

Salaries were then fixed ; that of Rev. Jolm Ashton
as [)rocurator-general at £40 currcncv. And it was "l?e-
solved that the superior in spirituals, irom the receipt of his
faculties he allowed the salary of £100 sterling — $444 per
annum, together with a servant and a chair and horse : that
his salary continue to the noxl meeting of the chapter, and
then he suhject to their furtiier determination."

The Chapter having thus adopted a Plan of Government
and Rules proceede<i to elect Rev. John Ashton, whose ad-
ministrative ability was recognized, as General Procurator.

A letter from Rev. Mr. Thorpe was laid hefore the Chap-
ter, and they decided that a Superior with power to give
11

t53

242

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Coiifinnation, bless oils, grant faculties and dispensations
was adequate to the present exigencies of religion in this
country. " That a bishop is at present unnecessary." Tliey
appointed a committee, consisting of Rev. Bernard Diderick,
Ignatius Matthews, and Joseph Mosley, to draw up a petition
to the Pope to urge that no bishop be yet appointed, and
they resolved "That if one be sent, it is decided by the ma-
jority of the cliapter, that he sliall not be entitled to any 6U2>
port from the present estates of the clergy."

It was also resolved to bring in six additional clergymen.
After binding themselves to promote and effect to the best
of their power an absolute and entire restoration to the So-
ciety of Jesus (if it should please Almighty God to re-estab-
lish it in this country) of all the property formerly belonging
to it.

The restoration of the Society was the absorbing thought
of the American missionaries who had belonged to it, and
this is the key to their action, which to some miglit seem to
savor of insubordination and defiance ; but there were no
such elements in these patient and zealous missionaries; who,
convinced of the justice of their cause, were waiting for tlie
hour when Providence would avenge it.

The Rev. Mr. Carroll was in attendance at the meetings of
the Chapter only during part of the session, as he was taken
ill and compelled to withdraw. Soon after its close, on the
8th of November, he received from Barbu de Marbois a let-
ter which contrasts strangely with that in which he assailed
Dr. Carroll and his fellow-priests.

Sir;

" New York, October 27, 1784.

" I have the honor to transmit to you a letter which I have
received with the dispatches of the Count de Vergennes. I

APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED.

243

nidge by the address of that letter that his Hohness has con-
chided his choice in regard to the liead of the CathoHc Church
on this continent. I congratulate myself in being one of the
first to assure you that this choice will give general satisfac-
tion, I am about to set out for Trenton, and desire earnestly
that Maryland may be represented in Congress by one of
vour relations. If your nomination should produce any
other communications between our court and the Holy See,
I will exert myself to contribute to your service.

" I am with respect, M. I'Abbe,

" Your very humble and very
" Obedient servant,

"deMakbois.
" To Eev. John Carroll."

The document inclosed was addressed " To Eev. Dr. John
Carroll, Superior of the Mission in the Thirteen United
States of America," but it contained only an authority to
publish the Jubilee of 1775, which had been specially ex-
tended to the United States.

The decree itself appointing him, with the accompanying
grant from the Sovereign Pontifif, reached him on the 26th
of November, 1784.

With them came the following letter :

" Rome, June 9, 1784.
" Yery Rev. Sir ;

" In order to preserve and defend Catholicity in the Thir-
teen United States of North America, the Supreme Pontiff
of the Church, Pius VI., and this sacred Congregation, have
tlionght it extremely proper to designate a pastor who should,
permanently and independently of any ecclesiastical power,
except the same Sacred Congregation, attend to the spiritual
necessities of the Catholic flock. In the appointment of such

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244

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

a pastor, the Sacred Congregation would have readily east its
eyes on the Rev. John Lewis if his advanced age and the la-
bors he has already undergone in the vineyard of the Lord, had
not deterred it from imposing on him, a new and very heavy
burden ; for he seems to require repose rather than arduous
labor. As then. Rev. Sir, you have given conspicuous proofs
of piety and zeal, and it is known that your appointment v,i!{
please and gratify many members of that republic, and es-
pecially Mr. Franklin, the eminent individual who represents
the same republic at the court of the Most Christian Kin^j,
the Sacred Congregation, with the approbation of his Holi-
ness, has appointed you Superior of the Mission in the thir-
teen United States of North America, and has communicated
to you the faculties, which are necessary to the discharge of
that office; faculties which are also communicated to the
other priests of the same States, except the administration
of confirmation, which is reserved for you alone, as the en-
closed documents will show.

"These arrangements are tneant to be only temporary.
For it is the intention of his Holiness soon to charge a
Vicar-Apostolic, invested with the title and character of bish-
op, with the care of those states, that he may attend to ordi-
nation and other episcopal functions. But, to accomplish
this design, it is of great importance that we should be made
ae(|uainted with the state of the orthodox religion in those
thirteen states. Therefore we request you to forward to us,
as soon as possible, a correct report, stating carefully the
number of Catholics in each state; what is their condition,
their piety and what abuses exist ; also how many missionary
priests labor now in this vineyard of the Lord ; what are their
qnalitications, their zeal, their mode of support. For though
the Sacred (\>ngregation wish jiot to meddle with temporiil
things, it is important for the establishment of laborers, that

CARDINAL ANTONELLVS LETTER.

245

we should know what are the ecclesiastical revenues, if any
there are, and it is believed there are some. In the mean-
time for fear the want of missionaries should deprive the
Catholics of spiritual assistance, it has been resolved to invite
hither two youths from the states of Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania, to educate them at the expense of the Sacred Congre-
j^ation in the Urban College ; they will afterwards, on return-
iii<r to their country, be substitutes in the mission. We leave
to your solicitude the care of selecting and sending them.
You will make choice of those who have more promising
talents and a good constitution, who are not less than twelve,
nor more than fifteen years of age ; who by their proficiency
ill the sanctuary may give great hopes of themselves. You
may address them to the excellent archbishop of Seleucia,
Apostolic Nuncio at Paris, who is informed of their coming.
If the young men selected are unable to defray the expenses
of the voyage, the S"-".id Congregation will provide for them :
we even wish to \- informed by you frankly and accurately
of the necessary tr^voiing expenses, to serve as a rule for the
future. Such are the things I had to signify to you ; and
whilst I am confident you will discharge the office committed
to you with all zeal, solicitude and fidelity, and more tha
swer the In'gh opinion we have formed of you, I pray Q^l
that he may grant you all peace and happiness.

" L. Card. Antonelii,

" Prefect.
"Stephen Boroia,

" Secretary."

The action of the Holy See had given the Catholics in the
United States a separate organization ; but among priests and
people who had just emerged from the oppressed condition
so long maintained by the penal laws, the temporary tenure

246

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

:S.:'^

of the Prefect, his absohite dependence on the Propaganda,
and the extremely h'mited powers given liiin, were the source
of great uneasiness. As it afterward proved, the form of the
appointment was based on that of a Prefect sent from Rome
with missi, naries to Africa, and contained a clause that he
was to give faculties to no priests coming into the country
except those sent and approved by the Sacred Congregation.'
Very naturally such a clause in his appointment seemed in-
explicable to Dr. Carroll, as the Propaganda did not purpose
sending any priests to aid him in his work, and few priests
arriving in the United States would possefs means or be will-
ing to return to Europe and go to Rome to obtain a mission
and approbation from the Congregation de Propaganda Fide.
Dr. Carroll wrote to Rev. Mr. Thorpe : " Though our free
and tolerant forms of government (in Virgiiiia, Marylanfl,
and Pennsylvania) admit us to equal civil rights with other
Christians, yet the leading men in our resjiective States often
express a jealousy of any foreign jurisdiction : and surely
will be more offended with our submitting to it in matters
not essential to our faith. I hope they will never object to
our depending on the Pope in things purely spiritual, but I
am sure there are men, at least in this State, who would blow
up a flame of animosity against us, if they suspected that we
were to be so much under the government of any Congrega-
tion at Rome, as to receive our Superior from it, commis-
sioned only during their good-will, and that this Superior
was restricted from employing any clergyman here, but such
as that Congregation should direct. I dread so nuich the

' " The cnimpinp: rluuses against which you had with great reason re-
monatrated Hhouhi be stnick out of the printed faculties and tliat they
were never meant to be where you found theni, left by an oversifrht in
the Secretary's office."— Letter of liev. Mr. Thorpe, Uome, August HI,

1 Kl
n

PUBLIC FEELING.

247

consequences of its being known, that this last direction was
ever given, that I have not thought proper to mention it to
Beveral of my Brethren,"

" You well know," he says again in the same letter, " that
in our free and jealous government, where Catholics are ad-
mitted into all public Councils equally with the professors of
any other Keligion, it never will be suffered that their eccle-
Biastical Superior (be he a Bishop or Prefect-Apostolic) receive
his appointment from a foreign State, and only hold it at the
discretion of a foreign tribunal or congregation. If even the
present temper or inattention of our executive and legislative
bodies were to overlook it for this and perhaps a few more
instances, still ought we not to acquiesce and rest quiet in
actual enjoyment : for the consequence sooner or later would
certainly be that some malicious or jealous-minded person,
would raise a spirit against as, and under pretence of rescu-
ing the State from foreign influence and dependence, strip
us perhaps of our common civil rights." '

The tidings of his appointment foimd the Eev. Mr. Carroll
undecided as to his course. The appointment was not one
that he desired. He had a decided repugnance to accept any
position, a.id especially one merely at their pleasure, from
the Congregation de Propaganda Fide : ro accept it ham-
pered by restrictions and little power for good was a step
from which he shrank. " I do assure you," he wrote to his
friend. Ilev. Charles Plowden, " that nothing personal to
myself, except the dissolution of the Society, ever gave me
BO nmch concern ; and if a meeting of our gentlemen, to be
held the 9th of October, agree in thinking that I can dechne
the intended office without grievous interference, I shall cer-
tainly do ro."

' Letter to Rev. Mr. Thorpe, February 17, 1785.

248 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The proceedings of the Chapter, as we have seen, took no
official notice of the appointment of Rev. Mr. Carroll, al-
though it wa* known by private letters. His appointmejit
was indeed satisfactory, but the nature of the office ke])t
alive fear and distrust.

A memorial protesting against the creation of a bishop for
the United States, was drawn up by Rev. Bernard Diderick
but it was injudicious in matter and form, so that Dr. Car
roll objected to it. There is little doubt, however, that it
was forwarded substantially in the same terms to Rome, anc
if not formally presented, was known and had some effect.

That an influence was exerted is certain, and the appoint-
ment of Rev. Dr. Carroll as Vicar-Apostolic, which his Holi-
ness intended to carry into effect in 1785, was laid aside.

CHAPTEK VI.

VERY EEV. JOHN CAKEOLL, PREFECT-APOSTOUC OF THE UNITED

STATES, 1Y84-1790.

On receiving the documents investing him with spiritual
authority over the Catholics in the United States, the Very
Itov. Dr. Carroll prepared a circular to be transmitted to
each priest. In the draft of one, which was apparently not
used, he discussed at length their depv-ndence on the Propa-

M;aiida.

" I consider powers issued from the Propaganda, not only
as improper, but dangerous here," wrote Dr. Carroll. " The
jealousy In our govermnents of the interference of any for-
eign jurisdiction is known to be such, that we cannot expect,
and in my opinion, ought not to wish that they would toler-
ate any other than that which being purely spiritual, is essen-
tial to our Keligion, to wit, an acknowledgment of the Pope's
spiritual supremacy, and of the See of St. Peter being the
centre of the Ecclesiastical Unity. The appointment, there-
fore, by the Propaganda of a Superior for this country, ap-
liears to be a dangerous step, and by exciting the jealousy of
the government here, may tend much to the prejudice of
Keligion, and perhaps expose it to the reproach of encourag-
ing a dependence on a foreign power, and giving them an
undue internal influence by leaving with them a prerogative
to nominate to places of trust and real importance, and that
' ad suum beneplacitum.'

" The (Congregation of the Propaganda, if I understand its
institution, was formed only for the government and super-
11* (249)

! ill

250

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

intendeiice of missions, &c. : and I observe, that they aflfect
in their conunission to nie and other acts, to cull our ecck'M"-
astical state here a mission ; and the laborers therein mi^i-
sioners, E'erhaps this denomination was heretofore proper
enough ; but it cannot now be so deemed. By the constitu-
tion, our Religion has acquired equal rights and privileges
with that of other Christians : we form not a fluctuating
l)0(l.y of laborers in Christ's vineyard, sent hither and renio"-
ablo at the will of a Superior, but a permanent body of na-
tional clergy, with sufficient powers to form our own system
of internal government, and I think, to choose our own m-
porior and a very just claim to have a- necessary spiritual
authority communicated to him, on his being presented as
regularly and canonically chosen by us. We have further a
reasonaI)le prospect, which I soon hope to see realized, of
fornn'ng an establishment for educating and perpetuating a
succession of clergy among ourselves ; and as soon as that
measure is in a promising forwardness, we shall have a rii'lit
to a diocesan Bishop of our own choice. ' Ought not the
inmiense territory possessed by the United States to have an
Ecelesiiistical Superior as independent Jis the Bishop of Que-
bec ? ' says one of our zealous friends iu England."

The fear of their having some stranger forced on the
Catholics of this country as their Bishop had not been laid
aside: "I am, moreover, advised by Cardinal Antonelli, that
his Holiness intends to appc.int hereafter (but no term men-
tioned or even insinuated) a Vicar-Apostolic with Episcojial
character, and with such powers as may exempt this couiitry
from every other Ecclesiastical dependence, beside that on
the aforesaid Congregiition. But not the slightest intimation
is given of the person dc.'^igned for that preferment." '• \Vc
shall in a few years stand in absolute need of a Bishop, but
that a Bishop Vicar-Apostolic would give great umbrage, on

:''>!

DR. CARROLL ACCEPTS.

201

account of this entire dependence, both for his station and
conduct, on a foreign jurisdiction : he must he a diocesan
Bishop, and his appointment must come neither from liis
Holiness, for tliat would create more jealousy in our govern-
ment, than even in France, Germany or Spain, nor from the
Assemblies or different Executives .... but he should be
chosen by the Catholic clergy themselves." '

The position into which the Catholic body in the United
States had been forced by the wretched intrigue to impose a
foreign bishop on them was a sad one. But as the acceptance
of the Prefecture by Rev. Mr. Carroll would pave the way
to a more satisfactory organization, while his refusal to un-
dertake the duty imposed upon him, would alinost certainly
result in the imposition of some stranger on the Catholics in
the United States, he yielded to the arguments of his fellow-
clergymen and decided to accept the onerous position.'

On the 27th of February, 1Y85, he addressed Cardinal An-
tonelli, Prefect of the Propagimda, apologizing for the delay,
returning thanks for the good-will shown him personally,
and for the interest manifested in the advancement of the
Catholic cause in the United States ; and he begged him to
convey to the Sovereign Pontiff his absolute devotion to the
Holy See, and his thanks for the important trust confided to

' Very Rev. .1. Carroll, Draught of a circular letter announcing his ap-
iwinlmcnt as Prefect.

■' " Nothing but the present extreme necessity of some spiritual powers
here, could induce me to net under a commission, which may produce,
if long continued, and it should become public, the most dangerous
jealousy."— Very Rev. Dr. Carroll, MS. draft of a circular announcing
his appointment as Prefect. The Rev. Messrs. Lewis, Molyneux, Far-
mer, Leonard Nealc, and others had urged him to send his acceptance at
once ; but it is evident that some, still distrustful, regarded Dr. Carroll's
appointment only as temporary, and an entering wedge to despoil the
Church of its property. See letters in " U. S. Cath. Mag.," 1844, pp.
798, etc.

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252

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

him. He expressed his sense of his lack of mental and bodily
qualifications for the faithful disi-liarge of the duties. To
give an uct'urate condition of the state of affairs would re-
quire statements that might not be pleasing and might seem
lacking in re.spect to the Holy See ; but he was not deterred
by these consiilerations from the conviction that nothing
could be safely or ctHcaeiously dont' for the (Jhurch in the
United States until the actual condition was clearly under-
stood.

He then showed how formerly Maryland and Pennsylva-
nia were the only two colonies where ( atholics wore allowed
to reside, and even there were excluded from any civil or
military office. Since their deliveranc(> from the British
yoke Catholics could, unmolested, assemlile for divine wor-
ship in any of the States. " In most places, however, they
are not admitted to any office in the State unless they re-
nounce all foreign jurisdiction, civil or ecclesiastical," so that
Catholics were virtually under civil disabilities in most of the
States, enjoying fully the rights of their fi-llow-citizens only
in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. " JJut,"
he added, " how long we are to enjoy the benefits of this
toleration or equal riglits, I would not dare to assert. Many
of our people especially in Maryland fear, that we sliall be
absolutely excluded from holding office ; for my own part, I
have deemed it wiser not to anticipate evils, but to boar tliein
when they come. I cherish the hope that so great a wrong
will not he done us : nay more I trust that the foundations
of religion will be so Hrmly laid in the Ilm'ted States, that a
most flonrishing part of the Church will in time be developed
here, to the great consolation of the Holy See.

" The Church of England had been the dominant body,
directed by ministers dependent on the Bislu p of London,
but after the war, they were not allowed to depend on an

LETTER TO CAJtDINAL ANTONELLI.

253

English or any other foreign biwhop. They were free to ap-
point and elect bishops of their own, as they hud in fact
<i(ine, although none had yet been consecrated according to
flioir ritCH. They have adopted a form of govcrnniont for
their church, and desire it be called and to be national, in
that it admitted no foreign Superior, that they may be freed
from such fears for the future as many Catholics felt.

"The most Eminent Cardinal may rest assured that the
greatest evils would be borne by v^s rather than renounce the
divine authority of the Holy See : that not oiily wc priests
who are here, but the Catholic people seem s* Rrm in the
faith that they will never withdraw from obedience to the
Sovereign Pontiff, The Catholic body, however, thiiik that
gome favor should be granted to them by the Holy P'ather,
necessary' for their permanent enjoyment of the civil rights
which they now enjoy, and to avert the dangers which they
fear. From what I have «iid, and from the framework of
public affairs here, your Eminence must see how objectiona-
ble all foreign jurisdiction will be to them. The Cath(»lics
therefore desire tliat no pretext be given to the enemies of
our religion to accuse us of depending unnecessarily on a
foreign authority ; and tliat some plan .may be adopted, by
which hereafter an ecclesiastical Superior may be appointed
for this country, in sucli a way as to retain absolutely the
spiritual jurisdiction of the Holy See, and at the same time
remove ail ground of objecting to us, as though we held any-
thing hostile to the national independence. Many of the
leading Catholics thought of laying this before his Holiness
in a general Memorial, especially those who have been either
in the Continental Congress or the legislature of Pennsyh a-
nia and Maryland : but I induced them to refrain from any
such step at least for the present. The Holy Father will
perhaps see more clearly what is to be done in this matter, if

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lie coiiHiderH the Sixth ol the Articlfs of porjittnal Confedtr-
iition between the Statew, which eiiuctH that uo one who holds
any otHee under the United Staten, Hhall Ih) allowed to receive
any gift, office or title of any kind wlmtHoever from any kinjr,
l)rince or foreiffn government, and though tluH prohiliitioii
seems to extend only to those who are appointed to offieec in
the republic, it will j)erhap.s bo wrested by our opponents to
apply also to ecc^lesiastioal offices.

" We desire therefore, Most Eminent ('ardinal, to ])rovide
in every way, that the faith in its integrity, due obedience
towards the Apostolic See and perfect union should flourish,
and at the same time that whatever can with safety to relij;-
ion be granted, shall be ctmceded to American Catholics in
ecclcH'iistical governnient ; in this way we hope that the di^-
trust of Protestants now full of suspicion will be diminished,
and that thus our affairs can be solidly established.

" You have indicated. Most Kiiiinent Cardinal, that it was
the intention and design of His Holiness to appoint a Vicar-
Apostolic for these States, invested with the episcopal charac-
ter and title. While this paternal solicitude for us has filled
U8 with great joy, it also at first inspired some fear: for we
knew that heretofore American Protestants never could be
induced to allow even a Bishop of their own sect, when the
attempt was made during the subjection of these ))rovinces to
the King of England : hence a fear arose that we would not
l)e permitted to have one. But some months since in a con-
vention of Protestant ministers of the Anglican or as it is here
called the Epi8coi)al Church, they decreed, that as by author-
ity of law they enjoyed the full exercise of their religion,
they therefore had the right of appointing for themselves
such ministers of holy things, as the system and discipline
their sect required : namely bishops, priests, and deacons ;
this decision on their part was not censured by the Congress

LETTER TO CARDINAL ANTONELLl

ai)|)()iiittHl to fnune our law.-. Ah tlii) Bamo lihorty in tlio ex-
erciHe of religion iw granted to us, it nccewiuriiy foUown that
wi' enjoy the Banie right in regard to adopting lawH for our
p.voriunent.

" While the matter standi thuH, the Holy Father will de-
cide, and you, MoHt Eminent ('ardinal, will conwder \ hether
the lime is now opportune for appointing a hinhop, what his
qualiticationH hIiouKI be, and how he HJiould Ikj nominated.
'. )ii all theHo pointH, not as il Heekinj.- to obtain my own judg-
ment, but to make thia relation \u »re ample, I nhall note a
few fa<!ts.

" First, as regards the seasonablenesfl ol th'^ '^top, it may be
noted, that there will be no excitement in pub H mind, if
a bishop be appointed, as Protestants thin (i appo' 'ing one
for themselves: nay, they even h- pe to at lUiO toni. import-
ance for their sect among the people from l' - rpi.oopal dig-
nity ; 80 too we trust that we sliall not only acquire the same,
but that great advantages will follow ; inasmuch as thifi church
will then be governed in that manner which Christ our Lord
instituted. On the otiier hand, however, it occurs that as the
Most Holy Father has already deigned to provide otborwise
for conferring the sacrament of confirmation, there is no actu-
al need for the appointment of a liisliop, until some candidates
are found fitted to receive holy orders; this we hope will be
the case in a few years, as you will understand. Most Emi-
ncMit Cardinal, from a special relation which I purpose writing.
When that time comes, we sliiU perhaps be better able to make
a suitable provision for a bishop, than fmm om- slender re-
sources we can now do.

'' In the next place, if it shall seem best to his Holiness to as-
sign a bishop to this country, will it be l)est to appoint a Yicar-
Apostilic or an ordinary with a see of his own 'i Which will
conduce more to the progress of Catholicity, wliich will con-

256

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

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tribute most to remo\e Protestant jealousy of foreign juris-
diction ? I kno'AT with certainty tl.at this fear will increas.'
if they know that an ecclesiastical superior is so appointed J
to be removable from office at the pleasure of the Sacred
Congregation 'de Propaganda Fide,' or any other tribunal
out of the country, or that he has no power to admit any
priest to exercise the sacred function, uidess that Congrega-
tion has approved and sent him to us.

"As to the method of nominating a bishop, I will say no
more, at present, than this, that we are imploring God in his
wisdom and mercy to guide the judgment of the Holy See,
that if it does not seem propei to allow the priests who have
labored for so many years in this vineyard of the Lord to
propose to the Holy See, the one whom they deem most fit,
that some method will be adopted by which a bad feeling
may not be excited among the people of this country. Catho-
lic and Protestant."

He urged the removal of the restriction by which he was
prevented from receiving any priests but those sent by the
Congregation "de Propaganda Fide," and alluded especially
to the cai^e of priests born in the United States and ordained
in Europe, many of whom were gradually returning to this
country, but who on arriving found that they could not exer-
cise the ministry, however competent, until they had ob-
tained faculties from Rome.

He conmiended the Church in this country earnestly to
his Eminence's protection: and begged him to "cast his eyes
on the immense territory included in the limits of the United
States, witii a population daily increasing by the influx of
immigrants and the natural gi iwth of the people. The true
faitli am everywhere be freely preached, and there seems no
obstacle to our deriving great fruit from this liberty, except
the want of priests and means of providing for them."

r. a

DR. CARROLL'S REPORT.

257

The Eelation on the State of Religion in the United States
which he forwarded to Cardinal Antonelli, was as follows:

" 1, There are in Maryland about 15,800 Catliolics ; of these
there are about 0,000 freemen, adults or over twelve years of
age ; children under that age, about 3,000 ; and about that
number of slaves of all ages of African origin, called negroes.
2. There are in Pennsylvania about 7,000,' very few of whom
are negroes, and the Catholics are less scattered and live nearer
to each other, 3. There are not more than 200 in Virginia
who are visited four or five times a year by a priest. Many
other Catholics are said to be scattered in that and other States,
who are utterly deprived of all religious ministry.

" In the State of New York I hear that there are at least
1,500. (Would that some spiritual succor could be affonled
them !) They have recently, at their own expense, sent for
a Franciscan Father from Ireland, and he is said to have the
best testimonials as to his learning and life ; he had arrived
a little before I received the letters in which faculties w'ere
transmitted to me, communicable to my fellow-priests. I
was for a time in doubt whether I could properly approve
this priest for the administration of the sacraments. I have
now, however, decided, especially as the feast of Easter is so
near, to consider him as one of my fellow-priests, and to
grant him faculties, and I trust that my decision will meet
your approbation.

" As to the Catholics who are in the territory bordering
on the river called Mississippi and in all that region which

' Kev. R. Molyneux to Rev. J. Carroll, December 7, 1784, estimated
1,0()0 oomraunicanta in Philadelphia, 200 in country ; 1,000 non-eomnui-
nieants over twelve years of age in Philadelphia ; at Goshenhoppcn under
Rev. J. B. de Ritter 500 comnuinicant.s ; at Lancaster (Rev. L. Geissler),
700 ; at Conewago (Rev. ,1. Pelleutz), 1,000. " U. S. Cath. Mag." iv., p.
250. The baptisms in Goshenhoppcn and its missions in 1785, were 52.

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258

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

following that river extends to the Atlantic Ocean, and from
it extends to the limits of Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylva-
nia, — this tract of country contains, I hear, many Catholics,
formerly Canadians, who speak French, and I fear that they
are destitute of priests. Before I received your Eminence's
letters there went to them a priest, German by birth, but
who came last from France ; he professes to belong to the
Carmelite order : he was furnished with no sufficient testi-
monials that he was sent by his lawful superior. What he is
doing and what is the condition of the Church in those parts,
I expect soon to learn. The jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Quebec formerly extended to some part of that region ; but
I do not know whether he wishes to exercise any authority
there now, that all these parts are subjects to the United
States."

Of the Condition, Piety, and Defects, etc., of Catholics :
" In Maryland a few of the leading more wealthy families
still profess the Catholic faith introduced at the very founda-
tion of the province by their ancestors. The greater part of
them are planters aiid in Pennsylvania almost all are farmers,
except the merchants and mechanics living in Philadelphia.
As for piety, they are for the most part sufficiently assiduous
in the exercises of religion and in fre<]uentiTig the sacraments,
but they lack that fervor, which fiequent appeals to the sen-
timent of piety usually produce, as many congregiitions hoar
the word of God only once a month, and sometimes only
once in two months. We are reduced to this by want of
priests, by the distance of congregations from each otiier and
by difficulty of travelling. This refers to Catholics born
here, for the condition of the Catholics who in great num-
l)ors are flowing in here from difTerent countries of Europe,
is very ditlerent. For while there are few of our native

DR. CARROLL'S REPORT.

259

Catholics, who do not aj)proach the sacraments of Penance
and the Holy Eucharist, at least once a year, especially in
Easter time, you can scarcely find any among the newcomers
who discharge this duty of religion, and there is reason to
fear that the example will be very pernicious especially in
commercial towns.

" The abuses that have grown among Catholics are chiefly
those, which result from unavoidable intercourse with non-
Catholics, and the examples thence derived : namely more free
intercourse between young people of opposite sexes than is
compatible with chastity in mind and body ; too great fond-
ness for dances and similar amusements ; and an incredible
eagerness, especially in girls, for reading love stories which
are brought over in great quantities from Europe. Then
among other things, a general lack of care in instructing
their children and especially the negro slaves in their relig-
ion, as these people are kept constantly at work, so that they
rarely hear any instructions from the priest, unless tliey can
spend a short time with one ; and most of them are conse-
<]uently very dull in faith and depraved in morals. It can
scarcely be believed how much trouble and care they give
the pastors of souls.

" o. How many priests are there here, their qualifications,
character and means of support ?

" There are 19 priests in Maryland and five in Pennsylva-
nia.' Of these two are more than seventy years old. and

' The nineteen priests in Maryland were apparently Very Rev. John
f'arroll, Prefect- Apostolic ; Rev. John Lewis, Bohemia ; Rev. James
Walton, at St. Ini;?oes ; Rev. Henry Pile, Newport ; Rev. Benedict
Neale, Rev. Ignatius ^Matthews, at St. Thomas' Manor ; Revs. J. Ashtou,
Sylvester Poarman, Port Tol)ac(.'o ; Rev. Leonard Neale ; Rev. Charles
Sewall, Baltimore ; Rev. Joseph Mosley, St. Joseph's ; Revs. Augustine
Jenkins, John Bolton, Francis Beeston, Lewis Roels, Thomas Digges.
Bernard Diderick, John Boone ; Rev. James Frambach, at Fredericktown ;

5V '!

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260

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

three others very near that age : and they are consequently
almost entirely unfit to undergo the hardships, without which
this vineyard of the Lord cannot be cultivated. Of the re-
maining priests some are in very bad health, and there is one
recently approved by me for a few months only, that in the
extreme want of priests I may give him a trial : for some
things were reported of him, which made me averse to em-
ploying him. I will watch him carefully, and if anything
occurs unworthy priestly gravity I will recall the faculties
granted, whatever inconvenience this may bring to many
Catholics : for I am convinced that the Catholic faith will
suffer less harm, if for a short time there is no priest at a
place, than if living as we do among fellow-citizens of an-
other religion, we admit to the discharge of the sacred min-
istry, I do not say bad priests, but incautious and imprudent
priests. All the other clergymen lead a life full of labor, as each
one attends congregations far apart, and has to be riding con-
stantly and with great fatigue, especially to sick calls.

" Priests are maintained chiefly from the proceeds of the
estates ; elsewhere by the liberality of the Catholics. There
is properly no ecclesiastical i>roperty here : for the property
by which the priests are supported, is held in the names of
individuals and transferred by will to devisees. This couree
was rendered necessary when the Catholic religion was
cramped here by laws, and no remedy nas yet been found
for this difficulty, although we made an earnest effort last
year.

" There is a college in Philadelphia, and it is proposed to
estiiblish two in Maryland, in which Catholics can be admit-
ted, as well iis others, as presidents, professors and pupils.

the five in Philadelpliia were Revs. Rolwrt Molyncux, Ferdinand Farmer,
Philadelpliia ; .James Pellentz, Conewugo; Luke CJeissler, Lancaster, and
.lolin B. de Ritter, Goshenliopjwn.

LETTER TO PRINCE DORIA PAMPHILI. 261

We Lope that some educated there v/ill embrace the ecclesi-
tmtical state. We think accordingly of estabhsliing a semi-
nary, in wliich they can bo trained to the life and learning
suited to that state." '

On the same day lie replied to the letter of Prince Doria
Pamphili, Archbishop of Seleueia and Apostolic Nuncio >»t
Paris, thanking him for the services he had rendered the
Catholics in this country and begging his future protection.
In this letter, also, Kev. Dr. Carroll laid stress on the great
jealousy felt in the United States of any foreign dependence
even in ecclesiastical matters, but renewing the assurance of
the absolute fidelity of the Catholics in the United States to
the Holy See."

Having thus accepted a position which he declared to be
" a very delicate one in this country and very laborious," the
Rev. Dr. Carroll entered on the discharge of its duties. So
fearful wsis he that trouble would arise if the nature of his
position was made known to the clergy and faithful in gen-
eral, that he did not transmit copies of the documents which
he had received from Eome, but communicated his appoint-
ment to the presiding priest in each district, that it might be
imparted to the rest.

On the 12tli of January, 1785, he transmitted to Rev.
Ferdinand Farmer and Rev. Leonard Neale at Philadelphia
power to publish the Jubilee, which was extended to the
United States from November 20, 1784, to November 26,
1785. As the Sovereign Pontiff had added a special com-
mission, empowering him to exchange the enjoined exer-
cises of piety into other good works. Dr. Carroll wrote :

' " Relatio pro Eminentissimo Cardinali Autonello de statu religionis
iu UnitiH Fa?d. Ainericue proviuciis."
» Letter February 27, 1785.

263

L7FE OP ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

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"As the circumstances of the country do not admit of
the faithful visiting four differen*; churclies, in lieu thereof
be plefiaed to Jireet : 1, that the inhabitants of towniv
where there is a chapel convenient for the purpose, with
the Blessed Sacrament kept in it, must visit the said chapel
fifteen successive or interruptfld days, and there flevoutb'
recite either the Litany of tin; Saints or Seven Our Fathers
and seven Hail Marys, &c., for the iiit(';ntion expressed
in his Holiness' constitution : ..\ that tLey who live in
the country, or in other places uof; having the; convenience
of a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament kept in it, or wlio
living in towns having such a chapel, are nevertlk-less de-
prived of all o|!portunity of visiting it, being servant,- or
slaves, shall 'ikcwife recite the Lituny aforesaid, or seven
times the Lor d s prf=yf.r and Angelical Salutation for the
space of fifteen t^-ivR, eichor continued or interrupted ;^,
that on two Frida\b hapixntag within the term of perform-
ing the devotioTis aforesaid, all persons obliged to keep the
usual fasts of the church and who are desirous of gaining xVm
benefit of the Jubilee, shall likewise kee)) fast ; and they
whose hcitlth, age, or other lawful cause, exempts them from
fasting at otlier times, on the Fridays aforesaid shall recite
either the Seven Penitential Psalms, or twice Seven Our
Fathers and Hail Marys.

" And I hope that you will appoint to your respective con-
gregations a time for the commencement of their devotions
for gaining the Jubilee, in which you may remain several
days amongst them, and that they begin their spiritual exer-
cises by seeking in the Sacrament of Penance their reconcili-
j^Hon with Ahi.ighty God, and recovery of a state of grace,
if needfid ; ind likewise that they have a?i o|)portunity to
conclude all the other penitential works with receiving tlio
Blessed Sacrament."

CALLS FOR PRIESTS.

263

The Very Rev. Prefect did uot at once publish any Lenten
Regulations, but added : " Finding it impossible, till I bave
better opportunity of conversing with the several gentlemen,
to fix a general and equitable rule of keeping Lent for all the
different congregations, I request each of you to ma\e such
regulations for this year, for those under your charge, as you
ehall, in prudence, think proper." '

The general condition of the Church in the United States,
so far as he knew it, was given in his Report to the Propa-
ganda : but he soon found i^ necessary to write : " The pros-
pect before us is immense, but the want of cultivators to en-
ter the field and improve it is a dreadful and discouraging
circumstance. I receive applications from ever- part of the
United States, North, South, and West, for clergymen, and
considerable property is offered for their maintenance ; but it
is impossible and cruel to abandon the congregations already
formed to go in quest of people who wish to be established
into new ones. I have written in a pressing n:anner to all
whom I conceive likely to come to our assistance, and I hope
you will urge the return hither of Charles and Francis Neale,

Leonard Brooks, and Thompson, if his health will allow.

Encourage all you can meet with, Europeans or Americans,
to conie among us. We hope soon to have a sum of money
lodged in London to pay the passage of six at least." '

He learned, too, soon after his appointm Mt that there were
priests already in the country, who had held no intercourse
with the older missioners. Some of these had been chaplains
in the French service, and returned or been recalled by con-
gregations. Among these were the Rev. Charles Whelan, a

I Very Rev. John Carroll to Rev. Messrs. Farmer and Neale, January
12, 1785.
' Same to Rev. Charles Plowden, June 29, 1785.

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264 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Capuchin, wlio, invited by the Catholics of New York, had
recently arrived ; the Rev. Father Paul or Mr. de St. Pierre,
a discalced Carmelite, of German birth, but who had been
chaplain in the French service; Rev. J. R Cuusse, and tlie
Suli)itian Iluet de la Valiiiiere, who, expelled from Canada
for his advocacy of the American cause, had since been at-
tending Canadians and Acadians within the American lines.
Tlie Holy See in establishing the prefecture looked forward
to a supply of priests, and offered to educate two young men
at the Propaganda; but at the moment Dr. Carroll d?d not
see his way to profit by this offer. The King of France, in
this instance evincing a real interest in the Church in this
country, also offered eight free places in the Seminary of
Bordeaux for Xorth-American CathoUc youths born subjects
of the United States.'

^ Of the new congregations that had been formed in the
Tnited States after the peace, the most important was that of
Kew York. Before the commencement of the Revolution-
ary war. Father Farmer had visited that city, and according
to two French dispatches, the Catholics actually liad a churcii
which was burnt during the war, apparently in the great fire
that followed the retreat of Wasliington's army.' As soon as
the city was evacuated by the British troops, Rev. Mr. Far-
mer came opeidy to the city and organized the little body of
the faithful. The number of Catholics was inconsiderable,
and many of them, though long deprived of the sacraments,
showed little inclination to frequent them. At the close of
1784, the venerable priest, who must have visited New York
during the term of his Jersey missions, which took up from

■ Rev. Mr. Tliorpo to Very Rev. .1. Carroll. Romp, August 31. 1785.
' Barbu Marbois to Vcrgennes, December 20, 1784 ; Otto to same Jan-
uary 2, 1786.

iiii

REV. CHARLES WHELAN.

265

April to June and the month of October, could reckon only
eiVhteen coniinuniciintH, three of whom were Germans.'

Ill Octoher, 1784, the Rev. Charles Whelan, who had served
as a chaplain on Do Grasse's fleet, and who had apparently
returned to Ireland after the defeat of that Admiral, arrived
ill New York,' having been invited by the Catholics of that
Hty ; and the venerable Mr. Farmer gladly committed the
cure 'of the faithful there to him. The Ilev. Dr. Carroll was
perplexed as to his authority in regard to him. He could
not grant faculties to any one who was not sent or approved
by the Propaganda, and he at tirst intimated to Father Whelan
that he had no power to grant him faculties. On further
consideration, however, he decided that all priests actually in
the country before the decree of his appointment reached
him were made sharers in the faculties granted, and he au-
thorized the Capuchin Father to proceed. It was a sign of
coining ditiiculties that Father Wlielau officiated without
waiting for faculties."

New York was then the capital of the United States and
the residence of the foreign ministers, several of whom were
Catholics, and while Congress was in session, Catholic mem-
bers resided here. All this gave a social influence that en-
couraged the faithful. The little flock was too poor, how-

1 Rev F Farmer to Very Rev. Dr. Carroll, May 10-16, 1785. Tlie
Reirister of Rev. F. Farmer has no allusion to any mission in New \ oik.
Several years ago Rt. Rev. I)r. Bayley, then Bishop of Newark told me
that he understood that the Register mentioned his visiting Wall btreet.
I twice carefully examined the Register, and could find only a mention
of the Wallkill, a well-known stream of water in New Jersey.

•' It would seem that Father Whelan at first acted merely as private
chaplain to a Portuguese merchant, apparently Jose Ruiz Silva. Don
Diego de Gardmiui to Conde d(> Floridablanca, New York, July io.
1785.

» Very Rev. John Carroll to Rev. Mr. Whelan. April 16, 1785.

266

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

ever, t(. secure at once a permanent place where they ootild
asHemble for divine worshii). Tl'i^y »"«^t in vari. w hulls of
which they could obtain teinporary use.

The French ernl> ver^y was tr asferred to New York, and
with it, the cha, ' lii, an' ',i< whole chapel outht. On tlie
2Tth of March, 1785, Barbe Marbois wrote with characteiis-
tic complacency, "The establinhment of the Legation cliapd
at New York will give the Catholics of that cit}- all the
Hpiritual aid that diey can desire." " Rut th.>rr»h the chaplain
remained after the departure of tU uunister, there is i:o trace
of any services rendered by him to the Catholics in New
York, tliough he did act as chaplain at the Spanish embassy,^
The one to whom the Catholics of the great city owe most
is Ileclor St. John de Crevecoeur, Consul-General of France,
who had served brilliantly under Montcalm in Canada, aii.l
af fer the war became a fanner in New York. Though by 1,0
means a fervent Catholie, St. John de Crevecanir, who lia<i
I'cpiired influence here by his " Letters of an American Far-
mer,'' seems to have taken the lead in organizing the Catli.,-
lics in the city, and inspiring them with courage. In their
name he applied in April, 17S5, to the city authorities for the
use of the Exchange on iJroad Street, a building then entirely
unoccupied ; but the Common Council refused to permit the

' Barbe Marboia. Trenton. December W, 1784; Philadelphia, March

■' Dii'jro de Qardo(iui to Conde de Floridiibl;. a, New York July "5
1.8,.. Rev. Mr. Farm, ..vas evi.lc.tiy in N York nl.. r .'i.is ti,,;;;
His HcgLster records the f..„ti.sm May 2, 178.'i, ut Catharine. I.orn Octn-
I'l-r ,^1, l,8;i, of William Byron and Wilhelmina, the sponsors l.ein-' Put-
nck rode un<l Surah Canane. He then visited his .Jersey mi.s"sions

He ,H no more fit to take 'ui journey," wrot- Father Moly.„ux when
his .wRoc.ate set out in Apr!!, -than I am to f.si forty .lays and nlLrhts
like ht. StyliU'8 without ealinfr or drinking." Letter to Dr. Carroll
April 23, 1785. " U. 8. Cath. Map.." iv., p. lOf. '

NEW YORK'S FIRST CHURCH.

267

Catholics to asHemble there on Sunday.' St. John de Crcve-
viVAxr resented the act iis un indignity to himself and the Catho-
lic body. Roused by him, tlu^ Catholicsof New York resolved
to secure Rrouud and erect a church. A law had been passed
for the incorporation of religious societies, and under itsprovi-
HJ, .s St. John de Crevecunir, Jose Ruiz Silva, James Slew-
art, and Henry Diitliii were incorporated on the lOtli of June,
178.5, as "The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church in
the City of New York." There was some ditttculty in ob-
taining a site, but during the summer Father Whelan, guided,
it is said, by Mr. Silva's judgment, bought a lease of live lots
0:1 Barclay Street extending to Church. A carpenter's-shop
standing on this ground became a temporary church building
tor the i atholic body on New York Isl'-'d. In August,
Trinity Church, which owned the fee, en araged the little
Hock of Catholics by agreeing to sell them the reversion on
easy terms, and more than fulfilled the promise.' Castigli-
(ini. an Italian traveller here at the time, mentions the poor
plate in which the holy sacrifice was offered, and states
that ilie congregation, which was neitlier numerous nor
rich, evinced i'ood-will in their endeavor to erect a suitable

church.'

The SpaiiiRh imni^ti r, not to be without means of hearing
mass eve ' Sundays and holidays, applied to his govern-
ment f( . chapl'^' nd <■ ipel. The King of Spain readily
granted the reqi, 1 lather John O'Connell, then Vicar

• Irf^ter of Catholics to Mr. de CreveocEur to obtain of the city a site
for n clmri I .— Crfivcca'ur's petition to the Common Council. " Arcliives
des Aflfnir(\s F.triing^rea." Carton du (^onsuli* ile New York, 1783-8.

» Recorila of Trinity. Reply of Trinity Church, " Archives des Af-
faires Etraiig^ros."

^Lui/1 Castiglioni, "Viaggio negli Stuti I Milano, 1790, i., p.

177.

'208

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP VAHHOLL.

of the Hospital of tlie Irisli D().iilnu'nn« at Bilhoa, wm ,,.
Ic-tecJ, aiKl arrivod M^y 17, 178«5. Soilor (Janloqui'o.uleu, "
ored to obtain plate and vestn.entH for lii« diapel at New
< ileann, but failing', purcliased of John Ixjuniy i„ p|,ila,|el.
pliia vesttnentH, a nilver ehalieu, erueiHx, and eandleHliek^
will, all other recjuiHiten for a chapel, for six hundmJ and'
nine dolIarH and one rcii

New York had thus two legation chapels and a clMirel,
I)(-gun. The French chaplain did not renniin long, hut Father
O'Coiuiell, I)e8ide8 his duties at the ernbaBsj-, seems to have
done mission work in the iniy. He solicited the ordinary
faculties gi.uited to nussionuries to enable him to exerci^.
the nn'tiistry and give aid to the Catholics in New York
Such faculties were actuall)^ granted hy the Archbishop of
Corinth, Papal Nuncio to the Spanish Court, at tho rcpiest
of the King. He was the first of the Irish Dominicans to
servo in this country, and syv may infer that he paved the
way for the brilliant, able, and good priests of the Irish prov-
ince, who subsequently labored in New York and Phila-
delphia.'

The soldiers of « Congress' Own," the two Canadian rei-i-
nients and their families, were left at the close of the war hi
great distress. Many of them, with other Canadian refugees
gathered near Fishkill till the State of New York set a^rM'X
lands for them near Lake Champlain. The general govern-
ment provided transportation, and in the summer of JT^ti
two hundred and fifty were conveyed to iheir new liomes in

' Dioffo do Gnr<lo(j(ii to Condo do Floridublaiica. New York Jtilv '>',
178,5; May 20. 1780; I),.«-mlK-r fi. 1787. Letter of OlanuMidi' Madrid'
I)ece.nlK.r 22. 178.", ; .lanuary 12. March 13. 1780. Lfttcr to Archbish",,,;
(•orintli, San Il.lcfonso. .July 28, 1787, from Archbishop. July 31 1787
FatluT O'ConncirH name appears as u .subscriber in Carey "American
Museum." iii.. p. 5. He left New York toward the close of 1789.

REV. MR. PELLKNTZ'S ZEAL.

900

(MiHzy and CooperHville.' They were thuB within accefis of
tl.o (Jatliolic "Icrgy in Canada, hut in tiiat province the hau
of exconununication rested on them. Hence they were h)ng
without a pricHt, and though they UHHernhknl to Hay m;m
pn.y."r« and mng their old hynniH, many in time were loHt to

tl.c faith."

Hi-yond Now York a few CathoHcs wore to bo found at
HoHton, hilt they had aH yet made no attempt to obtain a
pritHt or a place for divine service.

The Penohwot IndiaiiH in the District of Maine were at-
tended by a priest from Montreal, but some of the younger
,„..ti had been drawn away by Protestant ministers, and the
priest, fearing for his life, h:id withdrawn to an island in the

river.

The German priests were gradually sinking, and Rev. Mr.
IVllentz wrote about this time to a friend in Germany that
some clergymen from that country were much needed in
IVnnsylvania, and that if one or two selected and recommend-
ed by hif friend would come, their passages should be paid ;
and Ucv. Mr. Pellentz devoted £100 to meet this expense.'

This letter fell into the hands of an officious clergyman at
Mentz, who had it printed in an ecclesiastical journal in that
city. This induced two Capuchin Fathers to come over in
17S7 without any further correspondence.' Other priests
followed unsolicited and unexpected.

' Notice of Udney Hay to Canadia*. Refugees, .July 8, 1786, in " New
York Packet."

' SiuUli. " A History of the Diocese of Ogdensburg," New York, pp.
157-8 ; 13, 31-28.

' r^etter of Right Rev. .John C (irroll, A»ig\ist 24, 1798.

* One of these Capuchins, Rev. Charles Ilelbron, was recalled to Eu-
rope, ami became one of the inartyr,Hl priests of the French Revolution.
Cardinal Awtonelli to Bishop Carroll, August 14, 1790.

270 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

About the same time the venerable Ferdinand Farmer in
letters from Germany, heard of the character and estimab;.
qualities of Rev. Lawrence Graessel, who was in the novitiate
of the Society of Jesns at the time of the suppression an.]
had since been ordained a priest.' Rev, Mr. Farmer earnestly
invited him to ^vc his services to the country which he him
.self had bedewed with his sweat, and expressed tlie pleasmv
he should feel in having him as his fellow-laborer. Rev
Mr. Graessel resigned his position, already one of imi)ortance
with flattering prospects of preferment, and hastened acros>!
the Atlantic to place himself under the venerable Mr. Farmui

yoi^

y^OJi^C

FAC-SIMILE OF SIONATtTRE OP REV. AL. GRAESSEL.

Before he arrived, however, that laborious missionary had

breathed his last. The Very Rev. Carroll, carrying out the

mnvs of the Rev. Mr. Farmer, placed Mr. Gra;ssel and the

Jiev. Francis Beeston, an English priest who had recently

arrived in this country, as assistants to Rev. Rcbert Molvnciix

at St. Joseph's and St. Mary's churches, Philadelphia, Wm.

the German ,,riest especial charge of his countrymen. The

former church was still used for service, for the venerable

I'armer states in one of his last letters that it was genenllv

crowded full at the first mass.'

' Kov. F. Farmer to Very liov. J. Carroll. March 13. 1785.

CATHOLICS IN KENTUCKY.

271

The peace established in 1783, throwing open the country
to iiiimigration, and the valley of the Mississippi to settle-
ment, produced great changes in the Catholic body in the
United States, by removals within and emigration from wlth-

(iiit.

People came from Europe to seek their fortunes or fix
their homes in the New Republic, and thronged the seaports
on the Atlantic from Boston to Savannah. Not a few of
tliese were Catholics, and little bodies of the faithful gath-
ered in Boston, New York, and Charleston, while others
penetrated inland to join friends or relatives.

At the same time a movement to colonize the West spread
tlirough the country on the Atlantic coast. Catholics were
influenced by the general feeling. From several parts of
Maryland bodies began to move toward Kentucky.' In
roimsylvania Catholics in the old mission districts of Cone-
wago and Goshenhoppen, who had toiled in the less product-
ive parts of the State, looked longingly toward the fertile
lands beyond the Alleghanies.

Maryland Catholics began to emigrate to Kentucky as early
as 1774, WilHam Coomes and Dr. George Hart being the
])ioneers, and in this year (1785) twenty-Hve families of a
league of sixty Catholic families set out from St. Mary's
County, Maryland, to settle on lands which they had taken
u]) on Pottiiiger's Creek.' The iiist jmest to visit them was
the Carmelite, Rev. Paul de St. Pierre, who was at Baltimore

' The Spanish government endeavored to draw sonic of tliese to Flor-
iilii. Rev. ('. Whehin to Don Diego de Gardoqui, Leouardtown, March
•21. 17S7.

■' Wcl)!), " Tiie Centenary of Catholieity in Kentucky," Louisville,
18S4, pp. 27-8; Spalding, " Sketches of the Eiirly Catholic Missions of
Kentucky." pp. 23, 25 ; " U. S. Catholic Miscellany," iii., p. 337, Deceni-
licr 1, 1824.

i ■!

m~*>*^«r^^^.^^''w rvmr^'

273

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

If*.

in 1784, endeavoring to obtain faculties, and set out by way
of Pittsburgh for the West. He was at Louisville in Febru-
ary, and wrote to Dr. Carroll that he intended visiting tin-
Catliolics in Kentucky several times a year, taking up hk
residence near Mr. Lancaster.' He did not, however, remain,
but appears at Vincennes and Cahokia from 1785 to 1787.'

The next year another party of Catholics settled on Hard-
in's Creek. In 1787 Eardstown was the home of anotlior
cluster of Catholic families ; and the Rev. Charles Whelan
from Maryland, after a journey fraught with peril, took up
his residence among the pioneers at Pottinger's Creek, and
remained till the spring of 1790, visiting several stations', but

3>-y^t^iJ-^^Xjzu^

FAC-BIMILE OF 8IGNATDKE OF KEV. PAUL DE ST. PIERRE.

he did not erect a church or chapel. Becoming involved in
trouble with some of his flock he withdrew from KcJitucky.
The Dominican Father William de Rohan, in 1787 erected
the Church of the Holy Cross at Pottinger's Creek, the cra-
dle of Catho!i<-ity in Kentucky. It was the first structure
for Catholic worship erected in tlie State.'

The report and letter of Rev. Dr. Carroll gave much
pleasure to the Cardinal Prefect and to his Holiness when
they were communicated to him. Cardinal Antonelli ox-

' Very Rev. .lohn Carroll to [Rev. Mr. dc St. Pierrt'l August 19. 1785
■' Ref,nst(.r of Vmcnmos, March IW, 1785. " Lcttrc des nal)it4in8 des
Calios i\ M. Lavalinicre," 22 Avril, 1787.

» Wfbb, •' Thp C.Titpniiry of Catholicity in Kentucky," p. 32 Letter
of Ri'v. Mr. St, I>i,.rre to V.tv Rev. .John Carroll ; " 6ri«ine et ProKri^s
de la Miiwion du Kentucky," Paris, 1821, pp. 1-2.

DR. CARROLL'S VISITATION.

273

pressed all this in a letter dated July 23, 1785, in which ho
iissnred Dr. Carroll that it had been the intention of the
Sovereign Pontiff to appoint hini as the first to hold the
episcopal dignity. The erection of a Vicariate or See was
(leferred, however, in conformity with the wish of the
American clergy, and they were even permitted for this lirst
t)eca8ion to nominate a candidate. It was further stated that
the Sacred Congregation would have no difficulty in consent-
in"- that in future the missionaries should nominate two or
three from whom the Sacred Congregation would make a se-
lection.

As it was deemed better to defer the appointment till pro-
vision had been made for continuing the supply of mission-
aries and providing for the support of a Vicar-Apostolic,
this opinion of the American clergy also had its influence in
cruising the Holy See to defer an ap])ointment.

Meanwhile greater powers were accorded to the Prefect-
Apnstohc, who was again urged to send two American
V(»uth8 to the Urban College in Rome.'

Having obtained holy Chrism, the Very Rev. Prefect be-
gan his visitation in the sunnner of 1785, the congregations
in Maryland receiving his first attention. It is probable that
he laid the corner-stone of the new church at St. Inigoes, on
the 13th of July, when Rev. Mr. Walton began its erection.
But we have no details of the state of the different missions
as Dr. Carroll found them at this time.' On the 22(1 of Sep-
ti'nil)er he again left his home at Rock Creek ''on a progress
to administer confirmation at Philadelphia, New York, and
in the uj)per counties of the Jerseys and Pennsylvania, where

' Sacrod Congregation dc Propaganda Fide to Dr. Carroll, July 28,
1785.

•' Some speak of conflrmatioii in Philadelphia prior to this date, but ho
rould not possihlj' have conferred it.
12*

■A.

f-:

Ml'

\:-\.

»■

.i»

i '■

^l\

•.-^ .:-T.?r!rj'. ' Ji !' '->'■'

274

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

our worthy German brethren have formed congregations," as
he himself records.'

Of this visitation we have unfortunately no account." It
extended as far as New York, and confirmation was adminis-
terec' there and in Philadeli)hia, and possibly at some interme-
diate places.

In New York, Father Andrew Nugent's credentials ap-
peared to be satisfactory, but Dr. Carroll, under the conditions
imposed by the Propaganda, could give him no faculties. Yet
he very soon tried to supplant Father Whelan, and the trus-
tees seemed anxious to have the latter removed. The Prefect-
Apostolic met the trustees and the clergymen, and articles
were agreed to, which apparently settled all ditticnlties. These
he prudently left in writing with them.

In Philadelphia the Kev. Rol)ert Molyneux purchased
early in 1785. at a cost of £000, a lot adjoining St. Joseph's
church, and proposed to sell a less desirable portion so as to
make the church jiroperty sixty feet wide by one hundred
and forty deep. This gave them a free passage to "Walimt
Street, and space on which to erect a presbytery. The old
chapel was generally overcrowded at the first mass, and as
one of the two piiests was often abse.it on Sundays and holi-
days, attending missions and stations. Father Farmer solicited
a permission, unusual then, of saying two masses. Indeed
he felt that two priests were inadecpiate to the wants of the
growing Catholic body. " Philadelphia," he wrote, " will al-
ways v,ant three or four Priests."

The Recollect Father Bandol, chaplain of the French em-

' Letter lo Rev. C. Plowden, September 22, 1785. " U. S. Catli M; .■• "
iv., p. '249.

^ We might nlnu;*! dou.A whether he actually set out, but Tor ii k'tter
of Fiilher Fiiruier dateci March «), 17H6, speaking of events that occurred
after he left .New York. lb., vi., p. 147.

PHILADELPHIA.

275

hassy till its removal to New York, had evidently oflBciated
fioni time to time at St, Joseph's, since Father Farmer in
March, 1785, seems to regret the loss of his lid when he an-
nounces that the Abbe was to sail to Europe in the next
month.' When he did so, he bore letters of Rev. Dr. Car-
roll to the Nuncio at Paris."

Rev. Mr. Molyneux wrote : " I hope you will consider us,
and order Mr. Geissler to our assistance if possible. It is
pleasing to me, to Mr. Farmer, and he himself is sensible of
the necessity. For my part, I have no private views, the
public good is all I seek. Yet after all I will not dissemble,
tliat it would be very agreeable to me to live elsewhere than
in Philadelphia. I really feel the labor of this place, and
thirteen years is not a short time to have felt it, Every day
the labor increases, and my ability decreases." '

The Dominican Father William O'Brien was also in Phil-
adelphia, and the city was occasionally visited by Rev. ITuet
(ie la Valiniere, who attended tli'i French, and Rev. T. Ilas-
sett, who otlkiated for the Spanish residents or sojourners."

Dr. Carroll next visited stations in Virginia, and returning
to Rock Creek, ^ nmary 11, 1786, found letters from New
York fraught with importance.

Things were in a dangerous condition. On the 18th of
December, two adherents of Nugent had seized the collection
taken up at the mass : and the trustees demanded the re-

' Rev. Messrs. Molyneux and Farmer to Vory Rev. J. Carroll March
13th to August 24, 1785. " Woodstock Letters," xv., p. 01.

' Very Kev. .T. Carroll to the Nuncio, March 6, 1785. The chapel of
the embassy was removed to New York apparently in 1784. Letter of
Marbois to .t. inister, December 26, 1784.

■' Rcvr. U. N- ilyneux to Very Rev. J. Carroll, .Inne 18, 1785. lb., pp.
193-4.

* Rev. R. Molyneux to Very Rev. J. Carroll, March 28, 1785.

:•»"?'

!..,

m- m

270 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

moval of Fatlier Wlielaii ; they even threatened to have re-
course to legal means to rid themselves of him. Thev as
sinned that a congregation had a right not only to choose
such clergyman as was agreeable to them, but to dismiss him
at pleasure ; and that after such election, the bishop or other
eccle:'iastical superior could not hinder him from exercisi:;,,-
the usual functions.

Dr. Carroll wrote to both the clergymen, urging them to
fraternal charity and harmony.' In addressing the trustees
he entered fully into the dangerous and anti-Catholic idoas
which they evinced : " If ever the jirinciples there laid down
should become predominant, the unity and catliolicity of our
church would be at an end; and it would be formed into dis-
tinct and independent societies, nearly in the same manner as
the congregational Presbyterians of your neighI)oring New
England States. A zealous clergyman performing his dutv
courageously and without respect of persons, would bo alwiivs
liable to be the victim of his earnest endeavors to stop the
progress of vice and evil example, and others more comply-
ing with the passions of some principal ])ersons of the con-
gregation would be substituted in his room : and if the eccle-
siastical superior has no control in these instances, I will refer
it to your own judgment what the conse<piences may be.
The great source of misconception in this matter, is that an
idea appears to be taken both by you and :\rr. Wlielan. that
the officiating clergyman at New York is a ]iarish priest,
whereas there is yet no such office in the United States. The
hierarchy of our American Church not being yet constituted-
no parishes are formed ; and the clergy comii.g 1o the assist-
ance of the faithful, are but voluntary laborers in the vine-

' Very Rev. Dr. Carroll to Rov. .\. Xuiri'iit, Rock Creek, .Jnmmry 17,
1786 ; sfiiiie to Rev. Mr. Whelan, January 18.

NEW YORK.

277

viiril of ChriHt, not vested with ordinary jurisdiction annexed
i(. tlioir office, but exercising it as a delegated and extra-bier-
aichical connnission." '

He explai 'id tbat no valid grounds bad been given him
for withdrawing faculties from Father Whelan, and be told
them that if that priest left, be could not under the in-
r-tructioiis from Rome empower either Father Nugent or the
jlev. Huet de la Valiniere to officiate in New York, so that
tiioy would be without a priest to say mass for them. As to
tlieir threat of attempting to drive Father Whelan from the
iiltar by process of law, Dr. Carroll wrote : " I cannot tell
what assistance the laws might give you ; but allow me to say,
tliiit you can take no step so fatal to that respectability in
which as a religious society you wish to stand, or more preju-
dicial to the Catholic cause. I must therefore entreat you to
(Iodine a design so pernicious to all your prospects ; and pro-
testing against measures so extreme, I explicitly declare, that
IK) clergyman, be he who he may, shall receive any spiritual
powers from me who shall advise or countenance so unnec-
essary and prejudicial a proceeding." '

Much of the spring was levoted by Dr. Carroll to visita-
tion and conferring the sacr..:. .r^* 'f Confirmation. On the
i:?th of March he began a lettc- (O Cardinal Antonelli, but
before completing it received a letter from him repeating
the satisfaction of his Holiness Pope Piu- VI. a^ I.i.s report
■on the c(m(lition of the Church in the United i-'+tttes, and i-e-
luoving the restriction in regard to missionant.3 conndned in
bis original instructions.'

1 Very Rev. .Tolin Carroll to Trustees, New York, .lanimry 25.

• Siune to Wvv. Mr. Nuj,'ent, .Taimary 17. 178fi ; same to Rev. Mr.
Wliclan, .Taimary 17, 178(i ; same to Messrs. Lynch and atoii<;htou. .Tanu-
nry 2"), ITSIt ; same to Rev. Mr. VVhelai), .Taimary 28, 1780.

•' Cardinal Antonelli to Very Rev. J. Carroll, July 33, ITS.").

. ''til

riiJfimaiir-*>iTii'

iti&rt&e/xi'.'s^'dMiSmiii.

.1 ',va°^'TK/yi!«'eK5*'«*v<Bo.faa«rtW;.'iWf^K6^»-*::

f^W.

278

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Before he completed the letter to Rome he had to deplore
the loss of two excellent and devoted priests, Rev. Luk,.
Geissler, who died at Conewago on the lOtli of An^ql^t, aiul
Rev. Ferdinand Farmer, who expired just a week afterwiird
at Philadelphia.' Both were of that band of excellent un's-
sionaries whom the Jesuit provinces in Germanv had sent
to America to attend their countrymen, but wliose labors
were given unstintedly to all Catholics. Rev. Luke Geissler,
born in 1735, entered the Society of Jesus in 1750 and bo'
came a professed Father in 1772. He had then boon in this
country tor six years, and died, after twenty years' lal)or in
this fold, Lancaster and its missions being esi)ecially blessed
with his ministry." Rev. Ferdinand Steynmeyer, known on
the American mission as " Father Farmer," was one of tln"
most illustrious jiriests connecied with the Church in the
British colonies and the Reimblic in its early days. He was
a fruitful laborer at Lancaster and Philadelphia, with their
dependent stations ; as successor of Father Schneider he at-
tended the scattered Catholics in New Jersey, from Delaware
Bay to Greenwood Lake, and founded the Catholic Church
in New York State, exercising the ministry at AVarwick,
Fishkill, and New Y'ork City, organizing the church in the
last-named place. He was born in the Circle of Suai)ia,
Germar)y, October 13, 1720, and was received into the Soci-
ety of Jesus Septend)er 2<), 1743. He solicited an appoint-
ment to the work of spreading the Gospel in China, but iji
obedience to his superiors came to America. " He began his
mission at Lancaster, where he resided six years, in all tiio
poverty and humility of an ai)ostle." Then he became coi:-

• Two prit"st.s— one English, the other from tlie Lower Rhine— nrrived
before \ut!;\ist. Rev. Dr. Carroll to Cardinal Antonelli, August, ITWJ.
» Foley, " Records of the English Province," vii., p. 291.

DEATH OF REV. F. FARMER.

279

iiected witli St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia. While lahur-
i„.r as an obscure luissioiier in Pennsylvania he corresponded
wi'th learned societies in Europe, who recognized his great
n.athen.atical ability. When Kev. Z * arroU was appointed
Prefect-Apostolic, he found the Kev. Mr. Farmer a wise
H.nnsellor and a prompt and ready coadjutor in the great
work confided to him. His merit was recognized by all, and
he tilled, as trustee of the University of Philadelphia, a posi-
tion which revived prejudice has since made inaccessible to a
Catholic. Undeterred by failing health he set out in 1T8G to
visit his New Jersey missions. It was the last priestly work
„f the apostle of that State. He then crossed into New York
and baptized seven near Warwick, Orange County, one of
them James Shea, son of Cornelius and Frances. Then we
find him at Mount Hope and Ringwood. His carefully kept
Pcgister closes with an entry on the 30th of July.

The Kegisters kept by this gr<3at and learned priest are
BtiU preserved, and are one of the consoling moiunnents of
early Catholicity in Philadelphia. His funeral sermon was
preached by his associate, Rev. Robert Molyneux.'

The Very Rev. Dr. Carroll felt deeply the loss of this able
clergyman, and described him as a priest who had spent many
years' at Philadelphia in the practice of all kinds of virtue
and labor for the salvation of souls, and closed his life full of
merits by what may well be regarded as a most holy death.'

The project of erecting a churcl; at New York was advanc-
ing by the energv of St. John de Crevecoiur and the patron-

. Folev " Records of the Enjilish Province," vii.. p. 739 ; Molyneux,
" V FunVn.1 Sornx.n on the Death of the Rev. Ferdinund FarnuT, who
d;,,art..d this life the I7th August, 1780, in the 6Gth ye.u- of In. age
Philadelphia, C. Talhot. 1786. Reprinted by the late Rev. .1. M. Fuiotti,
Boston.

» Very Rev. John Carroll to Cardinal Antonelli, .January 12, 1787.

■4

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280

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

a^e of Don Diego do Gardoqui. Fatl.er Whelan aiul tl„
trustees of the congregation inulertook tlie erection of tl
edifice with courage, adopting a plan beyond tlu ir act.,
means, hut hopefully looking forward to future progress It
wm to he a handsome hrick stnicture, with a square tow,.,,
forty-eight feet front by eighty-one in depth. They address,
petitions for aid to the Kings of France and Spain the l-.ttn'
forM-arded through Don Diego de Gardoqui, who furlhc
more consented to lay the corner-stone.' This ceretnonv
took place on the 5th of October, 1785, between the hon,'.,
ot eleven and twelve o'clock, in the presence of a large ■,«
sen.blage. The Spanish minister placed in the corner-stone
specnnensof the coinage of King Charles JV. struck tint
year, and in conformity with the desire of the congrcMti.'-n
named the church' St. Peter's. They were not, however
able to proceed with the work at once, but continued collect"
"ig fnnds for tli.. ,)urpose in New York and Euroj)e

Their appeal to the French King seems to have met with
no response, active and generous as Mr. de Crevecceur l,.,,!
ehownhin^elf^ that to King Charles IV. of Sj.ain was at

' Don D.Vffo de <l.,r|,.,joi to the ron.le fie FIori,lublan,.a, N<.w Y^rk

culty of c. 11.. . inR ,«:,,,.. on recount of llu- pov.rtv ..f tl... faithful n.anv
of who.u ha.l loHt all n, .he la.e war. Very Rev. "john Carroll to (
nal Antonc.Ili, January 13, 1787.

-•New York Pac-ket," OetolxT 10, 1785. Gardoqui to Tonde de
lor d,.l, an<.a, Noven.ber 21. 178.1, indosi„. tran.sla.io,, of a n.por, f

l888rr;;;:^tc.'''"^'^"'*' "^'" '- ''■ •'""" •"■ ^^^vecu^-'paris!

(•ir;u;ar'o''f '('''/," r' ?'''''" '" '^" "' '"^'™"^ ^« ^°»«<^» '" France :
New V ork. I nf..rtuna„.ly th,- lH,oks are no longer .-xtant to show , •
a".ou..t he obtained fron. the faithful here an.l elsewhen' T Iw
Mill preserved ,„ ,„y boyhood, and ,ny prandfather's natne appe..red
Cr<>veca.ur-« succ««or ., Consul to New York, .Mr. Otto, a P o ,

ST. PETER'S CHURCH, N. Y.

281

once taken into onnrnderatio and it 'it first proposed to
,,ive fnmlH from tlie revoni s of Muxi. - ; but m tliis niigl.t
prove a long nid tedious w.,^ , Sertor r,ai(l...iui was directed
to pay one tlioiisaiHl dollars a» the contribution of liis Catho-
lic Majesty.' Tlic Trti4ee8 r< -eived the money in June,
lTSf$, and addressed the Spani^sli Minister expressing their
„l)li-ati..n to King Clmrles, and subseipiently asked bini to
select a pew f-r -'h' perpetual use of the Spanish le tion.'
Tlio Very Kev. V ."fect-Apostolic also wrote to Don Diego
,le (iardo.pu to express his thanks for the generosity w •
fosted by the Spanish monarch.'

Meanwhile a carpenter's-shop which stood on the lean
property they 'nd acquired on Barclay Street was tit t
as M teniporary cba,.el.* It was not till the 20th of Miu
' ;ig tliat an advertisement appeared in one of tl\e New
1 ..rk^pai)ers, calliui. ;)roposals from Tiiasons and cari)en-

ters/ Notwithstandi ., clie feeling that had been excited
against liim, Father Wiielan pushed the work on actively
during the summer. The Catholic body felt a reasonable
pride'ixt its progress, and urged the Prefect- Apostolic to so-
licit the faculty to consecrate it on its completion.

wrote .liiiiiiiiry 2, 1786: "It would Iw impolitic to support rmholicity
too openly. .Mr. OUo has acconlinfrly refiisi'd to jrive the Cutholic priest
lit New York contrihutions solicited for reliuildiiiR the (luirc li burned
during the war. Mr. de Gardoqui has made a donation and laid the
corner-stone."

' Letters of the Maniuis de Sonora, Deremlur 3, 178.5 ; Jnnuary 28,
.Miirih i;5, 178(!. That of March 18 annoiuiees the kin.n's donation.
•' Letter and receipt of Trustees, June '^0. 1786 ; October 28, 1786.
' Very Rev. .lohn Carroll to Don Die<,'0 de GanUxiui. November 14.
178(5, inclosed in letter to Conde de Floridablanea, Deceiu.er 31, 1786.

^ An Italian gentleman, Mr. Trapani, whose grands,., were my M'hool-
fellows, told me in my boyhood of his attending ma- in this structure.

' " New York Gazetteer and County .Jourual." May 26. 1786 ; " New
York Packet," June 1, 1786.

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WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

282

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Before the edifice was ready to be dedicated to the service
of God, Father Whelan yielded to the turbulent opposition
raised against him, chiefly because he was not sutHcieutly
eloquent to please some who neglected the sacraments, hut
were very much inclined to interfere in the management of
the church. Father Whelan, a priest of irreproachable life
and devoted to his calling, at last relinquished the struggle
and resigned his position in February, 1787, without having
the consolation of witnessing the opening of the church for
which he had labored so unselfishly.'

This left New York with no priest except Rev. Huet de
la Valiniere, who had looked after the French and Canadians,
and to whom powers were forwarded to attend the Cath-
olics generally ; and Rev. Father Andrew J^ugent, Capu-
chin. The Very Rev. Dr. Carroll fully recognized the im-
portance of the New York mission, and would gladly have
confided the faithful there to a priest of eminent virtue and
ability. But he had no one to send, and had no alternative
but to give temporary faculties, a^ he reluctantly did, to Rev.
Andrew Nugent, making them expressly usque ad revoca-
tionem. " I am pleased and edified," he wrote, " v\-ith the
steadfast faith of the Roman Catholics of New York. You
M-ill not fail to use your unwearied endeavors to encourage
amongst them the union of works with faith, and particularly
the frequentation of the Sacraments. I am afraid vou will
have much diflSculty in prevailing over the contrary habits
of grown people ; but the rising generation may be formed
to the practises best calculated to nourish a spirit of prayer
and the fear of God. My best wishes attend them all."
The frequentation of the sacraments had been steadily in-

Church'"^' "^ ^"''^ ^^""^^ °* ^^^ ^''^ ^^^^ °* ^^^ ^"^'^o""

ST. PETERS CHURCH, N. Y.

283

culcated for generations in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and
all, whether of English, Irish, or German origin, were regular
in approaching the holy table ; but in Ireland at this period,
owing to the influence acquired at Louvain and other schools
on the continent, many of the clergy discouraged rather than
encouraged frequent commuuion. Those who emigrated to
America were often of the more restless and less pious class,
and they did not keep up the habits of their old home. This
made the services of a zealous priest all the more necessary.

The Rev. Mr. La Valini6re at this time had his little
French flock, and was busy preparing a kind of Catechism in
French and English and forming schemes for seminaries and
churches in the chief cities of the country. A more tangible
project was that of purchasing a disused Protestant church in

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-SIMILE OF SIGNATURE OF KEY. P. HCET DE LA VALINlfilRE.

the city of New York for his French-speaking flock. For
this he solicited aid from the French government, but Barbe
Marbois, knowing his erratic character, opposed the scheme.'

The summer of 1786 was one of more than ordinary heat.
Sickness prevailed, travelling was difficult and laborious, so
that Very Rev. Dr. Carroll was compelled to suspend his
visitation and remain at Rock Creek, which was still his resi-
dence and mission.

The authorities at Rome expressed their pleasure at the
progress of the faith in New York, and intimated that "al-
though very seldom granted to priests not having the episco-

> Barbfe Marbois to Vergennes, January 2, 1786.

81 i

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Xi
I

284 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

pal character," faculty might be conferred on him to conse,
crate St. Peter's Church, New York.

That edilice was so far advanced that in compliment to
Charles IV. of Spain, his feast-day, November 4th, dedicated
to St. Charles Borromeo, was selected for the celebration of
the lirst mass. Don Diego de Gardoqui and his suite, as

BT. PETEn's CHURCH, NEW TORK, FROM COLTON'S ENORAVINO.

well as all Spanish residents of the city, were invited to
attend, a place of honor being assigned to them. A high
mass was celebrated by Father Andrew Nugent, assisted by
the chaplains of the French and Spanish legations, the bless-
mg of the church having been previously })erformed in pri-
vate by the rector, who at the close of the mass delivered a
titting discourse.

ST. PETERS CHURCH, N. Y.

285

The Spanish Minister then entertained at dinner in his
house the President of the United States and his Cabinet,
the Members and Secretary of Congress, the Governor of
the State, the representatives of foreign powers, many of
whom probably attended the services in the church.'

Steps were soon after taken to incorporate the Trustees of
St. Peter's Church, tlie former incorporation being regarded
as too vague. In pursuance of a notitication by the rector on
two successive Sundays, the congregation on the 23d of
April, 1Y87, adopted as the title of the corporation " The
Trustees for the Koman Catholic Congregation of St. Peter's
Church in the City of New York in America," and pro-
ceeded to elect the first board of Trustees.'

At this time Rev. Charles Sewall had experienced so
much difficulty in his endeavor to build up a church at Bal-
timore, that he lost courage, and asked to be sent to Cone-
wiigo ; but he finally consented to stay, the Very Rev. Pre-
fect having decided to fix his residence in that ( ny. '* I al-
ways thought," wrote Rev. Mr. Pellentz, " that he could do
more for God's greater glory and the salvation of souls in
Baltimore than here. For that reason, I advised him in
his troubles to have patience and to take courage. To
the same intent I called to his remembrance that Saints
Ignatius and Teresa expected always great success whe.i they
met with serious obstacles in the begiiming of a now college
or monastery. The hardships Mr. Sewall sunered, made
me think that Baltimore in time will be a very ilourishing
mission."

' "New York Packet," November 7, 1786; Very Rev, .John Carroll
to , November 13, 1786 ; Gardoqu! to Conde de Floridablauca, No-
vember' 27, 1786, enclosing account of the mass and dinner.

2 Records in the Register's office, New York.

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286 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

When tlie Very Rev. Prefect took up his residence in Bd
timore, he found to his grief that the Acadian populati,,,
had degenerated greatly. Tlie intercourse between France.
and the United States had led to the in.nngration of nia„v
adventurers. Dr. Carroll, as well as St. John de Crevecuiur
describes this class aa in general bad and irreligious. " They
are everywhere a scandal to religion," wrote Dr. Carroll
" with very few exceptions. Not only that, but tl.ey dissen.i'
nate, as much as they can, all the principles of irreligion of
contempt for the church and disregard for the duties wliidi
both command. They have corrupted here almost entirely
the principles of a numerous body of Acadians or Frenc'h
Neuters, and their descendants, who being expelled by the
English from Nova Scotia in the war of 1755, settled and in-
creased here." '

The Rev. Dr. Carroll " preached his first sermon in Baki-
more on the parable of the Ten Virgins, which was much
admired. The classical purity of his composition, the sweet-
ness of his manner, and his earnest piety made a deep im-
pression upon his audience; and on preaching a second time
soon after, he became a decided favorite. His sermons werj
so much admired that many Protestants attended them with
great sjitisfaction." From this time he discharged the duties
of pastor at St. Peter's Church, when not making visitations.'
From the time of his arrival in Baltimore, the Rev. Dr
Carroll took part in all plans for the general improvement.
In 1780 he was one of the patrons of an Academy established
toafford •! higher education for young men than they could

' Very Rev. John Carroll to Rev. C. Plowden, October 23 1789
I cannot find any foundation whatever for the sUiten.ent that Rev Dr'
Carroll w,w a missionary in Delaware. Rock Creek was his only charge"
and he removed from that place to Baltimore. '

» Scharf, " Chronicles of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1874, p. 248.

CHURCH AT HAOERSTOWN.

287

hitherto obtain without going to some other city.' As early
as March 28th in that year, he was chairman of a meeting
called for the purpose at Grant's Tavern.'

Among the other churches which made an humble begin-
ning about this time, was that at llagerstown, Maryland.
Tliree lots were purchased for a graveyard by liev. James
rrambach, on the 16th of August, 1786. The first resident
priest was Rev. Denis Cahill, u laborious missionary, who ex-
tended his care to Martinsburg, Shepherdstown, Winchester,
and occasionally to Fort Cumberland and Chambersburg.
Iliii toil was not unrewarded ; he found the people exemplary
and pious ; congregations increased, and in each place, except
Martinsburg, ground was given for a chapel.' He acquired
from Adam Miller, a resident of Bedford County, Pa., the
site of the present Hagerstown church in 1T94, the consider-
ation being five shillings, showing that it was virtually a gift.
The Rev. Mr. Cahill erected a solid log-house, which served
as house and cliapel, and of which a sketch has been preserved,
lie left the country in 1806, and returned to Ireland, where
he did some years after.'

While the Rev. Denis Cahill was stationed at Hagers-
town, he attended several missions in Maryland and Virginia,
among others Shepherdstown,' in the latter State. After
saying mass there, or " holding church," as the saying was.

' B. U. Campbell, " Desultory Sketches of the Catholic Church in
Marylttiitl," " U. S. Catholic Magazine" (IMijdous Cabinet), i., p. 312.

•^ "Baltimore Advertiser," March 31, 1786.

'Reily, "Concwago," Martinsburg, pp. 116, 203. The deed was in
trust to Lulce Tiernan, Charles Carroll, Rev. D. Cahill, James Mc-
Clellan, .lohn Adams, James McCardell, Jos. and Wm. Chirk.— Rev.
Denis Cahill to Rt. Rev. J. Carroll, January 24, 1791 ; December, 1795.

* lie died in 1817. Reily, p. 117.

' Finotti, "The Mystery of Wizard Clip. A Monograph." Balti-
more, 1S79. F. Mulledy's account, p. 3.

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288

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

pi
i

on one occasion, some of his C itholic flock brought to him a
Protestant named Livingston, wlio told him his trouble.
His house had for years been visited by spirits which an-
noyed him greatly and destroyed his property; he had
moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia, but the persecutdrs
followed. He was sure, too, that the priest was the person
whom he beheld in a dream as one to relieve hiiri.'

The Kev. Mr. Cahill made light of the matter, and told
the man that some malicious neighbors must be playing
pranks on him. Touched, however, by the man's evident

BKV. D. CAHILL'S CHAPEL AND HOUSE, HAQER8TOWN, MD.

distress, and by the statements of Catholics who corroborated
Livingston's statements, the priest went to his house in
Smithfield. After sprinkling the building with holy water
and reciting a few prayers, he started to go on a sick call.
As he went out a sum of money that had been missing for
several days lay at his feet on the threshold. The annoy-
ance then ceased for a considerable time, to the relief of

' Mrs. McSLerry, pp. 68, 107.

LIVINGSTON'S CONVERSION.

289

Mr. Livingston, who had applied in vain to his Protestant
ministers.

When the trouble was renewed, he called upon Rev. Mr.
Cahill with more faith and earnestness. Rev. Mr. Cahill said
mass at the house, and received Mr. Livingston and some
members of his family, to the number of fourteen, into the
church, the Voice that was heard having taught them the
fiiith and how to pray.' The injury to property ceased, but
the Voice was frequently heard, chieiiy when a death had

SITE OF LrVINGSTON'B HOUSE, FROM A DRAWING BY JAMES R. TAYLOR.'

occurred, or some need existed of special prayer. Its influ-
ence was always beneficial, and never caused trouble or di-
minished piety.

The visitations were notorious throughout the country, and
the place, in consequence of the way in which articles had

' F. Mulledy, p. 4 ; Mrs. McSherry, pp. 60, 108.

' After Mr. Taylor made this sketch and others for me in 1864-5, 1
learned that his family, had preserved a memory of the events, his great-
prandfather having visited Livlnpton's place purposely to learn about
it. See Finotti, p. 188, etc.
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290

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

l)een cut, grew to l)e called "Wizard Clip." The Rev.
Demetrius A. Gallitzin visited the house from Pennsylvania
and investigated the statements of Livingston and his neifjli-
bors : ho drew up an account, which is now unfortunately
lost.

Mr. Livingston, soon after his conversion, went to Balti-
more and saw Dr. Carroll, who was convinced of the man's
sincerity, and that he had been supernatural ly instructed.'

The Voice was heard by Mr. Livingston for years, and tlio
facts were attested by his family, and their neighbors, the
McSherrys. Mr. Livingston finally removed to Pennsylvania
again, and gave his farm with a small house for the use of
the chur' )\. Part of the ground has since been used as a
cemetery : the houpe has yielded to decay. The place is heUl
in reverence, the Voice having declared that it would before
the end of time be a great place for prayer and fasting.'

Strange and wonderful as the main facts related are, they
were credited after careful examination by able, learned, and
far from credulous men.

The missions attended from Conewago were : Paradise, Lit-
tlestown, where a house was adapted for church purposes in
1791 ; Hanover, Taneytown, attended from the days of Father
Frambach ; Westminster, where a frame church was erected

' B. Mobberly. p. 18; Gallitzin. "A Letter to a Protestant Friend on
the Holy Scriptures," Ebensburgh, 1820, p. 144 ; Letter to Catharine C
Doll, in Finotti, p. 88; Letter April 11, 1889, p. 89. Prince Gnllit/.in's
examination was not a superflcial one ' ' My view in coming to Virginia
and remammg there three months was to investigate those extraordinary
facts at Livingston's, of which I had heard so much at Conewago anil
which I could not prevail uix)n myself to Iwlieve ; but I was soon con-
verted to a full belief of them. No lawyer in a court of justice did ever
examine or cross examine witnesses more strictly than I did all those I
could prcKure," p. 90. Brownson, "Life of Demetrius Augustine Gal-
htzin." New York, 1873, pp. 100-7.
» Finotti, pp. 34, 43.

REV. J. B. DE BITTER.

291

about 1789 on a plot of four acres given by John Logston
for the service of God ; York, where a stone house purchased
May 4, 177G, by .foseph Smitli, was given as a pious gift to
the ciiurcli, and fitted up for divine worship.'

Father dc Ritter at Goshenhoppen had hia church and
Hchool, with Jolm Lawrence Gubernator as teaclier, and at-
tended tliu church at Reading and stations at Oley Mountains,
Cedar Creek, at Nicholas Carty's house in Haycock, at George
Iliffel's at .Niagunehi, at Ilenrich's, at John La Fleur's, Maiden
Creek, Lehig.., Easton,,

" Many old people," says the historian of Goshenhoppen,
" who made their first comnmnion in his time, and who re-
member him well, tell of him, that on his almost uninter-
rui)ted journcyings, he would never take his much needed
repose in a bed ; but with his saddle for a pillow, a little
straw and a blanket, he was satisfied with a short rest, that
was at once a necessary refreshment after the past, and a
preparation for the coming day's labor. All speak of him as
an indefatigable laborer in our little vineyard, where he died
unexpectedly February 3, 1787, having celebrated mass on
the festival of the preceding day. Rev. Mr. Beeston arrived
in time to officiate at his funeral. His record of baptisms,
l)eginning in 1766 with 42, rose in 1781 and the following
year to 61), but declined somewhat apparently by the moving
away of part of the settlers. He records the reception into
the church of seventeen converts between 1781 and 1785.
The Rev. Mr. de Ritter seems to have made it a rule where
possible that marriages should be so' '"nized during mass in
the church, and we find him noting diat in one case he mar-
ried a slave or indentured servant who produced a forged
license from his master ; the priest was fined £50 for the

Reily, " Conewago," Martinsburg, 1885, pp. 88-144.

202

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

offence, hut oh ho pnuhjml the forged dopunKMit, the tino
was remitted. In another oa«e where lie evidently had his
BUHpicioiiH, we find lihn re<,uiring a bond of indeuuiitv
These are traits that mark the preclHC and careful ehanuttr
of the man." '

The I'refect sent Rev. Peter Ilelbron to this mission
where lie began his labors November 22, 1787 : he added a
steeple to the church and put uj) a bell weighing 112 pounds,
serving Goshenhoppen and its missions till August, 1791.

At the old Catholic centre, Conewago, the energetic Rev.
James Pellentz was still laboring, though he too was in U\l
ing health. Writing to the Prefect-Apostolic, he mentions
that he had aided the Rev. Mr. Geissler to purchase a house
m Carlisle, "to keep service in "; and that he had paid £'.){
for a house at the " Standing Stone," on the left bank of the
Susipjehanna.

This was the foundation of the mission at Carlisle under
the Rev. Lucas Geissler. The first chai)el is said to have
been a log-house on Pomfret Street, and it was used by the
Catlu.lics till the present church of St. Patrick was completed
in 1806. ^

There were Catholics along the Susquehanna, at this time
the i)ioneer Ixjing apparently Mary O'Callaghan, probably
there as early iis 17r,l); Fitzgerald and McCormick about
1783; the McDuffies at Tioga Point, now Athens.' These

"•On his tombstone, which, like Father Schneider's, wns erected I,v
Rev. Paul Ernfzen. is read : Hie jaeet Kev. Joan. Bapt. Do Hitter S j
Obi.t M Feb. 1787. ^tads 70. Missionis 20." Woodstock Letters, 1870;

» Rev. .Ia,n..s Pellentz to Very Rev. Dr. Carroll, October 1, 1785
Charter of Carlisle," Carlisle, 1841 ; Dilhet, "Etat de I'Epli.se Catho'
lique. Rev. .James A. IIul)er kindly informs me that a slab over the
door gives the date 1806, correcting the statement in the Charter Dilhet

CHURCH AT CONEWAOO.

203

were viBited from tlio old tiUHHion Btations, as tlie Rev. Mr.
rt'Ueiitz's purchuHo hIiowh, thoiijjfh the memory of thia early
Haiictuary of religion lian faded away in the loeality.

There were alreiidy Catholies in Western PentiHylvania.
In 1785 a man came to rhiladelphia and jjresented a jxv
tition to Father Farmer from CatholicH in the vicinity of
Pittsburg, who desired the visit of a priest at least once a
vear. Seventy Catholics living on or near the Monongahela
at Muddy Creek, Ten-Mile Water, and Shirtee Water, signed

?■—-'■

^ ■■

CaCRCII OF THE 8ACRE.D HEART AND RESIDENCE, CONEWAOO.

tlie appeal. The leading Catholic in the district thei- wa»
Felix Hughes.'

Meanwhile the venerable Mr. Pellentz was building a
stone church at Conewago, to replace the log chapel of co-
lonial days. The work was characteristic of the man, and
stands to this day, solid, firm, and unpretentious. His peo-
ple had prospered, and religion was free. He selected a red

who visited it about 1806, mentions it as completed. Letter of Rev. M.
J. Iloban.
' Rev. F. Farmer to Very Rev. John Carroll, July 19, 1785.

204

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

sandstone of very close texture, from a line quarry at East
Berlin, and every block was hauled more than ten miles io
the church. The corner-stone of the Church of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, the first in the country of that title, was laid
in 1786, and the edifice was completed in 1787, and a suIk
Btantial residence for the clergy rose beside it. Some sixty
years ago an addition was erected extending the church in
length, but the church raised by Rev. James Pellentz was
respected. " It wtands to-day as solid and substantial as ever,"
says the historian of Conewago.'
In 1785 Lancaster received a priest in the person of the

FAC-8IMILE OF THE SIGNATURE OF THE KEV. JAMES PELLENTZ.

Recollect Father Fidentianus (John B. Causse), who had ar-
rived in Philadelphia several years before, and had not only
been permitted to say mass, but had occasionally in case of
necessity been employed by the priests at that city. He was
a man of education, spoke English and French, and had won
friends by his correct and gentle behavior. He was, how-
ever, restleps, and deluded by false representations, had gone
to Boston, and finding that he had l)een deceived, set out for
Quebec, but was shipMTecked on the dangerous coast of Xova
Scotia. After wintering at Halifax, where he found friends,
he proceeded to Quebec in the spring of 1784, but in the
vacancy of the See, he could not obtain employment, and

' ReiJy, "Conewnpo," Martinsburp, !885, pp. 50-7; Reily, "Conewa-
go Centennial Celebration," Martinsburg, 1887. We owe much to this
painstaking and public-spirited gentleman.

REV. JOHN B. CAUSSE.

295

finally arrived after much hardship at Philadelphia, August
K 1785,'

' While the Rev. John B. Causae was in charge of the
church at Lancaster, he joined in a petition to the State As-
sembly, asking the establishment of a German charity school
at that place ; but the prpject soon took a more ambitious
form, and on the 10th of March, 1787, " Franklin College,"
at Lancaster, was incorporated by the Legislature of Penn-
sylvania. Of this institution the Catholic priest. Rev. John
B. Causse, was trustee from 1787 to 1793, when he tendered

his resignation."

In 1788 a permanent settlement in Western Pennsylvama
was made where St. Vincent's Abbey now stands in West-
moreland County, and in March of the next year an acre
and twenty perches were purchased five slulhngs at
Greensburg in the same county. At this place Father
Causse said mass for the first time in the house of John
Probst in June, 1789.' .

Some few years later, as we will see, the Rev. Patrick

. Rev. Fr. Farmer to Prefect Carroll, August 1, 1785 ; Very Rev. J.
Carroll to Rev. J. B. Causse. August 16, 1785.

^ S M. Sener, in " U. 8. Catholic Historical Magame," i., p. 215, cit-
ing 'Register of St. Mary's Church" and "The Independent Gazet-
teer " of 1785. This clergyman seems to have been led away by the fac-
Uous party among the Germans, as he left Lancaster and became involved
n the m ubles at Baltimore, where Bishop Carroll withdrew his f aculUes^
Js Lid. though perhaps by some confusion of I™^"'a he pe^^tod
in officiating, however, and was formally excommunicated^ B. U. tamp
MHn •• U. 9. Catholic Magazine." i.. p. 313 ; " Religious Calnnet. 1842.)
He then exhibited a Panorama of Jerusalem, but recognizing his error,
submitted to the Bishop. (Letter to Dr. Carroll, June 4. 1798 , Rev. Wm.
Elling to same, August 6, 1792.)

BBrownson, "Life of Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin," New York.
1878 p 118 ; Lambing, " History of the Catholic Church in the dioceses
of Pittsburg and Alleghany," New YorK. 1880. p. 360.

296

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Lonergan, of the Franciscan order, attempted to found a
Catbolic colony in Western Pennsylvania. The Franciseang
who had reared the first altar at Fort Du Quesne being suc-
ceeded in the missions beyond the Alleglmnies by priests of
the same order. Of the progress of the Church on the East-
ern Shore of Maryland, we obtain an interesting picture in a
letter of Rev. Joseph Mosley :

" I am yet on y" same Farm, on which I lived, when you
wrote to me last. I've informed you many years ago of my
Purchase of it, in what situation it was first in, & what I
really suffer'd in settling it. I've been on it now twenty
long Years, & I've made it, thro' God's Help, both agreab'e
& profitable to myself & to my successors; not knowing y
Length of Life, my chief aim was to make it convenien't
happy and easey to my successors, that they might with some'
Comfort continue a flourishing mission that I have begun-
when I first settled I had not one of my own Profession
nigher than six or seven mile, but now, thro' God's particular
Blessings, I've many families joining, and all round me The
Toleration here granted by y« Bill of Rights has put all on
r same footing, & has been of great service to us. Tlie
Methodists, who have started up chiefly since y" war, have
brought over to themselves, chief of y" former Protes . ts
on r Eastern shore of Maryland, where I live. The'

^•"^^ * ministers having no fixt Sallery by Law as

heretofore, have abandoned their Flocks, which are now
equander'd & joined different societies. We've had some
sliare. Since y" commencement of y War, I've built on my
Farm a brick Chapel & dwelling House. It was a diflieult
& I)old undertaking at that time, as every necessarv, esjje-
nally Nails, were very dear. I began it, trusting on Provi-
dence & I've liappiiy finished, x^-ithoutanv assistance either
from our Gentlemen or my Congregation. The whole

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REV. MR. MOSLEY'S CHURCH HOUSE. 299

Building is 52 ft. long & 24 ft. wide, & y" wall 18 ft. high.
Out of this length of Wall y« Chapel is 34 ft. long and 24 ft.
wide & with y" arch 20 odd ft. high, no cellar under that
part. My dwelling House is 16 by 24 ft., two Stores high.
Below I've my own Room 16 by 18 ft., & a Passage 6 ft.
with a Pair of Stairs in it, to y« 2d Story, where i've two
Hinall Rooms 12 ft. by 12, Each Room has a good Fire Place ;
Under my Dwelling a Cellar in two Rooms, 16 by 12 ft.
each. My chapel will hold between 2 or 300 people. It
cou'd not contain y' Hearers last Easter Sunday when I first
kept Prayers in it, & every Sunday since it has been very
full, when I attend at Home, which is only once every
Month. We are all growing old, we are very weak handed,
few come from England to help us. I suppose they are
much wanted with you : I understand that few enter into
orders of late Years, since y« Destruction of y" Society.
Here I can assure you y" Harvest is great, but y" Labourers
are too few. Where I am situated, I attend ten Counties by
myself ; to have it done as it ought, it would take ten able
men. Pray fervently, that God may bless all our undertak-
ings. The Book of y" History of y" Church &c. which you
Bent me some Years ago, has contributed much to our Num-
bers, it is forever a going from Family to Family of different
Persuasions. Be so good, if you know any Books of equal
Force, that have appeared of late years, to contribute your
Mite towards our successes by sending them to me. New
Books of that kind are not with us." '

I Rev Joseph Mwley to Mrs. Dann, October 4. 1784. Rev. P. Smyth,
in his " Present State," portrays the priests on tlie Eastern Shore as living
in the midst of opulence and luxury. Dr. Carroll justly said : " If curi-
osity should be excited by his misrepresentation to travel to the Eastern
shore of Maryland, it will find there but two clergymen. One of these
lives on the confines of Maryland and State of Delaware (Bohemia), in a

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300

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The Very Rev. Prefect by his visitations, even though
tliey did not include all the congregations placed under his
control, had acquired a far more accurate knowledge of the
condition, wants, and certain progress of the Church. Al-
though some of his brethren, as we have seen at the last
meeting of tiie Chapter, retained their old dread of a bishop,
and a committee had actually prepared and apparently for-
warded a protest against the appointment of one for the
United States, Dr. Carroll had become convinced that it
would be impossible for any one not invested with the epis-
copal character and jurisdiction to maintain unity and har-
mony, or to provide priests for the old congregations and
the new bodies of Catholics arising at many points and de-
veloping rapidly by immigration.

The other step was the establishment of an Academy for
the education of Catholic youth, which would enable them
" to form subjects capable of becoming useful members of
the ministry." At first the Very Rev. Dr. Carroll, taking
the loud professions of liberality and religious equality, which
were then generally made, to be real and sincere, had in-
dulged the hope that institutions of learning would be so
conducted that Catholics could resort to them wthout peril
to their faith, and without being subjected there to constant
contumely and insult in the text-lwoks and the language of
the teachers. He even took part in such institutions ; but
this hope was soon crushed. The professions of liberality
were fallacious. Institutions endowed and sui)ported by the

house not only inelegant, but ruinous and Bcarce affording shelter from
the weather. The other (Rev. Joseph Mosley) occupies a cell such as the
woman of Sunam prepared for the prophet Elisha (4 Book of Kinirs
o. 4), containing just space enough for a ted. a table, and a stool."
father Mosley s letter and drawings show that Dr. Carroll did not
exaggerate.

THE CHAPTER PROJECTS A SCHOOL. 301

State were exclusively and offensively Protestant in tone, in
religious exercises, and in hostility to everything Catholic.

When the General Chapter met at Whitemarsh, November
13 1786, the necessity of such an institution to train young
men, and keep alive vocations to the ecclesiastical state, seems
to have been brought earnestly before the body by the Very
Rev. Prefect. The Chapter was attended by Revs. Ignatius
Matthews and James Walton for the Southern District, Ber-
nard Diderick and John Ashton for the Middle District.
The Very Rev. John Carroll attended on the 15th at their

request.

Rules of order were adopted ; an appropriation was made
to repair Newtown dwelling-house ; the account with Rev.
Mr. Frambach was adjusted, and his salary and that of his
successor provided for ; ' the salary of the priest at Lancaster
was fixed. The salary of Very Rev. Dr. Carroll, as long a&
he resided in Baltimore, was made £210 per annum ; a set-
tlement was made with the English province. They dep-
recated the assuming by any priest of any position as Ex-
ecutor, Trustee, or Guardian, and disclaimed all responsibility
for the acts of any one so unwise as to undertake such a

charge.

The disinterestedness of these priests is shown m the fol-
lowing : " Where clergymen live in places sufficiently pro-
vided for from our Estates in the judgment of the District
Chapter, to which they belong, it shall not be lawful for
them to deman.l a support from the faithful, but they are to
serve them and administer the sacraments in all cases gratis."

