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1S4'>.

^nbxkc Vulunu\

lS()i3.

THE

ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO

^rrlibiolroji ^k'Mu

in liitrobiitfioii bn ijis c6nuc tbr 3ivtbbisbop.

• • * *

i-{— 1 . ',

I LLU STR ATED

T O R O N T O :
<iKo. T. Dixox, Plblishkk.

1892.

COPYKiciHT.

■ 4 «••• •!•

.• • ••

PA-UCK BOYLE, Printer.

THR MOST II.I.LSTRIOL'S .\\l) MOST RFAKRKX | ,

Jioljn (ifflalalj, D.D.,

AK( II1II-~M<)1' (II liiKoVm,

IfllS VOI.IMK

Is Ki -ri I II I i.i.v Dim, \-, ,, i. \s .\

M,o,„„<,M. OK HIS M,vv, Vku<s„i Dimin,,, ,s„ki, Skkvuk ,v Tin: fniu.H

A\i> A.s A I'mm IK ,,i Akkkiiicin

I I'liN niK

SILVER JUHILEE

::/:•;•■ ■ • •■;

l:lM^C()l>Al:^/\i^)l,l.,:•J;^,,,^.,^_

• • ■ • •*

" I'Hl thou :,h;,l( ..,a,ufifi, (I|i' fiftidi, ,„.;„•. and
•^I'^'lt Mm rmmon lo all tlu' i„l,abilaiifa of ik
''■<"('•• for if is flu- iji'ai; of jiibihu'. "

'-KMTKls, NXVI., lo.

The Editor's Notice.

While wo leave the intnuliiction ..f ,.iir work loiil.lcr hands, we feci that
a word from the Committee to whom the preparation of this vohime wis
cMUrusted ,s not out of phiee; the more, so, as tiie Archl.isliop, in his remarks,
has omitted to lourh upon one of the notable (>vents whieh this b.u.k is
intended to eo,y,memorate, viz: the Sih/er Jubilee of his own eonsecration
as Bishop. Dr. Wal.sh, who was elevated to tlie episeopal rank on tiie i.,lh
of No^•emix.•r, 186;, has, by his labors extending over quarter ^f a eenturv
well entitled himself to a lastin- re^^ard in the memory of his people. Xn'cl
no more favorabh^ opportunity eould be present(>d of revi.-winy a life- replete
with honor for its subj.vt and -ood for those amon-st whom it has been east,
than the auspieious oceasion whenwealso -lance bark noon the hrst -olden
tide of our family history as ehihhvn of this Metropolitan See. Thrs also
must be eonsulered: that twenty-two v.'ars of h^s (J race's distinguished
career have been passed aw.iy from 'r.,ronto. Ihs life, th(«refore, occupies
a .special place m this volume : it is not so much historv of the Archdiocese
as a l)U)-raphical sketch, an<l riohtly serves to divide-, a'ccordin- f. our title'
pa-e, our volume into two parts, the first of wh^ch is more diivctlx mt. n.lrd
as a lastin- tribute to our \eneral)le I'ather in Christ.

Th
t ion
.set forth b

I he other aims, scop<' and purposes of the work, the mode of prepara-
, as well as the moral lessons to be deriNcd from its perusal, are deirh
forth by his (rrace in the Introduction : to which we shall add a brief
note concerning the !■ duor s more direct task of prepariti- the not,c<-s of
ti.e parishes. I hese are tot.nded upon sket<-h(-s which were supplied bv the
.ncumbents ol last year (i.Sgn. Some ot the notes were mea-re on account
ol the pa.stors not bein- acpiamfd ^^nh the earlv historv o( the .liocese-

36SG(>

'I'lif I'l'litor'n \,iti,r.

\irhl)isli

\\'<' ivlurn.uir ih.uiks I., hi. ( ;,■,„.,. ,|
si.|.|-'l llin.UKh.uu, .m,! t,, th.. «nuTuu.s priests of
^-"■'••■••'^'^/n has rnablr.l us to piacr th. l,o„k JM.fo

also .matcful t

I) our

l'"|', \\\u> has l.cfM our

tlx' ar(h(h'o<('sc whose

,. . , >r«' the |)ui)lic. \\',. ;„.,.

\olunu.. " ' '"' ^■"^"■"'> '''-'ti-^''<'«l with ,h.. JulMlee

J- iv. ^KKl•■^^

I
t

St. Mi, uaki's eoi,,.,,r,,,, 'C.im.n,,,.
'■'■AST or St. Mi. uma., Sicpik

Ml'l-li -•<;, US92

T H E C L E K G V'

Tllli AKC:ill)IC)CluSH 01> rOKONTU.

KS 9 52 ,

Till Mmst Rrv. Aki iii:isii,,r W m sii.

Mniisi-iioiv !■. I'. l>;,M,ii. ,. \.(, M, Mai-v's. 'I'liniiitu.

Vrvy Kr\. j. J. M, (anil. \ . (1 St. Micliacrs CallK-.lial. loruin...

Krv, .Mlaiii. I.. A. II .....St.( atlianii.s.

\ crv \iv\. l!fr!.;iii, \\',. D.aii lianir.

Kvv. Il.'aii.l()iii. \\ I Latniitaiiif.

■• lirst. I). I'.,(). C.C Xia-ara Falls.

•• lU'sl. 1>. A.. ().('. C. Nia,t;ara l-alls.

•• r.niiiian. 1... C. S. H St. ISasil's, Ton. lit...

" l'.n.';aii. S.. ( . SS. R st. Patrick's, 'i'l.n.iiiu.

\ cry Rt'V. t ainplK'll, K. A., Ai-fliilcaK.n (Jiillia.

Ri \ . C"aiitill<jii. ( \|)i(..

\Cr\ Rev. (■as>i.I;.. ]■... |),aii St. llclciiV. Toronto.

R.'V. ( Iktiut. I., i;.. C. S. I! St. I'.asiPs. r,,roiito.

•• ( linstiaii. M., C. S. II Toronto.

" ^■'>lin.j Mi.llaiui.

■ Coliiiis, }.. C.S. li Toronto.

" ^ •^y''-'' 1' • St. .Marv's. loiuin,,.

■' ( ivspin. j St. HasiVs. Ton.nlo.

" (j-iiise, j. .M St. Marv's. Tofoiito.

■■ i^"tty- !'• ^^■ oiiiiia.

■■ ]:«•'■'• J- .!• Thonihi!].

','"•'"• -^^ '' ■ Hoiis.^ ol l'ro\i,i,ncc'. Tonaito.

l;i-adioii, I'. R.. ( . S. I! st. HasiPs. Toionio.

•• {.alUm'hiT. I-.. |- SrhomlKT-.

" (.eaiiii, M. r \^|,j,j_

■■ 9if'IJons, j Peiielaii^ni>li.iic.

•• Cribnoy. H.J Alliston.

■' f!''^ra, L ; B,irn,..

•■ .uiimiic, j. j.. C.S. I! St. Ba.sirs. Toronto.

■ Hand, J. I Osliawa.

•• Harold, F. J Xiaf^ara.

Very Key. Harris, W. R.. Dean St. Catharines.

Rev. Jeftcott. M. I Pickering.

" Keano, P. J .,.,., Uxbrid^c.

I
i

•i

I III

^^^ ^'^"' ^'''-'W/ "/''/"• Arrl„lhr,,c of Toroulo

'^<-v. Kdlv. f. J

■ Kicnian. K.J loroiito.

" Kicriiaii, \\ t_ollii,|^r\v<,o(|.

■• Kilciillcn. I ^ loninaiiioii.

\ciy Rev. Kreidi. A '| " '()' rr' ^.i; ■■ ^,<'l^an.

K''v. Krdn. S.. CSS k , .. " -^"l"'""; -Ni'-Wim ].-,lis.

" Lal)()iirc;ni, r. !•" l^'- ^^^''•''ck's. TonnUo.

" Lafoiitaiiif A ' '^'"''t:i'i,',Miislu'iie.

•• l^aniaicht.. P. '.'.'.'.'.'. loronto.

" J-awler, 1^:. j; .\'.'""'''''' Hoart, Tonnito.

■' I.viH-h, |. ; loroiito.

" Lviiott. "f. "l" ^f- '"•'"lis. Toronto.

" M'rHra.lv. K.. C.S.pi i^'^/.'^f""-

" .M(l!ri<it\ J. l" ■"'^- '^■■''^il s. Toiont,,.

" McCall. P. [ ^f- Hticirs, Toroiitn.

•' ^f<'CartIlv. }..(■■ SSK '.''"'l '-'"''■•

" McICiiicf', J. I -^l- latru-ls's. -r,,n.iit<..

Kev. Mc.MalioM. P " ■• •^•^■'-' -^"P-n..... .St. PatrirkV. Toronto.

" MrPlnllips. Jl I iJrcchin.

" -NfrRa.'. K '" O.anocvilk..

" McSpiriii. I.- ^'nilhville.

N'ln Rev. AIarii()n\-'('''v:'i''u'' ■■■■■••; ^^ lidHrld.

Kcv. MineMan. T ' ''• ' '"^""'^'1 '^t. Has.Ts. Tor<,nto.

" Morris. 1) ^t. PaiiPs. 'i'oronto.

" M(,vna. M N'f.vniarkrt.

" Mnrrav. iC.. c's.h;; ^■^'''\.

" O'.MallcN. I) T ()('"(' i^t. J.asil s. J-oionto.

•• O'Rcillv'. .\(. Mr ■ ■ ^'a,i,^;ira l-alKs.

•' RiMldcn'. I. ^f- J'>^''pli's. Toront,,.

" Kohl, (I, r 1'^ I' ^}- f^'i'il'^, Toronto.

" ^^yan. F ■ :;:;;; [Jt. Mi<liac-rs Catl.c.iral. T,,ronto.

" Smyth. |.- ^ ■ Mic,ad-sCatI„.,|ral, Toronto

" Snllivan T ^t. t.athaiines.

'■ vef\-. i: R.r:si!: i^'T'''';.

" Travlin- [ ^t- l>asil s. Jnronto.

■' Voissard. "f. \ ?'^'C-

" Walsh. iCr.s.H ir[.^'T-

" Walsli. [ '^t- i'.'isils, T. 'onto.

" Wh,tn,.v. P.::::: f^!';^''^"^ Connies, Toronto

Laldwell.

TABLE OF CONTENTS,

I\TROI)l(-T!0.< / ,

PAirr I.

The Life of fhr Mn.,t Revrrnul John W.ilnh, I). I),, Arrhhi.,!,.,,, „/ 'IW<mlo ,

PART II.

C H A I' 'I' i: R I.
Thf /ikI'kiii MisHions in Western Cditinhi

The Indian -The Missionary -The Rerolleis ,,r Kranciscans _ 'l-he lesiiit.s-
Hrelieufand I.alemant The Sulpitians.

CilAI'IKR II.

Eaiiij Ilhtnrii ,,f the Chtirrli !,i Upper Can,i,l., ..jy

•I'he Ok! IVovinre of Q.iehec- Ha.ly Missions and I'loneer I'ncsts Karly
Cathohr Settlements - Stntistics — Missionary Work -The '-hurch and
State— 'I'he Cleriiy Reserves— Bishop Plessis -Division of the Diocese of
Qiieliec.

CMAl'TKR HI.

The Life and Times nf Hishop MnedmielJ

■I'he l>iorese of Kingston— liishop Ma. (h.nell -The Kariv Cler-v Car.hnal
Ueld V,sitati..n of the Diocese— The Parishes - liishop (lauhn-The
I roubles at \ork -\ew Missions- An Interesting Kvent-1835 »" i8^« -
Statistics-Hish,,p Ma,-,l,„H.irs iK,|t|, ,^,„| ,.,|ri.,| ' ■'

CilAI'IKR \\.

Tin' Life mill Tunes of UisJuqi Power

Bishop (ntuhn-Dioeese of Kingston .livi.le.l -Diorese of Toront.. Rnshop

')"cr-lhe First D.oresan Synod -The Clerj^v -The f'on.in^ of the

Jesutts-Notai.le Events-St. Miehaels Cathedral -Bastorals-Death of

(-regory XVI., and Aceession of Bius IX.-Th- Bishop visits Kt,rope_The

Typhus -Death of Bisiiop I'owcr.

'■"■>*!

! I

^1^^ 7'«(/)/f' of Contents.

cir.\rii;k v.

The Life awl Times of BUhop />,■ ('l„trl>t,ini,'l , ,,

Family-Ordination and Hn.ry to S,. Suli-irc- C.uning to Anu.ri.a-Scrvi.-es
among the Fever Patients- Hishop of T.^ronto -Separate Schools- Return to
I'ran.r- l'ro|,a;,';ui,.n of the Faith- Archhishoj) of Sozopolis.

(li.M'rF.R \ 1.

The Li/e and Times of Arehlnshop Lijn<-h , (^^i,

liirth and Rdueation-Missionary Career College of the i [ulv An,'els--l!ishop
ol loronto Ar<hhish,,p - Silver jul.ilee- Death.

CHAI'IKR \[].
The It'elii/ioiia Communities and llieir il'ork -jny

The Ha.silinn.s-Father Soulerin-Father \-in,entl'rhe Christian lirothers--

I he Sisters ol l.oretto-The Sisleis of St. Jose|)h^ - I'he 1 1, .use of Provi-

denee— '{'he Ximsof the Precious P.lood -The Si.sters of the ( '..mkI .S|upherd

—The Sisters of the Holy Cross - The St. Vincent cK; Paul .S,,ricav The

l.ady Visitors to tin- Hospital.

CHAPTKR \lll.

Sepiinile Sdinul;; .

-IW)

'■""■'^' '-^«'^1^«'"" A.ls of ,85,, ,85,^, 1S55. ,S6 5^-SeparateS,.hool Pawof

Ontario under liritish North .\inenVa A.l -Recent Legislation -Separate
Schools of the Archdiocese.

chaptf:r IX.

The Piirishea of the Iieinieni of Toronto -.^^

1: / /)

lntro<l,ution-St. .Michaels Cathe,h-,i! .^t. Paiils^-St. .Marv's---.St, Hasil's -St.

Patri.'k-s — .St. Helena St. Josephs .sacred Heart - .\diala llrock-

Caledon-nixie- Newmarket- - Orangeville Oshaua Pickering S, h,,n,

herg—Thornhill-Uxliridge -Toronto Core.

CHAPTKR .\.

The Parishes of the iManeri, of St. Catharines ;.{23

St. Catharines- \fcrntton-Ningara-on-the !.ake - Niagara Falls -Port Coll.orne
Smithville -Thorold.

CHAP IF R \I.

The Tiirishei of tlie heanerii of Barrie *...................... >ui

Harrie--.\lliston— Brentwood— Brechin -Collingwood — Flos -Mara^. Midland
— Orillia — Penetanguishene — Stayner— Ste. Croix.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,

Akciibishop Walsh iM-ontispiecL'.

r r.K,

St. Peter's (Cathedral xx

J olin De Bre{)eiif z

The Portage r g

Bishop Plessis jS

Map of ()iiel)ec uiuier Act of 1774 40

St. Joseph's Church, Kinf^'ston, i80(S • 44

Bishop Macdoncii 68

Guelph, 1827 80

Niaf,'ara Church, i S ^6 84

I->ish()j) Power T08

Bishop De ( harhoniul 142

Archl)ishop Lyiicli 170

\erv Re\ereii(i I'athcr \'inceiit. \ A\ 198

St. Michael's Coilej^c _.u2

Loretto .\bi)e\- 212

St. J oseph's ( 'onveiit 224

House of Provideuce 251

CiievaHer Macdouell ' 246

Brother Tobias ,-„

-oo

Very Reverend Dean Cassidy 2-6

St. Michael's (Cathedral 280

Very Reverend leather McCIann 282

St. Paul's Church ^.g.

Bishop O'Maiiony 286

St. Mary's Church and School 288

Monsignore R oone\- 202

Sanctuary of St. Helen's ,qj

Our Lady of Lourdes ,0 ,

Adjala and Penetangaishene ,11

Very Reverend Dean Harris „,

St. Catharines' Church and School ,26

Thorold and Port Colbornc ",g

N'cry Reverend Dean Berlin ,,,

Bishop O'Connor

Barrie ,

Orilha -^-^^

35'-

INTRODUCTION.

I
1

W hen it \v,is proposed to us to t;ikc: sonic recof^nitioii u{ llic fiftieth
;uuiivtMs;iry of ti.c estuMishmcnt of the (hocese of Toronto, which occurs in
the ye;ir of Ljrace 1892, we suggested ;is one means of commenioratin.L; this
epoch a volume whicli would record the history, as far as ascertainable, of
the foundation, growth and progress of the Catholic Church in Ontario, and
more particularly in that portion comprised within the present limits of the
archdiocese oi Toronto. A numlier of gentlemen kindly acted u|)on the
suggestion, and contributed, each the chapter or chapters to which his
name is attached. This Committee consisted of: The Very Rev. W. K\
Harris, B. 1)., Dean of St. Catharines; the Rev. J. R. Teefy, B. A.,
C. S. ]^., Superior of St. Michael's College', Toronto; I). A. O'Sullivan,
F^scp, M. A., LL. 1).; ilir Hon. T. W . Anglin, ex-Speaker of the House of
Commons of Canada; H. V. Mclnlosh. l{s(|. ; and |. l\ White, Hscp,
Inspector of Separate Schools. The J\!cveiend leather Teefv was appointed
I'Lditor.

The purj)ose of the xolumc; is to record and preserve the trials, sacrifices
and labors of the bishops, priests and pc;ople who have gone before us, and
who planted the mustard seed of our hol\ faith in this province, who
watered it with tears until it has grown up into a great tree overshadowing
the whole land. It is not pretended that this is a complete history of the
subject. It is rather an earnest attempt to gather up fragments of tiarlitions
and family history which every year were becoming more scattered, but
which must have an abiding interest for the younger generation. It is the
erection of a memorial tablet over the first fifty years of our existence as a
diocese. We cannot claim the veneration due to antiquity, or proudly
point to a long line of saintly prelates, and institutions dating to the dawn
of civilization ; for we are of yesterday compared with man\ of the dioceses
of the Church. Armagh celebrated its thousandth anniversary about the
time that Columbus discovered America; Cologne is older still, and

(11)

I iitroiliiilii

Marseilles completed its dolden Jubilee before the clnisUan dispensation
had closed its lirst century. Hut there are in our midst treasures of faithful
memories, revi'ted names, and well established homes of c liaritx and halls
of learniuf^ worthy of a i)laec! in the im))erishable annals of history. The
heroic footsteps of the missionaries who Hrst trod this eountr\ are retraced
in simple narralixc ; and their tra^^ie sufferinj^s are told as a reminder that

L second ( hapter upon the

our s(

)il is watered with the blood of martvrs.

earl) baif^'lish occupation of the ( ounlrs forms a link between the llun

issit)ns and the episcopate of Bishop Macdonell, the latter part (jf whose

career is withm the memory ot livmi; men. I hese two cliaplers may he
regarded as pnshisloric ; for, strictK' sjieakinj;, the scope of the work lies
within the lifty years which closed last May. W hal was the slate of this
country in those times? I-'eo])le found themscKcs in the face of saxaj^e
nature, and had to engaj^e in a deadly sliuirj^le to compel it to \k'\d even a
bare subsistence. The.se poor settlers, habitually deprived of the ccjiisola-
tions of reli'iion, of its holy wcjitl and holier bread of life, its saving truths,
its sanctifyin,^ prayer and heavenly sacriHie, f^raduallx- grew careless ; and
it is not surprisinjj; that on reviewing the past we lia\<> reascMi to mourn the
loss of man\ a family whose fathers came to this couiUi\ rich m faith and
the love of their anct^slral Church.

The Scotch Catholics in (ilengarry and the I'Vench in ICssex were more
fortunate in this respect than their lri.sh co-religionists in the other parts of
Upper Canada. They always had the happiness of having their religious
guides in their midst. Clengarry was a centre whence a considerable
number of good, intelligent and dcvotjd Catholics spread throughout the
l>rovince, and formed rallying points around which Catholic immigrants
gathered and grew into congregations. The I'"rench in Mssex, being cut ofT
by language from the other inhabitants and clinging tenaciously to their
honn\s, had little shan; in the spread of the f.iith elsewhere.

But while the Irish had man) ditliculties which people of other nation-
alities had not, and while amongst them there were many losses to deplore,
still it will ever be our pride in the new world, as in the old, that they have
as a people remained faithful. Whether deep in Canadian woods, or in the
wind-swept prairies of the west, or in the crowded cities of the United
States, the sons and daughters of Erin have been, in the face of all their
hardships, true to the cause of their religion, generous in its support and
loyal to its teaching. The men who hewed our forests and dug our canals

lllhdiliicliiiii.

(15)

arc tlu'y wlio I)iiili our duin Iks .hkI ('stahlishcd our institutions— and as
lon^' as tlu;si' nioinniu nls of faith survive, so lonj^ sliall !)(■ puhlislicd to the
world the undyin- attachment to the Church of the apostc^hc Irish ulio
came to llu-sc shores poor in tliis world's <,'oods hut rich in the treasures
wliich reh^non alone can bestow.

iMfly years a^o, when Toronto was created an Episcopal See, the
Catholic Church in this section was in its infancy -no relifrjous institutions,
no Catholic schools, and many of our immij^'rants poor and unfriended.'
Our readers will folI(,u throu-h these pa.L^es its advancement from such small
he.^^nnin^^s until, at our (.,,lden Jul.ilee, we see two nrKy dioceses si)runK
from Toronto; al.oul two hundred priests; one hundred and ei.<,dity-five
thousand faithful ; a suificitnt numlxr of churches, manv of them beautiful
structures ; colle<;es and academies for the purposes of hirrher education.
Catholic schools, ori>hana^'es, hospitals for the sulferint,^ and homes for llu'
mhrrn and poor. The labors, stru-^-les and sacrifices which have led up to
this prosperous and <,'ratifyin- condition of affairs are recorded in the

foIloWUl;

pa<res.

These

paj^es wil

oe round

ahsoibin;

in interest, instruction and

ediHcation ; and we comnu nd the work to the patrona<(e and favour of the
public in -eneral, and of our Calholi,- pe,,p|e in particular. If encoura-ed
and patronized, as it deserves, this volume will doubtless be the precur'sor
of others descriptive of the work of tlu> Church in other dioceses of Ontario •
and thus material will be suppli.d for a full and complete historv of the'
Catholic Church m this premier province of the Dominion of Canada.

We cannot clo.se these introductory remarks without putting on record
our heartfelt thanks to the .uentlemen who liavc so generously and disin-
tere.stedly given their time and talents to the laborious research'and patient
•study re(|uisite for the composition ('.f their various chapters. They deserve
well of the Church and of the country. Mav their nani.'s b,. written in the
book of life !

-/It

^},ve^A

-^ht^^LitU/uyu c^ (Jy-aj-n^

THI' LI IMC

oi-

THE Most iir.v. .loiix \y\isii. i,.r>.

RF.V. JOHN R. Tl-.i'.iA, II. A.. C. S. 1!..

srp/;i;/<fA' ,>/.-\i muii.\ei:s coi.i.rai-. roi;o.\ro

rill': LIFE OF TllF Mosr HFW.IollS WALSH, iKh.

'■^

'■ I suw aiKillii'r KuliM- ilse:
Ills woiiU wi'ic iKilili', nciiiil ;iiul wise;
Willi llu' iiiliii SI r|itri- of Ills pill

llr luk'il till' inliuls and lli(iii«lils uf iiuMi." *

--Ami. Mill'. I'RorrKH.

^^^^^( ) wrilf tlic history of a j^'cnenition still alive is a delicate and
^i^^k (liKicult task, ruhlic acts dcvelo]) their consequences slowly.
^jP^ Witnesses remain witli liuir own impressions and recollections
JL of the various scenes, even after the actors have passed off the

staj^e. Hut the l)iof,'raphical sketch of one who has still before him many
years of usefulness and honor is necessarily unlinished. The interest
claimed hy the past is more or less absorbed by the uiuvrilteii future.
True as this mav be, our readers will feel that the career ol the Most
Rev. Dr. Walsh, the present Archbishop of Toronto, affords abundant
material for the historian and si^ecial interest for this volume. Like a
land slopinj^ upwards from the sea, and es'er presentinj.,^ as it rises, wider
plains of fruitful soil, so, from boNhood to earl) manhood and on lo riper
aji;e, the life of this venerable prelate; is one continued advance in (li«j;nity
and extendini^ sphere. Besides, his (iraceisno stranger to us. C"omin<^'
to the diocese a youii}.; man, its Vicar-Cieneral for several years. Bishop
in the ecclesiastical i)rovince, and returninj.^ to Toronto as its Archbishop,
he has been closely connected with ft)rty out of the lift) vears which this
work is intended to commemorate.

John Walsh was the son of James Walsh and l-.llen Macdonald, aiul
was born in the parish of Mooncoin in the County of Kilkenny, Ireland,
Ma\' 23rd, 1S30. This parish is adjacent to the "ffentle" Suir,

'• That tnakluf^ wav
Uy swcel CU)iiiiii.-l adorns rich Walcrford,"

and is situated in one of the most charming sections of Leinster's charminj^f
Province.

The Walsh family (written also Wallis) is a very old and honored one.
The lirst members in Ireland were two Barons of Cornwall, David and

/,;/'(• of thr Mn^l II

■ lllllll ll'iilnli.

I'liilip, wlio a{H<iinp,'iiii('(l \'.;i\\ Stion^'linw in 1171. Tin fnriiKr was created
Haron of ("iirrickininnc bv Henry II.; the Lillrr, \\\u> Imd si'ttled 111
Kilkemi)', H.utiii III l'ildi)ii. Here in the I'diirse of time lliev ac(|iiired

ar^e possessions, whu h to ihc pres( lU (la\ near 'he name <

if ll

ii>n

M oil n 1,1 ins." This properly was afterwards confiscated (hiriiii; lh<' dilfi icnl
persecutions. Nor was property the only sacrifice tiiey were called upon to
make: the family could pride themselxcs in having distin^uiished martyrs
.•i'moiiL;st their numlier : one, William Walsh, l>ishop of Meath, snlf(iin'_;
under I'-lizaiuth ; another, who was .\i(lilii>hop of Cashel, suffering under

Cromwi II. huriiiij the time

the ("onniionwcalth .and in the reimi of

William III., the eldi r hr.inch eii^a^ed in the military si'rvice of h'rance
and .\ustria. In the former (ountry ihe title of Count Seryant was
conferred npnii the representatiye of the family. The branch which
remained .it Imme, and to which the subject of our sketch belon^;s, liscd tor
f^feiuralioiis in a condition of comlort .ind independence whic h the better
class of farmers enjoy. Such homi's in Inl.ind ha\(' been shrines of
simplicity, parental authority and filial allei tioii. Their .greatest we.illh
has lain in their enerj,fy ; their coronet is their faith ; their crest their
patriotism. I'rom them haxc <;one forth to all cpiarlers of the j^lobe
earnest, dexdted priests, who mi^lit li.i\e won distinction at home had tlie\-
not chosen deyolioii in exile.

John Walsh is an excellent example. b-xinciiiL,' at an earl\ a<fe a
desire to study for the iiriesthood, he was sent in due time to St. John's
(."olleifc, W'aterford, where he mad<- his prcpar.itory studies with ^'reat
success, standim; first in his class of philo.soph\-. lie remained at St.
John's to make one year of i1u'oIo,l;\ , when he deeidcd that his vocation
la\' in the \asl field of foreij^m missions. .XciordinnU', breakiiiL; all the
endeariiiL; lies ('f home, friends and natiye land, he hit tor Canada in
.\pril, I S3 J. The followiiif^f autumn, when studies be^aii, the \dunji; Mr.
Walsh entered the (irand Seminarx of Montreal as a student of the dioce.se
of Toronto. I lis indusliA' and talent, his exem[il.u\ conduct, his strict
obseryance of rule won the api)robation of his sujieriois, and justified hopes
concerning; his future which h:\yr since been re.dizi'd. lie reccavtHl tonsure
from Hishoji La Rocipie at 'Trinity, 1S3J, and minor orders from liishop
l)ouri;(t, December 17th, the same xc-ar. .\t the close of the SeminaiA the
following; summer, when on his way from Montreal, Mr. Walsh nearly died
from a .se\ere attack of the cholera which was raninir in Canada (hiriiiL; that

ft*

>Tf

.[)'fhli'ixln>j> III' 'I'liriiiilii, V

season. Ailii liis rccDVt r\ he \ isit'd 'r<ininti> fur ilic tirst time ( )ii < '( IuIk r
J. Mid, i>^\\, hisliii|i (Ic Cliarltiiiiiiil oidiiiiicd liiin siiU-dcacnii in tlic
Hislidp's piiviilc ili,i|)<'l, ,ind diacon on ( )(lt)licr j()tli. ( )n N'ovcnilicr isl
followin-;, tlif l'"(Mst of All Saints, the samr prclatf raisi'd him In the holy
pricstliond in St. MicIiaiTs Catlicdral. Altrr oidiiiatinii, I'atlin \\ alsli
was allai lied to no partii iilar < uiai') ; liis diit\ consisti'd in atliDiJiii;;
fV('r\' |)la(i' that liaiipincd to lie \a( ant in lliosc days onl\' too mum roiis.
To these scattered di>lriets he went, I'atecjiisinj; the yoiin;^, iire|)aiinj^
children lor Tust communion, hearing; s|)iritiial consolation to tln' (hinij,
sowing' the sei'ds of <'ternal lile in tlu' hearts ol all. The lollowin^; year
(1S53) In; was apjiointed to the Hrock mission, liordiTinj,' on Lake Sinicoe,
of which parish he was the first resident pastor. It was a trial for a \-oun!.;
priest fresh from college to be so situated far ri'moved from am clerical
societ\, in the midst ol' a inral population whose time and enerL;\' were
taken up Willi the L^i^'aiitu task of c learinu; tlie iarms, with no railro.id
accommodation and with worse than indiriereiil roads. Hut it was a L;ood
.school for one upon whom (lod had suih hi^h dcsi}j[ns. Ildrove the vouiij^
priest til tile rlmicesl companions he could have — his books. l'"oi- the two
\iars that i'ather W'.ilsh wa:^ in this mission, he ciilii\ated his mind with
constant stiidw !t was easv for him to do so. lie was a student l)\
nature. l-.iidoucd with a ( lear judf^Miieiif, possessiiii; an e\traordinar\
memorv and a rich imagination, he has all the (pialilicatimis which form an
earnest, successful student. It was therefore a |)leasure, as well ;is an
oblii^'atimi imposed In I'' surroundin,t;s, for him to have time which he
mij^'ht employ to such ad\ anta;;e for himself and his future.' lUit not e\eii
to the present day has Archbishop Walsh ceased studyiiij;-. \\'hene\(r
the duties of his sacred callinL,^ leave him anv sjiare moiiients, or I'veii when
cnjoyini;- a brief season of well earned relaxation, hi^ books , ire ne\<r l.iid
aside or neglected. Nor does he take to books because ln' is a reclust.'.
On the contrarx, he is most (on.i^enial and delij^dits in tin .mh iet\- of priests.
None can come witliin the nia,L;netic influence of his companx without beiiij^
attracted by his urbanity and ainiabilitv. His fund of stories, his powers
of coincrsation seem e\haustless ; while his various Iraxcls and extensive
reading', his shrewd observance of men and thiiij^s, his keen .sense of humor,

• lli-- (iriici.'. wIkii ;i..k(cl ,1 ^.jioil tiiiii.' ayo bv a <lUliii(,'iiishc(l scholar wln-ie ho hail iiiaiic lli^ siuiiiis,
ippliccl Ihat 1k' hail inaili' ■-oiiio of hi- movt useful Ntuilk's by tlu' llj;hl nf (he tallow camlk- iiiul of thi'
lot; Ini' in the sh.inties of •' the -ettlers" of the bai kwooiN.

Li/( of the Most Rvf. -lohn ]\ ahh,

hip-e enriclu'd him \vitli treasures wliich a marvellous memorx- jircserves
onlv too well.

ill April, 1S57, l*"ather Walsh was removed from Hrock and plaeetl in
eliarj^e of the more important parish of St. Mary's in Toronto. .\ jiriests
life Ml the eitv is a very busy one. The relij^ious community which calls
for constant attention, the young people more exposed to danger, tlir [loor
more i.unierous and more afllicted, the pious jx-nitent and the stubborn
wanderer, ail make heavy demands upon a pastor's zeal and time, while thi;
schools nj(|uire as much care as the church does administration. I'uU of
the sjiirit of his h.oly vocation, I'ather Walsh applied himself to all his
manifold duties with, energy ;ind t-onslancy. Loretto Comcnt found in
him a devoted chai)lain, the school . a self-sacrilicing champion, and the
jiarish a father and friend. Hut amidst all he still found time to ,i;ive him-
self to studv and the careful preparatit)n of sermons, which soon earned for
him a well deserved r^^putation as a pulpit orator. Advancing time and
more ex.ilted state, as well as his own contiiuierl industry as a student,
have increased this reputation. Archbishop Walsh's dignified appearance,
rendered more dignified by the insignia of his office, his rich voice, rendered
icher with a sweet, native brogue still clinging to it, his deep, earnest
manner, '"endered more earnest by the subjects which he treats, serve to
give weigl * to his well balanced sentences and linely rounded periods. In
,<t\le ornatCj in treatment practical, in thought logical, rich in imagery and
choice in language. Dr. Walsh, as a speaker, is never commonplace, always
impressive, and in many passages l)rilliantly elo(iuent. The following eulogy
on the Catholic priesthood is taken from his sermon on the occasion of the
late venerable Father Dowd's golden jubilee, which was celebrated in
S'. Patrick's Church, Montreal, May 26th, 1887 :

"There is no body of men," said Bishop Walsh, "known to history
that have rendered mankind such great and inappreciable services as the
Catholic priesthood. They redeemed tiie world from barbarism and
conferred upon it the blessings of christian civilization. The\- freed the
slave and opened the doors of the dungeon to per.sons unjustly detained.
They redeemed millions of captives from Mahometan prisons. In every
centre of population they erected and supported hospitals for the sick an<l
suff(;ring, and houses for the jmor and helpless. They invented a language
for deaf mutes, and thus opened up (iod's glorious creation, with all its

>i<

Anlil)i-:liiii> (if 7V)/v)((/((. vii

beauties, wonders and meaninj^fs, and all the fountains of knowledge and the
savniif truths of reli^don to minds hillierto imprisoned behind the adamantine
walls of unbroken sil-nce and deafness, and shrouded in niore than R<i;yptian
darkness. The ,t;real universities of the world that tlamed out like beacons
on a dark and stormy sea, they founded and endowed. Parish schools for
children were established by them. To the working classes they tau.nlit
trades, as well as agriculture. ''"he\ lauijht the rich the duty of helpinj^
the jioor. and the\ defended and uphekl human rii^hts and liberties aj;ainst
the t\rant and op|)ressor. ilie arts and sciences were brought to perfection
by them. Printing, sculpture, music, architecture, eloquence and poetry
were by them christianized, perfected and immortalized. They have been
the "greatest benefactors of mankind, the most virtuous, the most enli<j;htened,
the most disinterested, the most useful Ijody ot men that ever lixcd. To
sa\- that some ol them fell hom their hi^'h estate and loft\' ideals, and were
stained with sin and vice, is to admit that they were human, and liable to
the influence of human passions and the seductions ot the flesh ; but tin:
fallen were the few ; and the Ljreat bodv, having on the panopl\' of (iod, led
li\-es ol purit), justice and holiness, and b\- their j^aeat learning and splendid
virtues have made a track of light across the waste of centuries."