The important step at this meeting was " Resolves con-
cerning the Institution of a school."

It was provided— 1. That a school be erected for the edu-

Thi8 refutes one of Smyth's charges.

<! T ■•

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302

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

cation of youth and the perpetuity of the body of clergy in
this country.

2. Tliat the following plan be adopted for the cai-ryin./
the same into execution. **

PLAN OF THE SCHOOL.

1. In order to raise the money necessary for erecting the
aforesaid school, a general subscription shall be opened im-
mediately.

2. Proi>er persons shall be appointed in different partfl of
the Continent, West India Islands, and Europe to solicit sub-
scriptions and collect the same.

3. Five Directors of the School and the business relative
thereto shall be appointed by the General Chapter.

4. The moneys collected by subscription shall be lodged in
the hands of the fi , e aforesaid Directors.

5. Masters and tutors to l)e procured and paid by the Di-
rectors quarterly and subject to their directions.

6. The Students are to be received by the Managers on the
following terms.

TERMS OF THE SCHOOL.

1. The Students shall be boarded at the Parents' expense.

2. The pension for tuition shall ho £10 currency per an-
num, and is to be paid quarterly and always in advance.

3. With the pension the students shall be provided with
masters, books, paper, pens, ink, and firewood in the school.

4. The Directors shall have power to make further regu-
lations as circumstances may point out necessary.

OTHER RESOLVES CONCERNING THE SCHOOL.

1. The Gen'. Chapter in order to forward the al)Ove Insti-
tution grants £100 sterling towards building the school,

GEORGETOWN COLLEGE.

806

which sum shall be raised out of the sale of a certain tract

2. The residue of the monies arising out of the sale of the
„l,ove said land shall be applied by the Gen'. Chapter to the
same purpose, if required to complete the intended plan.

3". That the Proc'. gen', be authorized to raise the said
Burns to lay it out for the above purpose, as the Directors

shall ordain.

4. The Gen . Chapter orders this school to be erected ni
George Town, in the State of Maryland.

5. A Clergyman shall be appointed by the Directors to
superintend the masters & tuition of the students & shall be
removeable by them.

6. The said Clergyman shall be allowed a decent living.

7. The Gen'. Chapter has appointed the IIR. Messrs. John
Carroll, James Pellentz, Rob' Molyneux, John Ashton, and
Leon'' Keale, directors of the school.

This was the first step toward the foundation of George-
town College. It emanated undoubtedly from Very Rev.
Dr. Carroll, and was adopted in a chapter where a bare quo-
rum attended, though Rev. Mr. Pellentz, who could not at-
tend, wrote warmly advocating the plan.

At this meeting it was also decided that in their opinion
a diocesan Bishop, depending directly on the Holy See, was
alone suited to the wants of the Church in the United States,
and that the selection of the Bishop ought to be made by the
clergy then on the mission.

The Prefect-Apostolic, and two members of the clergy,
Messrs. Molvneux and Ashton, were authorized to prepare a
memorial ei'nbodying these points. Steps were also taken to
procure an incorporation by the State of Maryland of the
body of the clergy to insure the property, which, under Eng-

804

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

lish rule, it had been necessary to hold in the names of indj.
viduuls.'

Tlio clergy in the southern district vehemently oppoHci
the action taken by the Chapter. They protested against tlio
api)ointinent of a Bishop, and the erection of the school at
Georgetown.

A calm and very comprehensive reply was made to tlurn
by Rev. Messrs. Digges, Ashton, Sewall, and Boarman, Dr,
Carroll appending his signature. It showed conclusively that
the only choice lay between the apjwintment of a Vicar-
Aix)8tolic by the Propaganda, a step already proposed aiul
delayed by the influence of Dr. Carroll, and the erectio.i „f
an Episcopal See with a diocesan bishop, to be selected by
the clergy in America.' If they rejected the latter, the for-
mer must inevitably be decided upon, so that the country
would, in all probability, remain under Vicars-Apostolic as
England had.

The opposition to an undertaking which the Very Rev.
Prefect regjirded as i)regnant with the greatest blessings was
entirely unexpected. To the Rev. Leonard Neale, who had
l)ecome adverse to it, the V. Rev. Dr. Carroll wrote: "When
amongst you I conversed on the subject of a school with
every one of you, excepting perhaps Mr. Roels ; and it aj)-
pearcd to be the general and unanimous opinion, that it was
an advantageous and necessary measure." . . . . " When I
first saw your letter I own that I felt myself greatly disheart-
ened : but consideration has in some measure revived my
hopes. Almighty God suffers almost every design to be
thwarted and oftenfimes by the best men, from which emi-
nent advantage is afterwards to be derived to His glory, tlit

' Procmlinjrs of tlie General Chapter In the year 1786.

» •' To the Reverend Oentl.-men of the Southern District of Maryland.

OEORGETOWN COLLEGE.

806

we may be made more Hensiblo of IHh divine interposition in
itH final succesfl. My liopcH are perlmps too Banguinc : but
(}(.d is my wituoss, that in recointnetiding a school at first,
and in still persisting in that recommendation, I think 1 am
rendering to Religion the greatest service that will ever be

in my p(»wer."

Ill this opposition the Rev. Bernard Diderick was the
loader; but the Very Rev. Prefect held firm, and as the plan
had been adopted in Chapter, he persevered, though in some
other matters he suspended action till they had been more
fully considered at a future meeting.*

Limited as were his powers and scanty his resources he
felt that the establishment of a Catholic Academy could not
be deferred. " In the beginning," he wrote to his friend.
Rev. Charles Plowden, "the Academy will not receive board-
ers, but they must provide lodgings in town ; but all notori-
ous deviations from the rules of morality, out, as well as in
school, must, be subjected to exemplary correction, every care
mid precaution that can be devised will be employed to pre-
serve attention to the duties of religion and good manners, in
which other American schools are most notoriously deficient.
One of our own gentlemen, and the best qualified we can
get, will live at the Academy to have the general direction
of the studies and superintendence over scholars and masters.
Four other of our gentlemen will be nominated to visit the
Academy at stated times, and whenever they can make it
convenient, to see that the business is properly conducted.
In the beginning we shall be obliged to employ secvdar mas-
ters, under the superintendent, of which many and tolerably
good ones have already solicited appointments. The great
influx from Europe of men of all professions and talents has

' Letter from Baltimore, February 7, 1787.

hO'^ LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CAIUiOLL.

proctin.5^ this opportunity of f»,)vidin^ teachers. n„t tJiiH
U not intended to l)e a |H;rinniifnt i.v«ten.. We trunt in ({,h|
that many youths will he eallud tu fhe wrvico of theChurcii
After finirthiiig i ' •> acadenjical studies, thew will bo sent to a
mniriary which w.ii Ik- e«tahl)-!w.d in one of our houses; un.l
«»^ have through (Jod's .nercv. ..lace and sitnution ad'niira-
h[y "ttlculated for the purpose .A retirement, where tliene
youths may be jKjrfecteil in their first, and initiated into the
higher studies, and at the sjune time formed to the virtues
k'coming their stati.ni. Before these young Keminarists are
admitted to orders, they will Ih) sent to teach M»me years at
the Academy, which will improve their knowledge and ri|.,.i,
their minds still more, before they irrevocably engage theiu-
Belves to the Church." '

He wrote earnestly to his friends i„ Europe to obtain an
exjierienced principal for the Academy, m well as for advice
in regard to the course of studies and the proper text-lxioks.

Meanwhile printe<i proposjils were sent out to the Catholic
body, and preparations mad.; for erecting suitable buildings
at Georgetown, where a site had l)een obtained.

PROPOSALS

for establishing an Academy at George Town, Patowniack
River, Maryland.

The object of the proposed Institution is to unite the
Means of communicating Science with an effectual Provision
for guarding and improving the Morals of Youth. With
this View the Sen)inary will be suj^erintended by those, who,
having had Experience in similar Institutions, know that an

' Very Rev. .John Carroll to Rev. Charles Plowdcn, Marcli. H";
Woodstock Letters.

QEORQETOWN COLLEGE.

807

un<livi(lc«l Attention niuy bo given to the rnltivation of Vir-
tue and liti-rary Iinprovrmeiit ; and tliat a JS^Hteni of Diwi
pline may be introduced and proHervtM incompatiidc with
Indolence and Inattention In the Professor, or with incor-
rigible IlabitH of Iniinorality in the Student.

The Henetit of this EHtablishnient should be as general
iw the Attainment of its Object is desirable. It will, there-
fore, receivi' I'upils as «t>on sis they have learned the first Ele-
niontH of Letters, and will conduct them through the several
nnooheH of Classical Learning to that Stage of Education,
from which they nuiy [)roceed, with Advantage to the Study
of the higher Scuenees, in the University of this, or those of
the neighbcturing States. Thus it will be calculated for every
(!lass of Citizens; — as Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, the
earlier Branches of the Mathenuitics, and the (irammar t)f
our native Tongue will be attended to, no less than the learned
Languages.

Agreeably to the liberal Principle of our Constitution, the
Seminary will be open to Students of Evkky kelkhous Pro-
KKssioN. They, who in this Respect differ from the Super-
intendents of the Academy, will be at Liberty to frequent the
Place of Worship and Instruction appointed by their Par-
ents; but with Respect to their moral Conduct, all must be
subject to general and uniform Discipline.

In the choice of Situation, Salubrity of Air, Convenience
of Communication and Cheapness of Living, have been prin-
cipally consulted, and George-Town offers these united Ad-
van tageB.

The Price of Tuition will be moderate ; in the Course of
a few Years it will l>o reduced still lower, if the System
formed for this Seminury, be effectually carried into execution.

Such a Plan of Education solicits, and, it is not Presump-
tion to add, deserves public Encouragement.

l\M

808

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The following Gentlemen, and others that may be ap-
pointed hereafter, will receive Subscriptions, and inform tlio
Subscribers, to whom and in what Proportion, Payments are
to be made :— In Maryland— The Hon. Charles Carroll, of
Carrollton, Henry Rozer, Notley Young, Robert Darnall,
George Diggs, Edmund Plowden, Esqrs., Mr, Joseph Mil-
lard, Capt. John Lancaster, Mr. Baker Brooke, Chandler
Brent, Esqr., Mr. Bernard O'Neill, and Mr, Marsham War-
ing, Merchants, John Darnall and Ignatius Wheeler, Esqrs.,
on the Western Shore; and on the Eastern, Rev. Joseph
Mosley, John Blake, Francis Hall, Charles Blake, William
Matthews and John Tuitte, Esqrs. — In Pennsylvania-
George Mead and Thomas Fitzsimmons, Esqrs., Mr. Josep'n
Cauifman, Mr. Mark Willcox and Mr. Thomas Lilly.— In
Virginia- -Col. Fitzgerald, and George Brent, Esqrs.— and
at New York, Dominick Lynch, Esquire.

Subscriptions will also be received, and every necessary In-
formation given, by the following Gentlemen, Directors of
the Undertaking :— The Rev. Messrs. John Carroll, James
Pellentz, Robert Molyneux, John Ashton, and Leonard
Neale.

To all liberally inclined to promote the
Education of Youth.

Be it known by these Presents that I the undersigned, have
appointed to receive any generous donation for the pur-
pose set forth in a certain printed paper, entitled Proposals
for establishing an Academy, at George-Town, Patowmack

River, Maryland ; for which will give receipts to the

Benefactors, and remit the monies received by to itje

the aforesaid underwritten, one of the Directors of the Un-
dertaking, Conscious also of the merited Confidence placed
in the aforef-id I moreover authorize to appoint

BEV. P. SMYTH.

809

any other person or persons to execute the same liberal Ofl&ce,
as he is authorized by me to execute.

this day of , 17 — .

Signed and sealed,

J. Carroll.'

Dr. Carroll solicited a course of study from Rome, but the
Propaganda left that subject as well as the rules of domestic
discipline to his judgment, subject to the consideration and
approbation of the Holy See."

Dr. Carroll thus persevered in his attempt to establish a
Catholic College : in regard to the proposed bishopric, more
personal to himself, he did not care to act in opposition to
the general wish, though the difficulties in New York showed
that the present condition could not be prolonged. The little
body of the old missioners in Maryland looked forward to
the speedy restoration of the Society to which they had be-
longed, and to its re-entrance into all its rights.

But events soon occurred which convinced them of the ne-
cessity of the action of the Chapter. Among the clergy who
had recently come into the country, there were unmistaka-
ble signs of a jealousy of the clergy then in Maryland.

In 1787 there arrived on the American mission a priest
whose moral character was blameless, but whose discontented
and utigratefiil spirit proved the source of great trials to
Dr. Carroll. The Rev. Patrick Smyth, a native of Kells,
educated in France, Wiis parish priest at Dunboyne in 1787,
when the apostasy of Dr. Butler so shocked the Catholics of
Ireland. Rev. Mr. Smyth felt it so deeply tliat he resigned

' "Tlie Georgetown College Journal," vi., p. 50, describea the Pros-
pectus as in size 15 by 18 inches, and believes it to have been printed by
the Greens at Annapolis.

» Cardinal Autonelli to Very Rev. John Carroll, August 8, 1787.

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310

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

his parish and came to the United States as a missionary,
having also some family matters here that required liis
attention. Rev. Dr. Carroll received him as one of his
clergy, and at the heginning of winter stationed him at
Frederick, Maryland, where he remained till April, 1788
succeeding the Rev. Mi-. Frambach at that place. He at-
tended a number of stations and fulfilled his duties so satis-
factorily that Dr. Carroll attested liis zeal and fidelity, es-
pecially in visiting remote stations. On the 15th of March
he wrote to the Prefect-Apostolic that lie had resolved to
return to Ireland. While profuse in expressing his thanks
to Dr. Carroll for frequent acts of courtesy and liberality,
he announced that he would proceed to Baltimore and
resign his faculties. This he did, remaining with the
Yery Rev. Dr. Carroll and Rev. Mr. Sewall for nearly a
month before he sailed. After his departure a letter was
handed to Dr. Carroll from him full of the most ungenerous
insinuations.

This was but the prelude to a violent attack on Dr. Carroll
and the older missionaries in America which he inihlished in
pamphlet form at Dublin in 1788. Its very title, " The Pres-
ent State of the Catholic Mission conducted by the Ex-Jcsuits
in North America," shows that it was prompted inninly by
hostility to the Society of Jesus, a feeling evinced also by a
threat of publishing a new translation of Pascal's " Pronncial
I^etters." The main charge was that iae Rev. Dr. Carroll
and the memlwrs of the suppressed Society kej)t all the lucra-
tive missions in Maryland and Pennsylvania to themselves,
and no position of influence would be given to any secular
priest ; he accused the Jesuits of neglecting to extend mis-
sions throughout the colonies, of building spiendid mansions
for themselves, and even of cruel treatment of the negroes.
The Dominican Father William O'Brien at New York,

THE REPLY TO SMYTH.

311

as a friend of the Prefect, was violently denounced by his
brother Irish priest.

Dr. Carroll felt sensibly the prejudice this virulent pam-
phlet would create among the clergy of Ireland, to which body
he looked for priests to minister to their countrymen already
emigrating in large numbers to America. He resolved to
prepare a reply, and actually began one, the rough unfinished
draft still existing : but letters from Archbishop Troy and
other members of the hierarchy in Ireland, as well as from
priests, who advised him to take no notice of it, induced him
to lay aside his projected answer. Smyth's turbulent charac-
ter was not unknown in Ireland ; he was soon involved in a
controversy with Dr. Plunkett, Bishop of Meath, and when
after some years he submitted and obtained a parish, he al-
most immediately became embroiled with his curate.

In the sketch prepared by Very Rev. Dr. Carroll, he
showed Smyth's perversions of history : the Jesuits under-
took to maintain a mission in Maryland, and did so at their
own cost : neither the Sovereign Pontiff nor the Vicar- Apos-
tolic in England had ever assigned all the colonies to them as
a field, nor had they ever undertaken to supply them all.
The Vicars-Apostolic in England and Bishops in Ireland
might at any time have undertaken missions in any part of
the colonies, as Franciscans really did in Maryland for half a
century. He denied the charge that the Jesuits had magnifi-
cent abodes on the Potomac and the Eastern Shore, in which
Kev. Mr. Sniyth evidently exaggerated accounts given by a
traveller of his name. As to the charge that the Maryland
missionaries treated their negroes cruelly, he wrote : " They
deny that he ever saw one single instance in any clergyman
of America, of the horrible crime which he imputes generally
to them all. On the contrary they say that few amongst
them are concerned in the management of estates or negroes;

Ii4

^-^ijilit;

812

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

that no such avocation diverts them from their pastoral du-
ties ; that the few to whom the management is committed
treat their negroes with great mildness and are attentive t(!
guard them from the evils of hunger and nakedness ; that
they work less and are much better fed, lodged, and clothed
than laboring men in almost any part of Europe ; that the in-
stances are rare indeed and almost unknown of corporal pun-
ishment being inflicted on any of them who are come to the
age of manhood ; and that 'a priest's negro ' is almost proverbial
for one, who is allowed to act without restraint." He cites in
evidence of this the fact that when British cruisers plundered
the plantations, while crowds of negroes from other planta-
tions sought liberty under the English flag, only two negroes
from the plantations of the Catholic clergy did so, one of
whom soon returned, the rest fleeing to avoid the English
and remain as they were,'

' Smyth, " The Present State of the Catholic Mission conducted by tlie
Ex-.Iesuita in North America," Dublin, P. Byrne, 1788. Rev. Dr ("ar-
roU. Draft of a reply ; Letter of Rev. P. Smyth to Very Rev John Car
roll, Fredericktown, March 15, 1788 ; same to Mr. Robert Walsh May
6, 1788 ; Very Rev. J. Carroll to Archbishop of Dublin, August 11 1788
in "Spicilep. 0.s.sor.,"iii, p. 504; Cogan. " The Ecclesiastical History of
the Dioces«-of Meath, Ancient and Modern," Dublin, 1874, i., pp. l9,^,
811 ; iii.. pp. 129, 149. Addressing his friend Thorpe, May 8, 1789 Dr
Carroll mentioned that the Archbishops in Ireland had iwked him not to no-
tice Smyth's pamphlet, but he adds: " I have been told by my Brethren
that I owe it lo them, if not to my own charucter to answer it " The Rev
A. Cogan, in his History of the Diocese of Meath, siiys of this clergyman •
•• Patrick Smith was a man of splendid abilities, of ready and versatile
talent, but wiw in disposition restless as a wave ; pre-eminently factious
and discontented. He offlciated in the capacity of pastor in various parts
of the diocese, emigrated to America, transferred his .services to Dr Car-
roll, Bishop of Baltimore, and returned to Meath, choleric and disap-
pomted. angry with himself and with the worid. Inilieving all his ecciesi
astical suiieriors to be unmindful of his many iK-rfections, and regarding
lumself as the most unhappy and ill-treated of men. It was his misfor
tune, as has happened to others too, that his bishop had tiiken too much

WANT OF PRIESTS.

313

Writing to Archbishop Troy, of Dublin, Dr. Carroll said :
u I lament with your Lordship that there are not more cler-
.vmen in the United States. They are large enough and
offer a field wide enough for many more laborers But un-
fortunately almost all who offer their services have great
expectations of livings, high salaries, &c., and these our
country does not afford. Most of the stations to which sala-
ieB are annexed are occupied ; and I find few, or to speak
„,ore properly, I find none willing to commit themselves en-
tirely to the care of Providence, and seek to gather congre-
gations, and hvings of consequence, by fixing themselves in
places where no missioners preceded them. Your Grace
Inows it was thus that religion was propagated in every age
of the Church. If clergymen animated with this spirit wil
offer their services, I will receive them with the greatest
cheerfulness, and direct their zeal where there is every pros-
pect of success; and will make no manner of distinction
Ltween Seculars and Regulars. But one tlung must l>e
fully impressed on their minds, that no pecuniary prospects
or woruiy comforts must enter into the motives for their
rossing tlie Atlantic to this country. They will find theui-
elves much disappointed. Labour, hardships o every kiiui
and particularly great scarcity of wine (especia ly out of he
towii) must be home with. Sobriety in drink is expected
from lergymen to a great degree. That w iich m many
parts of Europe would be esteemed no more than a cheerful

„oUce of ... Md dc.e too ^. ^ ^ ^^^^ ^PO^^ '^-

nmn, a priest of the same diocese.
14

.'1*

■•^lllllf

314 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

and allowable enjoynient of a friendly company, would be
regarded here in our clergy as an unl)econiii,g excess » '

Even in the heart of New England, Catholics were beiri,,.
n.ng to gather. The few in Boston in 1788 rejoiced at the
arrival of a French priest from the diocese of An-^ers the
Kev. Claudius Florent Bouchaud de la Poterie, to wlunnDr
Carroll gave faculties on the 24th of December. He an'
nounced his appointment in a pompous printed Pastoni
Letter. The site of a French Huguenot church on School
Street was obtained, the title of which, by previous deeds
could be conveyed only to natives of France. Here a brick
cliurch was commenced, and was dedicated on All Saints'
Day, 1788, under the invocation of the Holy Cross. Rev
Mr. de la Poterie was a man of education and address; he
obtained subscriptions for the new church, not only in JVew
England, but also in Canada.'

The French members of the congregation at Boston, see-
ing the Catholic body there too small and poor to ,)rovide
the church with the necessary vestments and plate for the
altar, sent an appeal to the Archbishop of Paris, informing
bmi of the struggle the Catholics were making to establish
divine worship in the capital of New England. The Arch
bishop did not disreg-ard the appeal ; he sent a needed outfit
to the church in Boston, but warned the Catholics against
wandering priests, and informed them that faculties had been

• Very Rev. .John Carroll to Moat Rev. Dr. Trov, NoverabcT 9 1789.
name to same. August 11, 1788; Cardinal Moran/" Spicile,nu„. olo":
ense," III., pp. .507, 508. b uiin/i«ori-

' I>e '"^Poterie. '• A Pastoral Letter from the Apostolic Vice-Prefect

.e" :; 's T : r" t: "^ "™'"" " f^"*'^""- ^'««i = •• Memoir ; •« ?

I eSa!esLaterrK^^., Queln-e." 1873, p. 165; " Gazette cJc QuelK-c" Sun
r ement, October 22 1789. I „„, under oblipuions to licv. J. IL.Z
bte. Foye. and Mr. P. Gagnon, of Queln-c, for these la.st reference

AFFAIRS IN BOSTON.

315

taken from De la Poterie in Paris on account of his culpable

conduct.' . , , 1 J I

The Rev Dr. Carroll had also learned that he had been
imposed upon by an unworthy priest, whose life at Paris,
Home, and Naples was by no means creditable. His con-
duct in Boston justified the information, and the Very Rev.
Prefect deputed the Rev. William O'Brien, of New York, to
proceed to New England and withdraw the faculties o the
wretched priest. A violent little pamphlet, called The
Rnsurrection of Laurent Ricci," attacking the Very Rev.
Prefect, the Dominican Father O'Brien, and representmg
De la Poterie as a victim to their wiles, appears to have been
issued by him in revenge.'

De la Poterie subsequently visited Canada and endeavored
to secure a position in that country. He failed, but inserted
in the " Journal de Quebec" a profuse expression of thanks
for the courtesies extended to him.* ^

The successor of La Poterie at Boston was the Rev. Louis
Rousselet, whose ministry was by no means an advantage to
the little congregation of fifty or sixty Catholics then m
Boston. Bishop Carroll was compelled to withdraw his fac-
ulties Rousselet then went to Guadaloupe and was put to

1 B U Can pbell in " U. 8. Catholic Magazine," viii., p. 102.

» Letter of Rev. Mr. Thorpe to Very Rev. J. Carroll. Rome December
o iS; satrto Rev. C. pLden. October 23, 1789. The Vicar-Gen-
eral of the diocese of Blois also exposed him.

3 .. The Resurrection of Laurent Ricci ; or, A True and Exact History
of the JesuiU." Philadelphia, 1789. ^ r, . •

. Very Rev. J. Carroll to Rev. Mr. Thorpe, May 8, 1789. La Potene
was^Boston in March, 1789, and a notice of the -r-ces on a ch
2rHhinhisstyleisinCarey-s.-A.nencan^^^^^^^ ^ P- 4.^ ^^

srp^irwTJt r.iarr?7S re^

La Poterie'8. published on his first coming to Boston.

816

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

.-i^"
IIJ4

death by the French Revolutionists. In August, 1789, the
Rev. Arnaud Roux, Superior of the Convent of Charity
in Guadeloupe, died in New London, after a stay of six
weeks.'

In the Carolinas Catholicity scarcely existed except aniorijr
the exiled Aeadians, some of whom lingered apparently till
the commencement of the Revolution. Few English-speak-
ing Catholics ventured there, and two Irish Catholics, dis-
covered in Charleston in 1775, were at once accused of con-
spiring with the negroes against the liberties of the country,
were condemned to be tiirred and feathered, then banialied
from the State. Prejudice was so strong that any Cath-
olics in Carolina kept their faith so secret that they were not
even known to each other.

The Revolution modified some of the prevailing bigotrv,
though the Protestant was made the established religion of
the State. Catholics began to be regarded with less horror.
About the year 1786 a vessel bound to South America put
into the port of Charleston. The Catholics in the city, who
now dared recogm'ze each other, heard to their joy that there
was a priest on board. They at once besought him to say
mass for them, and he accordingly celebrated the holy sacri-
fice in the house of an Irish Catholic before a little congre-
gation of about twelve persons.'

In 1788 Dr. Carroll sent to Charleston the Rev. Mr. Rvaii,
a very jiious Irish i)riest, who found the Catholics few, poor,
and timid. He succeeded in hiring a ruinous building, which
had l)ecn used as a meeting-house by some Protestant bodv.
Here the Catholic religion was first i)ublicly exercised in

' Letter of Rev. Dr. T. .1. Shahan.

' Rt. Rev. .1. England, " A Brief Account of the Introduction of tlic
Catholic Hclipon into the StjiteH of North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia." Dublin, 183'.;, pp. a, 15.

THE CHURCH IN CHARLESTON.

317

Carolina. He served earnestly for two years, till his health
failed, God blessing his labors, .uid his life being one of
.reat edification.' He had by that time gathered a flock of
"bout two hundred. " Every day they became more numer-
ous Many whom past discouragements and oppression kept
concealed "began to show themselves. Our religion has not
been exercised publicly there above two years. The Catho-
lies there are mostly poor. They have no church ; but di-
vine service is performed in a ruinous house which they

have hired." ' , i u *. "ti

The little congregation wished to erect a church about .5
feet long by 50 in width at a cost of |15,00(), and riiey ai>
pealed for aid to the King of Spain through the Spanish
consul, Don Jose Ignacio Viar.

The Rev. Mr. Ryan w^is succeeded by Rev. Mr. Keating
iu 1790, but that clergyman, discouraged by difficulties and
some disappointments, withdrew at the end of a few mon hs.
The Catholics in Charleston had at first indulged the hope
that the French or Spanish government might support a
chaplain in that city for the benefit of their own subjec s,
but Dr. Carroll wrote : " It will be fortunate to have the
exercise of our religion introduced even by these means ;Jnit

T^^^Tr^J^ Carroll Letter September. 1788. It ^^ ^ov.M

Lngluncl p.., culls huiUKeuy, , ^^^^^^ ^^^^^.^^^

enrol nil." C'linrleston, 1809, u., p. *)(, aiiuuLa Carroll

Hpv Mr Ilvan arrived in Philadelphia August 1, 1788. Dr. Carrou
ot;ed hi. . po ition in one of the western eouuties of Pcnnsylvama
"^ . Ly colony of Irish Catholics are soliciting a priest and offer

xvlun amrj,tio. jr preferred Charleston. -Very Rev. . I.

him a mamtenauee. Itev. Mr. K. preicrr Cardinal Moran,

Carroll to Most Rev. Dr. Troy. August 11, 1<88. Cardinal
"Snicil. Ossor.," iii., p. SO-'"'- ^ .,

; Ut Rev .1. Carroll to Dr. .Tos6 Ignacio Viar. April 20. 1700. Smyth.
•« Present Slate," alludes to Mr. Ryan's appointment.

3 Draft of a letter of Rt. Rev. Dr. Carroll.

4 .-M

rrfi
k

818 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

I cannot help expressiDg a wiHh that your clergy may bo en
tirely independent of and unconnected with any forei^,
prince." ' -^ fc''

In North Carolina, a Mrs. Gaston, widow of a victim of
British cruelty during the war, rctiiined her fa'-fh and e.h.
cated her son in the faith of her ancestora. About 1784 she
was consoled by the arrival of the Rev. Patrick Cleary canon
of the church at Funchal, Madeira, who came to New' Heme
to obtjiin property to which he was entiti d as heir of iiis
brother. Mrs. Gaston fitted up a room i„ her lu.use as i
chapel, where Canon Cleary said mass f(,r her family and i
few (,\,thoIicfi in the i)lace, among them John Bevereu.x who
afterward wttled at Kaleigh. '

Canon Cleary did not intend to remain in tlie country but
he was detained by the law's delays, and died at N ;• Uerne in
1 790.

There were a few French Catholics about this time at
AVashmgton, North Carolina, but they soon died or with-
drew, Walter Ilanrahan remaining as the Catholic pioneer'

While religion was thus spreading to districts from which
It had been excluded in colonial days, difficulties w.--e arising
within the Church.

In the action of Rev. Mr. Smyth, as well as of the far less
worthy priests, De la Poterie and Nugent, there were indica-
tmns of coming divisions among the hitherto harmonious
lK)dy of the Catholics in the Unite.1 States. A spirit of antag-
^— "Jl'l!'''' ^^^^^ "^ "''^'•g^^ as formeriy members of the

' Rt. Rev .1. rarroll to the Grntlemcn „f Clmrleston. The >.pplication
o the Spamsb (•<•..« wa.s resu„,e.l after his eonsc-eration. rJ ev J
Carroll to Don Diego (ie Gardcxiui. June 25, 1791.

t,J Hfl",'«r "l "r ^V'"'™.?'""^''- " ^'^- f^''"'""^ MiHoellanv," ii..

pp. 146 Ifl- LnKhuHl. "AHrief Aeeount of the Introduction of the. Cath-

wlrk?- '"•'""' ;':^'^^*-'^«^ ^"^'^^ Carolina." etc.. Dublin. 1832. p. 23;

1' r

THE FIRST NATIONAL CHURCH.

319

; n

Society of Jesus, or trained by Religious of that order, was
iictively spread, and some of the newly-arrived priests denied
that members of the suppressed order could validly otliciate.
At the same tiine national prejudices were apjHjaled to, and
it was claimed that those of each country ought to have
churches and priests of their own, selected by themselves,
and not join in worship with other Catholics.

The first overt manifestation of this feeling appeared in
Philadelphia. Some of the German residents of that city
had solicited the ap^K)intment of Rev. John Charles llelbron,
a Capuchin, to the position which Dr. Carroll felt bound to
give to Rev. Lawrence Graessel. The malcontents then ex-
cited a part of the German Catholics to withdraw from St.
Mary's Church and to erect a new church exclusively for
Germans ; and as the congregation of St. Mary's Church had
taken steps to obtain from the legislature of Pennsylvania an
Act of Incorporation, the seceders began an active agitation
to prevent its past:age.

When they wrote to Rev. Dr. Carroll to obtain his panc-
tion for the erection of a new church, he replied that while
he would gladly encourage any attempt to increase the num-
ber of churches, he could not judge how prudent their project
might be till he knew their ability to erect a church and
maintain a pastor. lie added : " I hope there is no danger
of causing such a separation amongst Roman Catholics, as
will prevent divine service from l)eing performed with the
same concourse and general approbation as at present."

In conclusion he urged them to be guided by the advice
of the venerable Mr. Pellentz ; and expressly required a dis-
avowal of any attempt to set up pastors without the concur-
rence of the Ecclesiastical superior.' As he subsequently

' Very Rev. Jolm Carroll to Oerman Catholics of Philadelphia, March
8, 1788.

it ■ j.^

II' ■'
W.

f « ' '

890

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

wrote when rebuking? tlio hostilo spirit they evinced to the
cK-rj^y and people of St. xMiiry'ri Church : " Thus were divi-
BioHH Htirred up, at the very time, that aHHurances were sent to
me, of the most perfect di8jM)8ition8 to cultivate ])eace, uiid
that in couHecjuence of thcHc iissuranceH I had given my coii-
(h'tional assent to your propowid of huildinj?, more indeed for
the preservation of charity, and in the h(.|)e of its Ijeinj,' here-
after conducive to the interests of religion, than fronv any
conviction of its being necessjiry at this time." '

Though, as Dr. Carroll reminded tliem, " a very consider-
able and respectable part of the German congregation d(»us
not unite with you in the new building and separation from
the old congregation, eonsifitiiig of all nations," they j)er-
sistod. Although Dr. Carroll called their attention to the
want of a church in the northern part of the tity, land near
the older churches was purchased of the Supreme Executive
Council of Pennsylvania by Mr. Adam Premir, on the 2lHt
of Febniary, ITSH, the plot having a front of sixty-eight feet
ten inches on Sixth Street, and running back one hundred
and ninety-eight feet on Spruce Street. Here the cortier-
stone was blessed without any notification to the Prefect-
Apostolic.

Such was the origin of the first exclusively national church
organized in this country. It took the name of the Church
of the Holy Trinity, and was ojwned on the 20th of Novem-
ber, 1789.'

Both churches then obtained acts of incorporation— St.
Mary's on the l.'Uh of Septemlwr, 1788, as " The Trustees of
the Roman Catholic Society worshiping at the CJhurch of St.

' Verj- Rrv. .lohn f 'arroll to German Catholics of Philadelphia, Whito-
mnrsh, March 31. 1788.

» Samp to same. FJaltimorc, June 15, 1788; Westcott. "A History of
I'liiladilphia," ch. 306.

JIKV. JOSEPH MOSLEY'S Dl'^H.

821

Miiry'H in thoCityof Philadelpliia," witli llev. Uol)ert Moly-
ueux, Rev. FranciH BwHton, and liev. loiwreiure (iraesHcl m
jmHtorrt, aii«l(n'orgt' Mt-a-le, Tlionius KItZHimoiiH, JaiiieH HyrnoH,
Paul Esliiij;, .lolin Cottriii4«r, James Eck, Murk Wilcox, and
.lohit Carroll an lay tniHteert. And on the 4tli of October
were incorporated "The TrusteeB of the German Religious
(Society of Roman CatholicH, called the Church of the Holy
Trinity in the City of Philadelphia," the trusteert being "the
paHtor for the time being, (ireorge ErncHt Lechlcr, Sr., James
OellerH, Cliristopher Shorty, Henry Home, Adam Premir,
Anthony Hookey, Jacob Threin, and Charles P)auman." '

During the Hummer of 1787 another of the veteran prieets
of Maryland, whose name has frec^ucntly been given, ended

his days.

Rev. Joseph ^fosley was an excellent and devoted jiricst,
entirely given np to his missionary duties, but extremely
timid. In the oath of allegiance, which his brethren took,
he found ditKcnlties which caused him to shrink back. In
the appointment of a bishop ho at first saw untold dangers.
On the L>ttth of July, 1786, he wrote to a relative in England :
" Pve been these 10 months several times at death's door with
biliotis fevers and frequent returns of the gravel. I seem to
be at present upon the recovery, thro' God's blessing, for I
know not what will become of my little Hock, if I shoiild be
taken from them. It is a mission 1 begin-, al)out 22 years
ago, where no priest ha<l ever settled, I found a few when I
settled here, but thank God aiid his divine as.sistanee we can
now count between aOO and 6U0 communicants. The present
incumbents are growing very old and intinn, and few come
to supply our i)laces. I've wrote several times to Mr. Strick-

• Wc'stcott, I'll. 36r.-6. Dr. Carroll discussed the whole question as to
the uiovemtiit leading to the building of this church in a letter to Rev.
Mr. Beeston. March 22. 1788.
14*

■t'.f<REHi

'ii

322

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

land at Liege, to take pity of us and send ue fresh supplies.
I am yet all alone and have but one other of my call on the
Eastern shore of Maryland, and he lives 50 miles from me.
We see one another perhaps once a year. You may pity my
situation, I pity that of my poor flock, and not my own, I
wish I was younger and healthier to serve them as I wou'd.
My chapel or church is finished inside and out, as also my
house. You've had the dimensions of both. It is full every
Sunday that we keep Church or Prayers at Home." He
begged for books, Challoner's Caveat against the Methodists,
as that sect abounded in his district ; Pastorini's History of
the Church, and a life of " Benedict Joseph, a poor Man who
lately died at Rome in a great odour of sanctity. His mira-
cles in that city have been so well attested that it has much
confuted the opinion of many, who maintain that miracles
have ceased in the church."

His recovery was only temporary ; he sank again and died
piously at the church he had founded, June 3, 1787, at the
age of 66.'

The veteran missionary. Rev. John Lewis, who had been the
last Superior of the mission of the Society of Jesus in Mary-
land and Pennsylvania, did not lorg survive Rev. Mr. Mos-
ley, at whose funeral he officiated. K the ho^>e of seeing the
Society of Jesus restored was beginning to grow less, he was
gratified at least by seeing his brethren still united in the
bonds of harmony, a body of zealous priests, soon to behold
one of their number invested with the episcopal dignity.'

In Rev. John Lewis closed the line of Sujjeriors of the

' Letters. Foley, " Records of tlie English Province," vii., p. 580. In
an Ordo belonging to this laborious priest, Father John Lewis ninde
this entry : " 5 June, 1787. Buried Jenny Parks at 8t. Joseph's. Eodcm
die R. Jos. Mosley in y' chapel. R. I. Pace. J. Lewis. "

•Foley, " Records of the English Province," vii., p. 459.

NEW YORK TROUBLES.

323

original Maryland mission. He was a native of Northamp-
tonshire, born September 19, 1721, and after passing through
his literary course at St. Omer, entered the Society at Wat-
ten in 1740, on the eve of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin,
the favorite day in the province for the admission of new-
members. He came to Maryland in 1758 and succeeded the
venerable Father Hunter as Superior of the mission. It was
his melancholy duty to receive from Bishop Challoner the
document requiring him to exact from his community adhe-
sion to the will of the Sovereign Pontiff, expressed in his
brief. Rev. Mr. Lewis had been and continued to be Vicar-
General of the Vicar-Apostolic of London, till the death of
Bishop Challoner in January, 1781. Bishop Talbot appar-
ently took no steps to renew the appointment, so that Rev.
Mr. Lewis acted temporarily till Rev. Dr. Carroll wa ap-
pointed Prefect-Apostolic, when he resigned all manner of
authority to him. He died at Bohemia early in 1788.'

In October, 1787, the Very Rev. Prefect found that bis
presence was needed in New York. The Trustees had
learned none too soon that their action in regard to Rev.
Charles Whelan had deprived the congregation of a worthy
priest and left it to the mercy of a wolf in sheep's clothing.
They now besought the Very Rev. Prefect to deliver them
from the very priest whom they had forced upon him. They
presented such serious charges against the Rev. Father An-
drew Nugent, that Dr. Carroll, informed from Dublin of his
previous suspension there, withdrew the faculties which he
had cautiously granted him only during his own pleasure.
He appointed as pastor of St. Peter's congregation. New
York, a worthy Dominican, the Rev. William O'Brien, who

' May 34, 1788, at. 67 ; Foley, March 34, Woodstock Letters, xv., p.

PHI

824

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Lad already done parochial work in Philadelphia and Kew
Jersey, and was highly coniniended by the Archbishop o.'
Dublin, in whose diocese he had labored worthily for sixteen
years. Nugent refused to withdraw. The Rev. Br. Carroll
accordingly proceeded to New York, and was about to begin
mass on Sunday before the large congregation assembled in
St. Peter's Church, when Rev. Mr. Nugent asserted his right
to say the parochial mass, and declared that he would not
yield it, unless Dr. Carroll promised to make no allusion to
him in his address to the people. To this Dr. Carroll would
not assent, stating that the people should be informed of
whom they should l)eware, and to whom they should resort
for spiritual aid. Nugent then began a violent tirade, which
produced the greatest uproar and confusion.

But the Very Rev. Prefect was not to be overawed : he
announced to the people that Rev. Mr. Nugent, to whom he
had never granted but temporary faculties, was suspended
from every exercise of the ministry, and he cautioned the
congregiition against attending any mass that the wretched
priest might attempt to say.

Dr. Carroll then retired, followed by the greater part of
the congregation, and said mass in the private chai)el of Don
Diego de Gardoqui, the Spanish minister.' Father Nugent
actually said mass in St. Peter's Church, and the few blind
partisans who adhered to him declared that Rev. Dr. Carroll
had no power to suspend their favorite. It was the first oc-
casion in the history of the Church in this country where the
laity, in their ignorance of the constitution of the Church,
supported a ]>riest in resisting lawful authority.

The Rev. Dr. Carroll, to disabuse these misguided men,

' Diego dc (Jardoqui to Conde de Floridablanca, New York Julv "5

1788. ' •' " '

NEW YORK TROUBLES.

325

published an address on the subject, which was signed by the
principal Catholics of New York. The Trustees put a new
lock on the door of the church to prevent Nugent and his
partisans from entering, it being arranged that the Rev. Dr.
Carroll should, on the ensuing Sunday, instruct the people
on the nature and source of spiritual authority. But the ad-
herents of the fallen priest broke opon the door and filled
the church with a rabble from the streets. When the Very
Rev. Dr. Carroll attempted to address the people, such a
tumult was raised that he could not proceed. The Trustees
wished to clear the church of intruders, but the prudent
Prefect-Apostolic counselled forbearance. He again pro-
ceeded to the Spanish embassy, followed by all CathoUcs
who really attended to their religious duties.

As things were in such a condition that nothing could be
effected by ecclesiastical power. Dr. Carroll left New York
in November, after having remained there nearly two months,
and the Trustees resolved to resort to legal proceedings.
Fortunately the law, in treating of the administration of
ecclesiastical property, provided that it was by no means
intended to affect in any way the rights of conscience, or of
private judgment, or to make any change whatsoever in the
religious constitution or government of any church, congre-
gation, or society, in so far as it related to their doctrine,
discipline, and worship. Nugent was not only a violator of
Catholic discipline, but an opponent of Catholic doctrine, as
he denied that he owed allegiance to any one but Christ and
the authorities of New York. In a sermon of his on charity,
he declaiined against those who would punish others on ac-
count of religion, and cited some of the stale calumnies
against the Catholic Church as facts. It was very desirable
that this rebellion against ecclesiastical authority should be
suppressed even by the civil law, lest Catholics should be en-

,:tt

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lit

826

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

couraged bj designing men to assume the right of appointing
their own pastors,'

The action of the Trustees soon relieved the churcii of the
unworthy priest, who was convicted, but after he was com-
pelled to leave St. Peter's Church, he hired a house, and
sacrilegiously said mass there for his adherents.

When the Very Rev. Prefect laid the whole matter before
the Body of the Clergy, the old opposition to the appoint-
ment of a Bishop was abandoned. It was generally conceded
that one should be solicited, if the erection of a see was
agreeable to the Sovereign Pontiff. The Episcopalians had
organized with bishops and were gaining strength, and vio-
lent as had once been the protests against such dignitaries,
their actual presence gave no offense.

While it was admitted that the appointment of a Bishop
was needed to control refractory priests. Rev. Dr. Carroll
still felt that it was a delicate subject, and proposed that a
plan of appointment should be adopted that would maintain
intact union with the Apostolic See and all due obedience,
and at the same time free tlie bishop from all suspicion of
any foreign subjection not absolutely necessary.'

The following petition was accordingly prepared by a com-
mittee appointed for the purpose, consisting of the Very
Rev. John Carroll, Rev. Robert Molyneux, and iiev. John
Ash ton.

" Most Holy Father :

" We, the undersigned, petitioners approaching the Apos-
tolic See, with all due veneration, and prostrate at the feet
of your Holiness, humbly oet forth the following ; That we

' Very Rev. John Carroll to Cardinal Antonelli, March 18, 1788. Ar-
chives of the Propaganda.

• Vcrj' Rev. Dr. Carroll to Cardinal Antonelli, March 18, 178&

PETITION FOR A BISHOP.

327

are priests who have been specially deputed by our fellow-
priests, exercising with us the religious ininiHtry in the United
States of America, in order that we may, in the first place,
return unbounded thanks to your Holiness for the truly pa-
ternal care, which you have deigned to extend to this remote
part of the Lord's vineyard : and in the next place, to mani-
fest that we all, had been stimulated by this great care, to
continue and increase our labors to preserve and extend the
faith of Christ our Lord, in these States, which are filled
with the errors of all the sects. In doing so, we are con-
vinced, that we not only render meet service to God, but
also render a pleasing and acceptable homage to the common
Father of the faithful. Moreover to correspond to this great
solicitude, we believe it our duty to expose to your Holiness,
whatever from our long experience in these States, seems
necessary to be known, in order that your pa*>toral provi-
dence may be most usefully administered in our regard.

" Therefore inasmuch as his Eminence Cardinal Antonelli
intimated to one of your petitioners, in a letter dated July
23 1785, that it was the design of the Sacred Congregation
de' Propaganda Fide to appoint a Bishop, Vicar-Apostolic
for these States as soon as possible, whenever the said Sacred
Congregation understood that this would be seasonable, and
desired to be informed as to the suitable time for that appoint-
ment, by the priest to whom the said letter was addressed,
we declare, not he only but we in the common name of all
the priests laboring here, Most Holy Father, that in our
opinion the time has now come when the Episcopal dignity
and authority are very greatly desired. To omit other very
grave reasons, we experience more and more in the constitu-
tion of this very free republic, that if there are even among
the ministers of the sanctuary, any men of indocile mind,
and chafing under ecclesiastical discipline, they allege as an

</';

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828

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

excuse for tbeir license and disobedience, that tliej are bound
to obey bisliops exercising tiieir own authority and not a nioiv
priest exercising any vicarious jurisdiction. This was the
boast of tlie men who recently at New York sought to throw
oflf the yoke of authority, and alleged this pretext, which
seemed most likely to catch the favor of Protestants, in that
more than in any other State, contending forsooth that the
authority of the ecclesiastical superior whom the Sacred Con-
gregation has ajjpointed for us, was forbidden by law, be-
cause it not only emanates from a foreign tribunal, but is
also dependent on it for its duration and exercise. We
refrain from setting out all this more at length to your Holi-
ness, inasmuch as we have learned that certain original docu-
ments have been tra.isn.itted to lionie, fro.n which it can be
more clearly seen, with what powers the person should be
invested, to whom the ecclesiastical government of these
States is confided.

" With this view, we represent to the Supreme Pastor of
the faithful on earth, that all the grounds on which the au-
thority of the Superior as now constituted may be rendered
odious, will have equal weight against a bishop to whom the
powers of a vicar, and not of an ordinary, are granted.

"Therefore, xMost Holy Father, we express in the name
and by the wish of all, our opinion that the political and
religious condition of these Stiites requires that form of
ecclesiastical government, by which provision may be most
efficaciously made in the first place for the integritv of faith
and morals, and consecjuently for perpetual union with the
Apostolic See, and due respect and obedience towards the
sa.ne, an.l in the next place, that if any bishop is assigned to
us, his appointment and authority may be rendered as
free as possible from suspicion and odium to those among
whom we live. Two iK>ints, it seems to us, will contribute

PETITION FOR A BISHOP.

329

greatly to tbis end ; first, that the Most Holy Father, by his
authority in the Church of Christ, erect a new episcopal see
ill these United States, immediately subject to the Holy See;
in the next place, that the election of the bishop, at least for
the first time, be permitted to the priests, who now duly ex-
ercise the religious ministry here and have the cure of souls.
This being established, your most vigilant wisdom, Most
Holy Father, after hearing the opinions of our priests of
approved life and experience, and considering the character
of our government, will adopt some course, by which future
elections may be permanently conducted.

" These are, Most Holy Father, what we have deemed it
])roper to submit with the utmost devotion of our hearts 'to
your Holiness' pastoral care, declaring, as though we were
about to give an account of our sentiments to Jesus Christ,
the divine bishop of souls, that we have nothing in view,
except the increase of our holy Faith, growth of piety, vigor
(if ecclesiastical discipline, and the complete refutation of
false oi)inions in regard to the Catholic religion, which have
imbued the minds of Protestants.

" May Almighty God long preserve you. Most Holy Father,
to Christian people, that you not only benignly foster this
American church, as you have already done, but also guard
it with all spiritual protection, and establish it thoroughly,
and finally that you will vouchsafe to bestow on us prostrate
at your feet your Apostolical and fatherly blessing.

" This is the prayer of

" Your Holiness's
" Most devoted ajid obedient

Servants and Sons,

" John Cakroix,

" KOBKKT MoLVNEUX,

" John Ashton."

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LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

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ikt'i'.

Tlie Very Rev. Dr. Carroll must have been led to believe
that the Sovereign Pontiflf proposed to invest him with the
dignity of Vicar- Apostolic ; but conscious that several of his
brethren regarded the appointment of a bishop unnecessary,
he had, with great prudence and magnanimity, kept the mat-
ter in abeyance till all felt that the Church must absolutely
have a bishop to rule it. In the same cpirit he now sought
for his brethren the full opportunity of manifesting to the
Holy See their wish as to the erection of a diocese, the place
for a see, and the j^erson to be appointed to occupy it.

Xo one was more cognizant than himself of the increasin"'
difficulties and trials which would be the lot of the future
bishop, and he had no ambition to assume a position in
which, without resources of any kind, he would be called
upon to supply priests, aid in erecting churches, establishing
echools, and providing for the spiritual wants of a rapidly-
increasing flock, scattered over a country thousands of miles
in extent.

Tlie Spanish minister resident in the United States had
manifested an intelligent and friendly interest in the affairs
of the Church here, and the impression made by the French
intrigue was still fresh in men's minds. The petition of the
American clergy was consequently forwarded through the
Spanish envoy to the United States, Don Diego de Gardoqui,
to whom Dr. Carroll wrote :

" Your Excellency will be pleased to recollect a conver-
sation with which I was honored during my residence in
New York. It related to the expediency, and indeed the
necessity, of introducing episcopal government into tlie
United States, as no other would carry sufficient weight to
restrain the turbulent clergymen whom views of independ-
ence would probably conduct into this country. This opin-
ion appeared to be strongly impressed on your Excellency,

D)b- DIEGO DE GARDOQUI.

881

,„d 18 the natural result of your thorough penetration into
'the nature and necessary effects of our republican govern-
ments You noticed at the same time their great opposition
to foreign jurisdiction, and the prejudices which would cer-
t,inly arise against our religion if the appointment of the
i'.ishop were to rest in a distant congregation of Cardinals ;
aud if he were to act only as their vicar removable at their
pleasure- for which reasons you thought that the bishop
should be chosen by the American clergy, approved by the
llolv See for the preservation of unity in faith, and ordained
to some title or see to be erected within these States, with
the ordinary powers annexed to the episcopal character.
You even were so obliging as to offer to support with your
recommendation a petition addressed to his Holiness for this
purpose, and to transmit it to the Court of Floridablanca,
with a request to his Excellency to have it presented with
the great additional interest of his recommendation. In con-
sequence of this generons offer, your Excellency win receive
from one of my Brethren, at Philadelphia, the Kev. Mr
Beeston, the original petition to be sent to his Holiness, and
which, I doubt not, you will be so kind as to forward in the
manner which you were pleased to mention. I am so much
concerned to preserve the favorable regard, with which you
have hitherto honored me, that I must request you not to
impute the petition to views of ambition. Such a pasmon
will be poorly gratified by such a bishoprick as ours will be :
labor and solicitude it will yield in plenty, and I trust those
heavy burdens will never fall on my shoulders." '

Senor Gardoqui transmitted the petition to the Count de
Floridablanca, alluding to the necessity of a Bishop in the

. Very Rev. John Carroll to Don Diego ^^ ^f doqui.-Archivo Gen-
eral Central " Sobre la ereccion de un Obispado." Legajo 3895. an. 1788.

1 ;'i

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.'j:j2

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Umted St.itt.8 to chock such ,non as Nugent, and dcscrihi,,.
the Very Kev. Mr. Carroll as "a person of virtue, learnin.r
find the hi^rjuvst connections and interests in this country'
whom we f,'enerall_y regard as our hishop," ' ' '

The I'rJM.e Minister of Spain tranmintted the petition to
Don Nicolas de Azara, the minister at tlie Pontifical (\,nrt
in Septeml)er, and on presenting it to the Prefect of the
Pro[)aganda, the Spanish envoj. ascertained that the Jloiy
See was rea.ly to create an episcopal see in the United Stiites
a..<l ha<l waited only till certain difficulties were ron.oved'
11.0 interest shown by the Court of his Catholic Majesty no
doubt facd.tated the erection of the See of Baltimore

The detenth.n of the Very Kev. Prefect in New York
ONV.ng to the troubles there, compelled him to leave some
c-ongregatmns nnvisited and unsettled. These hi the sprin-^
renewed their call f..r his presence, while New York, stru.^
^\n^g to con.pI..te the church, w.is left for son.e ti.ne without
Its pastor, as the Rev. William O'Brien, fortified by letters
from Dr. C^utoII and Senor Ganh,qui, and reiving on the
friendsh.p of Archbishop Haro, of Mexico, who had been his
fdlow-studont at Ron.e, had set out for Spanish America to
collect funds for St. looter s Church.'

The Holy See acted promptly on the petition of the clergy
wlm-h showed their ac<iuiescence in the original plan fornrc.l
at liome. Permission was given to the priests actnallv on
the n.iss.on In America to fix the place most suitable for an
episcopal see, and for this case only to name the candidate
for the new bislK.prif,

cLT'T '}■'■ "■"■'!:•'"'' ^° ^'*'"^<' '^'^ Floridablanca. .July 2.-5, 1788 with
18.' S "'"''■ '^' * """" '" ^"'""""'''^ °^ C^^'^'ics at New York. April

J,.i :**

POPE PIUS VI. CONSENTS.

Writing t.. his friend, Rev. Cluirles Plc.w.len, Dr. Carroll
Haid : " Conunnnicatii»g freely with you as 1 do, you would
not forgive me, were I to omit informing you, that a grant
had heen made to allow our officiating clergy to choose one
of their bodv, as bishop; and it is left to our determination
whether he shall be an orditiary taking title from some town
of our appointment, or a titular bishop, by which I under-
stand, a bishop constituted over a comitry without the desig-
nation of any particular See" (vide Thomassin, "De la Dis-
cipline de rEglisc").

The letter of CardiTial Antonelli was as follows:

"Rome, July 12,1788.
«' Inasmuch as all the laborers in this vineyard of the Lord
agree in this, that the appointment of one bishop seems al>
solutely necessary to retain priests in duty and to propagate
more widely piety and religion— a bishop who can preside
over the flock of Catholics scattered through these States of
Confederate Amt-ica, and rule and govern them with the au-
thority of an ordinary. Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius VL
with the advice of this holy Congregation, has most benignly
decided that a favorable consent should bp given to your
vows and petitions. By you therefore, it is first to bo exam-
ined in what city this episcopal see ought to be erected, and
whether the title of the bishopric is to be taken from the
place of the see, or whether a titular bishop only should be
established. This having been done, his Holiness as a special
favor and for this first time, permits the priests who at the
present time duly exercise the ministry of the Catholic
religion and have care of souls to elect as bishop a person
eminent in piety, prudence, and 7.eal for the faith, from the
said clergy, and present him to the Apostolic See to obtain
confirmation. And the Sacred Congregation does not doubt

884 UFE OF AHCUBI8HOP CARROLL.

but that you will diHchargo tliiH matter with bocoining cir-
cunisiwetion, nn.l it I.ojk'h that this whole Hock will dorivu
not only great heneHt bnt alho great conHolation from this
epiwopate. It will be then for you to decide both the propn-
deHignation of a See and the election of a bishop, that the.
matter may be further proceeded with.

" In the meanwhile, *&c.

"L. Cardinal Antonelli,

"Stki'ukn Borgia, "Prefect.

" Secretary." '

This was addressed to the Very Ilev. John Carroll, Robert
Molyneux, and John Ashton, and after its reception a meet-
in^' ,,f the clergy was convened at Whitemarsh, in Maryland
This assemblage of the clergy was held according to Ecclesi-
astical rulos; the convocation was made in a canonical man-
ner. On the appointed day the priests assembled to the
numlH^r of twenty-six. The holy sacrifice of the mass was
offered, and the grace and assistance of the Holy Ghost were
invoked. The suffrages of all those present were collected,
and twenty-four votes were given for the Very Kev. John'
Carroll, only one vote beside his own U-ing cast for any
other. An authentic act of tliis assembly was then drawn
up, signed, and forwarded to tlie Sacred Congregation de
Propagjuula Fide.'

Wheti the result of the harmonious convocation of the
clergy reached the Court of Rome, the choice gsive com-
plete satisfaction; for Dr. Carroll was evidently the one to
whom the Sovereign I\,ntiff wished to comnit the ' an-

' Cartlinal .\ntonelII to the CommiUec of the American Clergy.
' Dilhet. " Etat tie rE^HiMe Catholiqu,- ou du Diocese des Etats Unia
de 1 Amenque Septentriouale. "

i«il

DR. CARROLUS NOMINATION.

889

izfttion of the now diocese, his piety, prudence, zeal, learning,
,„d the ability he ha.l displayed an Prefect, rendering linn in
'the estinuition of Pope l'iu« VI, one providentially raised

up for the task.

Writing in May, 1789, to \m friend, the Uev. Charles
Plowden, Dr. Carroll says: "Our brethren chose to have an
ordinary bishop, and named Baltimore to be the bishop's title,
this being the principal town of Maryland, and that State be-
i,ur the ol.lest and still the most numerous residence of our
religh.n in America. So far all was right. We then pro
ceeded to the election ; the event of which was such as de-
prives me of all expectation of rest or pleasure henceforward,
and fills me with terror with re^^ct to eternity. I am so
stunned with the issue of this business, that I truly hate the
hearing or mention of it ; and therefore will say only, that
einco my brethren, whom in this case I consider the interpre-
ters of the Divine will, say I must obey, I will even do it, if
by obeying, I shall siicrifice henceforth every moment of
peace and witisfaction."

The Prefect-Apostolic knew by bitter experience that while
the office brought no pomp or emolument, its cares and anx-
ieties would increase <lay by day. But to decline the appoint-
ment would inevitably have led to tl miination Im Europe

of some one entirely unacqi, i will, the country, and the

Catholic clergy and peopK in it, as well as with their actual

^""carTi'nal Antonelli wrote to Dr. Carroll on lie Uth of
November, 1789 : " We cannot sufficiently express m wonls
how wonderfully w.- liave l)ecn rejoicwl that that distinguishod
asscmbhige of priests, assembled by order of the Congregation,
have almost unanimously agreed upon you and selected you
to occupy the new See of Baltimore. For, in the first pla.c
we are raised to great hope that the Christian people,

;if

I -tta. am

336

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

strengthened by the consoling guardianship of a new Bishop
will increase and be more confirmed in faith and works of
faith.

" We congratulate ourselves, too, that you were selected
by that clergy as most worthy of this new increase of di,--
nity. For such is oui- preconceived opinion of your virtues
that we can feel no doubt but that you will abundantly
correspond alike to the honor and the burthen. Our mo.-it
holy Lord Pope Pius VI. was also a partaker of this joy so
justly entertiiiued by us, for as he had already made you
Vicar-Apostolic in those States, he now most cheerlullv
seized the opportunity of increasing your dignity, and ther^
fore by the plenitude of the Apostolic power, declare.! you
the new Bishop of Baltimore in Apostolic letters herewith
transmitted.

" We congratulate you, therefore, on this new and ample
digm-ty, and earnestly exhort you to undertake the care of
the flock com.nitted to you with alacrity, relying on the aid
of Almighty God. It is illustrious and glorious to be able
to offer as it were the first fruits to God of this vineyard of
the Lord. Enjoy, then, this great good for your own salva-
tion and that of others, and the increase of the Catholic faith
which we trust will day by day strike deeper roots in thosj
remote States of the New World."

On the Uth of September the Cardinals constituting the
Sacred Congregation "de Propaganda Fide," after readiuij the
letter of the American clergy selecting Baltimore jvs the'see
and the Very Rev. John Carroll as their choice for its first
Bishop, approved the nomination, and the formal report hav-
ing been made to him on the 17th, his Holiness Popt Pius
VL ordered Jiulls to l)e prepared erecting the new See
and appointing the Very Rev. John Carroll as the first
Bishop.

BULL ERECTING SEE OF BALTIMORE. 337

The Bull issued under the seal of the Fisherman's ring, on
the 6th of November, 1789, was in these words : '

"Pius Pope VI.

"FOit THE PERPETUAL MEMORY OF THE FACT.

" When from the eminence of our apostolical station, we
bend our attention to the different repjions of the earth, in
order to fulfil, to the utmost extent of our power, the duty
which our Lord has imposed upon our unworthiness of ruling
and feeding his flock ; our care and solicitude are particularly
engaged that the faithful of Christ, who, dispersed through
various provinces, are united with us by Catholic commun-
ion, may be governed by their proper pastors, and diligently
instructed by them in the discipline of evangelical life and
doctrine. For it is our principle that they who, relying on
the divine assistance, have regulated their lives and manners
agreeably to the precepts of Christian wisdom, ought so to
command their own passions as to promote by the pursuit of
justice their own and their neighbor's spiritual advantage ;

1 Extractum ex Codice "Acta 8. Congr. de Prop. Fide Anni 1789."

14 Sept 1789.— Relatis a me Lltteris 8acerdotum animanim curam
gerentium in Foederatis Americae Provinciis qui indicarunt Civitatem
Baltimori aptissimam esse pro sede Episcopali, etDD. Joannem Carroll ia
ejusdem primum Episcopum designanint EE. DD. utrutnque probave-
runt. facto verbo cum SSmo.

Die 17 Sept""'' ejusdena inni 1789.

Facta per me SSmo relatione, Sanctitas sua S. Congnis sententiam be-
nigne probavit, mihique mandavit ut litteras Aplicas conficerem, trans-
mittendasque in Seg'" Brevium pro Expeditione.

L. Cabd. .' ntonellub, Prsef.
Ex Regiatro Decret. pag. 468.

EE. DO. censuerunt supplicandum esse SS"" pro ercctione urbis Bal-
timori in sedem Episcopalem et pro conflrmatione electionis Joannis Car-
roll in ejusdem urbis Episcopum cum ordinaria jurisdictione super clcrum
et populum omncsque Catholicos degentcs in Provinciis Foederata; Amer.
icffl imperio subjectis.
15

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OF BALTIMORE.

(838)

BULL ERECTING SEE OF BALTIMORE. 339

and that they who have received from their bishops, and by
checking tiie intemperance of self-wisdom, have steadily ad-
hered to the heavenly doctrine delivered by Christ to the
Catholic Church, should not be carried away by every wind
of doctrine, but, grounded on the authority of divine revela-
tion, should reject the new and varying doctrines of men
which endanger the tranquillity of government, and rest in
the unchangeable faith of the Catholic Church. For in the
present degeneracy of corrupt manners into which human
nature, ever resisting the sweet yoke of Christ, is hurried,
and in the pride of talents and knowledge which disdains to
submit the opinions and dreams of men to the evangelical
truth delivered by Jesus Christ, support must be given by
that heavenly authority which is entrusted to the Catholic
Church, as to a steady pillar and solid foundation which shall
never fail ; that from her voice and instructions mankind may
learn the c ^v.^rus of their faith and the rules of their conduct,
not only :< . ;!<:? obtaining of eternal salvation, but also for
the regulation of this life and the maintaining of concord in
the society of this earthly city. Now, this charge of teach-
ing and ruling first given to the apostles, and esneciilly to
St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, on who. i the

('hurch is built, and to whom our Lord and Redeemer en-
trusted the feeding of his lambs and of his sheep, has been
derived in due order of succession to Bishops, and especially
to the Roman Pontiffs, successors of St. Peter and heirs of his
power and dignity, that thereby it might be made evident
that the gates of hell can never prevail against the Church,
and that the divine founder of it will ever assist it to the
consummation of ages ; so that neither in the depravity of
morals nor in the fluctuation of novel opinions, the episcopal
succession shall ever fail or the bark of Peter be sunk.
Wherefore, it having reached our ears that in the flourishing

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340 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

commonwealth of the Thirteen American States many faith-
ful Christians united in communion with the chair of Peter
m which the centre of Catholic unity is fixed, and governed'
m their spiritual concerns by their own priests having care
of souk earnestly desire that a Bishop may be appointed
over theia to exercise the functions of episcopal order ; to feed
them more largely with the food of salutary doctrine, and to
guard more carefully that portion of the Catholic flock.

" We willingly embraced this opportunity which the grace
of Almighty God has afforded us to provide those distant
regions with the comfort and ministry of a Catholic Bishop
And that this be effected more successfully, and according to
the rules of the sacred canons, We commissioned our venera
ble Brethren the Cardinals of the holy Eoman Church di-
rectors of the Congregation ' de propaganda fide,' to manage
this business with the greatest care, and to make a report to
us. It wa* therefore appointed by their decree, approved by
us, and published the twelfth day of July of the last year
that the priests who lawfully exercise the sacred ministry and
have care of souls in the United States of America, should
be empowered to advise together and to determine, first, in
what town the episcopal see ought to be erected, and next,
who of the aforesaid priests ai>peared the most worthy and
proper to be promoted to this important charge, whom We
for the first time only, and by special grace permitted the
8aid priests to elect and to present to this apostolic See. In
obedience to this decree the aforesaid priests exercising the
care of souls in the United States of America, unanimously
agreed that a bishop with ordinary jurisdiction, ought to be
established in the town of Baltimore, l>ecause this town situ-
ate in Maryland, which province the greater part of the
priests and of the faithful inhabit, appeared the most con-
veniently placed for intercourse with the other States, and

BULL ERECTING SEE OF BALTIMORE. 341

because from this province Catholic religion and faith bad
been propagated into the others. And at the time appointed
for the election, they being assembled together, the sacrifice
of holy Mass, being celebrated, and the grace and assistance
of the Holy Ghost being implored, the votes of all present
were taken, and of twenty-eix priests who were assembled
twenty-four gave their votes for our beloved son, John Car-
roll, whom they judged the most proper to support the bur-
den of episcopacy, and sent an authentic instrument of the
whole transaction to the aforesaid Congregation of Cardinals.
Now all things being materially weighed and considered in
this Congregation, it was easily agreed that the interests and
increase of Catholic religion would be greatly promoted if an
episcopal see were erected at Baltimore, and the said John
Carroll were appointed the Bishop of it. We, therefore, to
whom this opinion has been reported by our beloved son.
Cardinal Antonelli, Prefect of the said Congregation, having
nothing more at heart than to ensure success to whatever
tends to tlie propagation of true religion, and to the honor
and increase of the Catholic Church, by the plenitude of our
apostolical power, and by the tenor of these presents, do es-
tablish and erect the aforesaid town of Baltimore into an epis-
copal see forever, for one Bishop to be chosen by us in all
future vacancies ; and We, therefore, by the apostolical au-
thority aforesaid, do allow, grant and permit to the Bishop
of the said city and to his successors in all future times, to
exercise episcopal power and jurisdiction, and every other
episcopal function which Bishops constituted in other places
are empowered to hold and enjoy in their respective
churches, cities and dioceses, by right, custom, or by other
mea'is, by geneial privileges, graces, indults and apostolical
dispensations, together with all pre-eminences, honors, im-
munities, graces and favors, which other Cathedral Churches,

i^i i

342 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

I. *-

by right or custom, or in any other sort, have, hold and enjoy.
We moreover decree and declare the said Episcopal see thu8
erected to be subject or suffragan to no Metropolitan right
or jurisdiction, but to be forever subject, iiiunediately to us
and to our successors the Roman Pontiffs, and to this Apos-
tolical See. And till another opportunity shall be presented
to us of establishing other Catliolic Bishops in the United
States of America, and till other dispositions shall be made
by this apostolical See, We declare, by our apostolical author-
ity, all the faithful of Christ, living in Catholic commum'on,
as well ecclesiastics as seculars, and all the clergy and people
dwelling in the aforesaid United States of America, thongh
liitherto they may have been subject to other Bishops of
other dioceses, to be henceforward subject to the Bishop of
Baltimore in all future times; And whereas by special
grant, and for this first time only, we have allowed the priests
exercising the care of souls in the United States of America,
to elect a ])er8on to be appointed Bishop by us, and almost
all their votes have been given to our beloved Son, John Cai--
roll, Priest ; We being otherwise certified of his faith, pru-
dence, piety and zeal, forasimich as by our mandiite he hath
during the late years d.'rected the spiritual government of
souls, do therefore by the plenitude of our authority, declare,
create, appoint and constitute the said John Carroll, Bishop
and Pastor of the said Church of Baltimore, granting to him
the faculty of receiving the rite of consecration from any
Catholic bishop holding communion with the apostolical see,
assisted by two ecdesiiu-tics, vested with some dignity, in cai^e
that two bisliops cannot Ikj had. first having taken the usual
oath according to the Roman Pontifical.

"And we commission the said Bishop elect to erect a
church in the said city of Baltimore, in form of a Cathedral
Church, inasmuch as the times and circumstances may allow,

BULL ERECTING SEE OF BALTIMORE. 343

to institute a body of clergy deputed to divine worship, and
to the service of said church, and moreover to establish an
episcopal seminary, either in the same city or elsewhere, as
he shall judge most expedient, to administer ecclesiastical in-
comes, and to execute all other things which he shall think
in the Lord to be expedient for the increase of Catholic faith
and the augmentation of the worship and splendor of the
new erected church. We moreover enjoin the said Bishop
to obey the injunctions of our venerable brethren, the Cardi-
nals Directors of the Sacred Congregation ' de propaganda
fide,' to transmit to them at proper times a relation of his
visitation of his church, and to inform them of all things
which he shall judge to be useful to the spiritual good and
salvation of the flock trusted to his charge. We therefore
decree that these our lett.TS are and ever shall be firm, valid
and efficacious, and shall obtain their full and entire effect ;
and be observed inviolable by all persons whom it now doth
or hereafter may concern ; and that all judges ordinary and
delegated, even auditors of causes of the sacred apostolical
palace, and Cardinals of the holy Eoman Church, must thus
judge and define, .lepnving all and each of them of all power
and authority to judge or interpret in any other manner, and
declaring all to be null and void, if any one, by any author-
ity should presume, either knowingly or unknowingly, to
attempt anything contrary thereunto. Notwithstanding all
apostolical, general or special constitutions and ordinations,
published in universal, provincial and synodical councils, and
all things contrary whatsoever.

'^ Given at Rome at St. Mary Major, under the Fisher-
n.an's Ring, the 6th day of November, 1789, and in the fif-
teenth year of our Pontificate.

rr a^ "R. Card. Braschi Onesti."

LL. 8.J

I- %

, m

ijife.

FACSmrLH OF THE CLOSE OF THE BULL EBECTIXO TOE SEE OF

BALTIMORE.

(844)

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

345

Having thus followed the development of organization in
the Church to the crowning act, the establishment of an epis-
copal see,' it is necessary to consider the position of Catholics
in this country under the reorganization of the general gov-
cnunent of tlie United States.

The Articles of Confederation adopted during the war
with England had not proved adequate to the permanent
government, and a body of delegates was convened to adopt
amendments.

Tlie Convention which met at Philadelphia in May, 1787,
to amend the Articles of Confederation then binding the
States together, was not without its Catholic members.
Thomas Fitzsimons, of Philadelphia, attended the opening
session, and was soon joined by Daniel Carroll, of Maryland,
brother of the Prefect-Apostolic. In the minds of the states-
men there assembled, the question of religious equality under
the national administration was not overlooked. Charles
Pinckney, in his " Draft of a Federal Government,'- vrhich
he laid before the Convention, had included this clause.
" The legislature of the United States shall pass no law on
the subject of religion," but it was omitted in the form of
the Constitution actually adopted, although no objection was
raised." The first step therefore towards the removal of re-
ligious disabilities and the establishment of equal rights, was
made by this able son of South Carolina.

The question of religion did not arise till the sixth arti-
cle came up, bearing on the oath to be taken by Federal and

' Bull in the Archives of the Archbishop of Baltimore. " A Short Ac-
count of the Estiiblishment of the new See of Baltimore, in Maryland,
and of consecrating the Right Rev. Dr. John Carroll," etc., London,
1790.

' Yates, " Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Conveiition," Albany,
1821, p. 217.

16*

irmi

• V-

i ,ft

IP .''i

III. m

IfXi

»?•'

»<

'J ,'

346 Z/F^ OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

State offirern. Charles Pincknoy, of South Carolina, proposed
tliat a clause nhould be intr..duced preventing any reiigi„„R
test. Soino members regarded such a clause as unnecessarv
but a« under the Engh'sh rule a declaration had long l^jon en'
forced, which excluded all Cntholics from office, and a similar
oath even at this time debarred Catholics from olHct (.r n,tu
ralization in New York, it was well to prevent the j.rinciple
from being introduced into the govermnent of the United
States. The clause pr..iM)sed by Pinckney was adopted
North Carolina being the only State that voted against it,'
and Afaryland casting no vo(.^ the rejiresentatives of thj
Protestant ascendency in that State, being loth to relinquish
the old system.

This sixth article provides: "but no religions test shall
ever Ih) required as a (pialification to any office of public
trust under the United States."

When the result ot their deliberations was laid before the
people, the action of the Conventio.i which had attracted
little attention was warndy discusse-l. There was a strong
oi)|KJsiti(>n to the proposed Constitution. The vote of Cath-
olics where their numl)ers exerted influence, as in Maryland
and Pennsylvania, was shown in favor of the Constitution.
New York, strongly anti-Catholic in her own organic law, at
last received it reluctantly, while Rhode Island and North
Carolina, where Catholicity was practically unknown, rejected
it absolutely. Other States accepted reluctantly, proposing
iJi amendments what they deemed essential.

In some States the want of a religious test excited strong
opposition. A delegjjte in the Massachusetts Legislature
complained that "a Papist or an infidel was as eligible as a
Christian"; another contended that they were opening the
dfx.r to iK)pery and the inquisition by r'-spensing with a re-
ligious test. But the Protestant ministers in the House sup-

RELIQIOrS FREEDOM.

847

ported the ConHtitiition as it sti.od, and the Rev. Isaac Backus
declared "the imposing (»f rehgious testa hath bcoii the great-
est engine of tyranny in the world."

North Carolina, following her action in the Convention,
also censured the clause, but Iredell urged its necessity, declar-
ing that " under the color of religious tests, the utmost cruel-
ties have been exercised."

Virginia, North Carolina, and Rhode Inland, among the
iimendments proposed, had one based on a provision intro-
duced by Jefferson in the Virginia Constitution," declaring
the rights of conscience and the right to a free exercise of
religion, and enacting that no religious sect or society ought
to be favored or estaldished by law in prefconce to others.
New York did the same in a more succinct form. None of
these States put the matter in a distinct restrictive clause.
But New Hampshire, which was to retain on her statute-
book laws excluding Catholics from office, seemed to fear that
Congress might establisli Cathohcity, or make religious lil>
erty universal. It accordingly proposed: "XI. Congress
shall make no laws touching religion, or to infringe the
rights of conscience." ' But she finally adopted the Consti-
tution, which thus, so far as the national government is con-
cerned, rtlieved Catholics from the shameful and odious test
which had so long disgraced England and her colonies. The
United States under her wise Constitution stood before the
world purged from the blaspheiny. In the Amendments to
the Constitution of the United States adopted, the fourth, as
finally altered on motion of Mr. Ames, reads: "Congress

' " Ordinances passed at a gem trI convention of Delegates aiiu Repre-
sentatives .... of Virginia, held .... the 6tii of May, Anno Dom.
1776. Williamsburg"; p. 5.

' Form of the Ratification, June 21, 1788; Carey, "American Mu-
tmm," iv., p. 149 ; vi., p. 42.

1 "' IJ

848

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

shall make no law oBtablishing religion, or to provoiit tlin
irco exercise tliereof ; or to infringe the rights of cotiHcienoe."

The result justified the forecast of Charles Pincknev, of
South Carolina, to whom the honor of introducing the* sub-
ject in the Convention is due.'

The election of General George Washington as President
under the Constitution, and the happy organization of the
new government, were viewed by Catholics with joy.

To fxpresH the sentiments whii-li pervaded the faithful
throughout the United States, the IJishoivelect of Baltimore,
in iKihalf of the Roman Catholic Clergy, with Charles Car-
roll of Carrollton, and Daniel Carroll of Maryland, Domi-
nick Lynch of New York, and Thomas Fitzsiinons of
Pennsylvania, on behalf of the Roman (Catholic laity, pre-
sented to General Washington the following Address :
" Sir,

" We have been long impatient to testify our joy, and un-
bounde.1 ooi.fidenee in your being call<.d,"by nn Unanimous
Vote, to the first Station of a country, in which that unan-
imity could not have l)een obtained without the previous
merit of unexainpled services, of oi.iinent wisdom and un-
blemished virtue. Onr congratulations have not reached you
sooner, becanse our scattered situation prevented our com-
munication, and the collecting of those sentiments which
warmed every breast. But the delay has furnished us with

It ha« been stated that Catholics petitioned Conpress to add the
Amen. mont. Such a petition and the action on it woul.l appear some-
where in the prooeedin^^ of Congress : but there is not the slightest trace

K v!!^ ^''"'■""''' "' '1'^"""'"'" «f any 8"ch paper. The idea arose
probably from some vap.ie recollection of the address of the Catholics to
Gen. Washmgton. Consult Schaff, ■'Clu.rch and State in the United
Smtes. New -Jork, 1888; Elliott's Debates, ii.. pp. 120. 148; iv p

CATHOLIC AJJDHE8S TO WASHINGTON. iJ4i>

tlie opportunity, not merely of preflaging t^'O happllicM to be
exiiected uikUt your AdminiHtrutioii, but of bearing testi-
nu.ny to that wiiieh wo oxpericjice already. It is your yte-
fiiliar talent, in war and in jwace, to afford security to those
who commit their protection into your handH. In war you
slueld them from the ravages of armed hoHtilit\ ; in peace,
you establish public traiuiuillity, by the justice and modera-
tion, not less than by tlie vigour, of your government. By
example, as well as by vigilance you extend the influence of
laws on the manners of our fe! ow-citizens. You encourage
respect for religion ; and inculcate by words and actions,
that i)rinciple, on which the welfare of "-^tions so nmch de-
pends, that a superinttMuling provide' gov rns the events
of the world, and watches over the - ■>nauct oi -nen. Your
exalted maxims, and unwearied att«i:<ti ...i to t. > moral and
physical improvement of our countrj '^r.'. produced al-
ready the happiest effects. Under your administration,
America is animated with zeal for tho attainii;eT.t and en-
couragement of useful literature. She improves her agri-
culture ; extends her commerce ; and acquires with foreign
nations a dignity unknown to her before. From these happy
events, in which none can feel a warm<-r interest than our-
selves, we derive additional pleasure, by recollecting that
you. Sir, have been tho principal instrument to effect so
rapid a change in our political situation. This prospect of
national prosperity is peculiarly pleasing to w on another ac-
count ; because, whilst our country preserves her freedom
and independence, we shall have a well founded title to
claim from her justice, the ecjual rights of citizenship, as tho
price of our bloiul spilt under your eyes, and of our common
exertions ft.r her defence, under your auspicious conduct-
rights rendered more dear to us by the remembrance of for-
mer hardships. When we pray for the preservation of them,

I >1

I i

IS«^S

1 1 f ■^ Isf

Fi''

350

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

where they have been granted— and expect the full extension
of them from the justice of those States, which still restrict
them'— when we solicit the protection of Heaven over our
common country, we neither omit, nor can omit recommend-
ing your preservation to the singular care of Divine Provi-
dence ; because we conceive that no human means are so
available to promote the welfare of the United States as the
prolongation of your health and life, in which are included
the energy of your example, the wisdom of your counsels,
and the persuasive eloquence of your virtues." ''

To this Address President Washington made this reply :

"To THE EOMAN CaTHOLICS IN THE UnITED StATES OF

America.

" Gentlemen,— While I now receive with much satisfaction
your congratulations on my being called, by an unanimous
vote, to the first station in my Country ; I cannot but duly
notice your politeness in offering an apology for the niia-
voidable delay. As that delay has given you an opportum'ty
of realizing, instead of anticipating, the benefits of the gen-
eral Government; you will do me the justice to believe, that
your testimony of the increase of the public prosperity, en-
hances the pleasure which I should otherwise have ex])eri-
enced from your affectionate Address.

" I feel that my conduct, in war and in peace, has met with
more general approbation than could reasonably have been
expected : and I find myself disposed to consider that fortu-

> AlludiiiR to New Jersey. North and South Carolina, which required
a behef in the Protestant religi, n for the enjoyment of religious liberty
or a seat in the legislature or other office.

■' " An Address from l! ,> Roman Catholics of America to George
A\ashington, Es(,., President of the United States," London 1790 fol
8 pp. Kepriut. New York, 1865, with facsimile and notes

WASHINGTON'S REPLY.

351

nate circumstance, in a great degree, resulting from the able
support and extraordinary candour of my fellow-citizens of
all denominations.

« The prospect of national prosperity now before us is truly
animating, and ought to excite the exertions of all good men
to establish and secure the happiness of their Country, m
the permanent duration of its Freedom and Independence.
America, under the smiles of a Divine Providence-the pro-
tection of a good Government— and the cultivation of man-
ners, morals and piety, cannot fail of attaining an uncom-
mon degree of eminence, in literature, commerce, agriculture,
improvements at home and respectability abroad.

"As mankind become more liberal, they will be more apt
to allow, that all those who conduct themselves as worthy
members of the Community are equally entitled to ( e pro-
tection of civil Government. I hope ever to see America
among the foremost nations in examples of justice and liber-
ality. And I presume that your fellow-citizens will not for-
get the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment
of their Revolution, and the establishment of your Govern-
ment: or the important assistance whicli they received from
a nation in which the Roman Catholic faith is professed.

" I thank you. Gentlemen, for your kind concern for me.
While my life and my health shall continue, in whatever sit-
uation I may be, it shall be my constant endeavour to justify
the favourable sentiments which you are pleased to express of
my conduct. And may the members of your Society in
America, animated alone by the pure spirit of Christianity,
and still conducting themselves as the faithful subjects of our
free Government, enjoy every temporal and spiritual felicity.
" (March 12, 1790.) ' Geo. Washington ."^

• From Washinsiton's original reply, presei^iu the Archives of the
Archbishop of Bultiiuore.

rt.

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362

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

A person, who strangely enougli signed himself « Liberal '*
in a communication to the press, attacked the Catholic body
Dr. Carroll replied in June, 1789, in an article addressed to
the editor of the " Gazette of the United States," in which
the attack had appeared.

" Every friend to the rights of conscience, equal liberty
and diffusive happiness, must have felt pain on seeing
the attempt made by one of your correspondents ....
to revive an odious system of religious intolerance. ...
Perhaps he is one of those who think it consistent with
justice to exclude certain citizens from the honors and
emoluments of society merely on account of their relig-
ious opinions, provided they be not restrained by racks
and forfeitures, from the exercise of that worship which
their consciences approve. If such be his views, in vain
then have Americans associated into one great national
union, under the express condition of not being shackled by
reh-gious tests, and under a firm persuasion that they were
to retain, when associated, every natural right not expressly
surrendered.

"Is it pretended that they who are the objects of an in-
tended exclusion from certain offices of honor and advantage,
have forfeited by any act of treason against the United
States, the common rights of nature, or the stipulated riglits
of the political society of which they form a part ? Tliis the
author has not presumed to assert. Their blood flowed as
freely (in proportion to their numlHjrs) to cement the fabric
of inde{)ondence, as that of any of their fellow-citizens.
They concurred with periiaps greater unanimity than any
other body of men, in -econimending and promoting that
government from whose influence America anticipates all
the blessings of justice, peace, plenty, good order, and civil

relijr-

HEPLY TO "LIBERAL."

883

,,A religious litany. What character stall we the.- g-ve to

°svBtem of politics, calculated for the express purpose of A-

'. nf ,ihts lesally acquired those citizens who are uot

:;;';^:Ll;;^ut^W couauct has heeu highly .er,-

'1r<lL took up the assertion that the ancestors of the
^ eric uVople left Europe to preserve the Protestant ro-
r r and that Protestantism laid the foundation of this
|,g„>ii , and tnat rr protestaut

great and new empire, when, m tact, a «
tiouarchy exerted all its power to crush, as a Cathohc power

"'1 Thrwir attributes to his religion the merit of heiug
,„ JJlvorahle to fre.*m ; and »t«rms that not or^y mora^-

:^rcrmr^=;i:,^te --

I;;.; "olderstand it is not safe to countenance in a free

'Curlious to guard against the impression intended hy
™.l, i s nuations •, not merely for the sake of -? o- P -■
s,, u hut from an earnest regard to preserve mv olate forp .r
;tw empire the great principle of -;«■'- -;;" '
The constitutions of some of the States eontmue 1 to e^
trench on the sacred right, of couscence, ""l »'™ »'»
iZhM and opened their purses as freely, m the oau.erf
Wrtv and indepeute-. as any other citizens, are m,«t
Its h exchuJl from the advantages which they con-
tritod to establish. But if Wgo.ry and narrow pre,u.

no furtlier."

r-'l

, t,4

854 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Rev Dr. Carroll could feel deeply grateful to God that
he had pernntted to see his country thus prosperously ad-
vancing under a wise and beneficent govennnent, wlu-,; re
hpon could hope for the utn^ost freedom, and where at the'
Ban.e tune the Vicar of Christ had established a conmlete
ep.scopa pzrisdiction under an American bishop, n.uoh as he
felt appalled at the heavy burthen he was called to bear for
the rest of his days.

When tl.e news of Dr. Carroll's appointn.ent reached
England Thon.. Weld, Esq., of Lulworth Castle, a person
fnondof the Bishop-elect, wrote to invite hin, to his seat
durn,g h.8 stay in England, an elegant chapel recently con-
structed near the castle affording every convenience for the
august ceremony of his consecration.

Writing to his friend. Rev. Charles Plowden, Dr. Carroll
said : I cannot sufficiently acknowledge the most obliging
and honorable testimony of Mr. Wel.l's regard : vou wiU be
pleased to express with all that warmfh which vnu can com
m.mu.re to your expressions, my deep sense of i.is generous
F.hteness. My mciination certainly leads me to accept of
an offer not only so flattering, but which will afford me an
opportunity of seeing some of those frien.ls whom I shall
ever h.nor and l.ve. Hut I cannot yet determine what I
^I.all do. I stdl flatter myself that Divine Providence will
provide some worthier subject to be its instrument in found-
Jiig a chun h in America."

Vet, writing to Archbishop Troy, he said : - When the
<="lMe<-t ot an American Hishopric was first started. I received
^ Fe.ssing an invitation fn.n. a most respc-table Catholic
pent lenian ,n England, that I unwarily promised to be con-
secrated .„_ h,s chapel, if the appointment should fall to n,y
ot Ifad It l.en otherwi.^ I should have hesitated between
Ireland, the land of my forefathers, and Cana.la. though, on

IRISH DOMINICANS.

365

the whole, I flatter myself that my going to England may be
attended with some advantages to the cause of religion within
luy extensive diocese." '

Before embarking for England he was rejoiced by the ar-
rival of two Irish Dominicans of merit, Father Francis A.
FleniMi", who had been Rector of the Irish College at Lis-
bon, and highly commended by the Pope's Nuncio' in that
city, Father Christoj^her Y. Keating, from the same place,
and Rev. :Michael Rurke. Father Fleming was hnmediately

/TCc^y^CC^

8IGNAT0RE OF FATHER FRANCIS A. FLEMING, O.P.

placed at Philadelphia, to begin a ministry short in years
but brilliant in zeal, ability, and self-devotedness. Rev. ^Iv.
P.urke replaced Father O'Brien at Kew York during his ab-
sence in Spanish America, and Dr. Keating's services found
an ample field near Philadelphia. These Dominican Fathers
all rendered essential service to religion.

About this time Cardinal xintonelli advised Bishop Carroll
to receive no priest from Ireland who did not come recom-
mended by Archbishop Troy, to whom he subsequently

' Rt. Rev. T. Carroll to Archbishop Troy, July 23, 1790, in " Spicileg.
Ossor.," iii., I>P- 507-8.

' Nuncio at Lisbon to Dr. Carroll, Li.sbou, Sept. 4, 1789. A change
had come with the recent immigration from Ireland. Hitherto sermons
l,ul been read in the Ei.Ldish style, and Rev. Mr. Molyneux, writing to
I)r Carroll mentions tliat a dilTerent style was required, and one for
which he felt himself unfitted. Fathers Fleming and Keating seem to
have impressed the Catholics and others as pulpit orators. Matthew
Carev published in his "American Museum" (vii., p. 177) an extract
„f a'sermon delivere.l by Rev. F. A. Fleming, March 17, 1790 ; and
iviii., p. 112) an extract from a sermon of Rev. Thos. Keating, Sunday,
.Vugiist 20, 1790, both in St. Mary's church.

'PI

■ II

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It 'h

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RT. UEV. CIIAULES WAI.ME9LKV, I>.D., V.A.. BISHOP OF KAMA.

(886)

HE ACCEPTS THE BULLS.

357

referred all clergymen from that country who sought em-
ployment in the diocese of Baltimore.*

Visiting Philadelphia in the wiut.- of 1Y89, Dr. Carroll
gays • " In this town we have now two very handsome and
llrge churches, besides the old original chapel, which was the
cn<lle of Catholicity here. This serves for a domestic chapel,
being contiguous to the Presbytery house ; and there is more
consolation in it than in the more splendid services of the
other churches, for here it is that every day, and especially
0,1 Sundius, the sacraments are frequented, etc. In the Pres-
bytery lumse lately built live Messrs. Beeston and Graessel
(a n.ost amiable ex-Tesuit), and Mr. Fleming, an Irish Domin-
ican lately from Dublin, a gentleman of amiable manners
a.ul temper and a very excellent scholar. Near to the new
church lives *he above-mentioneu Capuchin (Helhron).

Though cpially the choice of Fvo-no and of his fellow-
priests Dr. Carn.ll felt that his acceptance would entail care,
difficulty, and trial. His private correspondence shows that
he dreaded to go on ; but there seemed to be no one else to
tike his place at the helm of the little bark of the Church in
this country. He decided to accept the Bulls and respond-
in., to the invitation of Mr. Weld he sailed to England early
in'the sumn.er of 1790, and presented his bulls to the vener-
able Benedictine, the Right Rev. Charles Walmesley, Bishop
of Rama and senior Vicar-Apo folic of England, so eminent
for his vast mathematical and .oientiiic knowledge that gov-
ernment had called upon his aid when the Gregorian Calen-
dar was established in Great Britain, and whose Exposition
of the Apocalypse, issued under the name of Signor Pasto-
rini, had att^uned great popularity. Bishop Walmesley con-

• Bishop CnrroU to Archbishop Troy, Oct. 3. 1790.
' Letter from Philaddphia, Dec. 28, 1789.

'ii\

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^ir\.

;-(. r^

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(3.18)

a
u

HIS CONSECRATION.

8ff0

eented to act as conoecrator, and the solemn ceremony took
place during' a pontiiical high mass in the chapel of Lulworth
Castle, o.» the feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1790, Our
1 luly being chosen by the founder of the American Hierarchy
as the patr..nes8 of his diocese. The princely Englisli gen-
tleman, as a publication of the day remarked, " omitted no
circumstance which could possibly add dignity to so venera-
ble a ceremony. The two prelates were attended by their
respective assistant priests, the Rev. Charles Plowden and the
Kev. James Porter, and acolytes, according to the rubric of
the Roman Pontifical. The richness of their vestments, the
music of the choir, the multitude of the wax lights, and the
ornaments of the altar concurred to increase the splendor of
the solemnity." '

. The following description of the Catholic Chapel at Lulworth ia from
Ilutchins' " History of Dorset " : ,., . i„

In the year 1786, the fir«t stone of the present Chapel, which stands
at a snudl .listance to the South-West of the castle, was laid by the pres-
e„; possessor ; under which were placed coins of the present re.gn. and
a nlale of brass with the following inscription ;

''■Lapis sacer auspicalis in f undamenUv futuri temph jactus anno
MDCCLXXXVi, IV". nonas Februarii : cpiod templum Thomas Weld pub-

cc meo in solo primus omnium, mltescente per Georgmm Tertnnn
Icjum pVnaUum Jcerbitate, in honorem Virginia Beatis8ima= De. Gen.-

^^^^^IfSrC^H- maxime, opus tantis auspiciis inchoaU.m
custodi. protege, fove, ac confirma, ut. ciuaqua Britannioa patent rehgmm
sanctiE templa, adcrescant templis cidtores."

' . The Clmpd is of a circular form, increased by four sections of a cir-
cle so as to form a cross, and covered with a dome and lantern.-I con-
t^ns aw 'i toned organ, a copy of KaphaeVs Transfiguration and two
ot r<crpt md piece, lately brought from Italy.-The angels, foliage,
moudingn^d Ihatever appea- to be ornament about the altar are
ion which is also all gilt, except the angels.-The vase [under the
a is mi piece of transparent alabaster, of the colour of amber. T e
; fl moVwhich tl... urn and angels are placed is of P-P j^jy = "-
e underneath is of a brilliant brescia corallina ; the back part and two

dl of the pace wherein the urn and angels stand are of a brescia anti-

! I'

*,! i.

•l|-f

in I i

W'f

360

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Tl.e Rev Charles I'luwden, bound to Bishop Carroll bv
years of holy frieiuinhip, preached the senuon ,f the dav 'n
winch he dwelt on the fact that the dis,uenaK.n„ent of the
Bntash e.np,re i, .UJIng . ' xistence a ue. eu.pire in the
western worl.'. tUuugh , , ^ seem but the rc.ult of hun an
pas..,. «Lc..ed the M-orking of divine Providence in
act that 'ylu oarhest a.ui u.ont preciou« fruit of it, h„d bee,
^^" "^^"'^" "^ '^^^ kingdon, of ChriHt, the propagation of

abcut UH. urn.-T.K. front a.u. J^l:^^^'^::^:^^
Uie u.lar-table are of a rare and beautiful orient.l rl ^ '^'^ "'' "'
.nouldinp, of ,ia..o di Siena. T^J^^Z1f Z ^:^ T]
pl..n,. di s.neraldo. .t in giallo antico. TLe .aali stc^lTp;.;;;!

OnOCND PLAN OF CHAPEL AI LT WOUTn CASTLE.

uninedrntely o„ the alu-r ,:.ble is of cl.oice i„ , „rella „.i,..,a alabaster _
Th.Mloorof the talx-rnacle and i.8 frame are composed of a d.oice c«l
k...ou of .t..„e« iHpis lazuli, an.ethy.t. verd. di '.rsiea. bian '. e ne ,

LUL WORTH CHAl'.

361

the Catholic religion, which, heretofore fettered l.y rcHtrain-
i„g laws, is now cnhirge<l from iKJudage, and is left at liberty
t„ exert the full energy of divine truth." '

The tirat Bishop of Buhin.ore was thus duly consecrated.
The event was an omen of hope to the Catholics of Great
Britain, and their clergy ; a consolation to the priests who
l,a,l been u.ombers of the Society of Jesus, and, as 1-ather
PU.wden said, " honorable and cc^mforting to Mr. Weld, the
founder of the chai^el, which shall l>e revered through suc-
reeding ages, even by churches yet utmanied, as the privi-
leged, the happy spot from whence their episcopacy and
hierarchy took their immediate rise, and this precious dis-
tinction will be justly attributed to the protection and favor
..f the glorious Mother of God, wl- '^^e house it is, and through
whose patronage all Christian cli lies are founded."

Bishop Carroll always preserved a great and pious venera-
tion for thu day and the place of his consecration. He made
the day the patronal feast of his diocese, and in time obtamed
Bi)ecial indulgences for it from the Sovereign Pontiff. Years
after he spoke in a most touching manner of the graces he
had '-oceivod there, and of his gratitude to God and our
I^dy. show his gratitude to Mr. Weld," writes the

iVU iJilhet, "I'-e had the Castle and Chapel of Lulworth
.-avc* at his own expense, and on my arrival in America
he sho^'- me ■> impression with an air of devotion, recall-
ing to . hin .'on-ocration and his duties, and with marks
of'^esteem au<' .. iichment to that Catholic family

n t

■ At the i-on«;cration of Bishop Carroll, the book of the gospels was
1„.1.1 over his shoulders by the ^ m of his host, Thomas Weld, a future
Cardinal. (Thomas Weld to Bi>u. Carroll, February 25, 1811.)
« Dilhet " Etat de I'Eglise Cathol.- ue ou du Dioeese des Etats Unis."
The eertiflcate of the consecrat - .reserved in St. Mary's Seminary.
IJaltiraore, is as follows :
16

*m >H< t 'VMj

li-i

.ymmmf:

IlliAIl h.\TUAM.E lo UJAl-tL AT LI l,WOinu UAHTLE.

(362)

' '"' 'JpS

CERTIFICATE OF CONSECRATION.

803

The United States now liiul, at lust, ii Ciitliolic Bishop, hut
1,^^, Htood alone in a foreign hin<l, with(.ut resources for his
pvat vork; viewed politically hy many as one of a nation
of HUceeBsful rehelc ; ecelesiiistically as nieniher of an order
struck down hy the Head of the Church and scattered to the
winds. In the city selected as his episcopal see, he had no
diurch heyond a ])lain hrick structure conii)leted in ITS!^ ;
l,is Huiall hand of priests was constantly thinned hy the hand
of death, and there was no soiirce to which he could look
t„r others to replace the dead. Though urged hy the
li,,ly Soo to estuhlish a Senunary he had n.) income, and
i„, one hut Providence t.) whom he could h)ok for his own
supi)ort and the immense task which had heen imposed
iip„n him. Before he left England, his trust and ooniidence
ill (iod were rewarded hy two instances of thia overruling

guidance.