\'ery soom after the consecration of 1 )r. Lynch in 1^59, l-'ather Walsh
was ajipointed i:ctor of St. Michael's Cathedral. It was the following
September, when the Prince of \\'al(!S visited Canada, that the new rector
ol the Cathedral came forth more; publich", and displayed st)me of that force
of character which has e\er since made him a leader amongst men. He
was chief ori;anizer of a mass meeting of Catholics called to " take into
consideration most important matters connected with the 'isit of the Prince
of Wales." A large and influential meeting was held, over which I'ather
Walsh presided, aiul which he addressed at .some length. lie .said : " They
had assen^.bled to deliberate on the part the Catholics of Toronto should take
m the r( ception of the Prince of Wales ni this city. The peculiar circum.
stances in which tlvy were placed b\- the action of a portion of their fellow
citizens, who weri' intending to make this reception the occasion of insulting
the feelings of Catholics, compelled them to adopt this procedure, in order
to give expression to their fet^lings and to concert together as to the line of
action they ouqht to inn-^ue. b'ain would they wish to be permitted to join
in the intended demonstration in honor of the Prince of Wales with ,dl
their fellow citizens, without, distinction of S( . t oreountr\. b'ain would

Mil

Li/e of the M„.it l!rr. .I„lut Wakh,

'I!

they wisli to hu iH,'rniinc'(l to join the niijj;htv throni,' tliat would assemble on
that oecasion to j^rcet their royal \isitor, and liki> the waters of tlu; St.
Lawrence, wliieli gathered strcn<;th and l)od\' hoin the trihutaries that
ilowed into it, until lliey poured, a mi^fht\- tlood, into the ocean, so would
they wish to jiour their feelinj^'s of attachment aiul loyalty to the (.Hiei n,
throujjjh her son, in the same hroad stream with those of all their fellow
citizens. Catholics were loyal by principle, and not by caprice ; tlie\ were
lo\al becausi> their Church taujj;ht loyalty to lawfully constituted authoritie.s,
Thev were no b(lie\ers in the divine rij^ht of l<in<;s, as the doctrine was
understood n(nvadavs ; nor were they believers in the creed of the
revolutionists, but thev were k)y<d by principle, loyal accordiuf,' to the
dictates of their Church, which taught them to be subject to the jiowers
that be. To the taunts of dish^yalty Hung against them from time to time,
it would be beneath them to rejilv. The soil of then' native countr\ had
been repeatedlv reddened bv the blood of their martyred fathers in the
struggle with traitors who had imbrued their hands in the blood of their
lawful king.

"'l"o those taunts ot dislo\alt}' their Catholic lellow counir\men of Lower
Canada had given a good answer by their brilliant illunnnations, by the
roar of their .ulillery, and b\- then- loud shouts of applaus(' and welcome
which greeted the roval visitor to our shores. I'ain would they wish to take
up those shouts and c-hei'rs of welcome, and cause them to echo along the
borders of our blue Ontario, but they must be jiermitted to do so without
ha\ing their feelings insulted and their self-respect trampU'don, and without
forfeiting those rights whic h tlu'\- hold dearer than life. Catholics stood
on a platform of e<|ualit\ with other denominations in this country, and
should the\- now abate their rights in order to pander to the feelings and
malici'His designs of a i)articular class ? They were aware that he alluded
to th(> fact that tlu' Orangemen of this country had ixjiressed their deter-
mination to walk in full regalia on the occasion referred to; and that not
content with this, not content with carrying their offensive party emblems
and plaving their offensive party tunes, they were now actually emplo\ed in
the erection of an Orange arch, to be decorated by their Orange; Hags and
insulting msi,L;nia, and intended that the Catholics of this cit\- should walk
beneath their Noke, m token of their bondage and slavery. ICvery citizen

posse sse

dof

<f()oc

1 sense would admit that this was not an occasion to be

-i

seized upon to insult the feelings of any portion of the community. Why

— *

•-«

Anlili'iJiiip i)f 'I'oroiit

sliould the Or;uifj;eni('n lake this oppurtunit)- of rakiiij,' uy from the tomb of
the past the aslies of our fathers, defeated by overwhehnin^^ numbers and
forcij^Mi mercenaries, and Hinging tiiose aslies in our face ? Orangeism,
which was born in the defeat of our fathers, which, springing into existence
in order to comnuMnorate that defeat, and which raised its tliront; on tlie
wreck of our common hberties, that institution should not be planti'd on our
virgin soil to perjietuate the hatred and discord that cursed our iiatixe land.
It had been planted here by one whom lhe\' all knew to be of a very
rejiutable character, and he must say the offspring was worthy of its
immaculate sire. Me was proud to inform the meeting that the most
influential citizens of Toronto, men not professing the same criM'd as them-
selves, had set their face against this proposition ol tlie ( )rangemen, and
had denounced it in no measured terms. lie believed the vast majorit}- of
the imjiartial Protestants of Toronto denounced the jiroeeedings as an
insult to themselves as well as to Catholics, because they considered this
was an occasion on w'hich all citizens ought to act together. It would be
prt)[)osed that this meeting should memorializi: the Duke of Newcastle, the
Prince's adviser, telling him how they would feel if an\ formal recognition
of the Orange Ixxly was given by the Prince or his achisers."

blither Walsh concluded \)\ urging upon his hearers ([uic I and i)eace-
able behavior whatever might be the issue oi their remonstrance, so that
thev might not place themselvi^s on the same low Icm'I with those who
flaunted their \ellow colors in the face of the mi(lda\ sun.

,.**

A deput;ition, consisting of Captain Mlmsley, (x)lonel l^)ald\\in and
J. (j. Mo\lan, l'".S(|., was appointed to [M^csent to the 1 )uke of Newcastle a
memorial protesting against the erecticMi of sucii an arch, and that it would
Ije "the means of preventing your memorialists from i);irticipaling in the
welcome of I lis Ko\al Highness to this part of Canada." It-vniton losa\':

"That on an occasion like the jiresent xour mi'Uior'.dists most anx-
iously de ire to participate in the jo\ful ])leasure of tendering a hearty
welcome to the heir apparent of the Hritish Crown to this jirosperous ;ind
noble dependency of the b'.mpire, but in view of the contemplated action of
the Orange association, a fei'ling of self-respect must preclude \our
memorialists from joining in the demonstration to His lvo\,d Highness, as
under no circumstances can they submit to the degradation of passing

I
i

X f/ij'f of thf Miixt J!cr. ■/olni ll'ulxh,

under an arch displaying offensive emblems, calculated to provoK-c a breach
of the peace.

" That your memorialists, having appealed to the local authorities in
vain, and endeavored by every means in their jiower to avert this offensive
disjiUi), now as a last resource appeal to your (irace to aid tlu'm in
discounteiiaming this insulting demonstration of part\- spirit on the part of
a sworn secret society, with whose histor\- your ( Irace is doubtless familiar,
whose acts have very often led to sanguinar\- conflicts, and at the present
time have called for the action of the Imjierial Parliament.

" Wherefore, your memorialists humblv pray that your Grace, so long
distinguished in the councils of your country for liberal and just views of
policy, may be pleased to represent to His Royal Ilighness the nature of
the wanton insult about to be offered to a large class of llcr Majesty's lo\al
subjects, the danger to be apprehended to the jieace of the cit\ if it i)e
allowed to pass unmaiked by his disapi)rol)ation, an insult which would not
be jiermitted to take place in Mngland or Ireland without summar}- jumish-
ment.

" And your petitioners, as in dut)' bound, will e\er pra\ ," i\:c.

As a result of this meeting and memt)rial the Prince of Wales refused
to recognise the existence of the arch in (|uestion, and Orangeism received
a blow from which it did not rally for years.

On I'.astiT Sunday, .\pril iolh, iS().z, bather Walsh was made Vicar-
(ieneral of tlu diocese. In St'iiti'niber ot the same yc-ar, resigning his
rectorship of the Cathedral, he returned as pastor to St. Marv's Church.
In May, 1SO3, he attiMided the third Provincial Council of (Juebec as theolo-
gian to the Bishop t)f Toronto. The following spring \'icar-(ieneral Walsh,
aft(!r having been twelve years away, determined on visiting Ireland. His
friends axailed them.selves of the oj)portunit\' to testif\ their regard bv
presenting him with ,1 gold watch bearing the inscrijUion : " A token of
affectionate esteem to the \'er\ Rev. J. Walsh, \'. C. ., from his friends in
St. Michael's parish, Torontcj." They also, with great delicac)' and
though tfulness, sent to b'ather Walsh's mother a present of a gold cross,
very massive and beautifully wrought with wreaths of shamrocks, bearing
on the reverse side the following engraving: "A souvenir sent from Toronto,
C. W., to the mother of the Very Re\-. J. Walsh, V. (i., from his admiring

-»

Anhliisho]! of Toronto.

friends." We quote one paragraph from the address which accompanied
these offerings, as showing the pleasing relations which the subject of our
sketch retained with all the Catholic citizens of Toronto:

" 111 the great and holy works of the sacred ministry you have labored
with earnest zeal and patient ability. While bearing the heat and burthen
of the day, \t)u have given evidence of an industry whose main inspiration
is Cod's honoi and the people's good. By the simple combination of the
rare (lualities united in the good priest and citizen, you have gained the
good will and commanded the respect of every one who is capable of
appreciating the merits of one who wears to this dav 'the white flower of a
stainless life.' "

l";itlier Walsh replied : " "N'our good nature attributes to nie (|ualities
\\lii( h even ni\- self-love cannot convince me that 1 jiossess. The picture
which \(>u draw of what I am, and of what I have done in the hol\ ministry,
is trul\- beautiful —it is the most flattering photograph I have yet seen ;
but, unfortunateK-, it is not mine — it is but the ideal of what I ought to be,
anil of what I, indeed, would wish to be. The image wliicli I am
accMstoiiu'd t(j see on the mirror of my conscience is not (]uile so pleasing,
though it is a faithful reflex of the original. But thos(^ who lo.)k through
the prism of friendship will seethe most beautiful and the most varied lij^lits
of \irtue shining on the path ol one who, after all, plods the wear) journey
of life uiuUt no brighter sk\ than do the most (>rdinarv mortals."

Xor was 111' forgotten In his people of St. Marv's, who presented hmi
with a purse and an address expressive of the deej) affection in wiiicli he
was held In' his llock.

I poll this occasion the \'nar-( ieiieral paid his lirst visit to llie b.ternal
Cit). lie was recei\i(l mo.it graciouslv l)\ the X'enerable I'ius I.\., who
manifested the deeiKst interest in the Canadian Church. .After t.avelling
some time in luirope, l\ither Walsh spent a few months in Ireland, visiting
again the home of his childhood. Sorrow had thnnvn its shadow over the
hearthstone In removing his father, who had died the Near pr(,'\ iousK . lUit
he had the joy of offering up beneath the parental roof the hol\ sacrihce for
those from whom he had been so long separated, but with whoni lie was
ever closelv united in ties of affection and bonds of faith.

fif

Xll

J/ife of the Mont Her. John ll'iilnh.

Durini; all tliis lime Father W^ilsli was a l)usy writer and speaker.
Amidst his many paroiliial duties he still found time to he a constant
contrihutor to the press and to deliver sermons innumerahle. W'e read of him
preachini; at the Mass for Cardinal Wiseman in I'SO^, at the hli-ssinj^ of St.
Michael's Cathedral hell in 1866, at tlu; la) ini; of the corner stone of (iuelph
Church ; while the demands for him on anniversaries of (liffcrciit kinds
were too many for him to fulfil.

The health of I )r. Pinsonneault, Bishoj) of Sandwich, l)ecominjf im])air(>(l
it was necessary to select a successor. Accordm^ly the hierarch)' of the
ecclesiastical province of Quebec unanimoush- nominated X'icar-Cieneral
W'alsli as future l)ishf)p. The choice was in due lime ratified 1)\ hulls from
tlic I Idly See.

The consecration took place in St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto,
November loth, 1S67. The followin(( l^ishops were present : Rt. Kev. \l.
Lani^evin of I'iimouski, L. Lafleche f)f Three Rivers, J. ). Conroy of Albany,
.N. \., K. Horan of Kin.^ston, J. Farrell of Hamilton, and J. E. B. Guiijues
of Ottawa. The consecrating Bishop was Mgr.Baillargeon, then .\rchbishoi)
of (juebec ; the assistant Bishops were the l^t. Re\ . J. Bourget, J^ishop of
Ab)ntreal, and Rt. Rev. J. J. Lyncli, Bishoj) of Toronto. Rev. J. M-
Bruyere, \'icar-(jenerai of Sandwich, acted as a.ssistant priest to the bishoj)
elect, and the \'ery Rev. l*"ather Rice, C. M., of the College of Our Lady of
Angels, Suspension Bridge, and the Rev. II. Moreau of Montreal, performed
tln' same function towards the assistant con.secrating bishops. The \\,'ry
Rev. J. V. Jamot, V. G., was archpriest. The deacons of honor near the
archiepiscopal throne were the Very Rev. Dean Crinnon of Stratford, and
\'ery Rev. F. P. Rooney, Toronto; while the deacon and sub-deacon of the
M'ass were \'ery Re\-. C. Vincent, President of St. Michael's College, and
Re\-. M. Ciagnon of (.Hiebec. The \'ery Rev. G. Northgraves of Barrie
acted as notary to the Archbishop. The master of ceremonies upon the
occasion was the Rev. T. Morris. Besides those mentioniM] there were
fifty-two other priests present. The sermon of the day was preached by
the Xery Rev. heather Dowd of Montreal, " upon the substance of the great
act which these ceremonies so expressively accompany." " The consecra-
tion of a new bishop in the Catholic Ch".rch," continued the preacher,
announcing his divisions, " is the perpetuating of that lawful succession of
pastors in the apostolic line through which, by the ordinance of Cod, true

>i<

ArrlthiHlifij) of Tordiild.

Mil

(loctri)U' is ))n'S{i\((l and taught lo all nations lo the end ol tmn'. Tlic
new hishop is a new luii of the ;i|)()stl(>s, inheriting from them, and in the
same |)lenitu(lt', the dixine commission of fesiis Christ: '(io ti'aeh all
nations.' "

The ( leri^A of Toronto jnx'sented his Lordship with a mitre, i lozier,
pectoral cross and rinij on tlie evt; of hisconsecnition. The address accom-
panying the present, while it conijratiilatcd him upon his ele\ation to
the purple, expressed \-ery deep rei^ret at parting with a dearU heloxcd
hrolher. After referring to tlu; many acts of kindness and friendship which
they, the priests of Toronto, had experienced at the hands of Hisliop Walsh,
the address expressed the most ardent wishes and fervent prayers for ( lod's
choicest blessings upon his episc<Ji)acy. His Lordship replic.'d in most
touching terms, dwelling upon the consolation afforded a priest oy his
confreres m the minisus , " wlu) are animated by the spirit of their holy
state, whose lixcs are in beautiful accord with the requirements of their holv

calling It is hard to part with priests — the companions of happy

years — who have endeared themselves to me by their many kindnesses- their
never wavering conhdeiice and steady friendships-"hard to be withdrawn
from th( care of a holy bishop, who was to me at once a father and friend,
as well as a bright example of thi virtues which I should practise ; but the
voice of (iod calls, and I must obey. But, go where I will, rest assured
that the bishop and priests of the diocese of Toronto shall ever occupy a
large place in my heart and in my memory, .\dieu, friends, for ever dear,
and b(' sure that 1 will not fail to remember }ou there where' remembrance
is indeed prec ions at the hol\ altar."

Besides this address main others weri' jiresented. The institutions of
the citv, the personal friends of his Lonlship, his old parish of St. Mar\'s,
all vied with one another in doing honor to the memorable occasion, and
sent him forth loaded with the prayers and blessings of faithful souls and
the handsome presents of generous hearts.

The newly con.secrated bishop, accompanied by the Bisho])s of Kingston
and Hamilton and a large number of clerical friends, reached London, en
route for Sandwich,' on the 13th of November. After the formal reception

* Bishop riiisonne.iult, whn had hoen cor.-ecniteil Bishup of London, transferred the See to .Sand
wich in TS51/

-'«!'
.??!

XIV

Ij'il'f III' Ihi- .\hisl lt,r. .I„lni ll'-i/.s//.

of his I-ordsliip IkkI talccn place at Si. I'dcr's Catliidral, Dean Crinnnn
read the following address of welcome :

" Mv I-()Kl) The priests of the diocese lu.Te asseiiihled respectfillU
approach voiir Lord-^hip with feelini;.s of jov, to oiler vou our sincere and
hearty welcome to the diocese. W'e know that in takin;.; chari;e of this
diocese j'ou ha\c made* man\ sat rilices. In mhii' former position as pastoi'
of St. Mar\'s and \'icar-( leni-ral of the (Hocese of Toronto, you lia<l no
extraor(hnar)- fatij^ue to endure or diflicidties to oxcrcome, and enjoyed the
love and esteem of all. \\m haxc, mv Lord, in obedience to the voice of
th<' llolv I'ather, made this noMe and generous sacrilifc to enli'r a dioi fse
in which there are manv wants and picssini; dillicullies ; hut the cross has
no t<:rror for a true disciple of his lleavcnh' Master, lie who lalled \ou to
this responsible ollice will supph the necessar\- j;rac<' to enable \ou to
discharife it. W C know how mm li tlu welfare of a diocese depends on its
bishop : we were, th"refore, rtlled with |o\ when we heard ol \(mr .ippoinl-
meni lo the See of Sandwic h ; for s(»ur Lordship's known abilit\', ze.d and
prudent (' .ire sure Ljuarantics for the lutin"e welfare of this new dioce.se.
We are trul\' thankful to (iod for U'^'ng us a bishop so endowed with talent
and virtue ; and to you, mv Lords, we are s^rateful for selecting one so
cai),d)le of advancing:; the int(;rests of our hol\- religion, wliich is so dear to
us all. In conclusion, my Lord, we beij to assure you that we will cheer-
full\- co-ojicrate with \()U in all \()u undertake for the ,i;lor\ of (Iod and the
s.ilvation of .souls."

This was the ke\-note of the success of Bishop Walsh's administration.
The confidence pledj.^ed on that occasion betwi-en the priests and th('ir
bishop was kept faithfully on both sides. Twenty years and three went b\-
with all the chan^fes which such a lenj^'th of time is sure to bring before the
relations then established were broken ; and all that time the mutual
confidence developed, veneration for the episcopal dij,mity j^ave way to
warm affection for him who bore it, and casual ac(iuaintance develo]ied into
life-lonj^ friendship.

The following day, November 14th, his LorcLship was duly installed 111
the Cathedral of Sandwich.

In January, 1868, Bishop Walsh lenioved the episcopal residence from
Sandwich to London, to which city the See was again transferred l)\- a
decree from the Bropagancht dated November 15th, 1869.

Avilllmtliiifi III 'lurallli.

In lliis lar^^c liclcl ol ("lirisl's vincyurd Ins Lordship imincdiiilcly
applied himself with extraordinary resolution and ability to the important
duties (if his cxajli d ollice. Bef^inniny i)\ a thorounh examination into the
aifairs of the diocese, he found the outlook very unprotnisin^f, and re(|uirinj^
all his ( oiirai;(' and spirit of saeriliee. A large and pressin;^' debt of alxnit
!^33, (.()() had to lie licpiidated ; the reorganization of the cler^'xand missions
was urj,a'nt ; a number of priests had to be pro\ided; in many parishes
churches and pri'sbs teries had to be built, or lestored and enlarged; the
interests of e(iu( itiou demanded earnest, imnu-diate attention ; asylums for
the orphan and the iiilirni had to be established.

All ihis, it an\ Ljdod was lo be done, reciuiied aiduous and constant
labor, and Bishop Walsh was tt(|ual to the occasion. Nothing daunted bv
the ditli( ulties which surrounded him, lie set himself with earnestness about
puttin,;; his house in order, lie \isited every mission in his diocese; and
everywhere lu .idmini^lerid (onlirmation, delivered elo(|uent exhortations,
founded < luirches and schools where r(-(|uire(l, eatechi.sed the Noung,
encouraged the old, and ajipeali d to all to helj) in removing t)bligations
which Wire preventing him from doing the good he contemplated. N'obl\-
.seconded by a faithful clergy and a generous lait\-, he succeeded within
three years in paving off tlu: heavy debt which had at first confronted him-
His success, however, was achie\i'd at the risk ot his life. The physical
and mental strani so long endund, undermined his Lordship's health lo
such a degree, that his medical adxiser insisted upon a long [leriod of rest
and a change of scene. 'Die bishop accordingl\- visited Ireland for the
second tune in 1.^70. lie was thus jirevented from attending the X'aticaii
Council which had begun its sittings towards the vnd of the xcar previous.
His Lordship's interests in this great assembly were no less keen. In Ma\ ,
1S69, he issued an erudite jxistoral " upon the magisterial authority of the
Church in matters of faith," "as also upon the nature of (ieneral Councils
and their great importance and bearing in Catholic theologv on articles i){
faith." In 1.^73, when the Hon. W. L. (dadstone, in a celebrated panijihlet,
attacked the decree of Papal Infallibility, Bishop Walsh contributed a
lengthy and very learned essay upon the .subject. But controversial writing
makes heavy reading. The precious stones of historical evidence and
logical proof which th<- controversialist draws from the deep mines of
tradition ne<d the jeweller's setting before they adorn the writer or please

xvi /-(/(' ';/ till' Mimt llir. .John W'uIhIi,

the reader. Bisliop Walsh has afforded this settin^i; hi the numerous
pastorals which lu; has issued in the course of his lonj; episcopate. .As
compositions these pastorals l)ear in form the impress of a polished writer;
and in nialU r the riches of a well stored mind. Replete with Sacred
Scripture, the holy fathers, the history and ))ractic.e of the Church, they are
j)re^Miant with instruction upon the various subjects treated. Practical in
their hearinj^, a spirit of earnest piety, st) natural to their autl.or, hn-athes
from v\v\-\ paj^e ; and their lanj;uaf.fe is that of a kind father teaching his
children the most important lessons of life, and bidding' them htve Ood, the
Sacred Heart, the lilessed Mother, the Church, the dead. His Lordship
has al.so published a very touchinjj; little work upon the Sacred Heart. We
rej^^ret that we cannot dwell any Ioniser upon writinj^s which, by their num-
ber and ipudity, well deserve more careful notic(>. We hope that those who
come after us will collect in fittin^f mann(;r llu> pastorals and other works of
the subject of our sketch, and so prevent them being consigned to the dust
of shelves or the grave of oblivion.

In iSjf) \\v paid his otficial visit as Bishop to Rome. Upon his return
he gave an interesting abstract of the report made to the Holy See of the
religious growth during the decade then completed. .After speaking about
the payment of the diocesan debt, his Lordsiiip proceeded: "Twenty-eight
new churches have been raised to the glory of (iod, and for the purposes
of reli<j;ion. .All the.se edifices, with few exceptions, are of brick and stone,
and many of them are si)l(Midid and costly .structures. Besides, five
churches liave been greatly enlarged and improved. Seventeen commodious
presbyteries have been built for the accommodation of the parochial clerj;y.
An episcopal residence, second to none in the Province, has been constructed
and not a cent of debt has been left upon it. Three convents have been
built. Mount Hope has been purcha.sed and paid for, and a splendid new
orjihanage has been erected on it ; and besides, a hand.some new college in
Sandwich has been built by the self-.sacrificing zeal of the Basilian b'athers.
In tine, more than a (piarter of a million dollars has been actually expended
in church impnncment within the last nine years. These facts are extremely
creditable to the public spirit of the laity of the diocese, as well as to the
zeal and self-sacrifice of the priests. If they had not husbanded their
resources instead of expending them on their families, and had not put
them apart for the service of God's Church, the.se splendid results had

-»

Archh'iHhiip ill' 'I'onnilo. xvn

iicvtT ItccM achieved. We know, (Icail} Ixlovcd liKlliicii, that a j^ood and
ellicient priesthood are, in a certain sense, th(.' hfe and soul ot" the cluircli.
They are the representatives of Ciod, the aml)assadors of Jesus Christ, the
dispensers of the sacred treasures of I lis sufferinj^^s and (h'ath. Without
them, rehyion lanj^'uishes and immortal souls are starved tor want ol the
hread of life. 'rwciUs-three pious and efl'u ieiit priests have been ordained
during the last nine years ; five have heeii re},'ularl\ .iiriliaicd lo the diocese,
and nine iiasilian I'alhers haxc come to lake ( liar^c of Iwo parishes, and
to condi'ct the ('ollef.;e of Sandwii li. Ahout ten thousand children have
received the sacrament of C'onlirmation, and most of them have been
pledf^ed to abstain from the use of intoxicating drinks until they shall have
attained their majority. This is a summary of the work done in llie last
nine \('ars."

" The llol}' l'"athcr," continued the Bishop, "bestowed upon me man\
favors, for which I hope to be forever thankful, and sonu of wliii li 1 trust
the diocese will hold in grateful recollection. One of tliesi' was that, at mv
retjuest, he bestowed upon our N'icar-General, the \'erv Kev. J. M. Hruyere,^
the dignity of a Roman prelate, in consideration of his \irtues and talents,
and tile eminent services he has rendered the church in Canada duiiiig the
last twenty-Hve years, ^'ou, who know the \'icar-(ieneral well, will agree
with me in .saying that the dignity of the Roman jnirple was in this case well
de.ser\'ed and very Httingly bestowed. His llolimss also gave me free
places for two ecclesiastical students in the College of the l*roi)aganda, the
alma mater of some of the most distinguished men tliat exir shed a lustre
on the church b\ their genius and their virtues."

On November jKih, 1S77, the clergy of the diocese assembled in
London to tender their congratulations upon the tenth anniversar\ of
Bishop Walsh's elevation to the episcopate. The\- presented a verv
complimentary address, which they accompanied with a generous gift of
iiti3,ooo, in testimony of their affectionate esteem and their appreciation of
his sterling qualities of heart and mind. The priests whom the bishop had
ordained since his arrival in the diocese also presented him with an address
and a very valuable ostensorium. The former address, after mentioning
the various works which had been accomplished since Bishop Walsh's
consecration, amongst others, " the creation and establishment, on a per-
manent basis, of St. John's Society, which jirovided for the decent support

-H»

Will

Ij'ife (if tlii' Must Hit. ■Inlni H'hIhIi,

of tlu! intirni and a^'cd priests of tlic diocese," spoke of his Lordship
personally: "While thus adverting,' to your ability in adininistration, we must
not omit to iiicnlion iliat whereas energy and zeal are often acronipanied hy
harshness, \()ur Lordship has been able to rectineile the sucl•e^.sful adminis-
tration of an important ciiarf^'e with a suavitsof manner which has iMidean-d
you to all, so that you are re^^arded by all as a kind fatlu-r ; and it is this
ipiality, mor^' especially, which has secured to \du the filial affection of both
cleri;y and laity in tlie diocese, and the respect and admiration of all with
whom you have intercourse. I'ermil us, then, on behalf of the laity as well
as for ourselves, to tender to you our conj^ratulations on the prosperity of
tilt diocese, which, after the providence of God, is due chietly to your
Lordship."

But not only was Bishop Walsh iioiiored ii\ his .subjeits ; he received
at the lime a si^^nal mark of the (onfidcnce reposed in him by his superiors
in Rome. The late Dr. L\nch, Archbishop of Toronto, either sij^nified to
the Propaj^anda his wish to resign, or had actually sent in his rcsii;nalion.
What circumstances led up to this important step, and what others checked
liie succi'ssful issue of the proposed arranj^i'ment, are irrelevant to this
biof^raphical sketch. Sutfici' it to sa\ that 1 )r. L\)nroy, delegate of the
Holy See, wrote Bishoj) Walsh from Montreal, lOth Septemjjer, 1877, as
follows: " 'N'ou will probably have already received Cardinal I'lanchi's letter
announcing that the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda, with th(!
approval of his Holiness, has designated you as Coadjutor for Toronto."
Again he writes to liishop Walsh in December <>f llie same year: " I con-
gratulate you on the interesting meeting* of the other day, in which your
Clergv paid you so splendid and so well merited a compliment. 1 do not
wonder that you shrink from exchanging tlu; diocese which, through you,
has been bles.sed with such men, for the dillicult honor of being Coadjutor
to an .\rchbi.shop."

It is also a matter of history that Ttjnmto was not the only art:hdiocese
which Konu: urged upon Bishop Walsh to accept.

On No\eml)er tlie i6th, l^y(.), Bishop Walsh celejjraled the silver
jubilee of his sacerdotal ordination. The clergy of the diocese read him an
address " expressing their heartfelt wishes for his welfare and paying due

* lli> LoiiKliip lofi'iN lo the nu'Ctiiif; in l.oiulon of llii; deiny rclaliil whove.

-9

ill

Airlih'mhoj) of Toronln,

xix

homayc to his virtues and talents," aicninpanyin« it with the presentation
of a complete set of the Greek and l.itin leathers. In rcturninf; thanls
his Lordship thus reviewed the jiast :

" N'ou fonf,'ratulate nie on the twenty-fifth anniversary of my ordination
to the holy piiesthood. Would that these preeious years had been more
prohtaltly spent! Twenty-live years are hut a speck of time in the life of
the immortal Church, hut they are a <,'reat deal in the life of an individual,
spanning,', as they do, the golden \alc of his existence. In looking; hack
throuf^h these vanished years, whilst there are many things in th(! retrospect
to trouble the individual conscience for duties omilud or impi'rfectly per-
formed, yet 'her*' are many thing's also calculated to comfort and encourage.
Within that )' .od, short as it is, the prof^ress of the church in Ontario has
been very j^r indeed. There are nearly as many priests in one diocese
now, as there ulic twenty-Hve years ago in the four dioceses and the vicariate
apostolic that constituted the ecclesiastical province of ()ntarii>. There
were vast districts then without jiriest or church. Children grew up with-
out religious instruction, and many of them were in consecpience lost to the
faith. Th(! little ones of Christ were famishing for the bread of life, and
there was no consecrated hand to break it unto them. The holy sacrifice
of the Mass, the great central act of christian worship, for which the most
glorious structure t'at ever was designed by human genius and raised by
human hands is too unworthy, was offered up at distant intervals in the
smoky cabin or the humble log chapel. Now this sad state of things has
utterly disappeared; and instead, we behold the Church and her institutions
in a hopeful and flourishing condition. Ihe Separate School system, gr(>atly
amended, is being worked with ellicienc)' and with beneficial results ; there
is a sufficient number of colleges and conventual academies for higher
education, whilst the orphans and the aged poor are provided for in institu-
tions established for the purpose.

" To the holy bishops and zealous priests, some of whom have passed
to their reward, and others of whom still remain to edif) us by their
example, this happy state of things is, under (iod, mainly due. They bore
the burthen of the day and the heats; they sowed in tears that we might
reap in joy; 'sowing they went and wept, casting their seeds; but we, coming
with joyfulness, carry the sheaves.' (I's. cxxv., 6.) It is for us to take uji
the great work they began, and as far as in us lies to carry it to a succcss-

lAfi' of the M(i.tt llcr. -IdIiii U'hUIi,

fill issue. Canada is a free and ha])]))- country. Xo penal law has ever
soiled the virgin page of its statute hook ; no state trammels hamper the
ctCtion and cioff the activity of the Church. Here the bride of C .irist may
walk forth in all her majesty and loveliness, like unto the spouse of the
canticles coming up from the desert, like the morning rising, and fragrant
with perfumes of sweetest odor. Here there is open to the divine energies
and zeal of the Church a field of labor as fair and free as that on which tlu'
eyes of the patriarch rested when about to S( nnate from Lot. (.reat, th.on,
are our ojiportunities, and great also our responsibilities; may we not be
wanting to them. Such are thoughts that are u]>permost in my mind
to-day, and to whicli I have thus ventured to 'j;ive expression. 1 thank nou
once again for ycnu' e\tniiie kindness, and 1 humbh pra\' that the blessing
ol our heavenlv I'ather mav descend upon \ou ,ind abi(U' with \<hi alwa\s."

The diocese was by thi. lime |)laced upon a solid basis : religion had
its shrines and priests; learnmg, its college, its academies and its schools ;
charity, its houses for the infirm and the poor. One thing the diocese did
not |K)ssess : a cathedral worth)- of the name. Accordingly Bishop Walsh,
who had long set his heart upon it, now devoted his energies tt) the building
of a stately temple, which, to ([uote his own words, " would be th o enduring
monument of the faith and hope and charity of the apostolic people who
planted the mustard seed of the Catholic faith in this country." The time
'was now ripe for carrying out the cherished design. On the Jind of May,
1 88 1, the coruer ;:tone was laid, bearing upon its eastern face the following
in.scription :

lluiic lapulcm .aiiguhiriMii

Hcnedixil :ic posuit

Revimis Joannes Walsh,

Kniscopiis Londinonsis,

X.\1I Mali Anni) Ooniini

MDCCCIAWl.

The sermons were ]-<ieached by Archbishoii Lynch of Toronlo in the
morning, and i^ishoii Cli'ary of Kingston in the evening.

The Cathedi.d consists of nave and chancel with transepts, chai^els,
baptistery, and towers, sacristy, morning chajiel and (hapter-house. The
last two, as well as the spires which are intended to surmount the towers,
are not yet completed. A cloister will connect the adjacent episcopal
residence with the chapter-house and the cathedral. The total lengtii of

»!■«

St Pe

ETERs Uath EDRAL, London

-5.

Airliiii.slloj) 1)1' TofDiitd

XXI

till' cathedral projier is over two liuiulred fret, and total breadth about one
lumdred and lifteen feet. l"roni the trround to the ridw of the main roof is

al)out ninety feet, while each tower with its cross and vani'

will rise

to tl

heijfht of two hundred and twenty feet. The walls are composed of hne
brown-red stone laid in blue Ohio sandstone and (Jueenston limestone for
the liner and bolder dressinf^^s res]iectively, and Scotch granite for the shafts
of the pillars. The st\le of architecture is of the early b^-ench jicriod.
Three ma^nihcent doorwaxs ;,M\e entrance to the bodv of the church, while
two others .L,n\e access to the transepts. The great rose window in the
front gable over the main door, and, the minor wheel window in each
transept, give a charm to the j)rincipal facrade. Entering b)' the front
vestibule the view of the majestic nave, with its lofty clere-story and loftier
groined roof, ending in the distant octagonal apse, gorgeously lightt'd with
its splendid coronal of stained glass w'indows, is most strihing. The i^;ain
altar, of very chaste design, is of beautiful white marble, with other species
for pillars sujiporting the tabernacle ; and when the reredos j)roposed is in
its })lace, it will greatly enharce the beauty of a beautiful church. We do
not compare it with any of the Imglish < athedrals; for it is as }el incomplete.
Like many of them it stands forth on an extensive green sward and shows to
greatest advantage. But Canadian cathedrals must diiler from those t)ld
minstiTS and shrines. 'I'ln' shadows cast by the gray towers of the one are
the shadows of morning twilight, witli future glory rising over them ; while
the shadows of the others art' those ot night, whose sun has long gone down,
and whose morrow seems xcry (hstant. lUit in point of architecture St.
Peter's Cathedral will rank w iiii many of them, and is a credit to the architect,
Mr. Joseph Cc^molly, as it is a glory to liishoj) Walsh, his devoted priests,
and his generous people of London diocese.

It reached its present state in iS!~i5, and was ready to be opened. On
.\pril 19th ot that \ear, when, for the last time, religious ser\ices wen; held
in oltl St. I'eter's, his Lordship alluded most touihingly to the memories of
the venerated edifice which they were about to vacate for the new and statel\-
cathedral which, when dedicated, would also bear the cherished title of tlieir
old and belovud church. Within a short time the cathedral was read\' for
diviiH- worshiii, it being dedicated with becoming pom]) cm |une jSth b\-
Bishop Walsh. Besides his Lordshij), seven ollu r prel,it< s and a large
number of clergy, both from the diocese and i Isewhcre, were present upon the
occasion. The Rt. Rev. Dr. McCjuaid, liishop of K'ochester, pleached m the

nil

XXll

Li/r of the Mo^t Her. .folm Walsh,

morninj^S poiitiiical liij^li Mass beinj,' sun,<; hy T^ishnp Jamot of Petcrboroujuli,
with the Very Kcv. M. J. \\ alsli, \. Ci., of Philadelphia, as assistant jiric^st ;
the Very Rev. ]'.. I. Ileenan, V. G., of Hamilton, as deacon ; the i-Jev. Jas.
LonerjTan of Montreal, as suhdeacon. In the evening, Bishop Walsh san^
Vespers, assisted by the \'ery Revs. O'Connor of Sandwich and Deiavij^ne of
Montreal. The Ut. Rev. Dr. O'Farrell, P)ishop of Trenton, N. J., preached.