J',ishoi) Carroll received the warmest invitations from his
irWmU in England, especially Lord ArundeU of AVardour,
Mr. Thomas Weld, and others, to i)rolong his stay, hut he

•I

" lUsce tefitatiim fud.nus Wcvcrcndmn Dimi .Icuiinoiu CnrroU, rrcsl.y
tcnun ml epi^^coimtuin nultini()roi.s,..n clfctum. lectis littfris Aposloheis
ui.u.l Sai.ctu.u Mamiu .M,ij..r."m <laliH. huI. imnulo PiscatorU die sexta
Novembris 17H0, ct pnvstit.) prius ul) ijiso Elccl.) juxla Pontiticale Ito-
;„,,„uin jurau.cnt.). assistensibus U.-v.!.. Carol.) Plow.lon ac r.y.l.. .lacobo
l.,',,„.r pnNl.viiris, l.V Aujrusti 1790. sacra Bcatissimic \ irKiniH As-
su.;.pl.c .lie in temp..) {'asU-lli dc T.ulhv.irtl. cmilatiis Dorcestrensis in
AiiL'lift u n.)biH in Kpiscopuin fninse .Diis.'.Tatnni.
" Dubamus ud Castdluin de Lulhvorth .lie 17 AuLtusti anno 1,90.

" 4. CAROLrs Walmksi.ky, Epus HamiUcn.
Vie""" Aplieus.

•• Jjf ('AROi.rs Plowden, sac. nssisteus.

" 41 Jacohi's Poutku. s!I) assi.stens.

" U. FouuESTKii. presbyter Miss" Apost"".

"TuoMAs Stanley, sac."

ill

V't'

HKIfSfXri^^i^X. ' '-•

^-^cr^^^-^f/"^-

CERTIFICATE OF THE CONSECRATION OF BlSnOP CARROLL.

[From ihc oiiginal pioAcrved Id St. Mary's Tbiological Seminary, Baltimore.)

(SM)

HIS SEAL.

365

felt that his presence was needed in the United States, where
so much was to be done.'

Mr Weld wrote : " I shall always esteem myself happy in
every opportunity of giving' you the smallest proof of my
sincere respect and veneration. I was particularly so on he
hte occasion of your consecration. 1 shall look upon that
d.y as one of the most memorable ones of my life, and as a
..lorious one to me and mine in many respects. I own i teei

SEAIi OF BISHOP CAUROLL

a sincriilar comfort and satisfaction in events of that nature,
and anything that tends to the good of true Religion ; but
there were manv concurring circumstances at your consecra-
tion that filled\ny heart ^vith feelings which words canno
express. Indeed, I cannot recall them to my mind without
creat sensible consolations." _

His pious letter enclosed a draft for the Seminary which
liishop Carroll was about to establish. Donations for the

. Lord ArundeU to Bishop C.rroU, Sept. '^''•^'^'''^'JllJXv^
same. August 31, 1T90 ; Thomas Weld to same. Lulworth Cast.e. btpt.

19, 1790.

.fill}

•i^.

< i

366

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

. , '

I if- ' h

same object came too from other sources, encoiiragi„i, hiu.
greatly,'

When in England Bishop Carroll adopted a seal for his
diocese, indicating the Blessed Virgin, selected as patroness
of his future Cathedral, and St. Peter, to whom the chnrch'
wliich was to be his pro-Cathedral, was dedicated. He all!
published "A Short Account of the Establishment of the
Xew See of Baltimore in Maryland," and of his consecration
with the discourse on the occasion, a translation of the Pope's
Bull, and extracts from the BiUs of Rights of different
States.'

Before leaving England he wrote to the Sovereign Pontiff
this letter, full of lessons for all time :

"Most Holy J ather :

When two months ago I informed the Most EmincMit
Cardinal Antonelli of my arrival in Europe to receive Epis-
c.)i)al consecration, I asked him kindly to place me at your
Holiness's feet. an<l in my name to profess especially diat,
although I undertook this burden of the Episcopacy with'
great fear, yet it afforded me no little consohiti<.n that" I wm^
not deemed by you, Most Holy Father, utterly unworthy of
so great an office ; in the ne.\t place, that he would lay be-
fore y..u my faith that I would never, at any time, fail i,,
obedience and docility to the Holy See, without which, as I
had learned from Ecclesiastical History and the doctrine (,f
the Fathers, faith and morals waver. Let me add, moreover,
tliat I shall spare no endeavor that all committed to my care'

' Bishop Carroll to Uvv. Charli's Plr.vvdcn, Sept. 2, 1700 • «ume to
PekT Jenkins Ifolt, Oct. 2. 1790.

y.on.lon. .J. W. Cod.lun. 1700; Ileprinteil by the Ilisforical Clul,
Baltimore, 1876.

LETTER TO THE POPE.

367

whether people or pastors, may be actuated by the same feel-
ings that animate me towards the Holy See.

'' To obtain this grace more surely, prostrate humbly at the
feet of your Holiness, I ask you to vouchsafe to confer on
us the Apostolical benediction.

" Most Holy Father,

" Your most obedient servant and son,
" -h John, Bishop of Baltimore.
" London, September 27, 1790." '

"While still in England, Bishop Carroll received a letter
from Cardinal Antonelli, commending him for his humility
in not wishing to wear the mitre, and encouraging him to
lal)or with confidence. He announced a gratuity for three
years to Georgetown College from the Propaganda, and,
alluding to the calumnies of La Poterie and Smyth, urged
Dr. Carroll to remove all suspicion of a dispositi-. .i on his
part to employ in the ministry priests who had belonged to
the Society of Jesus, in preference to others.

The Bishop of Baltimore, on the eve of his departure from
London, wrote that though he had abundant material, in-
cluding Smyth's own letters, to refute the false statements of
that person's pamphlet, he had refrained from issuing any
answer at the request of the Archbishop of Dublin. In
regard to the general management of the Church, he ex-
plained that when he was appointed, missions which had from
their origin been served by Fathers of the Society, were oc-
cupied by priests who had belonged to tiiat order, and who
were est(^emed by their congregations : that lie could not
justly remove theui merely to accommodate clergynieu who
had but recently arrived in the coui-try.

' " Scritte riferitf, America Centralc," 1770-1790, vol. ii.

' t

368

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

He stated that since liis appointment as Prefect he had re-
ceived or recognized thirty priests, who were then or had
subsequently entered tlie United States, and of these only
seven had ever been in any way connected witli tlie Society
of Jesus ; and of the seven, four were natives of Maryhind,
who had returned to labor in their own State. He alluded
to the negotiation with the Priests of St, Sulpice, as showin.r
his readiness to avail himself of the services of really W(n-tliv
and zealous priests.'

' Carilinal Aiitoiiclli to Bishop Carroll, August 14. 1790; Bishop Cur
roll's reply, Sept. 27, 1790.

CRrrmX BROrOHT from ROMK by rev. JOHN CABBOLIi.

BOOK II.

RT. REV. JOHN CARROLL. D.D., BISHOP OF BALTI-
MORE 171)0-1808.- ADMINISTRATOR OF LOUISIANA
1805-1812.-ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE 1808-1815.

CHATTER I.

KT. REV. JOHN CARROLL, D.D., BISHOP OF BALTIMORE. — AD-
MINISTRATION 1TIMI-180O, — AIU'OINTMENT OF A COAD.
JUTOR. — RT. REV. L. ORAESSEL.

Bishop Carroll felt tliat the conditiou of tlie Churcli in
the United States forbade aiy unnecessary dehiy iu England ;
and, ucclining the kind and nrgent invitations of old and
valued friends like Lord Arundell of Wardour and Lord
Petre, evei. one to revisit Lulworth Castle, the very thought
of which filled his heart with holy and generous emotions,
he embarked at (.Ti-avesend, on the 8th of October, in the
same vessel on which he had come to England. After a
stormy and disagreeiible passage he reached Baltimore on the
7th of December.'

When the arrival of the ship was annou!iced, a large body of
Catholics proceeded to the landing, and as soon as the Bishop
(ii.-,embarked they escorted him to his house. The next Sun-

' >{--th while jroiii!,' aiiil whik' rcturiiiij: (iisliop Curnill had as fellow
pn'- • ',vr Dr. Madison, who wi'iit lo En<!;laiul to he consi'ciati'd by
liisliojis of tlie t:hurch of Enghuul as the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of
Virijiiiia.

IG* (369)

VH<

^■^^ \^nr:->^*

^^ILIiJ^

BALTlMORi:,

(370)

'enorS^uarrlotidort.

HIS INSTALLATION.

371

day St. Peter's church was thronged. Five priests, with the
trustees of tlie church, received the Bishop of Baltimore at
the door, and escorted him to the Sanctuary, where he re-
ma,, ^^d at the foot of the altar while the Te DEUMwas sung.
Then he was conducted to the pontifical throne, where he
received the oheisjuice of the clergy and of some of the laity,
who approached and kissed his ring. He then celebrated a
poutitical mass, in which he gave his solemn benediction and
proclaimed indulgences in the form prescribed.

In the address which he delivered on this occasion, after
he showed how great and irrevocable the duties which had
been imposed on him and the awful responsilnlity, he said :

" In this, my new station, if my life be not one continued
instruction and example of virtue to the people connnittcd to
iiiv charge, it will become, in the sight of God, a life not only
useless, but even pernicious.

" It is no longer enough for mo to be inoffensive in my
conduct and regular in my manners. God now imposes a
severer duty upon me. I shall incur the guilt of violating
my pastoral office, if all my endeavors be not directed to
bring your lives .ud all your actions to a conformity with
the laws of God ; tv^ c: i ort, to conjure, to reprove, to enter
into all your sentiments ; to feel all your infirmities ; to be
all things to all, that I may gain all to Christ ; to be superior
to human respect ; to have no lung i.i vicu' Imt God and
your salvation ; to sacrifice to these ..eJth, peace, n^putation,
"and even life itself ; to hate sin, and y."t '.^ve tiio siinit-T ; to
repress the turbulent ; to encourage tht ii iiid ; to watch over
the conduct of even the ministers of religion ; to be i^atient
and meek ; to embrace all kinds of persons ; these are now
my duties— extensive, pressing, and indispensable duties;
these are the duties of all my brethren in the episcopacy,
luul surely important enough to fill us with terror. But

' ' E

^ :

lii 41. ii.

872

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CAKROLL.

.e.o arc „ l,er. s,i|, ,„„^, |,„„|„,„„„„ ,„ ^„^
tl.« parn.„k,r ,,,„■«.„, „f Ol.rUV ,,l,urc.|, „l,i,.|, ' '

«« my cl,arse, a„cl wl.ero evmtl, , " """'"'"cl

depend „„ 5,„ei,„ „„., „u J,^ « J^ '^fj ";' '<;*'-
pL " t r ,"''"■ ""•'■•"""""*-' "'-■ »■■ ail «.les „.

:;;r;::xr:L:r:;;,tr ''""''"' ----^

to r 1 , rt"li<r,on.s as equally acceptal^lt,

to (t<m1 and saliitarv to men AJ. f ,..i r . ^ ' "^

-.i..na^,,,,.. ,.,,,,„,„-, :^:;;X;;;;--e.

of terror wl„el, cc,,,,™ „,«,„ ,-,. ,„ «, ,, „,„„^, ^,_„ ' ^-

::";;;"""'■ "° '"""■' ''^ "'«" *i'« ■ >■»- 1-.. .! .

*■ "'", '"I""-'-" *" »...l l.„w ,„„c.|, I l,„ve al

i-.,ic, ,.. r„ will ,„„ „,,„.,„„ „„ „„,„^ j';« ";■;^

V..., .,< „vll , ,/ ' l"""*l""ent »„„M fall „„

■ ■' , "; "" "'.v»elf ; my m,laltl,f„i,K», w.nil.l r..l,„„„l
on ,vo„ a„,l deprive ,o„ „f ^,„e „, .,„ ,„„„„ ,,. ,,;,'.:'
I ann,.,,. v,,,..,n,i. di„,,^ ,,,,„.._, •

<«;,;;;'•"''', -• ■•« "■-'- '- p.-o.e,.,i.„,, „» . :

THE ONEIDA BISHOPRIC.

373

Tl.e consecration and inBtallation of Bishop Carroll were
coeval witli a strange pn,ject to erect an episcopal see in tlie

State of New York.

AViiile the Church was sic > >y gaining a permanent tooting
in the cities of that State, there was an attempt to establish
, French mission, and, strangest of all, a Bishop among the
Oneida Indians, which forms one of the curious episodes m

our history. . /■ -c „

lu December, 1775, Peter Penet, a native of France,
l,,ided at Providence from St. Domingo, and made propo-
sals to General Washington and to Congress to supply the
colonies with arms and ammunition. He made some impres-
sion on them and went to France, but being without means,
never rendered any real service, lie was subsequently en-
gaged in other schemes. In 1783 he is described as a mer-
chant in Philadelphia, but four years after was trading with
the Oneidas, over whom he acquired great influence, the In-
dians believing him to be an ambassador to them from the
Kiti- of France. By means of a pretended dream be o\>-
tiined from the tribe a grant of ten miles square, winch the
Sfite of New York confirmed. He also induced the tril^e to
applv to the French Minister at New York for a priest, ami
a li^v Mr. Pcrrot arrived there in 1789. The French :SI.n-
ister re-piested the Oneidas to receive him kindly, give him
a glebe of three hundred acres, clear a field, and budd a

house. X T 1 r> • In

The Eev Mr. Perrot took up his residence at Lake Uneida,
and remained there for some time, engaged from the outset
in a struggle with the Rev. Mr. Kirkland As t., what he
accomplished in reviving the earlier teachings of Catholic
missionaries we know nothing.'

^ Hough, " Notices of Peter Penet, a.ul of his OpcnUions among Uie

-,"1 •In'-j.

*!■?,

c\ :<

'\i'

iiii.

mm,

iSi ;

A'i 8

I i

374 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL,

But in ny(. on. Joan <le la M..,l.otiero, profes«in.. to be the
agent of the Ondda Iruliai.H, whon. ].e re,,re.ente<l . , „,,
tion occ-upvin^r a ^^reat territory between the United Sta '
and Canada, addressed a petition to Pope Pi«8 VI., and for
warded it to the .\uneio at Pans, asking the e«tabli«b,nent of
a Pi,sho,, at Oneida. " We have built a ehnrch," he ga^ ■ „.
the Cty of Oneida, we have provided it with sacred ^es^.|.
bellH books and everything necessary for divine service," and
he asks the Sovereign Pontiff to conlirm "the Kev Job
Loms Vietor I^ Tonnelier de C\.ulonges, a n.an f.dl of n,ei
aml^nod works, wh n. the Oneida nation and the chiefs of
tlio Six Nations have nominated Pishop of Oneida and Pri
n.ate of the Six Nations, and j.resented to vour Holiness in
that quality : he has ex|K.nded at least two-thirds of his fu,
tune HI works of religion and benevolence; he has obtained
of the One.da nation the expulsion of the Episcopalian and
J resbytenan ministers, as they have no Ioniser a.nong them
e.ther du.rch or Hock." This Bishop was to take six Canu-
cuns with hun as soon as he was appointe<l. But thou'-di
tins application was transmitted through the Xuncio at Paris
with a Latin .,.titio„ of the Oneida nation signed by the
chiefs of th" W.if, Turtle, and the Bear families, the mag.
nihcent s.:'b'.;iiit; aas never realized.'

Ond.la Lulians, induding a plan prepared !.y him f<,r tl.e government „f
V p "ll' '^""""^'' '"''' '"'• ''' ''' '' • ^'-^•>-' "^^-"-' >lu"cun;."

' Petition of ( )„ei.ia8 for^var.led by Jean de la MuL„tit^re ; I.,.tter of ti.e

W..,. August 2, 1790; Latin s«pp,i™tion of the Oneida nation f I

n.sh. p. Arelnves of the Propaganda. The nan.es signed to thes^

";•--' rvtmons eoinei,le with nan.e,, in Penefs Plan of O ve ntn^^

>"I then. ,s no .Ine to decide whether one or two priests were n J

here. Ilou.h, who sp<.nt some tin.e investigating I>e efs aetrsay t J

I U-v. Mr. Perrot left before 17(«, The whol. alTaIr is e.xtr, r linary Id

the prtest probably learned that he hud bc-eu duped by at^^d e u'er

THE FIRST CATHOLIC BIBLE. H75

One result of tin evoluti n was the freedciu of th
BO tl-Ht C all. >lu lit. ature c. be ditTuscl tlirougbu,
country, and tin- itUful auppiu-d with books of devot
and, m case of necessity, the doctrines of the Church could
bo dofeuiliHl when assailed.

The publication of ath.-lic books in this country, begun
.dnmst by stealth, as we have seen, in colonial days, was
taken up more openly after the rupture with Great Britain.
G Talb. .1 Iwokseller from Dublin, was appa ntly t^ > farst to
enter ... the career of a Catholic publii^her, isnuing ar> edition
of Reeve'. "History of the Bible," from Ms m

Front Street, Philadelphia, in 1784; and '• 'thohc

Christian Instructed," in 1780. MolyneuvV ,., .n on

the , > '' of Father Farmer" was printed t me year;

Aitkins' "Compilation of the Litanies and Vespers" ^>
peared in 17H7; and two years later "The Unerring Au-
thority of atholic Faith " was printed for T Lloyd :
and "The r, ■ Principles of a Catholic," also in 1.81), by
Matthew Car.v. At this time the last-named able and ener-
getic man, already publishing a general magazine called
" The American Museum," announced on the 26th January,
1789, his intention of publishing a quarto Cathohc Bible, at
the price of six dollars.

The BislH.p-elect and his clergy became patrons of the
Bible, receiving subscriptions for the work, Rev. Char les
Sewell at Baltimore; Rev. J..hn Ashtoii at Whitemarsh;
Rev. Thomas Digges, Mellwood, Md. ; Rev. Robert Moly-
neux, Bohemia; Rev. Leonard Neale and Rev. Mr Doyle at
Port Tobacco ; Rev. Ignatius Matthews, Rev. Augustine
Jenkins, and Rev. John Boarman, N-wtowu; Rev. Henry
Pile, Newport, Md. ; Rev. James W.lton, St. Inigoes ; Rev.
Francis Beeston, Rev. Lawrence v . raessel, and Rev. Thomas
Keating, Philadelphia ; Rev. James Pellentz, York County,

■

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WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0

(716) 872-4503

376 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Pa.; and Rev. William O'Brien, Kew York. The public,
tion was begun in parts on the 12th of December, 1789 • b«t
lus plan was soon abandoned, and it was issued complete i„
two volumes of 487 and 490 pages, soon after Bishop Ca "
roll s reU,rn, on the first of December, 1790, the first English

It was a great undertaking for the little body of Catholics
at that t„ne and remains a n.ost creditable monument te the
zeal and public spirit of Matthew Carey.'

This Bible was a reprint of the edi'tion of the Venerable
Bishop Challoner's revision issued in 1763-4

The Church in the United States, after passing through
grea and senous dangers which menaced it with^compk^te

Btituted episcopal see, and a Bishop, chosen by his feliow-
pn.^ duly appointed by the Sovereign Pontiff, and coni
mted n confonmty with the rules of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic body in the United States were thus in a bet e
position than their fellow-believers in England, who sUl e
mamed under the direction of Vicars-ApoLlic.
The siu-yivors of the old body of the clergy, who had

•ncnt of a \ icar-Apostohc, became the nucleus for the future

B^liogn.phiea> Account of cj^^ uZ.^^J^'^^^^^''^' "^
'•^bhopraphia Catholica Americana." New York m2 nn Jt' • "

•lence. the Bible of ISOI IwinV , ' ^ ™"''* "^"'"^'''J^ °^^"^ ^re-

Bible. In fJ:i[:2^:7^zirs:::' t.^"^' '-^ ^-"-"'^

ton. only by sending my prandfXr-; «n ' T^^'\ ^'■''™0'* "^ ^^o.-

I
t]
a
a

A SULPITIAN SEMINARY.

377

American clergy. But tbey were fast dwindling away, and
the isolated priests arriving from abroad, differed from them
and from each other in training, ideas of discipline, ritual,
and varied in theological views and their system of parochial

The Church in the United States, however, could not long
depend on an uncertain supply of priests from Europe.
Sound poUcy required the fostering of vocations in the new
diocese, and an institution for training young l^^^t^^ J^*';^
learning and in the true spirit of the priest of God « holy
Church But where was the newly-consecrated Bishop to
find men or means to found such an establishment ? Provi-
dence provided both. The Rev. Mr. de Saint Felix, Superior
of the Theological Seminary at Toulouse, impelled by the
Bigns of the coming war on religion, wrote to Rev, Mr
Emery, Superior-General of the Company of St. Sulpice at
Paris, that prudence, it seemed to him, dictated the found-
ing of an establishment in some other country. The idea
was approved by Rev. Mr. Emery and his associates m the
Seminary of St. Sulpice, one of whom. Rev. Mr. Galais,
snccested that the Seminary should be f ,anded at Galhpohs,
wSe many emigrants from France at that time proi>osed to
settle The Pope's Nuncio at Paris, Cardinal Dugnani, had
broader views ; he called the attention of Mr. Emery to the
erection of the See of Baltimore, and the presence of the tirst
Bishop at that very time in England. The Superior of St.
Sulpice accordingly addressed Bishop Carroll, and the Isuncio
supported his letter," which urged the Bishop to proceed to
Paris in order to confer with some of the Gentlemen of the
Semhiarv of St. Sulpice, who wished to devote their experi-
ence and services gratis to the education of young men for

(

I Archbishop of Rhodez to Right Rev. John Carroll. August 24. 1790.

378 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the prieetl.ood in America. It would appear, however th.f
th. generous offer did not, at fi.t, irnprerDk Carrrve;
favorably, as he wrote for further infonnation, and perh p^
feanug persond annoyance from the French government !
a JesuU a ready expelled fron. that kingdom, L deled Z
go to Pans .■ As Rev. Mr. de St. Felix would not underLe
o carry out the project which he had himself proposed, L
eneraue Snpenor of St. Sulpice, who had taken up tie
matter too earnestly to be deterred by obstacles, dispatch d
Rev. ln.nc,s Charles Nagot to London to con er with tie
B-shop of Baltimore. This learned and able Sulpirn ^!
ready well advanced in years, but his zeal for the salvatl

cnce 1 D. Carroll vanished when he met the Rev. Mr. Kagot
He frankly exposed his utter poverty and want of all rt

ZIT: I r '""^' ''''' '°^^^^«* ^'«^ ^- --^ted n

Americ! ' '''" '"^ ^"^''^ ''^"^ '' ^^""^ ^ «---'' in
" We arranged all preliminaries," wrote Bishop Carroll
a..d I expect at Baltin.ore early i„ the sunnner so ne of the
gentkMnen of that Institution to set hand to work; and I
have reason to believe they will find means to carry their
plan mto effect. Thus we shall be provided with a house fi
for the reception of and further improvement in the higher
sc.e.,ces of the young men whom God may call to an Eccll
aiasfcal state, after their classical education is finished in o^
GeorgctoM-n Academy. While I cannot but thank Divine
I rovulence for opening on us such a prospect, I feel great

REV. FRANCIS C. NAGOT.

379

sorrow in the reflection that we owe such a benefit to the dis-
tressed state of Religion in France." ' , „ c i
On Mr. Nagot's return to Paris, the Superior of St. bul-
pice selected those who were to found the Seminary at Balti-
more. Others volunteered, including some young students
in the Seminary. The colony was composed of the Rev
Francis C. Nagot as Superior ; Rev. Mr. Levadoux, who had
been Director of the Seminary of Limoges; Rev. John
Tessier former Director of the Seminary of Viviers ; Rev.
Anthony Gamier, former Director of the Seminary of Lyons
with Mr. Montdesir, Messrs. Tulloh and Floyd, natives of
England ; Caldwell, an American, and Periuault, a Canadian,
as Seminarians. The Rev. Mr. Delavau, canon of St. Martin
of Tours, who proposed to reside in America till calm was
restored to France, joined their party.

Having chartered an American vessel at St. Malo, whence
they sailed April 8, 1791, they took as passenger the famous
Chateaubriand, then a young man of twenty. The vesse
was nearly wrecked on leaving the port, and was detairM I
more than two weeks in the Channel. During the long voy-
age high mass was sung on board every Sunday by Canon
Delavau, the rest receiving communion r^. his hands. Atter
long delay the vessel, managed by an unskilful captain, came

FACSIMILES OF SIONATimES OF REV. F. C. NAGOT AND REV. J. A. EMERY.

bv the wav of the Azores and St. Pierre de Miquelon, and
reached Baltimore on the 10th of July, 1791. The Rev.

Bishop Carroll to Lord Arundell, London, October 4, 1790.

•I . ..f

.'.IS

;]8o

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Cliarlos Sewall, in the absence of the Bishop conduotPrl f 1
to a ho«.e Ko. 0. i..,ti.„ore Street, sinee^e:!^' t^
opcung of .Vorth, then called Belvidere Street ^

Announcing to his flock in An.erica the e'oming of the
!M.lp.tians, Bishop Carroll wrote : " I propose iixin. M
ver, near to u.y own ho.ne, the Cathedril o7m:.I/,::

tribute to the d.gnitj of divine worsln-p. This is a i>rp..f .

R V AI 5T' "■ " !""' °' '""■• "™' «" '"'-i. and
J'i>. Jlr. J\„g„t soon iiurclmml il for^Kll) M„.,i ■

tl c -ll(i, of J„|y, a ro„,„ „„ ,1,3 ^^,,j ^
flttc.1 ..p ns a cLapcl, „,„, ,,,„,«,j , n^,, j, J^ '» °
deilioatcl it to tl,c Elesscl Virsii, Jhrv ■
On the 2!.,1, of Mav, , 7,«, „,e UeV: ,f«.. an-o„i„o.,„

The a,lv™t of ,„d, a n„„,Wr „, ,,„„,„], ,„•„„,, .„,, e,ne.
nencoJ ,,„.st. w,« of in„„c.„« i„„«„a„ce to the ChnrA

■ m»l...r I „rr„ll i„ BH„„ „, Q„, « ,-«, T .

ll.oli.lM o,i ,l„ l,i„c.w ,1,, Klat, l„i,' " w i I W~IV

Q..,*, „f III.I,,,,, B,„,t. ,„ |„,|.,. „ ■ ".V ■"' I'™"'-. H'Pli™ I.,
".l-I.Jr.. .!,■ IEsli„ a l„ tia ,|a x,V. ^vj; If,' "'"",'":" I""" "■"'' 4

^ i4:

■firj

(381)

i. 1

ItfjQit^tj^ rtC- -r>:::t:<--::>'^

-'^VLO^KierKRWft-

f'H

J .hi

382

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The Seminary could not cive eninlovin^nf t^ i]

aoimry life i„ ,1,^ u„i,^^ g^j^^ """'"I" »' l"»

The Profeeh,ro.A,«.t„lic ,m,lor rt,„ r ,j„^ _

ol.l E,,j;l,.|, coIoiim; but no act of ,l,n ,, , ™'°7 "' '!'»
.;.e I«..,op of Q„e.oe „f «,„ .:1"„V " Setett:'
the country northwest of the Ohio • nr fl !','''' ^'''^^

-'•ole territory inclnded in tl edited s^^ ^^^^^^
was referred to Rome -md f 1.. S , r. ''*' '"""^''"

a.a„da Fide on h 29 dtw fT ^'''"^""'" '*^ ^^^^^^
whole territory o the U it 7^f .'"""•' ''''' ^'"^^'^ *''«

of Bishop Carllld!^^* " ""'" *^"^^ ^'^^'^-^

prelates ■ tC; V "" ""' ^*^ «" ^''"'"'"^ of the other
I Uates. Detro,t, and a considerable part of Michigan and

American, subjccti. non ad" uc [^10.? in r"' ""i ""■' ^''-■''-'"<""
<lttcti. '"""^ '^'"™ 'n fornmin Proviuciaj sunt re-

S8-" Dominus Xoster Pius Pont vr i i
omnesChristifidde.,. . . noriri,. P T''' '^''' ' ^•'"^'"bri.s 1780
«<-l otiam in alii.s flnitimis ext a nr^vri ' J"^''*^"'-"'''" Amorioa, Provinciis

I).crcesi8 Episcopo hucu 1^1^ subS fi """"y" """^ ^»J»«-unu,uo
B,^i.no.n. ..,ee.. .ore i. ^^0.^^:^-:-"' ^'''^--
Datum KouiK 29 Jan'" 1791.

L. Card. Antonellcs, Praf-.

THE CARMELITE NUNS.

888

«o,ne of Ohio, was BtiU claimed by England as part of Can-
a,h • and Spain claimed Natchez as territory wrested from
the British in war. Until the United States acquired posse^
.ion at these points Dr. Carroll's authority was not exercised

^''America was to be blessed also with a connnunity of clois
tered, contemplative nuns. To the worldly, such a body
,night seem a burthen rather than an aid to a strngghng
Church Not such was the judgment of Bishop Carroll.
Pious Catholics in Maryland had solicited the Carmelite nuns
of Antwerp to found a house of their order at Port Tobacco.
BiHhop Carroll gladly favored the establishment <.f a com-
,nunity intended solely for prayer, and for imploring the
happy success of the American mission and the propagation
of the Catholic faith in this New World.

When the Catholics near Port Tobacco forwarded to the
Convent at Antwerp their re(iuest for a branch of that ven-
erable community, which dates back almost to St. Teresa her-
self having been founded by Mother Anne of the Ascension,
only thirty-seven years after the death of the illustrious re-
viver of the Carmelite order, the Bishop of Antwerp ad-
dressed a letter to Bishop Carroll, and the newly appointed
Bishop of Baltimore readily gave his consent. Rev. Charles
Neale selected four nuns, one from the Mother-house at Ant-
werp, Mother Clare F. Dickinson, and three from the con-
vent at Ilogstraet, Reverend Mother Bernardina ISIathews,
Superior of that house, and her nieces Aloysia and Eleonora
Mathews. They left Europe April 9, 1790, and after a tem-
pestuous vovage landed at Mr. Robert Brent's, near Port To-
bacco Rev. Charles Neale had given the little community
a farm belonging to him, but as it had not a buihling suited
to the wants of the nuns, they exchanged it for property be-
longing to Mr. Baker Brooke, who had just erected a large

'^. '

PORTUAIT OF MOTIIEH FRANCES DICKINSON

(»84)

' f!

CONVENT AT PORT TOBACCO.

385

Ijouse. Here the coinimmity organized, taking pofisession on
tlio 15th of October. Father Charles Neale gave them also
£1,370 coming to him from his parentw. Mother liernardina
Mathews was the first Superior, and directed this little com-
munity of contemplative nuns till her happy death, June 12,
1800. By their severe rule these CarmeUte nuns are re-

j{ jOcC^o^ Jc

FACBIMn^E OF THE BIONATCRK OF MOTHKIl FllANCEB DICKINSON.

(piired to recite the Divine Office in choir, and to fast eight
months in the year ; to abstain from flesh meat, except in
case of sickness ; to wear woolen clothes, and to sleep on
straw. Rigid as the rule is, delicate Indies who have entered
the community have lived to an advanced age.

The convent prospered for a time, supported mainly by
the produce of their farm ; devoted to the exercises of their
rule, guided in spiritual matters and aided in their temporal
concerns by their pious founder. Rev. Charles Nealo."

Bishop Carroll, thinking that in the condition of affairs in
the United States the Carmelites could render great service
by opening an Academy for young persons of their own sex,
represented the matter to the Sovereign Pontiff, and the Car-
dinal Prefect of the Propaganda replied that it gave His
Holiness incredible joy to find that they had gone to Amer-
ica to diffuse the knowledge and practice of religious perfec-
tion ; and he added that, considering the great scarcity of
laborers and the defects of education in the;-, 'tates, they
might sacrifice that part of their institution to liie promotion

' Memoir on the Carmelite Convent, prepared in 1844 for Bishop Fen-
wick of Boston.
17

J .i'l,

•' >i

4'- ' tf

iK i

J 4i

l!WE3»*>B^f?^>

886

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

of a greater good, and Bishop Carroll was directed to encour-
age them to undertake it.'

The CaruieliteH, however, were loth to Hwerve from the
rule under which they had lived, and did not avail theniHelvcH
of the iKjrniiHHion. The Bishop himself, tniii.ed to a relig-
ioii.s life, and feeling as the great hlow of his life the decree
which exiled him from it, could not press these pious wom-
en to a<lopt a course repugnant to them, for ho regarded
the community " as a safeguard for the preservation of the
diocese." '

The diocese of Baltimore, comprising the whole actual ter-
ritory of the United States at that period, the country east of
the Mississippi River, except Florida, had now a Bishop in
the person of the Right Rev. John Carroll, with his See at
Baltimore, and a body of clergy comprising about thirtv-
five priests. There were Catholic churches at lialtimore,
Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Charleston ; at St. Inigoos,
Newtown, Newport, Port Tobacco, Rock Creek, Annapolisi
Whitemarsh, Bohemia, Tuckahoe, Deer Creek, Frederick,
llagerstov.n, and some minor stations in Maryland ; Lfin-
caster, Conewago, (Joshenhojipen, Elizabethtown, York,
Reading, Carlisle, Greensburg, in Pennsylvania; Coffee
Run, Delaware ; at Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Prairie
du Rocher, in the parts under his actual control ; while tliere
were churches and priests at Detroit, Raisin River, Michili-
niackinac, and, soon after, at Fort Miami, in i)art8 still held
by England, and under the control of the Bishop of Quebec ;
and a priest and church at Natchez, and a church at Villa
Gayoso, under the Bishop of Havana, S{)ain holding the dis-
trict by conquest.

• Bishop Carroll to Rev Mother Mathews, March 1, 1798.
' Same to same, Nov. 9, 1795.

I i

RRV. JOHN THAYKR.

387

There wx-re scattored CatliolicH in other partH viHited from
time to time, where a log chaiMjl or a private house held
the faithful, when the coining of a priest cheered and en-
couraged them.

A ollt'ge had been commenced at Georgetown ; and there
was a diotesan Seminary in Baltimore. The austere com-
munity of discalced (>armelite nuns at Port Tobacco were
th» only l)ody of religious women.

i'he diocese was immense in extent, with Catholics increas-
ing in number at isolated points, travel and communication
being m dithcult that they often could not easily make known
their wants, or be reached by the small number of priests in
the mission.

The Holy See had especially urged the holding of a dioce-
san synod, and Bishop Carroll had felt its necessity in order
to bring together the priests of his diocese who differed in
nationality, education, and system of missionary work, to
adopt statutes adapted to the position of the Church in the
United States, which would, in time, insure uniformity of
management of the widely separated missions of his diocese.
But other matters demanded his immediate attention. Dif-
ficulties at Boston had hastened his return from Europe.
The llev. Louis Rousselet, who succeeded de la Poterie at
Boston, soon scandalized his little flock of sixty Catholics, so
that when a priest, born in Boston, reached that city in 1790,
Bishop Carroll anticipated consoling results from his minis-
try. This priest was the Rev. John Thayer, a convert. He
had in early life been averse to study, but at the age of six-
teen began his education in earnest, apparently under the
Rev. Dr. Chauncey. He was in time ordained a minister and
acted for two years as chaplain at Castle "William. An in-
clination to travel led him abroad, and he landed in Europe
toward the close of the year 1781. After spending some

888

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

time in France and England he proceeded on his tour and
was in Kome at tlie time of the death of St. Benedict Labre.
He had already begun to study the doctrines of the Catholic
Church, and had conferred with some learned priests ; but
miracles and prayers to Saints were still very shocking to all
his ideas. He joined others in ridiculing those of Labre, till,
it is said, a gentleman challenged him to go and investigate
some of the cases. He did so, and to his astonishment found
the evidence such as would have decided a case in any court
of justice. He was received into the Church at Rome, May
25, 1783. The Sovereign Pontill gave him audience several
times, and bestowed upon him a crucifix which Mr. Thayer
always preserved. Returning to France he entered the Col-
lege of Navarre, and was admitted by the Archbishop in an
Institution for Recent Converts. Having decided to enter
the ecclesiastical state he was received into tlie Seminary of
St, Sulpice. Here the learned Rev. J\Ir. Nagot watched him
carefully, finding much in his zeal and piety to admire. His
vacations were spent in Pilgrimages — once to La Trappe,
where he remained some time ; at another time to the home
of St. Benedict Labre in Amette. As a stranger he was not
always welcomed on these pedestri^in pilgrimages, and was
at times refused comtnunion by those who suspected him of
l»eing a mere adventurer. After his three years' course he
was ordained by the Archbishop of Paris for the mission of
the United States.' "While awaiting the orders of Very Rev.
Dr. Carroll he exercised the ministry among the Catholics in
London, and among the Irish and English at Paris, convert-
ing many Protestiuits by his zeal.

' While nt St Sulpice he visited John Adams iind Lis ,vifc at .\utciiij.
Mrs. Adams to Rev. John Shaw, January 18, 1785. " Letters of Mrs.
Adams, " Boston, 1848, p. 228.

THAYER IN BOSTON.

389

He reached Baltimore in February, lYOO, after a voyage
■of eleven weeks' duration, during wbicl- he said mass almost
every day. The Very Rev. Dr. Carroll received him kindly,
and soon after set out with him for Philadelphia, whence he
repaired to Boston. He preached on the Sunday after his
arrival, and naturally attracted many to hear him : but he
was soon prostrated by rheumatism, which confined him for
a long time to his room. The account of his conversion,
which he had published in English and French, was widely
read, and soon elicited sneers and taunts in the newspapers
of the day. He at first declined to enter into any contro-
versy. Some came to him for instruction, and in July, 1790,
he estimated the Catholic population of Boston at about one
l)undred— French, Irish, and Americans.

The zealous American priest soon found that hie associate
was far from edifying, and that, like his predecessor, he
would bring disgrace and odium on the Church.' The Very
Rev. Dr. Carroll accordingly withdrew his faculties."

> "Account of the Conversion of the Rev. Mr. John Thayer, lately a
Protestant Minister at Boston, in North America," published apparently
at London in 1787 ; and in French at Paris. The English ran through
several editions, and was reprinted in Baltimore in 1788, Hartford 1790,
and tile French in Canada about the mmie time, and a Spanish edition
appeared the same year. It has since been frequently reprinted. Rev.
Mr. Nagot included it in his " Recueil de Conversions Kemarquables
nouvellement opcn'rs dans quelques Prote.stans," Paris, 1791, adding his
own account of Thayer's life at St. Sulpice, with extracts from his letters
from Baltimore and Boston. Archbishop of Scleucia to Cardinal Anto-
nelli Fontainebleau. October 20, 1783 ; Rev. .1. Thayer to Very Rev. L.
Neaie, Vicar-General, Boston, October 14, 1790 ; " Herald of Freedom,"
August 31, 1790 ; Rev. John Thayer to Bi-shop Carroll, Boston, January
0, 1791, April, 1791 ; Rev. Louis Roussclet to Bishop Carroll, January
15, 1791 ; Life of St. Benedict Joseph Labre.

» Rousselet's faculties were withdrawn in 1791 and he sailed to Guade-
loupe. Shortly after, that island was captured by the French and Rous-
sclet ana many French inhabitants condemned to the guillotine. It was

|';-|t

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300

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Some time after Ins arrival, Rev. Mr. Tliayer, in an adver-
tisement dated November 24, 1790, announced in a i)aper of
the day that he would preach in any of the nelgliborinfr
towns on evenings during the week, and would answer objec-
tions to the doctrines which he announced.

The Rev. George Lesslie, minister of the Congregational
church at Washington, New Hampshire, taking this as a
challenge to tie New England clergy, came forward thus :
" As the gauntlet is thrown by Mr. Thayer, it is taken up by
George Lesslie."

The Catholic priest had not challenged the Protestant
clergy to a controversy, but on the 2()th of January, 1791, he
professed his readiness to meet Mr. Lesslie or any other, and
announced that he would the next day open a controversial
lecture at the Catholic church. " It is no vain presumption
in my owji learning or abilities that prompts me to this step ;
my only motive is the glory of God in the salvation of poor
Bonis. My entire trust is in the strength of my Redeemer
and the goodness of my cause." Rev. Mr. Thayer began by
an e.vposition of Catholic doctrine, and Rev. Mr. Lesslie re-
phetl by selecting the point of Infallibility, against which he
produced his argument**. The Catholic controversialist re-
plied at length, but the New Hampshire minister did not at-
tempt to refute his arguments Rev. Mr. Thayer waited for
a year, during which he was assailed with squibs and attacks
in the papers, even John Gardner, a lawyer of eminence, en-
tering the field with low scurrility, and making assertions.

the hour of praop for the unhappy priest. He roused the fnifh of his
fellow prisoners, and prepared many of them for dealli, hearing their
confessions us he eould under the eireimstanees. " Hut as for me," he
said, " I must po into crnity without havinjr the efllca.-ious jrrares of
Uic sacraments applied to my poor soul." ■• L'. S. Catholie Magazine "
Tlii., p. 104.

REV. JOHN TM.:. V -JR.

391

wliich Thayer at once caUed upon him to prove. But the
lawyer, instead of sustaining his plea by evidence, attempted
to wriggle out of his disgraceful position by coarseness and

vulgarity.

Finding that Eev. Mr. Lesslie would not attempt to answer,
the Catholic clergyman addressed him on the marks of truth in
the RomaJi Church, and the marks of falsity of all the sects.'

The Rev. Mr. Thayer was zealous in attending his little
Catiiolic flock in Boston, offering his daily mass, catechizing
the children, preaching to adults, ever diligent in the confes-
sional, and attending the sick. He extended his visits to all
accessible places where he heard of Catholics needing bis

ministry.'

But with all his zeal and his attention to his duties, the
Rev. Mr. Thayer could not avoid difficulties. The Rev. Mr.
Rousselet was still at Boston, and set up another church, di-
viding the little congregation.

Convinced that his presence was imperatively required there,
Bishop Carroll proceeded to Boston in the spring of 1791.
He succeeded in uniting the two parties, who accepted Rev.
Mr. Thayer ; provision was made for the payment of tlie
debts incurred l)efore the separation, including some created
by the Abbe de la Poterie, and a bill due for church articles
forwarded apparently through the Archbishop of Paris.
Regulations were adopted for renting the pews, the best one
in the church being reserved for the French consul.' But the

. " Controversy between the Rev. John Thayer, Catholic Missionary of
Boston, and the Rev. George Lesslie, Pastor of a Vhmch in Washington.
New Hampshire. To which are added several other pieces. [No place

or date. ] _ „ .

■' Campbell. " Early History of the Catholic Church m Boston, m
• U. 8. Catholic Magazine," viii., p. 114.

'Bishop Carroll. "Instructions to the CaUiolic CongregaUon at
Boston."

ifi

,1 ; •) .

^rn'm

392

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

troubles caused by liis predecessors and his own inexperience
in the management of a congregation neutr ized the efforts
of Rev. Mr. Thayer.

The Bishop of Baltimore was received with courtesy by
the people of Boston generally, and having been invited to
the annual dinner of the oldest military organization, " The
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company," he pronounced
tlie thanksgiving at the close of the banquet.'

Bishop Carroll was highly pleased with his reception iu
Boston. " It is wonderful," he wrote, " to tell what great
civilities have been done to me in this town,, where, a few
years ago, a Popish priest was thought to be the greatest
monster in the creation. Many here, even of their princii)al
people, have acknowledged to me that they would have
crossed to the opposite side of the street rather than meet a
Roman Catholic some time ago. The horror which was asso-
ciated witli the idea of a papist is incredible ; and the scan-
dalous misrepresentations by their ministers increased the
horror every Sunday. If all tli(> Catholics here were united,
their number would be about one hundred and twentv." '

Besides the little flock in Boston, another body of Catho-
lics in New England appealed to the Bishop for a priest.
The Indians of St. John's River and the Passamaquoddy
with Micmac deputies addressed the Bishop through Mr.
John Allan, who had been Indian superintendent of the
Eastern department.

They forwarded to the Bishop in token of their Catholic-
ity, a crucifix which had been kept in a chief's family for
several generations. Mr. Allan, who had commanded these

' Carey, "American Museum," ix., (43; "U. 8. Catholic Magazine,"
viii., p. 149.

» Letter cited by Rev. C. I. White in Darras' " General History of the
Church," iv., p. 618.

THE PASSAMAQUODDIES.

393

Indians during the Revolution, attested the firmness of their

" From a long acquaintance with these people, he wrote,
"and having the command of them during the late war be-
tween America and Britain, I am in some degree, knowing
to their sentiments and disposition respecting their religious
tenets. They are a very exemplary people, consistent with
their customs and manners, as are to be met with, zealous
and tenacious of the rites of the Church and strictly moral,
cautious of misbehaving in point of religion. Though rude
and uncultivated in many other matters, they are truly culti-
vated in this, and it was always observed by the French gen-
tlemen of the clergy, whom we were favored with during
the war, that they never saw a more respectable collection m
France, and excepting the Cathedrals and some particular
place of worship, their performance, chants, etc., in Latin,
were in most instances superior to any. I have been myself
charmed with them when shut up in the woods. And
though of a different sentiment, believe them truly to be
good Christians, meriting the peculiar blessings of the Deity.
They teach their children when able to lisp a word, the ser-
vice, and as they grow up, become in a manner innate, this
owing to the assiduity of the French missionaries, much to

their honor." '

Their address depicted their desolate condition, with no
one to instruct them, offer the holy sacritice, or administer
the Sacraments. The case was urgent, as Rousselet, after
leaving Boston, had gone among these Indians.'

As soon as he was able Bishop Carroll (li>^patchcd to them
the Rev. Francis Ciquard, whom he commended in a letter

• John Allan to Bishop Ciirroll, May 31, 1791.

» Same to same, July 28, 1793.

17*

■Tl

.I"!"!-

394

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

exhorting the Indians to profit by his instructions and einu-
late their ancestors in the zeal and fidelity they displayed un-
der the good Fathers of former days.'

Like these Indians the Penobscbts under their gallant and
truly Catholic chief wh ) led them during tiie Revolution in
the service of the United States, had all clung to their faith,
although long deprived of priest and sacrifice."

After Bishop Carroll had made known to his clergy gen-
erally his intention of convoking a synod of the priests of
his widely extended diocese, he issued on the 27th of Septem-
ber, 1791, the official notice of the convocation.

On the day appointed, the 7th of November, 1791, Bishop
Carroll had the consolation of opening the Synod earnestly
recommended by the Holy See, and greatly desired by him-
self. The numerous difiiculties environing the undertaking
had been overcome, and for the first time in the history of
the country a Catholic bishop was to gather his clergy around
him to deliberate on the rules to be adopted for tiie good of
souls.

Conformably with his desire and convocation, his episcopal
mansion beheld the gathering of venerable priests, lal)orers
for years in the missions in the days of penal laws, the Very
Kev. James Pellentz, a German, Vicar-General for the dio-
cese ; Very Rev. James Frambach. also a German and Vicar-
General : Very Rev. Francis Anthony Fleming, of the order
of St. Dominic, Vicar-General for the Northern District;

' History of tlie Calho-

' Biwliop CiirroII's Reply to the Iiidinns ; Shea,
lie Missions," X».w York, \K)T\ p. 157.

* For Orono, sec " Massaoliusetts HisU)ricaI Collections," ix., p. !\2 ■
" Piscatjiway Evnnirclioil Majjazine," i., p. 200 ; " New York Spectator^'
April 4. IHOl ; Kingston, " Tlie New Bio^rrapliic Dictionarv," Haltiinoro,
1810. pp. 219-220. He died at Indian Old Town, February 5, 1801, at
the age of 118 ; his wife. Madame Orono, stirvivins him till .lanuary, 1809.

FIRST SYNOD OF BALTIMORE.

895

Very Rev. Robert Molyneux, Vicar-General for the Southern
District • Rev. Francis Charles Nagot, Superior of the Seinina-
rv of St.'sulpice, Baltimore ; and the following priests-John
\Bhton, pastor of Baltimore ; Henry Pile, Leonard Neale,
Charles Sewall, Sylvester Boarman, William Elling, James
Vonhuffel, Robert Plunkett, Stanislaus Cerfoumont, irancis
Beeston, Lawrence Graessel, Joseph Eden, John Tessier, Di-
rector of the Seminary; Anthony Gamier, and the Rev.
Louis Cahier de Lavau, Canon of Tours. The little body
showed in ite diverse nationality what a blending of races
the Church was to present, for there were Americans, Eng-
lish Irish, Frenr-.h, Belgians, Hollanders, and Germans.

The clergy having all assembled at the Episcopal residence
(,n the 7th of November, Bishop Carroll in his rochet, amice,
cincture, stole, and cope, mitred, and holding his crosier,
went in procession preceded by the priests from his house to
the pro-cathedral church of St. Peter, in which all had been
prepared according to the Roman PontiBcal. The Bishop
then pronounced an eloquent discourse suited to the occa-
sion, after which all made their profession of faith.

The Revs. Leonard Keale and William Elling were named
promoters, and the Rev. Francis Beeston, secretary.'

The first Synod in this country was thus opened, marking
a new era in the history of the Church.

In the first session statutes were adopted as to baptism,
re<mlating the cases when the sacrament should be a.lmm.s-
teml conditionally, and prescribing care in the keeping and
preserving of baptismal registers. As to Confirmation it pre-
scribed lu. a general rule that it would not be conferred except

. There is a sketch of this olerpyman from the pen of Bishop Carroll
i„ KixS'-n "The New American Biographic Dictionary." Baltimore.
1810, pp. 40-1.

I i

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3U6

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

to those who liad attained the age of reason, and were sufBcieiit-
]y instnietcd to approach tlie tribunal of i)enance. The next
day the Holy Eucharist was taken up, and it was enjoined that
the faitliful should be frequently instnicted as to cleanliness
of the church, and the proper provision of becoming vest-
ments and vessels for the Holy Sacritice. As hitherto the
faithful in IMarylaud had not contributed to the maintenance
of public worship, the Statute said : " Let them also be noti-
fied of the oblations which the primitive Christians always
offered at Mass ; and let them be taught that those are most
uiuiiindful of God's glory, who contribute nothing to su})ply
the means, without which the offices of religion are stripped
of their dignity and authority, and the devout worship of
the Holy Eucharist much diminished." It accordingly pre-
scribed a custom now familiar to all, that two should be ap-
pointed in every church to Uike up the offertory collection of
the faithful after the Gospel had been read. Where no pro-
vision was made for the sup|)ort of the priest or the poor,
one-third of the collections was to go to each i)urpose, the
third was to Ik; applied to the purchase of plate and vest-
ments, the repair of the church, and all was to be devoted to
this purjiose in other cases.

The pn)|wr instruction of children for their first commun-
ion was carefully prescribed.

In the fourth session, regulations were adopted in regard
to Peiuuice. Extreme Unction, and Matrimony. As to tliis
last sacrament the Synod adopted the decree of a Council
held ai Lima by Saint Turibius.

On the 10th the Synod was joined by the Rev. John
Thayer, pastor at Boston, and the Rev. John Rolton, from St.
J<)se|)irs, on the Eastern Shore. Gn that day wiis adopted
the regulation of the Divine Offices, and the observance of
holidays of obligation. In churches where there were sev-

FIRST SYNOD OF BALTIMORE. 397

eral prieete, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, patroness of
the diocese, was to be recited before High Mass ; and l)efore
the sennon a prayer for the authorities, and a fonn drawn
UP by Bishop Carroll was for many years thus recited through-
out this country. The Sunday within the octave of the
Assumption was made the principal feast of the diocese, and
the Holy See was petitioned to affix spiritual favors to its
observance. The sanctifying of holidays of obligation, which
fell on days when business was generally carried on in the
country, presented difficulties, and though the obligation of
hearing mass was strictly enforced, faculty was given to the
clergy for dispensing in cases where labor could not be
avoided without great loss. Vespers and the Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament in the afternoon of Sundays and
Holidays were also enjoined.

Regulations were then adopted on the life and support
of thr clergy, and on the burial of those who had neglected to
approach the sacraments at Easter,

The Synod then closed with the prescribed formalities, a
sermon being delivered by the Rev. John Ashton, after
which the " Te Deum " was chaunted.'

The question of the appointment of a Bishop as suffragan
of Baltimore, or Coadjutor, was discussed at this Synod, and
all felt the necessitv, so that in case of the death of Bishop
Carroll there might be another Bishop to assume the charge
of the diocese, without waiting for long months to send a
nomination to Rome and obtain an appointment. The long
voyages and slow conveyance overiand in those days, ren-

. "Statuta Synodi RMtimorrn.is Anno 1791 cc-lebrntrp. pp. -.--1. a
pamphlet without ti.U-pnp.-. evidently issued before the ^'"^^^f ^^ J^
Reprinted in " (^oneilia Provineiali. Baltin.on ha nta a b a.mo 8 9 us,,ue
aci annum 1840." Baltimore, 1843, pp. 7-20^ C'trcular. bept. J.. 1.91.
Bishop Carroll a Report to the Propaganda. 1.9-.

'4 >

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

dered commnnicatiou with Roino very tcdioiiH and uncer-
tiiin, and in Caiiadu the Bishop always had a coadjutor for
this very reason.

Tlie proceedings of the Synod were then transmitted to
Home.

The acts of this Synod form the first hody of laws adopted
for the government of the Church in this country, and they
liave constantly excited the admiration of all who study them.
Years after Bishop Brute wrote : " We must read over the
Synod of 1791, for the form and its authority will he a good
standard. In every line you see the Bishop. In all you see
how extensively he had studied, and the spirit of faith, char-
ity, and zeal in that first assemhly, has served as a happy
model for [t» successors." The first Provincial Council, hvll
at Baltimore in 1829, expressing admiration for the zeal,
prudence, and learning displayed hy Bishop Carroll in a
Synod lield when, from the spirit of the time and the scat-
tered position of the faithful, um'ty was so diflficult, ordered
the acta of the Synods to he printed at the head of those of
the Provincial Coimcil. a position they have to this day le-
tiined in all the collections of the Acts of the Provincial
Councils of Baltimore.

A few days after the close of the Synod Bishop Carroll is-
sued the following Circular on Christian Marriage :

" When Christ honored the institution of marriage l)y
raising it to the dignity and sanctity of a sacrament, he in-
tended to create in all who were to enter into that state a
great respect for it. and to lay on them an obligation of pre-
paring themselves for it, by purifying their consciences and
disjwsing them worthily to receive abundant communications
of divine grace. He subjected thereby to the authority and
jurisdiction of his Church the manner and ritt^s of its cele-
bration, lest any should violate and profane eo holy an insti-

CIRCULAR ON MARRIAGE.

809

tution by engaging in niarriago without duo consideration of
itw sanctity und obligations. It is judged necessary to say this,
Ijocause lately some of the congregation have been so regard-
lew* of their duty in this resjwct, as to recur to the ministry
of those whom the Catholic Church never honored with the
coniniissiou of administering marriage. The persons here
spoken of, and others who have followed the , example,
hereby rendered themselves guilty of a sacrilegious profana-
tion of a most holy institution at the very moment of their
marriage. It must be left to themselves to consider, whether
they can expect much happiness in a state into which they
entered by committing an ofEence so grievous and dangerous
to their faith.

« To prevent, as much as lies in our power, a renewal of
such profanation and sacrilege, you are desired. Rev. Sir, as
well as our other Rev. brethren, to make known to all that
whoever have lately, or hereafter shall be guilty of applying
to be married by any other than the lawful pastors of our
Church, cannot be admitted to reconciliation and the Sacra-
ments, till they shall agree to make public acknowledgment
of their disobedience before the as8em\)led congregation, and
beg pardon for the scandal they have given.

^-jC^c^

'Bishop of Baltimobe.

"Balt* Nov'16, 1791.
" The Rev. Mr. Francis Bkeston."

Bishop Carroll communicated to the faithful in the
United States, in a pastoral letter dated May 28, 1792, the
rules adopted in the synod. The necessity of a pious and

^ >

4* ' ^^^^^1

-^^i^^i^i

iti

Hj^^l

if \'

I; i; ,

if)

£/» Ot AHC It BISHOP CARROLL.

400

CatlutJi. <ediuiition o the young to WfBre their growing up
in the tuith, wiw the op«euiiig theme ; then Ih' inforuied theui
(A the foun(lati«)U of the College of Gcorget(iwii ami the
§|ini>najry at Haitlinore. Thf former could, of course, ru-
oetVf Iwrt a comparatively BJnull lairnber, but the pupils there,
returning tti \) ''' homos, would Ik; able to in«-*»'uct and guide
otherH in local ot/ "tols, and the College and a ( liriHtian train-
ing at home would ftmter vcx'ations for the pricHthood, and
thu8 give students to the Seminary. For lK)th institutions
lie solicited the generous supjMtrt of the Catholic Ixnly.
The next topic was the increase of church accommodutiun

•/T^ i/n

Tl^yyt.

'e^&</A

<Un^

FACSIMILE OF THE HIUNATUIIE OF REV. FUANCIS DEEBTON.

and the maintenance of tlie clergy. In the rapid growth of
the faithful by immigration, the course pursued in Maryland
and I^ennsylvania from the settlement of those States, could
not be adopted generally. There, in most cases, tlie clergy
had })urchased farms, and established hojisechapels on them,
living by the prcnlucts raised. But under the new order of
things, as a congregation gathered in any district, it l)ecame
their duty to erect a church suited to their wants, and to con-
tribute to the support of a priest who could visit them, or
maintain a resident pastor. This obligation had not I)ecn
geneniUy recognized, and tlie liisliop showed its binding
force. Where it was iicglecttKl "churches for the celebra-
tion of divir;e wrvice and the great Eucharistic sjvcrifice of
the law of iTracc." says the Bishop, " are not built at all, or
are suffered to fall into decay. They are without chalices,
without the decent and necessary fnniiture «>f the altars,
without vestments suited to the different services of the

HIS FIRST PASTORAL.

401

Churob. ; in a word, without tliow? mcred utensilB which iti»
(.rdinanccH rciuirt". aiul which contribute to i.uprc«Hthc n.ind
with a l»eooiuiiiK hcmiho of the majesty of kW^'iou, and coti-
clhate reH|K«ct for its augUHt ceretuoniuH." ' Many . ligrega-
tion« had nm«« but once a month who couUl and should
have a renidont pantor and the couKtaut saeritice. Kellgion
would \h> kept alive, their children and «ervant8 instructed :
in other places no steps had been taken to obtain even an
occjisional service. Tliir iu.lifference he deplored. " Amongst
,ill the obstructions to th<: due celebration of divine service,
and the regular attendance on the sacred functions of relig-
ion, thiH b,ckwardnes8 of the faithful to contribute for its
supV'.r," .ontinued tlie pastoral, - is one of the greatest, iis
was generally agreed and represented by my venerable
brethren, the clergy of the diocese, in a Synod held some
months ago." Citing statutes there enacted, the Bishop im-
nressed on his flock the necessity of making sacrittces to
God of the means which God had given them, in order to
maintain His worship and secure f<.r themselves and their
families the ministry of religion. lie also encouraged them
to greater charity U ward the faithful departed, by fre(pient
prayers and the obhition of the holy sjicritice.

The Pa toral Letter of Bishop Carroll, the first document
of the kind from a Catholic prelate, spread l)y the presg
through the land, was widely read and generally admired.
There was nothing in it that any lover of his country or his
fellow-men could censure, but one wight took tire at the sig-
nature and sent to a newspaper a protest against the " Extra-
(,rdinary Signature." Bishop Carroll deemed it wise to use
the occasion to remove prejudi. •■, though even in the sense
attributed by the caviller, his otiense was far less than that

111

> Pastoral Letter of Kt. Rev. John Carroll.

402

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

of his fellow-traveller, Bishop Madison, who claimed to he
bishop of a whole State, Virginia, while he modestly claimed
oulj one city — Baltimore.

" The Roinau Catholic Bishop of Baltimore," he wrote,
" in a late letter to his flock, which acknowledges his pastoral
jurisdiction, adopts the language sanctioned by the imme-
morial usage of his church, and takes his appellation from

the town where his episcopal see is erected He has

not invaded the rights of any religious society " . . . . and
" has been careful to preserve the language of his predeces-
sors in the episcopal charge, from its institution, near eighteen
hundred years ago, down to the i)reBent time, for he knows
that the integrity of Christian doctrine, generally, is pre-
served best by a faithful adhereuce to the same modes of
speech ; and he is not dis])08ed to sacrifice to a spirit of inno- '
vation, or to a levelling anti-hierarchical system of religion,
those expressions by which all ages of Christianity have des-
ignated his office." He criticised the writer's signature of
I-iberal while championing illiberality, and cited the use of
the feathers who styled themselves Bishops of Rome, Antioch,
Corinth, etc., when the mass of the population, still heathen,
rejected Christianity and recognized no authority in them.
He cited, too, the custom of institutions assuming names
without cavil, such as " Bank of Maryland," or " lialtimore
Insurance Office," without any one dreaming to accuse them
of claiming to own the State, or city, or even exclusive right
to conduct their jieculiar business.

" So, likewise, let who will, in other religious professions,
call themselves • liishops of Baltimore,' it will excite neither
regret nor O))position in him who is now known by that de-
nomination. Indeed, considering his line of episcopal suc-
cession, and source of spiritual jurisdiction, he will think his
owni the best-founded clair ; but, if others judge differentlv.

THE SY?IOi) APPROVED.

408

he will not accuse them of invading his civil rights, much
less will he insinuate that they are guilty of presumption ;
and less still will he provoke them with a threat or denounce
against them ' a return for their temerity.' He conceives
that they would treat such threats from him with contempt,
and therefore he entertains the same sentiment for those of

* Liberal.' " '

When the proceedings of the Synod reached Rome they
received the highest commendation, and were approved with
«eme slight modifications." The Sovereign Pontiff took coun-
sel as to the best means of relieving the Rt. Ilev. Dr. Carroll
of his exceeding great responsibility. Cardinal Antonelli, in
replying to the Bishop of Baltimore, agreed at length on the
expediency of his having a coadjutor, in preference to a di-
vision of the diocese and the erection of a new see. It was

■ NovcmbcT 29, 1793. Brent, " Biographical Sketch," pp. 129-135.
» Cardinal Antonelli to Bishop Carroll. August 16, 1794, says: " They
have been read with great pleasure by all, for they give most lumuious
proofs of your piety, prudence and pastoral vigilance, since what you
have deenied proper to enact will apparently be most profitable to the
iHiople of your diocese." In the statute on baptism the distinction be-
tween CatiioHc and non-Catholic midwives was to be omitted. In that
on confirmation, it was to be noted that infants at the hour of death may
very properly and beneficially receive that sacrament. In regard to the
retribuiion for masses, reference is made to Benedirt XIV., and it is ad-
vised to fix the amount according to the circumstances of the country^
In regard to the marriage of persons coming from other parts, the Sacred
Congrer'ation prescribed : " Qua propter exigendum ab eis erit testimo-
nium duoruni, aut saltem unius testis cum juramento, aftlrmantis eos qui
matrimonium contrahere eupiunt, liberos esse. Si ven. Imjusmodi testes
habere nequeant, Sacra Congregatio. tibi privilegium impertitur (parochis
ctiuni tuie dia^ceseos communicabile) ut prn?missis publicntiombus con-
trahentes ad juramentum supplctorium admit tas ; sed pro iis tantum locis,
in (luibus ultra annum morati non fuerint. nam si mora excesserit annum,
vel ordinariorum vel tcstium fide libertatem iirobaredebent, pro mo.-a ultra
annum in uno(,uo.iuo loco facta." In regard to ecclesiastical bunal.
priests were to adhere to the Homan Ritual.

•"I'f^fiil

- = ^ I :

• 1 ■

I'll'

1 ''i '

' n

LWE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

considered best, as there was not a hierarcliy of several bish-
ops, that tlie administration of ecclesiastical aifairs shonld be
in the hands of one prelate, for thus a uniform mode of dis-
cipline would be gradually introduced ; the clcrfry Mould be
more submissive under the direction of one bishop ; and such
unity would be more conducive to the welfare of souls. On
the contrary, if there were two bishops and no metropolitan,
dissensions might arise. As a coadjutor could reside in any
part of the diocese, he could take charge of a district which
the ordinary could not visit, while at the same time the ad-
ministration would be directed by the latter and according to
his will.'

The selection of a coadjutor by the Bishop was urged as a
means of providing for the succession, as the Sovereign Pon-
tiff would not again permit an election by the clergy. " This
Sacred Congregation, His Holiness' will being directly ex-
pressed, enjoins your Lordship to take the advice of the older
and wiser priests of the diocese, and propose a clergyman,
one of those on the An)erican mission, who might be fit and
acquainted with the condition of affairs, and the Holy Father
would then appoint him coadjutor with all necessary and sea-
sonable faculties." '

To remove any objection that nnght be made by the Fed-
eral or State governments, the Holy See ordained that in
future the oath to be taken by Bishops in America should be
that authorized for the l?ishop8 in Ireland and the Bishop of

' The proper for F^njjland in tlie Missal iind Breviary had Inen us<'(l in
this country ; but aM it swmed out of place sinre the separation from
Enjriand, and could not Ix" caHily imposed on priests from Ireland, Ger
many, and France, Bishop Carroll had solicited and obtained authority
to use the IJonian Miss;il and Breviary without the proper for England.
Mem. of Bishop Carroll to the Propapmda, August 13, 1792.

' Cardinal Antouelli to Bishop Carroll, September 29, 1792.

ik --i\

THE OATH OF BISHOPS.

405

Mohilow, " that in future all pretext of carping and misrep-
resenting may be removed," '

Bishop Carroll had now met a large part of his clergy,
and in frank discussion had considered the state of religion

• Cardinal Antonelli to Bishop Carroll, August 16, 1794.
" Forma Juramenti prtestandi ab Episcopo in sua Consecratione.
" Ego N. Electus Ecclesise N. ab hac bora in antea fldelis et obediens
(TO Beato Petro Apostolo Sanctaeque Romance Ecclesise, et Dfio Nfo
nomino N. Papoe N. suisque succensoribus canonice Intrantibus. Non
ero in consilio, aut consensu, vel facto, ut vitam perdant, aut membrum,
seu capinntur mala captione, aut in eos violenter manus quoniodolibet
iiigerantur, vd injurice aliquee inferantur, quovis queesito colore. Con-
silium vero, quod milii crcdituri sunt, per se aut Nuntios suos seu litteras
lul eorum damnum me sciente nemini pandam. Papatum Romanum et
Regalia Sancti Petri adjutoreis ero ad retinendum et defendendum, salvo
meo ordine contra onuicm bominem. Legatum Apostolicse Sedis in eundo
et rerttundo honorifice tractabo, et in suis necessitatibus adjuvabo. Jura,
boro.-'--, privilcgia, et auctoritatem Sanctse Romanne Ecclesiee, Domini
Nostri Papte et successorum prajdictorum, conservare, defendere, augere,
el proniovere curabo. Ncque ero in consilio, vel facto vel tractatu, in
(piilms contra ipsum Dominum nostrum, vel eamdem Romanam Eccle-
siam aliqua sinistra, vel prffijudicialia pcrsonarum, juris, honoris, status
et potestatis eorum machinentur. Et, si talia a quibuscumque tractari,
vel procururi novero, impediam hoc pro posse ; et quanto citius potcro
aigniflcabo eidcm Donuno Nostro, vd alteri per quern possit ad ipsius
notitiam pervenire. Regulas Sanctorum Patrum, decreta, ordinationes,
seu dispositiones, rcscrvationcs, provisiones, et mandata Apostolica totis
viribus observabo, ot faciam ab aliis observari. Vocatus ad synodum,
vcniam nisi prwpcditus fuero canonica prcepeditionc. Apostolorum
limina singulis decennis personalitcr per me ipsum visitabo, et Domino
Isostro ac successoribus pra;fatis rationem rcddam de toto meo pastorali
officio, ac de rebus omnibus ad meffi ecclesiae statum, ad clerl et populi
disciplinam, animarum deniciue, qua; mea; fldei tradita; sunt, salutem
(piovismodo pcrtinentibus, et vicissim mandata Apostolica humiliier reci-
piani, et quam diligcntissime exequar. Quod si Icgitimo impedimcnto
dctontus fuero jira-fata omnia adimplebo per ccrtum nuntium ad hoc
siieciale mandatum liabentem, de gremio mei Capituli aut nlium in dig;
nilate Kcclesiastioa constitutum. seu alias personatum habcntem, aut, hia
mihi deficicntibns, per Dio'cesanum sacerdotem. et clcro deflciente (mi-
iiino, i>or aiiipieni alium Presbyterum siecularem, vd Regularem spectatiB
lirobitatis et Hdigionis, de sapradictis omnibus plene instruetum. De
hujusmodi antera impedimento docebo per legiliraas probationes ad

t n

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406

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

and the best plans for gathering the faithful and guiding
them in the path of faith and good works.

He then resumed his ordinary labors, involving much of
the duty of a parish priest. Baltimore possessed a church,
but there were Catholics in the southeastern part of the city,
then known as Fell's Point, and their number was swelled by
Catholic sailors from vessels lying there. As they were
nearly two miles from St. Peter's, they resolved in 1792 to
undertake the erection of a church in their own quarter.
Bishop Carroll encouraged their zeal, and when they rented
an unplastered room in the third story of a house on the cor-
ner of Fleet and Bond Streets, and fitted it up as a chapel, he
came to offer the holy sacrifice for the first time, attended by

y^^^i'-Y

BIONATURBS OP REV. ANTHONY 0ARNI2R AND REV. WILLIAM DU BOUUQ.

the Rev. John Tessier. Such was the humble beginning of
the second church in Baltimore.

The care of this little congregation was committed to the
Rev. Anthony Gamier, who discharged his ministry with
zeal and fidelity. His congregation was very small at first,
consisting of alx)ut a dozen people, but he could soon num-
ber twelve families, independent of the occasional visitors.

Panctae Romann; Ecclc*;ia; Cartiinalem per supradictiim nuntiura trans-
inittoruliiH.

" PoH!»cH8ionc8 vcro ad inensam n.eam pcrtinciitcs non veiidam, iicc
dniinlK), ii('(|ue impigiiDrabo, neo dc novo-inffudidio. vol aliquo inodo
nliciiiilH) ctiani cum consensu ("apituli Ecclcsiie mca', inconsulto Romano
I'ontiflco. Kt si ad aliquani alitnationt-in dcvcncro, jHrnns in quadain
BuiH-r hoc edita tonstitutione conUntas co ipso incurrere v<j1(). Sic nie
DeuB adjuvet."

FRENCH CLERGYMEN.

407

from the ships. The second story of a house on Thames
Street was for two or three years their next chapel.'

The first body of P>ench priests was followed by Rev.
John DuBois, who landed at Norfolk in 1791 ; by the Sulpi-
tians Eev. Messrs. Benedict Flaget, John B. David, and Chi- ,
coisneau, who reached Baltimore March 26, 1792. With the
last came Stephen Badin, in minor orders, and Mr. BarreS

not yet tonsured."

Some of these Bishop Carroll had solicited especially for
the missions near the great lakes, where the French language
still prevailed, and where Rev. Mr. Emery purposed found-
ing a solid Sulpitian estabhshment.

On the ISth of June, 1792, Rev. Messrs. Levadoux and
Flaget accordingly set out for the West. Nine days after an-
other reinforcement arrived, consisting of the Sulpitians Rev.
Ambrose Mar^chal, ordained just as he set sail; Rev. Ga-
briel Richard, Rev. Francis Ciquard, Director at the Semi-
nary at Bourges ; and Rev. Francis Anthony Matignon, Doc-
tor of the Sorbonne, and formerly professor at Orleans.

Rev. Mr. Marechal, after saying his first mass, became assist-
ant to Rev. Mr. Beeston at Bohemia, and to Rev. Father Flem-
ing in Philadelphia; Rev. Gabriel Richard in September
started westward to share the labors of Rev. Mr. Levadoux.

Rev. Mr. Ciquard had come expressly to direct an Indian
mission, and Bishop Carroll kept his promise to the Indians
of Maine, by sending him to the Passamaquoddies ; while
the Rev. Mr. Matignon was sent to Boston to labor there as
a devoted and holy pri est for the rest oThis days.' ^

the (Mtholic Church in Maryland." " U. S. Cath M«g.. .. p. 391.
Scharf, "The Chronicles of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1879, p. 09.

' Bishop Carroll to Bishop of Quebec, May 4, 1793.

3Tes8ier, "Epoques du Seminaire de Baltimore"; Dilhet, "Etat de
I'Eglise."

•I ..I

406

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL

i - \

: I

In 1794 Bisbop Carroll received with welcome aiiotlier
colony of the French clergy exiled by the Revolution, the
liev. Williiini Louis Du Bourg, Rev. John Moranvillo, Rev.
Donatian Olivier, and Rev. John Rivet ; two years later
came Rev. M. J, C. Fournier and Rev. John Lefevre Chev-
erus ; and in 1798 Rev. Anthony Salmon.

The arrival of priests from France elevated the worship in
all the churches. Under the penal laws of England, the
Catholic ])rie8t8 in the British dominions had offered the
Holy Sacrifice in the simplest manner, and other services
were conducted with very little ceremonial. But when
clergymen arrived accustomed to see the ritual of the Church
carried out with pomp and splendor, and many of them de-
voted for years to instnicting candidates for the priesthood
in the ceremonies of religion, with all their beautiful and in-
sjiiring suggestions to a devout heart, the old slavish spirit
of jwnal days was discarded : the service of the Church, es-
pecially in Baltimore, l)ecame grand and imposing : its cere-
monial was ai)preciated and loved. The hard-worked mis-
sionary priest on his journeys through the interior could not
yet invest divine worship with n)uch pomp, but he was pav-
ing the way.'

The Church in the United States had but recently seen the
eacrajnent of confirmation conferred ; and the time had come
when for the first time was given that of Holy Orders. The

' Fifty ycHrs njro in New York n hijih maas with deacon and siib-
deacon wa.s a novelty ; the first kisa of peace, and first incensinp of tlie
{)eople made talk anionjEt Catholics for wreks. In England it was even
worse. In Bishop Miliier's time the Benediction of the Bk-ssed Hacra-
nient was practically unknown. In his Life by Rev. Dr. Husenbirtli,
there is a very curious account of the first occasion of a Benediction. A
monstrance and a censer were limited up in old Catholic fannlies, but no
one knew what to pet for incense, and they finally used rosin from an
old platiti candlestick.

*:'!
n

THE FIRST ORDINATION.

409

-Rev. Stephen T. Badin accompanied one of the hands of Sul-
nitiane as a sennnarian, oifering his services to the new dio-
cese He had received minor orders and the subdiaconate in
France; and on the 22d of September, 1792, Bishop Carroll
made his first ordination by conferring deacon's orders on
him, and minor orders on two other students of the Semi-
ivvry • On the 25th of May in the following year, at his
gecond ordination, he imposed hands on the Rev. Mr. Badin,
and raised him to the awful dignity of the priesthood. The
first ordained priest of the diocese of Baltimore was at once
dispatched to Kentucky, where in a long, laborious, and fruit-
ful ministry, he showed himself well worthy of his distinc-
tion as the first to receive orders at the hands of the first
bishop of Baltimore.

The spread of the Church on the Atlantic Coast and in tne
interior was steady and gradual ; and the older mission districts
were not neglected. The Rev. Lawrence Graessel, a learned
and devoted priest, of whose sanctity tradition has preserved
the most exalted estimate, revived the missions in New Jer-
sey, which had been attended by the Rev. Messrs. Schneider

and Farmer.

AVhen the Holy See so distinctly expressed its preference
in regard to the appointment of a coadjutor, Bishop Carroll,
afterwnsulting the oldest and most experienced of his clergy,
selected the Rev. Mr. Graessel, and forwarded his name to
Rome. The choice shows how little Dr. Carroll was influ-
enced by mere national considerations, and how ready he was
to open'the wav for German priests to the highest honors.

But the health of the devoted priest was already broken
bv the severity of his apostolical labors. He felt that his
career was near its close, and tha t he w ould never wear the

Rev. Mr. Mondesir was one of

' RpRistcr of Ordinations, Baltimore,
tlie two.

mi '

'0 4

'It' ,1

410

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

•1

mitre. A touching letter is extant, in which he coininuiii-
cates to his parents the tidings alike of the proposed honor
and of hie approaching end.'

In 1793 and the following years, several parts of the coun-
try were visited by the yellow fever, rhihulelphia especially
suffering by its ravages. The priests were untiring and he-
roic in their attendance on the sick, and Rev. Mr. Graessel,
though stricken with a fatal malady, resumed the active work
of ministering to the sick.

In a pastoral issued in 1800, Bishop Carroll said : " Since
its lirst appearance in the year 1793 the American Church
has suffered by this disease alone the loss of eight of the most
useful, and, in every respect, most valuable pastors of souls ;
Iwsides six or seven others, who contracted the disease, and
were reduced to the point of death, so that their recovery
appears rather a miracle of God's fatherly beneficence, than
the effect of natural causes."

Among those who died in Philadelphia were the coadjutor-
elect. Rev. Lawrence Graessel, the able Dominicans, Francis
Anthony Fleming and Francis V. Keating. Their death,
glorious in heroic devotedness, was a serious loss to religion,
not only in Philadelphia, but to the whole diocese.

Mr. Fleming's merits. Bishop Carroll wrote, "could not
have l)een exercised anywhere more to the credit of religion
than at Philadelphia, where he was universiilly loved and es-
teeiMe<l. Mr. Graeasel, his companion in life and death, and
my designated coadjutor, was equally esteemed ; but l)eing a
German, and consc(juently not speaking our language with
the same purity, or with as much facility, could not render
his talents so conspicuous to the most numerous part of the
congregation." *

' " U. 8. Catholic Historiciil Magazine," i., p. 68.
' BiHhop Carroll to Arcbbisbop Troy, July 12, 1794.

FATHER FLEMING, OS.D.

411

The Dominican Fathers, Fleming and Keating, were elo-
(juent men, and Bt)me of their discourHes have been preserved
in the i)eri()dical8 of the day. Tlie former, who had been
Rector of the College of his order at Lisbon, had alsc done
Borvice in refuting slanders against the Church.

Miers Fisher, a member of Assembly from Philadelphia,
repeating in a debate on Lotteries a lie that any decent man
ought to blush to utter, said : " Lotteries were like the Pope's
indulgences, forgiving and permitting sins to raise money."
To this Father Fleujing called attention, but Miers Fisher
treated the thing in mockery, and gravely cited one of the
miserable forgeries got up against Catholics, a pretended
" Price Current of Sins." When Father Fleming challenged
him to produce any proof of his original charge from any
Catholic writer, or any proof of the authenticity of the pre-
tended list, he squirmed off. as such creatures generally do,
into new an'l different charges agiiinst Catholics. Father
Fleming was not to be diverted. " I now cite Verus to the
tribunal of the public, to prove his accusation. Unless he
retract the foul aspersion, or demonstrate that Catholics, by
an indulgence, understand a permission to commit sin, he

must rest satisiied that every impartial reader shall pronounce

him to be obstinate in calumny."

Fisher ntteriy failed to produce any authority, and tried

to sustain himself by passages in Guthrie's Geography and a

work of Dr. Kobcrison, whom he cited as contemporary with

the Pope who issued the pretended Account Current !

Father Fleming collected and published the letters as a

means of spreading a correct statement of Catholic doctrine.'

1 "The rulumnies of Verus; or, Catholics Vindicated, from certain
old slanders lately revived ; in a series of letters, jiublished in different
(}a7.ettes at Philadelphia, collected and revised l)y Verax, with the addi-

f in.'

b .1 '

Bgc a ts ?^

M,»...:.^^i,MM^

412

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

'!;

Tlie learned and zealous French priests whom wc huvo
hati occasion to mention were not the only persons whom the
French revolution compelled to seek refuge on our shores.
When the ruthless hand of infidelity drove nuns and other
religious women from their loved and quiet homes, several
crossed the Atlantic. Among these were some Capuchin
nuns from Amiens and Tours, who took up their residence
at Baltimore ; but all was new and strange, and after seeking
encouragement to visit Canada, they set out for Illinois.
Here, among a French population, they hoped to tii 1 u
more congenial home than in Maryland, where they could
not adapt themselves to the language and life of the people.
They set out in October, 1793, and finally reached New
Orleans. A Minim Sister of the order of St. Francis de
Paula, who had crossed the Atlantic with them, remained in
Baltiniore.'

In 17l>2 Mother Mary de la Marclie, Abl)ess of St. Clare,
Mother Celeste la Blonde de la liochefoucault, and Mother
de St. Luc, Poor Clares, attended by a lay brother, sought
an axylum in Maryland. They apparently attempted at first
t<i establish a house at Frederick, but in ISOl purchased of
John ThrelkeUl a lot on Lafayette Street, Georgetown, where
they oj)enud an Academy, ])ut on the death of the Abbess in
1805 the other Sisters returned to Euro|)e.'

In 1801 there were monks from Mount St. Bernard and
Mount St. (tothard in Boston.*

tinn of a Prifuce and a few notes." Philndi-lphia : Johnston & Justice,
1 :«•,', pp. 58.

' Bishop Carroll to Bishop of Quel)ec, January 15, 1794, April 24, 1795.

* De C'ourcy, " Catholic Church in the United Slaten," \rw York,
ls.5«, p. 79. The Mother Abliess was interred in the Cemetery of the
Sulpitians at Baltimore.

' Rev. F. A. Matignon to Bishop Carroll, September 10, 1801.

HIS PUBLIC SPIRIT.

413

In the autumn of 1794 Bishop Carroll visited Philailelphia,
and wo tind him performing a nuirriago at St. Joseph'^ on
the 23d of October.' But about the middle of December
hu was stricken down by a serious tit of illness, and for more
than two months could do nothing for himself, and was not
able to say mass ; even late in February, after a slight re-
covery, he had a relapse, and could barely pen a few lines to
the pious Carmelites, thanking them for a share in their
prayers. " No one can stand in greater need of it,— hal)it-
ually, I may say, but lately in pjirticular." ' As summer
came on he went to Georgetown to recover from the effects
of his long illness by the country air and gentle exercise."

Bishop Carroll in 1795 was at the head of a movement to
establish a public library in Baltimore, and the Library Com-
pany which he was active in organizing formed a line collec-
tion of books, many of which are still preserved on the
shelves of the Maryland Historical Society, to attest the love
of learning and public spirit of the first Catholic Bishop of
the United States. The Rov. Mr. Perigny. a French priest
and Doctor of ihe Sorbonne, who attended Carroll's Manor,
was the first Librarian.* Biishop Carroll was also active in
the formation of "The Maryland Society for Promoting
Useful Knowledge," organized in 1800.'

When the death of the Ilev. Ljiwrence Graessel, Bishop-
elect, was made known to the Holy See, Dr. Carroll was re-
quested to make another selection. This time the choice fell
on the Rev. Leonard Neale, whose zeal, sanctity, and experi-
ence commanded universal respect. The nomination was

> Bishop (^irroU to the Mother Superior. February 20, 1795.

' Same to Archbishop Troy, .lune 22, 1T95.

» Dilhet, ■• Etat ile I'Eglise." ■■ Register, cited iu W. L.. iii., p. 101.

<■ Schurf, pp. 277, 291.

fr '

iillf .'

!'Au\\

V '

; ji'l

LlFJi OF AhCHBlUHOF CAHHOLL.

Vt ■ ,5

pk'iiHinjf to tlic Sovcroijfn Pontiff, who, on the 17tli of April,
I7f>A, imnetl Bulla appointing him Hisliop of (iortyna and
foiuijntor of Haltiniort'. These Ifulffl were uxjKHlited tiirougii
the " Con^'i-egation du I'ropagundii Fide," and forwanltnl hy
«onie devioiiH route, the French revolution making it iniixw-
«ihle to transmit them through tiie Nuncio at Paris, as on
the former occasion. Bishop Carroll waited month after
month for an}' tiding of tlio missing documents, but they
never came to his hands.

Meanwhile the coadjutor-elect was laboring with all zeal
in I'hiladclphia, with jHjwer m Vicar-Cieneral. The yellctw
fever, which renewed its ravages in 1797 and the following
year, afforded the Catholic clergy another oociision to display
their heroic devotedness. Two priests died of the terrilde
diseasi' in that city in 1798: they were the Rev. Michael
Ennis and the Rev. Joteph la (irange, and lw.'fore the close
of the next year another priest, stationed at St. Mary's, the
Rev. John liurke, was also called from this world. iJuring
the yellow fever of 17!>S, two hundred and seventy-six i)er-
sons were interred in the two Catholic cemeteries — St. Mary's
for all who <lid not speak Gernum, and Holy Trinity for
those who did. This wa« not the whole Catholic h)88, as
many doubtless foimd a final resting-place in the ground al-
lotted for the ])oor.

Many of the victims of the scourge left beliind them help-
less young children, whose Ix-reaved state aj)|>ealed to the
charity of the faithful. An association was formed to shelter
and support these orphans, who were first placed in a house
<»n the west side of Sixth Street, adjoining the Church of the
iloly Trinity. This little Orphans' Home l)ecame in time
St. Joseph's Catholic Orphan Asylum.'

' Westcott, "A History of Philiult'l|)liia." ch. ccclxv.

RT. REV. LEONARD Nf ALE.

41«

Aiiiid nil tlio oarcH nnd duties of his poHitioii nt Philndel-
pliiii, till' Uev. Leonard Neule never lot-t that interior Hpirit
which made him a maHter of npiritual life and au tMe di-
rector of bouIh in the way of perfectio i. Among thoHC who
goiiji;ht luH eounnel was Miw Aliee Lakir, a native of Queen's
County, Ireland, wlio came to Philadelihia with her jiarents
in 17U7. She had long desired to enter the religious life,
nnd had promised JMshoj) Ijinigan f)f Ossory to return to
Irelatul in two years in order to enter a (convent in his dio-
cese. Tlie Uev. Mr. Nealc found in her a soul so gifted that
he felt convinced she was the instnnncnt sent hy Providence
to found a religious connnunity such as he had long desired
to establish in IMiiladelphia. Two other ladies joined her,
and they oi)ened an academy for the instruction of young \wr-
sons of their own sex. Peforc their estahlishment had been
solidly establisheil the yellow fever broke out, and Miss Lalor
beheld her two companions sink as victims to its violejice.
The project of a community in Philadelphia was thus defeated.
In 17'.)9 Bishop Carroll was reluctantly com|H'lled to with-
draw Rev. Mr. Nealo from that city, (ieorgetown College,
which had for some years been directed by the Rev. William
I)u Bourg as President, now required a jiriest of learning
and ability to succeed him. No one seemed to possess the
(pialifications necessary except Rev. Leonard Neale, who, at
the Bishop's desire, became President 6f Georgetown College.
Miss I^ilor, with a c«)mpanion who had joined her, also pro-
ceeded to that city, and they became teachers in the Academy
of the Poor Clares. As that community was evidently not
to remain in the country, their director advised them to open
a school independently. A third lady from Philadelphia
soon joined them, bringing a dowry, part of which was em-
ployed in the purchase of a liouse, which stood in the grounds
of the present convent.

li-\-

J-iil

mx^ms^ m-' i mwm a ssm/ SiK?.^

416

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

These pious ladies had as yet no rule, except the temporary
one given hy their director. He was greatly in favor of the
rule of the Visitation Nuns, founded by Saint Jane Frances
de Chantal, under the guidance of Saint Francis de Sales.
In the dearth of Catholic books in this country at that time
no copy of the rule of that institute could be found, until at
last a happy discovery of a copy was made in the library of
the Poor Clares. The penisal of the Rules and Constitution
of the Visitation confirmed Miss Lalor and her associates, as
well as their director, in the wish to adopt it. The Rev. Mr.
Ts'eale endeavored to obtain a few nuns of that order from
Europe to found a community in America and form his
penitents to the spirit and practice of the rule of the holy
Bishop of Geneva : but he failed in every attempt. Diffi-
culties arose here also. Some of the faint-hearted deplored
the attempt to found another convent, and figured to their
minds all terrors from Protestant prejudice. Bishop Carroll
himself thought that his coadjutor-elect would act more
wisely by sending Miss Lalor and her companions to join
the Carmelites at Port Tobacco. A lady of means tempted
them by offering to go to Ireland to obtain a colony of Ursii-
Une Nuns, if they would agree to enter that order ; but the
'• PiouB Lidies," as they were known, felt called to be Visi-
tation Nuns, and they awaited in loving patience the work-
ings of Divine Providence, who, they felt, would in His own
good time give the means to do His will.'

On the 17th of December, 1795, Bishop Carroll ordained
to the priesthood the Rev. John Floyd, a native of England,
wlio had been drawn to the Church by the narrative of
Thayer's conversion, and by his advice had entered the Sem-

' Dc Cotircy,
ia56, pp. 7»-«2.

Catholic Church ia the United States," New Yorlt.

REV. JOHN FLOYD.

417

inary of St. Sulpice at Paris. He came to the United States
with Kev. Mr. Nagot, and bad been witb Eev. Mr. Gamier
as a catechist at Fell's Point. The Bishop placed hhn in
charge of that mission, and the zealous priest undertook bis
dut/with zeal and energy. The congregation v/as poor, but
inspired by him they leased a lot on Apple Alley, near Wilks
Street, and here Rev. Mr. Floyd erected St. Patrick's church,
a modest structure thirty-five feet wide by forty-two deep.
It was to a great extent reared by the voluntary work of the
men of the congregation, who brought more good-will than
mechanical skill ; and the little church which stood at a dis-
tance from the street, beyond a court lined with tall poplars,
was from the first frail and insecure, but it afforded great
consolation to the CathoUcs of that portion of Baltimore.
As parish priest the Rev. Mr. Floyd was untiring, ever ful-
filling all his duties at the church, and prompt in answer-
iiiir every call ; he was also constantly seeking out Catholics
who had grown lax in their faith or the practice of their re-
ligion ; and, poor himself, was ever soliciting aid for some
destitute person whose miseries his zealous eye had detected.
After offering the holy sacrifice on Sunday, September 4,
1797, the Rev. Mr. Floyd was told that a person dying of
yellow fever required his services. Still fasting, he hastened
to the bedside of the sufferer, whom he prepared for a Chris-
tian end. When he returned and sat down to take some
nourishment, he was stricken down with the fatal disease.
He was removed to the house of Bishop Carroll, and though
every effort was nuule to siive him, he expired on the follow-
ing Thursday, in the 29th year of his age, after exhibiting in
his brief priestly career every high quality that can ennoble
a minister of God.'

He was buried, as he had requested, before the door of the churcli,

18*

'■ t'fil

I J iiS.

418

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

1 1

The Rev. Mr. Gamier resumed the charge of the little
flock, his great learning and talents, which in time raised
him to the position of Superior-General of the Society of St.
Sulpice, being combined with tender piety and a deep hu-
mility, that made him cling with holy joy to the mission
work among the poor. He relinquished the care of St.
Patrick's in 1803 to the Rev. Michael Cuddy, who, after a
course at Georgetown" and St. Mary's, had been raised to the
priesthood by Bishop Carroll, and appointed first resident
pastor of the church at Fell's Point. Like Rev. Mr. P'loyd
he died a victim of charity ; rivalling him in zeal and devo-
tedness, he, too, took the yellow fever while attending the
sick, and died on the 5th of October, 1804.'

A matter of deep and serious import soon demanded the
action of Bishop Carroll. Hitherto the Catholics in all parts
and of all origins, had been simply Catholics; now, however,
the question of nationality arose, and some were found who
no longer wished to worsln'p beside their fellow-Catholics,
but insisted on having a separate church and priest especially
to themselves.

The Rev. Mr. Ilelbron had done so nnieh to foment this
schismatic spirit in Philadelphia, that Dr. Carroll, when he
went to Europe to Imj consecrated Bishop, requested the Su-
perior of that religious to recall him ; but such representa-
tions were made at iiome, that to avoid greater difficuUies,
Bishop Carroll finally consented to the organization of Trinity
Church, and in August, 1791, appointed Rev. Mr. Ilelbron
to be the first pastor. Many of the German Catholics of
Philadelphia had been averse to the scheme of a separate

but Mrs. Barry, a pfrsonnl friend of Bishop Carroll, pr('Ct«'<l a tablet to
comnu'nioriitc tlie devott-d priest. Diliiet, " Etut de lEglise," etc.

' B. U. Camplwll, " Desultory Sttetclies of the Catholic Church in
3Iaryland"; '• U. 8. Cath. Mug.!" i.. pp. 39-MJ.

SCHISM IN PHILADELPHIA.

419

cliurcb, but when once the church was open, a considerable
number began to attend it. Before long another German
priest, Rev. John Nepomucene Goetz, arrived, with such tes-
timonials that Bishop Carroll received him into his diocese,
and in 1796 made him assistant priest at the Church of the
Holy Trinity. No sooner was he there, than he intrigued to
supplant Father Ilelbron, so adroitly that the trustees carry-
ing their schismatic usurpations further, ordered their lawful
pastor to leave, threatening him with legal prosecution if he
did not. In defiance of the Bishop they elected Goetz pas-
tor of the church.' Father Helbron retired with the sound
portion of the congregation to St. Joseph's. Goetz was
threatened with suspension if he attempted to act under the
appointment of the ti-ustees ; yet he jjersisted and his facul-
ties were at once withdrawn by the Bishop." But he disre-
garded all authority and continued to ofticiate with another
l)nest named Filing, till he was formally exconmiunicated.
Even then the trustees refused to yield ; they rejected the au-
thority of the Pope " as of a foreign jurisdiction." '

Bishop Carroll visited Philadelphia to endeavor, if possi-
ble, to arrest these excesses, but he had scarcely arrived be-
fore he was served with a writ, and brought into court like a
criminal, there to hear from the lawyers of the schismatics'

• " After this," snys Bishop Carroll, ' the intruder received from the
same Triistt-es a pretended uppointniont to the pastoral office, that is, the
power of loosening and binding ; of administering the Holy Eucharist to
the faithful of Owi's church ; of teaching and preaching, and performmg
all those duties which being in their nature entirely spiritual, can never
be within the jurisiliction of, or subject to the dispensation of the laity,
but were committed by Christ to the Apostles alone, and to their succes-
sors in the government of their respective churches."-" Pastoral to the
Congregation of Trinity Church," p. 3.

' Letter of Very Rev. Leonard Neale to Right Rev. John Carroll.

' Pastoral Letter, p. 5.

¥>

m4 1

N ■■■■

- '■*r«

-^-.^L;i. | jmfJlg ' ^ i

420

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

church, as he himself states, the fculest abuse of the Catho-
lie Church, its laws, doctrine, pastors, governinent, the Pope,
the Council of Trent, etc., as if they had ransacked all Prot-
estant libraries to defame it. The trustees sat cumplacentlv
by doing nothing to check the torrent of invective, while their
counsel in their behalf denied that Dr. Carroll was their bishop,
and maintained that Trinity Church was out of his juristlii-
tion, that he was merely bishop of other nationalities ! '
These misguided men persisted for some years in their wicked
course, although B'shop Carroll on the 22d of February, 1797,
aditressed a pastoral letter to the congregation of Trinity
Church, so full of Christian charity, and so convincing in its
exposition of Catholic doctrine and discipline, that one of his
successors, in a similar crisis reprinted it, .is the clearest and
most perfect exposition of what the Church required of her
children.' But his words at the time fell unheeded. The
men who had broken the bond of Catholic unity, to set up a
national church, claimed for it independence of any but a
Bishop of their own nationality,' and as against any and all

' Right Rev. John Carroll to J. Oellers, one of the schismatics, No-
vember 19, 1801.

' ".lohn, by the Grace of God, and with the approbation of the Holy
8e<', Bishop of Baltimore, to my iR-loved Brethren, of the Conjrregation
of Trinity Church, Philadelphia," Baltimore, February 22, 1797. « pp.,
4to. Printed by ,1. Hayes.

' Bishop Carroll, addressing the Canlinal Prefect of the Propaganda,
wrote : " If any action is Uiken to divide this most vast dioce^ie, I would
hear with great pleasure that this had been done by the Holy See. as I de-
sired it done in my letters in 1792 : and it was my purpose to solicit it as
soon as ! was sure of having a coadjutor to sucewd me in this see. It will,
however. »X' for you in your wisdom to decide whether this can be done
safely now, while these comnuttions lessen ecclesiastical jurisdiction. For
I solemnly aver that those who excite these troubles maintained in my
presence by their lawyers in a public tribunal, and tipheld with all their
niitrht, that all distinction between onler and jurisdiction was arbitrary
and fictitious ; that all right to exercise ecclesiastical ministrj- was derived

SCHISM IN PHILADELPHIA.

421

bishops, flaiiued the right of commissioning priests to offer
the holy sacriiice and grant absolution in the tribunal of pen-
ance. The schism and rebeUion at Trinity Church contin-
ued, and it was not until 1802 that the trustees or the rector,
Rev. Mr. Elling, who had joined the schismatics, yielded to
Bishop Carroll, and acknowledged that they were subject to
the Bishop of I3altimore. The people iiad grown weary of
the condition in which the factious priests had placed them,
but Rev. Mr. Elling hesitated about announcing that they
must rectify their consciences, after having employed his
ministry when he was suspended.

The Bishop wrote to the clergyman : " Recollect, I be-
seech you, the doctrine you imbibed, the principles you
brought from Rome, and you nmst admit this as a necessary
condition, with which it exceeds my power to dispense.
This duty may be performed as privately as possible, but it
must be performed. It becomes you in a special manner to
encourage it ; and I trust in God that your doing it, will be
accepted by Almighty God, as a satisfaction for every irreg-
ularity heretofore committed. The sooner you do it, the
greater will be the benefit to those who rely on you. Con-
sunnnate, my dear Sir, the sacrifice you owe to God, and ex-
ample to his church, and especially to the flock, whicli is to
be committed to your charge. Every day of delay increases

"J 1

from the people ; and tbat the bishop had no power except to impose
blinds on the perso" whom the people presented as their chosen minirter ;
or to inquire whctlior hands had been previously imposed on him. Tlien
they deny that they are or ever have been subject to my episcopal au-
thority ; and when the words of the Pope's brief were shown them, in
which all the faithful in the United Stptes are subjected in spiritual gov-
ernment to the bishop, they impudently dared to assail the brief as im-
posing a yoke on them contrary to the American laws. And yet these
are the men who are now sending an agent to the Holy See to obtain
what had never before been granted."

Li 3, _ . .

422

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

tlie diflBculty and multiplies offences. Dishonor springs from
perseverance in a wrong course, and not from a retractation
of error or misconduct. Your own conscience is involved,
as well as that of others, and you must surely wish ardently
for the moment of restoring tranquillity to your mind. How
joyfully will I meet you when this is done, and with how
much pleasure will we discourse, at your intended visit, on
jour proposal for the extension of the true faith."