At a bauciuet j^iven at Mount Hope Orphanage in the afternoon,
Bishop Walsh, returnintjj thanks to the visitinj^ prelates and priests,
spoke thus of the work which had received the crown of religious
blessing and dedication : " 1 care not what the worldly-wise may now or
hereafter say about the wisdom or folly of tliat undertakmg which we have
this day brought to a partial completion, but I am satisfied that christian
men will admit that in a material age, when great and colossal structures
are raised for the purposes of commerce and the worship of mammon, the
clergy and laity of this diocese have deserved well of religion, and have
done a noble christian work by building this beautiful and stately temple for
the glory of God and of His Christ, the honor of Holy Church, and
the saiictification of inmiortal souls. I cannot close without paying the
tribute of my thanks and praise to the accomplished christian architect, Mr.
Jo.seph Connoll), under whose creative genius the unconscious stones of
our Cathedral ha\e grown into shape and beauty, and the symmetry and
perfection of life. Thanks are also due to the clerk of works, Mr. John
Wright, and to all ; for all," concluded his Lordship, " have faithfully
done their duty and justlv deserxed gratitude and commendation."*

-9

* Tlic followiuj^ is a lottor of roimr.u iil.ili.in fiMin l!i-li'i|i lio C1ku1> niiiel to M.Lfr. IJriiyerc :

Lyons, July .:3r(l, 1S85.
Ri. Rkv. a\]i Dkar l-KiKNii I li:i\c jii-i lliii'licnl loailinj^ the live loiij,' [la^o in tlio " Catliolic
KoL'ord " coiitiiiiiini; a ilesciiplioii of llu' ilcitiialioii of voiir spleiuliil Cathodral. I sciul vou luv hrartv
i:oiigratiilali()iis <jn lliis ii\a{j;iiilii'i'iil result ll is lii- Lordship liishop Walsh uiu> sluxiUI bi- spociallv
happv oil this oi'iasiou. His umlcrtakini; mu~t liavi' appeannl rash to sonu' ( I iiivscif would nevur
ha\L' ilrcamt of I'von tliiiikiii!^ of such a task |. and hchold an iiuiiu'use success obtained! It is to niv
mind an addilicmal proof lliat an Irish priest who i- zealous and e\eniplar_v can doanv amount of good
with his comi)atriots, so riiii in failh and so LCreat in hearl. I'lcase tell his I^ordship liow lar>;elv I
share in his j(;y, in his triumph, and, alxive all, in all the good that is s\ire to flow from Ibis ,//,'/' U'uin're
of zeal, prudence, patience, business tact, and relined taste. The description j^iven of the church in the
" Record," as well as of all the circumstances of the solenmity, has struck me «ith admiration, and I
wish you to convey to the editor my sineerc compliments therefor.

The present letter beini; written solely to express my deliijht, I will conclude by embracing with
joy his L<nilship the liishop, and you also, my dear friend of oilier days in 'I'oronlo. I liad nearly
forgotten the niagnilicenl collection taken up ini the occasion of the dedication. 1 never heard or knew
of Ihe like before. ^'ours devotedly in Christ,

I AkMANI) K. M. de ClIARllONNEL.

,■4

'A
■■<■,

'■'%

■'i

:-t.

,:«

■.1

Archhinhop of Toronto.

xxiu

yVnother church, St. Joseph's of Chatham, requires a brief mention in
this chapter, as due to the fosterinjj; zeal of Bishop Walsh. It was dedicated
by his Lordship October 23rd, 1887; upon which occasion he preached one
of his most elociuent sermons upon the Catholic Church as "the house of
God and the gate of heaven." Tiiis Church, erected by tlie l-'ranciscan
Fathers who have charge of Chatham, is pure Roman in architecture, with
a fine clere-story. Two towers rising to the height of 175 feet give the front
a very striking a]>pearance. In the interior, eleven ;,tone columns on each
side, adorned with Corinthian capitals, separate the central nave from the
two aisles, and two more beautifully decorated columns separate it from the
sanctuary. It i.s 74 feet wide by igo feet long with a transept of 110 feet
in width. When completed, it will cost $100,000.

Resuming the biography which the above descriptions interrupted, we
find Bishop Walsh again cro.ssing the ocean on a visit to Ireland in July,
1882. In 1864 he had assisted at the laying of the corner stone of the
(J'Connell monument in Dublin, and, by a happy coincidence of events, he
took part, on the 15th of August, 1882, in the ceremony of the unveiling.
Upon his return to Canada, his Lordship was presented with a very
complimentary address by the citizens of London and the substantial gift
of !Jisi,ooo, "as a voluntary testimony of esteem." A few days after, he
was entertained at a public dinner in the London Club by a number of
inriuential citizens.

In the fall of 1884, Bisliop Walsh, by sjxxial invitati'jn, assisted at the
third Plenary Council of Baltimore.

At the close of the twentieth year of his episcopate, November, 1887^
his Lordship again repaired to Rome to make the official returns of his
diocese. Before his departure the clergy made him a personal present of
over one thousand dollars, besides sending $5,200 as an offering to the
Holy Father. The Bishop assisted at the I'ope's Jubilee, which was
celebrated in St. Peter's on December jist, 1887. Upon arriving home
liis Lordship issued a pastoral giving an interesting account of the memor-
able event and the lessons which it contained.

While Bishop Walsh was on his way back to this country. Archbishop
Lynch of Toronto laid down in death the crozicr which for twenty-eight years
he had carried with so much zeal, having appointed in his illness the Very

Il^

XXIV

Lit'r of till- Moat Jtrr. Juliii Wulsli.

Rev. Fatlicrs Kooiu-y and Laurent Adininislrators. The former, who had
the actual manaf^ement of affairs, conducted the diocese with a prudence and
hrmni^ss whidi had always iharacleri/.ed the different periods when he had
been in charge. Administrators are not expected to make history. Their
success lies in them not doin<^so. l'"ather l^Jooney succeeded admirably; for
while he earnestly maintained the activity of religion, no event occurred
special enough to be ri'corded. .In the mean time all eyes were turned
towards London; Home spoke; Bishop Walsh gave his placet; and from
one end of the country to the other all acknowledged the wisdom of the Holy

Fathc

I'atner's selection. Thus b\- a brief from Home, dated August 27th, 1889,
was closed his Lordship's brilliant and successful career as Bishop of
London. What were the good Bishoji's feelings in parting may be best
described b\ i|ut>tati(ins from his firewell pastoral of November ist, i88g:

" b'or twenlv-lwo }ears we have labored together — bishop, priests and
peoph^ — in our rcspecli\i.' sj)li('res for the glory of (iod and the progress of
our holy religion. We have worked together in mutual confidence, in unity
of purpose, and with disinterested and magnanimous co-operation ; and
(k)d has bles.sed and fructi hed, as with the dews of heaven, our united
labors, our arduous undertakings for the honor and weal of the Church
within the diocese, and tlu' spintu.d welfare of its people.

"The ties that bind us to the diocese of London are the clo.sest and
most intimati'. We have sj)ent the best part of our sacerdotal life amongst
you. Twent\-two years form a great part of a man's life. We have
ordained the great majority of the priests of the diocese, and raised them to
a participation m the eternal priesthood of Christ. This is a unique and
sacred relationship between priests and their bishop, that can never be
broken. We lia\egiv<;n the sacrament of confirmation to many generations
of our young people, thereby strengthening them in the profession of the
faith, and marking them with an ineffaceable character as .soldiers of Jesus
Christ. We have dedicated your churches and institutions to the glory of
God, and for the purjioses of religion, in a word, we have lived and
planned and toiled with you for twenty-two years in the Lord's vineyard,
sharing willi sou the burthen of the day and the heats, until our heart's
affections have grown and gathered around you as a diocese, even as ivy
grows and clings to the walls of some holy building. In parting with you,
therefore, we are wrenching our heart-strings from jicr.sons and institutions

-m

-»

>t<

Avihh\»hi>p of 'ri>ri)iit(>

XXV

to wliicli they would fain tliiij; to tlic end. (iod knows that we had no
other ambition or desire in this matter tlian to he allowed to vm\ our days
amongst you, and in death to occupy a crypt in our beautiful cathedral,
where we had hoped to be remembered by our spiritual children, and to
havo a share in their pra\ers and suffraj^^es, and in the expiatory merits of
the holv sacrifice daily offered on its altars. Ikit (iod has willed otherwise,
and it is our duty to obey His call. Hut thou|;h the ties that bound us be
.severed, and thi)u<fh .separated bv distance from each oilier, we trust th.al
we shall ever rem.dn united in li)\in^ memory and in the sweet inter-
communion of holy prayer.

" We can never fort^et you ; we are deeply grateful for all your kindness ;
we love you all in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We leave you with heart-felt
regrets, for you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
(H. Cor., vii.. 3.) We recommend ounselves most earnestly to your prayers,
and we shall not fail, in turn, to ask that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the charity of (ioil and the communication of the lloK Chost may be
with you :dl." (H. Cor., xiii.)

On Xoveml)er ijth, iSS(j, Archbisho]) Walsh preached his last oliicial
sermon in London Cathedral, and took farewell of his jiriests and the
congregation. The clergy presented him with an address congratulating
him upon his exaltation, calling to mind all thai had bei'ii accomi)lislied
during lis administration in the diocese, " which never could l>e ol)literated
from the grateful, afifectionate and, on that day, alas ! stricken hearts of the
priests." The laity also presented an address ; and, joining with the
clergy, made his (irace a gift of !i>2,0()0 for the purchase^ of .111 .irehieiiiscopal
outfit.

Accompanied by Archbishop Cleary of Kingston, Bi,shop Howling of
Hamilton, a large number of the London ])riests, and .several laymen, his
Crrace left his home of many happy years for that of his earlier manhood.
.\nd that evening in St. Michael's Cathedral, many who had witnessed his
consecration, and had received his first epi.scopal benediction, now knelt to
reccnve his blessing as Archbishop of Toronto. The hand which gave it
still wore its strength and vigor of old. Time 1 1 dealt gently with Dr.
Walsh. The form was erect ; the voice full and uch as erst it rang through
those vaulted walls. The silver hair showing beneath the mitre alone told
the story that years had passed and age was coming on. But we are

-«

XXVI

Life of the Mont llet. John fl'ithh.

anticipritiiif^f. Mis Grace was met at Hamilton by a larf,^: deputation of the
clerf,')- and laity from Toronto. Immediately upon their arrival at tin; last
named city, a procession was formed, and upon reachinj^f the Cathedral, the
Archbishop was received by the Administrators of the Archdiocese according;
to the ceremonial. The only thinjf which had marred the proceedinj^s was
the spirit shown while the distin^'uished company were advancinj^f from the
station to the Church. Insulting songs were yelled and missiles hurled at
the principal carriages, one stone striking his Grace a severe blow on the
arm. At the conclusion of the religious ceremony in the Cathedral, I'"ather
McCann read the following address to nis Grace :

" Most Rev. Father — -We, the priests of the Archdiocese of Toronto,
hail with gladness your advent to this archiepiscopal city. Joy Hlls our
hearts because once more we have a father to love, a spiritual chief to guide,
and authority divine in its origin to sustain and direct us.

" The sorrow-stricken Church of Toronto, which has bitterly deplored
the loss of the good and illustrious Archbishop Lynch, at last lays aside the
garb of mourning and puts on the robes of gladness. A new era has dawned
upon her. New life and energy are about to be infused into the religious
work of the archdiocese. Its progress will be made commensurate with the
material advancement of this great city, ^'our presence will weld more
closely the priests, religious communities and faithful into one united and
harmonious body.

" Years ago your distinguished career in the priesthood of Toronto
created bright anticipations of a glorious future in the Church of (iod.
These anticipations have been abundantly realized. Your fellow priests
and devoted people in this diocese hailed with unfeigned joy your elevation
to the episcopate. Your successful labors and illustrious regime in the
diocese of London have been at once our distinction and our pride

" It is not necessary to recall all the good that your administration has
effected : the majestic cathedral you have reared, the many charitable,
educational and religious institutions your activity and zeal have originated
and fostered for the glory of God, the sanctification of .souls, the advance-
ment of learning, and the .solace of human suffering. With a learned and
zealous priesthood, a faithful and pious people, you have built up in sublime
proportions the m)stical body of Christ.

i»

-«

At'rhbiiihiip of Toniiitii, \xvii

" C/iCiit indft'd is the sarritice vdu have been called upon to make.
Wlu-n, in the natural course of events, vou should be expected to rest from
labor and fujo)- the well earned fruits of your lonj; and enerj^etic career as
Bishop of London, the voice of Christ's \'icar calls you to a more e\t( nded
field of action and puts on xour already tired shoulders the lieaNici' burden
of the archiepisc.opate in the great nietrojiolis of Ontario, ^()u li.ivc
magnanimously resjionded to that voice. Vou were ilie first of the priests
of '1 oront<) honored with a mitre. You are again to bear upon \(>ur
li;ill()W( (1 shoulders the pallium of metropolitan jurisdiction. The brilliam \
and lustre that distinguished \our rule in London will be excelled in the
important charge of governing the .\rchdiocese of Toronto. We assure
your (irace, as far as in us lies, the burden will !)<• made light bv the
devotedness, love and obedience of the clergy, whose chief you h.ive now

become.

" Ma\ \()ur sojourn in our midst be a long and prosperous one. That
heaxcn mav crown xour hibors with its choicest blessings, is now, and e\ er
will be the prayer of your obeflient, devoted children, the priests secular
and legular of the Archdiocese of Toronto, who luimbK ask \(>ur pati-rnal
benediction."

.\rchbishop Walsh, replying, thanked them for the kind thin-^s they
hid said of him, and continued : " 1 (ome to do m\ utmost in co-operating
with you for the glory of (.od and for the saK.ition of souls. I count
largely, reverend I'^ithers, u|)on your help and co-operation, foi as a general
can do nothing without his soldiers, so a bishop can do nothing without his
priests. Vou are necessary to me as I am necessarv to xou. \nu are
nothing without the authority of the bishop, and tlu; bishop is useless
in the diocese without the helii of his priests. We are surrounded in
this tr(>e and noble countr\- b\ a lo\al and de\oteil l;iit\, and it is for
us to work for them and to expend ourselves tor their salvation and
sanctihcation, and for the sjiiritual welfare and progress of the Church of
(iod in this country. The holy Catholic Church was the first religion in
this country, except paganism, which deserves not that holv name. Th(>
Catholic Church, in the blood of
Cod

d, pi

ease

(iod.

ler priests, consecrated the countrv to
hold it and work in this countrv,

no matter what opposition we ma) meet with ; and we shall, with the gr;

ice

of (iod and the blessing of our Divine Saviour, work toi^ether

in unit\- and

— *

'H^

X.VVlll

Life of the Mi^nl Ihr. Jolni Wohli,

liarniony with priestly zeal, for the honor and f^lory of (iod and tlic iriumpli
of our holy relif^ioii. I thank you, my reverend and <loar l-'athers, for your
words of promise, which brin^ great consolation to nie ; and I shall hear
them in mind, and I know that )c)u will at all times loyally and faithfully
co-operate with your Archbishop. I'or my part, it will be my pleasure to
become anvMigst you as I was with the clergy in the diocese of London,
rather a father than bishop; to enter into relations of friendshij) with you,
as Christ said to His diciples; nan dimiu vos sotos sal iiniiais."

An a<ldress of welcome from llu: laity was also presented. After
replying to it his Grace ascended tlu' pulpit, and having thanked the pi'ople
for this reception, spoke at some length upon the ollice of bishop, and more
particularly upon the great examples he had before him in the venerable
prelates who had preceded him in his See of Toronto, and with whose
memories that Cathedral was tilled. " You are no strangers to me,"
concluded his Grace, "for I spent thirteen years of mv ;)riesthood amongst
you. During that time I learned to respect, esteem and love the Catholics
of Toronto, and acquaintances were then made and friendships formed that
have never since been forgotten. I left you in the summer of m\ life ; I
return in its advanced autumn. I come back to you, changed in ajipear-
ance, it is true, for time and labors and cares have left their marks upon
me ; but unchanged, I am sure, in my heart's best wishes for you. 1 trust,
therefore, that we shall labor together in harmony, good will and zeal for
the furtherance of the great interests of our holy religion."

After the ceremonies of the installation had taken place, tin: priests of
the archdiocese of Toronto entertained the visiting prelates and clergv at
a banquet. Thus joyously closed the day of Archbishop Walsh's return to
Toronto.

A round of visits to the various institutions followed : each had its
special word of w'elcome ; a*id each received a special word of thanks ;ind
fatherly encouragement best suited to its own circumstances.

Then upon an appointed evening, December 4th, i88y, eanie the
Societies with blaze of banner and blare of mu.sic, testifying their loyalty
and respect. His Grace, having received their many addresses, spoke to
them upon the interest he had ever taken in Catholic Societies, upon the
dignity of labor and the Catholic Church as guardian of the working man,
and as the one society to which we all owed religion and obedience.

-«

Arrlihishop of Toronto. xxix

Tlu- iiiHuencc and character of Archbishop Walsh were very soon felt,
combining' as he does to a wonderful dej^ree, suavity of manner and firmness
of purpose. Respect for authority was shown with a cordiality which proved
that authority had won conhdence and love whilst firmly requiring obedience.
Friction ceased in matters which for a long time had caused irritation.
The erection of Sunnyside Chapel, the renovation of St. Michael's Cathedral,
the visitation of the arcluliocese, the encouragement of students tor the
priesthood, arc some of the marks of progress made by religion since his
(•race's arrival. These are of such late date that we either record them in
liic history of the institution or parish to which they belong, or leave them
with their undeveloped consequences to the memory of our readers.