Elling yielded, and was appointed by the Bishop to Trinity
Church, and the Trustees put an end to the schism by the
following document :

" We the Trustees of the German Religious Society of
Roman Catholics of the Holy Trinity Church in the City of
Philadeli)liia, Do hereby acknowledge for ourselves, and our
constituents, members worshipping in the said church, that
we hold ourselves subject to the Episcopal authority, and
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Baltimore for the time being,
and according to the tt'uor of the Brief of his Holiness of
pious memory, Pius sixth, for the erection of the Episcopal
See of Baltimore, and we promise to yield true obedience to
the said Bishop conformably to the powers lawfully vested
in him.

" In witness whereof, the sjiid Tnistees of the German
Religious Society of Roman Catholics of the Holy Trinity
Church in the City of Philadelphia have set their hands and
caused the seal of their Corjioration to be affixed this 29th
day of January, Anno Domini 18(t2.

"James Oellers, Adam Preniir, Charles Bnreman, Bal-
thazar X Kneil, Georgius Waltmor, Mathias Knebel, Johan
Ci.nrad." '

' It wiis n rurimis illustration of the iiiipoliry f)f sepanitc cliurohes in
this country timt when Fiithcr Adam Hritt. K.J., was sent to the Church
of the Holy Trinity in 18('7, many of the congregation no longer knew

SCHISM IN BALTIMORE.

498

Before this was done eiinilar trouble arose in Baltimore ;
a priest, placed at the pro-cathedral to take charge of the
Germans, urged them to demand a separate church. So
little were the German Catholics able to maintain a clnirch
and pastor that Father Keuter, after a year's trial, finding
that the congregation could not support him, returned to
Germany. Making his way to Rome he brought the most
false and absurd charges against Jiishop Carroll, saying that
he would not permit the German Catholics to be instructed
in their own language, and that he excommunicated those
who preached in German.' Bishop Carroll, then about to
commence his own cathedral, declined to permit a step hi
Baltimore which had proved so prejudicial in Philadelphia,
more especially as there were not thirty Germans in Balti-
more who did not speak English, and their children all were
more familiar with English than with German. Father
Eeuter returned, pretending to have powers from the Holy
See to erect a church which was to be independent of the
Bishop. He made common cause with the excomnninicated
priests in Philadelphia and got uj) a petition to the Holy See
to erect a German diocese in the United States for Catholics
of that language. Bishop Carroll suspended him, Imt in a
visit to Europe Father Reuter obtained a release from the
censures, though he was forbidden to return to the United
Statas. Meanwhile the Germans had gone on and built St.
John's church, and though Dr. Carroll refused to give Reuter
faculties, the trustees plunged into schism : they defied the
BJBhop, forcibly prevented his entrance into the church, and
elected Reuter pastor.

German enough to make their cotifessiona in that language, and he did
not know English enough to hear them in it.— F. Kohlmann to F. Strick
land, February iiS, 1807.
' Archbishop Brancadoro to Bishop Carroll, April 23, 1798.

mni

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424

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

\i '. ',

At one time Rev. Mr. Renter showed a disposition to sub-
mit, and Bisnop Carroll wrote him November 19, 1801, that
he would judge of his sincere disposition to do right after he
had admitted in writing: "1. That lie recognizes no other
ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the diocese of Baltimore except
that of the Sovereign Pontiff and that of the ordinary. 2.
That all Catholics in the diocese, of whatever nation, are
subject to that authority. 3. That no priest can, without
the approl)ation of siud authority, exercise any function of
the ministry in said diocese, or beyond the limits prescribed
by the bishop."

But after the trustees, headed by Shorb, prevented Bishop
Carroll from entering St. John's church, on the 15th of Jan-
uary, 1804, he wrote them that as they felt no shame or re-
morse for the scandalous breach of divine and ecclesiastical
institutions, he considered it highly improper to listm to any
proposals from them till they offered reparation for the griev-
ous misconduct of which they had been the authors or prin-
cipal instruments.

He summoned Father Reuter to appear liefore him on the
19th to make satisfaction for his public and notorious viola-
tion of pontiiicjil and episcopal jurisdiction.'

Bishop Carroll resolved to settle the question forever in
the courts, and appointing as pastor the Rev. F. X. Brosius,
a learned German priest, who had accompanied Prince Gallit-
zin to America, obtained a writ of mandamus to compel the
trustees to receive liira. In their return to the writ, Reuter
and his trustees set up that by the fundamental laws, usjiges,
and cjinons of the German Catholic Church, the meml)er8 of
the church " had the sole and exclusive right of nominating
and apjxiinting their pastor, and that no other i>erson whether

' Bishop Carroll to J Shorb, etc., Januarj' 16, 1804.

THE AUGUSTINIANS.

425

Bishop or Pope have a rifrht to appoint a pastor without tlie
assent and approbation of tlie congregation or a majority of
the same "; they also set up the defence that tliey had ynit
the church under the coTitrol of " Minorits Conventuals of
the order of St. Francis," and that " Renter and the Church
owed obedience to the civil magistrate and to tliat order, and
to no other ecclesiastical person or body whatever." They
could, of course, cite no canons or rules of the Catholic
Church to justify their action, and the General Court, after
a full argument of the case, decided against them in ISIay,

1805.'

After perusing this saddening episode, which, however,
may not be without its lessons, it will console the reader to
consider the progress of the Church in other parts.

Not long after Bishop Carroll's return to his diocese, a
single priest of the Augustinian order in Ireland, Rev. John
Rosseter, arrived in the Republic, whose independence he
had helped to establish, for he had been an olficer in Ro-
chambeau's army here during the Revolutiojiary War, but
returning to Europe, entered the Augustinian order, and
was once more on our soil, to fight battles no less glorious.
He was welcomed by Bishop Carroll, who stationed him
about thirty miles from Philadelphia, apparently at Wilming-
ton in Delaware. In 1795 he was followed by the Rev.
Matthev Carr from St. Augustine's convent in John Street,
Dublin, bnt educated at Paris and Bordeaux, who came pur-
])08ely to found a cluirch and house of the Hermits of St.
Augustine in this country. lie was accompanied or followed
by the Rev. Michael Ennis, a priest friendly to the order,
who was stitioned at St. Mary's, Philadelphia. In the sum-
mer offers of a site at Wilmington and of means to begin

' Pajiers of the suit in my bands.

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426

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

erecting a church were iniule. This project, however, led to
no definite results, and as early as July II, 170<), the Auj^us-
tinian Fatiiers obtained the deed of a plot of ground on Fourth
Street, Philadelphia, below Vine Street, seventy-Hve feet front
by one hundred and seventy-tive in depth. Here the corner-
stniie of the Church of St. Augustine was laid in SeptenilKr,
A lil»eral subscription was opened, in which (Jeneral Wash-
ington and many other rrotestants ai)peared as contributors.'

8IONATCRE OF REV. MATTHEW CAHR, O.B.A.

Pishop Carroll encouraged the establishment of a province
of the order of St, Augustine; and he directed the attention
of the pioneer priests of that order to the West. " I wished,
indeed, that they would have directed their views for an es-
tijblishment towards our great western country, on and con-
tiguous to the river Ohio, because if able and apostolical men
could be obtained to enter on that field, it seems to me that
it would become a most flourishing portion of the Church of
Christ, and there the means of future subsistence may be se-
cured now, for a very trifling consideration. I have made
known to them my opinion, leaving them, however, at full
lil)erty to determine for themselves, and Philadelphia seems

' Battcrsby, " History of nil the Abbeys, Convents, Churches, etc., of
the Ileriuitsof St. Aiijrusline in Ireland," Dublin, 185«, p. 75; Thomp-
son Westcott, " A Memoir of the Very Rev. Michael Hurley, D.i).,
OS.A.," in Records of "A. C, Hist. Soc," i., pp. 1(16-7; same, "A
ni>tory of Philadelphia"; Bishop Carroll to Archbishop Troy, .lune 2'.;.
17U."); Archbishop Troy to Bishop Carroll. Auf,nist 13, 1796; Rev. Mi-
< Imel Ennis to the Prior of -Sau Mateo, Home, September 4, December S
1795.

ST. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH.

427

now to iMj the place of their choice, quod felix faustuiiniue

bit." '

Father (^arr applied to Rome for the necessary aiitlionty

to establish convents of his order in the diocese of Balti-
more, and an indnlt to that etfect was granted May 27, HUT,
to take etfect only with the approbation and permission of
Bishop Carroll. This was readi'y given and the Augustinian
conuMunitv in the United States was erected into a province
under the\itle of "The Blessed Virgin of Good Counsel,"
and the Rev. Father Matthew Carr was named Vicar-Cieneral
i.f the Province and Superior of the :Mi8siou.'

It was the Hrst attempt of Regulars from Ireland to estab-
Ush filiations in this country, and strangely enough the only
one till the Trappists founded New :Melleray.

Father (^irr wius a man of learning and ability; his elo-
(juence in the pulpit made him remarkably attractive and
popular in those davs, but he was not calculated to build up
a religious conununity. His habits were so ill-suited to con-
vent Me, that his fellow-re 'igious soon asked Bishop Carroll
to give them mission-work in other fields.

The Superior, however, stationed at St. Mary's kept on
with his W(.rk, though it progressed slowly, and a lottery xv-as
resorted to before the necessary funds were obtamed. The
church, a plain, u.uuiorned building, was at last dedicated

June 7, 18'»1-'

In Pennsvlvania, Lancaster was attended from 1789 to
1791 by Rev. John Cluirles Ilelbron ; he was succeeded by
liev Willian» Filing, already alluded to. This clergyman

' Bishop Carroll to Archbishop Troy, May 2.5, 1796.

» Cardinal Gcrdil. Trefect of the Propaganda, to Bishop Carroll, May

27, 1797.
» Thompson Weatcott, " A History of Philadelphia."

' *1

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438

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

V, -,.

•I i

, i

attended Donojifiil, llarrirtburg, and Lebanon one Sunday in
each niDnth, giving? the fifth, when there hapjjened to Ihj
one, to CheHter County. In I^ncaster alone lie had two hun-
dred and fifty coniniunicantH. In 1792 he ;•; cepted the mis-
eion of (iortheidioppen offered him by liinhop Carroll, and was
succeeded at I^ncaHter by the zealouw prient, Kev. I*. Krntzi'u.
Rev. Mr. Elling, a reatless, dlKsatistied man, eoni})lained loudly
of Lancaster, declaring that the j)eople did very little for
their pricHt, that the church and priest's house were very
much out of repair. He left in 1793 and went to New York.'

Others did not represent the condition at I^ncaster so badly.
Rev. Mr. Dilhet, who had seen alike the noble churches of
EurojHJ and the rough cliajMjls of the West, describes the
church as "very rine," the priest's bouse "elegiuit and very
convenient with a garden." '

The Ilev. Francis Fi'zwmons was in Ijincasfer in 1803-4,
offering the holy sacrifice twice a month in that town, once
a month in Elizaljethtown and Lebanon, once every three
months at Chester, Little Britain, Colenum's Furnace, and in
Mr. Maguire's liouse at Doe Run. At each of these more
remote stations he spent two days. Besides these jjlaces he
attended the county iwor-house, which ha«l thirty Catholic
inmates. In liis whole district he computed his communi-
cants at one thousand. The missions, except at Ix'banon and
Coleman's Furnace, were supplied with vestments and chalices.
He was apparently a zealous, liard-working priest, but perhai)s
somewh'it severe, and relinquished the mission the next year
to return to Europe with Lord Selkirk, with whcjiu he had
come over.*

' Rev. Wm. Elling to Bishop Carroll, DccemlR-r 8, 1791 ; August 27,
1792.

» Dilhet, •' Etat de I'Eglise Catluvlique."

' Rev. Francis Fitzsimons, Lancaster, Febraury in, May 19, 1804.

NEW YORK.

499

Religion in that district, of courHC, Buffered by thcBC fre-
nuunt changeH in tlio ministry, which continued for several
Yoar. till the Rev. Louis de Barth de Walbach, brother of
the general of that name, revived the faith of tlie people, and
during a long pastorship trained his flock to tlx, faithful dis-
cliurge of all their duties as Catholics and citizens.'

Keligion in New York received its first successful impul**e
on the appointment of the Dominican Father, Wilhani
O'Brien, who began his ministry in Philadelphia, and evi-
dently made B.-ne visits to New Jersey, as we find him at
Hurlington in \i^1. To complete St. Peter's church, he
went to Mexico, wi.ore, through the influence of Archbishop
Haro, with whom he had been a fellow-student, he obtamed
from the charitable of that country aid in money, and several
valuable paintings and other objects for the adornment of

the church. , -r. i *

During his absence the Rev. Nicholas Bourke seems to
have otticiated at St. Peter's.' The yellow fever which rav-
aged New York for several years, especially in l.Vt.^ and
179S afforded Father O'Brien a new field for his zeal and
charitv. His services in attending the sick were the theme
of general i.rai.e.' He was a man of learning and wrote a
Life of St. Paul, which was announced but never appeared.
He restored order and harmony to the Catl-iu' Diniy in New
York and was a most efficient auxiliarN to Bishop Carroll,
who emploved him in several delicat. matter.. He conse-

I 9 M Scner in " U. 8. Cath. Historical Mnjfaziiie," i., pp. 2ir,-210.

. •■New York Diroctory." 1791-2. 1792-3. Ik- ^vas drownnl in a river
while travelling in February, . m. ( )rclo 1801.

3 Ilardie, "Account of the Malignant Fever." 1799; same, 1805. p.
191.

r? ■

' New York Packet," Feltruary 28 1788.

i^.h.L

430

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

quently incurred the wrath of men like Smyth and La
Poterie.

By the resources which he collected the interior of the
church was completed and the pews offered for sale in the
spring of 1794.' His labors began to tell on the zealous
Dominican, and the assistance of a second priest was clearly
re(]uired ; but the trustees vacillated, sometimes at*king for
a second priest, sometimes protesting their inability to s-qv
port one." In 1800 the church was burthened with a debt
of $(),500, and the annual income from pew rents and collec-
tions was about $1,500; the expenses, including interest,
about |;l,-100.'

The next year the pastor received as assistant a fellow-
Dominican, Rev. Matthew O'Brien, a man of learning and
eloquence. The congregation had increased greatly, so that
steps were taken to complete the church by erecting a stee-
ple ; an organ had l)ecn procured ; regular instructions were
given in catechism, and a charity school was undertaken.
The Catholics of New York were already discussing the
enction of a second church.'

The Order of St. Dominic had sent several Fathers to
this country, like Rev. William O'Brien, Francis A. Fleming,
Vincent Keating, but it was not till 1808 that any definite
organization here was atten»])ted. At that time the Rev.
Edward P'enwick, an American jnember of the English prov-
ince of the Friars Preachers, submitted to Bishop Carroll,

' Notiio. April 16, 1794.

» Hi'v. Anihony McMahon. O.S D.. was in New York in ISOO and died
there in .Tilly. Ordo 1801.

' Trust.'OB to Hisliop ("arroll, Jiumnry 10. IHOO.

* lU'v. Mr. O'Brii'ti to Bishop Carroll, .January 5, 1801 ; November 10,
IWl.

REV. P. DE LA VALINIERE.

431

through Father Luke Concanen, a plan for establisliing a
convent or college in the United States.'

Toward the month of October, 1790, the Kev. Peter Huet
de la Valiniere returned from the West and took up his
abode among the Canadians and Acadians, who had settled
at Split Rock, near the present village of Essex, N. Y.''
These unfortunate peojjle at first manifested great zeal and
devotcdness for their pastor. They built him a chapel and
residence, and gave him his maintenance : here he remained
three years, but in the meantime dissensions grevr up between
the priest and his flock. His church and house were set on
tire and burned to the ground ; ' and the Rev. Mr. La Vali-

nit^re returned to Montreal, where the English government

offered no objection to his remaining.

During his troubled days at Split Rock he composed a

poetical account, entitled "A true History or simple Sketch

of the Misfortunes, not to say Persecutions, which the Rev.

Peter Huet de la Valiniere has suffered and still suffers.

Put in verse by himself, July, 1792." '

' F. Richard Luke Concanen to Bisliop Carroll, Rome, December 20,
1803.

» Letter of Rev. ,T. T. Smith, Historian of the Diocese of Ogdensbnrg.

» Mgr. .T. O. Plessis, " Hi'lation d'un Voyage aux Etats Uuis en 1815,"
which I owe to the Rev. .1. Sa.sseville.

* "Vraie Histoire ou simple Precis des Infortunes, pour ne pas dire
des persecutions, qu'a soutTcrt et soi-tTre encore le Rov. Pierre Huet de
la Valiniere, mis en vers par lui menie en Juillet, 171*2. A Albany, Im-
prime aux depens de I'auteur." De Courcy, " Catholic Church in the
United States," New York, 18,')ft, p. 4(50. He also published at New
York in 171)0, " Dialoirue Curieux et Interes.sant, entre Mr. B i-idesir .'!t
le Dr. Hreviloi), en Franvais et en Anirlais," a kind of polemical Cate-
chism in which the printers stran.trely protestantized his English. He
describes himself on the title a.s " having sutTered great persecutions for
the cau.se of America, in the last war, and havinir been obliged to take
refuge in the I'liited States " Tiiis good but strange and restless priest
came to Canada in 1755 with the famous Abbe Picqnet. He rescued

I III

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432

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Had be possessed judgment and discretion as well as piety
and learning this priest might have renderetl great service to
religion in this country, and been one of the most potent
auxiliaries of Bishop Carroll. As it was, be was a mere
will-o'-the-wisp, Hashing here and there, giving but Htful and
unsteady light.

In New York, Catholics bad begun to settle at Albany and
along the line -^^ t^e Mohawk. After leaving New York
the Rev. Mr. Whelan wa^ for a time at Johnstown in the
year 1790. A few years later a Rev. Mr. Flinn had a little
flock of seventy Catholic families at Fort Stanwix, on the
Mohawk, and it was said that there were four hundred Cath-
olic families between that place and Albany.'

Flying visits seem to have been made to Albany by Rev.
Dr. Matthew O'Brien and other priests, and in 1708 the
Catholics there organized, and led by Thomas Barry and
Louis le Couteulx, resolved to take steps to erect a church.
A site was soon secured and the building began on Barrack,
now Chapel Street. The corner-stone was laid by Mr.
Thomas Harry, Sept. 13, 1707. The church was under roof,
glazed, an<l lloored early in September, and is described as
" a neat building, which will be an ornament to the city and
a lasting blessing to all who are members in communion of
that church." '

from the stake ii Mrs. O'Flaherty iind lier (limjiliter ; paid fur tlip educa-
tion of tiie fliild and for licr iirofession when she hccanie ii Sister in Mine.
d'Youviile's coniniunity. " Vie de .MiidanK,' d'Voiiville," ]ip. 01;!, 441.
He was driven from C'ana<la at llie conuneneenieiit of tlie lievolution for
liis Hynipatliy with tlie .Vinerioans ; lahored in New York, Fliiladelpiiia,
Illinois ; went to New Orleans, Havana Florida, Charleston, Sloninv'ton,
New York, .Montreal, Split |{oek, N. Y'., and was killed at Uepeutigny,
Canada, June 'i\K l^i^K), liy fallinj? from a waf^on.

' Rev. Or. Matij,'non U> Bishoj) Carroll. .Fuly 23, 179H.

' "Albany Gazette," cited in De Courey, " ('atliolic Church iu the
United States," New York, 1^56, i-. 409. Muiisoll's Annals, p. 179.

CHURCH AT ALBANY, N. Y.

433

The appeal to the Catholic community says : " Such of
our CatlioUc brethren in this neighborhood as iiave not al-
ready contributed, it is hoped will now come forward and
offer their mite to discharge the last payment of the contract,
there being but a small sum in hand for that purpose. To
give to the Church is it not to lend to the Lord, who will
richly repay the liberal giver with many blessings ? Should
not all the members unitedly raise their voices in praise to
God, who has cast their lot in this good land, where our

FIllST C.VTIIOLIC ClIllKII IN ALBANY, N. V

Church is e<|nally protected with others, and where we all so
bountifully partake of his goodness ? What is man without
religion, which teaches us the love of God and our neighbor
and to be in charity with all mankind I Surely without this
he is nothing."

The corner-stone of this first Catholic church in Albany is
sacredly preserved ; and is now set in the wall of St. Mary's
Church.

In IVOO the trustees, hearing that Dr. O'Rricn had been
ap[>ointed to Natchez, wrote earnestly to Bishop Carroll on
19

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Mil

434

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

\\m

the 10th of November, iiuploring the Bishop to allow him to
continue his ministrations among them. Their letter was
accompanied by a petition from the congregation signed bv
a large mnnber.' But he left them abruptly the next year,
and the congregation asked to have the Rev. Mr. Stafford, a
priest recently arri.ed from Ireland.' It does not appear,
however, that he took charge of the mission. In 18U2 the
Rev. Dr. Cornelius Maliony v/as stationed at Albany, and
attended Schenectady among other stations. Complaints of
hrrsh and arbitrary conduct on his part soon reached Dr.
Carroll.'

The next incumbent was Rev. Luke Fitzsinnnons, a Rec-
ollect Father invited from Montreal, but who did not long
remain, failing to please the people, as he wjis no '* preacher."
In ISuti the Rev. John Byrne visited Albany and in a few-
months seems to have done a great deal of good. He prom-
ised to visit them twice a year if the jjcople would go to
work and complete the church.

Here as elsewhere the trustees looked only to the preach-
ing, concerning themselves little about the zeal of the priest
in the confessional, in visiting the sick, in attending outlying
stations. As Albany was the soat of government and iiigh
State officials visited the ciiurch, these ti-ustees wished a man

' It is (latMl Noveral)cr 10, 170ft. Anion^' tl»c sipniTs are Barry, Le
Couttulx, Hicliard Allanstjii. .liiiiics Cassidy, Patrick Hcilly. Barry went
to Canatla to coUwt for the j'liurch in .Vlhaiiy Binliop lIulM-rt cncoiir-
ajriii liini, and in a circular letter of Marcli 4, 1T97, ooinniended him to
tile parish priests of his diocese. " .Maiidenients des Evi'qut's de t^iie-
Ut,' tJiielH'C, 1HH7-H, ii., p. Wi.

' Trust<#a of Albany to Bishop Carroll, Noven)lH'r 10, 1800. They
st4ite that they paid Hev. Malthi'w O'Hrien I'iHO liefween Novenil)*>r,
171W, and .June, IWK), whidi gives a clue to the duration of his ministry.

'Trustees of Albany to Bisliop Carroll, November, 1802; Rev. l>r
Mahony to Bishop Carroll, February 7, IHtm, January, 1804.

CHURCH AT ALBANY, N. Y.

435

who could by his eh>quenco in the pulpit impress such visit-
ors favorably.'

The trustees were generally men active and influential in
politi'js and in civil life, with little conception of the duties
of a priest, and little regard for the rules of the Church,
whose sacraments they rarely approached. Priests found it
impossible to discharge their duties conscientiously, when
hiimpered at every step by such men.

The Rev. James M. Buslie became a few years after resi-
dent pastor at Albany, where he seems to have died about
1808, leaving the church there once more without a priest.
This was all the more to be deplored, as the Catholics of
Albany, in this constant cha)ige of priests, were overlooked
and neglected.

Catholicity in New England took its first genuine impulse
on the arrival of the Rev. Francis A. Matignon. Though
devoted and earnest. Rev. Mr. Thayer was not fitted to guide
a congregation or win the general esteem. Doctor Mati-
gnon, a priest of experience, having taught theology in the
College of Navarre, with ex])eiience among English-speak-
ing Catholics, came to devote his learning, his ability, his
elo(pience, as well as his deep piety and wide charity to the
little flock of Catholics in New England. lie soon disarmed
all opposition, and by his unfailing and winning courtesy
was enabled to effect great good. The Rev. ;Mr. Ci(iuard
proceeded to the Indians, and Dr. ^[atign(7n labored alone at
Boston, visiting other points where possi!)le, till Rev. John
Cheverus, whom he had invited from England, arrived in
that city, October ;5, ITOti, to his great joy. Bishop Carroll,
on learning of the new arrival, and rejoicing to iweive a
priest so higlilv recommended, appointed him to the Indian

Trustees of Albany to Bishop Carroll, August 16, 180C.

436

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

mission in Maine, from wliich the Rev. Mr. Ciquard wislied
to retire. " Send me wliere you think I am most needed
without making yourself anxious about the means of sup.
porting me. I am willing to work with my hands, if nood
be, and I believe I have strength enough to do it," was the
reply of Cheverus.

But the pastor of the church at Boston, who saw his work
increasing beyond his strength, pleaded witli the Bishop to bo
allowed to retain Rev, Mr. Cheverus, at least till the following
autumn. lie was indeed permitted to enjoy his companion-
ship in the ministry till July, 179T, when Rev. Mr. Cheverus
set out for his mission. In this interval he visited Ply-
moutli and Newburyjwrt. From the reported Easter com-
nnmions in 1798, we get some idea of the Catholic flock
in Massachusetts. There were 210 Catholics in Boston, 15
in Plymouth, ?! in Xewburyport, and 3 in Salem, a total
of 249."

On his way to his mission Rev. ^fr. Cheverus visited scat-
tered Catholics between I?ost<»n an<l the IVnobscot. He
reached Point Pleasant. July 30, 1797, and took possession
of his bark house and church. The latter was lighted only
by the d(K)r. and the altar-])iece was formed of two pieces of
red and blue doth. lie was, however, assured of some siip-
}X)rt, the (xeneral (^ourt of Miu*siK'husetts having appropriated
two hundred dollars a year for a Catholic missionary, who
was to reside alternately at Penobscot and Passiima(i noddy.'

' Rev. Dr. Matiirnon to Bishop Carroll, Boston February 24, 17»T ;
May 1, 1798. Ho gives the returns for the year ending; April 1, 1T9S, ms
follows : .")() children, 7 i.dults iMipti/ed in Boston ; !)0 ehildreii and 1
adult elsewhere; 13 Indian children; in all. 101. There had Im'cu 17
marriajres and 14 deaths. The Catliolics in Boston were estimated at si.K
or si'veu hundred,

'' Rev. Dr. Matij^ion to Bishop Carroll, July 23, 1798.

REV. JOHN CHEVERUS.

437

Guided by some of his Indian flock lie visited Old Town on
the Penobscot in June, 1798. Here, too, he found a bark
chapel, but no vestments or plate ; a crucifix and one or
two statues, with the bell, hanging from a neighboring post,
l)eing all that remained.

Mr. Cheverus found much to touch him in the firmness
with which these children of the forest had clung to the faith
taught to their ancestors by the Catholic priests from Canada.
" The Penobscot tribe," he wrote, " is composed of about
300 individuals, including women and children, while at Pas-
Bamacpioddy there were hardly 150. The women, in general,
are good, but the men are mostly addicted to drinking, less,
however, at Passainaquoddy than at Per, ibscot." '

Having put these missions in some order, he proceeded to
Damariscotta Bridge, where seven Catholic families had set-
tled. Here he said mass in the barn of the Hon. Matthew
Cdttrill.' After his return to Boston, he there, with the
llev. Dr. Matignon, exhibited, in the yellow fever of 1798,
a picture of heroic courage and devotedness that filled all
men with admiration. It was a new lesson to see Catholic
priests fearlessly facing the most dreadful pestilence.

They were not the only ]n-ie8t8 in New England. Thayer
had otificiated at Hartford in 1790, and in 1797 the Rev. John
Ambrose Songe, canon and theologal of Dol, resided there as
chaplain to Yicomte de Sibert Cornillon, with faculties from

' Ilfv. John dievcrus to Rishop Ciirroll, February 17, 1799.

■ Ilamon, " Vie du C'anliiml de Cheverus," Paris, 1858, pp. 43-76 ;
Walsh, "Life of the Cardinal de Cheverus," translation, Philadelphia,
is:59, pp. 47, etc. ; Stewart. "The Life of Cardinal Cheverus," transla-
tion, Boston, 1H;J9, pp. :W, etc. ; Fitton, " Sketches of the Establishment
of the Church in New Knjrland," Boston, 1872, pp. t(M)-l()3. The matter
from pajies !M-02 in this latter work is copied from articles by me in the
" Boston Pilot. '

::Ui I

:,■!:

■.■■\W\
A'' jl
Ik'

J*-:*

438

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

''^'

fe *

'■mi

..■?.r (^

■ .'■

'.4

- ' i

Bishop Carroll, and was joiuud by auother priest, tlic liev.
Mr. Tisserant.'

New England Lad as yet nothing that could properly ho
called a church. The building on School Street was no longer
tit for service, and <.)n Sunday, March 31, 17t)l>, a meeting of
the Catholics was held and a committee appointed to solicit
subscriptiims to purchase a lot of land for the erection of a
church. Nearly four thousand dollars were 6ur)scril)ed, and
Rev. Dr. jMatignon felt encouniged to proceed. James Bul-
tinch, Es(j., furnished the plans without consenting to receive
any remuneration. Other ProtestaJit gentlemen, led by John
Adams, President of the Uiuted Stiites, gave their contribu-
tions to the building fund.'

On the evening of St. Patrick's day. in the year 18(»<>, a
numl)er of the Catholics of Boston began to excavate the
ground acquired on Franklin Street, in that city, to i)reiiare
for the laying of the foundation. The sacred edifice was to
be eighty -one feet by tifty-eight, and to l)e capable of exten-
sion, so as to l)e a stpiare. The Hev, Dr. ]\fatignon, when
the work begjin, had only 8i.\ hundred dollars on hand, al-
though $4,(KX» had been subscribed.

This was an enc<»uraging step for Catholicity in New Eng-
land. Hut there was tcxui stern evidence that the t>ld I'uritan
hatrt^«l of the faith was as vigorous us ever.

The Kev. Mr. Cheverus not only visited the Indians in
Maine, but on his way attended the scattered Catholics twice
a year. While in Maine in January. 1800. he married two
Catholics; but as the law of Massachusetts, to which Maine

' H<-v. .lohn Son^'O to Bishop Carroll, New York, .Vpril. 1707; l'. S.
Catb. MaK., i., p. IIH).
» Rev. Dr. Matlgnon to Bishop CarroU, July 28, 1798.
» Fitton, pp. 107-9.

\W^*

CHEVERUS IN THE DOCK.

439

was then annexed, prohibited all pereons from marrying, ex-
cept the minister or justice of the peace of the place, Mr.
Cheverus, to prevent all trouble, directed the new married
couple to go next day before the justice of the peace to rat-
ify their marriage, as was then done in England and else-
where.'

Attorney-General Sullivan, who, in the time of Rev. Mr.
Thayer, had shown himself actuated by bitter hostility to the
religion of \m own parents, instigated a prosecution of Rev.
Mr. Cheverus in both the civil and criminal court.

The amiable Rev. Mr. Chevenis was accordingly arrested
and brought to trial at Wiscasset in the mouth of October,
1800. There this gentle and pious priest, whose virtues
through life were so much admired, was placed in the dock
with the coarsest and most brutal criminals. Two judges, Brad-
bury and Strong, evinced great hostility to him. Judge Sewall
alone regarding the case without prejudice. Rev. Mr. Chev-
erus had retivhied two lawyers to defend him-one a member
of Congress, the other a member of the State legislature. They
adduced in evidence the printed instructions of the Vicars-
Apostolic in England, the well-known custom of the mission-
aries in that country, and tl>e pastoral of Dr. Carroll on mar-
riage. The attorney-general maintained that Mr. Cheverus
was minister of Hoston and Boston only, and that by exercis-
ing functicms in Elaine he made himself liable to the pillory
and a fine. The powers given by Hishop (\irroll, authorizing
him to minister to the people of his faith throughout New
Enc'land, did not, in the eyes of the judges, make him their
minister ; they were wedded to the idea of a local minister.
Jud.'e Sewalftook a view of the case favorable to Rev. Mr.
Cheverus, but the presiding judge. Bradbury, wished to strain

t r

> Rev. F. A. Mutijinou to Bishop CiirroU, March 19. 1800.

m :'!

ifl

III

fif**"

■ff

€i

440 i/Fis? OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the letter of the law to its utinoHt rigor. Tliis Justice said to
Mr. riieveniH that if he hail not proved that he was a settled
niiiiii^ter at iiostoii, he would have made him staud an hour
in the pillory with £H0 tine, hut as he was recognized as a
settled minister, he wiw liable only to a civil action. The
Kev. Mr. Chevenis, standing at the har before these hi-ots
8o immcasurahly his inferiors in every moral qualitieaiiun,
was, as he afterward declared, " never in better spirits." '
He had not Hinclied before the wild, demoniac madness of
the French Revolution and its Keign of Terror ; he was not
a man to pale before the pillory threats of a brutal ^'ew
England judge.

This revival of colonial persecution of the Church, such as
we have seen in iMaryland, re(juired on the i)art of Catholics
the exercise of prudence. At every mission station visited
by the Catholic priests outside of ]{osti.n. the little Hock of
Catholics entered into a written agreement with Rev. Mr.
Chevenis, with the approbation of liishop Carroll, by which
they recognized him as their pastor, and he agi^>ed to serve
them.'

iJut the case against the good priest did not close with his
acquitted on the criminal charge and his esca|)e from the pil-
lory to which Judge Hradbury was so anxious to send him.
The civil suit was still pressed. Rradbury had declared vehe-
mently that Cheverus must i)ay the tine ; bnt he was thrown
from his horse and prevented from attending court, the
attorney-general was absent when the case was reached, and
the lawyer who usually attended to his business had Ik-cii
i-etained by the charitable and devoted i)riest whom these

' Hcv. F. A. Mntlpnoii to Bishop Carroll, October 14, 1800
• Same to same, Septt'inlxT 10, 1801.

INTOLERANT SPIRIT.

441

fanatics were persecuting. The case wan passed, and we hear

no more of it.'

Read tlie elo(iuent eulogies of New Eiigland'H love of re-
ligioUH freedom and you may think this all a dream, hut the
papers remain in the tiles of the court to attest that in ISOO
toleration was regarded as nnich of im evil egg as it was a
century and a half before.

Tlio persecution of the Kev. Mr. Cheverua was not the
only evidence of this old anti-Christian feeling. The Rev.
Mn Cheverus thus states it : " Mr. Kavanagh, a respectable
merdiant living at Newcastle, in the county of Lim- in, dis-
trict of Maine, has fittetl up at his own expense a small
neat chapel, where I otKciated last year for l)etter than three
months. Moreover, the same gentleman with his partner,
Mr. Cottrill, has subscribed *1,0()0 f..r our new church and
has already paid $750. He thought in conse(pience he would
be free from jiaying taxes to the Congregational minister of
his township, but the Judges of the Sui)reme Court now sit-
ting in Boston declared unanimously (March 5, 1801), that
he must pay for the support of the sjiid minister, even if he
had a priest always residing with him. ' The Constitution.'
said they, ' oblige.^ every one to contribute for the support of
Protestant ministers, and them alone. Papists are only toler-
ated, and as long iis their mijiisters behave well, we sliall not
disturb them ; V)ut let them expect no more than that.' We
were present. Dr. Matignon and myself, and as you may sup
pose, listening with raptures to the above and many other
tlattering si>eeches. I really believe, should my former trial
come on again, these gentlemen would not be ashamed to set
me in the pillory." '

• Rev. F. A. Mntipnon to Bishop Carroll, .luly 3, ISOl.

' Rev. .lolin CluviTus to Bishop Carroll. Boston. March 10, 1^01. Dr.

MiUiguon, Miirch Ifl, to wime. adds
19*

' The Coustitution, it wiis decided.

l!t>tt

■St!

'ii\

itk

442 UFE OF AHCHBISUOP CARROLL.

Tlie spirit i.f jHTwcntion might annoy CatliolicH ; it could
not (tiihIi tlifin. At tlit' iM'gimiing (»f the year 1S0:J tin- df-
V(»tf(l pantor of tiii' faitiifiil in New Kngland ri'portt'd T)?
baptinuiH, lit niarriagt'H, \M Imrials, and '>0(i KaMi-r <-ouiiiiun-
ions for the pruviouri yt'iir. He dfoiared that if the progref*.
of reiipon wan iu»t rapid, it wiw real, and ehie% oontined to
the ciaH^ I' jKTsons whom our Saviour wan Ih'kI [)leaHed to
iuhtnu't ; the rich had no time for the Htud.v of religion, or
t(H. much pride and human respect to eml)rac'e the trutli.
In the eastern mission there hud been 50 connuunionri and
30 haptisnis.'

Ik-sides the «listriet assigned to Rev. iMeasrs. ^latignon and
CheveruH, which included Kew England, the northern part

yya^d/-^. J^a^t

FAr-BTMlI.E OF SIOXATFRE OF REV. KUANCIS A. MATKINON.

of Other States contained Catholics of Canadian ori<rin living
near the lioundary line, and IJishop Carroll joyfully accept»'d
the otTer of the Hishoj* of Queltee to permit his clergy resid-
ing near these scattered Catholics to minister to them. Me
empowered the Mishoj* of (^ui-l)ec to confer the sacrament
of confirmation within the Cnited States when his charity
prompted him to pass the Itoundary k'tween the two coun-
tries.' I iishop Denaut apparently gave confirmation at De-

did not r(To)rni7.p ruilidlic priests us cniiMnvcrcd to marrv, for the Judirc
d(( l.ircd ili.il tlic word ' l'roi.*J;iiit ' was lihviijH miacrslcxHl U-fon- ilio
Word ' .Miiiixlcr' " '.

' Hiv. F. .\ Miitiu'tion to IJishoj) rurroll, .Iimuiiry 23. 1H03.

» HislKip C urroil to Bi»ljo|) Dcimul, Ajiril 8. 1801. It k'caim' the cu»-

1 h.

PlilSCE GALLlTZm.

44:s

troit in 1801, m \m luune appeiirh on the KcgiBter of the

I'liurcli.

Meanwhile a few awpiriintH to the ministry enterod the
Soniiiiiiry of St. Snli)ite iit Baltimore— (M)ine to perHeveri«,
othertt to falter and turn Imck, Among the latter were tbe
tw«» catididMttM for holy orders, who had been wiit to Uot'ie
hv recjuest of the Sovereign I'ontill, in ortler to Ihj edueated
at the Urban College.

Th<- nioHt eminent person who enteijed the Seminary,
whether we regard his exalted position in the world or his
devoted and seU-sacriticing career as a pi lent, was the Knt^sian
Trinee Dmitri (Jallitzin, s(m of Princt; Dmitr. Alexievitz
Ciallitzin and the Countess Amalia von Selimett-

Q a f'^

*n^'

BIONATTTHTt OF KEV. 1). A. OAI.I-tTZrN.

He was horn at the Ilagne on the 22«1 of September, 17To,
and oame to Ameriea in 171>2 with a learned and pious priej^t,
Ilev. F. X. r.rosins, who had otTered his serviees to Dr. Car-
roll ; he travelled under the name of Sohmet, a eontraetioii of
his mother's name, but this in Ameriea s<ton became Smith,
by whicli he was known for many years, lie l)ore letters to
Bishop Carroll, and when he was introduced to the priests of
Saint Sulpice was delighted with their life and work. His
father bad marked out a brilliant canvr for him in the mili-
tary or diplomatic service of Russia, but the peace and siin-
l)licitv which reigned in America contrasted so forcibly with

torn for llu- R'^hop of nallimori" und the Bishop of New York to appoint
the Bishop of Qmbec Vinir-Genernl.

u>>J

•iill

Ht'

444

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the seething maelstrom of European revolution, that ])ene-
trated with the vanity of worldly grandeur young Gallitzin
resolved to renounce all schemes of pride and ambition and
to embrace the clerical professiou for the benefit of the
American mission.

The Rev. Mr. Brosius had meanwhile been assigned to
duty and repaired to his post. Young Gallitzin, who had
been vi-siting some of the houses of the highest social position
in J'altimore, then proceeded to the Seminary to examine
before Gi>d his vocation to the ecclesiastical state. He ac-
companied Bishoj) Carroll on one of his visitations, but the
world had become distasteful to him. The consent of his
fatiier and motiier was not easily obtained, but they were at
last convinced of the reality of his vocation. He entered the
Seminary at Baltimore on the r)th of November, 1702. and
turning a deaf ear to the tlireats and allurements of his fam-
ily pursued his studies with calm liappiness. He was or-
dained subdeacon on the 2l8t of Novemlwir. 1794, and after
receiving deacon's orders in the spring was ordained i)riest

^^^- (fi\<f^iCi

UA^

FAC-8IMILE OF BIGNATCKK OF HKV. P. X. BUOfllUS

four months later, on the 18th of March, 1705, by Bishop Car-
roll. The ujission to which he was first assigned was that of
Conewago, where he was to aid the venerable Mr. Pellentz
and Rev. Mr. Brosius, but as his health had suffered by the
confinement and close study at the beminary, the Bishop
dirc<'te<l him to pa.xs mwvi time at Port Tol)acco. He made
the journey on horseback in Lent, and reached his destination
very much weakened and desiwndent. liut encouraged by

rn-r "irMHiiiii" Ti i, 'V"

roUTUAIT OF KEV. I'KINCE UEMKTUIL-S A. OALLITZIN.

(445)

i-fel ii

ImA

446 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

a letter from tlie Bishop,' be soon after proceeded to Cone
wago. Here he entered on liis missionary cai-eer, extendin..
his visits through the mountainous district, so as in time to
include Tanejtown, Pipe Creek, Ilagerstown, and Cumber-
land, m Maryland ; Chambersl)urg. Path Valley, Shade Val-
ley, and Huntingdon, in Pennsylvania.

At Chambersburg mass was said in the house of Mr
Michael Stillinger, but the visits of Catholic clergy in thost^
parts excited great rancor in the minds of some bigoted peo-
ple, and on one occjision Rev. Mr. Erosius, on his way to
that town, was pursued by men bent on doing him i)ersonal
violence. He escaped only by the fleetuess of his good
horse, which carried himself siifely to the shelter of Stilliu-
ger's house.'

The Rev. Mr. Gallitzin was stationed at Taneytown in time
and in 1799 the Captain Michael McGuire who' had settled at
Clearfield, a ])lace which he visited early in his career, gave
Bishop Carroll a site f.»r a church. The Catholics there and
at Frankstown and Sinking ^'alley petitioned the Bishoj) iov
a pnest, expressing their wish to have Rev. Mr. Gallitzin,
and as this met the young missionary's views. Rev. Mr. Gal-
litzin proceeded to erect a l..g-house for him.>^.lf and a log-
chajK'l, which he completed on Christmas eve, 1799 and
de<licated to Saint Michael. - It is alK>ut forty-four feet
long by twenty-five, built of white pine logs, with a very
good shingle roof. I kept service n. it at Christmas for the
first time, to the very great satisfaction of the whole congre-
gation, who ^.eemed very much moved at a sight wliieh they
never Ixiheld I>efore. There is ak, a house built for me,

'Hife.l.t Rev J. Carroll to Kev. D. A. OuJIiUin. April 17, 179S;

'!"*'"' " ^*^*'' "' I>«^'"'^t'-i"« AugU8tln«3 Qallitzln." New York, 187.3.
pp. Wo~^.

• Brownson, pp. 9»-100.

THE ASYLUM COLONY.

447

sixteen feet by fourteen, besides a little kitchen and a stable.
I have now, thanks be to God, a little home of my own, for
the first time since I came to this country, and God grant
that I may be able to keep it. The prospect of forming a
lasting establishment for promoting the cause of religion is
very great ; the country is amazing fertile, almost entirely
inhabited by "Roman Catholics, and so advantageously situ-
ated with regard to market that there is no doubt but it will
be a place of refuge for a great many Catholics, a great
many have bought property there in the course of these
three months past and a good many more are expected. The
congregation consists at present of about forty families, but
there is no end to the Catholics in all the settlemente round
about me. What will become of them all, if we do not soon
receive a new supply of priests, I do not know. I try as
much as I can to persuade them to settle around me."

In January, apparently while on one of his long excursions
to distant parts of his district, he was called to Che Sulphur
Springs, Virginia, where he received into the church and
prepared for a pious death Mrs. Minghini, whose conversion
was one of the blessed fruits of the visitation at Livingston's
house. Prince Gallitzin, in a letter to Bishop Carroll, calls
her conversion miraculous.'

In 1794 a French Catholic colony was founded by Mr. de
Talon and Mr. de Noailles at Asylum, in Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania, opposite the Standing Stone, where Father
Pellentz in his time had secured a lot for a church. The
settlement contained about thirty families of rank, with ser-
vants and mechanics. There were four priests in the party—
the Rev. Canon Bec-deLievre, Canon Carles, Archdeacon

' Rev. D. A. Ottllitzin to Bishop Carroll. February ». 1800. She die<l
January 22. 1800.

1.1 • -t

448

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

de Sevigny, and tlie Abbe Fronientin. Of these only the
Rev. Mr. Carles officiated for the people, and was mueii re-
spected. He said mass and administered the sacraments dur-
ing the live years that he remained at Asylum, and a missal
is preserved, which, according to tradition, was used by him.'
These settlers soon wearied of their project, and most of
them returned to Europe. " When I passed there in 1805,''
writes the Abbe Dilhet, " I gave a mission to the good
French deceived in their hopes, and unfortunately so long
deprived of the succors of religion. They attended the re-
ligious exercises very strictly during the fortnight that the
mission lasted. They all approached the sacraments, and by
their sincere return to God gave the sweetest consolation
that a priest of the Lord can experience in the functions of
his ministry."

The Trappists had in 1803 thought of settling there, as'
land was offered them, but Kev. Mr. Dilhet's visit seems to
have been the last priestly one. and the settlers and their de-
scendants gradually lost what little faith they had.'

Besides the church attempted at Greensburg, another foot-
hold for Catholicity was giiined l)y a priest named Rev Tlie-
o<lore Brouwers; he is said to have been a native of Holland,
but came from the Danish West Indies. Receiving faculties
from Bishop Carroll, he proceeded to Westmoreland County,
Pennsylvaiiia, and on the 7th of August, 178!«, purchased an
estate of lf!5 acres, known as O'XeiU's Victo'.v, and Ivintr at
the foot of Chestnut Ilidge. Finding it too far from tiie

' I.a Rwlicfoiirftuld r.inncourt, " VoyRgc dans Ips Etnts UniB," Pnris,
vii.-i.. pp. 1,51-170. Letter of Uev. M. .1. Hoban, of Troy, Pii.

' De Courcy, " Cittliolic Church in the United Stntes," New York,
IS-W. pp. 298-4 ; Dilhet. " Etat Prewnl de lEglise." Mr. de Coiircy
supiKiseii the Kev. Mr. ("arles, of Asylum, to Im' the siune priest ii» the
Kev. Ant. Carles, of Savannah, but the latter came to Savannah from St.
Domingo in 18U3.

REV. THEODORE BROUWERS.

449

great body of Catholic settlers, he wintered with Simon
Ruffner, and in the spring purchased for £470 a farm known
as Sportsman's Hall, nine miles from Greensburg. Here he
erected a log-hut, but continued to say mass at Ruffner's
house. His plans for the spiritual benefit of the people of
Western Pennsylvania were not to be effected by him in
life. His health failed rapidly, and while at the altar one
Sunday in June, 1790, he became too ill to complete the
august sacrifice. He lingered through the summer, and was
attended by the Recollect P^ither Causse. Finding his end
approaching, he made liis will on the 24th of October, and
died five days afterward.

By his will he left the property he had purchased to the
Catholic priest " that shall succeed him in this said place."
" It is my will that the prie>.t for the time being sliall trans-
mit the land so left him .... to his successor."

Before Bishop Carroll could provide a jiriest to carry on
the good work projected by the Rev. Mr. Brouwers, a Fran-
ciscan who, in 1789, had come to this country from Ger-
many, unsolicited and unknown, Father Francis Fronnn, and
who had been sent by Bishop Carroll to the missions in York
and Lancaster Counties, Pennsylvania, left his appointed
field of labor and proceeded to Westmoreland County, where
lie assumed control of the estate of the deceased priest. In
August, 1791, he wrote to Bishop Carroll announcing that
he had been chosen by the congregation, and was in posses-
sion It was one cf several indications at that time of the
disposition to deny and defy the power of the Bishop of

Baltimore.

The good jieople, at first deluded by his professions of
piety, soon attempted to get rid of the intruder, but were
compelled to connncTice legal proceedings in the name of the
executors of Rev. Mr. T.rouwers. It was one of the first

■I

'W.

f p

•4.

■a

400

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

cases in which ii:e discipline and polity of the Catholic
Church came l)efore a civil tribunal in America. The case,
impeded by the usual delays, came in 1798 before Judge
Alexander Addison, President of the Courts of Common
Pleas of the Fifth Circuit of the iState of Pennsylvania.
Fromm's lawyer argued his oase abJy, but the Judge laid
down the law distinctly :

" The Bishop of Baltimore has, and before, and at the
time of Fromm's taking possession of tins estat* , bi^d the
sole episcopal authority over the Caiholie Church of the
United States. Every Catholic congrt^gation within th.
United ^•tate8 is subject to hip inspection , and without au-
thority from hiiu, i\o C-itholic [wriest can exercise any })as-
toral functions ovt* iUiy congregation within the United
States. Without his appoin'i.ient or permission to exercise
pastoral f unctions over thh eougro^ration, no priest can be
intitled, under the will ot !L^io\vei"9. to claim the enjoyment
of this estate. FrcdtUis had no sucii appointment or })ermis-
sion, and is, therefore, in"om])etent to discharge the duties,
or enjoy the benefits, wiiich are the objects of the will of
Browers."

The jury, under the direction of the judge, gave a verdict
ai:rain8t Fron)m, and the intruding priest was ousted from the
esicte, which has in our days realized the wishes of the good
priest Brouwers, by becoming the site of the great Benedic-
tine Abb^y of St. Vincent, and has been a source of spiritual
blessings to the land.

The case iKHUime a leading one, and established in the
courts the authority of a Roman Catholic Bishop.'

' Addiwn, " UcporLs of (^a«ea in the County Courtfl of tlip Fifth Cir-
cuit," Washington, m*0, ;>p. .%2-372 ; Deeds and Will in [Moosniallcr]
" 8t. Vincenz in PennsyWfuiicn," New York, 18T3, pp. :t.")7-U0.5. Stale-
ment of Fromm's caw in Arctibishop Carroll's handwriting, in tlie Ar-

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

461

The Rev. Lawrence S. Phelati was sent by Bishop Carroll
to care for the flock misled by Fronini ; that priest, however,
not only kept possession of the farm, but trumped up a
chiirqe against Itcv. Mr. Phelan and those who favored him,
and ' ;• e lawful priest and several others were arrested on a
chnri.^ of conspiring to murder Frouim.

Kf V. Mr. Phelan, taking up his abode with Simon RufTner,
labored on to effect what good he could, but soon relinquished
the struggle, and was some years after laboring zealously at
Chambersburg.'

The Rev. Peter Ilelbron was sent by Bishop Carroll to
tins mission in 1800, and as Fromni had gone to Philadelphia
to carry his suit to a higher court, and died there of yellow
fever unreconciled, the way was o])en for efficient work.
"When Father Ilelbron got possession of Sportsman's Hall,
between May and August, he wrote : " My dwelling shall
no more be called Sportsman's Hall, bnt Clear Spring, near
Greensburg." He erected the first church, a log-house twenty-
six feet by twenty. He labored zealously for several years,
aided a part of the time by a Rev. Mr. Flyun, In one tour
in 1805 he visited five counties, baptizing ninety children,
and even then, writing from Pittsburgh, he said he would
visit "Washington, Roundstone, and York River before he
returned home. This hard-working Capuchin continued his
life of toil on the Western Pennsylvania missi.ns till 1815,
when a tumor on his neck defied the skill oi the country
physicians. He visited Philadelphia, but his case was beyond

chives at Bnltimore, dated August 24, 1798. Liimbing, " A History of
the Crttholic Church in tlie Dioceses of Pittsburgli and Allegheny," New
York. 1880. pp. 361-4.

' Rev. Lawrence Sil. Phe'-m to Bishop Carroll, October 17, 1795;
ChnmlKTsburg, March 7, 1807. Father MoosinUller gives the name
Wheeling, but his letters show his real name.

4.52

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

remedy, and lie died at Carlisle toward the close of 1816
while on his way to his poor home.

During his ministry he endeavored to build a chnreh at
Greensbnrg, and sought leg-al authority in 1806 to get up a
lottery for tlie purix)se.'

In 1790 the Rev. Patrick Lonergan, O.S.F., went to West-
ern Pennsylvania, intending to take up lands and draw Cath-
olic settlers to them. Here he intended not only to estjiblish
a house of his order, but also a convent of religious women,
his sister, a nun, having acpompaiiied him with that view,
lie was at Northumberland in 171)6." lie is said next to
have proceeded to Rev. Mr. Brouwers' place in AVestmore-
land County, where Fromm still held possession, and finding
it impossible to plant his colony there, purchased several
thonsjind acres at West Alexander, in Washington County.
He wrote to Bishop Carroll from Milltown, twenty miles
from his purchase, January 24, 1707. asking to have Irish
Catholic settlers directed to him, as they would enjoy all the
Iwnefits of religion. His last removal was to Waynesburg,
Greene County.' His schemes of colonization all proved
abortive ; he left Pennsylvania and descended the Missis-
sippi, only to die at New Orleans.'

Nothing had yet been done to revive religion at the town

' Rov. P. irpll)ron to Bishop f'nrroll. Pliiliidclphia, April 17. 1800;
Sportsmnn's Hall. August 20, lH(Kt ; (liar Spriiifr, March 19, 1802, March
16, 18(>7; Philadelphia, \ovcml)er 22, 1800, DcmnlHT 11, 1808.

' Rev. Patrick Lonorpan to Bi.shop ( arroll, .May 5, NovcihIkt 22, 170(1.

• Rev. P. Ildbron to Bishop Carroll, NovcuiIht 1, 1805, Mr. Collfriok,
H printer at Washington, had recently paid the tiuxes on the i)r<)ptrty to
save it.

* Lamltinp, "A History of the Catholic Church in the Dioceses of
Pittsburgh and Allegheny," New Vork. 1880. p. 227 ; Letter from Mill-
town, Pa., .January 24, 1797; Moosmllller, " St. Vluceuz in Penusylva-
nien," New York, 1878, p. 70.

ALEXANDRIA.

453

which had grown up on the site of Fort Duquesne and the
chapel of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin at the Beau-
tiful River. The Rev. Michael Fournier, on his way to
Kentucky in the winter of l79t;-7, was detiiined for fourteen
weeks at Fort Pitt, but though he said mass there for the
Catholics every Sunday, they were so indifferent that, out of
more than a hundred, only six ever came to enjoy the privi-
lege of being present at the august sacrifice.' They pro-
fessed, however, an intention of building a church and ap-
plying to the Bishop for a pastor. Two priests, on their
way to Natchez, Rev. Messrs. Maguire and Bodkin, also
^\^ntercd at this time at Pittsburgh.' The Sulpitian, Rev.
John Dilhet, who stopped there in 1798, save : " I found the
people very eager to have a priest. I wrote to the Bishop
of ]3altimore, who has ever since supplied them with one.
In place of the ehapel which has been used till now (1805),
a subscription has been taken up to build a church." '

Religion was thus progressing in Western Pennsylvania.

Rev. Mr. Thayer retired from Boston, and was stationed
in 1794 at Alexandria, but was unhappy there, not being ac-
customed to the institution of slavery as he found it in the
South. In 1790 the trustees of St. Peter's Church, New
Yc rk, solicited the Bishop to appoint him as assistant to Rev.
William O'Brien, but the latter was reluctant to receive
him.* and Dr. Carroll would not force on the rector of St.

' Rev. M. Fournier to Bishop Carroll, Priest's Land, Ky., March 2,
1797.

" Same to same. Pittsburgh, November 22, 1796.

» Dilhet, " Etat Present de I'Eglise."

* Bishop CanoU to Thomas Stoughton. July 5. 1796. Same to Rev.
William O'Brien, same date.

it,'

'■i\

r :>'

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Peter's an aseiHtanf <HstnstefuI to liini. The Rev. Mr. Thayer,
who was evidently little titted tor parochial Work, becunir
(liwoouraged, and asked to leave the fliooese, to wluch the
Bishop, who knew his merit, n ^^(^i^^Hly■ > . sonted.

But Rev. Mr. Thayer niKhn-Ujok, . •\e shuU see, a mis-
sion in Kentucky for a time, with equally discouraffinff
results, lie then went ; ■ Kuro]x>, and died in Limerick
after rendering great servici's to religion.

After the first mission olinrts at Apoquimink in Delaware,
the Jesuit Fathers, according to their usuiil uslom, .viure
there seemed a hope of gathering a Catholic c<mgregation,
purchased a piece of pro|)erty. f\ither Matthew Sittens-
perger, known nn the mission by the name of Manners, ac-
quired in Januury, 1772, a farm in Mill Creek Hundred.'
On this projx'rty, knf)wn also as Cftffee Run, a log-chapel
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and a residence were put up
which starved for many years.

The atrrtcities of the negroes in Saint Domingo drove
many of the French from that island to this country, and
some settled at Wilmingtcm with the Rev. Stephen Faure,
to whom Bishop Carroll gave faculties. lie died at Bohemia,
August 21, 17!>H, leavimr the reputation of a ])iou8, charita-
ble, and learned priest. He was succeeded as paster by the
Rev. Mr. Cibot, who had been Vice-Prefect Apostolic in St.
Dtmiingo,'

In 1800 St. Mary's had as its pastor the Rev. Charles
Whelan, who from it attended Wilcox's, Westchester, Jen-
kin-', and O'Neill's. Five ■• ics later he was -ill on thiit

< Father Mnnnpn boin^ an Hlinn, the deed could not bi* made to bim ;
it was made to Father Jolin Lewis.

' Records of the A. C. Hist. Society, Philadelphia, !»/<', I., pp. 189,
142.

KENTUCKY.

455

misflion, enduring much from the teniint of the clurcii farm.'
Ho di(Ml on the 2lHt cf March in the foHowing year, 1806.
Went of the AlleghanieH, Kentucky r^iuircd the care of

Biwliop Carroll.

The Kev. Mr. Ikdhi waH appointed to the Kentucky mis-
Bion*^, which Rev. Mr. Whclan had ahundoued while Binhop
Carroll was in Europe The young pricHt set out from Balti-
more, Septeniher 6, 1793, with the Rev. Mr. liarrieres, who
bad l)een appointed Vicar-General. They travelled on f.)Ot
to Pittsburg. Then in a fiuiall flat-boat, with six companions
all wcU-anu.d, they descended the Ohio, past Wheeling and
Marietta to Ciallipolis. Here they found the remnant of the
Scioto colony. The arrival of the two priests was hailed with
juy, and for three days they exerted themselves to relieve
the' spiritual destitution. They sang high iss at an altar
reflred in the garrison or log-fort and baptiz. forty children.
Landing at MaysvUle, then called Limestone, they re-
smncd their toilsome march and passing over the Blue Licks
battlo-ground, reached Lexington. Welcomed here in the
house of Dennis McCarthy, Rev. m. Badin said mass on the
first Sunday of Advent, and Rev. Mr. Barrieres rode sixteen
miles to ihe C 'ol^ settlement in Scott County, where he
also offered the v icrifice. Rev. Mr. Badin made Scott
County tlH' mtre of his missions, while Very Rev. Mr.
Barrie'rcp tiegau hi« labor in Nelson County. The latter
clergyman, howe' ^)on o,md that he was unfitted for the
nunistry in tho bu> vck ■.. After four months' trial he
abandoned the lield, ana April, ITIU, set out f..r New
Orlea in a i>eriaKun. Rev. Mr. B.adin was thus left ahnost
alone in Kentucky, and remained so for neariy three years,
receivin- little aid in the exercise the^ministry froni

oek Hundred, Janu-

' Rev. Charles Whdan to Bishop Carroll. M
ary 14, 1800 ; White Clay Creek, January 28, 1

4fi6

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL,

■> 1

Father do Rohan, wlio wus igiionint, carclcHs, and l)y no
means edifyinj?. Tlio yomif? prieHt waH thoroughly JiH-
heartened. In Iuh k«tterH to Hinhop Carroll he hewailed the
(liHorderH tl it exintni. The youth Heeined entranced from
the faith and from morality; ignorant of their religion and
its duties. Tlio Rev. Mr. Radin was, however, a man es-
peoially Htted for the field, and luV m-age and energy never
relaxed. Ho was constantly on Inn pastoral visits from set-
tlement to wttlement, gathering and inHtructing old and
young, hearing eonfessions, saying mass. After a time he
fixed his residence on T\.ttinger's (Jreek, and erecting a log-
hut on the site of tli present Ix)retto convent, (^ave it the
name of St. Stephen's.

The chief stations where Rev. Mr. Badin gathered his ik'o-
ple, were at I^'xington, in Scott, Aladison, and Mercer Coun-
ties, at Holy Cross the only church, still an uiiglazed, clajv
Iwarded, log-chajx'l. with a slah <»f w.kkI for an altar ; at
Hardstown, on Carlwriglit's Creek, near the site of the pres-
ent St. Rose's church, Hardin's Creek, Rolling Fork, and
Poplar Neck.

Though tempted by the offer of a convenient house and a
fixed salary by the Sj)anish (iovernor at St. Cienevicve, Hev.
Mr. Hadin sturdily clung to the hard mission to which Bishop
Carroll had after their united prayer assigned him.

In 1707 lie was cheered by the arrival of the Rev. Micliael
C. J. Fournier, who reached St. Stephen's on the 2<>th of
Febniary. This co-lalwrer took up his residence on the
Rolling Fork, where he erected a house whirh served as a
chapel. Assuming the charge of the Catholics on Ilarlin's.
Cartwright's, and Rough Creeks, and those in Lincoln and
Madison Counties, this excellent and pious priest, adapting
himself at once to the flock assigned to him, labored so
cheerfully and zealously till his death in 1803, tlmt his

KENTUCKY.

4fi7

memory is prosorvod in houaohold recollections of his miii-

i«try to this day.

In n91> Kenhic'ky received two otlicr priests, Rev. An-
tlumy 8alm<»n, who soon after, risliij? from a sick-bed to visit
Mardstown, was thrown from his liorse and received injuries
from which he expired the next day ; and tlie Rev. Jolm
Tliayer, who faiUng to adapt himself to ])arochial work in
the East had iKjen sent by Bishop Carroll to Kentucky ; but
the satne trouble ensued and he was advised by his Superior
to leave Kentucky.

Hev. Mr. Salmon in his brief career had commenced the
erection of churches at Rardstown and Hardin's Creek, each
of which stations had some seventy Catholic families.' The
iiret churches in the State were, like the houses of the settlers,
log structures, St. Joseph's near Hardstown datinj; back to
17i>3 apjiarently, though some make it three years older.

The Rev. Mr. Thayer labored in Kentucky for four years,
but he was unfitted for a slave State, and his life did not
meet the strict views of Rev. Mr. Badin. In 1803, Bishop
Carroll havitig withdrawn his faculties, he left the State and
went to Euroi>e.

With Cutholies multiplying in all parts of the country, and
appeals pouring in for priests, Bishop Carroll turned to Ire-
land and solicited aid. But the French Revolution had
swept away the colleges in different parts of Europe which
had l)een hivjs for keeping up the Irish clergy. The College

• Spaldinp, "Skclchca of the enrly Catholic Missions of Kentucky."
Louisville, 1S44. pp. 56. 60-81; Webb, "Centenary of Cntholicity in
Kentucky," Louisville. 1884, pp. 162-169. p. Ill ; Rev. S. T. Budin to
Hishop CrtrroU, April 11 and .June 28. 1796 ; Rev. M. V. .T. Fournier to
sume. November 22. 1796. and March 2, 1797 ; Rev. A. Salmon to same,
Mav 27, 1799. " Oripine et Progri^s de la Mission du Kentucks ' Paris,
1821, pp. 8-7 ; Right Itev. John Carroll to Rev. John Thayer, July 31,
180l!

w. ,*

' 1

1='^

':i

7 5 i

4.58

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

at Maynooth was about to open, but some years would neces-
sarily elapse before it giive so many that Ireland could spare
any worthy priests for the American mission. In regard to
Maynooth, Archbishop Troy, of Dublin, writing; to Dr. Carroll,
mid : " This will be a great and most providential supply and
resource, but inadequate to our wants, as a much greater nnni-
ber we-e educated in the supjiressed foreign establishments.
Besides the scarcity will be most sensibly felt before the 200
can finish their studies, after the shortest possible course.
Your Lordship may conclude from this statement, that no as-
sistance to your diocese can be expected from hence, from
such clergymen as I would conscientiously recommend." '

In a Lenten Pastoral, Bishop Carroll exliorted the Catlio-
lics of his diocese to a due ob "^•ance of the holy season of
mortitication an<l prayer. lie laid down regulations, few be-
yond the limits of the old Maryland and ]\>nnsylvania mis-
si.tns, having any knowledge of those prescribed for the
col(inie> early in the century by that confessor of the faith.
Bishop Bonaventure GiiTard.

Bishop Carroll began i>y calling the attention of the peo-
ple to the condition of the Church and the necessity for
prayer and moitiiication. "On one side, many awful mani-
festatioTis of divine displeasure give great cause to fear that
Sovereign Justice has been and now is highly ]>rovoked bv
liuman inirpiities. The calamitous state of Christianity ; the
violent and increasing oppressions of the holy Church ; the
destruction of its venerable sanctuaries ; the breaking up of
numerous establishments, instituted for the preservation an<l
extension of true religion ; tho abolition, as far as human
means could etTect it, of asylums and facilities for the ob-
servance of the evangelical counsels, and the integrity of

Archlushop Troy to Higlit Hcv Dr. Carroll, April 13, 1798.

LENTEN PASTORAL.

459

Christian perfection, the dispersion and outrages committed
on the lawful pastors of the Church, the long rigorous con-
iinement of and interception of all correspondence between
the Vicar of Christ and the Hock committed to his pastoral
charge ; the innninent danger of fatal divisions in the bosom
of the Cimrch, bursting asunder the bonds which unite to-
gether its children in One Faith under One Divine Shepherd,
and his representative on earth the Successor of St. Peter.
These and other awful tokens of divine disijleasure, evidence
the necessity ai\d obligation of using our earnest endeavors
U) appease the wrath of heaven, in order to avert present
evils and t'lose still to be apprehended."

" O Beloved r.rethren ! what powerful motives concur to
persuade us to devote the acceptal»le time, the days of salva-
tion now approaching, for obtaining the desirable and salu-
tary objects for which the Apostolic institution of Lent was
introduced ! We have to solicit for the church Divine pro-
tection and its freedom from violence and inthrahnents, for
the restoration of peace to all nations, and especially its pre-
servation in these United States, for the deliverance of our
veneral)le PontilT from his dis;istrous captivity and his resto-
ration to the free and independent government of the Church,
for steatlfastncss in the faith and unshaken constancy in the
ministers of the sanctuary, and of each one of us particularly,
amidst all the violent assaults of infidelity and examples of
licentiousness and dissolution of manners."

lie urged them to renewed prayer and fervor, to detach-
ment from unholy amusements, and to a spirit of mortiti-

cation.'

Ill lT'.»l)some correspondence took place between P>ishop
Carroll and the Bishop of the adjoining diocese of Louisiana

' Right Rev. John CiirroU, Lcnton Piisloral.

460

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

and tlie Floridas, the Right Rev. Dr. Luis Pefialver. Bishop
Carroll did not easily find priests to accept the remote mis-
sions on the Mississippi from Kaskaskia to Natchez, and
when a priest undertook any of these frontier positions, he
soon became discouraged, as the people showed little inclina-
tion to support a priest or to benefit l)y his ministry. Bevond
the Mississippi was a Catholic province where jiriests were
needed, and where the clergy received regularly a stipend
from the King of Spain. It is not to be wondered at that
some abandoned their thankless laboi-s on the eastern shore
for the more attractive field of labor beyond,

Bis'iop Carroll wrote to the Bishop of Louisiana on the

^ O&i*jS0 J<y(c^cS^

U^Jfatyi^

HONATUUK OF UT. UEV. I.l IS
PKSaI.VEU Y CAltUENAS, BISHOP
OF LOriSIANA.

18th of October, 17!)S, in regard to Father Charles Leander
LusMtn, whom Bishoj) Carroll had ai)j)()inted to a mission in
Illinois, but who had crossed the river to become j)arinh
priest of St. Charles, representing that he had lost the exeat
he received from Bishop (.'arroll, when in fact none bad
been given. Bishop Pefialver courteuusly admitted that he
had I)een deceived and offered to remove him.

He also informed Bishop Carroll that as the Spanish gov-
ernment had relincjuished to the United States Natchez and
Vicksburg, a district captured from the English and dis-
tinctly yielded to Spain liy treaty, steps should l>e taken to
secure l\w church ])ro|M'rty at Natchez and Coles Creek or
Villa Gayoso, which had been left under the care of Don

CHARLESTON, S. C.

461

Jose Vidal, the Spanish consul. Until Bishop Carroll conld
provide for these churches, Bishop Peflalver had permitted
the Rev. Francis Lennan, then parish priest of Pointe Coupee,
to visit his former Hock from time to time, and offer the holy
sacriliee at the two churches.'

In Cluu-leston the Rev. Mr. Gallagher had been a serious
detriment to the cause of religion. Bishop Carroll wrote :
« It is melancholy to heiu- of the languor of piety, neglect of
the sacraments and other abuses, which diminish the respect
due to the maxims of the gospel and the decency of divine
worship." He endeavored, in vain, to induce the talented
but irregular priest to transfer the charge of the church to
the Rev? Mr. Ryan ; Rev. Mr. Gallagher appealed to Rome,"
and left Charleston to prosecute his cause.

In September, 1803, the Rev. Mr. Le Mercier, who had
been appointed by VAAxo^ Carroll to the church in Charles-
ton, presented his credentials to the trustees, but they refused
to recognize him as i)a.stor of the church, or as anything bvt
a '' locum tenens." till the return of Rev. Mr. Gallagher.
The Rev. Mr. Le Mercier refused any such conditional ac-
ceptance, as his appointment by Bishop Carroll was uncondi-
tional.' When Rev. Mr. Gallagher returned he prevented
Rev. Mr. Le Mercier from saying mass at the altar of the

church.*

The next year Gallagher was interdicted by Bishop Carroll
from all funetioiks except that of sayiiig mass in his own

n.i

: '1-:

1 Bishop PeniilviT to Bishop Carroll, Xew Orleans, April IJ. i:«9.

Miishop Carroll t.. Hov. S. V. ti.U.irlu.r, July 11, IHOl, November 3,
t8(V> • to Mr. Samuel Corbet, November 10, IHOl.

-Rev. Mr. Le Mereier to Bishop Carroll. Charleston. September 7.
1H(W.

« Letter Jiinuury 23, 1804.

...i^iii

mmsmsiMmsmfi

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

'%i

house.' TFie trustees then ordered the old church to be torn
down, in order to prevent tlie priest api)ointed by Bishop
Carroll from ofliciating ; but an indignant nieetiiior of the
Catholics at large pi-evented the sacrilege. Gallagher then
opened a public chapel in his house,' and continued to exer-
cise the ministry even in North Carolina.

Rev. Mr. Le Mereier visited the scattered Catholics, and in
1805 was at Raleigh, North Carolina.' lie labored for some
years at Charleston, endeavoring to rejiair the injury done to
religion by (irallagher, who retained possession of the church.
Mr. Le Mereier died on his way to France about 18()*i, and
in IS 12 Archbishop Carroll confided the difficult task of
keeping religion alive to Rev. Joseph Pierre Picot de Clori-
vitire. lie was assiduous in catechizing the young, having
sixty white children in his Sunday-school, and a separate
class of colored children,'

Georgia, in colonial days, had been closed to the Church,
the fundamental cliarter expressly ])rohibitiiig the settlement
of 'athdlii's witliin its limits, and thus distinctly excludiu'jj
the teaching of divine truth.

The Revolutionary war opened the portals which bigotry
bad closed.

The first priest to establish tlie worship of God in Georgia,
where in earlier days the Spanish Franciscans had conducted
missions whose succes-s was the reward of martyr heroism in
the pioneers, was the Abbe Ije Moine.

Of the date when his labors com/nencetl no data remain ;

' This was ou August Mi, 1805 TjOtter of Lc Mereier, September 12,
IHOS.
' Le Merrier to Risliop r«rroII. Hrpteml)er 12, 1805.
' Judjjc Oastoii to Biniiop Cftrroll. (/ciolier 25, 1805.
* Rev. Picot di' Clorivirre to Bixhop rurroll. .luiiuary 20, 1813; No-

If r

SAVANNAH, GA.

468

but he died in the latter part of the year 1796, after having
won the greatest respect and consideration by his zeal and
virtue. He directed a layman, Mr. Duchesneau, to take pos-
session of everythirw belonging to the Catholic chapel which
he had established and transmit all to Bishop Carroll. Among
the articles were vestments recently sent to him by his brother

in Paris.

His death led to great confusion. The French consul
seized all the church effects as private property of the good
priest; the Spaniards belonging to a prize endeavored to
give him an honorable funeral, but the crew of some French
privateers made it an occasion for offering every possible i»i-
sult to religion, actually mutilating a cross amid ribald songs
and jeers.

The Rev. Mr. Le Mercier, sent by Bishop Carroll to revive
the labors of the pioneer priest, recovered some of the vest-
ments, but badly injured by rats and mice, so little care had
been taken to preserve them. He at once proceeded to the
grave of Rer. Mr. Le ^loine, and performed the burial

service.'

About this time crnsiderable tracts of land were offered
for the establishment of Catholic churches and maintenance
of ])riest8 in Georgia, but Bishop Carroll was unable to obtain
olert^vmen from Ireland who would have been able to draw
Catliolic settlers to that State.'

In 1803 the Abbe Anthony Carles, driven from Santo
Domingo by the troubles in that island, ieajhed Savannah.
He remitted his credeTitials showing that he had been a duly
api)ointed parish i)rlest, and VicarCxeneral of the Prefect-
Apostolic, :^Igr. Lecou. He at cnce began to officiate for

' Rpv. Mr T.> ' 'trcier to Rishop Carroll Savannuh, October 14, 1796.
' IJishoi) t;iirroll to Arrhbishop Troy, May 25, 1796.

ifiih

464

LIFE GF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the Catholics of that city and the French fugitives from tlie
AVest Indies. Bishop Carroll gladly appointed him to the
charge, and soon after requested him to attend Augusta also,
a mission which had been without a priest since its abandon-
ment by Rev. Mr. Browne. He continued to minister to the
Catholics of Georgia for some time ; for though he made a
visit to Frr.nce, he returned to Savannah in 18('7.'

In the country northwest of the Ohio, the position of the
little body of French Catholics was greatly injured by the
results of the Revolutionary war. Virginia legislation w;is
hostile to their land tenures ; the United States government
extended but feeble support. The English, under pretext
that the Kei)ublic had failed to carry out certain provisions
of the treaty in regaiil to the payment of debts contracted
before the war, retained jwssession of Ogdensburg and Nia-
gara, Sandusky, Detroit, Michilimackinac, and much territory
around the military posts at those points, and even erected
another fort on the Maumee. From these posts they con-
trolled the Indian trade and supplied the savage tribes with
arms and anununition, if they did not openly encourage
them in hostilities against the Americans. The French set-
tlers at Detroit and Itaisin River were com])letely under
English control. Those on the Wabiish and in Illinois were
surrountk'd by hostile Indians. In the advance of .\merican
settlements these French were viewed with great suspicion
l)y the frontiersmen and our government took no steps to
j)rotect them. On the contrary, military expeditions treated
the C^atholic settlers at the West as thougli they were hostile
Indians. This was especially the case in the wanton destrnc-

' llt'V. Picot (Ic Clorivii^rc to Bishop Carroll, Dciciiilicr fl, lH();t ; Hcv.
Anthony ('arlcs io Hishop Carroll, F»ibruary 3, 1804, February 7 uud
OcU)btr \2, 1H07.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

405

tion of the village of Ouiatenoii by the forces under General
Scott in 1791.'

By the time that Wayne's victory humbled the Indian*
and Jay's trea*v delivered the Western posts from English
tenure, the old-tii.ie Catholics of the West were reduced to
wretchedness and misery.

As churches sprang up in Western Pennsylvania and Ken-
tucky, the old French poets in the West were no longer iso-
lated. They came in direct intercourse with the Atlantic,
and were gradually coalescing with the Catholic body of the
United States.

They had, as we have seen, been in a manner left to them-
selves by the Bisho[) of Quebec, who feared to give oiienee
to the new Republic, and Kev. Dr. Carroll had found that
any right to jurisdiction by him in that district was doubtful
till a decree of the Propaganda decided definitely the extent
of his diocese.

The Church in the territory northwest of the Ohio was in
a strange j)osition.' Dr. Carroll, on receiving his appoint-
ment as Prefect- Apostolic, supposed his jurisdiction to em-
brace the whole of the Republic, and the wandering Carmel-
ite Father St. Pierre, who recc/ni/ed Mm as Superior, made

' General Scott to General Henry Knox, ilarch 9, 1701 It was f ^^ace
of seventy houses, many well tinislu'ii.

' Civil affairs were in similar disorder. The Virginia a ian-itles had
virtually abandoned their pret^ndid powers, and there wa>. liftU,- 'iw or
order. It was not till the p.issage of " An Ordinance for thvVAeri-
nieiit of the Territory of the United States, northwest of the ri\ir Ohio,"
hy the ("ontinental Congress, July 13, 1787, that order was restored.
Tins act especially reserved " to the French and Canadian inhabitants,
and iither settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincent's, and the noi^rhborins?
villaires, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Viririnia,
their laws and customs now in force amonj: them, relative to the descent
and conveyance of property." Carey, '•American Museum," ii., p. 88.
20*

f,l '^ i'

'•;^-

466

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

his way from Kentucky to Illiiioiri ; and Dr. Carroll went the
Kev. I't'ter lliiot de la Vuliniere to those parts with powers
of Vicar-General.

He then ascertained that Rev. Peter Gibault was in the
Illinois country claiming to be Vicar-tJeneral of the Bishoj)
of Quebec. Michigan and the country on the laketi was held
by England, notwithstanding the treaty of peace, and the
Bishop of Quebec had his ])riests at Detroit and iu time at
Raisin River and the Mauniee. When Dr. Carroll compre-
hended the actual situation, he wrote to Mgr. Hubert, who.
after his labors in the West, had, as we shall see, ascended
the episcopal throne of Laval.

'* MoNSEIONElK :

*' The necessity in which I find myself of asking from
your Lordship some light on a rather delicate matter affords
nie at the siinie time the honor of expressing to you the high
veneration which I feel for your character and your episoopul
virtues.

" Encouraged by the favorable attestations with whith ^Ir.
Huet de la N'aliniere was furnished by his Ecclesiastical ISu-
|)eriors in Canada, I very rea(lily accepted his olfer to pnteeed
to the Illinois and I appttinted him my Vicar-Cteneral there.
Since his departure 1 have received letters, written from
Post 8t. Vincent, by another priest named (libeau, and who
informs nje that he himself has l)een Vicar-tieneral <.f tlie
Bishops of QuelHH* for nineteen years.

'•This is a point, w\ r^ord, on which I nee<l information,
and as to which I venture to ask some light from your Lonl-
shij), especially as rei»orts have reached me in regard to Mr.
GilK'au, very unfavorable as to his conduct.

" I learne<l .-ome time since that your l^ordship was dis-
pleased at my interference with the ecclesiastical government

NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

467

of the Illinois. I did so because I believed it incliided ia
my jurisdiction, and because I had no idea that your Lord-
ship extended your pastoral care to tliose parts. No ambi-
tious motive impelled me, and if your T xlship intends to
provide for their spiritual wants, it wiii deliver me frona
a very {?reat enibarras.sment, and relieye my conscience of a
l)urthen, that is extremely heavy.

*' In that case, my only anxiety would be, that the United
States will not, perhaps, permit the exercise even of spiritual
power by a British subject.

" I have the honor to be with the most respectful devot-
ed ness,

" Your Lordship's most humble and obedient
Servant,

" J. Carroll,
" Ecclesiastical Superior in the
"Baltimore, May 5, 1788. United States.

" P. S. — Letters sent me by way of Xew York will reach
me safely."

The Rishop of Quel)eo had already, on learninj]^ of the
pi-esence of Rev. Messrs. St. Pierre and La Valiniere in the
Illinois country, written to the Propagranda, hut in view of
the (litticulties of the situation, had determined not to inter-
fere, so long as tliey did nut i)enetrato any further into his
diocese, or compromise him by their acts.' Bishop Hubert,

' " By the treaty of peaoe in 1783, th- territory sotitli of the St. Law-
rence River from tlie 4r(th dcirree of liiMtude havins; J)een ceded to the
Ansjlo-Aniericdns, niid tlie Illinois and T.iinaroiH iu'ini: included in that
(lart, tlic Hislmp of tjuciiec has sent no ncriiiancnt missionary tliere since
that date. It is even to he i>resuincd lliat the covenimenl would take it
amiss, s.) that matU-rs will he left as they are till further oniers.

" It seems, indeed, that Mr. de la Valiniere and Mr. de St. Pierre have

3'A^SS^0^A £»»•, St .^i?

!ti^^l3^*

468

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

[im''"'~f^

professing his iuuMlity to (liHtiu'inber his diuoese, continuod
this policy and eontirined all l>r. Carroll wiw tit to do.' But
Michigan being btill under the liritisli Hag, he regarded as
|)art of his diocese. He addressed a pastoral letter to his old
flock at Detr< lit, which began :

"John Francis Hubert, by the mercy of God, and the
favor of the Holy Apostolic See, Bishop of (Quebec, tfec, etc.,
to the inhabitiints of the two parishes of Detroit, known
under the names of tin- Assumption and St. Anne, Healtli
and Benediction. The hajjpy and peaceful .sojourn that 1
made among you, my very dear brethren, has left in my soul
sentiments of attachment and atTi'<'tion so deeply imprinted
that you must class among the great consolations of my life,
that which I now feel in transmitting t(» you, a ])ublic and
solemn testimony of my truly pastoral love.

"As yt»n are aware, very dear Hrethren, the interests and
sjilvation of your souls, the desire to induce you to tread the
paths of justice, the hope of preserving in your hearts the
ma.xims of our holy religio!i which other missionaries had
taught you, these were the only motives which led me to
vou in 17S1. If I)ivin»' j'rovidence c(»mpelled me to leave
with tearful eyes a belosvi! iusd in which I hoped to end my
days, it has not eff:ue i *ro'n my memory the frecpient iii-
etnictions which I giive ;; -ri nor the pleasure with which you
8eeme<l to hear them."

been deputed t<i the Illinois* emintry Ity the I'ri'fcct-.Vpostdlic of New
England. I dn not know tlie extent of their |)<>vv(ts, as to which they
make no reiM)rt to nie ; hut on tlie whoU', I am not disposed to interfere
with them, w) lonj; iw they do not advaiiee any further into my dioersi',
leaving myself free to diwivow lliem, if they eotninit any fault, with
whieh I am n proaehed." Bishop llulnrt to Hev. Sir. Devilkis at I'aris,
OctolKT ITi, 17H7.

' Bis'hop Hubert to Dr. t arroll. October 0, 1788.

Ill r

GIBAULT AT VINCENNES.

4eo

Ho concliules by urj^ing thetr to rem in faithful to the

Kin}:C "^ Kiiglaii(h'

The Kov. I'i'ter Gibault ui still the jh ,tht for all tho
country from thi' '^Vabu.sh to the .tiissisHipi'i. uiid even i-ntsricd
to attend St. (tenevievo, thuuf^h the Capuchin Father Ber-
nard, when appointed to St. Louib issiuaed charge also of
< ahokia.

The lliinoifl country was in a wretched condition, the Vir-
ginia authorities had viflidrawn, and there wa.s neither (i -
f< ice aj^aiuf^t attack ikh- civil government.'

About the couiinencenient of the year 1785 the Rev. ^Ir.
(iibault took up bin residence at Vincennes, which for sonip
time previously hail l)een visited only from time to time.
"1 have sufficient nfidence in our Lord Jesus Christ, to
have ii '>ert of banislun;,' barbarism soon from Vincennes,
.M ,0 inhabitants, especially the young people, have had
11. ligious principles f. '•' last 23 years, except when I
pu.« d there on my brie .. -sions. as Kev. ISIr. Payet did.
I'll. • grow up like the Indians amid whom they lived. I
trave them and still give them catechetical instructions twice
a day. after mass, and in the evening before sunset. After
each instructions I send the girls home, and make the boys
repeat the responses of the mass and the ceremonies of the
church for Sundays and holidays. I preach on these days as
often as 1 can." ■' When I arrived here I found no one big

■:|,

' Pastoral lt'lt«'r of Flishop HiilK«rt to the inhubitmits of i'nndwich and
Detroit. November 2, 1789. Archives of tlie Arehtjishopric of QucIhc.
" Muiulfineiils, etc., des EvOques de Q(iel)ec," Quebec, lsy7-8, ii., p.
m-i. Kven in 171M, : a letter to (.'ardinal An"ii)elli, Bishop Hubert
spoke of Detroit as iM-ionuMuu' to his diocese (Lii to the Proiv^anda.
Queber, October •2."., 1791)-, anil it wa-sii-t till the surrender ■ the eity
by the Knj;lish in 179(i that it came practically under the <■ of Right
Hev. Dr. Carroll.

* Rev. F. Gibault to Hishop of Quelwe, St. d ueviove, April 1. 1T83.

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470

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

rl^

or little to serve mass except an old man born in Europe,
who could not always come and then no mass. Two months
after I had several, and now the smallest boys in the village
not only are able to serve mass, but know the ceremonies for
Sundays and holidays, and the whole catechism, both the
larger and smaller. I should be well enough pleased with
the people, were it not for the wretched liquor trade which
I cannot eradicate, and which compels me to refuse the sacni-
ments to several, for the Indians commit horrible disorders
when in liquor."

" I should not have succeeded in building a church at this
post, had not the people at Cahokia sent a messenger in the
name of the whole parish, to beg me to- take charge of them,
oflfering me very advantageous terms. The people at Post
Vincennes having good grounds to fear that I might leave
them, unanimously resolved to build a church, ninety feet
long by forty-two broad, on a foundation and of boards.
Part of the wood is already got out, and several fathoms of
stone for the foundation. The upright posts will be only
seventeen feet high, but the winds are so violent in these
parts, that even this is rather high for strength. The house
which is now used as a church will serve as a priest's house,
and I think I can occupy it a few months hence. The lot is
a large dry one in the middle of the village, which I myself,
with the marguillers, obtained sixteen years ago. I beg you
to approve this erection of a new church under the title of
St. Francis Xavier on the Wabash, and to enjoin me to pro-
ceed to complete it, and also to adorn it as well as the poverty
of the |)eople will permit." '

To charges that had been made against his character, he
replied with honest indignation : " To all the pains and hard-

' Letter to Bishop of Quebec, June 6, 1786.

OIBAULT AT VINCENNES.

471

Bhips that I have undergone in my different journeys to most
distant points, winter and summer, attending so many villages
in Illinois distant from each other, in all weathers, night and
day, snow or rain, wind, storm or fog on the Mississippi, so
that I never slept four nights in a year in my own bed,
uever hesitating to start at a moment's notice, whether sick
or well< how can a priest who sacrifices himself in this way,
with no other view than God's glory, and the salvation of
his neighbor, with no pecuniary reward, almost always ill-
fed, unable to attend to both spiritual and temporal, how I
say, can you know such a priest zealous to fulfil the duties
of his holy ministry, careful to watch over his flock, instruct
them in the most important tenets of religion, instruct the
young unceasingly and untiringly not only in Christian doc-
trine but teaching the boys to read and write, as one who
gives scandal, and is addicted to intoxication ? "

Rev. Mr, Gibault continued his labors at Vincennes, and
in 1788 narrowly escaped with his life, his missionary jour-
neys increasing in danger as the Indians became more and
more hostile. Massacres of the French were constant, and
on one occasion t^-T Sieur Paul Desmisseaux was killed and
Sieur Bonvouloir wounded, so near the courageous priest
that he was all covered with their blood.

In view of the state of affairs and his reluctance to serve
under a Spanish or an American bishop, tlie Canadian priest
earnestly besought the Bishop of Quebec to recall him.'

A Dominican Father, Le Dru, who had been employed in
Canada, was sent to Illinois by Bishop Carroll, brt he soon
removed to St. Louis," and appears in other missions.

Rev. Mr. Gibault's last visit to Vincennes was in October,

' Rev. P. Gibault to Bishop of Quetec, May 23, 1788.

' Rev. F. Le Dru to Bishop of Quebec, St. Louis, March 29, 1790.

•i I

472

i/Fii: Oi?' ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

1789 ; he was then residing at Cahokia, whence, in 1790, he
forwarded to Governor St. Clair a petition for a grant of
part of the Seminary- Land at Cahokia, in compensation for
losses sustained by him. This was granted, although tlio
United States govennnent had no title whatever to the land.'
Bishop Carroll, on learning of this, entered his protest
with the Government of the United States against this at-
tempt to alienate church proi>erty to an individual clergyman.
Apparently in consequence, the Rev. Mr. Gibault left the
diocese of Baltimore and retired to the Spanish territory
beyond the Mississippi. He finally settled at New Madrid,
where he died early in 1804."

^ye have seen that the Very Rev. Mr. Hubert had been
sent to the West as Vicar-General, and liad appointed Rev.
Mr. Payet to succeed the venei-able Recollect Father Bocquet
at Detroit.

While the Very Rev. Mr. Hubert was still at that city, in
the summer of 1784 Rev. Mr. Payet proceeded to Vineennes,
which had for some time been without a priest, and in July

cJ^^^^ -;^>

*t-^>'^<_

rAc-sran.E of signature of rev. mr. payet.

he baptized under condition, with the prescribed ceremonies,
many children baptized privately by Phillibert, the guardian
of the church, who kept a register with a regularity that
deserves praise. Rev. Mr. Payet remained there till Sep-

' Rev. H. Alenlinp, " A Flistory of the Catholic Church in the Diocese
of Vineennes," IndianapollH, 1883, pp. 64-8.
• Rev. Gabriel Richard to Bishop Carroll, Detroit, May 1, 1804.

DETROIT.

478

tember.' During the clergyman's absence from Detroit,
the Very Rev. Mr. Hubert discharged tlie parochial func-
tions, but though out on a remote frontier post, his merit
and abihty led to his nomination November 30, 178-t, as
coadjutor to the Bishop of Quebec. Writing to Bishop
Briand, September 26, 1784, he announces the completion
of the new parochial residence and the plan of rebuild-
ing the church ; but he deplores the neglect of religion,
which he ascribes mainly to the profanation of the Lord's
day. His last entry in the Detroit Regieter is a baptism
October 31, 1784." He retui-ned soon after to Quebec,
and by a bull of Pope Pius VI., June 14, 1785, was made
Bishop of Almyra and coadjutor of Queb'^c. On the 19th
of November, in the next year, he was consecrated by Right
Rev. John Oliver Briand, and became Bishop of Quebec,
June 4, 1788.'

Rev. Mr. Payet remained as parish priest at Detroit till
June 22, 1780. He had pushed i-u the erection of the
church, and in February he announced that the sacristy was
up, but not yet under cover, and that the contract for the
sashes in the church and for ceiling the sanctuary had been
given out. " Providence," he wrote, " is my only hope, for
I have fears as to the habitans with whom money becomes
scarcer and scarcer, for it is hard to sel" wheat at these
' pontes,' and the rest in proportion. Be that as it may, we
sliall do our best without losing courUp^e." '

He was ser^t by Vicar-General Hubert to Cahokia and

r-,

r^.

> I

' His last entry is July 24, 1786. Register of Vincennes ; Grave to
Villars, Oct. 19, 1786 ; Archives de Quebec.
■^ Letter in Archives at Quebec.

' His first entry as cure is July 8, 1786 ; his last July C, 1796.
♦ Letter February 20, 1786 ; Letter of Grave to Willem.

474

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Kaekaskia, but as he sufEered from a pain in the chest, he
announced his resignation, and soHcited a position in Canada.
On his departure the Rev. P. Frechette, parish priest at the
Assumption, now Sandwich, took charge of St. Anne's
church, Detroit, and remained there as i)arish priest for sev-
eral years.'

Meanwhile a number of the French Catholics had settled
on Kaisin IJiver, and a cemetery was laid off at an early
period. AVHien, however, the Bishop of Quebec placed this
mission under the charge of Kev. Mr. Frechette, the settlers
assembled to adopt measures for erecting a church.

While the Quebec clergy were thus endeavoring to keep
religion alive in the West, Rev. Mr. LaValiniere labored at
Kaskaskia from April, 1785, and ministered diligently to
the people there and at other accessible points. The paro.\
cliial residence at Cahokia had been ruined by the British
and Amcricaji troops, but the people erected a new one at a
cost of five thousjind livres. Here Mr, de St. Pierre took up
his residence, and in April, 1786, reported that the faithful
had begun to erect, in ])laee of the old wooden church which
had fallen, a new church, which was to cost fifteen or sixteen
thousjind livres, although they used all the material of the
old priest's house. Tlie marguiilers proposed to sell part of
the property of the Quebec Seminary once more to provide
a fund for the support of a priest.'

About the year 1791 the Rev. Edmund Burke, an Irisli
priest, who was acting as professor in the Seminary of Que-
l)ec. saw with regret that no steps had been taken to revive
the missions in the western country, which the hostility of
the house of Bourbon to the Society of Jesus and its final

' His flnit entry as cure is July 8, 1786 ; his 'ast July 6. 1796.
' Letter of the MiirK'uillers of Cahokiii, June 6, 1787 ; Canlinal Tasche
reau, " Notes on the Seminary of Quebec." Letter .\pril 22, 1787.

REV. EDMUND BURKE.

475

suppression had annihilated. By the aid of Archbishop
Troy of DubHn, he called the attention of the Sacred Con-
gregation de Propaganda Fide to the wretched condition of
the country on the great lakes.' A decree of the Propa-
ganda was apparently given to favor a revival of the for-
mer Indian missions, Bishop Hubert having notified the
Sacred Congregation of the fact that the country on the
Mississippi was now siibject to the Bishops of Baltimore and
Louisiana.'

The British authorities, in their wise folly, had at first
made it a positive point that the Jesuit Fathers were not to
continue the Indian missions. They had now learned by
experience that Catholic missionary priests among the tribes
exercised the most beneficial influence on the Indians them-
selves, and helped greatly to attach them to government. The
Rev. Mr. Burke was favorably known, and with the concur-
rence, if not the recommendation, of the English Governor,
he was selected by Bishop Hubert to proceed to the "West
and carry out the views of the Propaganda. Writing to
Archbishop Troy of Dublin, September 14, 1794, Rev. Mr.
Burke says : '' I must request jour Grace will please to let
Cardinal Antonelli know that a most favorable occasion of
sending a missionary to the npper Country has happened,

' Rev. Edmund Burke to Most Rev. John Troy, December 31, 1790.
" You must admit, my Lord, thtit teaching the catechism is a more ra-
tional employment for a priest tlian giving lectures on Astronomy. " "I
would most willingly return to the ministry. There is a vast extent of
country north of the lakes, l)eginning at Lake Ontario and running west-
ward to Lake Minitti and thence to the Pacific Ocean, possessed or
claimed by England, in which tlio' there are a great number of posts and
several Indian villages whose inhabitants are Catholics, there is not, nor
has there been, a single missionary since the conquest of this province."
There was some exaggeration, but the real condition was bad enough.
See Letter of Bishop of Quebec to Cardinal Antonelli, October 25, 1791.

■' Bishop Hubert to Cardinal Antonelli, October 25, 1791.

■ t "r I

WMh

''1-

POnTIiAIT OF BT. HKV. EDMtTXD BURKE, BlSnOP OF 8ION, AND V. A

OF NOVA SCOTIA.

(476)

REV. EDMUND BURKE.

477

and the Bishop, in compliance with his Eminence's orders,
lias immediately appointed your humble servant. Many in
the diocese would have tilled the place with greater ad-

vantage."

Before the close of the year he waa officiating at Eaisin
River, which he had been specially commissioned to attend.
Here he dedicated the Church of St. Anthony of Padua.'
Meanwhile Wayne's victory over the Miamis had caused the
Indians to waver in their adherence to England. The Rev.
Mr. Burke then proceeded to Fort Miami, a post erected by
the British on the northwestern bank of the Maumee River,
near the present site of Perrysburg. His house was on the
banks of the river, within a few miles of the fort. Here he
began to fit himself to direct the Ottawas, Chippewas, and
Pottawatomies, by a study of their language, the English
government, which maintained the missionary, giving liim
the distribution of provisions to those tribes. His ecclesias-
tical position he thus defines : " Pm the administrator of
Upper Canada with every episcopal power except what re-
quires the Episcopal order, yet I find a very great want of
power, for here the limits of jurisdiction is imcertain and
unsettled, the very parish in which I live may be a subject
of dispute between the Bishop of Quebec and Baltimore,
tho' it be distant 4 or 500 leagues from either ; that gives me
some uneasiness, as I know no jurisdiction certain but that
of His Holiness. Besides Confirmation is a sacrament ^^ .;re
totally unknown in a country, where there are some i' '/.:-
sands of Catholics." ' He even urged Archbishop Troy .o
petition the Prefect of the Propaganda to establish a mission

> Bishop Hubert to Ciirdinal Antonelli, September 15. 1794 ; Rt. Rev.
C. P. Maes, " Notes on the Church of Monroe."

> Rev. Edmund Burke to Archbiahop Troy, Miamis, February 2, 1795.

I 'itj

478

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

-r; J

independent of the Bishops of QucIm'c, Baltimore, and Louis-
iana. This would have added another element of confusion •
but England, which had never actually claimed the territory
she held, withdrew her military occupantH, and Kev. Mr.
Burke retired with tliem. As the Propaganda declined to
erect an independent jurisdiction,' the Rev. Mr. Burke,
though he received certain powers from Rome, soon after-
ward withdrew to Detroit, where men, who had end)rafed
the revolutionary principles of France, so constantly menaced
his life that he had to be defended in his room at night liy
Indians and Canadians, and never went out unarmed. But
he devoted himself to his duties, and was consoled in the
Easter of 1795 to see many approach the lioly table who had
been strangers to it for twenty or thirty years."

When the execution of Jay's treaty put an end to the \
occupancy of Michigan and other western points, which
England had maintained in spite of the treaty of 1783,
Bishop Carroll found the duty of providing priests for that

' Cardinal Antonelli to Bishop IIii»)ert. .luuimry 16, 179fi ; Bishop Hu-
bert to V. Rev. E. Burke, October 18, 1796.