At London on October iSth, 1890, .Archbishop Walsh, assisted by
Bishops Foley, of Detroit, and Dowling of Hamilton, consecrated the Kt.
Kev. Denis O'Connor, D. D., C. S. B., his succe 'sor to the See of London.
Dr. O'Connor, who had been Superior of Assumption College, Sandwich,
since its start, and to whose energy it owed its state of efficiency, had been
appointed administrator of London diocese when his Grace left for Tor into.
The choice was therefore not unexpected ; while the new Bishop's d(?strved
rejiutation gives every confidence tliat his Coace has entrusted his London
crozier into most worthy hands.

On Se]iteml)er the iSth of this year his (irace administered confirmation
in St. Mary's Church, Toronto, and informed the congregation present that
he liad a most pleasing duty to fulfil, namely, that of investing his old
friend, their beloved pastor, with the robes of a Roman prelate, and con-
ferring the honor of a domestic prelate of the Holy Roman Church upon
Mcjnsignore Roone\ . The following is a translation of the bulls containing
the ajipointment :

" To our tcv// beloved son, Francis Patrick Roonev, Mcar-Creucral of the Diocese
of Toronto, health and apostolic howdiction :

" It is always pleasing to us to give special marks of our apostolic favor
to those ecclesiastics who have distinguished them.selves by virtue, learning
and zeal. Now, since we have the most weighty testimony of his Grace
the Archbishop of Toronto regarding the remarkable success with which
you have discharged the office of vicar-general, and the wisdom and energy
that have characterized your administration, it is our pleasure to confer

lii

XXX

I, iff of till- MiiHt /I'cr. Jiihii WhImIi, Ari'hh'mhop of 'Vnrouli

upon you ;iii (Milled ciclfsiastical di^^iiity as a reward ol \niii nniiu'nt
services and as an evidence ol Our j^'ood will towards you.

*• efore by these presents we create mu\ .ippomt \ou a Roman

law die I'aiMl I

prt'lau

lollM'lloK

oreover, we f,nant you the privilei^e ol wearinj; ihe purple ol' ;i

IvoMian pnl.ile, and also the lo

K h

et, worn in the Koinan t inia, tojicther

with all the other privikv;(s, rij^hls and marks ol dif;nil\ which others
heariiii; this distinguished tank 1)\- ri^^ht or custoiii eiijov.

"(liven at konie, uiuh^r the Kinn ol the hislni ni;in, this „'(jlh day of
Jul\', |N()2, the 13th )(arol'oin' I'ontilicati'.

S. C" \lvl>lN \l. \' \.NNl TliLia."

With this ^raci"UN at t towards a most \( nciahle .md most faithful
faithful \'icar-(ieneral we close our imperfect sketch. ( )ur task, which to us
has bee- a labor of love, is now liiiislu'd. And we ofler it as a homaj^c of
esteeii ur rexcred Aichbishop, in admiration of his earc '" and character,

in j^M'a' for the sat red unction o| the jaiesthood whi' he poured out

upon us as upon one "out ol due season."

Wh.ii is « I ii i« w lit.

Would ii w

11 were wiiilliu';

Note — Our tiianks are dm.' lh( pulilisliLT'; of the ■■ ( 'athnlic Record " ot" l.nndou tor reports
of sormnns. iS:e.. I)\ the Arrlil)ishon.

.<H^'^HHhwWHh>-'<>-0-(MHH)-4>W>

THE INDIAN MISSIONS IN WESTERN CANADA.

nv Till'.

VERY REVEREND W. R HARRIS

D£A.V OF ST. CAT//AK/XKS.

H Jj^

" ?'

iri

John De BRfcBEUF, Jesuit Missionary.

liOKJV 2jt;, MARCH, ljg.X
MA K TYRED i6lh MARCH, 164^

^ixbiUc Vnluim\

ot the

^rdj6i0a5r nf IgiTrnntn.

CMAJ'THJ^ r.

1615-1760.
SKETCH OF THE KAIILY MISSIOXS IX U'KsTEUN

CAXAD.l.

Lalnnant—The Sidpiriaiis.

Tiij; Indian.

"Yc sav llicir fi.iiL--like cabins

I lut cl'.i»ter<.d o'er the v'llc
Have tcd away like witl,e,e<l leaves

lietoie the autiiiiiii j,'ale-
B..t their memory livetli on your hilU

iheir baptism on your shore-
-» oiir everlaslinjr .jvers speak '
Iheir (lialeit of yore."

Mks. SiGoi l<^K^.

•"!■}'!!,!; ";":!""« r," ^l;-t"ry „f .„.. bero,s„, and self-dcnial

B<.f tl,c l-',iests"„f the C^itholic Cluirch' „■!,„ atlcnptcl ll„.
K'cla„KU,o„ ,.„d conversion of th. n„n,a,lic .rilK. Xo

the forest, of Cnada ^o.J\,^Z,;:t;^'^;"]"' '"™ >'"",-"""'
niarKinsofthesreat lakes I-iurenie and „n the

l:!i

4 Earlji ItititUH Misi^idiis.

Atlantic, three only etainied the exclusive privilege of callinfj; the waters
and huntinj,'-^aound.s of this j^reat Dominion their own. 'J'hese were the
Algonquins, 'he Huron-lro(|uois and the Sioux or Dacotah. These nations,
liavinj^ each a jj;eneric langua^'e, were divided into tribes, which were a^^ain
subdivided into clans or families.

The Huroii-lroijuois nation was conii)ose(l o[ ckxen or twelve separate
tribes speaking a common language, but diffc-ring in patois or dialect. The
Attivvendarons of the Niagara Peninsula, the 'i'innontates or Tobacco
Nation of the l^lue kidg(\ the b>ie or Cat Nation, and several other tribes
occupying lands stretching from Lake Huron to I^ake ICrie and along the
Niagara l^iver, were members of the Huron Nation that, in the fifteenth
century, broke apart from the Iroipujis and fornied a s(;parate and distinct
confederacy.

The nations, tribi\s ;ind families were recognized and distinguished i)v
symbolic signs or emblems called tcjtems. There was the national totem,
akin to the 1-Lnglish lion; then the tribal totem, similar to lh(> heraldic em-
bleu'. of a Scotch clan; and the family totem, like unto the House of York
or the English Howards. The wolf, bear, beaver, deer, snipe, heron, hawk,
turtle or snake painted on the doors of their v.igwams indicated the familv
of the occujiants. It is worthy of note that the Wild Oats of Lake Michi-
gan had for their tribal totem an eagle perchcul on a cross. A remarkable
fact, which goes far to ])rf)ve that the American savage was familiar with the
disastrous effects of intermarriage with blood relations, was that no warrior
e\er took a wife from a family that bore the same totem as his own.

The moral debasement of the tribes was something appalling. A
frightful heirloom of entailed and indefeasible accursedness in association
with senseless ignorance and brutal customs was the onh' inheritance to
which they could look forward. .Ml their li\cs t!ie \'ictims )f unrestrained
and brutal passions that opened wide the door to every species of hard-
heartedness and every degree of cruelty, their regeneration would never have
come from themselves, and could onlv be accomplished i;y men dowered
with tireless patience and God-like attributes. The insatiable and loath-
some cruelty that overshadowed the land and its people was calculalefl to
awe the stoutest heart that dared tt) redeem tlicm.

The Indian. 5

If now, when wc move amid tlie j^rcen mouiuls that mark their graves,
or vvitli curious eye inspect their rude trinkets and only treasures — the clay
pipe, the arrow-head and the wampum — the soft sadness of pity steals over
us, we must not forget that their inhuman hard-heartedness was unparalleled
in the history of our fallen humanity. " They are not m(>n," moaned an
unfortunate woman whose child the Iroquois had torn from her l)reast,
boiled and devoured in lier presence, "they arc wolves."

It is difficult to conceive a more atrocious refinement of cruelty than
that of exposing a living naked body in a broiling sun on the margin of some
marsh where the victim perished from famine or an accumulation of torture
induced by reptiles and mo.scjuitoes. Yet this was not an uncommon
method of punishing their enemies.

There is a sul^tle connection between cruelty and lust which no meta-
physical enquiry has yet satisfactorily explained; and hence we are not
surprised to read that they had no conception of morality, even in the
abstract. In truth, until the coming among them of the Priests of the
Catholic Church they had no word to give expression to the idea of virtue,
morals, religion, faith and the like. The Jesuit, Father Le Moyne, than
whom no man was better (lualified to know, wrote to liis Superior in I'rance
that "Morality was unknown among the tribes, and a shocking license of
unrestrained intercourse everywhere obtained among them."

Among a people who liad no regard for chastity it was not to l)e
expected that any respect would be had for the sanctit}- of a woman's nature.
Hence, among them woman was treated w^ith a callous disregard for the
weakness of her sex, he memory of which sends a blusli to the cheek of our
manhood. Affrighted man recoils with horror from the perusal of woman's
degradation as penned by the eloquent Le Jeune. The honor and heart
of man can never be imjieached with meaner or fouler crimes than are there
recorded. All the menial offices of the camp, the heavy burdens of the
chase, the labors of the corn-field, in a word, all that implied hard work was
her allotted portion. Her infirmities excited no commiseration ; and, with
the crippled, maimed and the weak, she was mjre often a victim of
contemjit than an object of pity. Is it any wonder then that wom.an became
so utterly shameless, hard-hearted and cruel — that, in vindictivcness and
fierceness, she surpassed, as Chaumonot tells us, the brutality of man ?

-«

Early Indian Missions.

The crowning infamy of all the inhuman abominations of the American
Indian was his utter contempt and disregard for human life. Savage as he
was by inheritance and brutal as his passions had made him, it was yet to
be hoped that the instinct which moves one animal to spare another of its
own species would have lingered amid the wreck and ruin of his fallen
nature. Such, however, was not the case. The most trivial accident or a
thirst for blood at times led to a war which often ended in the disjiersion or
annihilation of a tribe. Frequently, and for no end than accpiiring renown
or scalps, the Indian warrior gathered his braves around him and, after
haranguing them on the bloody deeds of their ancestors and their own past
and prospective exploits, raised the familiar war-whoop and moved out to a
mission of bloodshed and pillage. With the cunning of the fox and the
ferocity of the tiger they fell upon their prey in the darkness of night or in
the dawning morning and indiscriminately slaughtered men, women and
children. " They approached like foxes," writes one of the Missionaries,
" attacked like lions and disappeared like birds." Their prisoners were
treated with unparalleled brutality. Some were mutilated inch by inch
until they expired from extremity of suffering ; others were reserved to be
tortured by fire, and, by a refinemicnt of cruelty surpassing belief, their
agonies were prolonged from day to day. There was a tradition among the
Mohawks that the night after a great battle between the Iroquois and the
Eries the forest was lighted by a thousand fires, at each of which an Erie
was roasting alive. Others of their captives they cut to pieces, boiled and
devoured with unspeakable relish. " I^'saw the Iroquois," writes Father
Bressani, " tear out the heart from a Huron captive, whom they had
killed, and in the presence of the other prisoners roast and devour
it." " In a word," says the heroic Lalement, " they eat human flesh
with as much appetite and more relish than hunters eat the meat of the
deei. '

It would appear that they set no value on the attributes of nature which
made them superior to the animals around them. Ferocity, strength,
activity and endurance alone excited their admiration; and, as a result, they
approached as near as it was possible for human beings to the condition of
the wild beasts in which the.se cjualities predominate. To make a hero of
the American Indian, as is often done by writers of fiction, is to rai.se a
monument to cruelty on a pedestal of lust. __

«-

-«

The Indian. 7

Their relifrious conceptions were no hif^her than their moral actions.
They believed all things to be animated with good or bad spirits; and, when
on the war trail, they not unfrequently sacrificed human beings to propitiate
the Okis or Manitous that influenced the future of the tribes. " On the
third day after my arrival among the Irocjuois," writes Fat' r Jogues, "they
sacrificed an Algoncjuin woman in honor of Ageskone, their war-god,
inviting the grim demon, as if he were present, to come and feast wi'Ji them
on the murdered woman's flesh." They had no idea of God, as we under-
.stand the word. The sighing of the winds, the melancholy moan of the
midnight forest, the crash of thunder or the gleam of lightning were the
voices of the shadow-phantoms that hovered in the air around them.
Every animal was animated with a spirit; and diseases, plagues and
pestilence were the awful effects of the anger of some spirit.

In the vile abominations of their lives there were, however, some
redeeming features. They were true to each other in their friendships, held
elocjuence in high repute, were remarkably hospitable, and, in times of
famine, divided with each other the morsel that chance or the fortune of the
hunt cast in their way. They were a courageous people, but their valor
was disgraced by its brutality; and no form of vice, however loathsome,
or cruelty to an enemy, however fiendish, met with condemnation, or,
indeed, attracted attention.

Such, briefly, were the prevailing traits in the character and life of the
American savage. Day after day for many a dreary .ge the sun looked
down upon their enormous wickedness till, wasted with desolation, they
faded from off the face of the earth, supplying by their ruin additional
strength to the prophecy of Isaiah, that " The people who will not serve God
shall perish."

If the enemies of Christianity seek for evidence of the grandeur of man
when emancipated from the thraldom of religion, priest and altar, it will do
them no harm to read carefully the history of the American Indian, to whom
the boundless liberty of free thought and free speech gave the untrammelled
freedom of an essentially independent man.

-»

ill

«-

i \

Early Indian Missions.

The Missionaries — The Recollet.

To tight the battles of the Cross, Christ's cliosen ones are sent —
Good soldiers, and great victors — a nobie armament.
They use no earthiy weapon, they linow not spear or sword,
Yet right and true and valiant is the armv of the Lord.

Adelaidk Proctor.

We have now to ask ourselves, what manner of men were they who
conceived, and, under accumulated hardships, in a measure bore into effect
the magnificent resolve of Christianizing these half humanized hordes. The
men who were selected by the Church from her missionary and teaching
orders were, many of them, members of noble and honorable families.
They had graduated in the best .schools of Europe, and some of them — like
Galinee, the Sulpician — had a European reputation for scholarship; others
had cultivated a literary taste so remarkable for its chasteness and
purity as to merit the praises of the ablest scholars and historians of
America. They were cultuit?d and refined, animated with an ardent zeal
for the salvation of souls, and a courage so heroic as to elicit the admiration
of savage warriors, who were themselves the embodiment of courage and
endurance.

When Champlain disembarked at Stadacona — now Quebec City — on
the 3rd day of July, 1607, he was told by an Algonquin Chief that, from
that cliff to the great Lake of the Hurons and beyond, there roamed a
numerous people broken up into tribes and families that lived by fishing
and hunting.

Eight years later, at the request of Champlain, then Governor of
Canada, and with the authority of the Pope, four members of the Francis-
can Order — Joseph Le Caron, Denis Jamay, John Dolbeau and Pacifi(iue
Duplessis — arrived at Quebec. On the 1st of July, 1615, in company with
a band of Ilurons and Algonquins of the Ottawa, Father Joseph LeCaron
started on his wondrous journey of nine hundred miles to the shores of the
great Lake of the Hurons. Sailing up the St. Lawrence amid a silence
broken only by the splash of the paddle they entered the Ottawa, passed the
two lakes of Alumet and, at length, reached the tributary water of the

-«

77te Mmiondrirs. 9

Mattawan. For forty miles or more they continued their journey.. Bearing
the canoes on their shoulders they crossed a porta-e and, throu<,di an
opening in the forest, LeCaron— the first of wliite men- looked out upon the
placid waters (>f Lake Nipissing. Skirting along its picturescjue shores they
entered French River, whose pleasant current bore them to the great Lake
of the Hurons — precisely one month before Champlain's canoes shot into
its waters. For more than a hundred miles they sailed through the tortuous
channels of the Georgian Bay. The great Manitoulin lay directly in their
front; they hugged the eastern shore, .sailed by Byng Inlet, Parry Sound,
and i^eached their canoes at the entrance to the Bay of Matchedash to the
west of the harbor of Penetanguishene. Following, through woods and
thickets, an Indian trail, they pas.sed broad meadows, fields of maize, beds
of vegetables, and entered the palisaded Huron town of Otoucha. Here, in
what is now the northern and western portion of Simcoe County, embracing
the peninsula formed by the Nottawasaga and Matchedash Bays, the River
Severn and Lake Simcoe, were the fishing and hunting grounds of the great
nation of the Wyandot or Hurons, comprising a population of twenty or
thirty thousand souls,* a confederacy of four distinct tribes, aftcrwarils
increased to five by the addition of the Tionnontates.

Perhaps of all the races of red men the Hurons were the least liabh; to
be attracted or to become attached to the practices of a Christian life. Tiiey
were given over completely to sensuality, feasting and pleasure. " Their
every inclination," writes the good missionary, "was brutal. They are
naturally gluttonous, having their farewell feasts, their complimentan; feasts,
war, peace, death, health and marriage feasts.

Father LeCaron was, however, received hospitably by them. A wigwam
was built for his convenience in the town of Caragouha, near Nottawa.saga
Bay, where he offered his first Mass. He was joined one month afterwards
by Champlain. Mass was again chanted, a Te Deum sung and the Cross,
the emblem of man's salvation, planted on the shores of Lake Huron.
Thus, two hundred and seventy-seven years ago, with solemn Mass, with
holy blessing and the Te Deum, the standard of the Cross was elevated,
the law of the Gospel proclaimed, and the work of Christianizing the Canadian

♦Very careful statistics made since tlie time of Champlain go to sliow tliat his I'guies are exag-
gerated. The inference of tlie census commissioners would lead' one to suppose that ten or twelve
thousand would he a fair estimate. See Census of Canada, 1S71, \'ol. iv,, page 52, for details.

H««i

Eitrhj Indian M'tBsions.

II !ll

tribes iK'f^am. I'^or six months this <;n'at I'ranciscan missionary, amid the
hardships and perils of his solitary life, continued to study the lanf^ua^^e of
the tribe, and, with a patience and zeal truly heroic, endeavored to make
known to them the ^'reat savin;j[ truths of Christianity.