' Same to same, Detroit, May 20, 1705; Dilhet, " Etnt dc I'Efflisc,"
etc. lie wrote from Quel)ec, August 17, 1796, exj)ecting to rttuni to tlie
West. He wa«, however, stationed at Niagara in 1797, and was sent to
Halifax in 1803, being the first Catholic priest iXTUianently placed there,
building a church and glclK'-house. He wiw an able theologian and con-
troversialist, and was a good engineer. In 1816 he visited Koine to lay
before the Poih.' the condition of Religion in the province. He was soon
after appointed Bishop of Sion and Vicar-Apostolic of Nova Scotia, re-
ceiving episcopal consecration .Inly 5, 1818. He lived to commence tlie
work of organization, and died December 1, 1820, in his 78th year. He
was Unn in Ireland, came to Cunwla May 16, 1787, and Ix-fore going
w«>st had l)een cure at St Pierre and St. Laurent, Isle d'Orleans. Camp-
bell, " History of Nova Scotia," Montreal, 1873 ; Tanguay, " Repertoire
General," Queln'C, 1868, p. 18 ; Murdoek, " History of Nova Scotia,"
iii.. p. 461 ; Houck, " The Church in Northern Ohio," New York, 1887,
pp. 204-7 ; Dillon, " History of Indiana." Indianapolis. 1859, p. 352.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY,

470

difltrict added to hiB already weighty cares. He wrote to the
Birthop of Quebec to ask leave to retain the ])rie8tH wlio liad
for some years been in charge at Detroit, liaisin Itiver,
Mackinac, and Niagara ; but Bishop Hubert needed priests
too badly to be able to spare any for parishes or niissions
adjudged not to belong to liis diocese. He reluctantly so
informed Bishop Carroll, who then appealed to the Sulpi-
tians to supply him clergymen for those Western Catholics
of their race whom he could not otherwise provide with
priests. " I feel keenly," he wrote to Bishop Hubert, " the
loss which these parishes will sustain in being deprived of
the zealous and experienced pastors you have given them,
and whom they will need more than ever in view of the
efforts which will be made to corrupt their morals and their
principles of faith. It was this that made me desire so ar-
dently, that their present pastors should continue to discharge
towards them tlie functions you have coutided to them. My
conscience would be relieved of an anxiety, the prospects of
which alarm me. I do not think that any difficulty will be
raised by the government of the United States, unless in the
case of Kev. Mr. Burke, whom ill-intentioned people and
especially an apostate Dominican, named Le Dru, have suc-
ceeded in imbuing some of the officers of the American
troops posted near Fort Detroit, with prejudice against that
priest, as one who endeavored to foment and excite in the
heart of the Indians, great animosity and vengeance against
these States.' I will do my best to remove this prejudice,
and I shall readily profit by your Lonlship's permission to

• Tlie Hon. .Tiimcs McIIenry wrote to Bishop Carroll : " Tt appears that
when Geneml Wayne wiw using his endeavors to induce the Indians tc
como in and treat, his inflvience was exerted to prevent them from attend
ing." Letter, June 12, 1796.

''I

480

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

■5

associate him to my diocese and employ bis talents and
miniHtry." '

Tiie Htranj^ confusion caused by the English occupation
of Michigan may Ikj seen in the fact that the Very Rev. Mr.
Burke, on withdrawing fn>m Detroit, wrote to Bishop Car-
roll to urge him to send two priests, and he offered to -j^ive
faculties to them, as though Bishop Carroll had not power to
give faculties in bin own diocese.

We have seen the effort made through the Archbishop of
Dublin to create a jurisdiction independent of QucImjc, Balti-
more, and Louisiana. It was not the only project of the
kind. Another was actually carried out at Rome.

The Congregation de Propaganda Fide, at the very mo-
ment when the diocese of Baltimore bad t)een erected with
limits coterminous with those of the United States, was led
into steps which threatened to increase confusion in the
West, where order was most rcijuirod.

Misled by the vast jjromises of Joel Barlow and a num-
\ycT of speculators, who got up the Scioto Company to
found a colony on the banks of the river of that name, the
Propaganda actually createtl a Prefecturc-Ajxwtolic of a set-
tlement that did not exist, and in which the Company which
projected it did not own a foot of land. Numbers of noble-
men and others were induced to take shares in the Company,
which mav have intcndetl to i)urchase lands. The a>isoci-
ates induced hundreds of jKxtpIe to emigrate from France,
the tirht of whom reached Alexandria in the " Patriot," May

' Bishop Carroll to Bishop Huliert, Miirch 2, May 2, 1796 ; Dilhet.
" Etat (li- I'Enliw." .Vboul the time of Bishop C'arroU'H <'oii8«'mtioii the
Frt-nch in the We«l, exclusive of Detroit and it« dependencies, wtre esti-
mated at a little over 2,()00 souls; Vincennes, l.tKM); Kaskaskia, 815;
Cahokia, Sft."} ; (Jrand Ruisseau, St. Philip, and Prairie du Kocher, 240.
Carey, "American Museum," ix., p. 8.

DOM. DIDISRy PREFECT-APOSTOLIC.

481

3, and " Lilxjrty," May 0, 1790.' The iiiiinigrunts soon
fouiul how Kudly they had l)eon deceived, and only a few liad
courage or nieaiiH to attempt to reach the Oliio. Tlieso
foutuk'd a Hcttlenient at Gallipolis ou hind where General
KufuK I'utnani placed thuiu.'

For the great intended settlement in Ohio, Dom. Didier, a
Benedictine monk, and procurator of the Ahhey of St. Denis,
who ha<l acconn)anied one of the emigrant partien, waH ap-
pointetl 8u[>erior, with ample facultieri for Kcven yi us, which,
liowever, it was stilted, he would have no right to exercise,
except in subordinatioti to the Hishop of I'altimore, "if the
contemplatecJ colony be located in that diocese." '

Dom. Didier was a man of varied talents, and had the colo-
nists followed his advice in material as well as in 8j)iritual
matters, a very different history of Gallipolis would appear
in American aniuds. But the immigrants included many
full of the infidel theories of the thne, who imbued the rest
with prejudice against him on the ground that he was a
numk. Dissensions ensiied ; Indian hostilities arose, and
the settlers began to scatter. After exercising the ministry
here for a few years, and producing little fruit, Dom. Didier
went to St. Louis, where he was highly esteemed and labored
to the close of his life, the pioneer Benedictine in this country.

Left without a priest, the settlement at Gallipolis soon lost
all coherence and dwindled away. Keligion gradually faded
out. Children were no longer baptized ; they did not even

' " Virginia Qazette." Miiy 6, 1790.

' Volney, " Tableau du Climat et du Sol des Etats Unis d'Amerique,"
Paris, 1803, pp. 881, etc. The Uniltul States government wa.s petitioned
to conflrin lands to them. American State Papera, Public Lands, Wash-
ington. 1884, i., p. 29 ; McMaster, " A History of the People of the United
States," New York. 1885, ii.. p. 148.

< Cardinal Antonelli to Bishop Carroll.
21

awaaBW u ww wiCW

483

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

ask Dr. Carroll to send them a pnest. On Sundays instead
of prayer and Catholic instructions, meetings were held
where deism and infidelity were openly advocated.' Such
was the end of the Prefecture-Apostolic of the Scioto.

It was not really until the Sulpitians arrived in the United
States, that Bishop Carroll was able to give this western por-
tion of his diocese clergymen who, he could feel assured,
would take up the work with zeal and energy. When the
Bishop of Baltimore exposed the destitute condition of the
French in the West and his inability to give them clergy
speaking their language and familiar with their national cus-
toms, Sulpitian priests grown hoary in philosophical and the-
ological studic ,. professors and directors, ofiEered to become
missionaries and act as parish priests on our remote frontiers.
To all human calculation they were men unfitted for the
work; in the Providence of God they were extraordinary
instruments of good among the American pioneers of Ken-
tucky and among the French of the Wabash, Detroit, and
Illinois.

With the retirement of Rev. Peter Gibault from Kaskas-
kia in 1791 and of the Carmelite Father St. Pierre, 1792, Illi-
nois was left ^ -ithout a priest to minister at the altar.

When other Sulpitians arrived in 1792 ready to enter on

' Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eglise Catholiquc " Summary of Bishop CnrroU's
Report, August 18, 1792, in Propaganda Archives. Bishop BrutC stattd
in one of liis notes tliat he Icnew a Rev. Mr. Boisnantier in France, who
claimed to have been appointed Bishop of 8rioU>, but he probably exag-
gerated the nature of his appointment. In official records there is no
mention of a bishop, but simply of a prefect, 8ubje<t to Dr. Carroll. No
trace of Boisnantier apiiears to exist in the Records of the Propaganda, al-
though he may have teen proposed even prior t*) Dom. Didicr. Rev.
8. T. Badin in 1796, described Gallipolis as containing only alnuU eighty
men who had neither religion nor morals. (Letter to Bishop Carroll,
June 28. 1790) In 1805 they had dwindled to twenty. (Dilhet. "Etat.")

SULPITIANS IN THE WEST.

483

the Western missions, Bishop Carroll sent the Rev. Mr.
Levadoux to Kaskaskla.' He officiated at the old French
post from February, 1793, to May, 1795; when the Rev.
Gabriel Richard took charge till the arrival of the Rev. Mr.
Janin, and after his departure in 1796."

Rev. Mr. Lusson, whom Bishop Carroll had placed at Caho-
kia, in 1798, abandoned his poor parish, with a scattered flock
at Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, and crossed to St. Charles,
on the Spanish side of the Mississippi. At this time the
church was nearly complete, the priest's house a large build-
ing in a tolerable condition, with a good well and stable, his
predecessor having effected many improvements. The trus-

eiGNATCRES OF REV. MEB8H8. JANIN AND LEVADOUX.

tees appealed to Bishop Carroll once more for a priest, and
urgently entreated him to give them the devoted Mr. Rivet.'
In February, 1799, the Rev. Messrs. John and Donatien
Olivier arrived in Illinois; John attended Cahokia, and his
brother, Donatien, Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher. The
people received them with great joy and made lavish prom-

' Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eglisc." i., p. 28 ; ii., p. 106.

' Registre de I'lmmnculee Conception, Kaskaskia: Mr. Levadoux, De-
cember, 1702 ; G. Richard, February, 1793, to May, 1795 ; Janin, August
4, 1795, to March 27, 1796 ; Ricliard. 1797.

' N. Jarrot and others to Bishop Carroll, September 15, 1798.

;?' i

484

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CAJtROLL.

I» 1

I nil
f'

ises to provide for their maintenance ; but these were not
carried out. The new pastors found that the people had
lost much of their former zeal and piety; vices prevailed,
and the women were extravagant, spending much on dress,
on coflfee and sugar, expensive luxuries in those parts.'

The Catholics of Vincennes had early in 1792 appealed to
the Bishop for a priest, and on the 5th of June he wrote an-
nouncing that the Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget was about to
proceed to their ancient post, the difficulty of travelling dur-
ing the dangerous period of the Indian war, having delayed
him. "With his zeal, his piety and his manners full of
sweetness and charity, I am assured that he will win all
hearts to Christ, and that he will confirm in you all the priu-

wi^^^^i^A^

FACSIMILE OF SIGNATURE OF REV. DONATIEN OLIVIER.

ciple« of our holy religion. I recommend him earnestly to
you ; I am convinced that by your docility, and fidelity in
fulfilling your duties, you will lighten the weight of his min-
istry', and even render their discharge consoling and gratify-
ing to him." *

The future Bishop of Bardstown set out from Baltimore
in a wagon for Pittsburgh in May, 1792, having reached
Baltimore at the close of March. lie bore a letter of intro-
duction from Bishop Carroll to General Wayne, then gather-
ing at Pittsburgh the army which was to retrieve the disaster
of St. Clair. At that jwint the good priest found four sol-

' Wcs. Mr. Olivier to Bishop Ctirroll, April 22. 1799 ; Donatien Olivier's
first entry at "oskaskia was April 19, 1799. Dilliet, " Etat de I'Eglise,"
ii.. p. 12.5.

' Bishop Carroll to the Catholics of Vincennes, June 5, 1792.

VINCENNES.

485

were not
ople had
)revailed,
on dress,
ts.'

pealed to
wrote an-

about to
lling dur-
? delayed
8 full of

will all
the priu-

IB.

■nestly to
idelity in

■ his min-
i gratify-

^altimore

■ reached
of intro-
m gather-
e disaster

four sol-

en Olivier 'a
e I'Eglise,"

diers under bentence of death. Three were Catholics, and
he prepared two for death ; the third, a countryman of his
own, obdurate in sin, refused his ministry ; but the fourth, a
Protestant, was received into the Church and prepared for his
approaching end. Taking a flat-boat he reached Louisville,
where he met Rev. Mr. Levadoux and Rev. Gabriel Richard.
From this point Gen. George Rogers Clark, to whom Rev.
Mr. Flaget bore a letter from General "Wayne, accompained
him to Vincennes.

On the 2l6t of December the old French post so long de-
prived of a priest received its new pastor. " He found the
church in a sadly dilapidated state. It was a very poor log
building, open to the weather, neglected and almost totter-
ing.' The altar was a temporary structure of boards badly
put together. He immediately set to work to repair the
church, and especially to refit and decorate to the best of his
power the wretched altar for the coming festival.

" The congregation was, if possible, in a still more miser-
able condition than the church. Out of nearly seven hun-
dred souls of whom it was composed, the missionary was
able with all his zealous efforts to induce only twelve to ap-
proach the holy communion during the Christinas festivities.
His heart was filled with anguish at the spiritual desolation
which brooded over the place."

He began his ministry with charity and zeal ; the people
were weak rather than obstinate in sin. The instructions and
exhortations of the good priest soon revived religion in their

' The ancient grant of the church-plot was for 160 arpents. " Ameri-
can State Papers — Public Lands," Washington, 1834, ii., p. 456.
Twenty-five years later the church was described as " sixty -eight feet
long by twenty-two wide, and nine feet from the ground to the eaves.
It had a kind of steeple eight feet high with a small bell. " David Thomas,
"Travels through the Western Country," Auburn, 1819, p. 195.

" HI

!P}Ut|

486

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

i> I

liearts. He won the hearts of the children, and his school was
soon thriving ; pious ai'd promising boys eagerly learned to
serve mass. The parenij came back to their duties, and when
the small-pox soon after broke out in the town and decimated
the flock, they blessed God who had recalled them to duty
and enabled them to die as cliildren of the Church. Rev,
Mr. Flagct was the temporal as well as spiritual guide; he
stimulated the people to industry, opened a manual-labor
school, induced better cultivation of the land by proper im-
plements and appliances, and obtained looms.

lie extended his ministry to the neighboring ^lianii Indi-
ans, who were also stricken by small-pox, and he baptized
many ou their death-beds.

Amid all these labors he was himself prostrated by dis-
ease in October, 1793. but recovering, continued his good
work till he was recalled by his Superior to Baltimore, to
the great regret of Bisho]) Carroll. At his departure he
gave for the use of his successors a well-selected library oi
recent editions. Rev. Mr. Flaget left Yincennes toward the
close of April, 1795, and reached Baltimore by way of New
Orleans.' During his residence at Vinccnnes he lodged with
Colonel Vigo, who had done so much for the American cause
during the Revolution.

Rev. Mr. Levadoux and apparently Rev. Mr. Janiu visited
Vinceimes for a time, till the arrival of Rev. John JVancis
Rivet, a priest and professor from the diocese of Limoges,
who was sent by Bishop Carroll in I'iW. The Bishop of
Baltimore had, in 1792, addressed President Washington in
regard to missions among the Indians, but at that time he

' SpalditiR. " Sketches of the Life, Time, and Chararter of tlie Ricrht
Rev. Benedict .loneph Flaget." LouiHville, iaV2, pp. 2D-36, 4r)-fi ; Des-
jfcorfje, "Monseigneur Flaget, Evequc de Bardstowu et Louisville,"
Paris. 1855, pp. 9-U.

BEV. JOHN F. RIVET.

487

replied that it was not within the province of government.
The influence exerted by the British seems, however, to
have modified the views of statesmen. After the Indian
war proved so disastrous, General Washington recommended
to Congress the adoption of such beneficial policy toward the
Indians, as would tend toward their civilization and teach
them the advantages of the Christian religion. Several
Catholic clergymen then offered their services, and Rev. Mr.
Kivet was accepted, with a yearly allowance of about $200.
Bishop Carroll says of him : " He visits the neighboring In-
dians and applies himself incessantly in fulfilling the objects
of his appointment, and disposing them to maintain a friend-
ly temper toward the United States. He is indefatigable in
instnicting them in the principles of Christianity, and not
without success, which, however, would be much greater if
■ the traders could be restrained from spoiling the fruits of
bis labors by the introduction and sale of spirituous liquors.
' In the discharge of his useful occupations, Mr. Rivet has un-
dergone much distress. The Indians afford nothing for his
subsistence ; on the contrary, he is often obliged to share the
little he possesses with them, or lose influence over them.
This and tlie non-payment of his annuity for more than two-
and-twenty months have reduced him to the greatest dis-
tress." '

From December, 1798, he acted as Vicar-General, and
frequently visited the Irish soldiers at Fort Knox on the
"Wabash, three miles above Yincennes ; as several were mar-
ried, the good priest baptized and instructed their children,
and when a dangerous disease broke out at the fort, he was
unremitting in his attention to the sick.

• Bishop Carroll to Samuel Dexter, Secretary of War, Washington,
September 15, 1800.

'l^ '

-■#

lift

'1 i

11 ».

i
i

{

488

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The infidel Volney, who found the Rev. Mr. Rivet at
Vincennes, which he describes as a place of some fifty houses
ill an irregular prairie surrounded by forests, speaks of that
missionary as polished, learned, high-bred, and tolerant, and
praises his efforts for the education of his fiock.' Rev. Mr.
Rivct died in the winter of 1803-4. Rev. Gabriel Richard
wrote : " A loss that will be felt long by the inhabitants of
Yineennes, a loss perhaps irreparable, the worthy and ex-
tremely zealous Mr. Rivet is dead this last winter. He died
as he had lived, excessively poor and extremely regretted by
his parishioners." ' He had been failing for some time, sink-
ing under pulmonary disease, but he kept discharging his
duty to the last. His last baptism was recorded January 31,
1804. Soon after finding death at hand, he sent to Prairie
du Rocher for the Rev. Donatien Olivier, but expired in the
odor of sanctity, three days before he arrived.*

"When the English finally evacuated Michigan in 1796,
the Rev. Mr. Frechette was recalled by the Bishop of Que-
bec, and it became necessary for Bishop Carroll to provide
priests for Detroit, Raisin River, and Mackinac. He accord-
ingly directed his Yicar-General, Rev. Mr. Levadoux, to take
charge of the church at Detroit, the most important of the
French settlements in the Northwest. In 1797 Rev. Mr.
Levadoux induced his parishioners to revive the regulations
for the parish established in other days by the Bishops of
Quebec ; he obtained land for a new cemetery, repaired the
priest's house, and regulated the payment of tithes.

' Volney, " Tableau du Climat et du Sol des Etata Unis," Paris, 1803,
p. 400.

» Rev. Gabriel Richard, Detroit, May 1, 1804; Dilhet, "Etut de
rEjfli8e,"ii., p. 125.

■ Rev. II. Aleniinp, " A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese
of Viucennes," ludianapuliH, 1888, pp. 78-5.

DETROIT.

488

Eev. Gabriel Richard and Rev, John Dilhet were sent to
aid him, the latter taking up his residence at Raisin River.
When Rev, Mr, Levadoux was recalled in 1801 to Baltimore
and then to France, Rev. Gabriel Richard became parish
priest of Detroit, of which he was for many years the accom-
plished spiritual guide. He comnmted the payment of the
tithes into a subscription of $600, and executed the projected

FAC-BIMILE OF 8IQNATDRK OP BEV. GABRIEL RICHARD.

repair of the church at a cost of 1,500 livres. He employed
a chanter who was also to train the altar boys. Rev. Mr.
Dilliet joined him at Detroit hi 1804 and opened a classical
Bchool, taking charge of the more remote missions.

He had labored earnestly at Raisin River, endeavoring to
excite liis ilock to replace their crumbling church by a suitable
edifice, but though meetings were held and promises made,
nothing wui done, and even the contributions pledged for
his support were not paid. His parish extended from San-
dusky to St. Joseph's River, on Lake Michigan, extending as
far south as Fort Wayne.'

ta^lc^*^

SIGNATURE OF BlsnOP DENAUT.

Meanwhile Detroit enjoyed the presence of a Bishop. The
Right Rev. Peter Denant, Bishop of Quebec, making a visi-
tation of the western part of his diocese, and acting und^

• Rt Revrcrp7Mnesr" History of the Catholic Church in Monroe
City and County. Mich.." in "U. S. Cath. Hist. Mag.." ii., p. 113.
21*

! 1

3-1

490 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

powers from Dr. Carroll, crossed the frontier where neces-
sary to administer confirmation. He came to Detroit in 1800

I'OUTKAIT OF HKV. UAUUIKL KKIIAUU, KBOM A CONTEMPORANBODB

FaXNT.

and conferred the sacrament on all who had been prepared
to receive it at Detroit, Raisin Kiver,' and other points.

The ancient mission of Michiliniackinac was also an object
of care. The Very Rev. Mr. I.«vadoHX spent several weeks
there in the summer of 179fi ; the Rev. Gabriel Richard fol-
' lie w(w at Raisin River .Iiine 18, 1801.

PRAYERS FOR THE POPE.

401

Lw^

lowed, arriving there June 3, 1799, and set to work with
his usual energy to put tlie churcli and priest's house in re-
pair, and make the cemetery wortliy of the name. He ex-
tended his labors to Sault Ste. Mane and Arbre Croche, but
was recalled to Detroit. He was followed by Kev. Mr. Dil-
het, who instructed the people for several weeks, baptizing,
marrying, and confessing. The number who approached the
sacraments showed the effects of his zeal. He appointed
new trustees to keep all things in order, and being recalled to
Ualtimore soon after, took an earnest appeal from the people
for a resident priest.'

As the Sovereign Pontiff continued to suffer at the hands
of France, Bishop Carroll in 1798 ordered every priest to

SIGNATURE OF REV. JOITN DH-HET.

sfa/y^

pray in an especial manner for the venerable Pope, Pius VI.,
during six successive months.

When the arrogant conduct of France made war almost
inevitable. President Adams appointed the 9th of May, 1798,
as a day of fasting and prayer to avert from the country the
miseries of war. The day was generally observed in the Cath-
oHc churches, and two sermons then delivered were printed."

While Bishop Carroll was consoled by this revival of the
faith in the West, he saw Catholicity gaining in Virginia,

' Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eplisc." il. pp. 10!S-121.

« " A Discourse delivered at the Roman Catholic Clnircli in Boston, on
the 9th of May, 1798, a day recommended by the President for humilia-
tion and prayer throughout the United States. By the Reverend John
Thayer, Catholic Missioner." Boston, 1798. "A Sermon preached on
the ninth day of May, 1798, observed as a day of fasting and prayer to
implore the divine aid and protection in favor of the United States. By

..li J

■■Vv\

492

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

t »

thoiigli its progress was hampered by difflculties. "Rev,
John Du Hois l)egan the iiUHsion at Richnioiui in 1 75)1, and
officiated in a room in the Capitol, which served alno for
Episcopalians and Presbyterians, but after he removed to
Maryland, the Catholics enjoyed only rare visits from priests ;
and no effort was made to rear a church or chajwl.

In June, 1811, Rev. Mr. Miguel, who had been a canon of
Toulouse, but had joined the Fathers of the Faith under
Father Rozaven, where he was known as Father Xavier,
arrived at Raltiinore, and being well known to Rev. Mr.
Nagot, whose pupil he had been, was accepted by Archbishop
Carroll and sent to Richmond. lie attended the Catholics
there for some time in private houses or in rooms temporarily
rented for the j)urpo8e.'

The Rev. James Michael Rushe had l)cgun the erection
of a church at Norfolk, but there were trustees there who
claimed all control. When the Very Rev. Ix!onard Nealo
was sent to that place in 1790, he was disquieted by the
scenes he witnessed at aji election of trustees and their oppo-
sition to their pastor. He urged them earnestly to lay aside
all such feelings and to unite heartily in completing the
church which they lijid begun.'

The Ilev. Michael I^ey, who was at Norfolk in 180.3,
found a flock of less than forty families, a <lebt on tlie

the Reverend 8. P. O'aallagher, Catholic Priest of Cliarleston. " Charles-
ton [1798],

' Hon. E. M. Keiley, " Memoranda of the History of the Catholic
Church, Hichmond, Va.," in Procee«linip( 4th Ann. Conv. of C R. U. of
Va.. Norfolk. 1874 Hev. X. Mijrnr-l left Ri(-hniond alMiut 1818, and in
May of the following year retiirneti to Europe lo proceed to the misjiioim
in China. Kiithop Brute.

' Very Rev. L. Neale to Messru. Plume and others, June 2.'5, 1799;
Wm. Charles Lee and others to Bishop ("arroll, De<:en»ber 1, 1801 ; Rev.
J. M. BuBbe to same, November 2(5, 1801.

NORFOLK.

498

church of $600, the fence around the church and graveyard
already falling to decay, no rewideiice for a clergymen, the
adultH indillerent to their ChriHtian duties, ho that he could
effect good mainly by catechizing the children.

Ho viBited lialtimore and obtained from generous Catho-
lics there and elsewhere means to improve the church, which
he directed zealously till his death in 1815.

Alexandria had a log structure near the corner of Princess
and Itoyal Streets, which was the Catholic chapel and resi-
dence of a priest, according to what is regarded as a well-
founded tradition ; but the name of the clergyman and the
time of his ministration are unknown.

Hearing from Colonel Fitzgerald that a gentleman of Al-
exandria would grant a lot of ground to the Catholics suf-
iicient for the building of a house of worship, provided a
proper application was made, Bishop Carroll addressed a let-
ter, sjiying: " In this state of the business after expressing as
far as'l am able my utmost gratitude for so favorable a dispo-
sition, I take the liberty of recpiesting that kindness in behalf
of the Society, whose welfare is conunitted to my care. Their
and my best acknowledgements will testify our grateful sense
of so distinguished a favor, and we shall deem it our duty, in
return to promote by our best endeavors the increase and
prosperity of a t..wn which has so close a connexion with the
interests of our generous benefactor."

Tlie letter of Bishop Carroll induced the gentleman to
give the Catholic congregation a half-acre lot ; and when the
Bishop gave contirniation there on Sunday, July 3, 1T9H, the
Catholics were burning brick and laying the foundation of the
new church.' On it Kev. P>ancis Neale, who attended Alex-

. Rev. Michael Lacy to Rp. Carroll. Aupust 24, 1803. Bishop Carroll
,„ . Alexundria, July 11, 1793. Same to Rev. J. Thayer.

July 5, 1796.

:i'

, r.vt

UFB OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

• '■ -.1

%ddvkl ffWn Georgetown roctetl n scjuare brick hiiildiin;, the
«ite being in the northwi'et nrner of the prewnit cemetery.
ThiM church wan used for s. ... ' vcnn*, imt whh never com-
pleted, ano vas Knally al)andonc<i a- too remote from tiiecity
and the lionie« of the ( Mfliolics. ThJH church wan npparcntly
under the direction of Wt*- Mr. Neale and attended generally
from (Georgetown, llev. Mr. Eden l)eeanie resident pantor
ahont lH(t4, and Kev. Mr. (iouHy is mentioned as in charge of
the Catholicn of Alexandria in ISOS. About four or five vears
after that date, Kev. Mr. Neale pureluu^ed for $*.)()(» a Meth-
odist meeting-hojise on Chajwl Alley, the money being raised
by subscription. Here, chietly by the ])iou8 be<iuest of Mr.
Ignace .lunigal. a church and tower were erected.'

As we liave seen, the Itev. Mr. TImyer was at Alexandria
in 1794, l)ut did n<»t remain.'

In 1798 Hishop Carroll extended his visitation to Lan-
caster, Pennsylvania, and also to Elizal)ethtown, twenty -five
miles distant, where Father Fanner had founded in 1752 the
mission of St. Peter. The Catholics here soon reared a log
church on the farm l)elonging to Henry Echenroth. In this
the faithful worshipped till Ik-v. I^uis de Harth took charge
of the mission. The congregation had increased by this time
to al)out two liundre<l s^)U^s, and in 171UJ Rev. Mr. de Barth
secured a site for a churcli within the town limits. He then
undertook to collect funds to erect tlie sacred edifice. The
visit of the liisliop reanimated the faithful and they pro-
ceeded energetically with the work. On the loth of July
Bishop Carroll conferred the sacraments of baptism and con-
firmation at St. Peter's. John Egle, one of those confirmetl

' Cnma, "A Bripf Bketz-h of 8t. Mary's Church. Alf> tuiJrin, Vs.." in
Proceedings 4th Ann. Conv. of C B. U. of V».. Norfolk, l.r.} : W. L.,
xiv., p. 97.

» Bp. Carroll to Rev. J. Thayer. July 15, 1794.

DEATH OF MASHINOTON.

490

that day hy tlie founder of the Ainerioan )iierarehy, wuh liorii
in 178H, mid lived to our dayw, djirig on the 11th of October,
18H1, hirt aj(ed eyen iHjhohliiii' the origiiiii' diocese divided and
Hubdivided, till the hierarehy aufrdiere*! fonrn-cn irchbiehops
and Hfty-tive biHliope, iind holy nians was wiid throughout the
land in more than six thousand chuix lies and chapels by as
many priests.

The corner-stone of the new ohurch wa** laid May 30, 1709,
and though in time it proved inadocpuite to the wants of the
Cat'aolic body, the old shrine was respcted, and an addition
made.'

Bishop Carroll made another visit to Pennsylvania in the
following year, as he wrote from Conewago in September.

On the death of (General WaHhingt<m in 171)0, the Bishop
issued a circular to his clergy in regard to the celebration of
the 22d of February as a day of mourning, giving directions
for such action as would be in conformity with the spirit of
the Church, while attesting to the country the sorrow and
regret experienced by Catholics at the great national loss.
It has been made a question by some whether Washington
died a Catholic, but Hishop ( 'arroU certainly had no suspicion
that such was the case, for he compares him to " the young
Emperor Valentiniati, who was deprived of life before his
initiation into our church." His own discourse, delivered on
the occasion in his pro-cathedral, was regarded by all who
heard it, as well as by those who read it in print, as one of
the most niasterly uttered on that day. Robert Walsh, a
scholar of fine literary taste, says of it : " We have heard

' Lettprs from 8. M. 8onor, Esq , who hi\s also kindly furnished a copy
of (in old in.ture of the olnirch. The HeRisUT iH-Run by Hcv. Mr. de
Barth In 1795 Is still prfscrvcd. The addition to the original church was
made by Rev. M. Curran in 1884.

■I'

496

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

from some of the most intelligent and observant of his audi-
tors, when he delivered his masterly funeral panegyric on
Washington, in which he recited the terrors, the encourage-
ments, the distresses and the glories of the struggle for inde-
pendence, tliui he appeared to be laboring under intense
eniotiuus c(jrresj)uiulent to these topics — to be swaved like
the ancient minstrel uf the poet, with contagious influences,
by the varied strains which he uttered." '

ST. I'KTRR s rnrncn, emzabethtown, pa.

The esteem and regard ontortained by Bif-hoji Carroll for
Washington are shown not oidy in the disoourj-e delivered
after his death, but appear frerpiently in his eorrespondence.
Writing to Archbishop Troy in 1794, he alluded to the

' CMrculnr of Bishop ( arrnll fo his f 'Irrifv on the Death of Washing-
ton, Dt'ccnilHT 3i», 1799. "A Dispoursc on (Jt'orirc Washinirton ; dcliv-
(Tcd iu tlie Ciilliolir Churrh of St. JVtfr, in Hiiltiinore. February 22,
1800. By tlie Uifrht Kev Bishop Carroll." Baltimore: Printed by
Warner & lianna. An oration delivered at Albany on t lie ocrasion, by
Kev. Dr. Matthew O'Brien, is reprinted in " U. 8. Catholic ilist. Mag.,"

ESTIMATE OF WASHINGTON.

497

' his audi-
e^yric on
sncourage-
i for incie-
3r intenee
'ayed like
nfluencee,

^arroll for

delivered

pondence.

?d to the

machinations of French revolutionary agents in the United
States, and said : " To oppose the mischief meditated by, and
fomented through the machinations of these societies, we
stand in need of the firumess, the undaunted courage, the
personal influence and consummate prudence of that wouder-
ful man, our President Washington. It is impossible for a
person not thoroughly acquainted with our situation, to know
how much depends, at this time, on one man for the happi-
ness of millions." '

The next year the country was again menaced by that ter-
rible scourge, the yellow fever, which had already swept so
many away. Bishop Carroll looked with alarm at his little
band of clergy, already so disproportioned to the work before

them.

Of the missions in New Jersey, at this time mainly at-
tended from Philadelphia and New York, we find few indi-
cations. The mission at Trenton was attended in October,
1799, by Rev. D. Boury, who in 1802 received into the
church Cornelius Tiers, a native of New York State, who be-
came a firm and active Catholic' Bishop Carroll, as we shall
hereafter see, was called to Trenton by troubles in the con-
gregation there in 1803. About this time Catholics seem to
have met at the corner of Queen and Second Streets.'

' Bishop C'iirroll to Archbishop Troy, July 19, 1794.

• Woodstock Letters, ii., pp. 173-4.

« Raum, " History of the City of Trenton," Trenton, 1871. p. 134.

■ . I'

t» ,t

. f i

f Wash in p-
.'ton ; dcliv-
I'hnmry 22.
Printed by
>ccasion, by
list. Mag.,"'

f !

iil^l

III

I.*;

CHAPTER II.

BIGHT REV. JOHN CARROLL, BISHOP OF BALTIMORE — RIGHT REV-
LEON A KD NEALE, COADJUTOR, 1800-1806.

Although the Rev. Leonard Neale had been elected by
the Holy See as coadjutor to Bishop Carroll, the bulls dis-
patched at that time, and subfieipiently in duplicate, never
reached the hands of Dr. Carroll. In January, 1800, they
were forwarded, for the third time, from Venice by Cardi-
nal Stephen Borjyia, and were received at Baltimore in the
summer.

It was at first proposed to fi.x the feast of the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin for the ceremony of consecration, but the
yellow fever again broke ont, and the clergy, who would
liave l>een summoned to take part in the ceremonies, were
called to face death in the discharge of their sacred ministry.
Bisho)) Carroll viewed with alarm the danger to which they
were t'Xj)osed. In a pastoral to his llock, he said : "It is not
]K)ssibU' for religion to bear in its present state in our coun-
try a continuation of such heavy losses. The number of
clergyjiien is so retluced that many numerous congregations
lire deprived of all spiritual assistance." If his zealous
pric-Jts were cut down there would be l)ut few to minister to
those subseciueutly prostrated by the disease. He therefore
urged on all Catholics to prepare then»selves for death by
ai)proaching the sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucha-
rist ; that, as the diseiise spread, the priest might be free to
visit those who in health were unable to avail themselves of
i4B8)

CONSECRATION OF BP. NEALE.

499

IGHT REV.

hie ministry, in preference to those who had neglected the
advantages they enjoyed.

The clergy were on their side anxious as to the safety of
their Bishop, on whose life the succession of the episcopate
depended, while Dr. Neale remained unconsecrated. He
was ahsent from Baltimore when the fever broke out, and
his priests urged him earnestly not to return. " I submit
to their opinion," he wrote, " though I suffer perhaps much
greater anxiety by my absence, than I. should at home. We
have lost already since 1793, the first epoch of that dreadful
disorder in Philadelphia, eight of our best clergymen," '

When cooler weather approached, the eve of the feast of
the Immaculate Concej)tion was appointed for the consecra-
tion — the first time the sacred rite was to be performed in
this country. On the day fixed, the Rev. Leonard Neale was
consecrated by the Right Rev. Dr. Carroll, in his pro-cathe-
dral, Bishop of Gortyna, in the province of Caiidia, the Rev.
Dr. Charles F. Nagot, Superior of the Seminary of St. Sul-
pice, and the Rev. Francis Beeston, rector of St. Peter's
Cliurch, acting as iissistants. All possible pomp was given
to the imposing ceremony, which attracted numbers to the
sacred edifice.'

' Bishop Carroll to Rev. Charles Plowden, Wasliiugtoii, September 3,
1800.

' The rertiflcate of Hishop Neale's consecration preserved at St. Mary's
Seminary, Baltimore, is as follows :

" 1H(K). Die 7" Decembris anni rei)amta? salutis 1800 in Kcdesia Catho-
lica S' Petri ad nrhem Baltiniorensem post lecta pnbliee brevla Ptmtiticia
8' Pontiticis Pii (5, fel. mcni. (ivionim uno R 1)"" Leonurdus Neale in hac
Dia'cesi Baltiniorensi sacerdos, ad Episcopalem Cathcdram Gortynensem
in partibus intidelium, |)romotiis fuit ; et in altcro, idem R"" Leonardus
Neale constitutus est Coadjutor Episcopi Baltimorenais cnm jure succes-
sionis in ejusdem Kniscopi sedem, ([Uani primuin htec vacaverit, solem-
nit<'r consecntionem episcopalcm aeccpit idem R. 1). I.eonardus Neale.
Consecrauis autem est a me inf rascripto, Episcopo Baltiniorensi, aasisten-

i \\

• .11

i-i.'

fiOO

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Dr. Neale had been, for more than a year, President of
Georgetown College, and he continued to fill that position
for some time, while acting as Vicar-General of Bishop Car-

( a **^

n' ^^/

yx.'t^yt^*^

8IGNATDBK OF RT. RBV. LEONARD NEALE, D.D., BISHOP OF
QOHTYNA. AND COADJUTOR OF BALTIMORE.

roll, visiting many congregations in Maryland and Virginia.
He also devoted himself to the formation, into a regular re-
ligious community, of the Pious Ladies, under Miss Alice
Lalor, and the establishment of their Academy.

In 1801 the Rev. Father Michael Egan, a Reformed Fran-
ciscan of the Irish Province, who had been prior of the great
convent of St. Isidore, in Rome, and then for seven years on
the mission in Ireland, was invited over by the Lancaster
c«)ngregation. This excellent religious soon won the hearts
of ins people ; but devoid of ambition, sought only to serve
as assistant to Rev. Mr. de liarth.

In 1803 he petitioned for the erection of a province of his
order in the United States, his request being supported by
the hearty approval of Bishop Carroll. A decree to that
effect was actually made in the summer of 1804 by Arch-
bishop Valentini, Minister-General of the Seraphic order,
and by the Sovereign Pontiff. There was thus a well-
grounded hope that the Reformed Franciscans would create

tibus ex Indulto Pontiflcio duobus fwcerdotibus, K" Domino Francisco
H«>».ton, Purocho it lU'ttore Kccleaiu' S' •'ttri. Hiiltiniori et H. D" C^arolo
F. Napot, pripsidc Scininurii 8' Siilpitii in i-adcni urbe.
" lu quorum tidem hiuc manu nieu sidwcripsi.

■' Hh Joannes, Epus Bait""."

B IM&^^lftt^l^^i

GEORGETOWN COLLEGE.

601

a body to labor in the United States, as they had done in
former days in Canada, Florida, and Maryland. Unfortu-
nately no Fathers of the order came to join Father Egan,
and nothing more was done.'

After the suppression of the Society of Jesus, the Rev.
Nicholas Paccanari founded at Rome in August, 1797, "The
Society of the Faith of Jesus," intending to revive the rule
and spirit of Saint Ignatius. Pope Pius VI. encouraged his
undertaking, and a similar association, " The Society of the
Sacred Heart," founded in Germany, united with his insti-
tute in 1799."

Father Paccanari was anxious to extend his congregation
to America, and wrote to Bishop Carroll on the point. The
Bishop of Baltimore explained to him the position of the
Church in the United States, and its wants. After men-
tioning the establishment of Georgetown College, he said :
" This College needs professors of philosophy. Therefore,
if one or two can be sent very well versed in philosophy, and
especially in natural philosophy and mathematics, and not
ignorant of English, the President of the College will give
them a hearty welcome, and thus perhaps the way will be
opened for you to render some new service to religion here.
The President of the College will arrange with Rev. Father
Strickland in regard to paying the travelling expenses. I
have already said that I wished two or three good priests to
be sent as soon as possible into this vineyard of the Lord,
men of prudence, religious virtues, and of the best disposi-
tion. There are many Germans among us, and all have not
pastors, and those they have are not in all cixses such as they

" Petition of F. Mirhaol Eirnn. O.8.F., in 1803 : Letters to Bishop Car-
roll from Rome, June 28. September 29. 18'J4 ; Kev. M. Egan to Bishop
Carroll.

» Guidte. " Vie du R. P. Joseph Varin." Paria, 1854. pp. 48, etc.

' il

Lim

■ iM'

502

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

should be. If priests of the nation are sent, I will station
them among their own countrymen, so that while they are
caring for their salvation they may also learn our language,
without which no one can be long employed here usefully.
As to the female religious community, there are three women
here at Georgetown, where the College is, all ready and filled
with great desire of embracing the rule of the Society of the
Faith of Jesus; one of these is a virgin, the two others,
widows of middle age. They have long lived a community
life, after the pattern of regular observance, earnestly desir-
ing, as far as the condition of their sex allows, to conform to
the rule of St. Ignatius. They conduct a school for girls,
which they direct with remarkable commendation and piety.
Now if you can send a few ladies of your institute of suital)le
age, prudence, and experience in teaching young ladies, who
are either English or familiar with the English language and
customs, they can with those Avhom I have mentioned, lay
the foundation of a most beneficial convent of nuns." '

About the same time Fathers de Broglie and Rozaven
wrote to the priests in Maryland, who had belonged to the
Society of Jesus, inviting them to enter the Society of the
Faith of Jesus. Several met and sent a reply expressive of
a desire to take the step, but Bit^hop Carroll, who was ex-
tremely cautious, considered their action unwise and precipi-
tate, as their knowledge of the new organization was limited,
and their old associates of the English province in Europe
had held aloof,'

The first of the Fathers of the Faith who reached this
country was the Rev. Nicholas Zocchi, who was sent to Can-

' Bishop Carroll to F. Nicholas Paccaiiari, Georpetown. October 27,
180().
» Same to Rev. Charles Plowdon, Baltimoro. December 15, 1800.

[iiOTtiliiiiiiitii

THE PIOUS LADIES.

503

ada, but finding that the EngHsh government would not per-
mit him to remain, came to Baltimore.'

The attempt to induce the Ladies of the Sacred Heart to
fend over a colony to found a comumnity, into which Miss
Alice Lalor and her companions might be received, failed,
and the "Pious Ladies" continued their good work at
Georgetown in hope.

Some years after Bishop Carroll, hearing that the Eev. Dr.
Betagh, of Dublin, was the director of a convent of religious
women in Dublin, wrote to that gentleman, who had, like
himself, been a member of the Society of Jesus till its sup-
pression.

" My coadjutor," he wrote, " the Rt. Rev. Bishop Neale,
has formed under the conduct of four or five very pious
Ladies, a female Academy at Georgetown, and has acquired
for them a handsome property of lots and houses. These
ladies, long trained to all the exercises of an interior and re-
ligious life, are exceedingly anxious to bind themselves more
closely to God by entering into an approved religious order,
whose institute embraces the education of young persons of
their own sex, poor and rich. Mr. Byrne and others have
given information here of your having under your care a
liouse of religious women, whose useful and exemplary con-
duct has gained general esteem and confidence. Now the
prayer of Bishop Neale and, I may add mine, too, is this :
that you would choose and if possible, engage two of those
Ladies, fully approved by you, to leave their country and
sisters and friends to establish here a house of their order.
One of them ought to be fit to become immediately the
superior and mistress of novices, and the other to preside in
the female academy. The two principal ladies of this insti-

;. -.s:

> Bishop Carroll to Rev. Charles Plowdcn, February 12, 1803.

^' jlO^I

004

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

If'

tution are natives of Ireland, and both women of exemplary
and even perfect lives. I know not whether one of them,
whose name is Lawler, be not known to you. Bishop Neale
hopes that Mr. Byrne will return and take them under his
care ; and he will be answerable for all their expenses." '

This project also failed. Providence guiding the little com-
munity to adopt the rule of the Visitation Nuns, founded by
Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.

When Spain relinquished to the United States Natchez
and the district which she had captured from England, and
which of course that country could not convey to the United
States by the treaty of 1783, the old French town, which had
been regarded from its foundation as part of Louisiana, was
finally severed from it and became part of the United States.
It was thenceforth regarded as belonging to the diocese of
Baltimore. Property at Natchez and Villa Gayoso for di-
vine worship had been purchased by the Spanish govern-
ment and was held as a trust for the Catholic Church, but
unfortunately the Spanish officials did not accjuire a perfect
title to the church lands, or place in the hands of the Bishop
of Louisiana such documentary evidence as would have re-
moved all doubt.

Bishop Penalver of the Louisiana diocese had kindly of-
fered to continue for a time the direction of the Catholics in
those parts, and the Rev. Mr. Lennan visited them from
Pointe Couple. In 1799 Bishop Carroll received a petition
for s pnest from Colonel Daniel Clark, Captain William
Voiisdan, Willia.n Scott, Peter Walker, Brian Bruin, and
Autcnio Gras, earnestly soliciting a priest, to whom they
promised a salary of $8(»0. Their request was supported by

' Bishop Carroll to Rev. Dr. Betagh, July U, 1805 ; Woodstock Let-
ters, x».. p. 288.

NATCHEZ.

605

General Wilkinson, and Bishop Carroll, finding that the Rev.
Matthew O'Brien was not satisfied at Albany, proposed to
him to accept the misbion at Natchez.'

In 1801 the Catholics of Natchez again solicited a priest,
but their numbers had greatly diminished ; some had died,
others had removed from the district, so that there were
scarcely ten families left at Natchez, and only tv'o in easy
circumstances.' But Col. Vousdan offered a home and board
to a priest, as the Catholics there did not wish to depend on
the Louisiana clergy. He wished a learned, eloquent clergy-
man, and ended his letter by proposing to allow a Protestant
minister to officiate in the church ! '

The Bishop replied : " You are desirous of allowing the
use of the Catholic church to a Protestant minister, but pru-
dently withheld your consent till you heard from me. I am
against the concession. As far as civil toleration goes and
an allowance to every denomination freely to pursue their
mode of worship, no one has a fuller persuasion than myself
of its consonancy with the laws of God. But as one only
religion is from him those things that are immediately con-
secrated to his honor, as churches and the implements of his
worship, are not to be diverted to other contrary uses, and
whenever this was allowed or rather suffered by good Bish-
ops, it was either a sacrifice to necessity or as a means to pre-
vent heavier disasters to the people of God. Of this the
history of tlie great Saint Ambrose furnishes a memorable
example. Catholic churches are dedicated to God for the

1 Bishop Carroll to Rev. M. O'Brien, September 28, 1799.

» Yet in 1793 a traveller spoke of Natchez as a place of 400 houses.
"A Tour through the Southern and Western Territories of the United
suites of North America, the Spanish Dominions." etc., Richmond, 1.92,

p. 30.
3 William Vousdan to Bishop Carroll, May 34, 1801.

I'l

606

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

purpose of the most adorable sacrifice of the law of grace,
and many august prayers and ceremonies consecrated by
their antupiity, are used for their sanctification. After this
would it l)e justifiable to make an altar and church roHound
with doctrines reviling and reprobating that holy sacritico
atid all the rites of our religion \ Would not those holy
places be profaned and the character of sanctity accpiired by
their consecration ho effaced by their becoming the semina-
ries of error and false doctrines < "

He then-fore disapproved absoluti y of any such use of the
church at Natchez, which is described as very large, with an
altar and pulpit far apart.'

Up to this time the Catholics had remained in undistui])ed
possession of the two churches at Natchez and Villa Ua^i so,
and though the title had passed to the United States they ('id
not consider that our government would ignore the trust or
wrong those for whom it was held.

A law of Congress required all land claims to be presented
to a commissioner before the hvst day of March, 1804, and by
a subserpient provision this term was extended to the last day
of November.'

Meanwhile a former owner of the clv.trch pro|>erty at
Natchez presented a claim for the projwrty, which was rec-
ognized by the United States government. The ('atholics of
Natchez, to save their church, accordingly found it necessary
to pay $r)0(), in order to obtain from this claimant a deed for
" the ground on which the Roman Catholic chaj)el now stands
in the town of Natchez aforesaid, with twenty feet on the
two sides, and twenty feet behind. Also the lot in said town
which has been used as a Roman Catholic burying ground."

' Bishop Carroll to William Vousdan, Soptembcr 10, 1801.

» American Bute Papers (Public Lands), Washington, 1882, pp. 594-

'1 r

NATCHEZ.

BOT

Yet even after thus purplmHing back their own property
the little Catholic congregation was not safe.'

Wijen Winthrop Sargent came m governor, " he had seri-
ous thoughts of seizing the Catholic church building and
converting it into a court house, but said it might hurt the
feelings of about a dozen Catholic families, and give oilense
to the King of Spain, who had it built." '

Even the petty portion of the 300 arpehts bestowed by the
Spanish government on the church was not left to the Cath-
olics in peace. Constant litigations were brought against
them and after Natchez became a bishop's see, the burying-
gronml was wrested from the church by the city authorities."
The Catholic body, though steadily decreasing, was visited
from time to time by priests of Louisiana diocese. Anioufr
these niav especiallv l)e named Rev. Henry Boutin, parl^h
priest of the Ascension at La Fourche. He reached Natchez
after Vousdan s .leath, and the priest soon found that there
was no one there able or willing to aid in supporting the
church or a clergyman. There were only a few poor Span-
iards, who showed no interest in religion, with some Irish
families, scattered through the territory. In fact all who
cared for their religion had gone to places where they could

practice it.*

■". Deed of VVm^iiTB^iriiii^ ConprcKation, January 7, 1802.

Mr.^Wan. an Irish C'aU.oUc who ha.l ^-n^^^^^;: ^^'^^^^^^^

''nnaihorne, •' Mississippi as a Province. Territory, and State." Jack-

son. 1880. pp. 143, 208.

. Bishop Janssens." Sketch." etc.. pp. l.-i-fl.

« Rev. Henry Boutin to Bishop Carroll. Natchez. January 4. 1808. This

':ll

■1 . ■ '. 1

pii

1,1.

I hi

A()H

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

if I

-(*■

In 1803 HiHliop Carroll made another visitation to New
England. On tho 8tli of Septendxir he wrote : *' Next Mon-
day' the 12th I will leave thin (Philadelphia) for the neigh-
bf>rh(K)d (»f New York. The devil is always busy to raise
ohetaoles in my way ; he or his agent has made a dinturhance
nt Trenton, whore I did not expect any business, which will,
perhaj)s, chuhc me some delay, so that I do not expect to
cross llobuck ferry before Wednesday." What an affair of
niagm'tnde the journey was in those days will be seen by the
following letter to James Barry, Esq., a devoted Catholic
gentleman the?i residing at New York, but who had pre-
viously iK'en at Washington, where Bishop Carroll formed
for him and his family the warmest and aiost cordial attach-
ment, fully merited by their pious and edifying lives.

" Baltimokk, August '25th, 1803.
" Dkar Axn MUCH hon'd Sib

" Your favor of the 19"'' which I received Yesterday af-
fected me so variously, that I forgot that I might have an-
swered it by the return of the niail. D'' Matignon has con-
cluded finally to fix the ceremony on the iil>''' of Septeml>er,
Michaclmass day ; so that by leaving this in the beginning of
Sep' I shall have time to be at Boston some days ])revious to
the oinniing of the Church ; as it is adviseable, perhaps nec-
essary for me to be.

" The route you have traced for me, is many respects such,
as I would like ; but I fear, that it is liable to inconven-
iences, with respect to the transpt>rtation of my baggage,
which will l)e considerable, on account of the Pontiticalia

zealous priest was drowned in the Mississippi nnd liis body was buried
in tlie parish of the Assumption. Itev. John Olivier to Bishop CJarroll,
April 32, 1811.

DEDTCATIOtr OF CHURCH IN BOSTON. 509

nece««iry for the- occasion ; and .ikowifle the incoi.venie»ce
„f dinpoHing ..f my hontes ; whcreaB l)y another route, jM.inted
out to me. I rthall avoid thoHo diwidvaiitagcH. I i>.n adviaed
to go to Hmbti-ka ferry, two miles above PowleH Hook ; to
croHS ..vor in u l)oat always ready, to the wliarf of the new
Btate prison, and to follow the road to the two mile stone ;
near which I and my horses will Imj provided for by M' An-
drew Morris ; having his Country house there. Thence he
promises to me a conveyance to w^ne town on East River,
where T shall tind packets for Rhode Island & Providence.—
Now my plan was to engage some Vessel to take me from
the N. River to the Narrows ; and there to concert with you
my further progress, the manner and direction of which will
depend on the Circumstances of being blessed with your good
company on the Way, or otherwise-If not, I mifrht easily
return to M' Morris's— running by N. York-Thns I should
have likewise an opportunity of seeing one, or l)oth of the
Mesa" O'Brien. At all events, I must see you ; and when
my time for being at Elizabeth Town is ascertained, I will
write from this place to you, or from Phil"

" D' Sir, ever y"'

/7J^^.

He reached Boston, however, before the end of the month
in spite of the delays. The Church of the Holy Cross which
Rev. Messrs. Matignon and Cheverus had erected on Frank-
lin Square at a cost of more than twenty thousand dollars,
was of Ionic order, sixty feet wide by eighty in depth. The
Hishop dedicated it on the 29tli of September with all the
soleiuTiity of the ritual.

Bishop Carroll's visit to New England made a deep im-
pression. The Rev. Mr. Chevenis had been earnestly in-

610

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

^*»V

vited to return to France, and Kev. Mr. Matignon feared
that he might lose his aid : but Bishop Carroll seems to have
won him completely. After returning to his episcopal city

CTrnROH OK THTC HOT.T CROBB, BOSTON. HKDICATED BT
BIBHOP CARKOIJ, IN 1808.

the Bishop addresfled Kpv. Mr. Chovenia. wlio wrote : " All
you have iiientiontKl, and many others here and in New-
castle, remenilK>r and will never forget the zeal, the amiable
condescension of our beloved and venerable prelate. They

JEROME BONAPARTE.

511

all beg to be remembered to him as his dutiful and afiection-

'' milTn'BoBton, Bishop Carroll learned of the fruitful
labors of Rev. Mr. Eomagne among the Indians m the Dis-

trict of Maine. -n i j

After his return from his visitation to New England
Bishop Carroll reluctantly officiated at a marriag^ which
aro sed the ire of the First Consul of the French Repubhc
1 to become Emperor of France. This was the marnage
of his brother Jerome Bonaparte to Miss Patterson, of Balti-
more. The record of the marriage in the handwntmg of
the Bishop himself reads:

"Baltimore, December 24"'' 1803.
"With license, I this day joined in holy matrimony, ac-
cordin.. to the rites of the holy Catholic C rch, Jerome
Bonaparte, brother of the First Con-l of France and Ehz.
beth Patterson, daughter of WilUam Patterson, Esq., of the
City of Baltimore, and his wife.

" ill John, Bishop of Baltimore."

Writing to his friend James Barry, Bishop Carroll said:
« You will have heard before this, of my having ofticiated m
uniting Jerome Bonaparte to Miss Patterson, on Saturday
I wish well to the young lady, but cannot help feanng, that
Bhe may not find all the comforts hereafter, winch she prom-

ises herself." ' , . i i •„ at\^

Rev. John Du Bois, after commencmg his labors m A r-
ginia at Richmond, wa. placed at Frederick, from which he

. Bishop Carroll to .Tames Barry. Philadelphia. September 8^ 1803.
. n Lev. " catholic Church in the United Btate.' New York. 18o6.
p 552; bS Carroll to James Barry. December 3«. 1803.

612

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

made missionary excm'sions to Virginia and Pennsylvania,
Kev. Mr. Zocclii in 1805 bad succeeded Prince Gallitzin at
Taneytown, which by this time had a fine church and house.
Winchester was one of his missions, and there, too, he erectea
a church ; many Catholic farmers living at the time in the
neighboring parts of the valley. Protestants joined with

-— ^> ^ ■ • ■

RESIDENCE AND CHURCn AT PORT TOBACCO, MD.

Catholics in the good work, laying aside the fanaticism which
had im])uefl the people of the Old Dominion. Carlisle, in
Cumberland Coiinty. was also attended by him.

The Rev. Mr. Duhamel, who, after iK-ing Director of the
Seminary of the Holy Ghost at Paris, l)ecame a missionary
in South America, wjis for years missionary at Hagarstowii.

The northern tier of counties in Maryland from Deer
Creek to Cuml'erland were thus dotted with churches.

iBylvania,
allitzin at
nd house,
le erected
ne in tin-
ned with

8!n which
iarlisle, in

or of the
iiissionary
arstown.
om Deer
les.

WASHINGTON CITY.

613

On the Eastern Shore Rev. Mr. Pasquier at Bohemia, suc-
ceeding Rev. A. Mareclial ; Rev. Mr. Durosier, a priest from
St. Domingo, at St. Mary's, and Rev. Mr. Monely at St. Jo-
seph's, cultivated the missions planted tliere in early days by
the Jesuit Fathers.

Rev. Mr. Bitouzey was at Whitemarsh ; Rev. Mr. Lacy,
an Irish priest, at Norfolk and Portsmouth ; Rev. Mr. Jouly,
at Alexandria.'

When the College was commenced at Georgetown, the
question of founding a city to be the capital of the United
States had already been frequently discussed, and as early as
October 7, 1783, a site near Georgetown had been suggested
by Elbridge Gerry, and after nmch wavering and discussion
the District of Columbia, comprising ten miles square in
Maryland and Virginia, was decided upon by acts of Congress

in 1790 and 1791.'

Georgetown was included in the District of Columbia, and
from its proximity to the future capital could anticipate a
prosperous future. The Catholics in that part of Maryland
had hitherto depended mainly on the chapel of the Young
family, but a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity was
erected in Georgetown and nearly completed in 1792." The
original structure has since been replaced by a second build-
ing, venerable enough in appearance to date with our earliest

churches.*

When the city of Washington was laid out by Major L'En-

' Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eglise."

■' Vurnum, " The Seat of Government of the United States," Washing-
ton, 1854.

» Letter of Rev. Father Neale in 1792.

* The old Catholic cemetery conUiined tombstones dating back to 1762
and 1764 which were removed with the remains they designated to the
cemetery near the College Walks. Letter of Father S. A. Kelly. S.J.
22*

II '

'■^fM

;ii

614 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

fant, himself a Catholic, there was of course but a pinall
population, and Government to attract others offered induce-
ments to induce the erection of churches and institutions.

Bishop Carroll's brother Daniel had his mansion within
the present city of Washington, and he was one of the com-
missioners appointed to lay out the Federal District. It was

PICTURE OF HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, OEOROETOWN, D.C.

thus very naturally a spot to which Dr. Carroll made fre-
quent visits, especially in summer, and besides his own rel-
atives and the Youngs, it soon l)ecame the residence of Mr.
James Barry, to whose family he became strongly attached.'
An application was made to the commissioners for a site

> Mr. Barry's residence i-* now the Union Hotel, Bridge Street, George-
town.

iil

ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH.

615

it a pinuU
ed induce-
iutions.
ion within
• tbe c'oni-
!t. It was

, D.C.

I iniide f re-
is own rel-
'nee of Mr.
y attat'hed.'
rs for a site

treet, George-

for a Catholic church," and an edifice was projected suited
rather to the future greatness of the National Capital than
the actual requirements of the Catholics in Washington or
the means their limited number could furnish.

Two lots in square 3Y6 were purchased April 17, 1794:, for
£80, and an additional lot soon after by the Eev. Anthony
Caffrey, to whom the commissioners conveyed them." Here
a church dedicated to Saint Patrick was soon begun, and re-
mained under the c?se ox Rev. Mr. Catfrey till 1805, when
he returned to Ireland, where he soon after died. He was
succeeded at St. Patrick's church by the Rev. William Mat-
thews, who remained in the pastorship of this pioneer Wash-
ington church for nearly fifty years, doing much to encourage
education among his flock.

The worthy INIr. Barry had already erected St. Mary's
church, long known as Barry's chapel, for the use of the
Catholics residing around Greenleaf's Point, near the present

Kavy Yard.'

Other benefactors were Daniel Carroll of Dudington,
who gave Dr. Carroll a piece of land in St. Peter's parish
Inng "known as the Cathedral lot, and Nicholas Young,
who bestowed a whole square for a cemetery for the same

parish.'

Frederic the Great had, at the time of the Brief of Pope
Clement XIV. suppressing the Society of Jesus, forbidden

' Commissioners to Bishop Carroll and bis note to .lames Barry, Sep-
tember 19, 1801.

i Qustavus Scott and William Thornton, Commissioners, to Rev. An-
thony Caffrey, February 8, 1798. They were conveyed to Bishop Carroll
September 10, 1804.

' The corner-stone of this church was placed in the present St Dom-
inic's chapel.

* Letters of Rev. J. A. Walter. Memorandum of Archbishop Marechal.

616

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

i^i*

;, (

;

the Catholic Bishops to publish it in his dominions. The
Empress Catharine of Kussia followed the same policy and
maintained the order. The Fathers of the Society of Jesus
made known their position to Pope Clement himself, who,
actuated by no enmity to the order, authorized them to con-
tinue their former life under the rule of Saint Ignatius.

Pope Pius "VI. continued the favor of his predecessor to
this remnant of the once flourishing Society, and tinally
issued a decree investing the Bishop of Mohilow with juris-
diction over all the religious orders in his diocese. Under
this authority the Jesuits in Eussia opened a novitiate. King
diaries III. of Spain wrote to the Empress to complain, but
she replied that the Jesuits were necessary for her Catholic
subjects, and tlie Bishop of Mohilow acted under her positive
orders. The Society took new life. Houses and colleges
increased, and in 1782 Catharine authorized the members of
the Society to elect a general Superior. All these steps met
the approval of the Sovereign Pontiff.

On the accession of Pope Pius VII. to the Chair of Peter,
the Emperor Paul of Russia wrote soliciting a formal appro-
bation of the Institute. Tlie Pope submitted the question to
a commission of four Cardinals, who advised its approval for
Russia only. The bull of Pius VII., " Catholicse Fidei," on
the 7th of March, 1801, fully recognized and re-established
the Society in that Empire.

The tidings of these acts filled the hearts of the priests in
America who had Injlonged to the Society with consolation
and joy ; but al<»o with a yearning to enjoy the favors ac-
corded to their brethren in Russia.

Their case, however, was different. The Brief of Pope
Clement XIV. had been published by the Vicars-Apostolic
of Enghmd, and, as we have seen, each Jesuit of the English
province in Europe and America had been required to sign

>n8. The
olicy and

of Jesus
self, who,
tn to coii-
tius.

3ce88or to
id finally
rith juris-
I. Under
te. King
plain, but
r Catholic
jr positive
d colleges
embers of

steps met

• of Peter,
tial appro-
[uestion to
iproval for
Fidei," on
established

! priests in

consolation

favors ac-

(f of Pope

B-Apostolic
;he English
red to sign

LETTER TO FATHER GENERAL QRUBER. 617

his absolute submission to it. The Jesuits of the English
province now sought from the Sovereign PontifE authority
to be received into the Society in Russia. AVhile Pius VII.
wished and desired the complete restoration of the order, he
could not yet venture on authorizing it by a public and offi-
cial act, though he gave a verbal permission.

The restoration of the Society had always been a subject
of Bishop Carroll's thoughts and hopes, and the good priests,
who had for so many years gloried in being Fathers of the
Society of Jesus, implored Bishop CarroU and his coadjutor
to take steps to effect such a union with Russia as would en-
able them to realize their wish.

It was a period of great anxiety and perplexity, in whicli
neither Dr Carroll nor his pious coadjutor, Bishop Neale,
could see his way clearly. On the 25th of May, 1803, they
wrote to Father Gabriel Gruber, General of the Jesuits in
Russia. " We who write this letter to your Paternity," they
bec^in, " were fonnerly of the Society of Jesus and the Prov-
inle of England. After the fell destruction of the Society
in 1773 we returned to this our native land, and have labored
in it together with fellow-members of our suppressed Soci-
ety ours being the only Catholic priests who have labored
for'the salvation of souls since the tirst entrance of Christians
into these lands." They then detailed the erection of the
diocese of Baltimore and the influx of other priests. The
fourteen surviving members of the Society, most of them
broken by years and toil, remained chiefly in the two States
of Maryland and Pennsylvania, in which is the oldest and
most powerful residence of Catholics. They state how joy-
fully they had learned of the preservation of the Society m
Russia, and the permission given him by a Papal brief to
• enroll again in the Society those who had formerly been
men^bers " Wherefore most of them solicit with ardent

018

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

i\-

desire, that by renewing the 8ame vows, which they had
vowed to God in the Society of Jesus, they may he periuitted
to end their days in its bosom ; and if it can be done by the
will of Providence, spend the remainder of their lives in re-
storing the Society among us. You know, Ver}' Rev. Father,
what and how much must be done that not a mere larva of the
old Society, but its genuine form, the rule, and pro])er 8i)irit
may revive in them all." To efifect this the two bishopti
asked : 1. Whether the Sovereign Pontiif had permitted the
erection of the Society elsewhere tlian in Russia, by an authen-
tic brief or bull. 2. Whether the Pope permitted only tlie
former members to re-enter, or authorized the reception of
new meml)er8. 3. What probation was to precede the res-
toration of former members. 4. How delegates were to be
chosen to the General Congregation. They urged him to
select some Father of great prudence, experience in the direc-
tion of affairs, and daeply iiiibued with the spirit of Saint
Ignatius, to come over, wi?h such powers of a Visitor as the
holy founder conferred on Saint Francis Borgia and others,
and effect the restoration. They did not consider any one of
the Fathers in America eligible, as they had been absorbed
in jnift^ionary duty and had enjoyed little leisure to study the
Constitutions, and the acts of the General Congregations. If
no one in England could be found, they preferred an Italian
or a German.

The bishops stated that the pro|>erty formerly belonging
to the Society had been nearly all preserved, and was suffi-
cient to maintain at least thirty Fathers ; and that part of it
had Ik-'cu employed in founding a College for the education
of young men. They further mentioned their own elevation
to the episcopate and the freedom enjoyed by Catholics, un-
der which there was no ol)stacle to religious orden; ; and cl()se<l
by expressing their fervent wish that some hope and bcgiii-

|5f F

they had
permitted
ne by the
ives in re-
V. Father,
rva of the
H^er spirit

bishops
nitteil the
in authen-

1 only tlie
eption of
e the res-
rere to be
id him to
the <Hreo

of Saint
itor as the
id others,
my one of

al)8orbed
study the
itions. If
an Italian

belonginf^

wiis snfR-

part of it

education

I elevation

holies, un-

and closed

iind begin-

F. QRUBERS REPLY.

619

ninp '. the restoration of the Society may result from their
con t'spondence.'

It took long in those days for letters to pass between Rus-
sia and tlie United States, and it was not till the 12th of
Mar"h, 1804, that Father-General Gruber wrote from St.
Petersburg in reply. He expressed his holy joy at receiving
such a token of the love of the former members for the So-
ciety and desire to re-enter its bosom, and exclaims : " Blessed
be God whose mercy is forever 1 " After sketching briefly
the preservation of the Society in Russia, its career there,
the holding of four general congregations, and his own elec-
tion he came to the questions propounded by Bishop Carroll
and 'his coadjutor. He stated that for fear of provoking hos-
tility from the enemies of the Society, the Sovereign Pontiff
was deterred from declaring his favor to the Society by an
express brief, but that he permitted the reception of mem-
bers outside the limits of the Russian Empire by a " vivse
vociB oraculum," as attested by letters from Cardinal Con-
salvi. Secretary of State, by the Penitentiary Vincent Georgi,
and by the Procurator of the Society, Father Cajetan Ange-
olini. By this oral authority. Very Rev. Father Gruber
deemed himself empowered to receive n»erabers into the So-
ciety anywhere, in silence and without noise. He cited the
case of Father Aloysius Poiret, Missionary Apostolic at Pe-
kin who applied for permission to reenter the Society, and
received in reply that there was no difficulty, that it was free
to any one living out of Russia to connect himself with the

Sixiiety there.

He regarded such a step therefore as perfectly sanctioned.

. BiBbops Carroll and Neale to Very Rev. O-^^^'^l «'"f J ,f ^rnt
IftOS • Woodstock Letters, iv.. p. 73. As given m Cretineau Joly, His
S-dfi: trpagnie de JesuB." PariB. 184«. vi.. p. 358, etc.. it:s neither
complete nor accurate.

■/:

-it

520

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

only that caution was required, bo as not by the erection of
colleges, or the opni use of the habit, to excite new troubles.
He then wrote : " This premised, I admit and receive all who
seek union with us, whether they formerly belonged to the
Society or not, in this manner, that those who were Pro-
fessed Fathers, after an eight days' retreat, ratify their pro-
fession of the four vows by this brief formula : I, N.N., Ije-
fore Almighty God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, ratify the
profession made by me in the month of , in the year

, at (for instance Li^ge). Given at (Haltimore) on the
day of , in the year ." Those who lm«l

not made their profession after a similar retreat of eight days
were to renew their simple vows, in order to take their last ones
a year later, prior to which they should make a month's retreat.
Those who never had Ixjlonged to the Society should make a
probation by following the Spiritual Exercises for four weeks,
and by reading the niles and institute, of which he promised
to forward copies, and by the cultivation of humility and
other solid virtues. " Wherefore, I most humbly l)e8eech you.
Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord, by your love for our
most excellent Mother, to apjMjint some one of our old Fathers
there, full of the spirit of God and St. Ignatius, who may ex-
amine thoso who are to be admitted for the first time, instruct,
form, and watch over them : wlio if it seems best to you, may
communicate with Father Stone, Provincial of England, or

with Father Strickland at London In the meanwhile

I commit the whole to the favor, zeal, and patronage of your-
self. Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord and your coadjutor
the Bishop of Gortyna. If you both consider that it will be
easy to communicate with I'ather Stone, the Provincial of
England, let ours turn to him for the necessary government.
If Father Stone is too distant, infonn me, and propose some
one of our Fathers in America whom I can appoint Provin-

DR. CARROLVS ACTION.

691

cial. In the meantime, let the most Illustrious and lleverend
Bisiiop of Baltimore designate one who may govern not only
the novices but the whole reviving Swiety, with all the
powers, which I concede ' ad interim' to the one thus to be

selected." ' „. , ^r ,

Bishop Carroll and his coadjutor, Bishop Neale, were ani-
mated with the deepest affection for the Society of which
they had been members. Nothing was dearer to their hearts
than its restoration, and had it then been authorized by a
brief of equal power with that suppressing it, both would in
all probabiUty have resigned the episcopal dignity to become
once more simple Fathers of the Society of Jesus. Writing
to Father Stone, Bishop Carroll said: "The example of tl«e
good Bishop of Verona, is a lesson for Bishop Neale and my-
self to meditate on, and it has indeed before and since the
receipt of your letter, been often a subject of consideration
with me, whether I ought not to petition the Pope to resign
and resume my former state. My Bishoprick, as you know,
crivps me no woridly advantages, and is very burthensome.
Can I promote the honor of God more, by relinquishing
than by retaining it? Into whose hands could the Diocese
be committed, who would not periiaps thwart the establish-
ment of the Society and oppose a reinvestment in it of the
property formeriy possessed, and still so providently retained?
These considerations have hitherto withheld my coadjutor and
myself from coming to a resolution of retuniing to the So-

» 1

cicty.

But Bishop Carroll feared to take action on a brief ad-
dressed to Kussia only, never promulgated in other parts.

. Very Rev. Gabriel Gruber to Bishop Carroll. St. Petersburg. March
12 1804.
' Bishop Carroll to Very Rev. Marraaduke Stone.

■1 ,j

1 iv

!.'} •■

622

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Is-

ami extended only by a " viviu vocis ornciiluin "' of the reign-
ing l'o|)e. llu 8aw the danger that menaced those who in
America might act under it. The next Pope might deny
the authenticity of the verbal i)ermi88ioii, of which the Ar-
chives would allord no otHcial record, and troi.t aw rolMils to
the Church, thow who in defiance of the Brief of Pope Cle-
ment XIV. had resumed the habit, and lived together under
the rule of St. Ignatius, when their individual adhesions to
that Brief were on file at Rome.

The course he adopted can bo seen in the following, copied
from his own handwriting:

" May l>th, I8(i.'».' In consequence of advices received
from the Very Ilev. V (iabriel Grulwr, Gen' of the Society
of Jesus in Russia, a notification was made to all who had
preferred their |)etition for the restoration of the said So-
ciety, that the Bishops of Baltimore and Gortyna would bold
a conference at St. Thomas's manor, with those who jMjrsisted
in their desire. Accorilingly on this day were there assem-
bled, besides the aforementioned Bishops the RR. John
Bolton, Charles Sewall, Sylvester Boarman, Charles Neale
and Baker Brooke. The Bishop of Bait" after prayers be-
gan the Conference by reading the copy of F' Gruber'a let-
ter to him received thro' the lieV" W"'- Strickland of Lon-
don, for the original letter has never come to hand. He
read likewise other letters from Europe wliich tended more
and more to disclose the state of the Society there : and after

' It was not till May that the survivors, all men well in years, could
meet, for the winter had been one ■ f unexampled length and severity.
Rev. Charles SewaH to Rev. NicboliM Sewall. February '805. " Our
lame and crippl<<l ^mition iu point of the old memlwrt- .tiers the r-'im-
mencement of the businitw pt-rfectly awkwHrd. However, Bishop I'ar
roll will meet our Gentlemen at St. Thomas's manor soon after Eifter in
order to put hand to work." Bishop Neale to Rev F. Marmaduke Stone,
March 15, 1805.

THE SOCIETY REORGANIZED.

623

recapitulating the reasoiiB for hopiii!? a Hecure and lasting ro
CHtal)li«lnnent ..f the Society, as well aH tl.oHC wl.i'-h gave rea-
8on to fear itH Htability, the Bishop added that the whule «iil>-
ject heing now before thcni, each one was to deterniino for
hiniBclf the course he had to pursue, either of uniting hiin-
Mjlf inunediately with the Society in Runsia, or of waiting
till a public and authentic brief or bull was issued, authoriz-
ing its re-establishment. The matter being thus proposed, and
each one desired to consult his own heart, the meeting was
adjourned to the following day."

The next day all expressed their wish to unite with the
Society, and announced that Tlev. Robert Molyneux also au-
thorized thenj to declare it to be his desire.

In fact, however, only the Rev. Robert Molyneux, Rev.
Charies Sewall, and Rev. Charies Neale then renewed their
engJigements and gave » a commencement to the good work
go earnestly recommended."

Father John Bolton and Father Sylvester Boariuan soon
joined their old associates; but on the 2l8t of June Bishop
Carroll, by virtue of the letter of the General, appointed Rev.
Robert' Molyneux Superior, with the powers of Provincial,
of the Society of Jesus in the United States.' He received
the ratification of his profession, and Father Molyneux re-
ceived the two others int.) the Society. On the 0th of Au-
gust, 1805, he wr .0 Bi l.op Carroll • " We are all to enter
on a spiritUMl retreat of eight days, and on Sunday withm
the octave of the Assumption iKjrform the requisite to Ix-come
members of our ancient Mother, th. Society of Jesus." '
The Jesuit body, which began in Maryland with its settle-

BUhop Carroll to Rev. Robert Molyneux. June 31, 1805,
at>jH)lntment .June 27, 1805.
' Father Robert Molyneux to BUhop Carroll.

Formal

■

"*'ni

524

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

lilt!

ment, in the persons of Fathers White and Altham, now be-
gan a new life after an extinction of about thirty years.

Father Robert Molyneux, whose name has often appeared
in the history of Catho'jcity in America, was born near
Formby, in Lancashire, England, on the 24th of July, 1738,
and entered the Society of Jesus on the eve of the Nativity
of the Blessed Virgin, 1757, and was professor in the college
at Bruges. He came to this country in 1 771, and was soon
afterward stationed in Philadelphia, where he was a zealous
and devoted missionary for many years, beholding his Soci-
ety suppressed and the American colonies severed from the
British realm rise into a republic full of strength and vigor.
In 1788 he was stationed at Bohemia, and then at Newtown,
where he remained till he became President of Georgetown
College. He held that position till 1796, and was again at
Newtown till his appointment as Superior of the American
Jesuits by Bishop Carroll. He then took up his residence at
St. Thomas' Manor in Maryland. He was efficient in reor-
ganizing the Society, and when Bishop Neale resigned the
presidency of Georgett)wn College in 1806, resumed that
lK)sition, but his life of labor was nearly at its close. On the
9th of December, 1808, he piously ended his long and useful

life.'

To aid the new mission, the Genenl of the Order in 18(t5
sent over Fathers Adam Britt and John Henry, who were
followed the next year by Fathers Francis Maleve, Anthony
Kohlmann, and Peter Epinette.'

On the 22d of February, 1806, the General ot the Society,

' Foley, "Reconls of the English Provinoi'," London, 1882. vii., p.
!SU ; Wo()dstwk LetU-rs, xv., pp. 9»-100, xii., p. 289; Bishop Carroll to
James Barry, Oct<>l)er 12, 1806.

' Bishop Neale to F. Marmaduke Stone, Febniary 16, 1808; F. An-
thony Kohlmann to Kev. Mr. Strickland, February 23, 1807.

JESUITS FROM RUSSIA.

625

Father Brzozoweki, appointed Father Robert Molyneux Su-

inr Tnd a regular novitiate was opened at Georgetown on

ClOth of October, 1806. Vocations were not wanting m

! ratholic families of Maryland ; bnt these accessions did

'^' "Wd be req2d form and educate for the priest-

r" 11 Ae relLus life those who entered. The first to
Ixood and tbe religion ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^

T it. John McElroy, and several lay brothers, all under
Bow mg, John Mc^y^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^,,^ gone

the direction of ^^^l.-^n lefore the close of their two
:Zt:rererrs in the novitiate, with several

lay brothers.^ saw the accession to his clergy with a great
r^Jrr%i..-eofOeorg.own^^^^^^^

, nriost was sorely needed to repair past Bcandata.
Its rtcCtcl.ea Father KoU™„n to give « n,is.,on
fr ,rcn,rcl,; .l.en to visit the country pansl>es where
Ge 1 V-valled, and arouse tl,e faith of the people Tha
Lrerni.ui« i concluded his apostolic work by a

T:X' «ta .,rGer,„an chi in Baltimore.-
Tre r^ Us wt „,ost consoling, for Father Kohln^n was.

s=rxrSir:sieC^:^^
~--;'rif^;:^=i:^;^:^->en

The bocieiy oi o ,,ronertv which had been

re-entered into possession of the property

, F. Anthony Kt.Ul.uanu to F. Strickland. Apnl 23. 1807.

■ •I*---'-!

526

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

preserved. It was, however, agreed l>etween Bishop Carroll
and Father Molynenx that ''the annuity allotted to the
Bishop from the estates of the Society or Corporation shall
continue perpetual and inalienable and an authentic instru-
ment of writing to that effect shall be execited." '

On the death of Ilev, Mr. Fouruier and the suspension of
Rev. Mr. Thayer, the whole mission labor in Kentucky de-
volved on the energetic priest, Badin. For two years he
lived almost constantly on horseback, riding from station to
station to attend to the wants of the Catholics scattered
through the State. He was assiduous in the care of his
flock, and if strict, was loved and respected. He trained his
people to say their morning and night prayers constantly ; to

FAC-8IMII.E OF 8I0NATUUE OF REV. STEPHEN T. BADIN.

receive the sacrnments regularly ; to be devout to the Blessed
Virgin, and say the rosary fre«]uently ; to attend mass ])unc-
tually, if it was said within live miles' walk or ten miles' ride,
and espiH-iallv to instruct their children and servants in the
principles of their faith.

lie ha<l fre(juent encounters with the Protestant ministers,
but his keen wit and his learning generally made him dreatl-
ed. Although his own flock was more than enough for his
care, he was constantly instructing and receivitig Protestants
into the Church.

In July, 1.SU5, a ])rie.st came to relieve him — one who was
to leave a name never to be forgotten in the annals of the

' " Agri'ement adoptwi and sifrned lietwecn the Right Rev. J. Ciirroll,
Bishop of Haitiinorc. and the Ht'v. Holx-rt Mulyutux."

REV. CHARLES NERINCKX.

627

Church. This was the Rev. Charles Nerinckx, a native of
Herffelingen, in Belgium, who, graduated at the University
of Louvain in 1781, had been ordained to the priesthood
four years later, at the age of twenty-four. While zealously
discharging his duties as parish priest of Everberg-Meerbeke,

UEV. CIIAKl.KS NEKINCKX.

he was compelled to fly to escape arrest by the Prench v;ho
had invaded Belgium. Ministering to the faithful by stealth
for sonie years, he applied at last to Bishop Carroll, and h.s
services having been accepted, he crossed the ocean and
huKled in Baltimore. October 14. 1804, and was at once as-
signed to the laborious mission of Kentucky. In July, l80.>,

f i,

I ^« '

J;.

■tU'

fi28

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

he joined Rev. Mr. Badin at St. Stephen's, and began his
holy and zealous ministry, which left enduring monuments.'
Soon after a colony of Trappist monks, under Father Urban
Guillet, reached Kentucky in the autumn, and took up their
-esidence un Pottinger's Creek, at the foot of Rohan's Knob.
Two of the priests soon died at St. Stephen's, attended by
Kev. Mr. Nerinckx, and a third followed sl)ortly after they
had taken possession of their first home. Unfortunately the
Superior was restless and capricious. No place seemed to
suit him, and liis coranmnity, weakened by austerities and
the hardship of travel, were exposed to malarious disease by
constantly breaking new ground and drinking unwholesome
water. He transferred them to Casey's Creek in 1807, where,
under the prior, Rev. Father Mary Joseph Dunand, they be-
g-an a community life in a double frame cabin, which Rev.
Mr. Nerinckx describes as about as large as a ten-horse stable,
hardly keeping out the rain, but serving as dormitory, refec-
tory, and church. But in 1809 the fickle Superior transferred
his community to Florissant, Missouri, the next year to Look-
ing Glass Prairie, Illinois, leaving a trace of their passage in
the name of " Monk's Mound," given to the ancient Indian
work on which they planted their monastery. In 1813 Father
I'^rban returned to Europe with nearly all his monks. These
pious and austere men left only the example of their virtue ;
they did not, to any considerable extent, contribute to build
up Catholicity in the West.'

' See the adminible Life of this holy priest by Right Rev. C". P. Mney,
BiMhop of ("oviiigtoii.

'Bishop Maes, "The Life of Rev. Charles Nerinrk.x," Cincinnati,
\m). pp. 100-112 ; Webb, " The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky, '
Louisville, 1S84, pp. 194-9; Spalding, " Sketches of Kentucky," Louis-
ville, pp. IrtH, etc. ; " Itelation de ce (jui est arrivt i\ deu.\ Iteligieux de
la TrapiH." jK-ndant leur sejcjur aupres des Sauvages," Paris, 1824 ; Pope,
" Memoir of Father Vincent de Paul," CharlotteUjwn, 1886.

KENTUCKY.

529

Rev. Mr. Keriiickx resided for a time with Rev. Mr. Badin
at St. Steplien'8, but before the close of his first year he re-
moved to the house erected by Rev. Mr. Fournier on Rolhiig
Fork. Here a frame church had been hastily erected by the
people, to which, on the feast of the Holy name of Mary, in
September, 1805, he gave the name of Holy Mary ; but on
the 15th of November he laid the corner-stone of a larger
and more substantial edifice, though it was to cost only four

CHCUCn OF 8T. PRANCtH XAVIKR, LEONABDTOWN, MD.

hundred dollars. It was to receive a statue of Our Lady
which he had brought from Belgium. The next year lit
erected on Hardin's Creek a log church, dedicated to St.
Charles Borromeo, for a congregation of six hundred, who
had been in the habit of meeting at the house of Henry
Hagan. This was the fourth church in Kentucky.'

1 BiHhop Mia-s, "The Life of Rev. Charles Neriuckx," pp. 114-9;
Spaltliug, pp loO, etc. ; Webb.
23

1 «■' M fci I

.'»r

530

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

.9 ' ■

Iffi

About this time the two Kentucky priests uiade a journey
to Vincennes, wliich Bishop Carroll had been unable to sup-
ply with a priest after the death of the zealous Rev. Mr.
Rivet. Their sermons and exhortations on the occasion of
the Jubilee, their assiduity in the confeasional and in cate-
chizing awakened the faith of the j>eople, and on the 25th of
April the Vincennes Catholics wrote to Bishop Carroll, im-
ploring him to give them a resident pastor. Here would
have been a spot for the Trappists, near a Catholic town, on
land cultivate<l for sevi'ral generations. Bishop Carroll re-
plied to the people, encouraging them to persevere in the
good resolutions formed, Jind promising to use every exertion
to obtain a priest for them.'

Besides the Catholic emigrants from Maryland, a number
of Irish Catholics sought homes in Kentucky, especially in and
near Danville. They soon projected the erection of a church,
and in ISOO Daniel Mcllroy gave a pieceof ground at that place
as a site for a church. Rev. Mr. Badiji agreeing to pay $50 for
it. On this, in 1807, was erected St. Patrick's, the first Cath-
olic church in the State constructed of l)rick. The Rev. Mr.
Badin reipiested the Dominican Fathers to take charge of this
place, but the land wjis not paid for and no deed executed.
Meanwhile ^Icllroy became embarrassed in business ; liis proj)-
ertv was attached i>v his creditors, who sold the clnhr'h without
any regard to the rights of the Catholic body. The money
contributed by the Iri^;h Catholics was thus lost to them. St.
Patrick's church became a private house and is still standing on
P'ifth Street, Danville, the residence of Professor Fales.'

ml '

' Bishop Tiirroll lo Ciith..lic inlnl)itjiiit.s of Post Viiuvnncs. Sept. 6.
1804; .Vli'nling, "A History of the C'utholic Church in the Diocese of
Vincennes," In(liiinaiK)liH, j). 76.

' Hev. C". Nerinckx to his parents, Aug. 29, 1807. Lcttcc of llcv. A.
.1. Hriiily.

FIRST BRICK CHURCH.

631

Thus the first brick church in Kentucky, erected by the
joint exertions of Kev. Messrs. Badin and ^erinckx, and the
contributions even of Protestants, was lost to Catholicity.'
Modernized into a dwelling-house of the present day, thia
venerable structure presents nothing to the eye to recall the
pioneer priests of Kentucky, Badin and Nerinckx.

Soon after the conuneacenient of the Danville church, the

rUESENT CONDITION OK ST. r.VTIlICK S CllUllCtl, DANVILLE, KY.,
FIK8T CATHOLIC IIUICK CUUHCU IN THE STATE.

Rev. Mr. Biidin was able to announce that there was some
prospect of a church being erected at Louisville.'

During the days of persecution when the penal laws of
Ensrland bore with fearful intolerance on her Catholic sub-

' Lplfers of Uev. S. T. Hiuliii to Risliop Carroll, 1807, 1808; Webb,
" The t'l'iifcimry of C'atliolicity in Kentucky," Louisville, 1884, pp. 157,
570; Risliop Maes, "The Life of the Rev. Charles Nerinckx," Oiiicin-
nafi, 18S0, p. 1','2.

■> Rev. S. T. Badin to Biyhop Carroll, June 15, 1808.

^ hi

(,'

• I

08S

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

jects, the Continent became the home of their seminaries,
colleges, and cloisters. One of the religious houses there
founded was the Convent of the Donunican Fathers at Born-
heini, in Jielgium. Here a young man of the Maryland
house of Fen wick assumed the white habit of Saint Dominic,
impelled by the hope that he might, in God's providence, be
enabled to found a branch of that order in his native land.
The armies of revolutionary France, imbued with a hatred of
religion, swept over Belgium. The convent at Bornheim
was seized and plundered, but the Fathers all escaped to
England, except Father Edward Dominic Fenwick, who was
then procurator of the house. He was arrested and confined,
but his claim of American cit'zenship opened the prison
doors, and he joined his brethren in England, where they
had established Carshalton Academy. Here the plan of his
early days revived, and in January, 1804, with the consent
of his Superiors, he wrote to Bishop Carroll about' his project

SIGNATrRE OK FATHER TIIOMA8 WILSON, O.P.

'■>f

of establishing an academy in America, to be conducted by
the Friars I'reachers.

Receiving the encouragement which Bishop Carroll
promptly gave, he, with the consent and aid of his Supe-
rior, Father Thomas Wilson, applied to the General of the
Order and the Holy See. The Sacred Congregation de Pro])-
aganda Fide on the 11th of March, 1805, <»n the approval
of Father Pius .Joseph (laddi. General of the Dominican
Order, and by the desire of the whole body, authorized Bishop
Carroll, to whose prudent decision the atfair was committed,

THE DOMINICANS.

633

to permit Father Edward Dominic Fenwick to found a
province of his order in the United States.'

Without waiting for the formal ))aper8 from Rome, Father
Edward Fenwick, who as an American by birth had been
selected as Superior, with Fathers Thomas Wilson, William
Raymond Tuite, and Robert Angier, set out for America.
After a long and tedious voyage, Fenwick and Angier
reached Captain James Fen wick's place at St. George's,
Maryland, in the latter part of the year 1804.' During the
next year these new missioners were employed in Maryland ; '
but as Bishop Carroll directed their attention to Kentucky as
a suitable field. Father Fenwick made his plans for an Acad-
emy there, which Bishop Carroll tKus approved :

" The Rev. Mr. Edward D. Fenwick and other Rev*" Cler-
gymen connected with him, having proposed to themselves
the establishment of a College or Academy in Kentucky,
for the education of youth, I not only approve of but greatly
rejoice at their having formed such a resolution, which if
carried into effect, cannot fail of producing the most bene-
ficial effects for improving the minds and morals of the rising
generation and fortifying their religious principles. Believ-
ing that God iti his beneficence inspired this design into their
mindti, I take the liberty of recommending to and exhorting
iiU my dear Brethren and Children in Christ, to grant to it

' F. Edward D. Fenwick to Bishop Carroll, Carshalton Academy, Sur-
rey, January 13, May 5, 1804 ; " Decretuni Sac. Couguis gulis de Propa-
ganda Fide, habita die 11 Martii 1805."

* F. Edward D. Fenwick to Bishop Carroll, St. George's, November
29, 1804.

' Same to same, Washington, December L"), 1804 ; Zachia, October 10,
1805.

• V

1'*'.!

634

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

every encouragement they are able, and thus oo-oporate to
the Buccesfl of a work undertaken for the glory of Gotl and

their own advantage.

" John, Bishop of Baltinioix*.

" Baltimore, April 25, 1806."

Proceeding to Kentucky, Fatlier Fenwick purchased of
Jolm Waller a plantation of 5<iO acres, near Springtield, in
Washington ('ounty, lying on ("artwriglit's Creek. It had
on it a small brick house and two mills. This j)lace, a'-quired
for the sum of $4,500, Ix^came the home of the order in
Kentucky. His fellow-religious joined him in ISOfi, and a
church dedicut(Ml to 8t. Rose of Lima, the first native of the
New World canonized by the Holy See, was at once Im gun.
Father Wilson said of the people among whom they were to
labor : " The men ImHIi young and old in this poor country
are very shy of priests ; a little good-nature will, I hoj)e, in
time, bring many to their duty : some already droj) in by
degrees : not one in twenty f recpients the sacraments ; few
since they left Maryland.' They will not he driven, they
say, and indeed with gotnl words they will almost do aiiytluTig
for you, considering their j)Overty. They are Ix^yond expec-
tation generous in our regard. I hope God Almighty will

' Spaldinp, " Rkftrlip« of Kpiituoky." I-ouisvillc, p. 149 ; Wclib, "Tlie
Centcnnry of Ciifholicity in Kentucky." liouisvillo, 1884, pp. 09, 200, 202 ;
Father T. Wilson to Bisliop Ciirroll, .Inly 2r). IHOtJ ; Fiithor Edwiird D.
Fenwick to same, St. Rose's College, near Spriu^rfleld, Ky., April 8,
1H07. (treat interest was fell at Home. Father U. Luke C'oncanen, after-
ward Bishop of New York, writinp to Bisliop Carroll, .lainiary !J0, IKOfl,
says : " I can never sufficiently thank you for the kind reception and en-
couragement and firotection you have iM-en pleased to show my confreres
Fenwick and companions, in their laudable undertakinjj. May it tuni
out 'Ad Majorem Dei Oloriam.' You hpve the humble thankii of my
Father-Gcnerul and of all these of my orJer here."

A CATHEDRAL PROPOSED.

585.

bless their g. od-will and desire of seeing priests, as they call
them, of their own."

Father Fenwick soon resigned his position and urged the
appointment of his old superior, Father Wilson, a learned,
holv, and experienced priest, as Provincial. A novitiate was
opened in 1801), and the province acquired a permanent place
in the history of the Church.

Let us now return to Bishop Carroll's episcopal city.
Up to this time Bishop Carroll had used as his pro-cathe-
dral the church of St. Peter, but he felt that he ought to
undertake the erection of a suitable cathedral church, and
that if he hoped to see ■ completed, the work should be
at once commenced. He had in a pastoral letter in 1803
called on the faithful of his diocese to aid in the great work.
*' Having long entertained," Kiys the founder of our hier-
archy, " an anxious desire of dedicating a church to God, to
be erected by the united efforts of all our brethren in this
diocese, to stand as the evidence of their attachment to the
unity of episcopal government, as well as of their unity iv)
faith (for these are ins< 'parable), and being made sensible by
my descent in the vale of years, that I ought not to expect
to see this work accomplished unless it be soon undertaken,
I am induced to recur to, and intreat you by your attachment
to the interests of our holy rpligion and affection for its
Author, and the object of its worship, Jesus Christ, to lend
your aid toward carrying this design into effect."

In view of the sacritices necessjiry in many parts where
churches had to be erected, and the necessity ..f securing a
maintenance for their pastor, the good Bishop did not antici-
pate great contributions from those living at a distance from
the s^at of the intended cathedral, but he called on the more
prosperous members to emulate the example of their fathers
in the faith, and their fellow-believers in Catholic lands, to

i. 1.

: w

,.„ i

t.j.

tine

LIFE Oi*' ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

,Ih

contribute to raise the liunible cathttlral wiiich ho propoeed.
lie asketl but little — one dollar , yi-ar for four ycarH from
the head of each Catholic family — the njoney to be paid in
the mouth of Decendwr. They were aluo, " if it were con-
sistent with their sevend Hituationw," aaked to take un interest
in the Lottery instituted " for the same object." His pastorul
alrto called u])ou the congregations to raiHe an annual collec-
tion of at least live dollars from the poorest church to meet
the expenses of the Coadjutor Bishop in making visitations
in diflferent parts of the diocese, iiu 8te[)H having yet been
adopted to give the bishop in this country an income for his
maintenance and necessary expenses.

At Rome the Congregation " de Propaganda Fide" had
favored the appointment of a coadjutor to Bishop Carroll
rather than the division of the diocese of Baltimore and the
appointment of separate bishops. The belief was, that with
a coadjutor residing in one part of the large diocese with
powers of Vicar-General from Baltimore, a uniform disci-
pline and ceremonial could l)e obtained, and the clergy com-
ing from different countries and of different education could
bo mouIde<l into one harmonious body. But the yours lost
in forwarding the bulls for the consecration of Bishop Neale
had wrought their changes. The coadjutor yielded to the
influence of years more rapidly than Dr. Carroll, and was
less able to travel by the laborious vehicles and roads of that
day. Bishop Carroll had been compelled to recall him from
Philadelphia and mission work to become President of
Georgetown College, where his presence seemed essential, as
Dr. Carroll had no one to replace him. He had, too, the
spiritual direction of the religious community which he
founded. At this time he was no longer able to assume the
charge of a large tract of country without leaving other
duties for which he was especially fitted. He accordingly

>-S

' (

\ ,£^

., .

Ij'FM <>

'.'■ CARROLL.

conm- •afhcdral wliicli he propostHi.

H. I nUir a year for I'uur years from

Ui ihniic family — the money to be paid i,ti

th.r « salKT, Tliev wort al;Mx "if it were cuu-

. voral situations," a«kfd to take an ijiterest

; .w-tiiureii '• I'.'- rht, >;«ine *ii'jrci." Ilin pjistofiil

•i["'' ■' HiiTt'jipatiouh to raise an mimiiil eollec-

-.• ;i it at ieiisi nve uoilarsfroin the poorest ehureh to meet

M* espi'Tifiw f-f fhe ('oiuljutor Bishop in miiking vi^-itiifions

ri difli"'- (it p>iir- t.f tiic dioeew?, no t-tep^ lia\in<>- y'. i ■ t-n

adopt«?d to give the bi!<ho}> in this coniitry an iinnui" for ius

niaint^Mnnce and necessary cxjion^eB.

At IvMUio the Congregation " de Propaganda Fide" hui
favored tlie appointment of a eoadjntor to Bishop Carroll
rather than the division of the dioo('>e nf Baltimore aiul the
appf)intnient of sepmato liishops. The belief was, that with

a coadjutor re'-iiHn'.'

jiart of the large diix'ese with

pov^'-r, lif \'ii-,w(ten('i',ii fr.-in Baltimore, a unitunn di-<ci-
pline and ceremonial conid Ik' nhtained, and the clergy i-om-
ing from different countries and of different edneation could
f)e moulded into one harmonious Ix' iv. 'F>nt the years lost
in forwii •'":.: il^'- l.iulls for tlu; cun, i r:it! 'U <<\ l>ifhi'[> Ncde
'id wrought tlieir changes. The eondinior' \ iVMed to the
Jtuiuftnce of years more rapidly than Dr. Carroil, and wiis
k«8 »bt*; to travel by the laliorious vehicles and r<')ads of that
d&j. Bi?*i(t.p Carroll liad been ci>iiip«'11ed to rec-dl luni fmm
I'hiladelphi.'i and mission wi^ri^ l" !i(-rT.|;i • I'M'-'xicnf i.f
(teorgetown College, wh(>rc his pn .; ■! .. > 'n^d (--.lUial. as
Dr. Carroll had n<« o! ■ ;.> "place him. lie had, t.x;. the
spiritual directioTi of li;.; 'cligi'ins commumt', \^!>i'li he
founded. Ar thi- tune he was no longer able to assume the
charge oi .i iar^r • tract of c^ounlry \>-it!iout leaving other
duties for which he was espfH'ially litt<?d. He accordingly

l.;,.,xA,.,,./rn SETON

;'4*

A CATHEDRAL PROPOSED.

685

bless their good-will and desire of seeing priests, as they call
them, of their own."

Father Fenwick soon resigned his position and urged the
appointment of his old superior, Father Wilson, a learned,
holy, and experienced priest, as Provincial. A novitiate was
opened in 1809, and the province acquired a permanent place
in the history of the Church.

Let us now return to Bishop Carroll's episcopal city.
Up to this time Bishop Carroll had used as his pro-cathe-
dral the church of St. Peter, but he felt that he ought to
undertake the erection of a suitable cathedral church, and
that if he hoped to see it completed, the work should be
at once commenced. He had in a pastoral letter in 1803
called on the faithful of his diocese to aid in the great work.
" Having long entertained," says the founder of our hier-
archy, " an anxious desire of dedicating a church to God, to
be erected by the united efforts of all our brethren in this
diocese, to stand as the evidence of their attachment to the
unity of episcopal government, as well as of their unity in
faith (for these are inseparable), and being n '-^ sensible by
my descent in the vale of years, that I ongli. ;■ - to expect
to see this work accomplished unless it be soon undertaken,
I am induced to recur to, and intreat you by your attachment
to the interests of our holy religion and affection for its
Author, and the object of its worship, Jesus Christ, to lend
your aid toward carrying this design into effect."

In view of the sacrifices necessary in many parts where
churches had to be erected, and the necessity of securing a
maintenance for their pastor, the good Bishop did not antici-
pate great contributions from those living at a distance from
the seat of the intended cathedral, but he called on the more
prosperous members to emulate the example of their fathers
in the faith, and their fellow-believers in Catholic lands, to

f- '

636

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

contribute to raise the humble cathedral which he proposed.
He asked but little— one dollar a year for four years from
the head of each Catholic family— the money to be paid in
the month of December. They were also, " if it were con-
sistent with their several situations," asked to take an interest
in the Lottery instituted " for the same object." His pastoral
also called upon the congregations to raise an annual collec-
tion of at least five dollars from the poorest church to meet
the expenses of the Coadjutor Bishop in making visitations
in different parts of the diocese, no steps having yet teen
adopted to give the bishop in this country an income for his
maintenance and necessary expenses.

At Rome the Congregation " de Propaganda Fide" had
favored the appointment of a coadjutor to Bishop Carroll
rather than the division of the diocese of Baltimore and the
appointment of separate bishops. The belief was, that with ^
a coadjutor residing in one part of the large diocese with
powers of Vicar-General from Baltimore, a uniform disci-
pline and ceremonial could be obtained, and the clergy com-
ing from different countries and of different education could
be moulded into one harmonious body. But the yeai-s lost
in forwarding the bulls for the consecration of Bishop Neale
had wrought their changes. The coadjutor yielded to the
influence of years more rapidly than Dr. Carroll, and was
less able to travel by the lalwrious vehicles and roads of that
day. Bishop Carroll had b-on compelled to recall him from
Philadelphia and mission work to tecome President of
Georgetown College, where his presence seemed essential, as
Dr. Carroll had no one to replace him. He had, too, the
spiritujil direction of the religious community which he
founded. At this time he was no l«inger able to assume the^
charge of a large tract of country without leaving other'
duties for which he was especially titte<l. He accordingly

F. THOMAS DIQOES.

637

remained at Georgetown, and Biehop Carroll, on the eleva-
tion of Pope Piu8 VII. to the Chair or Peter, urged Mgr.
Brocadero, the Prefect of the Propaganda, to take measures
to have other episcopal sees erected in the United States.'
He wrote also to Cardinal Borgia, who, in reply, expressed
the opinion that one additional episcopal see would not suflSce
for the interests of religion in the United States, as the coun-
try was very extensive, and the Indians had been driven be-
yond the Mississippi and the Lakes. He asked Bishop Carroll
to forward to Kome information as to the places where epis-
copal sees could be judiciously erected, and the limits to be
assigned to each diocese. He requested also to know how the
new bishops could be supported, whence they could obtain
priests to aid the bishops, perform parochial functions, and
labor among the Indians, "whose conversion," he adds,
*' should be an object of sohcitude."

Bishop Carroll was furthermore requested to name clergy-
men who were worthy to be invested with the episcopal
character.* It was not, however, till nearly five years later
that steps were actually taken to put this project in execution.
In the summer of 1804 Bishop Carroll went to spend a
month near the city of "Washington, and on the way called to
see the venerable Dean of the English pro\'ince of the Society of
Jesus, Father Thomas Digges. This American priest was born
in Maryland, January 5, 1711, and was consequently at this
time mnrp tlior. ^;.>"*- ^'

• 1 ,..i.r.. ■);'.S is incorrect. Please

,,„. ,,,,,., „.,w *"t, «.tl. l.a,t. ^^^^^^ ^.^^|,^,

,1,. ,.l»,-c- .•t<l'- *"■""■'■ '"W*^^'- " ,1. ,;. S,.K«.

i *

I":

536 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

v ontribute to raise tl.e humble cathedral which he proposed.
He asked but little— one dollar a year for four years from
the head of each Catholic family— the money to be paid in
the month of Deccsaber. They were also, " if it w«re mu-
fiistent with their su-.-eral situations," asked to tak i lui iuteif'st
in the Lottrrv instiWited " for the same object." His piu^toral
also called upon the congregations to raise an annual collec-
tion of at least five dollars from the pooiost churcl- to meet
the expenses of the C-adjutor Bivi!iop in making visitations
in different parts of tii. diocesv-. a. steps having yet been
adopted to give the bishop in this country an income tor his
maintenance and necessary expenses.

At Rome the Congregation " de Proptgaixk Fide" hnu
fa ..fed the appointment of a coadjutor to Bishop Carroll
ratL-^^ tlia i tlie divifion of the diocese of Baltimore and the
appoiL.tn»<uit of s<jparate bishops. The belief was, that with
a coac'r-S-T resiaing in one part of the lar:je diocese with
powen/ of Yicar General from Baltimore, a uniform disci-
pline and ceremonial could be obtained, and the clergy com-
ing from different countries and of different education could
be moulded into one harmonious body. But the years lost
in forwarding the bulls for the consecration of Bishop Neale
had wrought their changes. The coadjutor yielded to the
influence of years more rapidly than Dr. Carroll, and was
leiw able to travel by the laborious vehicles and roads of that

" J i.„ „„«„ii iiiit) from

F. THOMAS DIOOES.

637

remained at Georgetown, and Bisliop Carroll, on the eleva-
tion of Pope Pius VII. to the Chair of Peter, urged Mgr.
Brocadero, the Prefect of th*^ Propaganda, to take measures
to have other episcopal sees erected in the United States.'
He wrote also to Cardinal Borgia, who, in reply, expressed
the opinion that one additional episcopal see would not suffice
for the interests of religion in the United States, as the coun-
try was very extensive, and the Indians had been driven be-
yond the Mississippi and the Lakes. He asked Bishop Carroll
to forward to Rome information as to the places where epis-
<:opal sees could be judiciously erected, and the Kmits to be
assigned to each diocese. He requested also to know how the
new bishops could be supported, whence they could obtain
priests to aid the bishops, pei-form parochial functions, and
labor among the Indian-}, " whose conversion," he adds,
*' should be an object of solicitude."

Bishop Carroll was furthermore requested to name clergy-
men who were worthy to be invested with the episcopal
character.' It was not, however, till nearly five years later
that steps were actually taken to put this project in execution.

In the summer of 1804 Bishop Carroll went to spend a
month near the city of Washington, and on the way called to
see the venerable Pean of the English province of the Society of
Jesus, Father Thomas Digges. This American priest was born
in Maryland, January 5, 1711, and was consequently at this
time more than ninety-th -e years of age. He entered the So-
ciety in 1729, and took the four vows of a professed Father, Feb-
ruary 2, 1747. "Wlien Bishop Ca-roU ^^8ited him, his health
was g<x>d, but he was almost blind, and his memory was far
gone, yet tolerably accurate as to past transactions. He was

' Bishop Carroll to Mgr. Brocadero, February 10, 1802.
' Cardinal Borgia to Bishop Carroll, June 26, 1802, in reply tn the
Bishop's letter of February 10.
23*

iM :.. i

^'^^1

538 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

cheerful and loved to sit in company, and delighted to con-
verse of the eminent Fathers of former days whom he had
known. He died on the 18th of February, in the following

year, 1804.'

The Church in New York progressed under the care of
the zealous and able Father William O'Brien, O.P., who
sicriialized his zeal during the yellow fever which desolated
tire city in 1795 and 1798. The free school established at
St. Peter's in 1800 was soon well filled and did much good.

Meanwhile God was preparing one there who was to ex-
ercise a great influence in the Church in the United States.
Mrs. Eliza A. Seton, wife of one of the leading merchants in
New York, and daughter of the famous physician, Richard
Bay ley, accompanied her husband to Italy, which he visited
to restore his shattered health, but found there only a grave.
Mrs. Seton, whose mind had been far from satisfied with the
doctrines and system of the Episcopal Church, in which she
had been nurtured, was deeply impressed by the Catholic
faith. On her return she consulted Bishop Ilobart, but he
could not reassure her. After long examination, prayer,
and counsel, she was received into the true fold at St. Peter's
Church, New York, on the 25th of March, 1805, by Rev.
Dr. Matthew O'Brien. She found herself at once isolated
and shunned by her relatives and friends. A widow with a
dependent family, she bravely undertook a school, but en-
countered many difficulties.'

The next year, the holy season of Christmas showed the
old prevailing distrust of Catholics. On the eve of 'le fes-
tival a mob endeavored to force an entrance into the church.

' Bishop Carroll to F. William Strickland. August 4. 1804 ; Foley.
.. Rt-oonls ot the English Provinc.'." London. 1882. vii., p. 203 ; Roche-
foucauld Liancourt. "Voyage dans k^ Etats Unis." vl.. p. 112.

« White, '• Life of Mrs. Seton," New York, 1858.

F. THOMAS DIOQES.

587

remained at Georgetown, and Bisliop Carroll, on the eleva-
tion of Pope Pius VII. to the Chair of Peter, urged Mgr.
Brocadero, the Prefect of the Propaganda, to take measures
to have other episcopal sees erected in the United Sfates.'
He wrote also to Cardinal Borgia, who, in reply, expressed
the opinion that one additional episcopal see would not sutiice
for the interests of religion in the United States, as the coun-
try was very extensive, and the Indians had been driven be-
yond the Mississippi and the Lakes. He asked Bishop Carroll
to forward to Rome information as to the places where epis-
copal sees could be judiciously erected, and the limits to be
assigned to each diocese. He requested also to know how the
new bishops could be supported, whence they could obtain
priests to aid the bishops, perform parochial functions, and
labor amcmg the Indians, " whose conversion," he adds,
" should be an object of sohcitude."

Bishop Carroll was furthermore requested to name clergy-
men who were worthy to be invested with the episcopal
character.' It was not, however, till nearly iive years later
that steps were actually taken to put this project in execution.
In the summer of 1804- Bishop Carroll went to spend a
month near the city of AVashington, and on the way called to
see the venerable Dean of the English provnnce of the Society of
Jesus, Father Thomas Digges. This American priest was born
in Maryland, January 5, 1711, and was consequently at this
time more than nii\ety -three years of age. He entered the So-
ciety in 1729, and took the four vowsof a professed Father, Feb-
ruary 2, 1747. When Bishop Carroll visited him, his health
was good, but he was almost blind, and his memory was far
gone, yet tolerably accurate as to past transactions. He was

» I

1 i

•' .M

' ' I

; ." / j

- I'll

f;,:

' Bishop Carroll to Mgr. Brocndero, February 10, 1802.
» Cardiniil Borgia to Bisliop C:arroll, June 26, 1802, in reply to the
Bishop's letter of February 10.
23*

i;.!
ii'

TT r '

£88 I^I^^ 0^ AliCHJ ISHOP CARROLL.

cheerful and love<l to sit in company, and delighted to convei-»e
of the eniintMit Fathers of former days whom ho had known.
He died on the 18th of February, in the fallowing year, 1804.'
In the nieanh'nio tlie ITnited States had accjuired by pur
chase the ru^-inoe of Louisiana, whicli had been ceded to
Spain l.\ Fr«n.. i.i 1 r63, and had recently been transferred
once iiiort! to France, but not actually restored to the French
flag. The Directory sent over Mr. LiuHSiit, who receivisd the
territt)ry from Spain, on the 30th day of Kovember, lS(»3,
and wlio twenty days afterward uluced the American com-
missioner in possession 'if U»e coui.iry.

Bishop Carroll intuitively saw in that disturbed province a
terrible burthen menacing him. He felt that as Louisiana
had become part of the United States, the Holy See would,
at letist, while political affairs were still warmly discussed,
place I^uisiana and the Floridas under his care.

Although Bishop Carroll wrote to implore earnestly that
this additional burthen should not be imp.)sed on his declin-
ing vears, a rescript was issued by the Sovereign Pontiff,
Pius VII., on the tirst day of September, 1805, constituting
Bisliop Carroll Administrator-Ai)ostolic of the diocese of
Louisiana and the Floridas, with power to delegate Lie iK)wer
to a Vicar-(ieneral.'

Some notice of the condition of religion in that province
from the time of its cession to Spain, is necessary to uudei
stand its actual religious condition.

.» ■

. Bishop Carroll to F. Willie ' Siricklaud. August 4. 1804 ; Foley.
<• Record . 1 the Euylish Prov ,.." Londo: , 18«3, vii.. p. V\» ; Uocbu-
foucauld Lii.ncourt. " VoyaRi . .s \e» Etai Unis," vi., p. 112.

' Rev R L>Jke ("oncanen to Hishoi) Carroll. .January ;io, 180(1, me:
tions that he l.nd forwarded the packet extendiiij; hi« jurisdicUou over
Louisiaua a- . Fi. rida on the 2Ht' , of September.

affltaj;

LOUIS > M.

539

Wood was shed l»efore the riot .6 appeased.' The church
was gaining, however; the ilev. Mr. Sibourd and otlier
priests aided Father O'Brien in his labors.

In the meantime the United States had acquired by pur-
chase the province of Louisiana, which had been ceded to
Spain by France in 17<53, and had recently been transferred
onco more to France, but not actually restored to the French
flni'. The Directory sent over Mr. Launsat, who received the
territory from Spain, on the 30th day of Novend)er, 1803,
and who twenty days afterward placed the American com-
missioner in possession of the country.

Bishop Carroll intuitively saw in tliat disturbed province a
terrible burthen menacing him. lie felt that as Louisiana
had become part of the United States, the Holy See would,
at least, while political affairs were still warndy discussed,
place Louisiana and the ' -ridas under his care.

Although Bishop Carroll wrote to implore earnestly that
th; additional burthen should not be imposed on his declin-
ing years, a rescript was issued by the Sovereign Pontiff,
Pius VII., on the first day of September, 1805, constituting
Bishop Carroll Administrator-Apostolic of the diocese of
Louisiana and the Floridas, with power to delegate his author-
it to a Vicar-General.'

Some notice of the condition of religion in that province,
from the time of its cession to Spain, is necessary to under-
' 'nd it actual religious condition.

„n 'A Brief Sketch of the Early History of tlie Catholic Church
on th. . '>nd of New York." New York, 1853, pp. r.0-2 ; New York
• Kvcning i'ost," Dec. 26. 1806; Otter, "History of My Own Times.
J.iiimitt8lmrg. 183.5. p. 82.

' Rev. R. Luke Concanen to Bishop Carroll. January 30, 1806. men-
tions that he had for«^ '-(l the packet extending his jurisdiction over
Louisiana and Florida on le 28th of Septemher.

1,1

' I'i

\ i

' . ;d

CHAPTER III.

niK cnrRon in U)CI8Iana 1763-1793. — the nienop op ban-

TIACK) in HA. — KT. KEV. CYKIL DK UAKCKLONA, ACXII.IAK.

mOCKSK OF LOUISIANA AN!) TIIK FLOKIDAS. — RT. KKV.

LCI8 PKSALVKR V CAKDKNAH 17UH-18(I3. -V. RKVH. THOM-
AS HASHKrr AND PATRICK WAI.HH, ADMINISTliATORH iMUIJ-
l!SO<).— RT. RKV. JOHN CARROLL APPOINTED ADMINISTRA-
TOR-APOSTOLIC.

WnKN France ceded to Eiifjlaiul Canada and the North-
west territory, she felttliat she could not long hold Louisiana,
and accordingly by a secret treaty conveved that pntvince to
Spain. Announcing the cession to (Jovernor d'Ahadic,
Louifl XV. wroft-: "In ctMiseijuence of the friendship and
aflfection of his Catholic Majesty I trust that he will give
orders to iiis Governor and all other ofticers employed in his
s<»rvice, in said colony and city of New-Orleans, to continue
in their functions the ecclesiastics and religious houses in
charge of the |)arishe8 and missions, as well as in the enjoy-
ment of the rights, privileges, and exemptions granted to
them by their original titles.''

The Capuchin Fathers accordingly continued their usual
functions awaiting the arrival of the SpaJiish authorities.
The Catholic monarch seemed, however, in no liuste to take
}X)S8ession of a province thus thrust upon him ; it was not
till the 5th of March, 17tU!, tlmt Don Antonio de Ulloa
arrived at New Orleans with eighty soldiers and three Capu-
chin Fathers. No transfer of the province was made, how-
ever, nor did Ulloa take possession or proclaim his coinmi»-
(640)

LOUISIANA.

641

wion 08 governor. The liiigH of Spuin and France were both
8uen in different purtH. IJlloii, however, wuh gradiudly in-
troducing Spaninh rule through Auhry, the French governor,
and excited such hostility that in October, 17<i8, he was
driven from LouiHiana by a decree of the Superior Council.'
It wa« not till the 18th of the following Augurit, that Gov-
ernor Aubry delivered up the proviiuic to Alexander O'Keilly,
who had landed at New (Orleans with a force of three thou-

Bund men.

Lafreniere and other members of the Superior Council,
and Houje who had taken part in the expulmonof Ulloa, were
arrested and tried by court-martial. On the 2.")th of Octo-
l)er, 170y, I^frenitire, Noyan, Caresse, and Milhet were shot
in the yard of the barracks ; six others were sent in irons to
Havana. Such was the end of Lafreniere, the instigator and
main actor in the impious work of levelling churches at the
time of the expulsion of the Jesuits.'

Of the clergy during these days of trouble we hear little,
although the Capuchin Father in charge of the i>arish «)f the
Cote des Allemands is accused of having been active in ex-
citing the people against the Spaniards.'

While Aubry was still acting as governor an attempt was

' Decree of the Superior Council. " LouiHianu Historical Collections,"
v., p. 164.

•' '• Louisiiinii Historical Collections," v.. p. 144. " Menioire des Habi-
tans et Nej^ocians de la liouisianne sur rfivcneniciil du 29 <.)ctol)re, 1708."
New Orleans, Denis Brand, 17«8, p. 3. Brand was the tlrst Louisiana
printer, authorized by the French OovtTnment in 17«4. All copies of
the Menioire that co\dd be found were seized and burnt by O'Ueilly.
Brand wits put on trial lis the printer, but escaped by provinjr that he
acted under the orders of the Coniinissairc Ordonnateur. My copy is
evidently that u.sed on his trial, havins: the tcstimon-. endorsed that saviKi
his life. OayarrC', " Histoire," iii., pp. 21-2.

« Ouyarre, " Histoire de la Louisiane." New Orleans. 184G, ii., pp. 104,
345-9.

'-•(r'

1 1- 1,

( 'M

, 'f

■:1M

. ' 1 <

iijil

54a

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

made to build a parish church, and a hospital and orphan
asylum were opened.'

In 1766 the Superior Council, which assumed supreme
power, civil and ecclesiastical, expelled from the province
Father Hilaire de Gcnuvaux and made a corrupt and ignorant
friar, Dagobert, Superior.'

It wsis during this chaotic state of affairs that Louisiana
received several bands of Acadians, who escaping from the
English colonies had reached St. Domingo, but found that
island fatal to their health and ill-adapted for settlement.*

While scattered through the British colonies on the At-
lantic seaboard, they had except in Pennsylvania and Mary-
land been de])rived of priests; but the Bisliops of Queljcc
were not indilVorent to their welfare. They api)c)inte(l laymen
in each b"'id of the exiles with whom they could comnmni-
cate, to w.iom they gave authority to dispense with publica-
tion of banns, and to receive the nmtual consent of marriage,
so that these Catholics would not be compelled to go before
Protestant magistrates. Private baptism was also given by
those tliiis selected.*

After taking jwssession, O'Reilly reorganized the proviju-e
on the Spanish model, and gave the form of oath to be taken
by all officials. It began in a form which will seem strange
to many, but which shows that the doctrine defined by Pope
Pius IX. in our days was officially recognized in the Spanish

' Cljiunpiiriiy, "Memoir," " Lii. Hist. Coll ," v., pp. 180-1.

' r.iiyarn', " Ilistor}- of Louisiiiim, Spaiiisli Domination," Now York,
lHr>-t, p. W. Tliis Uiifntfd author cloaks iiiulcr a style of liantcr the in-
famous life ami terrible lu-Kleci of duty in Father l)an;oberl.

5 The Hrst (letaelmient, 93 in all, arrived in February, 1765. (Gayarre,
ii., p. 127.) Hy -May, when 48 familie.s arrived. the.>ie inunitjrants num-
l)i-red4«3. (lb., p. I'W.)

* I)is|H'nsati(MiH were alw) K'*'*'" in certain cases. See Note of Edinond
Mallet. "U. B. Cath. Hist. Mag., ' i,, pp. ll:J-ia.

F. CYRIL DE BARCELONA, V.G.

543

nd orphan

i supreme
3 province
id ignorant

Louisiatsa
; from the
found that
ement/
on the At-
and Mary-
of Quebec
ted laymen
I connnuni-
ith puhlica-
if nuirriage,
o go before
;o given by

lie province
to be taken
^ein strange
ed l)y Pope
the Spanit-h

-1.

," New York,
baiitiT the iii-
t.

55. (Oiiyarn',
nigriiijt.s nil 111-

)te of Edinond

dominions. "I, appointed , swear before God.

on the holy Cross and the Evangelists, to maintain and de-
fend the mystery of the Iimnaculate Conception of our Lady
the Virgin Mary." '

An abridgment of the Spanish laws was prepared and
issued in French, but Spanish was made the official language
for all public acts.

In 1772 the Right Rev. James Joseph de Echeverria,
T^ishop of Santiago de Cuba, sent the Capuchin Fray Cyril
de Barcelona to New Orleans with four Spanish Fathers of
the same order, Francisco, Angel de Revillagudos, Louis de
(^uiutanilla, and Aleman. They arrived in the capital of
Louisiana on the 19th of July, and were well received by the
Spanish authorities. Fathers Aleman and Angel were at
once stationed in parishes that recpiired pastors.'

Father Cyril was a religious faithful to his rule and to his
priestly duties. The French Fathers of his order who had
remained in Louisiana, after the cession of the province, still
held the parish church of New Orleans, Father Dagol)ei-t
claiming to i)e Superior and parish priest ; but these Capu-
chins, who had long thrown otf all allegiance to bishop or su-
])erior, led lives that were a public scandal. As a natural
eonse(pience religious duties were everywhere neglected.
Few men approached the sacraments even at Easter; de-
bauchery prevailed ; the baptism of children was long de-
ferred, and performed with little regard to the ritual ; negroes
were not instructed, and did not receive the sacraments even
whe!i dying. Sermons to adults and instructions for the
young were equally unknown.

Yet Father Dagobert had the effrontery to write to the

' C.nyiirre, " History of Louisiana, Spanisli Domination," New York,
\KA, p. 7.
■' Father Cyrillo de Barcelona to Bisliop Echeverria, August 5, 1773.

JlviiJ

• ♦■■■■

044

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Bishop, making great profession of piety and zeal ; asking to
be appointed Vicar-General.'

Fatlier Cyril set to work to remedy abuses as %vell as he
could, till some one arrived with authority to banish the un-
worthy priests. lie took steps to have Catechisms and Ritu-
als printed with French and Spanish text.'

He soon found, however, that any change for the better
or any reformation wiis almost impossible. The people had
been industriously filled with prejudices agiiinst the Spanish
clergy, and e8iK)U6ed the cause of the unworthy and shame-
less Dagobert and his associates to such an extent, that even
the Spanish Governor, Unzaga, wrote to the Bishop of Santi-
ago de Cuiia to remonstrate against any effort to remedy the
condition of affairs. He was more anxious to maintain Span-
ish supremacy than Christian morahty.

It was not till this visit of Father Cyril of Barcelona that
any provision was nuide for the religious needs of the Catho-
lics on the Upper Mississippi, their salvation having been of
little conceni to the wretched re])resentatives of the church
at New Orleans, who seem to have abandoned nearly all the
nn's,sions outside of that city.

In 1772 Father Valentine, a Cajiuchin, was stationed at
St. Louis, where there was a little wooden cliajwl, blessed in
1770 by the zealous Canadian priest Pierre Gibault, who at-
tended the Catholics <if that place from his home in Illinois.
The records of the church show Father Valentine ministering
in St. I/)uiH from 1772 to I77r>. During his administration
he blessed a bell in 1774 for use in the chapel, and he took
Bteps in the sjune year to s^'cure the erection of a more suit-
able oditice for the worship of Almighty God.

' Katlicr Cyrillo de Riircclonii to Hishd)) E<h<'vi'rria, S<'pteiuber 15,
177'.' ; FiiiluT Dairi'lHTt to «;.iik', StptcinlHT 'J2, 1172.
* Same to wimc, XovenilxT 14, 1772.

1 ; asking to

3 well as he
nish the un-
[18 and llitu-

r the better
i people had
the Spanish
and eluune-
it, that even
I op of Saiiti-
roniedy the
lintain Span-

ircelona that
if the Catho-
\\\\^ been of
the church
earlj' all the

stationed at
(1, blessed in
iinit, w1k> at-
e in Illinois.
! ininistcriiifr
lininistrati(tn
and he to(»k
a more suit-

S<'pteiuber 15,

ST. LOUIS.

645

The second church of St. Louis was a wooden structure
sixty feet in length, and half that measure in width. A ve-
randa five feet wide ran around the whole edifice. It was not
a very imposing structure, but the population was small, not
exceeding two hundred probably, and they did not complete
the building till the summer sun of 1770, that witnessed the
Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia, reached the
Spanish village beyond the great river of the AVest. In that
year Father Bernard was appointed parish priest of St. Louis.'

In 1773 Father Hilary, apparently the one who had strug-
gled with Father Dagobert for supremacy at New Orleans,
was stationed by Father Cyril, the Vicar-General, at St. Gene-
vieve, which was attended first by the Jesuit Fathers Wattrin,
Salleneuve, and Lamorinie, till the authorities at New Orleans
tore them away, then by Meurin, and lastly by the stout priest
of the West, Rev. Peter Gibault. Father Hilary buried his
ambition in this remote parish till 1777, when he left it once
more to the care of Gibault. The first church was erected
on the original site of the village, " Le gra^d champ," a beau-
tiful prairie three miles south of the present city, and when
that location was abandoned in 1785 in consequence of a dev-
astating inuntlation of the mighty river, the church was re-
moved to the present town.'

The Rev. Mr. Gibault relinquished the care of St. Gene-
vieve to Rev. Louis Guignes, whose name appears from 1786
to 1789, when the Carmehte Father Paul de St. Pierre took

charge.*

Father Cyril placed the Capuchin Father Luis de Quinta-

' Rev. D. J. Doherty, " Address -n the Centenary of the Cathedral
Church of 8t. Louis, Mo.," St. Loui.-*, ISlo, p. 6.

Mlozier, "An Addnw— l.Wth Celebration of the Founding of Ste.
Genevieve," St. Louis, 1H85, pp. 10-11.

» " Address of Hon. Firmin A. Rozier," St. Louis, 1885, p. 11.

• ii

, r

' ■'Ti'iBSE'iifeeWBi^i>^&KK

II'

■ 'kif

546 LIf'E OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

nilla at Pointe Coupee, where be exercised the ministry for

Bcveral years.' , . , t. .i k i

Iberville also had its church of St. Gabriel, lather Augel
de Ilevillagodos opening the llegister on the 24th of April,
1773 The ground for the church was given by the bpainsli
government, and the edifice, though twice removed, has been
repaired but once, and stands on cypress foundations st.ll as
good as when first laid.

The bell given by the Spanish King at the same time, bears
the title of "Santa Maria della Merced-ITGS." In h.8
Father Valentine became i)arish priest, succeeded February
25 1781 by Father Joseph de Arazena, C^ipuchin, who had
charge also of the church of St. Bernard at Manchac, where
emigrants from the Canary Islands had formed the settlement

of Galveston." , , t>. i e
The coming of Father Cyril in the name of the Bishop of
Santiago de Cuba, was hailed with delight by the llrsuhne
Nuns, who were thus brought into relation with a Superior to
whom they could expose their wants and trials. They re-
ceived two voung la.lies sent from Havana, whose progress
and happy life were a proof of tlie high character of the
romnumity. Father (\vril was appointed Director, and tlie
Bisliop soon authorized the nuns to give the veil to three
postulants.'

Fathor Valentin- wan Ibon' in 1775-7; KatluT IM.ry 1 . .H-8C, . tl.. I)o
,nini.an F. L. Orunu.au. 178,-3 ; T^'V. Mr. G.-m„.,n for a tun. ... 1 .H.i.
when Father QuinUu.illa rcsuinr.l a.id eont.nuc<l to 1 .Hi.

t Repst<-rsof St. (^.ahri.l .ll....rvilk. an.i St. H..r..anl do Ma,.cha.. a.ul
V J f. 11 an,l intoroHti... note, of liev. .1. M. Laval. Tlu- pnu. o 1. 1 ...

. i,, ", of BiHhop of Cuba to Ursulines. Octolx,-r 1. 1 . .3 . (XtolxT 13.
177H

AN AUXILIARY BISHOP.

547

linistry for

tlier Angel
li of April,
he Spiuiisii
!(1, has been
tions still as

; time, bears
" In 1778
d February
in, who had
eliac, where
e settlement

le Bishop of
he Ursuline
I Superior to
^. They re-
lose progress
•acter of the
:^tor, and the
veil to three

J. P. Gutton ;
•7H_H0 ; tin- Do-
lt time in 17S:(,

Ic Manchiu-, and
• frnvnl of 1(11.73
lie I'liilt (I Stales
!," WiisliiiiKlon,

:r.i , October 18,

The Bishop of Santiago de Cuba soon found that he could
■do little in the vast province recently placed under his care,
but he encouraged his Vicar to persevere, and that religious,
unsupported by the civil authority, and loaded with mis-
representation and calumny by the adherents of the priests
at New Orleans, whose irregularities he could only correct
in their worst external manifestations, was able to effect
.greater good in the parishes.'

The King of Spain, tindiiig that tue Sacrament of Confir-
mation had never been administered in Louisiana, and that
visitations of that extensive province by the Bishops of San-
tia<'o de Cuba could not be depended upon, resolved in the
Council of the Indies, July 10, 1779, to apply to the Holy
See to give the Superior of the missions in Louisiana the
power to confer that sacrament for the period of twenty

years."

This application does not seem to have been urged or
granted, and a more definite plan for the restoration of disci-
pliuo in Louisiana was proposed. This was the appointment
of an auxiliary bishop, wlio, instead of residing as heretofore
at St. 1 uirnstine, should take up his abode in New Orleans,
and thence visit the missions on tlie Mississippi, as well as
Mobile, PensacoUi, and St. Augustine.

The Sovereign Pontiff favored this plan, and appointed
Father Cyril de Barcelona Bishop of Tricali and Auxiliar of
Santiago de (^iba. He was consecrated in 1781 and pro-
cee<led to New Orleans, which thus, for the first time, en-
joyed the pn sence of a Bishop. The whole of the province
of Louisiana with the Floridas. which had been in great part

' Letter of Bistiop Echevorrin.

» Jo-scpli de Giilvez to the Bishop of Santiago <le Cuba, August 15,
1779.

M8 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

recovered by Don Bernardo Galvez, formed the portion of
the diocese placed under his care.

The state of the Church in Louisiana about the year 1785
may be gleaned from the ofKcial accounts. The church at
New Orleans had a parish priest and four assistants ; and
there was a parish priest at each of the following points:
Terre aux BceutV, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist or Bonnet
Carre, St. James, Ascension, St. Gabriel's at Il,erville, Pomte
Coupee, Attakapas, Opclousas, Natchitoches, Natchez, St.
Ixjuis, St. Genevieve, and St. Bernard's at Manchac or Gal-
veston.

On the 25th of November, 1785, Bishop Cyril appointed

JufC/^ C^'^^^'^'^

BIONATrKE OF RT. REV. CTRIl-
TRICAl-y, ADXILIAH OK

UE BARCELONA, BISHOP OF
SANTIAGO DE CUBA.

^ parish priest of New Orleans Feather Antonio Sedella, one
of six Spanish Capuchins who had come to the colony in
1770, but who was destined to become the scourge of religion
i„ iJ.uisiana. To increase his power Father Sedella soon
afterwanl solicited an apiv)intment as Commissary of the
Holy Office, and was in consetiucnce sent to Spain by Gov-
ernor Miro in 17S7. He returned, however, and resumed
his functions, seeking thenceforward to ingratiate himself
with the people.' It is also stated officially that he was sent

' Miro, Despatch, June 3, 1789, In GRyivrn-. " Louisiunu." i)p. 270-1.

!Vi

BISHOP CYEWS VISITATION.

649

portion of

year 1785
cliurch at
;ant8 ; and
ig points :
or Bonnet
ille, Pointe
atchez, St.
lac or Gal-

l appointed

[A, BISHOP or

CUBA.

Sedella, one
e colony in
e of religion
^edclla soon
wary of the
Kiln !>y Oov-
ind resntnt'd
iate liinisi'lf
t, he was sent

I," pp. 270-1.

to Spain for having killed a man in a quarrel concerning a
woman, but estiaped punishment by a lavish use of '.noney.'

This same year a number of the unfortunate Acadians
came at the expense of the King of France and settled near
Plaquemines, Terre aux Eoeufs, Bayou Lafourche, Attakapas,
and Opelousjvs, increasing the former industrious and thriving
Acadian colonies. They bore with them the precious Regis-
ters of St. Charles aux Mines in Acadia, extending from 1()89
to 1749, only six years before their cruel deportation. These
tliey deposited for safe keeping with the priest of St. Gabriel
at Iberville, where they are to this day.

A salary of three thousand dollars was assigned to the
Bishop Auxiliary, and as he was required to make a visita-
tion extending to Mobile and Florida, a special allowance of
$4,000 was also made.'

We find him visiting, October 16, 1785, the parish of St,
Jacques de Cabahannoco, founded by Acadians in 1779, the
Capuchin Father Prosper being the first pastor, and James
Cantrclle the great benefactor. The pious and devoted men
of this part showed their zeal for religion by frequent dona-
tions of plate and necessary articles for the altar. Bishop
Cyril at his visitation installed Father Francis Arzuquega as
paii.sh pt-iest.'

Bishop ' ,vr"' on his visitation was on the 13th to 14th De-
cember, 17< '-. at Bonnet Carre, where the Spanish govern-
ment ( 1 770-r») had given a site, four arpents by eighty, for the
erection of the churclt of St. JoixL the Baptist, the Capuchin

' Codici- IV. Canada-lsthmo ■!.' i-. nama, .818-i8-J0; Archives of the
Propaganda.

•' Lrtter of Don Joseph de Galvt-., to the Bishop of Cuba, September
17, 1785.

» de Senneffy, " St. Michel du C'omte d'Acadio," Nouvelle Orleans,
1877. pp. 31-28.

R50 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Fathor IWimhas being tl.o first i.u'u.ubei.t (August IT., 1772,
August 24, 1784). He direotea the KegisterH l.eretofore
kept in Frencli to be written in all cases in Spanish.'

We find hi.n next at St. (iabriers at Iberville, with his
Seeretarv, Ignatius Ant. Domenech, on tho 2(>th cf Decem-
ber. That church, after being under the Prenionstratcnsian
canon Morel d'llernieville, from August 31, 1783, to April
27, 1785, had received as its pastor Father Bernardo de Deva,
September 25, 1785, who was in charge also of what prom-
ised to be the larger parish of St. Bernard at Galveston.'

At Pointe (A)upee, Father Luis de Quintanilla, Capuchnv
had been parish priest (December 14, 1783, to February 4,
171)1), followed by Father Bernard de Limi>ach (March 27„
1701-1700); the latter dying suddenly was buried by Kev.
f Mi'arles Ihirke, parish priest of Baton Uouge. The Kev. Mr.
(Jerbov then became parish priest, succeeded by Rev. Francis
Lennan, who had been pastor at Natchez, and still attended
it occasionallv, at.d temporarily in 1800 by the Carmelite
Father Paul de St. Pierro, wlu.m we have seen m Kentucky,
Illinois, and Missouri.'

' F.xtriuts from tho Ropistcr of St Jean Buptisle. Bonnet Carre, due t(v
the kindness of Rev. .F. M. Uavoire.

« Thene ohunhes were iitlen.h'.l after F. D-'va's last entry, April 28
178S bv Father .loseph Anthony Dias ,le Maeeda. >'"y -'4, 17^. April
lo iTsi» F H. n.anl .!.■ Lin.paeh. February 24, 1790. Mareh .51. 1 .91 ;
R Bonav..n.nra de Cas.ro, .fane 12. 1791, Au,m.s, 11, 1799 N..tes from
Rcpster. hv Bev. .T. M. Laval. F. Deva died .June 9. \m\. ajred 80.

> Not.-s from R.Kist.r of Pointe Coup.V by Bev. J. P. Gutton. Father
d.. St Pi.rn. wa.s a (J.r.nan. a memhiT of the Carnielite or.ler, and had
,H..n ehaplain in Bu..han,b..auV arn.y. Affr aetinir as adminiBtrator at
St (jHbri.-l at IlM.rvilie, h.- wa« parish pri.-st fron. 1804 to his .l.ath Octo
U.r 1.-. lH2tt at tl... ap- of SI. He w>i.s infrn.! by B.v Anthony Blanc
K.V Mr. Laval savs of hin. : " Fath.T d. St. I'i.m. was .rrtainly one of
the mo.t n-markal.l.- priests th.t ev.-r u.l.ninist.n..! St. (Jabr.e s church.
During his time the ehureh was removed fro.n it.s former place on the

ist 10,1772,
< liiTetofore
ish.'

Ik', with his
I of Deceni-
lUBtratcnBiiin
8;?, to April
rdode Deva,

viiat i)roin-
Ivestoii.'
a, Capuchin^

Fc'hriiary 4,
1 (March 27^
ried by Ut'V.
rhi' llev. Mr.
Rov. Francis
still attended
lie CartiU'lite
in Kentucky,.

ST. AUOUSTINK

551

let Carre, due to

entry, April 28,
i-24, 17HH, April
Miirth :n, 1791 ;
rilil ; Notes from
820, ufred 80.
(iuttdii. Father
1 (irtlcr, and had
i iidniiiiislrator at
) his death, Oelo
Antlioiiy Hlaiic.
8 ecrtaiidy one of
(laliriel's church.
muT pliire on llie

Pensacola surrendered aftc a stubborn siege on the 8th of
May, 1781, and ('atholic service was at once restored, the
first parish priest being the Capuchin Father Peter de Velez,
of the province of Andalucia, who served for some time,
being succeeded in August, 1785, by Father Stephen de
Valoriaof the sai. : >rder.'

St. Augustine returned to Spain by the treaty of peace in
1783, but the Catholic king was already providing for the
future of Catholicity in that ancient province. As early as
1778, ('harles III., on learning that the Rev. Dr. Camps,
whose health was broken by his labors among the Minorcans,
wished to return to Europe, elected Rev. Thomas Ilassett
and Rev. Michael O'Reilly, two Irish clergymen, to proceed
to Florida as parish priest and vicar, paying their passiige,
giving them two hundred dollars to obtain clothing and nec-
essary books, and assigning each three hundred and fifty dol-
lars a year. They were to present themselves to the P>ishop
of Santiago de Cuba to obtain faculties, and proper instal-
lation.'

This care of the Spanish king contrasts favorably with
that of the French court, which seems to have done nothing
for its former subjects who passed under the English sway,
not even after the American Revolution made it easy to pro-
vide for the Indians in Maine and whites and Indians in the
"West. Irish clergymen trained in Spain were selected, as
they could attend the Spaniards and at the same time labor
among the English-speaking population.

The two Irish priests embarked at Cadiz, but delays were

bank of the Mississippi to where it stands now, the river having swept
away the bank in front of it in 1817."

' LJbro primo de Asiento de partidas de difuntos de esta yglesia Par-
roq' de San Miguel de Pan/.iieolu.

' .Joseph de Galvez to the Bishop of Cuba, Madrid, December 16, 1778.

■v ■

lly,fl

\'l

■m

¥W

552 h^^^ OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

caused by shipwreck and by the war, and it was ascortained
that the Minorcans were at St. Augustine, and Ilev. Dr.
Camps still ministering to them. Ilev. Mr. IlaKHott was in-
vited to take charge of a Catholic school at Phil .Iphia, but
the close of the war and the cession of Flor la • *^imin
changed the whole condition of affairs. The Kev. .\».-ser8.
Hassett and O'Keilly were ordered to proceed to St. Augus-
tine with the Spanish troops dispatched in 17HI «(> take pos-
eession and act as parish priest and vicar of the MinorcaTis.'

IloN.il orders, however, had to conform to canon law.
Rev. Dr. Camps was parish priest of Sau Pedro do M -sqnito,

BIONATHKE OF VKUY HKV. TIIOMAH nABSKTT. I'AllIHH PIUERT OF
BT. AXOfSTINK, CANON OK NKW OllLEANH, ADMINIHTKATOU OF
THE DIOCEi<K.

not of St. Augustine, and if Rev. Mr. llassett took charge of
thi^Cilholics in the latter city, it would be as parish priest
of tie «)!cient parish, the office actually conferre.i on him by
the liisliop. He opened the Hegisters on tlu; 1st of August,
1784, -h'ling himself neneticed Curate Vicar and Kcclesias-
tical JudgtN with Ilev. Michael O'Keilly as auxiliar, the latter
iK^^iiig also chaplain of the troops fonuing the garrison of the

fort.'

The Rev. Dr. Camps did not withdraw, but remained to

' Joseph de Galvpz \o the Bishop of Culw. Aranjuez. April 28. 1784.
« Libro primo de Iwutismos dc negroB, etc. "' Augustin.-. August 1,

1784.

ST. AUGUSTINE.

0ff8

.til

sccrtaiiu'fl
Rov. Dr.
,'tt WU8 in-
ilphia, but
to '^imin
IV. Ai<js«r8.

^t. A llgUB-

. take poH-
norcaiis.'
anon In .
Mosqiiito,

'KIEST OF
itATOll OK

{ cliarpt' of
irirth priest
on him l>y
of Anijust,
(1 Ecclesias-
r, the latter
riHon of the

■emaiiied to

>ril 28. 17«4.
DC, August 1,

core for liis old flock.' Spanislj settlers gradually catne in,
forming i ' >ngregation for the otiicial parif^li ' and his

assistant.

\ liospiial was al>" ontahlished, and as eai i ieconiber

4, 17h4, iev. Fraiui Troconis appears as clui^-iain of the
Hospital of our Lady of (Jnadalupe.

The venersihle pity once more put on a Catholic look iiml
re-echoed w. ii tiic services of our holy faith. The whole
territory of Louisiana and the two Floridas over which Bish-
op Cyril had been appointed, thus came really under his care.

The Rev. Mr. llassett found few traces > " the old Catholic

8IGNATCBE OK ItEV. MICUAKI, i> UEIl.LY.

lif I the city of Menendez. The o!)ly place for a chapel
Wit low room in the poverty-stricken house which Dr.
Campo had been able to secure as a home. The provisional
parish church had been swept away by the English; the
JVishops house had been replaced by a frail structure; the
Franciscan convent liad become the barracks.

' Kev. I>r. Camps, wlio had served his Minorcan flonk with great de-
voti'(h)('ss, not only receiving notliiiig fnmi them, liiit even aiding their
poverty friiuj his spiJiity iillowsince, iippciiled to the king in 1781, and it
w,is proposed to pi note him to a canonry in tlie island of Majorca.
I,etter of Kev. I>r. lami)s, .luly HO, IT.SO. Letter of .loseph Giilvez to
the Bishop of liantiago ilc ' iilm, March 17, 1781. Nothing, however,
was ever done. Oovenior Zespedes, in a letter to the ('o\int de Gnlvez.
December 'iTt, 17S(1, hears testimony to the merit of this good priest, to
the " Kvan!,'elical siinuli'ity and purity of life which gave him the intlu-
cncc of a true aiuwlli He had iil^n on the .'>th of .Vugust, 17S4, remon-
strated agnin-t his removal till anouier MimTcan priest of equal zeal was
sent to replace him.

^■:\

■^i.

'>.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

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Sciaices

Corporation

-^%^

33 WHT MAIN STRUT

WHSTH.N.Y. 14SM

(716) •75.4S03

,V4

f/j

654

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Rev. Mr. Hassett took possession of the building on the
site of the Bishop's house, and made the upper floor the tem-
porary parish church, inconvenient as it was to reach it by a
staircase, and ill-adapted as it was for the worship of Al-
mighty God. "What Dr. Camps had for the service of the
altar was wretched beyond description, worn out and poor.
The plate and vestments properly belonging to the church of
St. Augustine had been carried off when the English took
possession and were still retained in Cuba.

Rev. Mr. Hassett appealed to the king to erect a suitable
and becoming church, with a high altar, sacristy, pictures of
the Crucifixion and of our Lady, organ, baptismal font, vest-
ments, plate, and the various articles — banners, crosses, and
the like — to use in processions and on great holidays in order
to excite the piety of the faithful. He also asked the restora-
tion of all articles belonging to St. Auguotine which had been
removed to Cuba.

In Spanish churches, the fabrica or trustees supplied the
bread, wine, and candles, by the collections taken up during
service ; and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament
maintained the lamps. As both fabrica and confraternity
were wanting, he solicited an appropriation to cover the cost
of these articles.'

It was not, however, till February, 1786, that orders were
sent from Spain to the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba to furnish
the Church of St. Augustine with articles of absolute necessity
at once.'

The king meanwhile urged Bishop Cyril to make a visita-
tion of the Florida portion of the diocese confided to him,
and directed the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba to pay him four

' Rev. Thomas Hassett to the Governor of Florida, October 6, 1784.
' Manjuis of Souora to Bishop of Suntiiigo de Cuba, February 5, 1786.

THE FRANCISCANS.

555

or five thousand dollars to cover the expenses of a visitation
extending to Mobile and Pensacola.'

Soon after this the king ordered the sum of $3,537 and
a real and a half, the value of the plate and vestments carried
oflE in 1763 from St. Augustine, and the rents of eleven bouses
in Havana belonging to the Church of St. Augustine, to be
applied to rebuild the church, " which quantity he holds and
considers sufficient for a decent church suited to that town."
Plate and vestments were sent, and an increase of salary given

the two priests.^

One of the objects in appointing Irish priests who spoke
Spanish, was to give to Florida priests able to convert Eng-
lish-speaking settlers who chose to remain in the country.
They at once opened courses of instruction at St. Augustine,
and the Kegister shows a series of baptisms of adults, white
and colored. An official list was also forwarded to Spain.'

To carry on this work among poorer settlers on the St.
John and St. Mary Kivers, where the people had lived
without any religious instruction or guidance, Zespedes, Gov-
ernor of Florida, urged the king to establish a parish on each
river, and station two clergymen in each.*

The Franciscans of the province of Santa Eitna de la
Florida had not been indifferent to the recovery of the col-
ony. On July 3, 1784, Father Francis Roderic Capote, in
the name of the province of which he was custos and dele-
gate, petitioned the king asking that they should be put in
possession of the convent and missions which had belonged

1 Joseph de Qalvez to the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba, September 17.

1785.
1 The Marquis of Sonora to same. Madrid. December 8, 1786.

• Rev Thos. Hassett to Governor of St. Augustine, and Copia de la Re-
lacion. September 8. 1786. It gives thirty-seven names.

♦ Governor Zespedes to Count de Galvez. August la, 1786.

556

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

I«

to them when Florida was ceded to England. He set forth
that their convent was still standing, that the province had
been in possession of it and the Indian mission stations for a
century and a half before 1763, as appeared by the Royal Ce-
dulas in the archives of the Commissary-General of the In-
dies; and now that Florida was restored to the Crown of
Spain, they were ready and anxious to return and resume
their labors for the conversion of the Indians.'

The matter was considered by the iiing in the Council of
the Indies, and the opinions of the Bishop of Santiago de
Cuba and of the Governor of Florida were requested before
any definite action was taken.* Governor Zespedes in his re-
ply deemed it unadvisable to introduce the Franciscans again
till the country was settled by Spaniards, and a larger popu-
lation there. The rights of the Franciscans were acknowl-
edged, but as he averred, " the edifice which formerly served
them as a convent, was completely transfonned and had lost
all appearance of such a habitation for rehgious : that it was
too far from the city to allow the religious to furnish prompt-
ly to the faithful any spiritual consolation," and that in the
event of their return it would be necessary to rebuild the
convent and church and set aside a fund to support the friars
till there were faithful enough to contribute the necessary
alms ; and that four priests already there sufficed for the
wants of the people.

He represented the former Indian missions as extinct, and
proposed a plan of his own for converting the still heathen
tribes. Though some of his statements were evidently ex-
aggerated, his arguments must have prevailed, for the Fran-
ciscans were not allowed just then to revive their work in

' Petition of P. Capote, July 8, 1784.

' The king to the Bishop of Santiago db Cuba, April 9, 1786.

DIOCESE OF HAVANA ERECTED.

557

St. Augustine and occupy the convent which all the docu-
ments in this affair recognized as really belonging to them.'

In 1786 Bishop Cyril issued a pastoral urging the faithful
to attend the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the mass on
Sundays and holidays with due respect and devotion. He
also called attention to the too common violation of the laws
of the Church by servile works and by buying and selling on
those days. Still more severely did he censure the dances of
the negroes on Sunday afternoons during Vesper time.

Governor Miro in his Bando de Gobierno or Proclamation,
on assuming office, supported the Bishop by announcing that
he would carry out the Bishop's recommendations and en-
force a due observance of the Lord's day.'

The King of Spain, wishing to retain the Enghsh settled
at Baton Kouge and Natchez, applied to the Bishop of Sala-
manca to obtain priests from the Irish College in his episco-
pal city, who would be adapted for such places, and be able
gradually to win the people over to the Catholic faith. Those
Elected were the Rev. William Savage, a clergyman of great
repute • Kev. Michael Lamport, Rev. Gregory White, and
Rev. Constantine Makenna. The Franciscan Father Joseph
Denis, with six Fathers of his order, was also sent to Louis-
iana ' The Irish priests reached Havana in the cummer of
1787, and the labors of several can be traced during the en-

suing years.' -

In 1787 the Holy See, at the instance of the King oi

Spain divided the diocese of Santiago de Cuba and erected

the new bishopric of St. Christopher of Havana, Lomsiana,

1 Letter of Governor Zespedes, September 1, 1786. ^, ^ .

« Gayarr6, " History of Louisiana, Spanish Domination,' New York.

» Bishop of Cuba to Esteban Miro, July 4, July 21, 1787.

668

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

and the Floridas. The Right Rev. Joseph de Trespalacios,
then Bishop of Porto Rico, became the first bishop of the
new diocese, and the Right Rev. Cyril de Barcelona became
his auxiliar, charged with the care of the continental portion
of the district confided to him.*

The change was therefore but in name in Louisiana and
Florida, which thus became part of the diocese, briefly termed
that of Havana. The new bishop was apparently not pleased
with the auxiliary thus assigned to him, and refused him his
salary. This detained Bishop Cyril for a time in Havana
till an order of the king directed the payment of his arrears,
and required him to return to the provinces placed under his
care.

On the 11th of April, 1Y88, a lot of land lying near the
fort at Natchez was purchased from Stephen Minor as the
site of a church. The plot contained 300 arpents, equal to
some 180 acres, the consideration being $2,000. According
to Right Rev. Bishop Janssens, this property was tetween
the present Franklin, Rankin, State, and Wall Streets. A
frame house, forty feet by fifty, including the verandas, and
containing five rooms and a wide hall, was erected as a home
for the clergyman of the place. According to tradition this
house stood on the Court House Square and was the only
one on the hili. Orders were given also for the erection of
a suitable church. This shrine of religion was a two-story
frame building, and stood on Centre Street, over the spot
now familiarly known as the " Centre of Natchez." *

One of the Irish priests from Salamanca was stationed

' Gams, " Series Episcoporum," Ratisbonne, 1878, p. 152.

• Ripht Rev. Francis Janssens, D.D., " Sketch of the Catholic Church
in the City of Natchez, Miss., on the occasion of the Consecration of its
Cathedral, September 19, 1886"; Natchez, 1886, pp. 18, 14.

NATCHEZ.

559

here, but the records are not extant. The earliest incumbent
of the parish under the Spanish sway, of whom we find any
trace, was the Rev. Francis Lennan.'

Another church was erected at Coles Creek, called in
Spanish Villa Gayoso.'

Most of the people at Natchez were Protestants, many of
them Americans who sided with England ; but the historian
of Mississippi says : " No attempt was made to proselyte or
proscribe them, nor was there ever any official interference,
unless the parties in their zeal, or under indiscreet advisers,
became offensively demonstrative. There was, in fact, more
religious freedom and toleration for Protestants in the Nat-
chez district than Catholics and dissenters f ro;a the ruling
denomination enjoyed in either Old or New England."

The territory east of the Mississippi, held by Spain under
the title of conquest and a treaty with England, was, how-
ever, claimed by Georgia, and that State made grants of the
very ground occupied by the Spanish forts. Trouble seemed
80 imminent that Spain, by the treaty of October 27, 1795,
abandoned her claim to all territory north of the 31st degree
from the Mississippi to the Chattahoochee.'

The Spanish garrison loft Natchez on the 29th of March,
1798, and the fort at Nogales, now Yicksburg, was soon
afterward vacated.*

The churches at Natchez and Coles Creek were left in the

' John Ilarrisson to Rev. Francis Lennan, Pastor of the Natchez
church, November 24, 1794.

■' Bishop Pefialver to Bishop Carroll, New Orleans, April 12, 1799.

» Claiborne, " Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State," Jack-
son 1880. pp. 130-7, 159. A minister named McCloud by preaching to
the people to prepare for a terrible persecution is probably alluded to by
Claiborne.

« Claiborne, '• Mississippi," pp. 195, 208.

, "( n

5^ LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

care of Mr. Joseph Vidal, the Spanish ConBul, " in order,"
"rl Bishop Penalver, "that they may be occupied for
Tine service, should a community of Cathohcs be form^
thel^^a'd thJt by this means the House of God may not be

^"on"Gold Friday, March 21, 1788, New Orleans was swept
by a terrible conflagration in which nearly mne hund^
buildings were totally destroyed. The parish church which
wJa bHck structure dating back to 1725, with the a^<.nmg
convent of the Capuchin Fathers, the house of Bishop Cynl,
andl Spanish Lhool, were among the edifices reduced to

"Amid the general desolation of New Orleans after this
disaster, one man stands prominent for his public spirit and
J,n ros ty. This man was Don Andres Almonaster y Roxas,
fn AndaLan, member of the ^^^bildo and Alferez M^
He at once offered a small building for the Spamsh school,
fnd later in the year he offered to rebuild the church wi^^
house beside it for the use of the c^rgy, and -c^^^ hou^
for public offices. For his outlay he was to be reimbursed
in due time.' His generous offer wa. accepted.

The comer-stone of the new church was laid in the ollow-
ing year ; ' but the work proceeded so slowly that at the be-
2Ing of 1794 the edifice, which should have been com-
^leted'in the previous August, was still without a roof or
Ly of the work necessary to complete the ^f^-'-f^^
Andres had, however, received, at the time fixed for the
fompletion, a cedula conferring on him the honors and nghta

1 Bishop PeflaWcr to Bishop Carroll.

. Gaya^. " HlBtory of Louisiana. Spanish Domination.' New York,
1854 pp. 203, 205, 271.
» aovemor Miro's Despatch, June 8, 1789 ; lb., p. 271.

FLORIDA.

561

of the Royal Patronage.' The church was, however, com-
pleted before the close of the year, and narrowly escaped de-
struction in a second conflagration which desolated the city
on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, 1194."

Soon after the fire of 1Y88,' Bishop Cyril de Barcelona
retired to Havana, and in the autumn crossed to Florida,
where he made a formal visitation of the Church of St. Au-
gustine on the 17th of September. His entries in the Regis-
ters show that he found all the services of religion conducted
with edifying regularity. He made, however, one change,
which seems strange to those who are not fully aware of the
complete State control of the Church at that time. Rev.
Mr. Hassett and his assistant had made the entries in the
Registers in Latin, the language of the Church, but Bishop
Cyril here, as in Louisiana, placed on the Register his direc-
tion that they should henceforward be kept in Spanish, and
he gave the official form for Baptism, Marriage, and Inter-
ment.*

As a result of this visit and the Bishop's report steps were
taken to establish chapels on St. Mary's River and St. John's
River, and in 1789 two Franciscan Fathers of the Observance
were sent out to serve in those districts.*

' Baron de Carondelet to Duke de la Alcudia, January 18, 1794, in
Smith, " Coleccion de Varios Documentos," Madrid, 1857, pp. 36-7.

' Gayarre, " History of Louisiana," pp. 271, 386. Don Andres Almo-
naster y Roxas died at New Orleans, April 26, 1798, and was interred in
the church he erected. His remains lie in the present cathedral, a large
marble slab recording his services.

» Governor Miro, Despatch, April 1, 1788, cited by Gayarre, " History
of Louisiana, Spanish Domination," New York, 1854, p. 203. There
were before the fire eight French schools with about 400 pupils.

* Auto del Obispo de Tricali in Register of St. Augustine, September
17, 1788.

» Marquis de Bajamar to Bishop of Havana, Aranjuez, May 21, 1791.
24*

' i

, t.

1 tJ

* If

562 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Bishop Cyril continued the care of his portion of the die

and no offleial '^""'"'^ ' j^^ provided than

laborion. and -P--;''^.,,^:7;, ^bad tid'e d'in St. Angu.
r Xl'oTrCaTU and .. «a,ajied e,.^en
T' j-!!\n him He addresied the Wng from New Or-
r I the m of September, 1789, a.Wng, for the «l.e
7:. irto t Placed'in a more worth, condition a. that
°tv hefive OapnchinB at the pari* chnreh hemg reqmred
t"th t and the missions, and seldom hemg ah e to help h,m
celebrate a pontifical mass according to the ntnal.

On 1 Wth of May, IWO, died a. St. A"."*-!^

t .i.tv the Rev Dr. Peter Camps, so long the devotea

age of sixty, the l^e^ . l.- Mercadel, Minorca,

^ ' f the ei'tv amid the tears of his bereaved disciples,
cemetery of the e J, """O . „^ ^„,„ved to the

oS?. 1 ;» « -fflcfal act ^styles himself. Dr. Camps'

"Tnt CWeTlV. of Spain, on the 31st of May, 1189,
King Llmrles iv. u t , plantation

..^ued a royal dee.ee ro^r^ZZo^ Against this the
there should be a chaplain for the negroes, iig

. Bl«hop of Tricali to the King. New Orleans. September 12. 1789.
. Eutl 86 and 222 in Parish Register of St. Augustine.

FLORIDA.

563

le dio-
iguity
ad not
jrders,
more
i than

^UgU8-

gymen
ew Or-
tie sake
at that
equired
elp him

2 at the
devoted
!»Iinorca,
. Forti-
Bo often
reer, and
n, in the
disciples,
ed to the
tenth an-
Michael
p. Camps'

ay, 1789,
plantation
ist this the

12. 1789.

authorities in Louisiana remonstrated, urging its impossibil-
ity, as there were not priests even for all the parish churches.'

In 1791 Bishop Cyril made a visitation at Peusacola, where
Father Stephen de Valorio was still in charge of the parish.'

This same year the Observantines were recalled from Flor-
ida, and three Irish priests, Rev. Mark Barry, Rev. Michael
Crosby, and the Carmelite Father Michael Wallis, proceeded
to St. Augustine. Two of these, whom the Bishop should
select, were to reside at the chapels to be erected on the St.
John's and St. Mary's Rivers.' At the same time, the Rev.
Narcissus Font, a Conventual Franciscan, native of Villanu-
eva y Gertru in Catalonia, came over to succeed Rev. Dr.
Camps in the care of the Minorcans, closing his short but
edifying career by a pious death on the 13th of January,
1793.*

t:'C

^t^s^

'aj/'

BIGNATURE OF BEV. MICHAEL CUOSBY.

The priests assigned to these new charges were to receive
thirty dollars a month, and all priests in Florida were warned
against exacting onerous fees from the faithful.

' Gayarre, " History of Louisiana, Spanish Domination," pp. 301-2.

' Register of San Miguel de Panzacola.

' Marquis of Bajamar to Bishop of Havana, May 21, 1791.

< Father Font was interred in tlie cemetery with Father Camps, and his
body removed to tlie churcli witli the remains of that priest, '.:■ the
work of restoring the Church of ht. Augustine after the fire of i 87, the
vault containing tliem was found. Entry of Rev. Mr. Hassett in Register
of St. Augustine, No. 132, January 13, 1793 ; of Rev. M. O'Reilly in
same. 222,' May 27. 1800.

r.u;

4—

- >ii

5e4 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The Ureuline Community at New Orleans sustained a series
of losses about the time when France was deprived of her
power on the American Continent. Sister Mary Turpm of
St Martha, tl.e Illinois member, died in 1761 ; Mother Char-
lotte Herbert of St. Xavier, Mother Renata Guiquel of St.
Mary, one of the foundresses, and Mother Frances Margaret
Bernard de St. Martin died in 1762-3, followed soon after by
Mother Mary Jane of St. Mark, and Mother Mary CaiUaux
de Beaumont. Mother Anne le Boulanger, another of the
foundresses, died in June, 1766, at the age of 81.

While the war with England lasted, the Ursulines could, of
course, expect no new members from the convents of France,
and the restoration of peace brought the stunning mtelli-
gence that Louisiana had been ceded to Spain. That country
did not for some years enter into full control, and, a^ we have
seen, religion languished. When Father Cyril de Barcelona
came as delegate of the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba, the
Ursulines hoped that the sufferings endured for years would
end; but intercourse with France became difficult, and the
Sisters, unable any longer to supply members to co«t'«»«;"
charge of the hospital, withdrew from it January 1, 1770
and confined themselves to the care of their Academy, full of
confidence that God would not abandon so ancient an institu-
tion, and one so important to the colony. This was their
constant and fervent prayer.

In 1774 the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba, seeing the con-
dition of the Ursulines, their decline in numbers, their pover-
ty and the unpromising prospect before them, proposed to
the King of Spain to transfer the whole Community to Ha-
vana, where conventual buildings already existing could be
placed at their disposal, and where their Academy would be
gladly and generously supported by the wealthy, who needed
such an establishment for the education of their daughters.

THE URSU LINES.

565

Bishop Echeverria styles the Ureuline Community "the
most precious part of his flock, worthy by their institute,
their poverty, and the part they take in his pastoral care,"
causing him to regard them with the same affection that a
father does unfortunate children. "The sad condition in
which I behold them, the difficulty of finding a remedy, the
expense they entail on your Majesty's treasury, the lack of
applicants fitted to perpetuate so important an institute, the
inconvenience of employing as their directors priests who
could be 1 tter employed elsewhere, and fear of seeing their
regular observance disappear with want of means to maintain
it have caused me to think of a sure expedient, which will not
appear to me worthy of adoption, till it has been sanctioned
by your Majesty." '

Fortunately for this country, the King of Spain did not
enter into the views of the Bishop of Cuba, and Louisiana
was not deprived of its needed convent.

When some French priests were returning to Europe, the
Superior Mother St. James interested one of them. Rev. Mr.
Aubert, in the condition of the house, and forwarded by
them an appeal to the Ursulines in France.' This was placed
in the hands of Mr. Anthony Delaire, Spanish Consul at
Rochelle : and when Rev. Mr. Aubert succeeded in finding
three religious ready to go to the relief of their Sisters in
New Orleans, he applied to Count Aranda, the Spanish Min-
ister at Paris, to obtain the consent of the Catholic monarch.'

*S ti

' Right Rev. James Joseph Echeverria to the King of Spain. March
26, 1774.

» Conde dc Aranda to Conde de Floridablanca, Paris, September 3,
1784 ; Legajo, 8891.

» Same to same, Paris. September 13, 1784. enclosing letter of Aubert.
Grenoble, September 8, 1784.

M .

566 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The matter was examined at the Spanish Court, and no diffi-
culty waB raised.' The three rehgious tbns secured by the
zeal of Rev. Mr. Aubert, were Mothers St. Xavier St.
Felicitas, and St. Andrew, all professed nuns, who under-
took the voyage and arrived at New Orleans, February 17,

Meanwhile Bishop Cyril, who had become auxiliary with
control of Louisiana, had required the Commumty to re-
ceive Spanish postulants, the langtiage of all their exerc.scs
had become Spanish, and a new Sui>eriur, a Spanish lady,
Mother Monic, wa. at the head of the house She was re-
luctant to receive the nuns from France, and Bishop Cynl
was not pleased with their coming. But the three Mothers
were finally permitted to join the Community taking rank
after all the other professed in the house. Bishop Cyril re-
ferred the whole matter to the King of Spain, and a good
priest interceded so earnestly for them, that Charles IV.
considering the steps they had taken to obtain his sanction
before leaving France, allowed them to assume their prop-
er rank, although Bishop Cyril censured the Community for
acting without his permission and forbade the reception of
anv others from abroad, a regulation enforced till 1 791.

The Community had thus become Spsuiish instead ot
French, but after a time postulants bom in the colony of
French origin were received. . , , j *

The Spanish government allowed Protestants who had set-
tled in Florida during the English occupancy to remain, but
when some crt,sfied into Georgia to be married, complaints
were ma<1e, and the king issued a decree on the 30th of J^io-
vember, 1792, by which all murriages, where one or both

. Don J086 de Galvez to Condc de Florldublauca, September 21, Octo-
ber 28, 1784.

I
c

I i

RETIREMENT OF BISHOP CYRIL.

B67

parties were Protestants, were required to be celebrated be-
fore the Catholic priest. He was not, however, to pronounce
the formula " Ego conjungo vos," or give the nuptial bene-
diction ; but wus to keep a special register of these marriages.
All baptisms of infants were to be performed by the parish
priest. This Edict was extended also to Louisiana.

The decree of the King of Spain was not to carry out any
decision of the Holy See or of Bishops whose action was ap-
proved by the Pope ; it was stated expressly that he pro-
ceeded in the matter " as Protector of the Council of Trent,
and in the discharge of the eminent Patronage, which he ex-
ercises in the ecclesiastical government of these dominions,
which the Vicars, Parish priests, and others charged with the
care of souls in the provinces of Louisiana, East and West
Florida are to observe inviolably, and cause to be observed
and fulfilled by those under their care." '

The following document will give a verj' clear idea of tl
way in which ecclesiastical affairs were managed in Spanish
America. The Congregation de Propaganda Fide had no
control ; the King of Spain, under the bull of Pope Julius
IL, decided as to the erection of new dioceses and their
limits, provided for the maintenance of the bishop and
clergy, and made the episcopal nominations. The case was
then sent to Rome, and the Holy See, in most cases, ap-
proved the steps taken, created the new bishopric, and pre-
couized the bishop, issuing the necessary bulls :

" Thk King.
« Rev. Father in Christ, Don Fray Cirilo de Barcelona, of
my Council, Bishop Auxiliary of the diocese of Havana : The

i;^

. Cedula iBBued San Lorenzo. 30th November, 1792, ba.M on letter of
Governor of Florida, April 20, 1792.

[■■■' 'i

^'fl

668 I^IPE Oi^ ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Eeverend Bishop thereof having under date of December
22d, in the year 1Y91, represented to me tlie deplorable state
of religion and ecclesiastical discipHne in the province of
Louisiana, excited the compassion of my royal mind, and in-
duced me to deliberate on the most efficacious means to
remedy it : with this view I directed the privy council of
the Indies, by my royal order of April 23d, in the year last
past, to give mo their opinion whether it would be proper
to separate that province and Florida from his diocese, and
establish a bishop in them ; and having done so in the con-
sultation of October 22d in the same year, I saw fit to re-
solve, in conformity with their opinion, that the correspond-
ent Brief should be solicited therefor. His Holiness having
agreed thereto, and expedited the consistorial decree for the
deraembering of said provinces, and a new erection of a
bishopric in them, under date of April 25th in this year, and
the corresponding step having been taken on the 26th of
June following by my privy Council, I have resolved also to
relieve you of your office of auxiliary ; and direct you to re-
turn immediately to your Capuchin province of Catalonia,
with the salary of one thousand dollars a year, which the said
reverend Bishop of this diocese has to contribute to you for
the days of your life, in order that you may live with the
decency and moderate style, which becomes your character of
Auxiliary, your state and profession as a Religious Capuchin :
for such is my will. Done at San Ix)renzo, the 23d day of
November, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.

" I, THE King.

" By order of the King,

" Antonio Vent" de Taranco."

This peremptory order terminated the administration and
residence of Bishop Cyril f Barcelona in Louisiana and

BISHOP CYRWS LATER DAYS.

569

Florida. He returned to Havana, and wi&r ■ o have re-
mained there with the Hospital Friars, a rfLj,iou8 commu-
nity, while endeavoring to obtain payment of his salary to
enable him to return to Europe in compliance with the
king's command. He seldom left the city except in the
summer heats, when he retired to tlje sugar estate of the
Fathers at Bauta.' He was still there in the year 1Y99, as
the king on the 30th of August wrote sharply rebuking
Bishop Trespalacios and ordering him to pay the $8,000 due
Bishop Cyril, and expressing his surprise and displeasure that
his repeated orders had been disregarded.

When and where this unfortunate bishop died, I have not
been able to learn. His efforts to reform abuses and scan-
dals drew on him ill-will in Louisiana, and modern writers,
palliating the prevailing laxity of discipline and morals, have
presented Bishop Cyril in an odious light, although there is
not the slightest evidence of any facts to justify their as-
sertions.' That in the end his administration did not please
Bishop Trespalacios and King Charles IV. is evident from
the order given above, and the harsh banishment to his
province.

' The Fathers preserved in the Sacristy of their Church of Belen the
portrait of this first resident hishop in Louisiana. When the church and
convent passed out of their hands this painting was removed to the old
Hall of Conferences in the University, where Seiior Bachiller y Morales
recollects seeing it habitually when he was Dean of Philosophy. Unfor-
tunately it has now disappeared, and efforts to trace it have proved
fruitless.

» Catholics are often reproached with the lax morality of the Church
at one point or another. Yet those who make the charges, as in this
Ciwe, extol the unworthy priests and condemn the Bishops who endeavor
to reform the clergy and expel unworthy men from the sanctuary. With
utter shamelessness writers apply the epithet "good" to the licentious
Dagobert and Scdella, living openly in concubinage, and stigmatize
Bishop ("yril, a man of spotless life, as ambitioiis, " detested," " the bit-
ter enemy and heartless reviler of good Father Dagobert."

■bT"

570 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Though libertines ia his time and some historians since
have depicted the bishop in harsh colors, the eminent and
impartial historian, Antonio BachiUer y Morales, attests that
he had the reputation of leading a life of hoUness ai sim-
plicity, enjoying especially the calm solitude of the country.'

DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA AND THE FLORIDAS.

Notwithstanding the efforts of Bishop Cyril de Barcelona,
religion had made but little progress in Louisiana, and, on
the application already given from the King of Spam, Pope
Pius VL, on the 25th of April, 1793, issued a bull in winch
after citing the erection of the see of St. Christopher of Ha^
vana and the fact that it was impossible for the bishops of
that see to watch over the spiritual interests of Lomsiana
and Florida, which had been made subject to them, he pro-
ceeded to give as a reason for the formation of those prov-
inces into a separate diocese, the « miserable state of religion
and ecclesiastical discipline in them."

The bull placed the diocese under a bishop who was to re-
Bide at New Orieans, and who was to have a chapter consist-
ing of two canons. Their salaries and the pension allowed
to Bishop Cyril were to be paid from a fund contributed
annually in specified proportions by the dioceses of Havana,
Mechoacan, Tlascala, Mexico, and Venezuela.

The diocese thus created was bounded on the north and

- with tu. erection of the dl,.cose of Louisiana and the Florida ended
thoTuriKdictionof BiKhop Trespalaciosy Verdeja^ / «"J, "^ *^ ° ^JJ'
rdatiuK esiKHially to Florida or Louisiana. An edict o M«^^h ;? 1798
onleS he following to Ik; inserted in the I.itany of Saint. : ' Lt Ga los
int r« ncue Eccfesim. regiaxiue poU-staUs. et eorum rehelles cona^s.
IrimTrc. humiliare e. m.bju.ure digneris To ^<'g''7^»f ' "^•..
TOHW.u,protol.ly so recited in Florida. BachiUer y Morales, ' Apuntcs.

Havana, 1859. lii.. p. 129.

DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA, ETC.

671

east by that of Baltimore, and on the south and west by those
of Linares and Durango.

The Ri^ht Rev. Louis Pefialver y Cardenas, who was pre-
conized as the first Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, was a
priest of great merit and experience, and perfectly acquainted
with the condition of the flock whom he was called to direct.
He was a native of Havana, bom on the 3d of April, 1Y19,
of a noble and wealthy family, his parents being Don Diego
Penalver and Maria Louisa de Cardenas, both eminent for
their charities and zeal." Evincing at an early age a desire
to devote himself to the service of God and to renounce all
worldly advantages, he entered the Jesuit College of St. Ig-
natius in his native city, and was pursuing his course of
philosophy in that institution when the Pragmatic Sanction
of Charles III. closed all the Colleges of the Society and
drove the learned religious from his dominions. Young
Penalver then entered the University, and in 1771 received
his Doctor's cap in theology.

He was a priest of irreproachable life, compassionate to
the poor and afflicted, and as director of an Asylum, showed
skill in the direction of souls. The Bishop of Santiago de
Cuba employed him in judicial and administrative positions,
in which he became versed in all the details and difficulties
of the Church in Florida and Louisiana. When the see of
St. Christopher was erected at Havana in 1789, he was one
of the priests proposed for it, and when that diocese was
divided four years later, he was at once nominated and pre-
conized Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas.'

. They contributed largely to build the mngniflcent church connected
with the Jesuit College, and their charities were admired by the whole
city. Alegre. " Historia de la Compaflia de Jesus en Nueva Espafia,
Mexico, 1842. iii.. p. 296.

« BachiUer y Morales, Sketch of Bishop Pefialver in " Apuntes para

ii:

572 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Baron de Carondelet, on reaching Lonieiana as governor,
had beheld with sorrowful indignation the condition of re-
ligion in that province, and Bishop Cyril's unavailing efforts
at reform. His reports found scanty credence, and he looked
anxiously for the arrival of Dr. Pefialver, invested with all the
authority of a diocesan bishop. He wrote on the 19th of
January, 1794 : " I regard his coxuing to these provinces as
supreme'ly necessary, as well for the advancement of our holy
religion, as to have the testimony of a personage of this high
character to remove the doubts that have arisen as to the
spirit which prompted the report I was compelled to give
from zeal for religion, and unswayed by passion,^ and that
he may attest the strict truth on which it is based."

After receiving episcopal consecration. Bishop Penalver
proceeded to New Orieans, which was assigned as the place
of residence ; he soon after made the following report :

" Sinc3 my arrival in this town on the 17th of July (1795),
I have been studying with the keenest attention, the charac-
ter of its inhabitants, in order to regulate my ecclesiastical
government in accordance with the information which I may
obtain on this important subject.

" On the 2nd of August I began the discharge of my episco-
pal functions. I took possession without any difficulty of all the
buildings appertaining to the church, and examined all the
books, accounts, and other matters thereto relating ; but as to re-
establishing the purity of religion and reforming the morals
of the people, which are the chief objects which the Council
of Trent had in view, 1 have encountered many obstacle s.

'^^^^^^^^iZ^^^^^^^^Z^^^^ PP; fl-2- }^'^Xl

unable to find the Bull erecting the dioce«e. I iBnotinthe Bu larmm
Romanum." " BuUarium de Propaganda F«de/ nor in Herna^. ColeC"
clon de Bulas." Neither original nor copy exists at New Orleans. 1 de^
rived some facU in regard to it from a memorandum of Rev. Dr. Charles
1. White.

BISHOP PESALVER'S REPORT.

578

" The inhabitants do not listen to, or, if they do, they dis-
regard, all exhortations to maintain the Catholic faith in its
orthodoxy, and to preserve innocence of life. But without
ceasing to pray the Father of all mercies to send his light into
the darkness which surrounds these people, I am putting into
operation human means to remedy these evils, and I will sub-
mit to your Excellency those which I deem conducive to the
interests of religion and of the State.

" Because his Majesty tolerates Protestants here, for sound
reasons of state, bad Catholics, whose numbers are great in
this colony, think that they are authorized to live without
any religion at all. Many adults die without havhig re-
ceived the last sacraments. Out of the eleven thousand souls
composing this parish, scarcely three or four hundred com-
ply with the obligation of receiving the Holy Eucharist at
least once a year. Of the regiment of Louisiana there are
not above thirty, including officers and soldiers, who have
fulfilled this sacred duty for the last three years. Not more
than a quarter of the population of the town ever hear mass,
and then only on Sundays and great holidays which peremp-
torily demand it. To do so on other hohdays they deem an
act of supererogation to which they are not bound. Most of
the men, married and unmarried, live in a state of concubi-
nage, and there are fathers who procure mistresses for their
Bons to divert them from marrying. Universal custom, ad-
mitting of very rare exceptions, prevents slaves from enter-
ing the marriage state. Fasting on Fridays in Lent, on vigils
and ember days, is a thing unknown: and there are other
evil practices which show how little religion exists here
among the inhabitants, and which demonstrate that there re-
mains in their bosoms but a slight spark of the faith infused
into them at the baptismal font.

« I presume that a large portion of these people are vassals

■f i

tail

674 I^IPE O^ ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

of the king, because they live in his domain, and accept his
favors. But I must speak the truth. His Majesty possesses
their bodies, and not their souls. Rebellion is in their hearts,
and their minds are imbued with the maxims of democracy;
and had they not for their chief, a man as active and ener-
getic as the present governor, there would long since have
been an eruption of the pent-up volcano ; and should another
less sagacious chief ever forget the fermenting elements
which are at work under ground, there can be no doubt but
that there would be an explosion.

" Their houses are full of books written against religion and
the State. They are permitted to read them with impunity,
and at the dinner-table they make use of the most shameful,
lascivious, and sacrilegious songs.

" This melancholy sketch of the religious and moral customs
and condition of the flock which has fallen to my lot, will
make you understand the cause of whatever act of scandal
may suddenly break out, which, however, I shall strive to
prevent ; and the better so to do, I have used and am still
using some means, which I intend as remedies, and which I
am going to communicate to your Excellency.

" The Spanish school which has been established here at
the expense of the crown, is kept as it ought to be ; but as
there are others which are French, and of which one alone is
opened bv authority, and with the regular license, and as I
was ignorant of the faith professed by the teachers and of
their morality, I have prescribed for them such regulations
as are in conformiW with the provisions of our legislation.

" Excellent results are obtained from the convent of the
Ursulines, in which a good many girls are educated ; but
their inclinations are so decidedly French, that they have
even refused to admit among them Spanish women who
wished to Income nuns, so long as these applicants should

EIS ''INSTF .''ION."

575

remain ignorant of the French idiom, and they have shed
many tears on account of their being obliged to read their
spiritual exercises in Spanish books, and to comply with the
other duties of their community in the manner prescribed to

them.

" This is the nursery of those future matrons who will in-
culcate on their children the principles which they here im-
bibe. The education which they receive in this institution
is the cause of their being less vicious than the other sex.
As to what the boys are taught in the Spanish school, it is
soon forgotten. Should their education be continued in a
college, they would be confirmed in their religious principles,
in the good habits given to them, and in their loyalty as
faithful vassals to the crown. But they leave the school when
still very young, and return to the houses of their parents
mostly situated in the country, where they hear neither the
name of God nor of king, but daily witness the corrupt mor-
als of their parents." ^

Soon after taking possession of his diocese, Bishop Penal-
ver, on the 21st of I^ecember, 1795, issued to the clergy
under his jurisdiction a document entitled " Instruccion para
el govienio de los Parrocos de la Diocesi de la Luisiana"—
"Instruction which we form for the government of the
Parish priests of the diocese of Louisiana," until time and
circumstances permit the celebration of a synod to regulate
ecclesiastical matters.

" 1. Since we arrived in this diocese we have not lost sight
of the spiritual good of the sheep placed under our care,
some of whom are at a distance of five hundred leagues, and
it is impossible to repair at one and the same time to all

• Bishop Peftalver, November 1, 1795, in Gayarre. " History of Louis-
iana. Spanish Domination," p. 376. I have altered the phraseology
somewhat to make it intelligible.

• «'•

ntf^

<!ffl

078

UFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

parts ; hence we direct our voice from here to the PariBh
priests by means of this Instruction, which at the same time
that it reminds them of their duties, by keeping them more
in sight, will encourage and animate all to fulfil them.

" 2. The Parish priests are the rectors, pastors, and spirit-
ual physicians of the flock of Jesus Christ, on them tlie
faithful fix their eyes, hence it is necessary that they find no
vices to stain them, and that their example as well as their
p.-eaching may excite some to penance and animate others in
the path of virtue ; with this object we warn the parish
priests of our diocese, that considering the strict account
which they will have to render of the souls confided to them,
they should live in such a manner as not to cause their ruin,
should comfort them by their words and the good odor of
their virtues, hoping with an humble confidence the reward

of their labors.

" 3. It will become them so to walk that neither their
gravity render them odious, nor undue familiarity contempt-
ible : let them visit rarely, and endeavor that in most cases
it be for the discharge of their ministry."

He then enjoined residence in their parishes, study of the
Catechism of the Council of Trent and Roman Ritual,
promptness in administering the sacraments, and visiting
the sick, to prepare them for death. He urges every priest
to visit any parishioner who has been sick for two or three
days ; to see that the royal cedula of February 11, 1671, is
carried out in making wills ; to use brotheriy correction in
the case of scandals, reporting obstinate cases to the author-
ities and the Bishop ; to observe the law in regard to mar-
ried men whose wives are living outside the parish ; to main-
tain friendly relations with the governors and commandants ;
to be watchful that the royal revenues are paid ; not to fo-
ment dissensions, but to try to prevent litigation : to recon-

S7»

/.//

Op CAIiliOLL.

tiieuL.

.a; ,.,n

from lit ) l'» tha Parish
• .n, wiiicli at t! •; ttiwie time
that it reminds tl»*Mi» id their dutiida, hy keeping thei
in hight, ■. 'irajje and animau^ all to fulfil them.

u 2. Ti '"* *'^<'' '■«<,'tur>, pastoii*, and spiiii-

nal phvsi.,us. '•* J<-^»» ^i^' ^*' «» ^'"'"' ^'*''

faithful tix th, ,: . a i« necomiry that they tt-'i no

vi<v^ U> HUin thetn, aiul li,*' their example. a» well a» « -ir
pro^'.hing may excite some u> penance and animate others m
the path of virtue ; with this ohject we wai-n the p»ri<^h
prii^ts of our diocese, that considtiring the strict account
which they will have to render of the souls coniidt.'d Uj them,
t'ley should live in Buch a manner as not to canse their ruin,
Bhould comfort tliem hy their words and the good odor of
their virtues, hoping with an humble eontidence the reward

of their la'oors.

"3. It will b<K!ome them eo to walk that neither thtu-
{gravity reoder them odious, nor undue familiarity oontempt-
ible : let them visit rarely, and endeavor that in mont cawis

f,e ^ the discharge of their miniptry."

Hv n enjoined residence in their parishes, study of the
Catech-'KUi ..f the Council ..f Tv.'v.t and H^man Kitnal,
promptness in administering the oacraments, and vifiitiag
the sick, to prepare them for death. He urges every priest
to vi«it any parishioner who has been sick for two or three
days; to «eo that the royal cednla of Februirv lU I'mI, i^
«irriHi Mui in making willfi ; to U8(nm:.thei!y coireetion in
tlio case of Si-aii.lals, reporting olmtinate eases t<, the author-
ities and the Bishol> ; to observe the law in regtmi to mar-
ried men whose wives arc living out*^'de the parish ; to main- .
tain f riomily relationu with tlie j^nv, ■: s.i .■..lauuni.!;.-,!^ ;
tob. itil that the royal revenu. - ure paid ; not to fo-.

ment dieseuBion^, but to try to prev.iut litigation ; to recou-

R^ REV. lUIS PENALVER Y CARDENAS.

BISHOP OF LOUISIAN.^ AND TH£
FLORIOAS,

HIS '^instruction:

577

cile married persons living at varia^^ce and apart ; not to
exercise the nunistry beyond the limits of his parish ; to
make an annual report of the number of the faithful as
■directed in his circular of September 3d ; to report those
failing to make their Easter duty ; to offer the mass on Sun-
days and holidays for their people ; to teach catechism and
correct vices ; not to neglect this instruction on the ground
that there are public schools. The parish priests, to the exclu-
sion of regulars whose powers are revoked, are to give the
Easter communion ; announcement of the Paschal obligation
to be made on the first Sunday of Lent, and a report of de-
linquents made after Trinity Sunday ; the parish priest is to
visit those whose sickness prevented coming to Easter com-
munion, to administer it to them. Priests carrying Holy
Communion to sick persons at a distance in the country are
to go on horseback with surplice and stole, bareheaded, the
Blessed Sacrament in a reliquary inclosed in a bag hung
around the neck by a cord, two attendants with lanterns, and
an ombrellino. They are urged to read and observe the de-
crees of the Council of Trent in regard to confessions : which
are not to be heard in private houses except in case of sick-
ness ; marriages to be celebrated in church ; those wishing to
be married to give a statement of name, age, condition,
parents, etc. ; two witnesses to be required ; permission of
parents or legal authority to be shown ; rules are given for
the case of transient persons ; for the banns ; mixed mar-
riages : and marriages between Protestants; in regard to
registers of baptisms, marriages, and interments. The 39th
forbade the practice of giving private baptism when there was
no danger of death, and required children to be brought to
the church to be baptized within eight days after birth ;
parish priests arc not to delegate powers without necessity ;
the powers of assistant priests (tenientes) are defined, mass
25

•if

678

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

to be said at convenient hours, announcements to be made,
catechism taught ; rules are given as to high mass and the
ringing of the bells ; as to the care of tabernacle, the renewal
of the host, care of vestments, sanctuary lamp, etc. The
Blessed Sacrament was to be exposed only on Corpus Christi
and its octave, Quinquagesima Sunday, and the two days fol-
lowing ; the third Sunday of every month. Twenty wax
candles were to be lighted. Vessels for holy oils to be sent
' in advance to the bishop every year. Parish priests were not
to allow questors going around with pious pictures asking
alms. Perpetual burial rights were not to be granted to any
person or family by the parish priests ; such requests were to
be referred to the bishop. Directions are given as to schools,
which were to be by license from the civil authorities, the
Ecclesiastical to decide on the qualifications of the teachers
in religion, life, and manners ; watchfulness over the schools
enjoined ; the neglect of the Indians in the upper country
and Florida is censured ; and parish priests are urged to zeal
in the matter. The right of sanctuary is regulated. The
right cf the major-domo de Fabrica to expend money for the
church is limited to |5 : over that amount the consent of the
parish priest is made necessary. Fees for burials, etc., and
legacies to the clergy are regulated. Parish priests in danger
of death were to summon the nearest parish priest to prepare
them for death and take charge of parish, church, records, etc.
Where no directions are given the Synod of the diocese of
Santiago de Cuba is to be followed.'

IMshop PeHalver began a visitation of his diocese soon
after he reached New Orleans; we find him at Il)erville,

' I am Indebted to RiRht Rev. .lohn Moore, D.D., IMshop of St. A>i-
jjustine, for two coiitemporuneous copies of thcHC Instructions. Tlicy
are printed in full, with ii trunslation, in the " U. 8. Catholic llintoricul
Maga7.ine."l., pp. 417, etc.

1*!^

REPORT ON VISITATION.

579

April 21, 1796 ; Natchitoches, November 8, 1796 ; Pensa-
cola, May 7, 1798. Unfortunately the records of his admin-
istration have all perished, and only a fev^ isolated details can
be gathered.

In 1799 Bishop Peflalver thus described the state of his
diocese :

"The emigration from the western part of the United
States and the toleration of our Government have introduced
into this colony a gang of adventurers who have no religion
and acknowledge no God, and tliey have made the morals of
our people much worse, by intercourse with them in trade.
A lodge of Freemasons has been formed in one of the sub-
urbs of the city, and counts amongst its members, officers of
the gaiTison and of the civil administration, merchantb, na-
tives, and foreigners. Their secret meetings on fixed days,
on which they perform their functions, as well as other cir-
cumstances, f^ive to this association a suspicious and criminal
appearance.

"The adventurers I speak of have scattered themselves
over the districts of Attakapas, Opelousas, Ouachita, and
Natchitoches in the vicinity of the province of Texas, in
New Spain ; they protect their houses with Indians, hold
conferences with them, and fill their minds with dangerous
ideas, in harmony with their own restless, ambitious charac-
ter, and the ties they observe with their own Western coun-
trymen, who have a custom of patting their sons on the
shoulder, when they are very stout, saying : ' You will go to
Mexico.'

" Such is the case with the upper part of the Mississippi,
with the district of Illinois and the adjacent territory, in
which there has been a remarkable introduction of those ad-
venturers, who penetrate even into New Mexico. This evil,
in my opinion, can be remedied only by not permitting the

•ll]

V A^'l

•A\

1 ;;l
i Hi

580

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

made at the points al-

slightest American settlement to

ready designated nor on any part of Red Kiver. '

"The parishes which were religiously disposed are losing
their faith and their old customs: the number of the faithful
who receive the Holy Eucharist at Easter decreases ; and the
people turn a deaf ear to the admonitions of their clergy.

"It is true that the same resistance to religion has always
manifested itself here, but never with such scandal as now
prevails The military otticers and a good many of the m-
habitants live almost publicly with colored concubines, and
they are not ashamed to carry the illegitimate issue they
have by them to be recorded in the parochial register as the.r

natural children." ' .

Bishop Penalver everywhere showed himself active m the
cause of education and industrial progress, and a liberal bene-
factor of the poor. His administration in New Orleans was,
however, so thwarted and hampered that he created no great
public institution there, as he did at Guatemala and Havana
He however, did much to extend the schools connected
with the Ursuline Convent, and enriched many churches of
his diocese with plate and vestments to give dignity to the

divine worship.'

On the 20th of Julv, 1801, Bishop Pefialver was promoted
to the archiepiscopal see of Guatemala/ When he departed

- Gayarre. " History of Louisiana. Spanish Domination," New York.

1854, pp. 4*17-9. . . , T . "Ho

» Bachiller y Morales. - Apuntes para la IHstoria de las Letras. Ha-

vana, IWO, iii.. pp. 41-9.

•Oanis "Sories Kpiwopnrum," Ilatisbonne. lfl<3, p. 1.4. Hishop
P..fiarv"r'both in L..uisiana and Guatemala took a de.p interest m educa-
Uon I d e Lore.l to extend it. He was .dso interested in all .mprove-
m "rfn .riculture, manufactures, and travelling faci .t.es. Riy-n^ -
roumKem "it to all. He e.sUU.lished schools and founded n hospital at his
own ex7n^ in Guatemala, and after he resigned th.. anhiep.seopal see.

BISHOP PORRO.

681

the administration devolved on the head of his Cathedral
chapter, the Canon Thomas Hassett. This administrator was
recognized by the clergy and by the Spanish authorities as
" Governor of the diocese."

To fill the vacant see, Father Francis Porro y Peinado, a
Franciscan of the Convent dei Santi Apostoli at Rome, was
nominated and duly appointed, but as it became apparent
that Spain would soon relinquish the province of Louisi-
ana to other hands, he was translated to the see of Tarra-

zona.'

The Spanish king had by the treaty of San Ildefonso (Oc-
tober 1, 1800), promised and engaged to retrocede Louisiana
to the French Republic, six months after the execution of
certain conditions and stipulations on the part of France, and
this prevented any active steps for the good of religion.
Without waiting for the actual transfer of the province by
Spain, Bonaparte, then iirst Consul, ceded Louisiana to the
United States by the treaty of Paris, April 30, 1803."

De Laussat, Commissioner of the French RepubUc, had
already on the 26th of March, 1803, reached New Orleans
to take possession of the province. Spain prepared to evacu-
ate the country and general confusion prevailed.

The Spanish Government, it is evident, wished to with-
draw all its own natural subjects from the province, and a
priest is said to have been sent to Terre aux Bceufs to urge

March 1 1806, he founded at Havana the Casa de Benificencia with ita
school for girls, bearing all the cost liimself. He died-at Havana, July
17 1810 and by his will bequeathed much to educational institutions and
*300 000 to the poor. Bachiller y Morales, " Apuntes," pp. 43-5. His
funeral oration was pronounced by the Dominican Father Manuel Que-
sada, Havana, 1815, 4to, 13 pp.

> Bishop Portier in Spalding's " Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 162 ; Bish-
op Bourget to Henry de Courcy, 1855 ; Gams, pp. 174-9.

• Gayarre, " History of Louisiana," New York, 1854, pp. 640-2.

,P.'

; '

582 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

the natives of the Canary Islands who had settled there to
remove to another Spanish colony. The Very Rev. Thomas
Hassett, the administrator of the diocese, was also directed to
address each priest to ascertain whether he wished to retire
with the Spanish forces or preferred to remain in Louisiana.
He was also to obtain from each parish an inventory of all
plate, vestments, and other articles in each church which had
been given by the Spanish Government, evidently ^v^th a
view to their removal. - , ^^u *

The administrator issued a circular letter about the 10th ot
June 1803. Several priests at once signitied their choice to
follow the Spanish standard; among them were Rev. Louis
Buhot, parish priest of St. Landry at Opelousas; the Recollect
Father L. Lusson, parish priest of St. Charles; Rev. Peter
Janin, parish priest of St. Louis ; Rev. James Maxwell, parish
priest of St. Genevieve.'

The administrator of the diocese of Louisiana, Rev. Tliomas
Hassett, wrote to Bishop Carroll, the only Catholic bishop
under the American flag, which was soon to be raised m

Louisiana:

"Nkw Orleans, Decemb' y" 23" 180^.

" My Lord :

"The retrocession of this province to the French Republic

having taken place the 30"' nlf'"' and the same being since ceded

to tlie U. S. of America, are circumstances that induce me to

1 Rev Louis Buhot to Very Rev. Thomas Unsselt, October 15, 1808 ;
Rev L "lussou to Bame, DcccmlKT 19, 1803 ; Rev. Peter Janin to Hanie,
December 20, 1803 ; Rev. James Maxwell to same. Similar letters were
evidently sent from other parishes. , , , ,

The cluirch at St. Charles had 6 chasubles. 4 albs, with amices and
einctures • but the parish priest did not know whether they belong.-d to
the Btatc or to the estate of the late Rev. Mr. Didier ; a ciborium certainly
•lid l>el()ng to the late Mr. Didier, and the chalice to the church at St.
Louis.

rmM

CANON HASSETT'S ACCOUNT.

583

acquaint your Lordship without loss of time and briefly as
possible, of the present Ecclesiastical state of this portion of
my jurisdiction, not doubting, but it will very soon fall under
your Lordship's.

''The ceded province consists of 21 parishes, including
this of N. Orleans, of w='' some are vacant, owing to the
scarcity of Ministers : the Irish priests enjoy 40 D' salary p'
month from the King, and the Spaniards, French, &c., 30,
besides the obventions arising from the publick acts of their
parochial functions, such as funerals, marriages, &c., and
established by tarif : the functionarys are allowed each a
dwelling house, and a few acres of land by their respective
flocks : none has a coadjutor except the parish priest of N.
Orleans who is allowed four, and enjoy 25 dollars each p
month, together with their share of obventions, which are
equally divided between the Priest and them.

" Previous to the retrocession the Spanish commissioners
have explored oflicially the wills of all those that derive from
his C. Majesty and are employed in his service : the Ecclesi-
asticks being of the number, I found on examination that
out of 20 that have been at y' time in y" Capital and province,
only four have agreed to continue in their respective stations
under French government, and whether many more than the
same number will remain under that of the U. S., God only
knows; whereas although the service of Almighty God and
the particular necessity of y" portion of his vineyard are mo-
tives y" most cogent on one hand to engage all, not only to
continue their labours here, but also to redouble 'their zeal in
the execution of their sacred functions, yet y^ Lordship well
knows that the Amor Patrice, and the King's bountey (offered
to be continued to all those that followed his collours) are al-
lureing and flattering ones on the other. As for my own
part, 1 candidly assure y' Lordship that T find myself m a

.'.IH

" 'I

584

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

a if
i ^i

most disagreeable dilemma, obliged to leave the coimtrey on
account of my weak aud declining state of health, and repair
to some other climate more suitable to my constitution, not-
withstanding the ardent desires I have of being serviceable
in my present situation, besides my place of Canon, I can-
not warrantably or with any degree of propriety relinquish
and consequently only wait for superior orders to take my
departure hence.

"The Rev'' Mr. Pat"* "Walsh Vicar-General & auxiliary
Gov^ of y" diocese, justly entitled (as he really is) to a recom-
|X!nce for his long 8er\-ices, aud unwearied zeal in the service
of God & his country, may hourly expect a competent one
from our Sovereign; but yet declares when he leaves y«
country, he will consider himself, as in a manner, torn from
it for the reasons above mentioned, aud assures that he is de-
termined not to abandon his post as long as he can with pro-
priety hold it, not being in the least influenced by motives
of interest or aggrandizement so to be.