On February ist, 1616, he visited the Tionnontates, or Tobacco Nation,
who occupied lands in what are included now within the limits of Colling-
wood, Nottawasa}T[a and vSunnidale Townships; but, being received with fear
and suspicion, he was cruelly treated and compelled to return to Caragouha,
where he spent the winter instructing the Wyandot tribes and preparing the
first dictionary of the Huron language. On the 20th of May, 1616, in
company with a band of Hurons who were going down to Three Rivers to
exchange their furs and peltries, he left for Montreal ; and, in the spring of
1623, accompanied by I'ather Nicholas Viel and Brother (iabriel Sagard
(afterwards tiie historian of the Huron Missions), he returned to the tribes,
wRo received him with open arms, built him a chapel at Ossosanee, where he
said Mass every day and gave instructions in the Faith. This chapel he
dedicated to St. Joseph, whom he chose as Patron of the country.

The mission now took a definite character, and the labors of the Fathers
began in earnest. " It would be difficult to tell you," writes Father Le Caron,
" the fatigue I suffer, being obliged to have my paddle in hand all day long,
and run with all my strength with the Indians. I have more than a
hundred times walked in the rivers over the sharp rocks, which cut my feet,
in the mud, in the woods, where I carried the canoe and my little baggage,
in order to avoid the rapids and frightful waterfalls. I say nothing of the
painful fast which beset us, having only a little sagamity, which is a kind of
pulmentum composed of water and the meal of Incban corn, a small
quantity of which is dealt out to us morning and evening. Yet I must
avow that amid my pains I felt much con.solation. For alas ! when we see
such a great number of infidels, and nothing but a drop of water is needed
to make them children of (iod, one feels an ardor, which I cannot express,
to labor for their conversion and to sacrifice for it one's repose and life."
" Meat was so rare with us," adds Sagard, " that we often passed six weeks
or two whole months witliout tasting a bit, unless a small piece of dog, bear
or fowl given to us at banquets." Father Viel, having by heroic patience
and perseverance accjuired a fair knowledge of the language, began giving
the Indians instructions and teachint: them the " Our b'ather," the " Hail

«-

-m

The Recollect.

Mary," and tlu' " CitccI." I lis surct-ss, however, \v:is not cncourai^inj^'. I Ic
sent a letter to I""ather Le Caron, who had j^one to yuehec on business of
tlu- Mission, that more help was wanted. Le Caron, with rharacteristie
disinterestedness, wrote to I'ranee, invitinj; the Jesuit leathers to eoine to
their assistance. Here, virtually, end the labors of the Recollect or
Franciscan Fathers in northern Canada.

In spite of the zeal and self-sacrifice of these heroic and generous men,
circumstances did not permit of thi'ir mission assuminf,' a permanent form.
Father Le Caron never af^ain visited the Murons. He returned to b>ance,
where, in 1632, worn out with labors, he died in the odor of sanctity,
l^atlu-r Nicholas Viel, if not a martyr, had a martyr's will. He was on his
way to Quebec to j)rocure some necessary articles for th(' mission of St.
Joseph, when, according:; to the historian Le Clercc], he was hurled by his
Indian companion into the last rapid of the Kiviere I)es Prairies, known to
this day as the "Sault au Recollect." b'ather Viel had already completed
Le Caron's dictionary of the Huron lani,'uajfe, and left at the MissicMi
interesting and valuable notes of his labors.

Sagard, who returned to l'" ranee, also wrote a dictionary of the Huron
language, and a series of narratives that to this day furnish a source of
ethnological, geographic and historic data for all writers on early Canadian
history.

The Recollects or Franciscans established missions at Tadousac and
Gaspe for the Montagnais Indians, at Miscou for the Micmacs, at Three
Rivers and on the (}eorgian Bay for the Hurons. The missions of New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Gaspe were under the care of Father John
Dolbeau, with three assistants, one of whom, I'^ither Sebastian, perished of
starvation on his way to a mission on the St. John River. The others,
despairing of softening the hardened hearts of the Micmacs and Montagnais,
returned to_ Quebec. One of them, Father William PouUain, was after-
wards captured by tlie Inxjuois, who stripped him for the torture, when he
was* providentially preserved from the horrors of mutilation by the arrival of
a messenger from the b'rench with an offer of exchange.

"The country," writes the historian Kingsford, "owes the Order (the
Franciscans) a debt of gratitude which history has only imperfectly paid;
any mention of their name has been merely perfunctory, without acknow-
ledgment or .sympathy."

«-

il.

12 Eiirbj Iiuiuiu Missions-

'I'lii' Ji;siiri'.

But wondrous Ih tlie love of Cioil ! who seruls IHr shining host
I'loni aj,'r to ai;o, from laci' to nu c, from iilinokl roast to coast;
Ami Honilroiis 'twas hi our own land — e'on on tlu' spot we tread
V.rc vot the forest nionarchs to the axe hail bow'il the head,
That in our very hour of dawn a light for us was set,
High on the roval mountain siile whose lustre j^uidos us vet.

Thomas U'Akcy McCjKK.

W'liiit niiiiiiUT of mtn were tlu-y who succeeded them ? It is no com-
pliment to the honesty and intt^lhj^ence of our age that even now, with the
imperishable jiarchment of their heroic deeds unrolled before us, there are
to be found those whose partiality is so pronounced that they cannot think
of th.e Jesuits without associating,; witli them blood, poison and daj^f,;t;rs.
The repeated and time-worn calumnies of secrecy, unscrupulous agents,
conspiracies and the like, make up the religious and literary rubbish that
too often pas.scs for delectable reading at many . rural Hreside. The
comentional Jisuit is a familiar figure and a terrible one. He is as
grotestpie as he is unreliable and intangible. But we of the household of
their faith have known tht; Jesuits and their works from the day that
Ignatius Lo\-ola, in the grotto of Manreza, threw himself heart and soul into
the militia of Jesus Christ. W^; have studied their lives from the hour that
Francis Xavier asked himself the portentous question — " What will it
profit a man to gain the whole world if he lose his soul?" down to the
present clay, and our hearts go out in love and reverence towards them.
From the halls of their Institutes come men whose names are beads of
gold, wortln- to be filed on the Rosary of Fame ; men of saintly lives and of
a transcendent greatness that raises them high above the level of even good
men, and whose sacrifices for Christ ;ind humanity challenge the admiration
of the brave, and stagger faith itself. Of these were the men who, breaking
with the fondest ties, forsaking the teeming fields and pleasant vineyards of
sunny France, faced the storms of northern climates and buried themselves
in the revolting companionship of fierce and inhospital^le hordes.

" Away from the amenities of life," writes Bancroft, " away from the
temptations of vain glory, they became dead to the world and possessed
their souls in unalterable peace. The few who lived to grow old, though by
the toils of a long mission, still kindled with the fervor of apostolic zeal.

<¥

-IS

The Jesuit.

The history of their labors is connected with the origin of every celebrated
t( \vn in the annals of I'Vench America. Not a cape was turned, nor a river
entered, hut a Jesuit led th(; way."

" Mali^Miers may taunt tin: Jesuits if they will," says tin- inilustrious and
learned Parkman, " with credulity, superstition and blind enthusiasm, but
slander itself cannot accuse tluni of hypocrisy or ambition." Amonj^ those
who came to Canada in the sixteenth century were many who were inHuenced
by motives of avarice and ambition. Amont; them was the hij^h-spirited
cavalier, bound on romantic enter|)rise ; the fearless .sea rover 'n nuest of
new laurels in unsailed .seas ; the restless adventurer wooinj^ the charm of
novelty in unexplored lands, and the disgraced courtier resolved by reckless
daring to wipe out the memory of his humiliation. With them sailed the
(lark-robed Soldiers of the Catholic Church, brave as the bravest among
them, fearless and undaunted in the shadow of the land but yesterday
pressed by the booi oi civilization.

To-day, dispassionately and calmly examining the historical and docu-
mentary evidence of the zeal, courage and piety of the great missionary orders,
it is difficult to know to which of the three orders, the I'ranci.scans, the Sul-
picians or the Jesuits, belongs the palm of excellence. The great Jesuit Order,
as Lord Macaulay called the Society, bathed the country with the blood of
its members; but the indomitable courage and .self-denial of the Franci.scans
and the Chri.stian willingness with which the Sulpicians fearlessly entered
upon the most dangerous mi.ssions assigned them, are conclusive evidence
that, if circumstances demanded it, they also were prepared to furnish for
the faith and the salvation of souls a bead-roll of martyrs.

Towards the end of May, 1625, Fathers Charles Lalemant, Enemond
Masse and Jean de Brebeuf, in answer to the invitation of the l""ranciscans,
arrived at Quebec. Their first act on reaching shore was to kneel down and
kiss the earth, the .scene of their future labors; then they thanked the Holy
Trinity for having chosen them for the work of the mission, saluted the
guardian angels of the land, and rose to their feet, prepared to spend or be
spent in the service of their Master. Father Masse had already pas.sed
some time with the Micmacs of Nova Scotia, and was, in a measure, inured
to the hardships of Indian life. Father Charles Lalemant remained at
Quebec, and in the following year wrote the first letter of the now famous
"Kdations of the Jesuits."

•t I.

:'l

«-

~®

I'lr

Early Indian Mimiouis.

Jean (Ic Hrclu'Lif, iIh; dcsci-ndant of a noble fainil) , was sch'ctcd for the
Huron Mission. He passed the autumn and winter with a rovinj; hand of
Moiitaj^nais huUans, enilured for live months the hardships of their wander-
ing hfe, and all the |)enalties of filth, vermin and smoke^the inevitaMe
abominations of a savage camp. Hurinj^ the.se months he atcpiired a fair
knowli-df^e of their lanf,aia}^e; and wlx'n spring,' opened it found him jirepared
tt) start, in company with l'"ather Joseph de la Koelu: D.iillon, a Keiolleet
of a noble French family, for the shores of the great lake of the Hurons.

%.^

In company with a band of Indians, who had come down from the
(ieorj,'ian Hay to the I'rench .settlements, and were now returning', after
bartering to advantage their furs and peltries, the two Priests bade good-bye
to their friends and embarked with their swarthy companions, whose canoe.s
were headed for the Huron hunting-grounds in northern fori'sts. Hrebeuf
was a man of broad frame and commanding mien, endowed with a giant
strength and tireless endurance. His stay among the Montagnais taught
him that physical sujieriority invited the respect oi the .savage when t"lu"istian
virtues often provoked his ridicule. Stroke for stroke with the strongest
of the Hurons he dipped his jiaddle from morning till night, and, to the
amazement of his savage companions, showed no sign of fatigue. Thirty-
five times in that weary journey of nine hundred miles Hrebeuf and his
associate bore their share of the heavy burdens across the portages.
Through pestilent swamp and stagnant pool they waded, across the stony
beds of shallow streams, over fallen trees and prostrate trunks, they made
their devious way; de.scenchng, climbing, clambering over sharp and jagged
rocks, till their cl./l s hung around them in shreds, these .soldiers of the
Cross kept pacr ^vith the stubborn march of their leggined and moccasined
compan' • Mow and then the comparatively feeble Daillon, worn with
the y t\\v journey, weakened under his load. In spite of his

«d his strength would fail him, and hisjnanly but feeble

I the pac e of his red companions — whose every fibre and
iuuhci L .irdened by years of hunting and canoeing— but provoked

their 1 .ughter and ridicule. The heroic Hrebeuf, flying to his assistance,
wou' I th(;n relieve him of his burden, and, to the astonishment of the band,
contmue for hours bear^ _( his double load. The Hurons themselves were
often spent with fatigue id marveled at an endurance that distance could
not tire nor fatigue co

' I

SB-

Tlu- JeHitit.

When tlu-y arrived at tin- Mission of St. Joseph they found h'ather
Viel's l)arl< chapel still standing,'. Hero they remained for three years,
devotinf^ tliiinselvis to their labors with the patience of saints and the
heroisfn of uKirt\rs. In the meantime leather Daillon visited the Neutral
Nation, or Attiwindarons, a fierce and exeee(lin},'ly superstitious people, on
whose hardened hearts he eould make no impression. I'heir huntinj;-
f^rounds stretched from the Nia^^ara river up to l)i:troit. (Jnfortunately
l-'ather Daillon left no record of his journey or stay amonj; th.em. If he .saw
the h'alis lie would iia\c been the first white man that ever f,'a/ed upon the
^'real cataract, lie returned the same year to his Huron Mi.ssion, where,
with I'ather iin-beuf, he remained until l02(j, when Uuebec was taken by
the bjif^'lish lleet, commanded by Admiral Kertk, a I'Vench Iluf^uciiot, the
two Priests were summoned to return, and the Huron Mission was aban-
doned until \()i,2, when, b\ the treaty of St. Germain-en-laye, Canada was
restored to lM\nue.*

Owinj,' to the opposition of the Al}:jon(iuins of the Ottawa river, who
refused passa^^e throuf^'h their country to the French, the Fathers who had
returned to (juebec in 1O33 were unable to go to their northern missions.
At lenj^th all obstacles havinf^ been overcome, Feathers Daniel, Davost and
Brebeuf embarked with a party of Hurons, and after four weeks of incredi-
ble hardship (inally reached the Huron country at Ihonatiria. I'ather
lirebeuf was received with rapturous welcome. " luhon is come af^'ain,"
the children cried; "Inchon is ciMiie af^'ain." "lichon" was the Indian
name f^iven to b'ather Hrebeuf when he dwelt among them six years before.
The leathers, scarcely giving themselves time to recover from the fatigue
of their long and trying journey, began at once the erection of a log building,
which ser\-e<l tiiem for liouse and chapel. Day after day, in the frosts of
winter and the burning heat of .summer, these men of (iod went from village
to village, from hut to hut, censuring vice, correcting abu.ses, and patiently
taming, by the intlueiice of their teaching and example, the .savage natures
around thcuK At every opportunity they gathered the children together,
and, clothed in surplice and baretta, for greater solemnity, taught them the
" Our Father," the children repeating it after them. In language suited to
their understanding, Brebeuf instructed them in the Commandments, and

•The >nssioiiaries wcie iiLidc prisoners by onkr of Ailinir.-il Kcrtk, who allowed the Recollect
leathers to return to Frame; Inil entertainint; an implacable enemity to the |esiiits, lie brought lirebeu'
a prisoner to I; nglaml. where he remained for some time, but wab tiually permitted to leave for France.

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Early Indian Missions.

with words of encouragement, accompanied with some trifling presents,
dismissed them for the time. Later on he might be seen encircled by a
curious crowd of warriors, sagamores and squaws, exphiining the mysteries
of rehgion, describing Heaven and Hell, and picturing with all the strength
of his vigorous elocjucnce the horrors of eternal fire and the tortures of the
damned, till their hardened hearts quailed in the presence of the verbal
picture of their approaching doom.

The success which attended the preaching of Brebeuf alarmed the
Medicine Men, or "Sorcerers," of the tribe, and they publicly charged the
Fathers with conspiracy to destroy their crops by suspending for v.eeks the
rain in the He.ivens. They said the Cross, which was planted before the
residence of the F'athers, was a fetich, or instrument of witchcraft, and
threatened to destroy it. Brebeuf, after petitioning St. Joseph, and asking
the prayers of his two companions, met the Medicine Men in a council of
the Sachems, and succeeded in convincing the chiefs that neither the
Fathers nor the Cross were responsible for the drought.

The Fathers arrived in the Huron country in 1634, and in the following
year Fathers Pierre Pigard and Francis Le Mcrcier came, and with this addi-
tion to his numbers Father Brebeuf was now able to extend his field of labors.
Nothing was more apostolic than the life which they led. "All their
moments," writes Charlevoix, " were marked by some heroic action, by
conversions or by sufferings, which they considered as a real indemnity
when their labors had not produced all the fruit which they had hoped for.
From the hour of four in the morning, when they rose, till eight they
generally kept within ; this was the time for prayer, and the only part of the
day which they had for their private exercises of devotion. At eight each
went whithersoever his duty called him; some visited the sick, others
walked into the fields to see those who were engaged in cultivating the
eart'i, others lepaireLi to the neighboring villages which were destitute of
pastors. These excursions answeied many good purposes, for in the first
place no children, or at least veiy few, died without Baptism ; even adults,
who had refused to receive instruction while in health, applied for it when
they were sick. They were not proof against the ingenious and indefatigable
chari'.y of their physicians." The missionaries lived with their spiritual
children, adopted their mode of life, in so far as it was possible, shared their
privations, accompanied theT", in their fishing and hunting expeditions, and

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The Jesuit.

became all to all that they mi(,'ht ^-li" their souls for Christ. The
constancy and courage of the human heart were perhaps never put to a
severer trial than that which they experienced when the smallpox l)roke out
among the tribes. The filthy habits of the Indians, the offal and garbage
of the camp that lay reeking around cvc/y wigwam invited disease, and, as a
result, their bodies offered a rich pasturage for the epidemics that periodically
fed upon them. Whole villages, while the plague lasted, were more like
charnel-houses than homes of living men ; and day after day, for many a
dreary month, men, women and children, from whose bones the flesh had
rotted, sank under the accumulation of their sufferings.

The heroism of the Fathers in these trying ordeals provoked the
astonishment of the Hurons, whose stubborn natures yielded but to
miracles of self-denial and contempt of danger. With all the patience and
tenderness of Sisters of Charity, they went from wigwam to wigwam, instruct-
ing some, consoling others, baptising those who would receive the sacrament,
and to all bringing consolation and relief. The suffering they endured and
the hardships they encountered may be learned from tlie letters Hied among
the archives of their Order. Even the indomitable Brebeuf, whose chivalric
nature rose superior to complaint, wrote to his Superior in l*" ranee : " Let
those who come here, come well provided with patience and charity, for they
will become rich in troubles ; l)ut where will the labouring ox go when he
does not draw the plough ; and if he does not draw the plough how can
there be a harvest." The Sorcerers of the tribe, or Medicine Men, charged
the Fathers with being the cause of all their affliction. The chanting of their
sacred litanies and the ceremonies of the Mass were incantations casting a
malign sjk^H upon the crops and people, paralyzing the arm of the brave in
war, and destroying the swiftness of the hunter in tne chase. The dangers
of infection from the plague were trivial compared to the peril of th>,> toma-
hawk. Brebeuf and his companions, in solemn council of the Sachems,
were doomed to death, and were only .saved, as they piously believed,
through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. Amid all
the discomforts and privations of savage life the Fathers were sustained by
a holy enthusiasm that conquered all natural fears. When Brebeuf heard
that the sentence of death was passed upon them, he strode fearlessly into
the council-house, and, to the amazement of the chiefs, demanded to be
heard. He was master of their language ; and, being naturally elocjuent,
harangued the assembly in words so forcible and persuasive as to obtain

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Early Indian Missions.