"I forgot to mention y' y" Cathedral Church possesses
some property arising from houses thereunto appertaining.
It is a decent temi)le and decently supplyed w'" ornaments
&c., necessary for divine service. The country churches are
also on a tolerable good footing. Mr. Walsh desires to l)e most
affec'' rememb' to y' Lordship & says he will write to you by
next opp'. I have the honour to be with the highest respect.

My Lord,

" Y' Lordships most obed' humb" serv',

" E^ Rev. D"- John Carroll. . Thomas IIassett."

On the nth of April, 1804, the Very Rev. Thomas IIas-
sett gave faculties to the Rev. Peter de Zamora, who had
come to Louisiana with the Marquis de Casa Calvo, and who
had been assigned as chaplain to a Louisiana regiment on its.

DEPARTURE OF SOME URSULINES.

585

way to Pcnsacola.' It was one of his last acts. He died in
the month of April, ISO-t.

Bishop Penalver, on leaving the diocese for Guatemala, had
established Canon Hassett and the Eev. Patrick Walsh as
administrators. The latter had been in Louisiana for twelve
years, and had been constantly employed in the government
of the diocese, for which his perfect knowledge of the three
prevailing languages— French, Spanish, and Englisli— espe-
cially fitted him. His authority was disputed, however, by
Father Antonio Sedella, parish priest of New Orleans, who
claimed to be independent of him. Troubles and litigation
ensued, the unworthy priest finding many to support him.'

Rev. Mr. "Walsh withdrew the faculties from Sedella and
his pretended vicars, corrupt and scandalous priests, and es-
tablished the Convent of the Ursuline Nuns as the only place
in the parish for the administration of the sacraments and
the celebration of the Divine Offices.

"When the Spanish authorities withdrew, many of the
clergy accompanied them. The question had been mourn-
fully discussed in the quiet cloisters of the Ursuline Nuns.
The Community consisted of twenty-two choir nuns, nine of
whom were Spanish, and of five lay sisters. Some wished to
sell everything and retire with the Spanish authorities : and
a report that Mr. Laussat would seize all their property in
the name of the French Republic filled them with alarm.
Those in favor of emigrating applied to Yery Rev. Mr. Has-
sett for permission to sell ; this part of the Community com-
prised thirteen nuns, who wished the property sold and their
dowries returned to them, while only six professed a readi-

> Rev. Mr. Espinasse to Bishop Carroll, New Orleans, September 12,

1804.

■' Rev P Walsh to Marquis of Casa Calvo, April 26, 1804 ; Very Rev.
.John Olivier to Bishop Carroll, New Orleans. February 28, 1807.
25*

-tl

V I

I i

{8M)

THE VRSULINES.

587

Si
PS

ness to remain and continue the work of their institute in the
education of girls.

When Mr. Lauesat arrived, the question as to the future of
the convent was put to him. He replied : " It will remain
as it is, with all its possessions." This consoling and unex-
pected intelligence was sent by a special messenger to the
convent. When the colonial authorities met him and put
the same question formally, he replied : '' Let the nuns feel
no alarm ; they shall remain as they are," and he re(|ue3ted the
Governor and another official to assure the Ursulines of this.
Joy pervaded the convent, and throughout the city the cry
was heard : " Our nuns are going to stay." The Community
felt that their Patroness, the Blessed Virgin, had thrown her
powcful protection aroiind them.

Tlvi Prefect came in person to the convent on the 13th of
Apn' and said : " Ladies, the need which the ('olony has of
yod, the good you are doing here, the public esteem which
you enjoy and which is so justly due to you, has come to the
knowledge of the French Goveniment, which has decreed
that you shall be maintained with all your property, and as
you are. Yoxi shall be the coadjutors of government in main-
taining sound morals, ar;d the government will uphold you."
Notwithstanding this, Mother St. Mcmica and several others
declared their intention of proceeding to Havana. Mr. Laus-
sat used every persuasion to induce them to remain, assuring
them that a formal decree was on its way from France.
When the Marquis de Casa Calvo arrived they applied to
him to <'onvey them to Havana, and on the 29th of May,
Mother St. Monica, a Spanish lady, with eleven others —
French, Louisianian, Scotch, and Spanish — with nearly all
the lay sisters, passed out of the portals of the church.'

' " Relation de ce qui s'est passe dans ce Monast^re t I'epoque de la

It!

5 <

' ,1

688

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

A sad little group of six choir nuns and two lay sisters re-
mained, full of courage, but looking only to the protection
of Heaven to sustain them in the trials which they could but
expect. They elected Mother St. Xavier Fargeon as Supe-
rior, and resumed all the exercises of community life, main-
taining their Academy, Orphan Asylums, Day-school, and
instructions to colored people.

Thus was this venerable institution saved for religion in
Louisiana.

On the 20th of December, 1803, Louisiana was transferred
by Laussat, in the name of the French Republic, to the Com-
missioners of the United States.

The Very Rev. Mr. Walsh remained as Vicar-General, Ad-
ministrator of the diocese, but he had little power for good.
The UrsuHnes on the 21st of March, 1804, uncertain as to
their future, addressed the President of the United States in
a letter in which they solicited the passage of an act of Con-
gress guaranteeing their property and rights ; they justly
claimed that their institution had been of service to the re-
public, as their long history would attest.'

The President replied reassuring the Ursulines. "The
principles of the Constitution and Government of the United
States are a sure guaranty to you that it will be preserved to
you sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be
permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary
rules, without interference from the civil authoiity. What-
ever diversity of shade may appear in the religious opinions
of our fellow-citizens, the charitable objects of your institu-
tion cannot be indifferent to any ; and its furtherance of the

Revolution Fnm^nise 4 I'occasion de la retrocession de la Louisiane k la
Republiquc Fran(,ais(> en 1802."

' Mother Mary Teresa Fargeon, Superior, to Thomas Jefferson, New
Orleans, March 21, 1804

SEDELLA'S SCHISM.

589

wholesome purposes by training up its young men hers in the
way they should go, cannot fail to insure the patronage of
the government it is under. Be assured it will meet with all
the protection my office can give it." '

The open and shameless profligacy of Father Antonio
Sedella made it a duty with the Administra'or to remove
him. This he attempted early in 1805. but the shameless
man called a meeting of the rabble of New Orleans. This
body claimed the church as the property of the citizens of
New Orleans, although they had contributed nothing to its
erection ; they elected a body of wardens, who in turn elected
Father Antonio Sedella as their parish priest, " amid many
hurras." The Administmtor interdicted the church.'

As the most ignorant person in the territory knew, Se-
della's course was an act of schism totally at variance with
the organization of the Catholic Church and the civil
law of Louisiana. The decision in Fromm's case was ac-
cessible to Governor Claiborne, but he chose to treat the
matter as a quarrel between two priests, doubtless glad to see
the Catholic Church embroiled. When the Very Rev. Mr.

' " The Ursulinea in Louisiana," New Orleans, 1886, pp. 32-8.

» Claiborne to Madison, March 18, 1805.— Cantillon, President of this
pretended board of Marguilliers, had the assurance to write to Bishop
Carroll in April, 1805, that Walsh's powers ceased when the Bishop of
New Orleans withdrew and the country passed under a different govern-
ment. His letter was really one of defiance. He states that the Catho-
lics of the city held a meeting " under the auspices of the City Council,"
and unanimously requested Sedella to rcassume the duties of parish
priest. .Judge Prevost, a Protestant, in a letter of April 2, 1807, also
attempted to instruct Bishop Carroll as to the laws of the Church, and
informed him that "the original dimensions of the diocese having
changed, the eccle3ia.<stical jurisdiction as at first determined had ceased,
and therefore Abbe Walsh could have no power" — his facts and his law
being equally false. There had been no alteration of the dimensions of
the diocese, and no such alteration and no change of civil government
would deprive a Bishop or Administrator of autho.ity.

i?i

., , «

690 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Walsh appealed to him not to countenance such a gross vio-
lation of all law, he resorted to hypocritical twaddle, aided
the shameless priest to maintain his position, and put the
Administrator off with the usual strain of cant: "It those
who profess to be the followers of the meek and humble
Jesus, instead of preaching brotherly love and good-will to
man, and enforcing their precepts by example, should labor
to excite dissension and dietrust in a comnmnity, there is
indeed ground to fear that the Church itself may cease to be
an object of veneration."

And thus he lent the whole influence of his position to
break down the discipline of the Catholic Church and main-
tain in the Cathedral of New Orleans a man whose immora
character and neglect of duty were notorious, and who would
in any New England village have been consigned to the ]ail.
In the following year the Very Kev. Administrator in the
month of August, 1806, was stricken down with illness and
expired five days later on the 22d of the month. The
" Vicar-General and Governor ad interim of the diocese," as
he was styled, was interred the next day in the chapel of the
Ursuline Convent, near the altar, a large attendance of the
faithful betokening the respect for a priest who showed zeal

for the house of God.'

The archiepiscopal see of Santo Domingo, the metropolitan
of the province l.> which the diocese of Louisiana and the
Floridas belonged, was vacant, and no one of the Bishops of
the province attempted to restore order, although the Bishop
of Havana extended his authority once more over the Flonda
portion of the diocese till the establishment of the Vicanate-
Apostolic of Alabama and Mississippi under Right Rev. Dr.
Portier.

» Louis Kerr to Biahop Carroll, New Orleans, August 29, 1606.

ADMINISTRATOR OF LOUISIANA.

591

r088 vio-
le, aided

put the
If those

humble
i-will to
lid labor

there is
ase to be

)8ition to
nd main-
immoral
bo would
} the jail,
or in the
ness and
h. The
5cese," as
)el of the
36 of the
owed zeal

tropolitan
la and the
bishops of
be Bishop
hie Florida
Vicariate-
; Rev. Dr.

J, 1806.

As the death of the Very Rev. Patrick "Walsh left the dio-
cese of Louisiana without any one to govern it, Bishop Car-
roll who had, meanwhile, informed himself of the condition
of affairs, resolved to act under the decree of the Propaganda
and assume the administration.

On the 17th of November, 1806, Bishop Carroll wrote to
James Madison, then Secretary of State, and after alluding
to a conference had with him long before in relation to the
Church in Louisiana, and to his being authorized to adminis-
ter its spiritual affairs and to recommend two or three cler-
gymen of suitable qualities, one of whom would be appointed
Bishop of New Orleans, he says : " I was not so satisfied
with the accounts of Louisiana, of the clergymen living
there, as would justify a recommendation of any of them for
the important trust, which requires not only a virtuous but
. very prudent conduct, great learning, especially in matters of
a religious nature, and sufficient resolution to remove gradu-
ally the disorders which have grown up during the relaxed
state of civil and ecclesiastical authority, I therefore directed
my views to two others, who, tho' Frenchmen, have been
long resident in this country and steady in their attachment
to it. But the removal of either of them to Louisiana was
rendered injpracticable, and circumstances have since occurred
which perhaps make it unadviseable in the opinion of this
government, to nominate for the bishop of that country any
native of France or Louisiana. I therefore declined hitherto
taking any concern in this business, tho' the situation of the
church there has long required, and requires now more par-
ticularly a prompt interference, not only for the interests of
religion, but likewise for quieting and con)posing the minds
of the inhabitants. You will observe tliat my first commis-
sion to take a provisional charge of the diocess of N. Orleans
was received long before the intermeddling of the Emperor

Ifi

i' h%

,1 '' Bi

'^,il

J
'1 IS

. <■

592

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Napoleon. This has been procured, as I ana credibly in-
formed from N. O. by a mission to Paris from a Mr. Castil-
Ion, who is at the head of the mmucipality, and an artful
Spanish friar, Antonio de Sedilla, the intimate friend of the
Marquis of Caso Calvo. This mission was entrusted to a
certaui Castanedo, who was furnished with $4,000 to obtain
a recommendation from the Emperor Napoleon for the im-
mediate nomination of de Sedilla to the bishopric : but tlie
attempt has completely miscarried, as you will see by the du-
plicate copy of the commission sent to me, &c. To this
commission allow me to subjoin an extract from a letter of
Card. Pietro, prefect of the Congreg. de Prop, fide at Rome,

which I received at the same time. He says, &c ' From

which it appears, that the acquiescence of our government is
necessary with respect to the measures to be adopted for set-
tling the ecclesiastical state of Louisiana. Something, as has
been mentioned, is immediately necessary, before I proceed
to determine on the choice of a subject fit to be recom-
mended for the future bishop. If a native of this country,
or one who is not a Frenchman, tho' well acquainted with
the language, cannot be procured, would it be satisfactory to
the Executive of the U. S. to recommend a native of France
who has long resided amongst us, and is desirous of continu-
ing under this government ? In the mean time, as the only
clergyman in Louisiana, in any degree quaUfied to act with
vigor and intelligence in restoring order in the Cath. church,
is a French emigrant priest, far from any attachment to the
present system of his country, may he be appointed to act
as my vicar, without the disapprobation of our Executive 1
I have many reasons for believing that this person rejoices
sincerely in the cession of that country to the United
States.' "

But while the Governor of Louisiana appointed by the

't!:

ADMINISTRATOR OF LOUISIANA.

593

President and the Judges of the Territory were actually
playing into the hands of the rebellious priest and his schis-
matical adherents, Mr. Madison replied officially that the mat-
ter being purely ecclesiastical, government could not interfere,
adding : " I have the pleasure, Sir. to add that if that con-
sideration had less influence, the President would find a mo-
tive to the same determination in his perfect confidence in
the purity of your views, and in the patriotism which will
guide you in the selection o* ecclesiastical individuals to such
as combine with their professional merits a due attachment
to the independence, the Constitution and the prosperity of
the United States."

But in a private letter on the same day he alludes to the
scheme of Cantillon, who sent a person to France to induce
the government there to obtain the appointment of Sedella
as Bishop, leading to a letter from Mr. Portales which great-
ly encouraged the schismatics. Mr. Madison alluding to
Bishop Carroll's proposal to appoint Mr. L'Espinasse, wrote :
" Nothing being known concerning Mr. L'Espinasse except
from your account of him in which all due confidence is
placed, no objections can lie against the use you propose to
make of him, and that, in general, it affords satisfaction to
find you, a- might well be presumed, so fully in a disposition
to admit into the stations for which you are to provide as
little of alienage of any sort as will consist with the essential
attributes and duties of them. Of the Spanish Friar Anto-
nio di Sedilla the accounts received here agree with the charac-
ter you have formed of him.

"It appears that his intrigues and his connections have
drawn on him the watchful attention of the Government of
that territory. Although I am aware that in the arrange-
ments committed to your discretion and execution, consider-
ations operate very different from those of a political nature,

■ m\

til

694

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

I will not conceal my wish that instead of a temporary sub-
ordination of the K. C. Church at N. Orleans to the General
Diocese, the subordination had been made permanent ; or
rather that it had involved a modification of some proper
sort, leaving less of a distinctive feature in a quaiter already
marked by sundry peculiarities. I am betrayed into the ex-
pression, or rather intrusion of such a sentiment by my anx-
iety to see the union and harmony of every portion of our
Country strengthened by every legitimate circumstance which
may in a>.y wise have that tendency.

" The letter from Mr. Portales had been forwarded hither
in several copies from N. O., where it had excited the sensa-
tions likely to result from it. This foreign interposition,
qualified as it is, was manifestly reprehensible; being in a
case where it could be founded neither in any political or ec-
clesiastical relation whatever. It is probable, at the same
time, that the step was produced less by any deep or insidious
designs, than by the flattering and unjust importunities of
the pa-ties at N. O., and by a tenderness towards a people
once 11 part of the French nation, and alienated by the policy
of its Gov' not by their own act. The intei-position will be
made by our Minister a topic of such observations, as with-
out fvverchargiug the wrong, may be calculated to prevent

repetitions." . .

When the decree of the Propaganda confidmg Louisiana
to his care reached Bishop CarrdU, it was a matter of great
and pious satisfaction to him to Know that there was one
priest in Louisiana whose virtue and ability were known to
him. Tliis '.vas the Rev. John Olivier, who had been at
Cah'okia till 1803, when he went to New Orleans to become
chaplain of the Ursuline Nuns. To this priest he at once
expedited the decree of the Propaganda, and an official docu-
ment in which as Administrator-Apostolic of the diocese of

V. REV. JOHN OLIVIER, V.G.

696

Louisiana, Bishop Carroll created him Yicar-General. The
Rev. Mr. Olivier at once produced these docutueuts before
the Governor of Louisiana and left copies witli him. He
also wrote to Father Sedella informing him of the action of
the Propaganda, and of his appointment by the Administra-
tor-Apostolic. Sedella called upon him the next day with
one of bis pretended vicars, but evaded recognizing his au-
thority, and finally on the 25th of February, 180''', in a letter
openly refused to do so, incited by Cantillon and other mal-
contents.

^^ c^^V^V^^-^

SIGNATURE OF JEAN OLIVIER, V.G.

The Yicar-General then published the decree and the
Bishop's letter at the convent chapel, the Rev. Mr. L'Espinasse
preaching on the occasion to explain to the people the duty
of obeying the authorities in the Church appointed by its
supreme Head.'

While the unfortunate diocese had been almost without
any recognized head, the distant parishes suffered, or became
the prey of adventurers, who took pos.5e&sion without any
appointment or faculties. Thus the Rev. Thomas Flynn
wrote from St. Louis, November 8, 1806, that the trustees
were about to install him. He describes the church. It
" has a tolerably good bell, a high altar, and commodious
pews. The honse for the priest is convenient, but rather out
of repair. There is annexed to it a large garden well stocked
with fruit trees, barn, stable, and other out offices." '

' Rev. John Olivier to Bishop Carroll, New Orleans, February 28, 1807.
« Letter to Bishop Carroll. He wrote to Rev. 8. T. Badin from 8t.
Genevieve, May 25, 1807.

596

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

The veteran priest of the "West, Kev. Peter Gibault, had
retired to New Madrid about 1790, and died there in 1804."

Rev, James Maxwell continued at St. Genevieve, where he
had succeeded Father Paul de St. Pierre, who closed his
eight years' pastorship in 1797. With the exception of the
Rev. Mr. Maxwell there was scarcely a priest in Upper
Louisiana."

As the original Rescript issued by the Holy See to Bishop
Carroll had not been so distinct and clear as to obviate cap-
tious objections by the unprincipled Sedella and his adher-
ents, a more ample and distinct authority was sent.

" To OUR VENERABLE BrOTHEB, THE ArOHBISHOP OF BALTI-
MORE — Pope Pius YII.

" Venerable Brother, Health and Apostolical Benediction.
The solicitude of the Roman Pontiff, embracing the univer-
sal church, no where permits laborers to be wanting in the
vineyard planted by the Eternal Son of the Father, that by
their efforts and assiduous zeal, the true faith which is one as
God is one, may not only be firmly retained, but more widely
propagated, and the spiritual fruit of souls, grow to the hun-
dredfold and even exceed it. We cannot otherwise provide for
the church at New Orleans or province of Louisiana in North
America, deprived of its pastor and bishop than by confiding
it to the ordinary jurisdiction of your Fraternity, until an occa-
sion offers to Us and this Holy See of making other disposi-
tions, which may seem to meet the general wish more fully.
As this occasion is not yet proximate, and you are already suf-
ficiently burthened with other cares, therefore by the advice
of our venerable Brethren, the Cardinals of Holy Roman

Ch
Fie
spi
ma
anc
yoi
eitl
vir
hin
wh

Ap
onl
anc

sai(

the

' Very Rev. John Olivier to Bishop Carroll.

• Rozier, "An Address," etc., St. Louis, 1885, p. 15.

BRIEF OF POPE PIUS VII

697

Church, placed in charge of the Congregation de Propaganda
Fide, "We, lest anything should be wanting which either the
spiritual necessity or utility of the Faithful in those parts
may require, by these presents commit to your Fraternity
and command, that if you deem it expedient in the Lord,
you delegate and send to the aforesaid province of Louisiana,
either our beloved son Charles Nerinckx, on whose zeal and
virtue we rely greatly in our Lord, or if perchance he feel
himself unequal thereto, some other secular or regular priest
whom you know to be fitted, with the rank of Administrator
Apostolic and the rights of an Ordinary, to continue however,
only during a time at our good-will and that of this Holy See,
and according to the instruction to be forwarded to you by the
said Congregation, notwithstanding anything to the contrary.
" Given at Rome at St. Mary Major's under the Ring of
the Fisherman, on the fifth day of April, 1808.

[l. 8.] " L. Cardinal Antonelli.

"J. B. QUABANTOTTI,

" Vice-Prefect."

OLD TniSCLINE CONVENT AND CHAPEL, NEW
ORLEANS.

'^i

CHAPTER IV.

DI0CE8B OF BALTIMORE, 1806-1808. — DIVISION OF THE DIO-
CESE. — BALTIMOEE A METROPOLITAN SEE.

In 1806 Bishop Carroll had the consolation of seeing posi-
tive evidence of the growth of Catholicity in Baltimore in
the initiation of new temples to the Most High.

On the 7th of July he laid the corner-stone of his Cathe-
dral. The erection of a noble edifice had, as we have seen,
engaged his mind from an early period. The plans of the
Cathedral were the work of an eminent architect, B. Henry
Latrobe, who at first submitted plans for a Gothic Cathedral,
but as Roman or Greek architecture was preferred, he pre-
pared the plan of the present Cathedral. " The principal
motive," wrote this gentleman to Bishop Carroll, " which
induced me to undertake the labor of the design at a time
when neither my existing engagements nor the circumstances
of my family permitted me to undertake it with convenience,
were not entirely selfish. They were motives of gratitude.
To the disinterested benevolence and the pious sensibility of
a clergyman of your church I owe my existence, at all events
an existence of which I have no reason to be ashamed, and I
hope I have never since omitted an opportunity of honoring
and serving the Church of which he was a splendid orna-
ment." '

The selection of a suitable site for the Cathedral had not

' B. H. Latrobe to Bishop Carroll, August 5, 1806.
(598)

THE BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL.

599

been free from difticulty. A beauti/ul position on the Bill
Lad been proposed as the most desirable spot, but the cost of
the lots, for which nearly twenty-five thousand dollars was
asked, deterred the Building Committee, and it was resolved
to erect the Cathedral on the burial-ground adjoining St.
Peter's Church,

When the space had been partly cleared and some of the
bodies were already removed, there arose a strong feeling of

CATUEDUAIi IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM. FROM FIELDING LUCAS'
"PICTURE OF BALTIMORE."

disapprobation, and a memorial was presented to the Bishop,
remonstrating against the use of that spot, and especially
against the disturbing of the dead. Bishop Carroll did not
yield at once ; he replied with some feeling, urging the plea
of the necessity of economy, in view of the heavy cost of the
lots, which all desired. When, however, the clergy of the
Seminary, who were regarded as the priests of the Cathedral,
supported the views of the memorial in a document signed

600„

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

February 26, 1806, by Messrs. Nagot, J. Tessier, J. David,
P, Babade, B. J. Flaget, and William Du Bourg, Bishop
Carroll yielded and consented to the acquisition of the pres-
ent site. A new subscription was begun, headed by two
generous Catholics, who contributed largely, and the owner,
Gen. John Eager Howard, greatly reduced the price, so as to
remove one of the obstacles.

The ground having been secured, the 7th of July, 1806,
was set apart for the ceremony of blessing the corner-stone of
the proposed edifice. The proceedings were conducted with
the greatest pomp. The concourse of Catholics and even of
Protestants was immense, for the whole city had become in-
terested in the erection of a building regarded as a great or-
nament to the city. The ceremony was carried out according
to the ritual, in presence of the silent and respectful assem-
blage. A procession of ecclesiastics and of twenty priests,
many venerable by age and by long apostolic labors, followed
by the Bishop in cope and mitre, proceeded in ordered line
through the streets to the spot, where the symbol of salvation
was erected and the stone blessed. Bishop Carroll addressed
the audience in a touching and timely discourse, holding out
the hope that the building to be erected might be a source of
grace to multitudes in time to come — " et erit mons elevatus
super omnes colles, et fluent ad eam omnes gentes." '

To carry on the work of the Cathedral a body of trustees
had been appointed, and according to the custom of that
time a lottery was resorted to, as a means of raising money
to advance the great work. This was announced in 1 803,
the managers being Bishop Carroll, Rev. Francis Beeston,
Messrs. David Williamson, Robert Walsh, Charles Ghequiere,

' Memorials and Reply of Bishop Carroll in the Archives of the Arch-
bishop of Baltimore ; Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eglise Catholique ou du Diocese
des Etats Unis."

K dfeikf J

THE BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL.

601

Patrick Bennet, Arnold Livers, Luke Tieman, and Francis
J. Mitchell, There were to be 21,000 tickets at ten dollars
each, fifteen per cent, of the amount to be applied to the

BT. Patrick's chxtrch, fell'b point, from fielding lucas'

"PICTURE OF BALTIMORE."

Cathedral, the rest distributed in prizes.' The lottery was
drawn in 1804, the Bishop obtaining the highest prize, which
he at once transferred to the Cathedral, remaining, as he was,

' Scharf, " History of Baltimore City and County," Philadelphia, 1881,
pp. 526, etc.

602

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

tl ^

the poorest bishop in the world, without resources or revenue.
The building of the Cathedral was actively pushed for sev-
eral years till the troubles of the times suspended the work.

On the 18th of June the corner-stone of St. Mary's chapel,
connected with the college, had been blessed with due solem-
nity, and the beautiful chapel rose, which was long regarded
as one of the most elegant specimens of architecture in the
city, the pure design of the French architect having been
strictly followed in all its details.

On the loth of July Bishop Carroll laid the corner-stone
of the new church of St. Patrick at Fell's Point, for the zeal-
ous priest, Rev. John Francis Moranville, proposed to replace
the frail structure already in that district, which was found
incapable of being enlarged to meet the wants of the people.
This zealous clergyman, who left an undying memory of
his labors in Baltimore, was a priest of the Seminary of the
Holy Ghost in Paris, and came to the United States from
the missions of Cayenne in South America. He took uj) his
work with remarkable zeal and ability, and, aided for a time
by Rev. Mr. Dilhet from the Seminary, gave doctrinal in-
structions, whici not only confirmed the Catholics in their
faith, but led many Protestants to examine and reflect.'

The new church of St. Patrick at Baltimore, which Rev.
Mr. Moranville commenced, was completed by him ^vith
great zeal and skill. The plan he adopted was elegant, and
at the time of its erection there was none in the city to com-
pare with it for beauty and solidity. Two rows of tasteful
Grecian pillars sustained the graceful arches of the nave;
the altar seemed made of the choicest marbli , and the tones
of a fine organ resounded through the sacred edifice as

• Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eglise Catholique"; Tessier, " Epoques du 8emi-
naire de Baltimore."

ST. MARY'S, BALTIMORE.

608

Bishop Carroll, attended by a numerous body of his clergy,
entered on the 29th of November, 1807, to dedicate it to the
service of Almighty God. After that ceremony, performed
with unusual pomp, he celebrated a pontifical high mass, the
Rev. Mr. Du Bourg delivering a sermon on the occasion.

A house for the residence of the priest soon rose beside it,
where the good priest lived in the utmost simplicity aud
poverty.'

The Church of St. Mary, erected by the Sulpitians, soon
had a congregation, which Rev. Mr. Dilhet describes as
French, English, American, and Negro. The Rev. Mr.
Du Bourg, and subsequently Rev. Mr. Tessier, devoted him-
self especially to the instruction and spiritual care of the
colored people, many of them from St. Domingo, and speak-
ing only French. The result was most consoling, and they
were saved from loss of faith and the corruption of morals
prevailing around them.

In December, 1806, Bishop Carroll again wrote to Rome
to urge a division of his diocese. He thought that at least
four new sees ought to be erected — one at Boston, to embrace
the New England States ; one at New York, the diocese to
include that State and Eastern New Jersey ; one at Philadel-
phia, to comprise Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Western New
Jersey ; one in Kentucky, to include that State and Tennetr
see. For this last diocese Bishop Carroll preferred Frank-
fort or Lexington as the episcopal city, but Rev. Mr. Badin
strongly advised Bardstown, as most of thi Catholics were
settled near that town.

A fifth diocese, to embrace the countiy northwest of the
Ohio and lying beyond Pennsylvania, was desirable, but as

• B. U. Campbell. " Memoir of Rev. J. F. ^oranville"; " U. 8. Cath.
Mag.," i., pp. 526-7.

)

its',

604

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

priests were very few, it would be best for the time being to
make that district depend on the Bishop to be appointed for
Kentucky,

" As to the country south of Maryland, it should remain
subject to the see of Baltimore, a large diocese indeed ; but
it was much to be lamented," he added, " that religion had
made scarcely any progress in the Carolinas and Georgia ; all
efforts for that effect had failed," as the Bishop states, " either
on account of the unworthiness of the bishop, or the careless-
ness of priests, or the depraved morals of the people. Only
five priests are there, having charge of souls, and they were
three hundred miles apart ; three in Virginia, one at Charles-
ton, one in Georgia." The country south of Tennessee ought
to be annexed, in his opinion, to the diocese of Louisiana and
the J'loridas.'

Bishop Carroll was a man of calm judgment, singularly
free from any bias arising from his American birth, his long
association with cultivated English gentlemen, or his years
spent in n religious order. Deeply impressed with the neces-
sity of preparing for a higher standard of education for young
men, whether intended for worldly pursuits or the service of
the altar, he hoped to see the College at Georgetown and the
Seminary at Baltimore co-operate in the endeavor to elevate
and expand the courses of study. While strongly attached
to the old Maryland clergy who controlled the College, he
appreciated fully the merit of the French clergymen whom
Providence had sent to his aid. His endeavor to effect a
hearty harmony in education and mission work did not
succeed.

Georgetown College opened in 1791, with Rev. Robert
Plunkett as President, but he soon withdrew, and Rev. Rob-

Bishop Carroll lo Cardinal di Pietro, December, 1806.

WASHINGTON AT GEORGETOWN.

605

ert Molyneux undertook the charge, and first gave activity
to the institution, laying in 1794 the corner-stone of the
North building. In 1796, through the ad\ace of Dr. Carroll,
the Rev. William Du Bourg, an accomplished and energetic
clergyman of St. Sulpice, was called to the Presidency, and
to the close of 1798 endeavored to give it a brilliant reputa-
tion. During his term General Washington honored the in-
stitution by a formal visit, and was addressed by Robert
Walsh. Rev. Leonard Neale then became President, and
for nearly eight years resided in the College, taking part in
the work of instruction. In 1801 it was resolved by the
Directors of the College to add a class of philosophy,' though
Bishop Carroll deemed it wiser to let the few able to follow
that course do so at Baltimore.

Though Georgetown College had not attained such popu-
larity as to number crowds of students in its h-lls. Bishop
Neale was consoled by seeing many of its well-trained, pious,
and promising pupils enter the Society. " The Novitiate is
established in Georgetown College," he wrote in 1808. " The
first course consisted of eleven novices, and the second of
seven. All going on well. Several scholars are expecting
to enter and form the third course next term. Thus the
College of Georgetown, though short in point of numbers of
scholars, has not been unfertile in genuine productions. The
proof drawn from stubborn facts must be an ample support

' Resolution of the Board, July 27, 1801, in Clarke, " Lives of the
Deceased Bishops," New York, 1872, i., p. 129. "We are struggling
to commence philosophy immediately," wrote Bishop Neale to Father
Marmaduke Stone, October 19, 1801 ; "We hope to get a professor from
the Seminary at Baltimore for the present till you can provide us one, if
possible, of the Society." W. L., xii., p. 73. Rev. Ambrose Marechal
became professor of philosophy soon after. Same to same, April 21,
1803. W, L., xii.. p. 75.

' M

. M

IT,!:

m
m

606

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

of the discipline and principles adopted in that college daring
my Presidency." '

Meanwhile Bishop Carroll was menaced with the loss of
his seminary and of the Sulpitians, who were actively en-
gaged in the works of the ministry. The prospect was one
to fill him with dismay. Mr. Emery, the Superior of St.
Sulpice at Paris, seeing a prospect of the restoration of re-
ligion in France, believed the time at hand when seminaries
for the education of candidates for the priesthood might
again he opened by his Congregation. Finding, too, that
some of his priests were by no means satisfied with the con-
dition of affairs in the United States, Mr. Emery resolved to
recall all the Sulpitians to Europe, where congenial work
seemed to demand them. "If the Sulpitians remove to
France, which is threatened by Mr. Emery, their Superior
Pinaris, we shall be left perfectly bare," wrote Bishop Neale.
And again, "The Gentlemen of St. Sulpice are ordered back
to France. Some have already departed, oiliers are on the
point of sailing. Of course the Seminary is no longer calcu-
lated on,"' and he appealed to his friends in England to
come to the rescue.

In 1803 the Rev. Mr. Nagot and several others, members
of the Society of St. Sulpice, received from Rev. Mr. Emery
positive orders to return to France. The Superior at Balti-
more clung to America, but Rev. Mr. Gamier, the zealous
pastor of the church at Fell's Point, Baltimore ; Rev. Mr.
Lcvadoux, who had returned from Detroit, and Rev. Mr.
Cattelin sailed to France in May, followed in July by Rev.
Mr. Marc'clml, who, after filling the chair of philosophy at

' Bishop Neule to Father Marnmduke Stone, February 16 1808 W
L., xii., p. 82.

•' Bishop Neale to Very Rev. Father Mannaduke Stone. June 30. 1802.
June 25, 1803.

ST. MARY'S COLLEGE, BALTIMORE.

607

Georgetown, was actually attending the mission at Win-
chester.

The institution founded by the Sulpitians at Baltimore
seemed doomed. After resigning the presidency of George-
town College, the Eev. "William Du Bourg had, with Kev.
Mr. Babad and other Sulpitians, endeavored in 1799 to es-
tablish a seminary and college at Havana, but as that project
wafi not sanctioned by the Spanish authorities, the Sulpitians
returned to Baltimore, bringing a number of Cuban youth.
For these and the sons of some French residents in the city
he then opened an academy, which soon acquired a reputa-
tion, and seemed destined to become a successful institution.'
While on a visit to Havana in 1803, Dr. Du Bourg learned
that the Spanish government was about to recall these young
men, and in fact a vessel was soon sent for them. It was
then resolved to open the institution to American pupils,
Catholic and Protestant. Buildings were accordingly erected
on the Seminary grounds, f. i regular course of study
opened. Among the earlie t ; lis were William Gaston,
Kobert Walsh, and two nephews of Bishop Carroll. The
progress of the pupils soon gave the Academy a high reputa-
tion. In .laiuiary, 1805, the Legislature of Maryland granted
St. Mary's College a charter, and authorized it to raise funds
by '^sans of a lottery.

The mingling of Protestant and Catholic pupils in the
College took from it all that was characteristic of a Prepara-
tory Seminary. Vocations could scarcely develop there, and
Rev. Mr. Emery objected strongly to it, although when he
found that Bishop Carroll, who had not previously been con-
sulted, saw no alternative, he reluctantly consented. He
felt, however, that the Community of St. Sulpice had in ten

' The corner-stone was blessed by Rev. Mr. Nngot, April 10, 1800.

608

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

years effected little, and that there was no proBpect of a more
consoling future. Vocations were few ; there was no proper
place to foster them, and some young men who were expected
at St. Mary's Seminary were diverted elsewhere.'

He leaned strongly to hi original idea of withdrawing all
his priests. To Bishop Carroll, who spoke of them as the
best priests he ever knew, the prospect of losing them was
especially disheartening. His appeals made Rev. Mr. Emery
waver, though they did not convince him. It needed a voice
that he could regard as conveying the will of God.

When T*ope Pius VII. went to Paris in 1804 to place on
the head of Napoleon the imperial crown of France, Rev.
Mr. Emery, to decide the question as to the Seminary of
Baltimore, sought the guidance of the Sovereign Pontiff.
He represented to His Holiness the need he felt of members
in France to re-establish the former Sulpitian seminaries, and,
on the other hand, the scanty fruit produced in the diocese
of Baltimore, where several who had been capable Directors
of theological seminaries were now employed in subordinate
positions. The Holy Father heard the Superior of Saint
Sulpice with affectionate interest, but he replied : " My
Son, let this Seminary subsist, let it — it will bear its fruit in
time. To recall the Directors in order to employ them in
France, in other houses, that would be stripping St. Paul to
clothe St. Peter." This terse and encouraging reply put an
end to all Mr. Emery's doubts and hesitation, and from that
moment the Seminary at Baltimore, for which he had made
so many sacrifices, acqtiired even a greater hold on his affec-
tions.'

' Rev. Mr. Emery to Bisliop Carroll, September 24, 1805.

' Fnillon, " History of the Seminary of St. Sulpiee," miimiarript. The
Rev. Jamea Andrew Emery, Superior of the (/'ongregiilion of St, Sulpice,
was born it Qex, August 26, 1752, son of an important functionary in

PIGEON HILLS.

609

The Commencement of St. Mary's College held in 1806,
the instituriou then numbering 130 pupils, attracted general
attention. A laudatory account of the exercises appeared
in a periodical called "The Companion." This elicited
strictures of a very bigoted character, assailing the Catholic
religion, and the institution, as well as the capacity of the
president and professors. The object evidently was to pre-
vent Protestant families from sending their sons to St.
Mary's College. A defence of the college appeared, and the
controversy dragged on for some time, without any remarka-
ble ability ; but the articles, after appearing in the journals
of the day, were collected in a pamphlet.'

Convinced of the necessity of a Petit Seminaire or Pre-
paratory Seminary under their own direction, where youths
showing a vocation for the priesthood might be trained in a
manner adapted to their future studies and tlie life they were
to lead in the service of the altar, tlie Eev. Charles Nagot
acquired an estate at Pigeon Hills, Pennsylvania, where tlie
Preparatory Seminary was opened August 15, 1807, under
the direction of Rev. Mr. Nagot and Rev. John Dilliet, who,
after having been a missionary at Detroit, was sent to Cone-

that place. From the Jesuit C!ollege at Miicon he entered St. Sulpice
and was ordained in 1750. Professor at Orleans and Lyons, Superior at
, Angers, he became in 1782 Superior-General of St. Sulpice. Imprisoned
for 16 months in Ste. Pelagic and La Conciergerie, he regained liberty in
1794, and though he administered the diocese of Paris, refused the mitre.
Napoleon found him inflexible when he appointed him on a commission,
and he was expelled from the Seminary he had restored. He died April
2S, 1811. He prepared several works, his chief nini being to show that
the soundest philosophers were in full accord with Christian truth.

' " Strictures on the Establishment of Colleges, particularly that of St.
Mnvy. in the precincts of Baltimore, as formerly published in the ' Even-
ing Post ' and • Telegraph.' " Y Itiniore, December, 1800, ,58 pp. Scton,
" Memoir, Letters, and Journal of Elizabeth Scton, " New York, 1869
i., p. 245.

26*

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BKV. CHABLES FnANCIB NAOOT, B.B.B., FOlTNDEn OP ST. MART'S
THEOLOGICAL SEMINAIIY, BALTI.MOUE.

(610)

'■Ml

t]t

EMMITTSBVRO.

611

wago to assist Rev. Mr. De Barth, and there opened a school
out of which the institution at Pigeon Hills grew,' To this
institution the venerable Nagot gave his personal attention,
but difficulties arose, and the Rev. John Du Bois, who had
in 1803 solicited entrance into the Society of Jesus, now
asked to be received in the Comnmnity of St. Sulpice, and
recommended Emmittsburg highly as a place for a prepara-
tory seminary."

During the vacation of 1808, the Rev. Messrs. Du Bourg
and Du Bois purchased the ground at Emmittsburg for the
proposed Seminary. The students, sixteen in number, were
transferred from Pigeon Hills to the new institution in the
spring of 1809. In the summer the venerable '-^aperior, Mr.
Nagot, was stricken down by illness, and tliough he recov-
ered and celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination
as priest on the 31st of May, 1810, he sustained a severe
shock from a fall in March, 1811, and gradually failed. He
had the preceding year resigned tlie direction of the Semi-
nary to Rev. John Tessier, and died in the house he had
founded on the 9th of April, 1816, His memory will ever
remain as a holy priest who formed the first Catliolic Theo-
logical Seminary in the country, which endures full of vital-
ity, after sending out priests to all the dioceses for nearly a
century.'

' Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eglise," etc.

' Tessier, " Epoqucs du Seminaire do Baltimovo," MS. Moreau, " Les
Pretres Frantais emigres aux Etats Uni.s," Paris, 1856, pp. 176, 182, 488.

= Rev. Charles Francis Nngot was born at Tours, April 19, 1734, and
passed from the .Jesuit Collejre in his native city to the Seminary of the
Robertins at Paris. After entering the community at St. Sulpice he be-
came professor of thcolojiv at Nnntes, and for several years directed " La
Petite Comraunnnte" at Paris. His connection with the establishment
of his Society Jias been traced in these pa.ures. As a superior and director
of young candidates for the priesthood he evinced remarkable ability.
He wrote " Rccueil de Conversions Renuirquables, nouvellemeut operees

III

612

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

After the visit of Bishop Carroll to Boston and the dedica-
tion of the Church of the Holy Cross, the two devoted priests,
the Rev. Messrs. Matignon and Cheverus, continued their la-
bors in that city, with visits to the Catholics scattered from
Connecticut to Maine. Of the details of their labors we have
unfortunately few traces, but these indicate regular visits to
Salem, Providence, Newport, Bristol, and Burlington.

Rev. Mr. Cheverus visited Maine regularly, and found a
welcome in the house of Edward Kavanagh at Damariscotta.
He also attended the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indians,
to whom he was able to give a resident missionary in the per-
son of the Rev. James Romagne, a native of Mayeune, about
1804.

This good priest had only a wretched log-house with two
rooms for a dwelling, and a log chapel hardly better built,
but though delicate in health he labored among the Indians
for nearly twenty years, compiling a prayer-book in their lan-
guage and producing lasting fruit.'

Meanwhile the little Catholic flock in New England was
gradually increasing. The 28 baptisms, 2 marriages, and 4
deaths recorded at Boston in 1790, with an estimated popu-
lation of 160, had grown in 1800 to 77 baptisms, 9 marriages,

en quelquea Protestants," Paris, 1791 ; and a Life of Rev. Mr. Olier,
1813 ; he also translated Hny'fi " Miracles," Butler's "Feasts and Fasts,"
Hay's " Devout Christian," Challoner's " Catholic Christian Instructed,"
and other works.

' "History of the Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes," New
York, 1855, p. 161 ; " Annales de la Propagation de la Foi," viii., pp.
190-7; Pilling, "Bibliography of the Languages of North American
Indians," Washington, 1885, p. 1062; Romagne, "The Indian PniycT-
Book ; compiled and arranged for the benefit of the Penobscot and Pas-
samaquoddy Tribes," Boston, 18!54. Bishop Ple.ssis of Quebec, wlio at
the reipiest of Bishop Cheverus visited Pleasant Point in 1815, bears
testimony to the merit of Rev. Mr. Romagn6 (" Relation d'un voyage ").

if* 1

ST. PATRICK'S, NEWCASTLE.

613

and 7 deaths, with a population computed at 280. In 1805
the population must have been about five hundred.

No movement to erect a church was possible outside of
Boston, except in Maine, the scene of Rev. John Cheverus'
judicial persecution. A letter to Bishop Carroll tells its his-
tory :

" Newcastle (Maine), July 30th, 1808.

" Right Rev'd Sir :

"Dr. Matignon having authorised me in your name to

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bless the Church newly constructed here, and the Cemetery
adjoining it, I performed the ceremony on Sundiiy the 17th
of this month. The church is called St. Patrick's ; the name
seemed to gratify our friends here ; I liked it myself, because
it proclaims that our church here is the work of Irish piety.
" The Church is built of bricks, 50 feet in length, and 25
ft. in br.-^adth. The height inside, from the floor to the high-

l-n

614

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

est part of the arched ceiling 30 ft,, 5 arched windows 15 ft.
high on each side. Eacli window has in breadth 4 panes of
glass 11 by 15. The Altar, Sanctuary, «fec., are very neatly
finished. There is a small gallery over the door, with a semi-
circular window. It is on the whole, a very neat and eli'gant
little Chapel. The Cemetery is walled all round, and has a
neat gate : A larire cross is placed in the middle. The expense
will be about 3.000 dols., out of which I am afraid our gen-
erous friends Messrs. Kavanagh and Cottrill will be obliged
to pay 2.000. They have given also 3 acres of land, on part
of which are the Church and the Cemetery. There will be
room enough for a house, garden, and orchard for a Priest :
the church is built in such manner, that an addition may he
made to it whenever it becomes necessary ; but the congregation
here is so scattered, that they can never be here all together,
and a Priest to do good must often visit them, and officiate
at '■heir own houses. How happy we should all have felt,
had we been blessed with your presence ! ' Oh that our good
and venerable Bishop were here ! ' was the prayer of every
heart, and repeated by every tongue. The whole assembly
(and it was a numerous and respectable one) were hospitably
entertained at Mr. Kavanagh's house and feasted upon their
excellent mutton, &c. The vestry is not built as yet, and
we want 6 candlesticks for the Altar. We shall try to get
them next year. One thing is wanting to give solidity to
this new establishment. A zealous Pastor who should re-
side here constantly. It is always with regret, I leave my
respectable friend and Pastor, Dr. Matignon alone in Boston.
His health is precarious, and the duties of his ministry are
too much for his strength. Of course my visits here cannot
be long. The Rev'd Mr. Romagne is here about six weeks
before Christmas, after Christmas he comes to Boston, re-
turns here sometime in Lent, and goes to Passamaquoddy a

ST. PATRICK'S, NEWCASTLE.

616

little after Easter. He has got now in Passamaquoddy a
house, and a neat little farm round it, and the state allows
him $350 per annum. He told me last winter, he neither
expected nor wished to be settled at Damariscotta. Mr.
Kavanagh tells me, that even when there is another Priest
here, he will be always happy to have M"^ Romagne spend
part of the winter in his family, but he wishes to have a
Priest settled here, if possible. The zeal, the whole gener-
csity of the dear Mr. Kavanagh are above all praise. It is
he who encouraged us to begin our church in Boston, and
who was the greatest help towards finishing it. He inspires
part of his zeal, into the heart of his Partner Mr. Cottrill,
who never originates any enterprise, but who shows himself
willing to go hand in hand with Mr. Kavanagh in the execu-
tion. A letter from you would, I know, be received with
joy and gratitude by these gentlemen. Pertnit me therefore
to beg of you to write to them instead of answering me.
Their direction is ' Messrs. Kavanagh & Cottrill, Merchants,
Newcastle, Maine.' Mr. Kavanagh tells me that the new
Clergyman will have board and lodging in his family, and
also will have a horse at his disposal. He will besides insure
him $200 per annum, part of which will be pd. by the Con-
gregation. Clothing will be the only expense a Priest will
be at in this place — washing, mending, &c., all will be done
for him. You know the amiable family here. A Priest is
perfectly at home, has a large and handsome chamber, and is
sure to be waited upon with pleasure, and to have at his or-
ders whatever is in the house.

" For these ten years past, I have every year spent here a
considerable time, and have always experienced from Mr.
and Mrs. Kavanagh the same friendly, respectful, and deli-
cate attention.

" In the different families which the priest must visit pretty

'I r

eie LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

often, if he will dc good, he will, i„ general, have everything
comfortable. Only ti.o winter is a hard season. 1 have, when
here, found no inconvenience from it, but it has often confined
to hjs room Mr. Ron.agne, who is of a delicate constitution.

The congregation here being mostly composed of con-

verte, and the country being overrun with Methodists, Bap-

i-sts &c., ,t is to be wished the Priest would preach with

facd.ty, and I tlunk it would be better, if the English Ian-

guage was his native tongue.

'*R' Rev. Sir,

" Your most obed' humble servant,

"John Cheveeis."

The little community of pious women gathered by Bishop
Aeale at Georgetown, had not yet been able to form a regu-
lar Convent of the Visitation, but he purchased the propertv
of the French nuns and all other property on the square fJr
^leni at a cost of $fi,420. I„ the spring of 1808 Bishop
Carroll advised that the ladies should make as sin.ple vows
the vows prescribed by the rule of Visitation r.uns, afte^
passing through a novitiate, and should add the vow of en-
tering the religious state." But difficulties arose and thev

18M that I>ishop ^eale permitted them to make simple vows
to be renewed annually. When he succeeded to the see of
Baltimore in 1815, Archbishop Neale applied to the Holy
See for power to erect the Community into a religious house
of the Order of the Visitation, with all the rights and priv-
ileges enjoyed by other monasteries of the rule.'

; Bishop Carroll to Bishop Neale. January 26. 1807 ; March 27. 1808
Bishop A cale to Bishop Carroll iMnrph 17 isok qk ,, ^
vents." Metropolitan. Ballilnore 1855 Ifp 6^'' ' """' ''°"-

The Archbishop received on the feast of the Holy Innocents. 1816.

ORDINATIONS.

617

In 1808 Georgetown College began to revive. A dona-
tion of $500 enable! tlie Fatliers to complete the building,
and the students numbered about forty, while the novitiate
and scholasticate gave promise of supplying zealous and com-
petent teaclu-rs.'

On the death of Father Molyneu.x, the Rev. William Mat-
thews wa« appointed President of Georgetown College, and
entered the novitiate to become a member of the Society of
Jesus.

Saturday, June 11, 1808, was a remarkable d .y in the an-
nals of the diocese of Baltimore, as on it Bishop Carroll or-
dained two priests — Rev. Messrs. O'Brien and Rolor^ -it
Baltimore, and Bishops Neale four at Georgetown— ; v tj.
Enoch and Benedict Fenwick, James Spink and L oi.ard
Edelen.'

When the long-desired division of his diocese 8eeme(' a
be at last on the point of being actually decreed at Rome,
Bishop Carroll found no little difficulty in recommending
priests suitable for the new sees. He would gladly have
seen the mitre of Boston rest on the head of the Rev. Mr.
Matignon, but that worthy priest remonstrated against any
design of nominating him for the episcopate. " The good
accomplished here," he wrote, "is almost exclusively the
work of Mr. Cheverus ; be it is who fills the pulpit, who is
most frequently in the confessional," etc. He even threat-
ened to leave the diocese if Bishop Carroll persisted in nomi-

the solemn profession of the religious vows made by Miss Lalor, Mrs.
McDernn)tt, and Miss Harriet Brent, the tirst as Mother of the Commu-
nity, the second as Assistant, and the third as Mistress of Novices. The
rest of the Community, which then numbered thirty-three, took their
vows on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, January 29, 1817. Archbishop
Neale to Mother Dickinson, December 21, 1816.

' Rev. A. Kohlmnnn to Rev. Mr. Strickland, November 7, 1808.

' Bishop Carroll to Bishop Neale, June 15, 1808.

t
I

618

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Dating him. Yielding at last, Dr. Carroll sent to Rome the
name of the Rev. John Chevenis, describing him as " in the
prime of life, with health to undergo any necessary exertion,
universally esteemed for his unwearied zeal, and his remark-
able facility and eloquence in announcing the word of God,
virtuous, and with a charm of manner that recalled Catholics
to their duties and disarmed Protestants of their prejudices." '
The see of Bardstown seemed due to Rev. Mr. Badin, who
had done so nmch of the pioneer work in Kentucky, but his
extreme severity had made him unpopular, and Bishop Car-
roll recominended, in the first place. Rev. Benedict J. Flaget,
of tender piety, gentle disposition, and well versed in theol-
ogy. But he, too, wsis unwilling to assume the burthen of
the episcopate. "I thought proper to write to you," he
eaid, " to preclude all hope of my ever accepting such a dig-
nity, and induce you to appoint, as soon as possible, another
candidate to fill up the place I shall certainly leave vacant.
After so positive a declaration, I beg of you, with tears in
my eyes, to let me forever enjoy unmolested the humble
post I occupy, which suits me a thousand times better than
the conspicuous one I have obtained through your good-
ness," '

For the see of Philadelphia Bishop Carroll recommended
the Rev. Patrick Michael Egan, a priest of the Order of St.
Francis, modest, humble, and zealously observing the spirit
of his holy rule in his whole life.

New York lie advised the Holy Father to place under the
care of the Bishop of Boston till a suitable choice could be
made for that see.'

' Rev. F. A. Mntignon to Bishop Carroll, April 6, 1807.
« Rev. B. J. Fluget to Bishop Carroll, October 'M. 1808.
• Evidently unnwiirc that Dr. Carroll projjosed to have only three bish-

BISHOPS APPOINTED.

619

The country northwest of the Ohio he thought might be
confided temporarily to the Bishop of Bardstown, and that
south of Tennessee to Louisiana. For that vacant diocese, so
weakened by scandals and rent by schisms, he could not yet
suggest any candidate.'

The nominations made by Bishop Carroll were all ratified
by the Sovereign Pontiff. For the see of New York Pius
VII., apparently on the recommendation of Archbishop Troy
of Dublin, who had gradually acquired a great influence at
Kome in the affairs of the Church in this country, appointed
the Dominican Father Eichard Luke Concanen, who had
resided many years at Eome as the agent of the Irish bish-
ops, and wlio had been a correspondent of Bishop Carroll.
This religious, however, who had already refused the sees of
Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, urged the appointment of a
Brother Dominican, Rev. John Connolly.

ops appointed, Bishop Flaget subsequently blamed him for having had
four.

' Bishop Carroll to Cardinal Pietro, June 17, 1807.

OEOIIOETOWN COLLEQE, FROM THE POTOMAC.

I^,-

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POUTKAll UK AUCUHI9II0P CAHUOLL. FUOM THE PAINTINQ BY STUART.

.0201

CHAPTER y.

DIVISION OF THE DIOCESE. EKECTION OF THE SEES OF BOSTON,

NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, AND BAEDSTOWN, — MOST REV.
JOHN CARROLL, AKCHBI8HOP OF BALTIMORE. — HISTORY OF
THE DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE, 1808-1815.

On the Stli of April, 1808, Pope Pius VII., by his Bulls
"Pontificii Muneris" and "Ex debito Pastoralis Officii,"
divided the diocese of Baltimore, and erected the sees of
New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown.

The Bulls recited that the Sovereign Pontiff had heard
with great joy that the Catholic religion was ir.oreasing daily
in the United States in vitality and growth ; that the nuinbep
of the faithful who bowed their necks to its sweet yoke was
by God's blessing greater and more copious. As therefore
the one bishop who is established in the see of Baltimore
cannot properly direct a flock increashig at points so far re-
moved from each other, his Holiness, knowing that the young
lambs of Christ's flock had greater need of pastoral care and
protection, hastened to give an increase of new pastors, to
obviate the ditticulty of distance, and nmltiply s])iritual suc-
cor. After delil)erating on the matter with his venerable
brethren, the Cardinals of the Congregation de Propaganda
Fide, he proceeds : " By the advice of the said Brethren,
We by the apostolical authority, by the tenor of these pres-
ents, erect and constitute four newepiscopal sees in the said
States, for four respective bishops, now and hereafter when-
ever a vacancy occurs in any of said sees, to be elected and

(68i)

•ilii

622

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

^nstituted by us and the apostolic see, namely, Ist, New
York, which is to have as a diocese the whole State of that
name, and the eastern part of the State of New Jersey con
tiguous thereto ; 2d, Philadelphia, the diocese whereof in-
cludes the entire two States of Pennsylvania and Delaware
and the western and southern part of the said State of New
Jersey ; 3d, Boston, with a diocese in which we include these
States, namely, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
Connecticut, and Vermont ; 4th, Bardstown, that is, in the
town or city of Bardstown, and thereto we assign as a diocese
the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, and until otherwise
provided by this Apostolic See, the territories lying north-
west of the Ohio, and extending to the great lakes and which
he between them and the diocese of Canada, and extending

along them to the boundary of Pennsylvania Finally,

We give and assign the beforementioned churches and eadi
one of them as provincials and suilVagaiis of the Church of
Baltimore, which we have this day, by the counsel and au-
thority aforesaid, erect-^. into an arehiepiscopal and metro-
politan church." '

This Bnef with the Bulls appointing Father Richard Luke
Concanen to the see of New York ; Father Michael E-an to
the see of Philadelphia ; Rev. John Cheverus to the see of
Boston, and Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget to the see of Bards-
town, as well as the Brief erecting Baltimore into an Arehi-
episcopal See, and the Pallium for Archbishop Carroll, were
conlided to the Bishop-elect of New York.

That learned Dominican was just recovering from a long
and dangerous illness, and was still confined to his bed, when

April », 1808. Biillariuin Romanum," xiii.. pp. 280, 382 TJicv ..r<
incorrectly printed, and I Lave followed a contemporaneous manuscript

it;\

BISHOP CONCANEN. 623

Cardinal di Pietro came to his bedside to tell him, in the
name of the Pope, that he must accept the great charge, and
that such was the will of God. He accordingly acquiesced,
and was consecrated with great pomp in the Church of the
Nuns of St. Catharine at Eome, on the 24th of April, 1808,
by Cardinal di Pietro, with two archbishops as assistants!
He seems to have obtained considerable donations in money,
vestments, plate, etc., for his diocese, filling cases, which
greatly impeded his travelling at a time when every moment
was precious. Although scarcely recovered from his illness,
he left Eome on the 3d of June for Leghorn, where he hoped
to find a vessel for some port in the United States, but the
American vessels were sequestered by the French then in
possession of the place, because they were visited by the
English cruisers. After remaining in vain for months at
Leghorn and Locanda, and expending large sums of money,
Bishop Concanen left his cases, with the pallium, bulls, and
other official papers, in charge of Messrs. Filicchi, with direc-
tions to forward them to Archbishop Carroll when a safe
opportunity presented itself. He himself returned to Rome,
where the Holy Father assigned him a pension, his promo-
tion to the episcopate having left him witii no claim on the
houses of his order. He remained at Tivoli and in Rome till
the spring of 1810, discharging a great deal of business for
the Irish prelates, and performing episcopal acts in Rome, then
greatly in need of the services of Bishops, as the Pope, with
many Cardinals and Bishops, had been carried oflF. In April
Br. Concanen wrote that he was about to start for his diocese.'

' Hisliop Concanen to Archbishop Troy, .Alnrch 25, May 21 1808
Same to Archbishop Carroll, July 23, 1808 ; to Archbishop Troy' Octo-
ber 8. November 19, 1808, March 22, May 20, 1809, January 3' 1810-
to Archbishop Carroll, August 9, 1809 ; to Bishop Milner, August 25,'
1808.

r,', \ .

i 111

624

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

He was greatly de r., essr d by the long delay, and even pro-
posed to resign the see of New York. "After the series of
trials and disappointments that I experienced ever since my
unfortunate appointment to ^he see of New York," to quote
his words to Archbishop Carroll, " the greatest consolation I
felt was that of receiving your Grace's inestimable letter of
20 Jan. last. The pleasure and approbation you so kindly
express at my promotion ; the satisfaction nhown on that oc-
casion by our beloved Catholics of New York ; and the pleas-
ing account you give of the present state of th.-.t Churcli, are
to me objecu? of the highest estimation. I i^a\^e ever had a
sensible predilection for the Americans, and a desire (whicli
obedience on)}' rendered ineffectual) of serving in that mis-
sion ; but ne/er indeed ii,"..l I the ambition of appearing'
there in quality of u bisii j> espr^'iaHy in my advanced age
and weakened by my late iiifirjnitK i^. Now tJat I am bound
to uudeitake the arduous char; .-, yon uiay imagine what con-
cern and itffliction it givi\^ me to ha sequestered here so long,
spectator of tragic scenes, wljieh cannot be unknown to you ;
and wasting timt remnant of life which ought to be employed
in tlie service of my beloved Hock." '

Rev. Mr. Flagei Imd gone to France to escape, if possible,
the i'piscopate imposed un him, but finding that the Sover-
eign Pontiff ordered him to submit, souglit priests and aid
for his new diocese. While he was in France, an appeal was
made to Cu;-ifinal Fesch in favor of Bishop Concanen, and a
passjjort actually obtained, permitting him to come to France
and embark. Hut he was afraid to undertake the journey,
tliougb he might have joined Dr. Flaget and accompanied

11111.

' Bishop Concanen to Ai-dibishop Carroll, August 9, 1809.
» Bishop Carroll to if. Chnrles Plowden, September 19, 1809.

624

LI;

A RCHBISIIOP CARROLt.

He was grcatl^ kprtsssed bv the long delay, and ev(?i
poned to it.-;^;, ;;ifc see of ^New Vurk. "After the ser^v
trials and (!i«»apjxjintm6rtti' that I experienced ever einc
uttfnrtuMlti spj|x»intin<»nt *;> tiie see of New York,'' to (,i.

Lis w

a.^

<'prii

sjK'ctstor

aiid wasting that rm<

in the !»t»rvicc of tiiv

irroll. '' the greatcf^t consoluti
'iir Grai'c's inestimable letu
.ind approbation you so kit*.'

the satisfaction shown on that

'K'sof New York; and the p!
j -resent state of that Clnu-ch, : ■

' estimation. J have ever la'..;
American!*, and a desire (w);'
^■rtiial) of serving in tliat i.

ih*' Muiiitii'll i.>f appiM; ,

cially in my advarieed a^s*

" - Now that I am boun»i

. , may imagine what con

' '.^' •ifH^nestered here so long.

u<»h «U)!!^ ■ '^!' iii''.;i:iM !i to yon .
which ought (o be employed

;■''■ '!■' ' '■! ;--(Mjii,', ji' i'i> .>ible,

;> i :. iw'.' tii.it th'' Sover

itHnit, s«>ught priests and ai«l

h* wa* in Fran**, an ajipeal wag

'•'■ ' '' i!id a

■ ■ ', ■■'alloc

;.i- j'-nrney.

awompaiiied

:. AugiJStO. 1809.
-ni-uiborlO. 1809.

'-f- y

R^ REV. RICHARD LUKE CONCANEN,

FIRST BISHOP OF NEW YORK.

CuiJiiijti b-Jo:.ia>.:;. ..'.trie

BISHOP CONCANEN.

621

Bishop Concanen reached Naples, where he succeeded iu
securing passage on the " Frances," Ca])tain Haskell, for Sa-
lem, Massachusetts, the only vessel permitted to clear for the
United States. The captain consented to take him only at
the urgent request of Mr. Filicchi, of Leghorn, and the
American consuls, Hammet and Appleton ; but he waa not
to have any c apanion or attendant. Some excellent young
priests, who had offered their services for his diocese, were
thus compelled to remain. The vessel was to sail on Sunday,
June ITth.'

A passport was reciuired, and as he had one from General
Miollis, governor of Eome, no difficulty was anticipated;
but when Mr. Hammet, the American Consul at Naples, ap-
plied in person to the Board of Police, those officials not
only pretended that his papers were unsatisfactory, b' dis-
patched an officer to the Bishop's lodgings with a formui in-
timation to him not lo embark at his peril without a proper
license from governraeut.

This unexpected step threw the venerable bishop into a
great agitation, and as soon as he could recover self-control,

-f-

vUc/fv ^^ /A^i &47yi ectatxytiy

-K.

eioNATmr v)f bibhop concanen.

he turned to the Re\ Mr. Lorr' -di, a ;>riest who was in the
room at the time, and said : '■ now I may bid a farewell

to America forever. I pray you, niy iiear Abbd Lombardi,
to see that whatever regards ni. funeral and burial be done
in a dei iit manner, so is not to ilisgrace my rank and char-
acter." The clergyitian thought this merely a res. ''• of his

' Bishop Concanen to Rev. Ambrose Marechal, Naples, June
27

1810.

™''

026

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

depression at the sudden overthrow of his plans, but it was
a clear foresight t)f his approaching end. He was at once
taken down with a fever, and on Monday made his confes-
sion to Rev. Mr. Lombard!, stating that it would bo his last,
and it was with such deep compunction a« moved the clergy!
man deeply. The Bishop asked to be left alone, and Rev.
Mr. Lombardi withdrew, apprehending no danger, but on his
return the next morning he found Dr. ' jncanen speechless.
As he was still conscious, he imparted the final absolution,
and the Bishop expired withoirt the lea-st struggle. " On
Wednesday, the 20th, in the Church of San Domenico Mag-
giore, were performed over his remains with due solemnity
the funeral rites as he de ired ; and in the same church, in
the vault of his confreres, he was afterwards interred." •

Such was the sad close of the life of the first bishop of
New York, whose days from his consecration were filled
with trials and disappointments.

His effects in Naples were seized by the authorities and
rifled.

In 1809 the revived Society of J. ,us sustained a severe
loss m the death of the Very Rev. Ko})ert Molyneux, who
expired on the 9th of December, at the age of seventy, pre-
pared for the awful moment " by a life of candor, virtue
and innocence, and by all those hel])s which are mercifully
ordained for the comfort and advantage of departing Chris-
tians."

Rev Peter Plunkett to Archbishop Carroll, Soptember 3, 1810 • Rev
A Kohlmanns notice in '• N, Y. Spectator," October 6, 1810. iy hi;
will, which he had forwarded to Rome. Bishop Concanen left all hs
property to the Rev. E.lward D. Fenwick for I T^orlZ^^l^
Kentucky, excepting a few legacies to relatives in Ireland, and his chal-
ice, pontifical, etc.. which he bequeathed to the Cathedral in New York
lb. I have made earnest effort to find the spot where the Bishop's re-
mains now are, but there seems no clue.

THE JESUITS.

627

To Archbishop Carroll it was a severe blow. " He was
my oldest friend," he wrote, " after my relation and com-
panion to St. Oiner in my childhood, Mr. Charles Carroll of
Carrollton, remaining amongst us, as he often and feelingly
reminded me the last time I saw him in the month of Sep-
tembei-, with very slender hopes of meeting more in this
world."

^ Previous to his death Father Molyneux had appointed
Father Charles Neale to be Superior of the Society of Jesus
in the United States.'

Bishop Carroll, uneasy at tLe position of that body, had
addressed the Sovereign Pontiff to obtain a clear canonical
status for them by a special bull derogating from the brief
of Clement XIY.' Father Concanen had manifested a great
interest in their restoration, and the reply of Pope Pius VII.
with documents relating to the Society of Jesus in America,
were confided to him when, as Bishop of New York, he at-
tempted to set out for his see. But on his death at Naples
these documents disappeared, and never reached Archbishop
Carroll.

During the long delay of two years, in which Dc. Carroll
was in constant expectation of the arrival of Bishop Conca-
nen, with the bulls dividing the diocese of Baltimore and
erecting new sees, the bull raising Baltimore to an archiepis-
copal see and the pallium, he had been in a most anomalous
position. He knew that his diocese had been divided and
that the Bishop of New York had been consecrated. Bishop
Concanen had, at an early day, dispatched a letter empower-
ing him to appoint a Yicar-General in the name of both, to

' Bishop Cnrioll to F. Chnrles Plowden, February 21, 1809 ; Foley,
" Records of the English Provinc," vii., p. ,)14.

« Bishop Carroll to F. Cliarles Plowdeu, January 10, 1808 ; to Very
Rev. Charles Neale, November 8, 1811.

:!>

W.\\

628

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

administer the diocese of New York. To this position Arch-
bishop Carroll appointed the great theologian and missionary,
Father Anthony Kohlraaim, but though the venerable Arch-
bishop probably was never conscious of the fact, Bishop
Concanen took umbrage at his course in sending Jesuits to

8IQNATUHE OF FATHER ANTHONY KOHLMANN.

New York and at their establishment of a college. The or-
ganization of the diocese of New Y^-k was, however, the
work of Father Kohhnann as Vicai general and Adminis-
trator.

Over the other new dioceses, having no official notice of
their erection. Bishop Carroll continued his jurisdiction.' Dr.
Concanen, however, finding the time of his departure uncer-
tain, forwarded to Rev. Mr. Emery authentic copies of all
the bulls for Archbishop Carroll and his suffragans.' Mon-
signor Quarantotti also, after the death of the Bishop of New
York, forwarded another copy of the Briefs from Rome, in-
trusting them, as well as the paliium for the Archbishop, to
Rev. Maurice Virola, a Franciscan Father, then setting out
for the United States.'

' Bisliop Concanen to Archbishop Troy, .Ii-nuary 3, 1810. Rev. Mr.
Mnrccliul hnd advised him to take over some Franciscan Fathers from
St. Isidore's to open an academy in New Yorli.

» Bishop Concanen to Rev. A. Marechal, Naple:'. June 15, 1810.

" Mprr. Qniirantotti to Archbishop Carroll, .Tune X'O, 1810. The set of
briefs forwarded tliroutrh Rev. Mr. Emery were those on which Arch-
bishop Carroll acted ; they were broucrht over by Dr. Flaget, who ar-
rived in this country in August. Archbishop Carroll to Bishop of Que-
bec, Septem'KT 15, 1810.

THE SUFFRAGAN BISHOPS.

629

The arrival of one of these sets enabled the Archbishop-
elect to proceed to the consecration of the clergymen desig-
nated for the sees of Boston, Philadelphia, and Bards-
town.

In a little pamphlet issued at the time, these solemn cere-
monies were thus announced :

" The Catholic Church of the United States, which for
two centuries in the midst of the greatest obstructions, never
ceased to be upheld by the fervent zeal of its holy mission-
aries, received after the Revolution such rapid increase that
the Holy See in 1789 thought it advisable, instead of Apos-
tolical Yicars, to appoint a permanent Episcopal See in Balti-
more for the whole United States. Since which period the
number of Catholic Congregations daily springing up in
every direction has at last induced Pius VII., the present
venerable Pontiff, who in the midst of tribulations most
bitter to nature, but equally glorious in his divine Master, so
worthily fills the pontifical chair, to erect Baltimore into a
Metropolis or Archbishoprick, and to establish four new suf-
fragan Dioceses, namely, N. York, Philadelphia, Boston, and
Bardstown in Kentucky. The first pastors appointed for the
new Sees are for N. York, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Luke Concannen,
who unfortunately died at Naples in July last, on the point
of embarking for the United States. For Philadelphia, the
Rt. Rev. John Egan. For Boston, the Rt. Rev. John Cliev-
erus. For Bardstown, Rt, Rev. Ben. Jph. Fhiget, characters
already long revered among the Catholics of the United
States, and whose promotion is to be considered less as a re-
ward of their apostolic virtues, than as a common blessing
upon the flocks committed to their care.

" The const orati ns will take place as follows : Dr. Egan's
lit St. Peter's, Baltimore, on Sunday, 28th of October. Dr.
('heverus' at ditto on All Saints' day. Dr. Flaget's at St.

630

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Patrick's, Fell's Point, on the 4rtli of November. Conse-
crator, the Most Kev. Dr. John Carroll." '

The Instructions, after exposing the apostolic succession
and the dignity of the episcopate, proceeds : " May these
prayers dictated by zeal and universal charity be the constant
proof of our gratitude to the Lord for the innumerable bless-
ings, vouchsafed to this country, since the consecration of
our first Bishop. To multiply the means of siilvation and
increase vigilance over the sacred interests of religion, Bish-
ops ever present and near to them, are now to be given to
separate portio'is of this once so extensive Diocese. Boston,
Philadelphia, N. York, und the vast countries of Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Missiscippi ! The Lord has spoken to Peter,
Peter by his successors io Pius VIL, and the apostolical suc-
cession begins after so many ages to display itself to you,
that it may be r'or*inued tlirough your chief pastors, even to
the remotest po.5terity. May the consecration of the heads
of these new holy generations add warmth to our piety ; and
whether we be witnesses to those awful ceremonies, or be
obliged to content ourselves with drawing from a description
of them fresh motives for edification, let us unite in the fer-
vent prayers which the ('hurch is going to offer for the suc-
cess of their ministry." '

To give greater solemnity and iinpressiveness to the rite,
the Archbisho])-elect had determined to consecrate each of
the three suffragans on a different day. The Right Rev. I>r.
Egar was consecrated Bishop of Philadelphia at St. Peter's,

' " Instnictions on tlie Erection of four new Catholic Episcopal Sees
in the United StiUes iiiul -he Consecration of their first Bishops," etc.,
Baltimore, 1810, pp. iii.-5. Tliere is also in the pamphlet a French ttxt,
evidently the orijrinal, and somewhat more extended timii t!;<' Enfi;lish.
Thus it reads: " Le \i. P. Luc Concannou, Dominicain dont la personne
etoit partieulii^reraeut ch^re au St. Pi^re."

' lb., pp. 28-4.

CONSECEATIONS.

631

the pro-cathedral, on Sunday, October 28; 1810, the Arch-
bishop-elect having a8 assistants the Bishops-elect of Boston
and Bardstown ; the Eight Eev. Dr. Chevema was conse-
crated in the same church on the feast of All Saints by
Archbishop Carroll, with Bishops Neaie and Egan as assist-
ants, the Dominican Father W. Y. Harold preaching the
sermon ; ' and the Rev. Dr. Flaget was consecrated Bishop
of Bardstown in St. Patrick's Church, Fell's Point, on the
4th of November, by the Archbishop of Baltimore, assisted
by the Bishops of Philadelphia and Boston, Dr. Cheverus
preaching on the occasion."

The sacred orators paid a tribute of homage to the vener-
able head of the American hierarchy. " You have not to
resort to antiquity," said the eloquent Dominican, " for an
example of Episcopal virtue. That bounteous God, whose
manifold blessings overspread this land, whose boundless
mercies claim our warmest gratitude, still preserves for your
advantage, a living encouragement to such virtue and a fair
model for your imitation. You will seek both in your ven-
erable and most reverend Prelate — you will find both in the
Father of the American Church, and under God the author
of its prosperity. In him you will find that meekneos which
is the best fruit of the Holy Ghost, tliat humility which for
Christ's sake makes him the servant of all, that richly pol-
ished character which none but great minds can receive,
which nothing but virtur can impart." '

' Certiflcate of the consecration, November 1, 1810, preserved at St.
Mary's Seminary, Baltimore; Harold, "Sermon preached in the Cath-
olic Church of St. Peter, Baltimore, November 1, 1810, on occasion of
the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Dr. John Cheverus, Bishop of Boston,"
Baltimore, 1810.

•' Desgeorge, " Monseigneur Flaget," Paris, 1855, p. 36.

' Harold, " Sermon preached in the Catholic Church of St. Peter,"
pp. 10-20.

632

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

' .. li

I! '

Bishop Cheverus, in the discourse which he pronounced,
saluted Archbishop Carroll as the Elias of the new law, the
father of the clergy, the conductor of the chariot of Israel in
the New World — " Pater mi, Pater mi, currus Israel et au-
riga ejus." '

On the 17th of .December Archbishop Carroll, in the name
of his coadjutor and the Bishops of Philadelphia, Boston, and
Bardstown, wrote to the Sovereign Pontiff, transmitting an
account of the consecrations and of liis assumption of tlie
title of Archbishop, no pallium having yet reached him, and
its arrival being uncertain.

•f

-/t/44t^ Uiloo'

t/x*<^

y " //t^f^.f ifitpL yUyi' ■'Z^JL^ • J*- //«.,•</) <i>^wVt,

BIONATURES OF BISTtOP CHEVEUDS OF BOSTON, BlSnOP EOAN OF
PHILADELPHIA, AND BISHOP FLAG'T OF BAIIDBTOWN.

Meanwliile liis coadjutor and suffragans had remained for
two weeks with Dr. Carroll to advise on many points of regu-
lation and discipline. " tlmt we may form an uniform practise
in the government of our rhurclies ; and likewise to take into
consideration the present state of the Catholic Church, its
visible head, our Venerable Pontiff, and the consequences of
liis being withdrawn from his cafHivity. either by violence.

' [Humon] " Vie du rnrdinnl dc Clievenw," Pn '\ 1858. pp. 10»-4 ;
Walsh's translatiou, Phila(l(>l|)liiu. 1839, p. 85 , Mtpwurt's, Boston, 1»30,
p 95.

PASTORAL OF 1810.

633

or the ruin of his constitution by interior and exterior suffer-
ings."

Several articles of ecclesiastical discipline were adopted
which with the Synod of 1791 remained in force for the
next twenty years as the statutes of the Church in the United
States. They related to the faculties of regular and secular
clergy, to exeats, parochial registers, the e-acraraents of baptism
and matrimony, retribution for masses, and the adoption of the
Douay Bible, of course as revised by Bishop Cliallouer, of which
two editions had already appeared. The faithful were to be
warned against the dangers of theatres, public balls, and novel-
reading. Tlie last regulation provided that Freemasons should
be excluded from the sacraments till they renounced all con-
nection witii the association, and promised no more to attend
the meetings. The result of their deliberations was imparted
to their respective flocks in the following

"PA8T<<BAL OF THE BISHOPS IN 1810.

" The most Reverend Archbishop, and Right lev. Bishops
lately assembled at Baltimore took into their serious consid-
eration the State of the Churches under their care ; but not
being then able to extend their enquiries and collect full in-
formation concerning many points, which require uniform
regulation, and perhaps amcTidment, they reserved to a fu-
ture occasion a general review of the ecclesiastical discipline
now observed throughout the different dioceses, and the re-
ducing of it every where to as strict conformity with thai of
the universal Church, as our peculiar situation, circumstances,
and general benefit of the Faiiliful will allow. Some matters,
rec^uiriiig imniediate attention, were maturely discussed, on
which after humbly invoking the assistance of the Divine
Spirit, resolutions or ordinaiK-^ were made which in due
time will be oominunicated to the Clergy or laity, as they
27*

634 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

niaj be concerned in tbeni. The following are some of
them, and are now publislied for general information.

" First. Pastors of the different Churches, or they who in
their absence are intruated with the care of the churches
chalices, and sacred vestments are not to permit any strange
and unknown Priests to exercise priestly functions, belore
they have exhibited authentic proofs of their having obtained
the Bishop's j)ermi88ion.

" 2. Conformably to the Spirit of the Church, and its gen-
eral practice, the Sacrament of Baptism shall be administered
m the Church only in all towns, in which churches are erected,
excepting only cases of necessity.

'i.3. Some difficulties having occurred in making immedi-
ately a general rule for the celebration of all n.arriages in the
Church, as a practice most conformable to general and Catho-
lic .liscipline ; it was thought pre.nature now to publish an
ordinance to that effect ; yet ail pastors are directed to recom-
mend this religious usage universidly, wherever it is not at-
tended with very great inconvenience, and prepare the nn'nd
of their flocks for its adoption, in a short time.

" 4. The Pastors of the Faithful are earnestly directed to
discounige more and more from the pulpit, and in their pub-
lic and private conferences an attachment to entertainments
and diversions of dangerous tendency to morality ; snch as to
frecpient the theatres, and cherish a fondness for dancing as-
semblies. They must likewise often warn their congregations
against the reading of books dangerous to faith and manners,
and especially a i)romiscuous reading of all kinds of novels!
The faitlifnl themselves should always remember the severity
with which the (Imrch, guided by the Holy Ghost, constant-
ly i)rohibited writJTigs calculated to dimim'sh the respect due
to our holy religion.

" 5th. Tile Archbishop and Bishops enjoined on all Priests

LETTER TO THE IRISH BISHOPS.

635

exercising, in their respective Dioceses, faculties for tlie ad-
ministration of the Sacraments, not to admit to thiKse of pen-
ance and the B'' Eucharist such persons, as are known to be-
long to the association, commonly called of Freemasons unless
these persons seriously promis. to abstain for ever after from
going to their lodges, and professing themselves to belong to
their society : and Pastors of Congregations shall frequently
recommend to all under their care never to join with or be-
come members of the said fraternity.

" ►!« J., Abp. of B"

" •!• Leonakd, B" of Goi-tyna, Coadjutor of B'",
" ^ Michael, B" of Philad",
" "J* John, Bis" of Boston,
" »I< HENKmcT Joseph, B'' of Bardstown.
" BALT''^ Nov' 15, 1810."

The Archbishop and Bishops also on the 11th of Novem-
ber replied to a letter of the Irish hierarchy in regard to the
position of the Head of the Church. They professed their
submission to his admonitions even in capti' iiv, and their
resolve to obey every order emanating from hm. , ong as
they were certified that he acted in full liberty, ilnd in
case the Holy Father should die in captivity, they would in-
struct their flocks "to acknowledge no person as the true
and genuine successor of Peter, but him whom the far greater
part of the bishops of the whole world and the whole Catho-
lic ])eople, in a manner, shall acknowledge as such."

The newly formed hierarchy of the United States felt
called upon to reply. As Archbishop Carroll wrote to a
friend : " To answer it was incumbent on us ; l)ut on ac-
count (»f the infancy of our hierarchy, we felt a diffidence.

''ii

636

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Yet we did answer, and I hear that our answer was published
in England and Ireland, which was not foreseen here. We
were more reserved, as you may have observed, than our
Irish brethren, not daring to anticipate the specific course to
be pursued hereafter in the future contingency to the church,
humbly trusting to the guidance of the Holy Ghost, if those
contingencies should eusue, to the examples given us by the
more ancient churches, and fortifying us by the promises of
Christ that the powers of hell shall not prevail against that
Church which he acquired with his blood." '

Archbishoi) Carroll and his suffragans resolved to attempt
to hold direct intercourse with the Sovereign Pontiff. The
care taken to effect this proved unavailing, and in view of
his confinement for years, disorders of great magnitude were
apprehended.

At last, however, a memorial in the name of the Arch-
bishop and his siiffragsins with a letter from Dr. Carroll, with
Tuuch industry was conveyed to the hands of Pope Pius' VII.
TJie object was to obtain his direction as to several matters
in die government of their dioceses; to ascertain some prac-
ticable means of tilling up vacancies that might occur, and to
provide for the vacancies of New York and Louisiana ; but
a stricter and closer confinement of the venerable Head of
the Church prevented his sending anv replv.'

Before the consecration of the new Bishops, Archbishop
Carroll had prudently addressed the trustees of the princii)al
churches in the recently erected dioceses, explaining the regu-
lation of the Holy See, requiring that an income for the
Bishop in each of the newly erected sees should be per-
manently pledged by the churches in the Episcopal city.

Archbishop Carroll to Father C. Ph)wilen, .Tumiary 27, 1812.
Archbishop Carroll to Bishop of Quebec, March 2, 1814.

>* /ivM

SUPPORT OF BISHOPS.

637

As many difficulties subsequently arose in Philadelphia,
notwithstanding these prudent precautions, it will be well to
give at length the correspondence between Archbishop Car-
roll and the Philadelphia churches on this occasion.

The trustees of St. Mary's church, and Holy Trinity, us
well as the Augustinian Fathers, agreed to contribute to the
expenses of Bishop Egan's consecration, and also for his
future maintenance and that of his successors in office.

The correspondence was as follows :

" Messrs. The Trustees of the several Catholic Church-
es IN Philadelphia :

"Immediately after receiving notice of the propitious
event of a Bishop's See being erected at Philadelphia, and
the appointment, by the Holy See, of the Right ReV' D'
Egaii to fill the Episcopal Chair, I desired it to be made
known to you that it was now indispensibly necessary to
make provision, as well for the first expenses, of the conse-
cration and installation of the new Prelate, as for his perma-
nent support. After more reflection, it appeared ex])edient
and necessary to address directly to you, gentlemen, a more
particular recommendation on this subject. The established
usage of the Holy See, when new Bishoprics are instituted,
is to require solid assurances, that the Bishops appointed for
the purposes of preserving the integrity of faith, the purity
of morals, and perpetuity of the ministry, as well as vheir
successors, shall be above all inducements, arising out of the
narrowness of their circumstances, to relax in their attention
to those most essential duties of their charge, and conse-
quently that their income, whatever it may be, shall be inde-
pendent of the fluctuations of favor or public opinion ; they
must be free from the apprehension of being deprived of

638

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

,1 <,

their means of support, if they pursue the measures dictated
by their conscieuees for the maintenance vt sound discipline
and discouragement of vice. As far, then, as your influence,
on which, as well as on your zeal, much trust may be placed,
can effect it, the settlement of your Bishop's income will be
placed on a footing suitable and honorable to his station, and
not controllable by the interference of those over M-hose
highest interest Divine Providence has appointed him to
preside.

" This is perhaps the last act of that pastoral care which
it has been long mj duty to exercise in b'-'ialf of my dear
children in your State, my conscience reproaches me often,
and ever will reproach me, for many omissions and crors in
the execution of that awful ministry. Allow me to pray you
and all the congregations, through the charity of our Lord
Jesus Christ, to sue to the Father of mercies for the grace of
my forgiveness ; and that the remaining days of my life may
be employed in repairing the evils, M'hich can yet be remedied.
Assure yourselves, that though my former connections with
you are soon to be dissolved, still my heart is and always will
be united with y(»u ; and that I shall not cease to implore for
you the protection of Providencv. i,<( the diffusion of our
Holy Religion throughout the Dioctvje, of which Philadel-
phia forms so distinguished a }iA':i.

" I have the honor to be, with respect,

and the solicitude of an affectionate Pastor,

Messieurs,
" Your most devoted and obedient servant,
and Father in Christ,

" •!• John,
" Bishop of Baltimore.
"Baltimore, October 20th, 1808."

tPj

SUPPORT OF BISHOPS.

689

"At a meeting of the Trustees of Holy T lity Cli Tch,

S' Mary's, and the ReV' M' Hurl.-y from S August. ',

: the bouse of the Rev'' M'- Britt, for the ] -pose of cun-

iida 7 the necessary allowaiv .• to be made to the Right

Rev" . Ega.., as Bishop of Philadelphia,

"Resolved, In the opinion of the gentlt.aen p> sent, that
eight hundred dollars, per annum, liould be allowed to him,
from the different con^ egations of this city, as Bishop.

"Resohed, That the same be p.. M in the following pro-
portii^ns, viz. .

8' Mary's,
Holy Trinity,
S' Augustine,

$4U0 per annum.
§200 per annum.
$200 per annum.

"The sa. ft to commence the 1st da\ of January next, pay-
able quart( , . d i- Jvance, the expensos incidental t(. his
consecration and in-iallation, to be paid ' like manner.

Adam Britt, Paste ioly Trinity.

Michael Hurley,
"James Oellers,
"John Ashley,
" Charles Johnson,
"Adam Premir,
" Joseph Snyder.
" Philadelphia, 1st November, 1S08."' '

By the division of the original diocese of Baltimore and
the erection of new sees, the portion of the country which
remained subject to the jurisdiot! n of Archbishop Carroll
comi)rised Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, tiie
Carolinas, Georgia with its western territory now embraced

' Copied from a printed sheet.

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640

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL,

in the States of Alabama and Mississippi. He bad requested
that the portion lying on the Mississippi River should bo
placed under the supervision of the Bishop to be stationed
at New Orleans, who could easily communicate with it.
Bishop Concanen wrote to him from Kome that it was the
intention of the Sovereign Pontiff to detach part of the
actual diocese of Baltimore, but the project was not then
carried out, and the States just named remained under the
supervision of Archbishop Carroll to his death.

Before the consecration of his suffragans and their installa-
tion in their several sees, there were, so far as we can esti-
mate, about seventy priests and eighty churches in the United
States.'

Besides the diocese of Baltimore as reduced by the recent
division, Archbishop Carroll was still burthened with the
administration of the extensive diocese of Louisiana and the
Floridas. In the portion still subject to Spain, the Bishop
of Havana had resumed the authority exercised by him pre-
vious to 1703, and in the rest Archbishop Carroll found the
Vicar-General appointed by him able to effect little good, his
authority being openly defied by Father Anthony Sedella
and men of his stamp. He wrote to the Sovereign Pontiff
in December, 1810, that the Rev. Mr. Nerinckx absolutely
declined to undertake the difficult duty of restoring order in
that unha]>py diocese as Administrator-Apostolic, and that
Rev. Mr. Olivier was from age and infirmity not able to un-
dertake it.' He had cast his eye on one whom he deemed
fitted. This was the Rev. William Dn Bourg, a brilliant,
able, and energetic man, who a« President of Georgetown
College, and founder and President of St. Mary's College,

' Rev. Dr. White, " Life of E. A. Seton," p. 491 iind notes.
• Arclibishop Curroil to Pivis VII., DecenilJer 17, 1810.

LOUISIANA.

641

Baltimore, had shown ability, judgment, theological ability,
and skill in temporal aflfairs. His presence was needed in-
deed at Baltimore, where the college was struggling with a
heavy debt, and this alone seems to have delayed the action
of Archbishop Carroll, who in 1810 sent the Rev. Mr.
Sibourd to Louisiana. That clergyman reached New Or-
leans from France on the 29th of December, 1810, with
two Ursuline nuns for the convent there, the Conmmnity
needing help, as their academy was prospering with sixty-
three boarders and many day-scholars, and their asylum con-
tained thii-ty orphans.' Rev. Mr. Sibourd endeavored to
collect the English-speaking Catholics at the Ursuline chapel,
but at first he found few who cared to profit by his ministry
or approach the sacraments, only one coming to perform his
Easter duty. His sermons at the chapel on Sundays, and his
care in preparing candidates for first communion, which
twelve received on Low Sunday, produced a good effect.
Father Sedella and his unworthy assistants were also com-
pelled to preach, and to make some show of discharging the
duties of the ministry."

By the erection of the Sees of Boston, New York, and
Bardstown, Archbishop Carroll's diocese ceased to border on
that of Quebec. He ac oidingly wrote in March, 1811, to
Bishop Plesdis in regard to the matter, asking him to con-
tinue in the new dioceses the charitable services on the fron-
tiers which he and his predecessors, Bishops Hubert and
Denaut, had performed, by allowing their i)riests to attend
Catholics in the United States near the boundary, and by
themselves administerhig the sacrament of confirmation.
Bishop Plessis accordingly made Bishops Cheverus and

' Rev. L. Sibourd to Archbishop Carroll, March 22, 1811.
' Same to same, June 12, 1811.

■ ti

'i-

' II

i fi

642

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Flaget, and Father Anthony Kohhnann his Vicars-General
and they in turn made Bishop Plessis Vicar-General in the
dioceses of Boston, New York, and Bardstown.'

Bishops Cheverus, Egan, and Flaget, and Father Kohlmann
in organizing the dioceses under their care, constantly ap-
pealed to the Archhishop for direction and advice, and New-
York depended on Bishop Cheverus for all episcopal acts,
although the diocese was not actually under his care as Dr.
Carroll had solicited the Holy See to place it.

In his own diocese of Baltimore, Archbishop Carroll was
consoled by seeing the peaceful progress of religion. Eni-
mittsburg became a centre of Catholic life and activity. It
had been a mission attended from Frederick fi-om an early
period, a chapel in the house of the Elder family having been
the constant place of worship. The Rev. John Du Bois,
after attending it for several years, resolved to build a
church for the faithful whose numbers had increased. Near
by was a log-house which he purchased with a piece of land.
It was an humble beginning, but destined to become the cra-
dle of two great institutions, one training young men in tlie
faith and fitting them for the world, while it sent zealous
priests to all parts of the country ; the other the Mother
House of the Sisters of Charity, who at this mountain
home became accomplished teachers of rich and poor, moth-
ers to the orphan, comforters of the sick and afflicted.

The modest mountain church was visited in the autunm of
1808 by Bi-shop Carroll, who administered confirmation on

' A priest at Detroit, Niajjnra, or the Passnmaquoddy rouUl tliiis
tinder powers piven him validly exereise tlie ministry when noressary
on Britisli soil. In the ease of New Yorlt it is curious to find it .Icsitii
Fatlier (Kolilmann) appointing a Bishop his Vicar-General. Archbishop
Carroll to Bishop Plessis, March 13, 1811. Archives of Archbishop of
Quebec.

MOUNT ST. MARY'S COLLEGE.

643

the 20th of October, and who, we may feel assured, en-
couraged the hopes of the zealous priest.

When Kev. Mr. Du Bois, who had long wished to establish
a school near his church, proposed to Rev. Mr, Kagot to re-
move the establishment then at Pigeon Hills, Pa., Rev. Mr.
Du Bourg, with some other Sulpitians, visited the mountain,
and a tract of five hundred acres was acquired from a lady,
payment being made by an annuity. About Easter, 1809,
sixteen young men arrived from Pigeon Hills. A brick
house intended at one time for a church became the " Petit
Seminaire," ' Rev. Mr. Du Bois with the teachers and some
pupils residing in the log-house. Work was ut once com-
menced on two rows of log buildings, which were to be the
future college. Rev. Mr. Du Bois at lirst proposed placing
them on the brow of the hill in front of the church, but by
the advice of Rev. Mr. Du Bourg adopted a more sheltered
site at the base of the hill near a beautiful spring.

Such was the commencement of Mount Saint M.ry's Col-
lege, which seemed to enter at once on a career of prosperity,
though tlie founder was utterly destitute of means. Rev.
Mr. Duhamel soon joined him from Hagerstown and relieved
him of the parochial work. In 1810 the college had forty
pupils, and three years after double that number, exclusively
Catholic.

When his log buildings were ready, the Rev. Mr. Du Bois
gave his log-house temporarily to Mrs. Seton and L^r Sisters,
so that it was also the cradle of her community. On Sun-
days and holidays the pupils of both establishments pro-
ceeded to the church, a distance of some two miles from the
college, the Sisters of Charity conducting the choir.'

' This buildiiitr was on a piece of land convoyed to Bishop Carroll Oc-
tober 24, 1793, by Mr. Alexius Elder, Note of Archbishop Marechal.
« " U. 8. Catholic Magazine," v., p. 36.

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(644)

•1
Che

MRS. SETON IN BALTIMORE.

646

Mrs. Elizabeth A. Seton, after her reception into the
Church at New York, opened a little school : but the aliena-
tion of her early friends, and the condition of Catholic affairs
there at that time, made her struggle so hard that she thought
of withdrawing to Canada. Dr. Matignon and Rev. Mr,
Cheverus, of Boston, and the Rev. J. S. Tisserant, a French
priest at Elizabeth, N. J., were, however, her friends and
guides, and they soon learned to believe that God called her
to special work in this country. In May, 1808, the Rev.
William Du Bourg urged her to proceed to Baltimore in or-
der to open a school in a house near the seminary. This the
Rev. Mr. Cheverus warmly recommended : '' Such an estab-
lishment would be a public benefit to religion, and we hope,
a real advantage to yourself and amiable family. We infi-
nitely prefer it to your project of a retreat in Montreal."
She accordingly spiled from New York with her daughters
in a Baltimore packet on the 9th of June, and took up her
residence in a house still standing in Paca Street near the
Seminary of St. Sulpice. Here her heart expanded with
holy joy. Near a chapel where she could hear mass every
day froir. daylight to eight o'clock, and attend Vespers and
Benediction every evening, her happiness was complete.
Her first scholars were nieces of the Rev. Mr. Du Bourg.
Others soon came. Miss Cecilia O'Conway became her as-
sistant and other ladies were soon ready to join her, desirous
of their own spiritual advancement and of serving the poor.*
The next year it was deemed best to give them a habit, con-
sisting of a plain black gown and cap, with plaited border
and a rosary hanging from the girdle. Mrs. Seton took the
three simple vows of religion, in the hands of Bishop Carroll

I 1'

H'ti

•A

■III

r*;

' Rev. Wm. Du Bourg to Mrs. E. A. Seton, May 2, 1808 ; Rev. J.
Cheverus to same, May 12, 1808.

nOnSB ON PACA STUEET, BALTIMOHE, WHEUB MH8. BETON FOUNDED
HEK COMMUNITY.

(646)

MRS. SETON AT EMMJTTSBURG.

647

on her knees before a crucifix, to be binding for one year's
time only, but to be renewed at stated periods, if she sliould
60 wish to engage herself.

A gentleman named Cooper, a convert like herself, about
this time projected a manufactory for the use of the poor
and purchased some property at Emmittsburg, in Frederick
County, Maijland. The education of children rich and poor
was part of his plan, and he invited Mrs. Seton to take charge
of that department. Accordingly in May, 1809, Mrs. Seton
with her daughter, two sisters of her late husband and one of
the ladies who had joined her, proceeded to Emmittsburg.
Finding the building on Mr. Cooper's property as yet untit
for tliem, they took up their residence in a log-hut erected ou
the side of the mountain below St. Mary's church, by Rev.
John Du Bois. Those left in Baltimore soon joined them.

On the 20th of February, 1810, the Sisters left their tem-
porary home to take possession of the log structure erected
on their own property, and which has ever since been the
site of St. Joseph's Academy. It was a small two-story
building with a high porch in front, standing in the valley
between the mountain and the village. The house was
blessed by Rev. Mr. Du Bois, and the Community placed
under the special patronage of St. Joseph.'

The Sisterhood thus formed and consisting of ten mem-
bers began at once to teach poor children, to visit the sick,
and before long opened a boarding-school for girls. In Octo-
ber, 1809, Bishop Carroll visited the new and interesting es-
tablishment which augured so much good to the Church.
The next year Bishop Flaget, returning from Europe to be

' Seton, "Memoir, Letters, and .lournal," ii., pp. 14-52. The view
of St. Josepli's is from a pioce of needlework preserved by the Sisters
of Charity at Haverstraw, N. Y., to whose kindness I am indebted for
its use.

'J!

648

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

consecrated, brought a copy of the "Constitutions and Rules
of the Sisters of Charity" (FiUes de la Charity) founded by
St. Vincent de Paul. These were made the basis of regala-
tions which were prepared by some of the Sulpitians for Mrs.
Seton's Community. There were, however, points which
did not receive Archbishop Carroll's approval, and these
were after serious deliberation altered by them. He also
made it distinctly understood that they were not to be in
matter of spiritual or temporal direction subject to the Com-
munity of St. Sulpice at Baltimore, though their Director
might be of that body and the Superior at Baltimore might

PAC-8IMILK OF BIONATCRE OP B. A. 8ET0N.

individually on rare and uncommon occasions exercise some
powers. " I am exceedingly anxious," he wrote, " that every
allowance shall be made, not only to the Sisters generally,
but to each one in particular, which can serve to give quiet
to their consciences, provided that this be done without en-
dangering the harmony of the community ; and therefore it
must become a matter of regulation." . ..." It has been
my endeavor when I read the constitutions, to consult, in the
first place, the individual happiness of your dear Sisters, and
consequently your own ; 2ndly, to render their plan of life
useful to religion and to the public ; 3dly, to confine the ad-
ministration of your own affairs, and the internal and domes-
tic government, as much as possible to your own institutions
once adopted, and within your own walls." " I shall con-
gratulate you and your beloved Sisters when the Constitution
is adopted. It will be like freeing you from a state in which
it was difficult to walk straight, as you had no certain way in

ST. JOSEPH'S ACADEMY.

649

which to proceed. In the meantime assure yourself and
them of my utmost solicitude for your advancement in the
service and favor of God ; of my rehance on your prayers ;
of mine for your prosperity in the important duty of educa-
tion, which will and must long be your principal, and will
always be your partial, employment. A century at least will
pass before the exigencies and habits of this country will re-
quire and hardly admit of the charitable exercises towards
the sick, sufficient to employ any number of Sisters out of
our largest cities ; and therefore they must consider the busi-
ness of education as a laborious, charitable, and permanent
object of their religious duty." Modified as he suggested,
the rule received his approval in 1812,^ and was adopted by
the Community at Emmittsburg. At the first election Mrs.
Elizabeth A. Seton was chosen Mother Superior, and was
periodically re-elected as long as she lived. The Rev. John
Du Bois was appointed Superior-General of the Sisters.

Thus, by the providence of God, a lady, born and reared
in affluence, amid a purely Protestant social circle, became,
after being tried in the furnace of poverty. Buffering, and
worldly coldness, the foundress of a Community which has
to this day, imbued with her spirit, carried out her plans of
works of mercy."

' " I have read and endeavored before God attentively to consider the
Constitutions of the Sisters of Charity submitted to me by the Rev. Su-
perior of the Seminary of St. Sulpitius, and I have approved of the same,
believing them to be inspired by the Spirit of God, and suitable to con-
duct the Sisters to religious perfection.

" 4« John Archbishop of Baltimore.

" BALTiMonB, Janaory 17, 181J."

' White, " Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton, foundress and first Superior
of the Sisters or Daughters of Charity in the United States," New York,
1853; Baltimore, 1856; Paris, 1857. Seton, "Memoir, Letters, and
Journal of Elizabeth Seton," 3 vols., New York, 1869 ; Mme. de Barberey,
•• Elizabeth Seton," Paris, 1868.
28

WEST INDIA JURISDICTION.

651

Mother Seton received in November, 1810, a visit from
Bishop Cheverus of Boston and Bishop Egan of Philadelphia,
who had recently been coneecrated in Baltimore. Though
Dr. Cheverus had long been the friend, correspondent, and
wise counsellor of Mother Seton, they had never met till this
occasion when he behold her with her spiritual children and
her academy daily increasing in numbers and credit.

The Sovereign Pontiff added to Dr. Carroll's burthens in
1811 by investing him with ordinary jurisdiction over tlh^
Danish islands of Santa Craz, St. Thomas and St. John, the
Dutch island of St. Eustatia as well as Barbuda, St. Kitts
and Antigua, with authority to appoint two prefects, one for
the Danish and one for the other islands, and to invest them
with the power of administering confirmation. lie was nat-
urally alarmed at this new resjwnsibility, but as letters had
reached him in regard to the condition of affairs there, he
was aware that good priests had been innocently exercising
the ministry under jurisdiction not recognized at Kome as
competent. Archbishop Carroll, seeing that there was danger
in delay, accordingly appointed the Rev. Henry Kendall
Prefect and Rev. Mr. Herard Yice-Prefect, that the faithful
in the Danish isles might enjoy the exercises of the ministry ;
and he endeavored to ascertain the state of rehgion in the
other islands confided to his care.'

In Charleston the Rev. Mr. Gallagher, who had lo.ig ijsod
the trustees or vestry to maintain his position against his
bishop, found them ready to carry their usurpation further
by excluding him from the meetings of the Board. Arch-
bishop CaiToll, to check this spirit, addressed the trustees,
showing them that by the unifonn rule of the diocese the
clergy of the church were, in all cases, members of the

' Archbishop Carroll to Robert Tuite, of St. Croix.

>iiia

652

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Board of Trustees, and the pastor the presiding officer He
assured them that if they drove out their present priee't they
would put him under the necessity of withholding his appro^
bation and the faculties necessary for the lawful exercise of
the sacred ministry from any priest whom they attempted to
set in his place.'

In October the Sulpitians received intelligence of the death
of their Superior, Kev. Mr. Emery, and Archbishop Carroll
took part in the solemn service offered in Baltimore for the
repose of his soul, feeling deeply how much, under Provi-
dence, his diocese owed to the congregation over which Rev.
Mr. Emery presided.

About the same time some debated questions greatly
divided the Vicars-Apostolic of England, and both parties
sought to place their views in the most favorable light before
the Archbishop of Baltimore, a letter from Bisliop Milner
being followed by one from the other Vicars-Apostolic of
England.'

The gubjects were fortunately not such as affected the
Church in the United States. In England Blauchard and
other French priests denounced Pius VII. as having be-
trayed the Church in his concordat with Napoleon. The
English Vicars-Apostolic in general had not repressed these
relHillious men as decidedly as the Irish Bishops and Dr.
Milner had done, and in the hope of obtaining from the
English government the emancipation of Catholics had
signed a resolution which virtually conceded to the British
government a control over the appointment of the Catholic

' Archbishop Carroll to the Vestry of Cbarlcston, Septimber 15 l&ll ■
"U. 8. Crttholic Miscellany," ii., p. 24.

' Right Rev. John Bliliu-r to Archbishop Carroll, May 4, 1811 ; Right
Rev. William Gibson, etc., to same, November 27, 1811 ; Archbishop
Troy to same, March 1, 1811.

HE RECEIVES THE PALLIUM.

653

bishope in England. Against any such concession, Biphop
Milner and the Irish Bishops protested.

In the United States there was no sympathy among French
priests for the rebellious clergymen in England, and our
Constitutions made State interference with the appointment
of bishops highly improbable, although before the death of
Archbishop Carroll the Holy See took a step which might
have provoked from our own government peremptory and
severe measures.

Archbishop Carroll cautiously refrained from taking part
in the discussions in the British Isles, and while he con-
demned all weakness in dealing with any disregard of the
authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, he forbore to express any
opinion as to the steps to be taken to rt /e from the minds
of English statesmen all idea of any disloyalty of the Cath-
olic bishops.

On the 18th of August Dr. Carroll, who had hitherto
been Archbishop-elect, was invested with the pallium, which
was at last brought to Baltimore by the British Minister to
the United States. The ceremony was performed with all
due solemnity by Bishop Neale, on the 18th of August, in
his pro-cathedral. The joy felt by the clergy and faithful
of his city and diocese at this crowning ceremony of his pro-
motion to the rank of metropolitan, found an echo through-
out the country, which was expressed by Bishop Cheverus
when he wrote : " That you may for many years wear this
vesture of holiness is the wish of all your children in Jesus
Christ, and God in his mercy will, I hope, hear their prayers
and prolong the life of our beloved and venerable Father." '

When Archbishop Carroll and his suffragans separated

111

'.^ f\

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Carroll, October 8, 1811 ; Bishop
Carroll to Father Chas. Plowden, January 37, 1812 ; Certificate of Bishop
Neale ; Archbishop Carroll to Cardinal Pietro, 1813.

654

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

after their meeting at Baltimore in 1810, it was agreed
among them that a provincial council should be held not
later than the first of November, 1812. Meanwhile Bishops
Cheverus, Flaget, and Egan had assumed the direction of
their respective dioceses, and questions had arisen in Ken-
tucky and Pennsylvania which Bishop Flaget and Bishop
Egan thought well to have settled in a council. In Ken-
tucky Bishop Flaget had visited all the churches and stations

INTEKIOH OF ST. JOSEPH'S CHDUCn, rillLADELPmA
[Prom an old water-color preserved ibere.]

in the State, ol)taining a persona! knowledge of the condition
and wants of the main part of his large diocese. Questions
arose as to the tenure of church property, in which the
Bisliop and his Vicar-General, Very Rev. Stephen T. Badin,
were far from entertaining harmonious views, and the pre-
cise,- relations of the episcopate to regular orders was to he
adjusted. Bishop Egan had also made a visitation of his
diocese, crossing the mountains and reaching Pittsburg. At
St, Mary's church, which he had selected as his pro-cathe-
dral, the trustees had already evinced a disposition to treat

A PRO)- IjED council.

665

the head of the diocese as a hireling whose maintenance de-
pended on their option. Moreover, he had found priests,
• whom he had placed in his pro-cathedral, refractory and in-
clined to take part against him. Investigation led to the
discovery by the bishop of the deed for the ground on which
St. Mary*8 church stood, executed to Father Kobert Hardiag.
from whom it passed by will to Father Francis Neale, thus
at the time the real owner of the church where the trustees
put forward such arrogant claims.

SIGNATTTIIE OF FATHER FRANCIS NEALE.

As the Society of Jesus had not been openly restored by
the Sovereign PontifiF, Archbishop Carroll regarded the mem-
bers in Maryland and Pennsylvania as still secular priests.
When Father Britt was recalled from Trinity church, Phila-
delphia, without the knowledge or consent of Bishop Egan,
he declined to give him faculties till he obtained the necessary
papers from the Bishop of Philadelphia.

There were thus questions to be discussed in a council ;
but Bishop Cheverus, who had enjoyed great peace in his
diocese, and given much aid to religion in the diocese of
New York, where Father Kohlmann as Administrator was
making great progress, considered a council as yet premature
and unnecessary, although he deferred to the opinion of the
Metropolitan ready to attend.'

The great and decided obstacle to holding a council
was the impossibility of communicating with the Sovereign
Pontiff, then a prisoner in the hands of Napoleon, and

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Ciirroll, August 81, 1812. Arch-
bishop Corroll wrote in reply that his reasons appeared decisive. Same
to same, December 30, 1812.

656

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

cut off from all intercourse with the bishops throughout the
world."

In September Archbishop Carroll wrote to Bishop Flaget
informing him that the projected council had been post!
poned indefinitely, but before the letter reached Kentucky
the Bishop of Bardstown was already on his way to Balti-
more.*

In June, 1812, Congress declared war against Great Brit-
ain, and the country was filled with excitement. While
Protestant ministers in some parts denounced the govern-
ment in their pulpits and writings, the Catholics everywhere
manifested loyalty and fidelity. Though personally opposed
to the policy of those who had insisted on the declaration of
war. Archbishop Carroll lent all his influence to support the
national government. When the President appointed a day
of prayer. Archbishop Carroll issued a circular, in which he
said : » In compliance with this recommendation and consid-
ering that we, the members of the Catholic Church, are at
least equally indebf-d as our fellow-citizens to the Bestower
of eveiy good gift for past and present blessings, stand in the
same need of His protection, and ought to feel an equal in-
terest in the welfare of these United States, during the awful
.crisis now hanging over them, I cannot hesitate to require
the respective clergymen employed in the care of souls
throughout this diocese, to invite and encourage the faithful
under their pastoral charge to unite on Thursday, August
20th, for divine worship, most particularly in offering through
the ministers of the Church, the august and salutary sacrifice
of Grace, the Body and Blood of tiie Lamb of God, which

' The first action of the Holy See In regard to a Provincial Council
seems to be the Brief " Xon sine magno - of Pius VII., August 8, 1828.

« Archbishop Spalding. "Sketches of the Life, Times, and Character
of the Right Rev. B. J. Flaget," Louisville, 1852, pp. 106, 111-2.

PASTORAL OF 1814.

657

takes away the sins of the world, to implore through it divine
aid and protection in all our lawful pursuits, public and pri-
vate, to shield us in danger, and to restore and secure to u&
the return of the days of peace ; a happy peace in this life,
and above all that peace which the world cannot give." *

At the very outset of the war, the old Catholic city of
Detroit fell into the hands of the English, and Kev. Gabriel
JRichard was carried off and confined as a prisoner. For a
time the struggle was chiefly on the northern frontier, but
ere long British vessels began depredations on the shores of
the Chesapeake.

Yet even during the war, when distress was general, there
was progress in the diocese of Baltimore. The church at
Augusta, Georgia, was completed by Kev. R. Browne, who
dedicated it to the service of God on Christmas day." The
Catholics at Richmond obtained from one of their number
the gift of a lot for the erection of a church ; they appealed
to the Archbishop for a priest, promising to bend all their
energies to the speedy completion of the sacred edifice.'

Amid the turmoil of war came the cheering intelligence
of the fall of Napoleon, the liberation of the Sovereign Pon-
tiff and his restoration to Rome. On the 7th of July, 1814,
the Archbishop of Baltimore issued a Pastoral to his flock.

" The Holy Catholic Church," it began, " has mourned for
many years over the sufferings and captivity of her visible
Head, the successor of Saint Peter, and Vicar upon earth of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Every day at the august sacrifice of
the New Testament we offered our prayers and entreated

' Circular, August 6, 1812.

' Rev. R. Browne to Archbishop Carroll, October 6, 1812 ; May 24,
1818.

" Catholics of Richmond to Archbishop Carroll, March 25, 1812.
28*

v'i

608

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Almighty God for the deliverance of his servant Pius VII.
and for the renewal of a free intercourse between him and
the Christian people committed to his fatherly solicitude.
United together on the Lord's day we repeated with re-
doubled confidence our bumble petition that it would please
divine GocJness to enable our chief Pastor to feed the flock
of Christ with the food of wholesome doctrine and salutarv
instructions as well as to edify them by continuing to exhibit
bright examples of patience, resignation, magnanimity, and
unlimited confidence in the promises made to that Church
which was purchased by the Blood of the Son of God.
Nevertheless the rigor of confinement was increased, new
obstacles were interposed to intercept all communication be-
tween his Holiness and those who needed his paternal coun-
sels and guidance. Entire regions and provinces were desti-
tute of any pastors. The integrity of Catholic doctrine, the
maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline were exposed to the
open violence and hostility of their declared enemies, and
liable to be imdermined by the artifices of corrupt seducers."
He then depicted the exultation of the infidels and enemies
of the Church as though they had made false the promises
of Christ to His Church. He showed the firm and unyield-
ing constancy of Pius VII. " Insults, injustice, oppression,
spoliations, banishment, rigorous imprisonment, threats, prom-
ises have had no effect on the faithful Vicar of our Lord, or
on his venerable Predecessor. Perhaps since the first won-
derful propagation of the Christian religion and its rapid ex-
tension throughout the regions of the then known worid, no
other era since the days of the Apostles has exhibited such
splendid proofs to revive the faith of the wavering, to con-
firm the timid Christian, or to excite in mankind generally
a certain belief and reliance on the promises of the Saviour
of the World." The bishops, priests, and faithful, put to

TE DEUM'' FOR PIUS VII.

659

death for their religion, pleaded before God for His Church
and the preservation of its government. Their prayers had
been answered, and by a chain of events the divine protec-
tion of the Church had been manifested to the world so
strikingly and clearly that even those separated from the
Church could scarcely be excused if they failed to recognize
in the restoration of the Sovereign Pontiff the finger of God.
He therefore appointed a solemn Te Deum to be chanted in
his pro-cathedral on Sunday, the 10th of July, and in other
churches of his diocese on the Sunday following the recep-
tion of the pastoral.'

The joy was general, and the Te Deum was chanted in all
the churches as soon as the grand pastoral of the Archbishop
became known.

But while this hymn of thanksgiving was arising before
the altars of the Catholic churches, the terrors of war were
turned upon the shores of the Chesapeake. In the summer
of 1814, Washington, the capital of the country, was taken,
and in disregard of all the customs of civilized nations, the
captors destroyed most of the public buildings, the library,
and archives. Bishop Neale was at Georgetown, but that
place with the College and Visitation Convent escaped.
*' Georgetown has to be singularly grateful to God for his
extraordinary protection," wrote Bishop Neale. " For dur-
ing the enemy's stay and rage in the city, not one of them
entered Georgetown or injured anything belonging to it.
Deo infiuitas gratias." '

The aged Archbishop then beheld his episcopal city in-
vested by the enemy, and Fort McHenry bombarded. But

' Pastoral Letter, July 7, 1814.

' Bishop Neale to Archbishop Carroll, September 1, 1814.

660

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

General Ross was repulsed and killed in the action near
Baltitnore, and the British forces withdrew.

In October the English vessels were committing such
depredations along the Potomac, that services were sus-
pended for a long time in the church at Newtown,' On
the eve of All Sainte, a barge from the British sloop-of-wur
" Saracen," landed a pillaging party at St. luigoes, who not
only stripped the residence of kitchen and bedroom furni-
ture, carrying off all the clothing of the clergymen, but they
extended their sacrilegious hands to the church, seizing all
the sacred vessels of the altar, even the ciborium with the
Blessed Sacrament. The Commander of the fleet, however,
when an appeal was made to him, oidered that all the prop-
erty should be restored, and much in fact was given up un-
der a flag of truce on the 18th of November.'

While Baltimore was menaced by the enemy Archbishop
Carroll ordered p. lyers in the churches to implore the aid
and protection of God, especially for those who were called
to leave their homes and families for the common defence.
" Let them be recommended to divine mercy, through the
intercession of the ever Blessed Virgin, the Mother of our
Lord, as the chosen Patroness of the diocese, not doubting
her readiness to intercede for those who have recourse to her
in the time of their need." '

When the city had been delivered from its peril the Arch-
bishop issued a Pastoral appointing solemn services of thanks-

' Woodstock Letters, iv., p. 67.

« Rev. Leonnrd 'Edelcn to Arclibi-shop Carroll, October 14, November
21, 1814. Right Rev. B. J. Fenwick. " Brief Account of the aeftlenuiil
of Maryland, with a notice of 8t. Inigoes." Woodstock Letters, ix., pp.
167, etc. ; Attack on St. Inigoes, " Amer. Hist. Reg.," December, IHTi).

•Circular, 1814.

DEATH OF BISHOP EG AN.

661

giving in the churches of Saint Peter and Saint Patrick on
the 20th of October.

After visiting his diocese Bishop Egan, on returning to
Pliiladelphia, found the trustees of St. Mark's pro-cathedral
in a hostile coinbination against him. They openly vio-
lated the agreement made at the erection of the See, in
which the expenses of consecration were to be met and a
fixed salary paid. As they did not even possess a legal
title to the land on which the church stood, they might
therefore be ejected by the real owners at any time.' The
good Bishop was, however, too much prostrated and dis-
couraged to enter upon any struggle or litigation with the
trustees. The troubles they caused threw him into a nervous
disorder, which was heightened by their pertinacious annoy-
ance. While thus suffering in mind and body, the Rev.
Messrs. Harold, priests whom he had stationed at St. Mary's
and on whom he relied, increased the poignancy of his trials
by their ingratitude and insubordination.

Crushed by accumulated afflictions, he could not recover :
his health never rallied, and he gradually sank. It may be
gaid in all truth that Bishop Egan died of a broken heart,
July 22, 1814.

By his demise the important see of Philadelphia, like that
of New York, became vacant. As no regulations had been
adopted by the Holy See in regard to nominations for sees in
the United States, Archbishop Carroll felt a delicacy in thrust-
ing unsolicited his views as to suitable candidates on the au-
thorities at Rome, although it was soon evident that no such

' Bishop Egan to Archbishop Carroll, September 14, 1810 ; October
14, 1811 ; March 14, September 28, November 7, December 17, 29, 1812 ;
June 19, July 7, 13, 28, 1813. "That he has been the first victim of

Episcopal rights there cannot be the least doubt for his end has

been premature." Rev. L. Kenny to Archbishop Carroll, July 22, 1814.

St !l

662

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

considerations of delicacy restrained prelates in other coun-
tries from interfering.

On the 23d of August, 1814, he addressed the following
circular letter to Bisliop Cheverus and Bishop Flaget :

«Rt. Rev. Sik:

" The lamented death of our venerable Brother in God,
the R' Rev. D' Michael Egan, Bishop of Philad", on thj
22^'-' of July, has without doubt caused you to reflect with
pain, that an answer has not been received to our joint letter
to his Holiness, written in consequence of our deliberations
in Nov' 1810, concerning several points for the future gov-
ernment of our American churches, and especially for filling
up the vacancies, which would certainly ensue in the Episco-
pal Sees. That of New York has been long vacant, and the
same has lately happened to Philad'. You may remember,
and see by referring to our proceedings, chapter 4"', that we
respectfully solicited the permission of the Holy See, (pro-
vided it would permit the nomination to vacant Bishoprics
to be made in the Cnited States,) to allow that nomination
to proceed solely from the ArchbiEhop and Bishops of this
Ecclesiastical province.

" No answer having been received, nothing can be done
authoritatively in this matter. Yet the condition and dis-
tractions of the Church of Philad" require immediate atten-
tion. With respect to N. York, it has transpired, that his
Holiness, whilst prisoner at Savona, soon after the death of
D'- Coneanen, had it in his consideration, to appoint a Suc-
cessor, but it being uncertain, whether the appointment was
made, no step should be taken in that concern, till we hear
from Rome, The case is different at Philad" for the rea-
son alledged al)ove, and tho' no nomination can proceed from
any person, or persons in the United States, yet I deem it

THE VACANT SEES.

663

advisable to consult you on the propriety of recommending
one or more subjects to the Holy See, one of whom may be
approved and appointed to succeed D'- Egan. If such be
your opinion, and that of the other Bishops, I propose more-
over to you, to inform me, whether in your opinion likewise we
may not proceed immediately on the business ; transact it by
letter on account of our immense distance. The mode, which
appears to me the best suited to the present exigency, is, for the
Bishop of Boston, the Administrators of the dioceses of N.
York, and Philad", the Bishop of Kentucky, the Coadjutor
Bishop of Gortyna, and myself to join in choosing one, two, or
three persons, best esteemed by us and send on their names,
character, &c., to Rome, with our respective recommendation.
Before however our choice be completed, I must request your
approbation for me to consult the most discreet and experi-
enced of the Clergy of Pennsylv" as to their opinions concern-
ing the persons who will appear to us most worthy, and fit to
govern the Diocess with advantage, and restore its peace.
" I am most respectfully, R. R*" Sir,

" Your most obed' S' and B' in Xt.»

No name was mentioned for New York, as that nomina-
tion was 8uppo^^ed to have been decided upon. Before the
appointment of Bishop Concanen, Dr. Carroll had earnestly
advised that no one sL-ould be appointed to that see, but that
the diocese should for the time being be placed under the con-
trol of the Bishop of Boston. Bishop Concanen finding the
difficulty of reaching his see almost insurmountable, had pe-
titioned the Sovereign Pontiff to appoint the Rev. Ambrose
Mardchal as Coadjutor of the Bishop of New York ; and as
the American Bishops cordially welcomed the choice, his ap-
pointment was considered as settled.'

' Archbishop Carroll to Rev. C. Plowden, June 25, 1816. "It was

«te

UFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

As to v,>e see of Philadelphia, ^ rolibishop Carroll and his
Coadjutor with Bishop CheveruM, as wdl as tlie clergy of the
diocese of Philadelpliia, concurred in recommending the Kev.
/ohn B. David, wi ^ learning, piety, firm yet amiable man-
ner, seemed to tit him remarkaWv for a position of more than
i/r 'nary difficulty.

As •*oon as the Pope was restored to Rome, Archbishop
Carroll wrote to express the congratulations of the Catholic
bishops, clergy, and the people in the United States.' He
also urged on the Propaganda the necessity of supplying tlie
vacant sees, and repeated the well-considered opinion formed
by the surviving bishops and himself. They were all sur-
prised to hear that influence had been exerted at Rome to
secure the nomination of the Rev. William V. Harold for
the see of Philadelphia.

The danger which the old Maryland priests had feared had
proved no delusion. Bishops and others in Europe were
nrging appointments to sees in this country, ignorant of the
actual state of affairs and of the qualities required. Arch-
bishop Troy of Dublin was the centre of these movements,
and his interference can be traced in Canada and England!
as well as in the United States. The nomination of Bishop
Concanen had been chiefly on liis recommendation, and he
now advocated the appointment of his fellow-religious. Father
Harold. The uncle of the latter, not daring to return to Ire-

known here that before tlie death of Dr. Concanen his Holiness at the
Dr's entreaty, intended to assign to him as his coadjutor the Rev. Mr.
^.'arechal, a priest of St. Sulpicc, now in the Seminary here, and worthy
of any promotion in the Church. We still expected that this monsi-re
would be pursued ; and therefore we made no presentation or ra:oii,.
mendation of any other for that vacant Si.'.."
' Archbishop Carroll to Pope Pius VII., .July, 1814.

EUROPEAN INFLUENCE.

665

land, induced the Archbishop of Bordeaux to join in recom-
mending the appointment."

Archbishop Carroll and Bishops I''l <?et and Clu vems saw
with gloomy forebodings their advice set aside at Hume In
deference to that of prelates strangers to the country. Their
correspondence showed their fears and anxiety.' Dr. Carroll
wrote to Cardinal Litta, the Prefect of the Propaganda, that
in case of the appointment of a priest who had hastened the
death of Bit-hop Egan, "serious dissensions and sece88ion.i
from the Church miglit justly be apprehended," but his pro-
phetic ntterances were disregarded, and though the nomina-
tion of Father Harold was abandoned, an appointment was
made which was followed by these very results.

The appointment made for New York at the instance of
Archbishop Troy and other Irish bishops was one almost un-
paralleled. Tlie choice fell on the Rev, John Connolly of
the Order of St. Dominic, and a subject of George III. The
United States and Great Britain were then actually at war,
and no country in Europe would have failed to resent, under
similar circumstances, the appointment of an alien enemy to
a bishopric within its borders by refusing him admittance
into its territory. The nationality of Bishop Concanen had
prevented his reaching America ; but without learning expe-
rience from that appointment, the authorities at Rome com-
mitted a grave national discourtesy in electing to an American

' Archbishop Carroll to Cardinal Litta, November 28, 1814.

' Archbishop Carroll to Rev. C. Plowden. June 25, 1815. "I wish
this may not become a very dangerous precedent fruitful of mischief, by
drawing upon our religion a false opinion of the servility of our princi-
ples." Bishop Chcvenis to Archbishop Carroll, M.iy 11. 1815. "It is
cert Mnly astonishing tli:\t Prelates in France or Ireland .should recom-
mend subjects for the mission here and be listened to, rather than you,
and those here you are pleased to consult. We must only pray that
everything may work for good."

666

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

^ the subject of a country actually at war with the United
States, and whicli had just laid its national capital in ashes

The Right Rev. Dr. Connolly was appointed Bishop of
JMew lork, and consecrated on the 6th day of November
1814. As a British subject he did not dare to come to the
United States on account of the war ; and he seems to have
received from Bishop Concanen, his fellow-religious at Rome
and from those who secured his appointment, a prejudice
against Archbishop Carroll and the Bishops and clergy iu
this country. Bishop Coucanen had taken umbrage at the
appointment of Father Kohlmann as Vicar-General, and at
the establishment of a Jesuit college. Bishop Connollv
seems to have shared the same feelings, and to have disap-
proved generally of the management of the diocese by Father
Kohhnann as Administrator. So far as can be ascertained
he did not announce his appointment to the venerable Arch-
bishop or his fellow-bishops, or hold any communication with
them or the Administrator of the diocese of New York.' In-
timations of his views evidently reached the country. Father
Kohlmann was recalled to Maryland to become master of
novices, the college wa« suspended, the Ursuline nuns pre-
pared to return to Ireland, and Bishop Cheverus, who had in
his charity dedicated the new cathedral of Saint Patrick, and
frequently administered confirmation in the widowed diocese,
felt, when the news of the appointment suddenly arrived, as
though he had given oflfense to one soon to be his episcopal
neighl)or and brother.'

' •' Dr. Connolly, exceedingly wanted in his diocese, is not yet arrived
nor has he written to any one." Archbishop Carroll to Kev. C. Plowden'
July 24, 1815. '

' Bishop Chevenis to Archbishop Carroll, May 9. 1815 " Had I re-
ceived the news last week, I would not have consented to give confirma-
tion here. Same to same, New York, May 1!, 1815. Hishop Plessis of

BISHOP CONNOLLY.

667

Even after the treaty of peace signed at Ghent had been
ratified by both countries, Bishop Connolly lingered in Eu-
rope, and finally landed in New York unannounced, and
without any formal felicitation by the few remaining priests
or the leading members of the laity. He might even then
have reached Archbishop Carroll, but did not attempt to
do so.'

In the troubles which environed the first Bishop of Phila-
delphia, Archbishop Carroll, who esteemed him as a holy and
devoted priest and bishop, gave him all possible encourage-
ment, sympathy, and support. He thus became obnoxious
to the malcontents there, and to the Rev. Messrs. Harold,
who, on their return to Europe, spread many calumnies about
him in England and Ireland, which were repeated and car-
ried to Rome. Unfortunately not one of seven or eight let-
ters addressed by him to the Sovereign Pontiff and the Con-
gregation de Propaganda Fide reached Rome, and there is
evidence that the authorities there had imbibed strong prej-
udice agpinst the venerable Archbishop of Baltimore.'

The trustees of St. Mary's church, Philadelphia, addressed
him, after Bishop Egan's death, in terms of such rude vio-
lence, that he replied : " Having assured you that I had no
ordinary right to interfere in the administration of the dio-
cese of Philadelphia, during the vacancy of the Episcopal

Quebec, who visited New York, deplored the condition of tlie diocese,
left without a head, for Father Fenwiclc liad really no authority as Ad-
ministnitor, and neither the Metropolitan nor the adjacent Bishop ven-
tured to take any step for fear of giving fresh offense.

' " The Shamrock," the only Irish paper then published, November
25, 1815, expressed apprehension for the safety of the ship " Sally,"
then 70 days at sea, and in its issue of December 2d gives his name
among a list of passengers without a single remark.

' Archbishop Carroll to Rev. C. Plowden, December 12, 1813 ; Febru-
ary 8, 1814 ; June 25, 1815. Cardinal Litta to Archbishop Carroll, 1815.

668

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

See, I did not apprehend that any further application would
be made to me on the subject contained in your letter of the
8th, which I could not answer before this day. My cond ict
has been too much misunderstood or misinterpreted already
to leave m me any disposition towards a further discussion
of the merit or demerit of former proceedings ; I have still
less inclination to notice the uncivil and unfounded mmm-v
tions leveled at me in your letter. Correspondence should
cease, when it is no lonprer mutually respectful. It is a satis-
faction to me to reflect tiiat I was never wanting designedly
in respect for the persons, who have waited on me in vour
l)ehalf.»

It was a severe trial sent by Divine Providence to prepare
the venerable Archbishop in his last days for a final deUch-
ment from all worldly things, and even from the good name
acquired by many years of faithful service, to find that ii.
England and Ireland a widespread prejudice had been cre-
ated agfiinst him, and that even the Sovereign Pontiff with-
drew his confidence, rejected completely his counsels, al-
though shared by Bishops like Flaget and Chevenis: in-
deed the hand of death alone saved him from sharp words of
censure.

Amid all this trial Archbishop Carroll preserved an unal-
terable calm, relying on God in His providence to guide Ills
Church in the United States and save it from the conse-
quences of human passions and frailties.

There was, however, one great consolation in tliese closing
days of the Archbishop's life, and that was the complete res-
toration of the Society of Jesus by Pope Pius VII., on the
7th of August, 1814. The news came, and even more slowly
came the Hull of the Sovereign Pontiff. " You, who k.iow
Kome," wrote Archbishop Carroll, « may conceive my senti-
ments when I read the account transmitted in your most

SOCIETY OF JESUS RESTORED.

669

pleasing letter, of the celebration of Mass by His Holiness
himself at the superb altar of St. Ignatius at the Gesu ; the
assemblage of the surviving Jesuits in the chapel to hear the
proclamation of their resurrection ; the decree for the resti-
tution of the residence in life and scene of the death of their
Patriarch, of the novitiate of St. Andrew, its most enchanting
church, and the lovely monument and chapel of St. Staiiis-
laus, which, I fondly hope, have escaped the fangs of rapine

and devastation But how many years must pass before

these houses will be repeopled by such men as we have
known, whose sanctity of manner, zeal for the divine glory,
science, eloquence, and talents of every kind rendered them
worthy of being the instruments of divine Providence to
illustrate His Church, maintain its faith, and instruct all
ranks of human society in all the duties of their respective
stations." '

From the exultation and joy of the members in this coun-
try, filled with new zeal by this official recognition of their
existence, Archbishop Carroll augured well for the future of
religion. The novitiate, removed from St. Inigoes to White-
marsh, soon had eight or nine novices, showing that voca-
tions would not be wanting."

He and his coadjutor would gladly have laid down their
mitres and croziers to assume once more the habit they had
worn in their youth, and relinquished only when the decree
of the Sovereign Pontiff required it ; but they were both
beyond the years of active labor, and would be only a bur-
then. They yielded to the actual condition of affairs,

Georgetown College, under the impulse and guidance of
the eminent Father John Grassi, had risen from a temporary

i^i

' Archbishop Carroll to Rev. Marmaduke Sloae, January 5, 1815 ;
Woodstock Letters, x., p. 112.
' Rev. B. J. Fenwick to Rev. J. Grassi.

I Ml

670 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

depression and attained a high rank in numbers and etfi
ciency, and the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, established in
1810, gathered the best scholars in that society which has
done so much to preserve religion among the young. In
May, 1815, the Congress of the United States granted
Georgetown College a charter, investing it with all the
powers of a University.'

Active steps were taken to extend education among the
poor, and a striking instance was the organization of St.
Patrick's Benevolent Society at Baltimore, by Rev. John F*
MoranviI16, to maintain a school in that parish. St. Patrick's
school preceded all public schools in Baltimore.'

The condition of the Church in Louisiana had caused con-
stant anxiety to Archbishop Carroll, and even after he had
decided that the Rev. William Du Bourg was the clergyman
best fitted to restore order and discipline in that territory,
difficulties intervened, and it was not till the 18th of August,'
1812, that, under the powers imparted by the Holy See'
Archbishop Carroll appointed him Administrator-Apostolic
of the diocese of Louisiana and the two Floridas.' The
Very Rev. Mr. Du Bourg accepted the onerous duty, reliev-
ing the venerable Archbishop of a heavy burthen. He pro
ceeded at once * to New Orleans and set to work to continue
tlie work effected under Dr. Carroll's administratorship by
his Vicars-General. The new Administrator was a brilliant
and learned man, but lacked courage and firmness. His first
steps disappointed the Archbishop, who had expected him to
take possession of the Cathedral and assert his position as

' Woodstock Letters, vli., p. 149.

' Scharf, " Chronicles of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1874, p. 874.

» Archbishop Carroll's Certiflcnto.

* He left Baltimore October 18, 1813.

V. REV. WM. DU BOURG, ADMINISTRATOR. 671

the head of the diocese. The Very Kev. Mr. Du Bourg
contented himself with obtaining recognition of his author-
ity from Father Sedella, and did not even attempt to say
mass in the Cathedral.' He drew the same picture as all
others had done of the worthless character of Sedella and his
associates, of the laxity of morals, and general neglect of re-
ligion among the people. "When he proceeded to suspend
the most scandalous vicar at the Cathedral, such violence was
shown by the abettors of Sedella that the Administrator be-
came alarmed for his safety and withdrew to the parish of
Acadie, then vacant."

As the year drew near its close the British land and naval
forces menaced New Orleans. On the 18th of December
the Very Rev. Administrator issued a pastoral appointing
public prayers in the churches of New Orleans, and directing
all to implore the protection of heaven " while our brave
warriors, led on by the Hero of the Floridas, prepare to de-
fend our altars and firesides against foreign invasion." Gen.
Jackson expressed his high approbation of the course of the
Administrator, while the wretched Sedella, false to the coun-
try as he had been false to religion and morality, had in-
trigued against the national cause.'

While the battle was raging between the untrained Amer-
ican troops and the English veterans, led by one of "Welling-
ton's experienced generals, the ladies of New Orleans gath-
ered in the chapel of the Ursuline Nuns before the picture
of " Our Lady of Prompt Succor," and as their pious hearts
ascribed to her intercession the exercise of the Power that

' Very Rev. W. Du Bourg to Archbishop Carroll, February 29, 1818 ;
August 17, 1813.

• Same to same, .Tuly 2, 1814.

' " The Battle of New Orleans," Baltimore, 1825, pp. 23-27 ; Gayarr6,
" History of Louisiana," New York, 1866, p. 154.

ircn^ /:j.Oy<>ur\r r/truUi^.

\.<HttJ*ani^

NoTRB Dahb dk Promt Skcouhs

f-^ft'- _^. (jiut. t/u ^^Ji-ui^/ Ct-f^cw i/e /a- jL^v/.

(672)

V. REV. WM. DU BOURG, ADMINISTRATOR. 673

turned the tide of battle from their firesides and homes, de-
votion increased so much that the picture was engraved and
indulgences granted by Dr. Du Boarg after his consecration
as Bishop to encourage this confidence in the intercession of
Mary.

After his glorious victory over the British forces under
Packenham, General Jackson addressed the Very Rev. Mr.
Du Bourg to ask a public service of thanksgiving in the
Cathedral.' The service was performed on the 23d, the
Administrator-Apostolic meeting the victorious general at
the door of the Cathedral with an eloquent address."

All this gave the Very Rev. Dr. Du Bourg oflJeial recog-
nition as head of the diocese and of the Cathedral. He soon
after prepared to go to Europe, leaving the Rev. Mr. Sibourd
as his vicar-general, as it had been notified to him that he
was proposed for the see of Philadelphia if he declined that
of New Orleans.'

After his departure Sedella again showed his artful, litig-
ious character and persevering opposition to a due submission
to any ecclesiastical authority. Archbishop Carroll sustained
Rev. Mr. Sibourd and addressed a letter to Gov. Claiborne,
assuring him that the Very Rev. Mr. Du Bourg, in appoint-
ing Rev. Mr. Sibourd, had acted under the direction and in
full conformity with the rules of discipline of the Church
and its spiritual government.'

In the summer of 1815 Archbishop Carroll showed signs

' General Jackson to Rev. Abbe Du Bourp, Janunrj' 19, 1815, in La-
tour, " Historical Memoir of the War," Philadelphia, 1816, p. Ixviii.

' Address in Latour, p. Ixxi., etc. ; " The Battle of New Orleans," pp.
29-36 ; Gayarrf', " History of Louisiana," New York, 1866, pp. 508, etc.

' Very Rev. William Du Bourj; to Archbishop Carroll, April 21, 1815.

* Archbishop Carroll to Very Rev. L. Sibourd, 1815 ; same to Governor
Claiborne.

674

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL. »

of increasing weakness, and though tlie veneration of his
fellow-citizens induced them to invite him to lay the corner-
stone of the Washington monument on the anniversary of
national independence, his infirmity compelled him to decline
the honor. He was taken to Washington for a time, but re-
turned early in July. Though his health was evidently fail-
ing he retained his cheerful serenity, and continued the care
of his diocese, the condition of the affairs of the Church in
Charleston requiring his prudent and fatherly action.'

It was almost the close of his official life, for early in No-
vember he grew alarmingly ill. The best medical aid was
summoned, but it was soon evident that there was a general
decay of the vital forces arising from the weakness of ad-
vanced age. When his recovery was despaired of, his illness
became the general concern of the city where he had so long
enjoyed universal respect, veneration, and esteem. On the
22d of November the whole Seminary attended the solemn
administration of the viaticum and extreme unction.' After
receiving the last sacrainents, " he made a beautiful and pa-
thetic address of tea or fifteen minutes to them, in a firm
and audible voice, perfectly connected throughout, and par-
ticularly appropriate to the occasion."

A few days after, one of his relatives wrote : " My uncle
had a better night than liis friends and doctors were appre-
hensive and afraid he would have, and he haa been more
composed and in less pain all day than he was yesterday.
These are all favorable symptoms, but the physicians do not
think that they ought to shed a gleam of hope upon his re-
covery. Delusive as they are, however, they are all infi-
nitely consoling to the anxious and solicitous friends, which,

' Archblsllop Ciirroll to Vestry of Charleston, July 27, October 28, 1815.
' Tessier, " Epotjues du Seininaire."

HIS DEATH.

075

it would seem, from being at his house one day, included the
whole population of Baltimore, who are constantly calling to
inquire about, and to urge for permission to see liini. His
mind is as vigorous as ever it was, and whenever any person
goes to his room, you would be pleased and astonished at his
readiness in adapting his conversation and questions to the
situation and circumstances of the person introduced. At
times he is not only cheerful but even gay, and he is never
impatient or fretful." '

When one of the distinguished Protestant clergymen of
the city came to take a last farewell and said that his hopes
were now fixed on another world, the dying Archbishop re-
plied : " Sir, my hopes have always been fixed on the Cross
of Christ."

His perfect resignation to the will of God, his calm and
serelie faith and hope were seen when his life was almost at
its last ebb. The clergy in attendance were consulting in an
adjoining room on tlie last rites and the rites of burial for a
prelate of his exalted rank. A book was required which
was iu the room where he lay. One of them very gently
entered the apartment, but Archbishop Carroll recognized
the step, and calling the priest to his bedside, told him that
he was aware of his object, and directed liim to a particular
shelf where he would find the book they needed. He ex-
pressed a wish to be laid on the floor to die, and asking to
have the Miserere read, followed it with earnest devotion.
He was conscious to the end, and seeing that he was about to
depart, he inquired if a conveyance was prepared to take
away his sister and his weeping relatives. He told them
that the scene was about to close, and giving them his bene-
diction he turned his head aside and died.

' Brent, " Biographical Sketch of the Most Rev. John Carroll." Balti-
more, 1843, pp. 207-8.

676

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

Fortified by all the consolatious of the Church in whose
service he had devoted himself from youth, Archbishop Car-
roll expired, almost with agony, on Sunday, December 3,
1815, about six o'clock in the morning, masses for his happy
death being at once followed by the offering of the holy sac-
rifice for the repose of his soul.

The heartfelt grief of the Catholics was shared by their
fellow-citizens. One of the papers of the city, draped in
black, the next day expressed the general sympathy by say-
ing that his loss would be "felt and sincerel- lamented as an
individual loss by all who had the happini-s to know hini
personally, for it was indeed a source of real hai)piness to
have a personal acquaintance with a man so truly amiable." '
On Tuesday, the 5th, the solemn mass of requiem was
offered in St. Peter's pro-cathedral, where his body had lain
in state. His funeral drew more real mourne- thon had
ever l)een witnessed in Baltimore, as the procession moved
through Saratoga, Eutaw, and Franklin Streets, amid the re-
spectful silence of the citizens, who, from door and window,
gazed on the solemn line. His body was laid in the chajiel
of the Seminary of St. Sulpice in a vault which had been
prepared in the choir by the clergymen of the institution as
the resting-place of their venerated founder. Rev. i!r. Nagot.
The cathedral, begun by Archbishop Carroll, had not been
comjileted, and his remains were a precious deposit at Saint
Mary's till the anm'versary of his death in the year 1824, when,
after a solemn iria^e of requiem, they were conveyed to the
cathedral and deposited in a vault beneath the sanctuary,
after another solemn sacrifice for the repose of his soul in
the grand structure which he founded for the glory of God."

' " Federal Gazette," DccemlH-r 4, 1815.

' " Baltimore American," December 4, 1834.

ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER.

677

Sketches of him appeared immediately after hia death in
the papers of the day. His life-long friend, Father Charles
Plowden, wrote another, redolent of the influence of his
merit and virtue ; Robert Walsh, one of the earliest of our
Catholic literary men, paid an eloquent tribute to his
character and work. Others committed to writing their
reminiscences of his noble and beneficent career, wliile broad-
sides, with a biographical sketch of his life, were circulated,
to be preserved in families where his name was held in
veneration.'

One of the Sulpitians, who labored in the East and the
West, wrote of Archbishop Carroll : " A pontiff venerable
by his age, by the general and universal esteem and venera-
tion paid him in every place and by every one without ex-
ception, retraced and revived in his person the image of the
Cliief of the Apostles, whose authority he possessed, as he
obtained the same success. I often beheld him surrounded
by his priests, whom he loved as his children, whom he re-
spected as his worthy fellow-laborers, and by whom he was
beloved as a tender and beneficent father." '

' I have used Reminiscences by Robert Gilmour, Esq., and by George
W. P. Custis, Esq., adopted son of Washington. I have two broadsides
of different sizes. The biographical sketch in the " Baltimore Gazette"
wa.s copied in Thomas O'Conor's " Shamrock," New York.

A solemn requiem was offered for Archbishop Carroll at St. Mary's
church on the 22d of December, the church having remained draped in
black from the day of his burial. On the 30th of January a solemn
requiem was celebrated in St. Peter's church, which had also been draped
in mourning since his death. The pro-cathedral was crowded, and the
priests of the Seminary and many others attended. Rev. Mr. Gallagher,
of Charleston, preached, taking as his text : " Ecce sacerdos magnus,qui
in diebus suis placuit Deo," which he very happily applied to the late
Archbishop. On the 21st of February a mass was celebrated for him at
St. Patrick's church. Tessier, " Epoques du Seminaire."

» Dilhet, " Etat de I'Eglise," etc. ; Avant Propos.

678

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

When the tidings of his demise reached Rome, Cardinal
Litta wrote to Archbishop Neale, expressing his profobnd
grief at the intelligence of Archbishop Carroll's death, and
the gratifying information that his funeral was celebrated
with so much pomp, and attended by such a vast number of
people of all ranks and denominations, who thus testified
their profound regard for so great a man. and their grief at
the loss which had befallen them.

Posterity has retained the veneration and esteem enter-
tained in this country for Archbishop Carroll, and the calm
scrutiny of history in our day recognizes the high estimate
of his personal virtues, his purity, meekness, prudence, and
his providential work in moulding the diverse elements in
the United States into an organized church. His adminis-
trative ability stands out in high relief when we view the re-
sults produced by others who, unacquainted with the country
and the Catholics here, rashly promised themselves to cover
the land with the blossoms of peace, but raised only harvests
of thorns.

With his life of large experience in civil and religious
vicissitudes, through whose storms his faith in the mission of
the Church never wavered, closed a remarkable period in the
history of the Church in the United States. In 1763 Cath-
olicity was apparently crushed never to rise again in the
northern parts of the Western Continent ; the early Catholic
missions in the north and west, the long-suffering Jesuits
and their flocks in Maryland, all seemed menaced with ex-
tinction under the triumphant tyranny of Protestant intoler-
ance, to the human eye destined to banish all trace of Cath-
olicity from the land as it had done in Florida.

When Archbishop Carroll resigned to the hands of his
Maker his life and the office he had held for a quarter of a
century, the Church, fifty years before so utterly unworthy

THE CHURCH AT HIS D^^TH.

670

of consideration to mere human eyes, had become a fully or-
ganized body instinct with life and hope, throbbing with all
the freedom of a new country. An archbishopric and four
suffragan sees, another > iiocese beyond the Mississippi, with
no endowments from princes or nobles, were steadily advanc-
ing : churches, institutions of learning and charity, all aris-
ing by the spontaneous offerings of those who in most cases
were manfully struggling to secure a livelihood or modest
competence. The diocese of Baltimore had theological semi-
naries, a novitiate and scholasticate, colleges, convents, acade-
mies, schools, a connnunity devoted to education and works
of mercy ; the press was open to diffuse Catholic truth and
refute false or perverted representations. In Pennsylvania
there were priests and churches through the mountain dis-
tricts to Pittsburgh ; and all was ripe for needed institutions.
In New York, Catholics were increasing west of Albany, and
it had been shown that a college and an academy for girls
would find ready support at the episcopal city, where a Cathe-
dral had been commenced before the arrival of the long-ex-
pected Bishop. In New England the faith was steadily gain-
ing under the wise rule of the pious and charitable Bishop
Cheverus. In the West, the work of Badin and Nerinckx,
seconded and extended by Bishop Flaget, was bearing its
fruit. There was a seminary for priests, communities of
Sisters were forming, and north of the Ohio the faith had
been revived in the old French settlements, and Catholic im-
migrants from Europe were visited and encouraged. Louisi-
ana had been confided to the zealous and active Bishop Du
Bourg, destined to effect so much for the Church in this
country. Catholicity had her churches and priests in all the
large cities from Boston to Augusta and westward to St.
Louis and New Orleans, with many in smaller towns, there
being at least a hundred churches and as many priests exercis-

680

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL.

ing the ministry. CathoUcs were free; the days of penal
laws had departed; professions were open to them, and in
most States the avenue to all public offices. In the late T^ar
with England they had shown their patriotism in the field
and on the waves.

ABCHBISnOP OAKROLL. FROM THE WAX BUST IN TEE BISHOPS-
MEMORIAL HALL, NOTRE DAME, IND.

INDEX.

PASS

AOADIANS 386, 642, 549

Acadle, La ... 671

Adams, President John 438, 491

Addiaon, Jud);e Alexander 450

Albany, N. T . .433-8

Alcnian, Father 543

Alexandria, Vu . . 76, 453-4, 480, 493, 513

Allemangcl, Pa 72

Allan, John 392-3

Allen, Col 183

AUentown, Pa 72, 162

AluionaBter y Roxas, Don.AndreD,

560-1

Angler, Father Robert 42, 533

Angeollnl, F. Cajetan 319

Annnpolii) 62

Antiguu 651

Antonelli, Cardinal.. 223-4, 245, 251,
272, 334-6, 337, 355, 567, 403, 475, 597

Apoquiminlnk, Del 454

Appleton, Consul 625

Aqulu Creek 86

Arunda, Count 565

Arazcna, Father Joseph de .192, 546

Art) re Croohe 103, 103, 108, 491

Arnold, Gen. Benedict 169

Articles of Confederation 845

Arundell of Wardour, Lord.. 43, 36.S,

369

Arzuqueyn, Father Francis 549

Ascenfiion, La 548

Ashbey, Father James 61, 85

Ashley, John 639

Ashtou, Rot. John. . 80, 197, 207, 238,

241, 359, 801, 303-4, 308, 329, 334,

875, 395, 397

A '■sumption (Sandwich) 474

FA03S

Assumption Mission 66

Asylum, Luzerne Co., Pa 447-8

Attakapas 648-9, 579

Aubert, Rev. Mr 565-6

Aubry, Gov ,041

Augusta, Ga 464, 657

Augustlniana 425, 464, 637, 657

Autnn, Bishop of 316

Azara, Nicholas de 333

Babad, Rev. Mr 600, 607

Badin, Rev. Stephen T.,380, 407, 409,
456, 526, 528-9, .531, 618, 0.54

Ballly de Messein, Rev. Mr . 60

Baltimore 7.5, 286, 394, 406, 413,

598-603, 660

Baltimore, See of 334

Bandol, Rev. Scraphln. . . .175, 198, 274

Baudot, Father Seraphin 172

Barb^-MarboiB, Mr.. 215, 218-9, 243-3,

266

Barbuda 651

Bardsto wn. See of 620, 633

Barlow, Joel . . 480

Baniabas, Father 5.50

Barrel, Rev. Mr 380

Barret, Rev. Mr 407

flarri^rcs, V. Rev 455

Barry, James, 508, 511, 514-5; Cap-
tain Jolin, 158; Rev. Mark, 563 ;

Thomas 4.32

Barry's Chapel 515

Baton Rouge 191, .546, 550, .'S.57

Bauman, Charles 331

Bayou Lafourche, La 649

Beaduall, Father James 61

Beauvats, John B 123

mi)

682

INDEX.

Bec-de-Ll6vre, Canon 447

Beeston, Rev. Francis... 238, 269, 370,

291, 321, 357, 375, 395, 399, 407,

499,600

Bell, Robert 139

Benedict XIV. conflrms jurisdic-
tion of Vicare-ApoBtolic in Amer-
ica 51

Beunet, Patrick 600

Berington, Kev. Joseph, 233 ; Rev.

Thomas 42

Bernard, Father 469, 544

Betanh, Rev 503

Bibliography 139, 286

Bishop, appointment of a, 54, 56,
57, 242; petition for, 326; meet-
ing to elect, 334 ; oath of 405

Bltouzcy, Rev. Mr 613

Blake, Charles, 308 ; John 308

Blue Mountains 72

Boarman,158; Rev. John, 80; Rev.
Sylvester. .80, 207, 238, 259, 304,

375, 395, 522-3

Bocquet, Father SImplicius . . 103, 112,

183-4,472

Bodkin, Rev. Mr 453

BoliL-mia, Md. 27, 28, 63, 454, 513. 534
Bolton, Rev. John... 78, 207, 259, 396,

533

Bonaparte, Jerome 511

Bonnet Carr«5 548-9

Bonvouloir, Mr 471

Boone, Rev. John 80, 204, 259

Boreman, Charles 422

Borgia, Cardinal Stephen. .824,334,537

Borromeo, Cardinal 210

Boston. .314, 390-2, 435-6, 509-511, 612

Boston, 8cc of sao, 622

Bourke, Rev. Nicholas 429

Boury, Ret'. D 497

Boutin, Rev. Henry 607-8

Bowling, Charles 625

Bradbury, Judge 439, 440

Braschi Onesti, Cardinal 343-4

Brent, 153; Chandler, 3<)H ; Dan-
iel, 28 ; Miss E. C, 46 ; George,
;108; Robert, 80, 44, 388; Wlll-
»««> 30,44,86

MSB

Briand, Rt. Rev. J. O., Bishop of
Quebec... 60, 104, 106, 107, 110, 118,
119, 123-3, 127
Brlef"DomlnusacRademptor"..38, 77

Bristol, Masti gjg

Britt, Rev. Adam 524-5, 689, 655

Brocadero, Mgr 537

BrogUe, Father de 502

Brooke, Baker 308, 383, 523

Brookes 153

Brosius, Rev. P, X 434, 443-4

Brouwers, Rev. Theodore 448-450

Brown, Father Levinus 35

Brown, Rev. R 464,657

Bruges 35

Bruin, Brian 504

Brut^, Rt. Rev. Simon G 399

Brzozowski, F. Gen 525

Buhot, Rev. Louis 58a

Bull—
Ex HocApostollcaeServltutls.. 387

Ex debito Pastoralis Officii 620

Pontiflcii Muneris 620

BullUncb, James 43«

Burke, Rev. Charles,550; Edmund,
134; Rt. Rev. Edmund, 474-480;
Rev. John, 414; Rev. Miehiiel.. 365

Burlington, Vt 613

Busca, Most Rev. Ignatius 206

Bushe, Rev. James M 435, 492

Byrnes, James, 321 ; Rev. John,
434; Rev. 508-4

Caffret, Rev. Anthony .MS

Cahlll, Rev. Denis 287-9

Cahokia..ll6, 119, 121, 123, 126, 183,
188-9, 469, 470, 473-4, 488, 594

Calvert, Sir George 47

Camps, Rev. Peter 92, 198, 551-3

CimtiUon, Mr 592-3

Capote, Father Francis R 555

Capuchins, Louisiana. .114, 412, 589-40

Caresse 541

Carey, Matthew 375

Carles, Canon, 447-8; Rev. An-
thony 463

Curleton, Guy 58

Carlislu, Fa 292, 462, 512

INDEX.

683

PASZ

Carmelite Nuns 383

Carolina 31ft-7, 461-2, 651, 674

Carondclet, Baron de 572

Carr, Rev. Matthew 425-7

Carroll, Anne, 44 ; Rev. Anthony,
80, 2C5 ; Charles, 28, 75, 148, 308,
348, 627; Daniel, sr., 26, 30;
Daniel, jr., 30, 148, 267, 345, 348,
514-5; Eleanor, 27, 44; Ellen,

44; John 321

Carroll, Most Rev. John; birth of,
27 ; sent to Bohemia, 27 ; at St.
Omer, 30 ; enters the Society of
Jesus, 81 ; ordained, 82 ; re-
nounces his inheritance, 32 ; at
Liege, 32 ; on seizure of St.
Omer goes to Li^^e, 35 ; makes
a tour with Hon. Mr. Stonrtou,
86 ; announces the suppression
of the Society, 39 ; arrested at
Bruges, 42; goes to England,
43; returns lo America, 44, 80;
at Rock Creek, 44, 85 ; describes
condition of Catholics, 48 ; de-
clines to join association of
clergy, 85 ; his missions to Vir-
ginia, 86 ; accompanies commit-
sioners to Canada, 148 ; returns,
152 ; attends meeting at Whlte-
mursh,2P7-8; oneof the petition-
ers to the Pope for a Superior,
209; Letterof Nuncio to, 221; ap-
pointed Superior of the Mission,
223-4, 343-4; controversy with
Wharton, 225-235 ; signs ' I orm
of Government,' 238 ; Circular,
249; addresses Cardinal Anto-
nelll,251 ; Relation on the State
of Religion, 257 ; announces ju-
bilee, 261 ; begins visitation and
gives conflrmation, 273; takes
steps to found Georgetown Col-
lege, 300, etc.; difficulty in New
York, 323-6 ; signs petition for
Bishop. 326-9 ; elected for See,
334; appointed, 336; Bull, 337;
signs address to Waslilngtan,
848; his Reply to "Liberal,"

PAGE

352-3; goes to England, 357;
consecrated at Lulworth Castle,
359; his Seal, 365; publishes
Account of Establishment of
See, 366; writes to the Pope,
366; installation, 370; encour-
ages Carey's Bible, 375; accepts
Sulpitianc, 377, etc.; limits of
diocese defined, 882; in Boston,
391-2 ; correspondence with
Maine Indians, 392-3; holds
first Synod of Baltimore, 394-8 ;
circular on Christian marriage,
398 ; his first Pastoral, 399-401 ;
attack on his signature, 4U1; his
reply, 402-3; his Synod ap-
proved, 403; coadjutor pro-
posed, 403-4 ; Rev. L. Graessel
nominated, 409; in Philadelphia,
413; serious illness, 413; his
public spirit, 413; Rev. Leon-
ard Neale nominated as coadj-
utor, 413; Trinity Church, Phila-
delphia, 419; Pastoral • Letter,
420; submission of Trustees,
422; St. John's Church, Biilti-
more, erected in defiance of,
423; he is prevented from enter-
ing, 424; enforces his right,
424-5 ; approves Augustinlans,
425 ; receives Prince Gallltzin,
443 ; sends him to Pennsylvania,
446; trouble with Rev. Mr.
Fromm,448; his authority judi-
cially sustained, 450 ; at Alexan-
dria, 464; sends Rev. Mr. Ba-
din to Kentucky, 455; appeals
for Irish priests, 457; Lanten
Pastoral, 458; correspondence
with Bishop Pefialver, 460;
troubles at Charleston, 461 ;
Letter to Bishop Hubert, 466;
tends Sulpitlans to the West,
479 ; the Prefecture of the Sci-
oto formed, 480; solicits site for
church in Alexandria, 493 ; vis-
its Ellzabethtown, Pa., 494;
Conewago, 496; circular and

-T'-^iM B a WaWt ' glW T t- T- ^rWTif

684

INDEX.

discourse on death of Washing-
ton, 495-7; pastoral on the
yellow fever, 498; consecrates
Bishop Neale, 499; takes charge
of Natchez, 504; visite New
England, 508 ; dedicates Church
of the Holy Cross, Boston, 509-
510 ; marriage of Jerome Bona-
parte, 511 ; correspondence with
Fr. Qrubur, General of Jesuits
In Russia, 517 ; revives Society
of Jesus, 522 ; appoints Fr. Mo-
lynoux, Superior, 533; begins
Cathedral, 535; urges division
of diocese, 537; visits Fr. Dlg-
ges, 637; appointed Adminis-
trator-Apostolic of Louisiana
and the Floridus, 638 ; consults
the Goveniment, 591 ; appoints
Rev. John Olivier his Vioar-
General, ■'•)94 ; Sedella refuses to
acknowledge his authority, 595 ;
receives a brief authoriiiing him
to appoint Rev. C. Nerinckx or
some other Admlnistrutor, 590;
lays the comer -stouo of his
Cathedral, 598 ; of St. Patrick's
Church, FellV Point, 603; so-
licits again division of his dio-
cese, 603 ; menaced with the loss
of the Sulpitlans, 606; ordina-
tions, 617; proposes names for
new Sees. 617-8; Bulls dividing
the Diocese and erecting new
Sees, and ruising Baltimore to
an Archbishopric, 631 ; death of
Blshoj) Concanen, bearer of the
Bulls, 626; delays, 638; lie
consecrates Bishops Cheverus,
Egan, and Flaget, 639-632; Pas-
toral of Archbishop Carroll and
his suflVagans, 633; he writes
to Philadelphia churches as to
support of Bishop, 637 ; sends
Rev. Mr. Sibourd to Louisiana,
641 ; Rev. John Du Bois founds
Mount St. Mary's College, 642 ;
Mrs. SetoD and the Sisters of

vxnz

PAOR

Charity, ftt,5-«51 ; Archbishop
Carroll made Administrator of
Dutch and Danish West India
Islands, 651 ; Charleston affairs,
651 ; offlciateu at services for
Rev. Mr. Emery, 652; corre-
sponds with English Bishops.
653 ; invested with the pallium,
653; the new dioceses and a
proposed Provincial Council,
654; war with England, 656:
Archbishop Carroll's circular,
656; Detroit, 657; Pastoral on
the restoration of Pope Pius
VII., 657 ; the war on the Chcs-
upcake, 659; St. Inigoc.- plun-
dered, 660; Pastoral on the
peace, 660; death of Bishop
Egan, 661 ; Archbishop Carroll's
circular on nominations to New
York and Philadelphia, 663 ; for-
eign interference, 664 ; appoint-
ment of Dr. Connolly to New
York, 066; prejudice created
against Archbishop Carroll, 667 ;
restoration of the Society of
Jesus, 668 ; he appoints V. Rev.
William Du Bourg Adminis-
trator o( Louisiana, 67u; sus-
tains Vicar -General Sibourd,
673; last illness, 674; death,
675; funeral, 676; estimates of

his character 677

Carroll's Manor 413

Carty, Nicholas 391

Cartwright's Creek, Ky 456, 534

Casa Calvo, Count de 584-7, 593

Casas Novas, Father Bartliolo-

mew 9o_ 193

Casey's Creek, Ky 593

Castelll, Cardinal 60

Castanedo, Mr 593

Catharine of Russia, Empress 516

Catholic books 139

Cuttelln, Rev. Mr 600

Causae, Father J. B. (Fidentianus)

2ftl, 394, 449
Cedar Creek, Pa 71, 201

INDEX.

685

PAGE

Caloron, Mr. 188

Cerfoumont, Key. Stanislaus 395

Cballoner, Rt. Rev. RIcbard, Bish-
op ot Debra, V. A. of London,
50; anxious to have Vicars-Apos-
tolic in America, 56; notifies
American Jesuits of the sup-
pression, 77 ; death, 204 ; books

of 236-7

Cbambersburg, Pa 287, 446

Charles Edward 55

Charles III. of Spain 516, 551

Charles IV. of Spain.. . .280, 562, 566-8
Charleston, S. C. 316-7, 461-2, 651, 674

Cbarleville, Capt 189

CharlottenburK, N. J 73, 164

Chase, Samuel 148

Chestnut Ridge, Pa 448

Cheverus, Rev. John... 408, 435-443,
609-510, 612, 617, 6:il-2, 629-63.5,
643, 615, 651, 653-655, 662-3, 665

ChicolDeau, Rev. Mr 380f 407

Chippewas 103, 477

Cibot, Rev. Mr 454

Clc6, Mgr.de 216

Cicotte, Ziicharic 113

ClquHrd, Rev. Francis . . .393, 407, 435

Claiborne, Gov 673

Clark, Danic', 504; Gen. George

R 187-9, 485

Clearfield, Pa 446

Clear Spring, Pa 451

Clcary, Rev. Patrick 318

Clement XIV 88, 76, 77, 383, 516

Clifton, Lt. Col. Alfred 169

CloriviSre, Rev. J. P. P 462

Coffee Run, Del 454

Cohansey,N.J 73, 203

Colen^tn's Furnace, Pa 438

Coles Creek, Miss 460, 504, 559

Collet, Father Hippolyte, 112;

Father Luke 103, 113, 115, 133

Concanen, Rt. Rev. R. L . 431, 619, 623,
634-6, 627-630, 662, 666

Concord, N. .T 73

Couewngo, St. Francis Regis Mis-
sion 68, 80, 390, 293, 611

"Congress' Own" 144,268

PAGB

Connecticut 633

Connolly, Rt. Rev. John.... 619, 665-7

Conrad, Johan 422

Consalvi, Cardinal 519

Constitution of the United States.

345-8
Constitutions of the States, Cath-
olicity as regarded by l.')5-160

Continental Congress 136-7, 151,

165-6

Coomes, William 271

Cooper, Francis, 162; Rev. 8 647

Corbie, Rev. Henry 31

Cote des Allemands 541

CottrUl, Hon. Matthew. . .437, 441, 611

Cottringer, John 321

Crosby, Rev. Michael 563

Crakshank, Joseph 140

Cuddy, Rev. Michael 418

Cullen, William 140

Cumberland 446

Cyril de Barcelona, Rt. Rev. . .543-570

Dagobert, Father 115, 139, 542-5

Damurlscotta, Me 437, 615

Danville, Ky 530-1

Damall, Eleanor, 37 ; Henry, 37 ;

John 308

David, Rt. Rev. John ... .380, 407, 600

de Barth, Rev. Louis 429, 494, 611

Deer Creek 66

De Glesnon, Chaplain 166

De Grey, Sir William 98

Delaire, Anthony 565

de la Marche, Abbess Mary 412

De la Motte, Father H 180-3

de la Rochefoucauld, Mother C.

la Blonde 413

de Lavau, Rev. Louts C 379, 395

Delaware 158,252,623

Da risle Dieu, Abb^ 115

Demerara 307

Denaut, Bishop 441, 489

Denis, Rev. Joseph 557

Do Ritter, Father John B. .66, 71, 80,
162, 260, 291

De Rohan, Father William 272

Des Rulsseaux, Mr 47L

686

INDEX.

d'Estalng, Count 178

de St. Lue, Mother 4ia

Detroit... 104-112, 130, 188, 464-«, 474-
480, 488-9, 657

Devereux, John 318

d'Herm^ville, Rev. Morel 550

Dickinson, Rev. Mother Clure J. . 383
Didericli, Rev. Bernard. .85, 146, 307-9,
238, 242, 348, 259, 301. 305
Didier, Very Rev. Uoai., Prefect-
Apostolic 481-2

DiKges, Rev. Thomas 80, 341, 359,

304, 375, 537

DiKgs, Geoi^e 308

Dilhet. Rev. John. ..Ill, 183, 361, 428,
453, 489-491, 603-3, 609-611, 677

Doe Run 433

Domenech, Rev. Ignatius A 550

Domlnicung 530-5

Donegal, Pa 428

Dongan. Gov. Thomas 28

Dourville 105

Doyle, Col 153

Doyiie, Rev. Joseph 78, 375

Du Bois, Rev. John .492, 511, 611, 642-7

Du Bourif, Rt. Rev. William. .408, 41.5,

600, 603, 605, 607, 611, 640-1, 6J5,

670-3

Duch^, Rev. Mr 74

Duffln, Henry 267

Dugnani, Cardinal .S77

Duhamel, Rev. .Mr 513, 643

Du Juunay, Father. .99, 103-8, 108, 118,

125

Dulany, Daniel 76

Duiiand, Father Joseph .Mary. ... 528

Du Portail . . 165

Durosler, R»>v 6I3

EASTOfj, B 73, 163,291

Echenroth, Henry 494

Echevcrria, Rt. Rev. James Jo-

si'Pli 543-4,665

Eck, Lieut. John P., 169; James. 321

Edelen, Leonard 635, 617

Eden, Rev. Joseph 395, 494

Egan, Rt. Rev. Michael 500, 618,

6!)9-635, 637-9, 653, 666, 661-2

Egle, John 49^

Elder, Alexius ^43

Ellzabethtown, Pa 494

EUing, Rev. William. ..396, 419-4, 427

428
Emerj', Rev. James A..377, 407, 606-8,

628, 652

Ennis, Rev. Michael 414^ 435

Eplnette, Rev. Peter 534

Emtzen, Rev. Paul 392, 428

Esling, Paul 33J

Egpelota, Col. Jos^ jgj

Esperanztt, Father Salvador de la.. 191
Ethcriugton, Capt 103

Fales, Prof 630

Falkner's Swamp, Pa 73

Fargeon, Mother St. Xavier 588

Farmer, Rev. Ferdinand.. 61, 64, 68,

74, 80, 168, 170, 197, 201, 341, 360^

281, 264, 370, 274-5, 378, 491

Faure, Rev. Stephen 454

Fell's Point, Baltimore.. 417-8, 602, 606,

612

Fenwick, Rev. Benedict J 52.5, 617

Fenwick, Rt. Rev. Edward D. . . . 430,

532-5
Fenwick. Rev. Enoch, 525, 617;

Cupt, James ^^^

Ftirdinand, Father 93

Fesch, Cardinal 624

Fllicchi, Messrs 623, 625

Fish. Jesse 90

Fisher, Mlers 411

FlBhkill 202,368

Fitzgerald, Col 808, 493

Fitzslramonft, Rev. Luke 4;i4

FItzsImons, ThomaB..317, 308, 321, 345,

348

Flaget, Rt. Rev. B. J. .380, 407, 484-6,

600, 618, 622, 634, 629-635, «4'.', 647,

653, 666, 662, 665

Fleming, Father F. A. . . .8.V>, a57, 894,

410-413, 480

Fllnn, Rev. Mr 432

Floquet, Rev. Peter R 150

Florida 90, 98, 193-6

Florissant, Mo 638

INDEX.

687

Floyd, Rev. John 879, 416-418

Flynn, Rev. Mr., 451; Rev. Thos. 595

Font, Rev. Nurclssus 563

Forjret-Duverger, Rev. Mr. 103, 114, 118
"Form of Government" adopted

by Maryland clergy 207, 238

Forrester, Rev. C 3«3

Fort Chartres, 103, 113, 116, 123,
136; Cumberland, 887; Knox,
487; Manchac, 191; Oulatenon,
188; Pnnmure, 191 ; Stanwlx... 432
Foumler, Rev. M. J. C. .408, 453, 456,

526,539

Frambach, Father Augustine, 61, 66,

80, 87, 259, 287, 301, 310. 394

Franelscans 90, .500, 555-6

Franklin, Benjamin. . .148, 152, 213-8,
233, 237, 244

Franklin College, Pa 295

Frechette, Rev. P 474, 488

Frederick, Md..61, 66, 80, 310, 412, 511

Fromentin, Abl;^ 448

Fromm, Rev. Francis 449-451

Gaddi, F. Pius J 532

Gage, Gen. Thomas.. lOO-l, 115, 125,

i;i2

Galais, Rev. Mr 377

Gallagher, James, 140; Rev. 8. F.461,

651

Gallipolls 377, 455, 481-2

Gallitzin, Rev. Demetrius A 290,

443-7, 512

Galveston, La 548, 550

Qalvez, D. Bernardo. . . .191-2, 546, 548
Gardoqui, Diego de. .265-8, 280-1, 324,

330-3
' Gamier, Rev. Anthony.. 379, 395, 406,

417-8, 606

Gaston, Mrs., 318 ; William 607

Gates, Gen. Horatio 181

Gauthey, Dom 203

Gelger'fl, N. J 164

Geissier, Father Luke. .68, 80, 338, 2(50,
275, 278, 293

General Cliapter 207, 238, 301

G^n^vaux, Fr. Hllaire de.l29, 542, 545
George HI i;!7

PAOB

Georgetown, D. C. .301, 306, 412-3, 616,

659
Georgetown College 301, etc.; 306,

500-1, 513, 524-5, 604-5, 617, 669-«70

Georgl, Vincent 519

Georgia 463

Gerard, Conrad Alexander.. . .165, 175,

179

Gerboy, Rev. Mr 5!i0

Gerry, Elbrldge 513

Ghent 206,667

Gh^qui^r.', Charles 600

Gibault, Rev. Peter 124-130, 132,

186-190, 466, 469^71, 483, 544-5, 596

Glmat 165

Gladwin, Major 103

Glass House, N. J 72

Godet, Angelique 113

Goetz, Rev. John N 419

Gordon, John, 90 ; William 140

Goshenhoppen, St. Paul's mission

at 68, 80, 162-3, 291-2

Gothland, N.J 73

Gousy, Rev. Mr 494

Graessel, Rev. Lawrence 270, 319,

331, 357, 375, 395, 409-10

Gra.s, Antonio 504

Grassi, Father John 669

Grcenleaf's Point 515

Greensburg, Pa 295, 449, 451-3

Greenwich, N. J 203

Greenwood Lake;, N. J. . .72, 164, 201-2

Gruber, V. Rev. Father 517-9

Guntcmalu 580

Gubernator, John 1 291

Gulgnes, Rev. Louis 545

Guillet, Rev. Urban 528

Haoan, Henry 529

Hagerstown, .Md 287, 446, 512, 643

Hull, Francis 308

Hamilton 188-9

Hammctt, Consul 625

Hanley, Capt. Mathias 169

Hanover ... SOO

Harding, Father Robert.. .61, 63-4, 68,

74, 115, 655

Hardin's Creek, Ky. 3T2, 436, 539

688

INDEX.

Harold, Father W. V. . .631, 664-6, 667

HarrlHburg, Pa 43j

Hart, Dr. George 271

Hassett, Rev. T.. .. 275, 551-655, 661,

581-5

Hathersty, Rev. Joseph 31, 61, 73

Havana, Diocese of 557, 561

Haycock, Pa 163, 291

Hefleruan. John 143

Helbron, Father J. Charles, 269,
319. 418-9, 427; Father Peter,

292, 357, 451

Henry, Fr. John 5^4

H(;rard, Rev. Mr. 651

Hermun's Manor, Md 27

Highlanders, Catholic 78, 142

Hilary, Father 129

Hobuck (Hoboken), N. J 508

Hojtan, Patrick 140

Holy Cross Church, Boston 314

Holy Cross Church, Ky 456

Holy Mnry, Ky 529

Holy Oils 197

Holy Trinity Church, Philadel-

Pli'a 320, 414, 419-423, 525, 656

Hookey, Anthony 321

Home, Henry 321

Hotker, Consul 179

Howard, Gen. John E 600

Hubert, Rt. Rev. John Francis .. 183-4,
466-8, 472-5, 479

Hucki, Nicholas 163

Hughes, Felix 293

Hunter, Father George. .58, 61, 78, a5,
87, 196, 205

Huntingdon, Pu 44^

Hurioy, Father Michael 639

Iberville, La 546, 548, .550

Illinois, Church in. . .100, etc., 186-190
Innocent XII., Brief as to faculties

of regulars .. 50

Ireland, reply to Bishops of 635

Jackson, Gen. Andrew 671

James, Sir John, of Crishall 68

Janin, Rev. Peter 483, 486, 583

Jay, John lag

PAOB

Jenkins, Rev. Augustine. .80, 197, 259,

375
Jenkins, Del 454

John Francis, Father. 92

Johnson, Charles, 639 ; Sir Will-

*"" 76, 142

Johnstown, N. Y 433

Jouly, Rev. Mr 513

Junigal, Ignace 494

Kane, Lieut. Patrick 169

Kaskaskia. .114, 115, 121, 123, 135, 126,

187-190, 474, 483
Kuskaskias jgg

Kavanagh, Hon. Edward. ..441, 613-5

Keating, Father Christopher V. . .355,

375, 410, 430

Kendall, Rev. Henry . 651

Kentucky 371.2^ gog

Kickapoos 2gg

Kilmacduagh and Kllfenora 619

Kilty 153

Knebel, Mathias 433

Knell, Ball iiuzar 433

Ko'ihnann, Fr. Anthony. ..534-.5, 638,

642, 6f.5, 662, 666

Kosciusko i(j5

Krebs family 93

Lacv, Rev. Mr. , 166; Michael, 492-3,51 3

La Fourche, La , . ,507

Lafrenl^ro 541

La Grange, Rev. Joseph 414

Lalor, Miss Alice. . . .415-6, 500, 503-4

La Lucerne, Mr. de 178

Lamport, Rev. Michael 557

Lancaster, Pa., church at, 63; mis-
sion of 3t. John Nepomucene,

68,427-9

Lancaster, John 308

Landais, Capt. Pierre 165

Lfinlgan, Bishop 415

La Poterie, Rev. C. F. de 314-6

Latrobe, B. Henry 598

Laussat, French Commiesiontr. ..5:M,

581,58.5-8

La Vollnl^re, Rev. Peter Huet de . .14.5,

264, 275, 277, 382-3, 431-2, 466, 474

Laurence, Mr I8I

INDEX.

689

PAOB

3, 1»7, 259,
875

454

win-

...76, 143

433

518

494

... 169
1, 135, 126,
), 474, 483
. .. 188
441, 61^-5
• V...355,
), 410, 430
. . 651
271-2, 623

188

619

153

423

... 433
^4-5, 628,
S 662, 666

165

PAOB

Leamy, John 238

Lebanon 428

LecUler, G. E 321

Lecon, M^r 463

Le Coataulx, Lo'-is 433

LeDru, Rev. F 471, 479

Lefont, Dr 188

Lefrunc, Father 99, 103, 107

Leghorn 623

Lehigh, Pa 391

Leniercler, Rev. Mr 461-3

L'Enfunt Major 5i:i

Le Molne, Rev. Mr .. 462-3

Lennan, Rev. Francis .461, 504, 550,559

Leonard, Fatlier Frederic 61

Lemoult, R. B Ill

L'EspinusBU, Rev. Mr 598

Lesslie, Rev. George 390-1

Le Tonnelicr de Coulonges, Rev.

L. V 374

Levadoux, Rev. Michael . .379, 407, 483,

485, 489-90, 606

Lewis, Father John. . .61, 66, 78, 304,

207-9, 211, 318, 341, 344, 359, 3.33-3

Lexington, Ky 455-6

Liberty, Bbip 481

Library Company, Baltimore 413

Liege, College at 206

Lilly, Thomas 308

Limestone (Maysville), Ky 455

Llmpach, Father Bernard de ftW

Litta, Cardinal 665, 678

Little Britain, Pa .. 438

Littlestown, Pa 390

Livers, Father Arnold, 61, 78, 305;

Arnold 601

Livlnge'on, 238-390

Lloyd, T 375

Lombardi, Abh^ 625

Lonergon, Father Patrick.. ..296, 452

Long Pond, N. J 72, 164, 303

Looking Glass Prairie 528

Lotbinlfire, Rev. Francis Louis

Chartfer de 144

Louis XV 540

Louisiana 538-547

Louisiana and the Floridas, Dio-
cese of 570-583

FASK

Lucas, Rev. John 78

Lul worth Castle 354, 359-363

Lusson, Rev. Charles L 460, 479,

483, 582
Lynch, Domlnlck, 308, 348 ; Major
John 169

McCarthy, Capt., 189 ; Denis.... 455

McElroy, Rev. John 525

McGuire, Capt. Michael 153, 446

Mcllroy, Daniel 530

McKcnna, Rev. John 142-3

McNabb, John 76

Machias 179, 183

Mackinac 102, 129, 130, 488-9

Madison, Jumes 591

Maguire, John, 143; Rev. Thomas,

143 ; Rev. 458

Magunsbi, Pa 73, 291

Mahony, Rev. Cornelius 484

Mahotifire, Jean de la 374

Maiden Creek, Pa 291

Maine, Catholic Indians In.. 1.54, 179-
182, 485-6

Makennu, Rev. Constautlne 557

Malev6, Fr. Francis 534

Manchac, La 548

Manners, Father Matthew. .61, 80, 145,

205,454

Manucy, Rt. Rev. Dominic 194

Mar^chal, Most Rev. Ambrose.. 407,
513, 606, 663-4

Marietta, 455

Marouex 43

Marriage, Circular on 396

Martinsburg, Va 287

Maryland. .53, 60, 66, 69, 159, 161, 353,

357,387

Maryland Historical Society 413

Maryland Society for Promoting

Useful Knowledge 413

Massachusetts 154, 156, 347, 622

Mathews, Rev. Bemardina, Aloy-

sia and Eleonora 383

Matignon, Rev. Fruncis A. . .407, 435-
442, 508-510, 612, 614, 617, 645
Matthews, Rev. Ignatius, 78, 197,
307-9, 238, 343, 359, 301 , 375 ; Rev.
William, 515, 617; William 308

■^9' '^ ''•;

690

INDEX.

Mattlnglyo 153, ai7

Maxwell, Rev. James 583, 596

Muysvlllo, Ky 455

Moatle, (ieorge 308, 331

Melwood, Md 80

Metohlirameas 188

Meurlu, Fr. Sebastian. .113, 118, 130-1,
133, 187-180, 133, 180

Mlamis-Pianghichlas 117

Micniac ludiauB 393

Miguel, Rev. Xavier 493

Milhet. ,541

Millard, Joseph 308

Mill Creek Hundred 454

MlUtown, Pa 453

Mllner, Rt. Rev. John 853

Minghiiii, Mi-s 447

Minims' 412

Minor, Stephen 558

MiiiDicans 93, 94, 193, 194, 5,53-3

Miralles, Senor 165, 177, 178

Miro, Governor 548, 557

Missal, ManuscWpt, written by F.

Theo. Schneider 6,5-7

Mitehcll, Francis J (JOl

Mu' le ;93, 191, &4«

Mohawk Valley, N, Y 76, 143

Molyneux, Father Robert. .61-80, 197,
338, 2()0, 370, 374-5, 303, 308, 331, 339,
334, 375, 395, 533-6, 605, 617, 636-7

Monely, Rev. Mr 513

Monk's Mound 528

Montdesir, Rev. Mr 379

Montgoltier, Very Rev. Mr.. . .104, 117

Moranville, Rev. John 408, 603, 670

More, Mother Mary 43

Morel, Rt. Rev. Bishop 90

Morris, Andrew, 509 ; Father Pe-
ter 61, 80,305

Mosley, Father Joseph.. 61, 63, 68-9,

73, 80, 145, 161, 338, 313, 359, 396-9,

308, 331-3

Mosquito, San Pedro de 553

Mottin de la Balme 165

Moultrie, Qor 193

Mount Hope 303, 279

Mount Oley 72

Mount St, Bernard 418

PAOB

Mount St. Gothard 413

Mount St. Mar)'« College 643-4

Moylan, Col 153

Muddy Creek 293

Naoot, Rev. Francis C. .378-9, 388, 395,

493. 499, 600, 600, 609, 611, 643, 676

Natchez. .191, 433, 400, 504-7,548,557-9

Natchitoches 548, 579

Neale, Rev. Benedict, 78, 359; Rev.
Charles, 363, 383, 3*5, 533-3, 637;
Rev. Francis, 338, 363, 493, 535,

655 ; Captain James 206

Neale, Rt. Rev. Leonard . .306, 359, 361,

303-4, 308, 375, 395, 413-6, 493, 498-

500, 503, 517, 605-6, 616-7, 031, a53,

663-3, 678

Neill, Lieut. John 109

Neuy, .Mr 41

Nerinekx, Rev. Charle.s 537-9, 640

New Berne, N. C 318

Ne wburyport . 436*

Newcastle, Me 441, 613

New Hampshire 1,55, 633

New Jersey. . ..54, 73, 158, VH, 201, 633

New London 316

New Orleans 560-1, 578-597, 670-3

Newport, Md 63

Newport, R. 1 613

Newtown Md 63, 66, 73, 78, 660

New York... 73, 156, 364, 374, 383-4,
333-6,633

New York, Diocese of 631-3

Noailles, Mr. de 447

Nogales, Mii^s ,559

Norfolk 493-.3, 513

North, Lord ],S4

North Carolina 160, 347, 463

Northumberland, Pa 453

Norton, Sir Fletcher 98

Notario. Father Francis 192

Nowlan, John 169

Noyan, Mr 541

Nugent, Father Andrew. .374-7, 383-4,

333-6

Oath required by Quebec Act ... 136

INDEX.

691

O'Brien, Rev. Matthew, 430, 432-8,
505, 509; Father WUUam, 310,
315, 323, 332, 376, 429-430, 453,

509; Rev. «17

O'Connell, Father John 267-8

O'Conway, CecUla (MS

Oellers, James 821, 422, 639

Ogilvle, Major 89

Ohio, Country northwest of the . .94-8,
99, 180-190, 465-191

O'Leaiy, Father Arthur 233

Olivier, Rev. Douatien, 408, 488,

488; V. Rev. John B., 483, .'594-5, 640
Oneida, Bishop proposed for — 378-4
O'Neill, Arthur John, 140; Ber-
nard 308

O'Neill's 454

O'Neill's VictoTj-, Pa 448

Opelousas 548-9, 579, 582

Ordination, First 409

O'Reilly, Alexander, 641-2; Rev.

Michael 551-3,562

Orono, Catholic Chief 155, 304

Ottawas. 477

Ouachita , 579

Ouiatcnon 137,129,465

Our Lady of Prom; t Succor 67t

Paccanari, Father 501

Packenham, General 673

Palneourt (St. Louis) 126

PaiiitForge, Pa 72

Pamphllo Doria, Cardinal . . 213, 221, 261

Paradise 290

Pasquler, Rev. M 518

Passamaquoddy Indiana. . 183, 892-3,

407, 436-7, 612, 614-5

Pastoral of the Bishops, 1810. .... 633

Path Valley, Pa 446

Patriot, 1 he 480

Patterson, Miss 511

Paul, Emperor 516

Paul, Father. 92

Payet, Rev. Louis 184, 469, 4r2-3

Pellentz, Father James.. 61, 80, 260,

269, 285, 292-4, 803, 808, 319, 375,

394, 445, 447

Pelllcer, Francis, 198; Rt. Rev. A.D 194

Pefinlver y CArdenas, Rt. Rev.

Luis 460-1, 604, 571-581, 585

Penct, Peter 373-4

Pennsylvania. . .52, 60, 63, 66, 68. 168,

252, 257, 270, 291-2, 415-453

Penobscots. . .155, 369, 304, 486-7, 612

Pen8acola...93, 192, 561, 563, 579, 585

Peoria 137, 129

Peorlas 188

Perigiiy, Rev. M 418

Perinault, 379

Perrot, Rev. Mr 373

Perrot's Monstrance 107

Perrysburj?, 477

Petre, Rt. Rev. Benjamin, 51 ;

Lord lit®

Phelan, Rev. Lawrence 8 451

Philadelphia. . .63, 68, 73, 170-177, 270,
274, 319, 857, 413-4, 425, 524-5, 629-639

PhUadelphla, See of 620, 622

PhlllpII 30

PhlUlbert, Stephen... 115, 117, 186, 475

Plankeshaws 188

Pietro, Cardinal dl 628

Pigeon Hills, Pa 609, 618

Pikesland, N. J 72,164

Pile, Rev. Henry 301, 259, 375, 395

Plleserove, N. J 72

Pilling, Rev. William 233

Pinckney, Charies 346

" Pious Ladles " 416, 500, 503, 616

Pipe Creek, Pa 446

Pittsburg 451, 453, 484

Pius VI 320, 330, 366, 516

Plus VII 516, 596-7, 621-2

Plaqnemine, La 549

Plessis, Rt. Rev. J. 641

Plowden, Father Charies. .42, 217,
219, 247, 305, 333, 335, 359-361,

677 ; Edmund 808

Plunkett, Rev. Robert 305, 604

Plymouth, Mass 436

Polnte Couple. .461, 504, 516, 548, 550

Poiret, F. Aloyslus 519

Pompton, N.J 203

Pontbriand, Mgr. de 104. 117

Pontiac 102,104

Poor Clares 412, 416

693

INDEX.

"Pope Day" 147

Poplar Neck, Ky 45a

Porro y Polnado, Rt. Rev. Francis. .Ml

Por'alea 593

Porter, Rev. James 359

Portlcr, Rt. Rev. Dr 590

Portsmouth, Va. 513

Port Tobacco 68, 196, 383, 445

Potler, Father P 99, 104-5, 184

Pottluifer's Creek, Ky.. 271-2, 456, 528

Pottawatomles 477

Powles Hook (Jersey City), N. J.. 509
Prairie du Rocher, St. Joseph's

Church at 113, 115, 125, 483, 488

Premlr, Adam 320-1, 423, 839

Probbt, John 395

Propaganda Fide, Congregation

de 321, 223, 334, 33ft-7, 367, 414

Proper for England, discontinued. 404

Prosper. Father 549

Provld. lice, R. 1 509

Puliiski, Count \^

Putnam, Gen. Rufus 4^1

Qdarantotti, .\Igr. J. B 597, 628

Quebec Act, The 131, etc.

Queonstown (jg f)9

Quintanilla, Father Luis de.. .543, 54.5,

500

Raisin River, Mich. . . .464-8, 474, 477,

479,489-90

Raleigh, N. C 318, 462

Reading, Pa., Congregation at. .71, 162

Reeve, Rev. Joseph 31

Religious Freedom 345-8

Rendon, Francis 17^

Reuter, Rev. Caesarlus 423-5

Revillagodos, Father Angel de. . . .543,

545

Rhode Island 161, 347, 622

Richard, Rev. Gabriel.. . .407, 485, 488-

490, >'>.57

Richmond, Va 492. 511

Rich Valley, Pa 72

RIngwood, N. J 72, 164, :iO-.', 379

Rivet, Rev. John. . .408, 483, 486-8, 5.30

Robin, Abbd, chaplain itv)

Rocheblave, Mr 120 1S7

Rochon, Augustine 549

Rock Creek 44, 86-9, 148, 373, 283

RoeU, Father Lewis. . . .61, 78, 307, 359

Rohan's Knob jgg

Rolling Fork, Ky....!!'.'!l^['"' 456

RoloU; Rev. gj7

Romagnd, Rev ..sii, 671, 612, 614,

616
Roman Catholic Volunteers, at-
tempt to raise 189^ 170

Rosseter, Father John 435

Rough Creek, Ky 46fl

Ronndstone, Pa 451

Rousse or Roelu, Father Charles. . 33
Rousselet, Rev. Louis. 315, ;«7, ;}89, 391

Ronx, Rev. Arnaud 316

Royal Irish (18th) latj

Rozaven, Father 503

Rozer, Henry ... 308

Rullner, Simon 449

R^au, Rev. Mr 31^.7

St. Anne's Church, Fort Char-

tros 115

St. Augnstine, Fla 90, 194, 551-7

St Augustine's Church, Phlladel-

P»>la.Pa 425-7

St. Bernard's, La. 546, 550

St. Charles, Acadia 549

St. Charles, La 648, 582

St. Charles, Mo 460, 483

St. Clair, Gov 473

St. Bustutia, W. I 651

8r. Felix, Rt- v. Mr 377

St. Francis Borgia Mission, White-
marsh gu

St. Francis Regis Mifi^ion, Cone-

»vago 68

St. Gabriel's, Iberville 546-550

St. Genevieve. . .114, 116, 126, 129, 456,
469, 544, 548, 583

St. George'- Island 196

St Iiiigoes, .Mission of .66, 78, 83

27. uO
St. Jacques de Cabahannoc^, La.

548-9

St. James, La .'>48-9

St. Jiiliii Baptist, La 548-9

INDEX.

693

PAOC

St. John de Ci^vecoBur, Hector. 866-7,

279
St. John Nepomncene Mission,

Lancaster 68

St. John'n Church, Baltimore.. . .423-^
St. John's River. . 154, 179, 893, 555, 661,

S<13
St. Joseph's Catholic Orphan Asy-
lum, Philadelphia 414

St. Joseph's Church, Philadel-
phia 178,357,413

St. Joseph Mission, Deer Creek... 66

St. Joseph's River 137

St. Kltts, W. 1 651

St. Landry, La 583

St. Louis. .116, VM, 129, 544-5, 548, 582
St. Mary's Chapel, Baltimore. .603, 676
St. Marj'g Church, Philadelphia. ..68,
ai», 820, 357, 414, 418, 435, 667
St. Mary's College and Seminary,

Bultlmore 608-9

St. Mary's River, Pla 555, 561, 563

St. Michael's Church, Clearflcld,

Pa 446

St. Monica, Mother ■587

St. Omer 30, 31, »t, 306

St. Patrick's Church, Baltimore. . .406,
417, 603, 630-1, 661
St. Patrick's Benevolent Society,

Baltimore, Md 670

St. Peter's Ciiurch, Baltimore.. 75, 85,
386, 629, 631, 661, 676
St. Peter's Church. New York... 384,
333-0,453
St. PhUlppe, Church of the Visi-
tation at 113, 116, 12«)

at. Pierre, Father Paul de...im>, 364,
371-3, 465, 467, 482, .'>44, 550

St. Rose's Church, Ky .534

St. Stanislaus Mission, Fredirlck-

town 66

St. Thomns Manor iiJ, 78, 85, 534

St. Thomas 651

St. Xavler's, Boh<-mla 68

St. Xavler's Mis.*inn, Newtown... 66

Sakla 63

Salamanca 567-8

Salem, Mass 436

PiOI

Salem, N. J 73

Salmon, Kev. Anthony 408, 457

Santa Cruz 651

Sargent, Wlnthrop 507

Sault Ste. Marie 491

Savannah 463->S

Savage, Rev. William 557

Schneider, Fattier Theodore. . .61, 64-7

Schuyler, Gen. Philip 143

Scioto, Prefecture - Apostolic of

the 480-3

Scioto Company 455, 480-3

Scott, Gen., 465; William 504

Sedella, Rev. Anthony. .548, 589, 591^6,

640,671

Semmes 153

Seton, Mrs. F.. A 643, 645-651

Sdvigny, Archdeacon de 447-8

Sewall, Rev. Charies, 80, 207. 317,
359, 385, 304, 310, 375, 380, 395,

533-3; Judge 439

Shade Valley, Pa 446

Shepherdslown, Va 387

Shorb, 424

Shorty, Christopher 331

Slbert CornlUon, Viscount 437

Sibourd, Rev 641,673

Silva, Jos(3 Ruiz 367

Sinking Valley, Pa 446

Slttenspergcr, Rev. Matthew 454

Smith, Joseph 291

Srallhfield, Va 288

Smyfb Rev. Patrick 309-313

Snyaii, >scph 639

society of the Faith of Jesus 501

Society of Jesus, property in
France confiscated, 34 ; sup-
pression of, 38, 77; in Maryland,
77-9; In the Mlssi ippl valley,
130; revived in Maryland, 522 ;

restored 668

Society of the Sacred Heart 501

Song6, Rev. J, A 437-8

South Carolina establishes the

Protestant Religion 160

Spinck, Rev. James 525, 617

Sportsman's Hall, Pa 449, 451

Springfleld, Ky 584

694

INDEX.

FAOB

Stafford, Rev. 434

Standing Stone, Pa 892, 447

Stanley, Rev. Thomas 363

Stewart, James 3(57

Stillinger, Michael 440

Stone, Rev. Marmaduke 630-1

Stourton, Lord .Sfl

Strickland, Fr 601, 530-2

Sullivan, Atty.-Gen., 489; Gen-
eral 181

Sulphur Springe, Va 447

8ulpltian8.377-395, 4955-9, 600-11, 673-6
SjTiod of Baltimore, First.. 394-8, 403

Talbot, C, 236, 375; Rev. John . . 69

Talbot, Kl. Rev. James 304, 335

Talon, Mr. de 447

Taneytown 390, 446, 512

Tarunco, A. V 568

Tennessee 633

Terre aux Boeufs, La 548-9, 581

Tessier, Rev. John. .379, 395, 406, 600,

603,611

Thayer, Rev. John... 887, 300-2, 396,

434-6, 489, 453-4, 457, 626

Threlkeld, John 412

Thorpe, Bev. John. . .312, 387, 341, 346

Threln, Jacob 831

Thnrlow, Loid 98

Tieman, Luke 601

Tiers, Comcllog 497

Tinicum 71

Tisserant, Rev. J. 8 438, 645

Trappista 448

Treaty of San Ildefonso 581

Trenton, N.J 497, 508

Trespalacios, Rt. Rev. Joseph. 658, 569

Trocouis, Rev. Francis .553

Troy, Archbishop. .313, 854-5,458, 475,

477, 496, 664-«

Tuckahoe, 62; St. John's Mission 68-9

Tulto, Father W. R 688

Tnltte, John 808

Tulloh, 879

Tumbull, Dr 93, 193

Ulloa, Antonio de. . . 610

Ulmer, Frederic 168

PAOB

Unzaga, Gov 544, 546

Upper Marlborough, Md 87

Ursulinos, New Orleans . .646, 564-
6, 587 ; New York 666

Valentime, Father 544, 646

Valentin!, Archbishop bOO

Valeria, Father Stephen de....l92, 363

Var, Ambrose 154

Velez, Father Charles de, 193, 646 ;

Father Peter ; 193

Vergennes, Count de 216

Vermont 633

Viar, Jos^ IgDucio 817

Vicar-Apostolic of the London Dis-
trict 60

Vlcksburg, Miss 460, 559

Vidal, Don Jos^ 461

Vigo, Francis 189

Villa Gayoso, or Coles Creek 460,

504,559
Vincennes, 115, 117, 137-8, 183, 186-
190, 466, 469-471, 484, 530 ,
Virginia. 54, 86-8, 159, 252, •.;57, 887, 347

Vlrola, Father Maurice 638

Visitation Nuns 416, 500, 603, 616

Volney, C. F 488

Vonhuffel, Rev. James 395

Vousdan, Col. William 504-7

Walkbr, Peter 604

Wallis, Rev. Michael 563

Wulmeslcy, Rt. Rev. Charles.. 867-363

"Walsh, V. Rev. Patrick 584-591

WaUh, Robert 600, 605, 607, 677

Waltmor, Georgius 483

Walton, Father James. .61, 73, 78, 197,
308-9, 338, 269, 373, 301, 375

Waring, Marsham 808

Warwick, N. Y 379

Washington, George . . . .147, 326, 348,

350-1, 486, 486-7, 495-7

Washington City, D. C. . .508, 673, 659,

673

Washington, N C 818

Washington, Pa 461

Watten 31

Wayne, Gen. Anthony. .465, 477, 484-5

INDEX.

695

PASS

Waynesburg, Pa -153

Weld, Thomas 354, 367, 361

Welton, Rev. Mr 59

West Alexander, Pa 432

WestmiuBter '-JOO

Wharton, Rev. Charles H 236-335

Whelan, Father Charles — !i63, 265-7,
272, ^7ft-7, 281-2, 323, 433, 454-5

Wheeler, Ignatius 308

Wheeling, W. Va 455

White, Father Andrew, 48, 88;

Rev. Gregory 557

Whitemarsh Mission 66, 80, 307-8,

334,513

Wiergan, Capt. Nicholas 169

Williinson, General 505

Willcox, Mark 140, 308, 321, 454

Williams, Father John 01, 73

PAOK

Williamson, Dadd 600

Wilmington, Del 425, 454

Wilson, Father Thomas 532-3

Winchester, Va 287, 513

Wiscasset, Me 439

Wizard Clip 390

Yelverton, Cai't. Thomas 169

Yorli, Cardinal of 37, 55

York, Pa 291

York River, Pa 451

Young family 513-4

Young, Rev. Nicholas, 515; Not-
lay, 308 ; William 162

Zamora, Rct. Peter de 584

Zefpedes, Gov 55.5-7

Zocchi, Rev. Nicholas 502-.M3

1)1

IH!. J "■Uli ' . ' J ' 'JJ" 'i WJ- '