1 1 I

a reversal of the sentence passed upon tlie Fathers. The plague spent itself
in a short time, and with it died out the bitterness against the missionaries.

Towards the end of the year Fathers Daniel and Davost returned to
Quebec, bringing with them three boys whom they proposed to place in a
Huron school which they intended to found, that some of the Huron boys
might be trained up in religion and in the arts of life. On the Ottawa River
they met Fathers Gamier and Chatelain, who had left Quebec a few days
before in company with Anions, a chief of the Hurons, and embarked for
the Northern iviissions. When the Fathers reached Three Rivers, Father
Jogues, who had shortly before arrived from France, was there to receive
them. He was amazed at the poverty and outward wretchedness of the
Missionaries. "They were," said he, in a letter to his mother, "barefoot and
exhausted, their underclothes worn out and their cassocks hanging in rags
on their emaciated bodies; yet their faces were expressive of content and
satisfaction with the life which they led, and excited in me, both by their
looks and conversation, a desire to go and share with them the crosses to
which the Lord attached such unction."

The desire of the illustrious priest, the future martyr of the Mohawks,
was soon to be gratified. A party of Huron braves, on their departure from
Quebec for their forest homes, asked Jogues to accompany them ; and,
having received the permission of Father Le Jeune, Superior of the Missions
of Canada, he got ready for the voyage. It was not without a certain feel-
ing of emotion that, bare-footed, he took his place in the birch canoe, and
with his swarthy companions began the ascent of the great river. Father
Jogues was in a measure familiar with the difficulties of his perilous voyage
from the instructions and wise counsel addressed by Brebeuf to the Fathers
stationed at Quebec. " Easy as the journey rnayappear," writes this model
of missionaries, " it will, however, present difficulties of a formidable nature
to the heart that is not strengthened by self-denial and mortification. The
activity of his Indian companions will neither shorten the portages, make
smooth the rocks, nor banish danger. The voyage will take at least three
or four weeks with companions whom he perhaps never before met : he will
be confined within the narrow limits of a bark canoe, and in a position so
painful and inconvenient that he will not be free to change it without ex-
posing the canoe to the danger of being capsized or injured on the rocks.
During the day the sun will scorch him, and at night the mosquitoes will

«-

The Jesuit.

allow him no repose. After ascending six or seven rapids his only meal
will be of Indian corn steeped in water, his bed will be the earth, or a
jagged and uneven rock. At times the stars will be his blanket, and around
him, night and day, perpetual silence."

On the nth of September, 1636, Father Jogues arrived at the village of
Ihonatiria, where were the mission of St. Joseph and the residence of the
Fathers. Needless to say he was received with open arms. It was at first

The Portage.

{Front II n o/d ent^rartng.)

the intention of the missionaries to establish permanent missions in the
principal Huron towns ; but when the smallpox decimated the village of
Ihonatiria, and compelled its inhabitants to seek another and healthier
locality, the P'athers divided themselves between the town of Ossossane,
which they called " Conception," and that of Teanaustayae, io which they
gave the name of St. Joseph, in memory of their first mission a: Ihonatiria.
The e.stablishment of these two missions, however, did not equal their
expectations, nor were they sufficient for the wants of the country. They
became satisfied that a permanent and central residence which would serve
as their headcjuarters for Northern Canada was a necessity. They chose
a solitary piece of ground north-east of the Huron peninsula on the banks
of what is now known as the river Wye. A chain of buildings, including a
large chapel, an extensive residence, and a hospital built on solid stone

nwm

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Early Indian Miasionx.

foundations rose, in the midst of tiie country of tlie Attaronchronons,
who beheld with astonishment and deUght the growth of those wondrous
buildings that, they thought, would never stop till they pierced the clouds.
When the series of buildings was completed, they dedicated them to the
Blessed ^'irgin under the title of " Residence Sainte Marie."

The Fathers, who were now eight in number, had already visited
every Huron town, and were in most of them hospitably received and
invited to return. It cannot be said that their success was commensurate
with their hopes ; but with a sublime confidence in God, and a constancy
as heroic as it was admirable, they continued their missionary labours.
The wisdom of their action in establishing this Residence now became
apparent. New missions were opened, converts began to increase, and hope
dawned anew for these devoted men. Among the mountains at the head
of Nottawasaga Bay, forty-eight hours journey from the Huron towns,
dwelt the Tionnantates, known to the French as the Petuns or Tobacco
Nation, from the large quantities of tobacco raised by them fcjr purposes of
trade with neighboring tribes.

In tile month of December, 1639, Fathers Jogues and Garnier, unable
to obtain a guide among the Hurons, fearlessly plunged into the forest, and
after three days and nights of incredible hardships entered at eight o'clock
in the evening the first Tobacco town. The Indians of this tribe were told
that the p ;st which had annihilated the town of Ihonatiria was brought
about by the prayers and invocations of the " Black Sorcerers," as the Jesuits
were known to them. When the two Priests stood at the margin of their
village, boldly outlined against the northern sky, terror took possession of
them all : they fled to their cabins screaming that the demons of Famine
and Pest were here to blight them. Ihe door of every wigwam was closed
against the Priests, and nothing but the feeling of fear and awe which they
excited saved them from the deadly blow of the tomahawk. I'^rom town to
town they travelled, loaded with curses and maledictions, unable to obtain
a hearing, and on every side meeting with scowling brows and murderously
furtive looks. The children, as they passed, cried with fear, and from out
the cabins came the pleadings of the squaws, appealing to the young braves
to lay open their heads. The Priests bore a charmed life ; but finding that
the time had not yet come to establish a permanent mission among the
Petuns, they returned to Sainte Marie. "Nowhere," adds Parkman, "is

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The Jesuit.

the power of courage, faith and unflinching purpose more strikingly dis-
played than in the mission of these two Priests." Their visit, however, was
not barren of results ; they became familiar with the journey, learned some-
thing of the habits of the people, and prepared the way for Father Charles
Garnier, who, the following year, took up his abode with the tribe, and
established in their midst the Mission of the Apostles.

In 1641 a deputation of Ottawas, representing tlic great Algoncjuin
Nation, jame down from the shores of Lake Superior to visit some of their
Algontjuin countrymen, and to be present at their great Feast of the Dead.
This particular Algoncjuin tribe, now visited by the Ottawas, dwelt for some
time on the northern margin of the Huron country, with whose peojile they
were on terms of familiarity. Father Charles Raymbault, who spoke their
language fluently, visited them from time to time, and had already made
many converts among them. On the 17th September, 1 641, accompanied
by Father Jogues, he returned with the Ottawa flotilla and spent some weeks
with the tribe, whose villages were planted at Sault Sainte Marie and in its
neighborhood. The two Priests were the first Europeans that ever passed
through the Sault and stood on the shore of the great Northern Lake*
" Thus did the religious z.eal of the French," writes Bancroft, commenting
on the faith and daring of the Priests, " bear the cross to the banks of the
St. Mary and the confines of Lake Superior, and look wistfully towards the
homes of the Sioux, in the valley of the Mississippi, five years before the
New England Eliot had addressed the tribe of Indians that dwelt within
six miles of Boston harbor."

The Sachems of the Ottawas invited the Jesuits to dwell among them ;
but the time was not yet ripe for the establishment of a fixed mission, and
the Father, returned to St. Mary's, on the Wye.

On the north shore of Lake Erie, stretching along both banks of the
Niagara River, and embracing the fertile lands of the Niagara peninsula,
lived the Nation of Attiwanda.rons, or as they were known to the French,
Neutrals. Physically they were, perhaps, the finest specimen of the
then existing American Indian. The Recollect, Father Daillon, who

* The Franciscan hiitorian Siigard, who wrote in 1632, says that: " Etlenne Brule, the comi)anion of
Champlain, left that explorer at Toanche and started with an associate named Grenolle on a voyage to
the Upper Lakes. On his return to Quehec, bringing with him a large ingot of copper, lie claiined to
have visited the Sault, and gave an elaborate description of Lake Superior; but all tliis information he
could have obtained from the Wild Oats of Lake Michigan, who traded with the Algonquins of the
North."

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Early Indian Missions.

visited them in 1626, did not see a single deformed person among
all the members of this Nation. They numbered about twelve thousand
souls ; their climate was mild the winter comparatively short, snow falling
scarcely more than three or four inches in depth. The country was filled
with game, the beaver, moose, wildcat, wolf, buffalo, wild goose, turkey,
crane and squirrel existing in abundance. The people were steeped in a
licentiousness so shameless and revolting as to excite the surprise of their
Huron and Iroquois neighbors. They burned female prisoners, a practice
unknown to the Northern tribes. In summer the men had no other clothing
than a tatooing of powdered charcoal. They kept their dead in their
wigwams until putrefaction was very far advanced, when they scraped the
decaying flesh from off the bones, which they carefully preserved for years
until the communal burial of the Feast of the Dead.

On the second of November, 1640, Fathers John Brebeuf and
Joseph Chaumont set out for the Neutral Country, and after nine days'
journey reached its first town. Terrible reports of their awful power for evil
preceded them. They were represented as sorcerers whose very presence
produced a withering blight on all things. Their beads, crucifixes, crosses
and breviaries were held in awe and looked upon as instruments of necro-
mancy calculated to bring on plagues and diseases that would eventually
destroy the people. The Fathers visited eighteen towns, but were every-
where received, as were Jogues and Carnier among the Petuns, with a storm
of execrations and maledictions. Every door was closed against them under
the impression that if they were once admitted a curse would fall upon the
cabin. For months they went from town to town suffering from cold and
hunger, and were only saved from death by repeated miracles. Their mission
was barren of any other results tlian the self-denial and mortifications which
assured them a harvest of eternal glory. In despair of accomplishing
the object of their mission the Fathers prepared to leave the country. On
the night of their departure, while Brebeuf was communing with God in
prayer, he beheld in a cloudless sky the ominous vision of a blood-red cross
moving towards him from the land of the Iroquois. He spoke of the
apparition to his brother Priests on his return. " Was it large ?" they asked
him. " Large enough," answered Brebeuf, " to crucify us all." I wonder
if the indomitable spirit of this heroic Priest quailed in the presence of this
portentous and prophetic sign, or did he welcome the apparition as fore-
telling the near approach of his hopes and prayers for the martyr's crown.

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The Jesuit.

In the year 1648, the Jesuit Fathers beheld, with increasing hope, the
approaching realization of their great labors. Flourishing missions were
established and churches built in what are now the townships of Sunnidale,
Tiny, Medonte, Tay, Matchedash and North Orillia. Scattered through
these townships were the missions of the Conception — St. Michael, St.
Joseph, St. Ignatius, Mary Magdelane, and the mission of Holy Mary.
Among the Algonquins of Lake Nipissing and t'lose that dwelt on the
northern coast of Lake Huron were erected the niissions of the Holy Ghost
and of St. Peter. Even among the Tobacco Nation, where, a few years
before, Fathers Jogues and Gamier were so roughly treated, two missions
were permanently established. The missions were attended by eighteen
Fathers, who, looking forward to the arrival of others from France and
Quebec, began now to cast wistful eyes towards the Dacotahs of the
Mississippi, the Sioux of the plains, and Algonquins of the north. The
Puants and the Nation of Fire dwelling along the shores of Lake Michigan
asked to have missionaries sent among them. In one year were baptized
eighteen hundred persons ; and though the Fathers attending outlying
stations were subject to frightful hardships, they were consoled in their
sufferings with the prospect of ultimate success. Every day added to the
number of their converts ; and if it were not for the events we are about to
relate, the whole Huron Nation would in a few years have been enrolled
under the banner of the Cross.

For a long time a deadly feud existed between the Iroquois and the
Hurons, and had, at the period at which we w % reached the proportions
of a war of extermination. In 1647, the terrible Iroquois, who dwelt in
Central New York, south of Lake Ontario, and for a considerable distance
along the north and south shore of the St. Lawrence, had almost annihilated
the Neutrals. They were the most warlike and ruthless among the
American Indians. The word Iroquois was a generic term for a ccifederacy
of five tribes composed of the Senecas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas and
Cayugas, afterwards joined by the Tuscaroras, thus forming the familiar
confederacy of the oix Nations. In the Spring of 1648, emboldened by
repeated successes, a large war-party crossed the St. Lawrence, and urged
by an implacable hate of their hereditary foes, the Hurons, burst upon the
frontier village of St. Joseph, near what is now the prosperous town of
Barrie, and indiscriminately slaughtered men, women and children. For
weeks before the massacre they infested the forest, lying in ambush here

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Early IndianMiasiong.

and there till a favorable opportunity presented itself, when they sprang like
a tiger on his prey, rending the forest with demoniac yells of triumph and
victory.

Father Daniel was in charge of this mission, and when the Iroquois
stormed the town he had just finished Mass. The mission chapel was
crowded, and as the dread war-whoop broke upon the doomed people they
became paralyzed with fear and terror. Two days before the attack the
fighting men had gone on a hunting expedition, and only old men, woman
and children were there to meet the enemy. Father Daniel tried to rally
them to the defence, but his efforts were vain. \\v then called to them to
fly for their lives, while he himself would remain to face the enemy. He
returned to the chapel, followed by a crowd of women and children. Turn-
ing again to them he exclaimed : " My children, fly and retain your faith
until death." Among them was a large number the Father was instructing
for Baptism. Dipping his handkerchief in water he baptised them by
aspersion collectively, and to those who had already received the sacrament
he gave a general absolution.

The village is now burning ; the Iroq..ois approach the chapel ; the
Priest turns to the people saying: "We will die here and shall meet again
in Heaven ;" and then, striding to the door, he serenely confronts the enemy.
The Mohawks are struck with astonishment, and for a moment remain
rooted with surprise that one should alone have the hardihood to meet them.
At length they discharge at him a sheaf of arrows ; but, though pierced and
rent with wounds, he continued to exhort his catechumens till death in
mercy ended his sufferings. " He died murmuring the name of Jesus,
surrendering his soul to God like the Good Shepherd who gives his life for
his flock."* Chapel, Priest, and congregation were consumed together.
The wilderness is their grave ; their ashes, floating upon the air, drop sancti-
fied fertility on the land ; and while no man knows their resting-place, their
monument is so large that though its foundations are on the earth its apex
touches the great white Throne of the Eternal.

So died the first martyr of the Huron mission in the forty-eighth year
of his age, after spending eighteen years on the Northern missions. Twice
after his death he appeared to the Fathers assembled in council, radiant in

* Letter of F. Ragueneau, 1648.

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Martyrdom of Breheiif and Lalematit.

the sweetest form of celestial {^lory. Th'^ mission of St. Joseph i)ecame a
charred ruin ; seven hundred of its inhabitants perished by hre, torture or
the tomahawk. The warnin/,' ou^lit to hav(> been sufficient for the other
Huron towns to prepare for the iiiipendinj^ conflict. The winter passed
away without further disturbance, and the heathers continued to hope
that all dan{,'er was at an end.

Martyrdom or Jiui'uuu'r and Lai.emant.

On the mornintj; of the 17th of March, 1649, Father Raj^ueneau, who
had char^'e of the mission of St. Mary's, was on his knees before the
Blessed Sacra Tient, after having offered up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
when a Huron runner, breathless and bleedmg from a bullet wound, entered
the village and announced to the terrified people that the Iroquois had
captured the fortified town of St. Louis, slaughtered the men, women and
children, and might at any hour attack St. Mary's. " Where are Fathers
Lalemant and Brebeuf ?" asked the Priest, who, hearing the commotion,
left the chapel and strode into the crowd of bewildered Horons. "They
are dead," spoke back the runner. " Dead!" Father Ragueneau fell back
aghast with horror and returned to the altar of the Blessed Sacrament.
The courier was mistaken ; the two Priests were not dead, but their end
was not far off.

One thousand Irocpois, chiefly vSenecas and Mohawks — the tigers of
the forest and the boldest and fiercest warriors of North America— had, late
in the autumn, taken the war-path, wintered amid the forests of Nipissing,
and early in March captured the Huron town of St. Ignatius, tomahawked,
scalped and butchered its inhabitants. Then, smearing their faces with the
blood of their victims, to give additional horror to their savage appearance,
they moved out on the run for the neighboring village of St. Louis through
a forest whose silence was at intervals broken by the echoes of their pitiless
war-whoops. Despite the desperate valor of the Hurons, who fought like
demons, the Inxjuois carried the fort, set fire to the town, and Hung in
among the burning cabins the women and children, whose shrieks of agony
rose above the whoops and yells of their conquering foe.

The Iroquois retraced their path to St. Ignatius, dragging with them a
number of prisoners, among them the lion-hearted Brebeuf and his delicate
and gentle companion, Lalemant. Three times, while the enemy were

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Early Indian Misaiona,

storming .St. Louis, the Huron warriors urj^cd the Priests to fly, as the road
was still open to St. Mary's. '* We cannot," an.svvered the stalwart Brebeuf.
*' Where should the Priest he found but with his people?" Amid a peltinfj;
rain of bullets and arrows they continued f,'ivin^ absolution and baptism to
souls that were fast leaving; bodies, mutilated and torn by the {'';adly
missiles of the Senecas. Wh(>n the Irotpiois entered the town Brebeu'" r >e
from the side of a wounded brave and confronted them with a face ' ^
calmness was in stranf^e contrast to his stormy surroundings. Lalei ant,
frail of constitution and delicate from childhood,' was unequal to similar
display of fortitude ; his .slender body trembled in the presence of the
tomahawk raised to brain him ; his weakness was but for a moment, when,
summoninf^ his faith to his assistance, he looked his enemy in the face and
bowed his head for the blow. He was reserved for ;i more cruel and horrible
fate.

I'^our hours after the capture of St. l^ouis, while the ashes from its ruins
were still Hoatinf^ over the virj^in forests, John de Ikebeuf was stripped of
his clothes, led to a stake, to which he was bound, and his torture began.
The courage of Brebeuf was of that indomitable character that rises
su]K'rior to fear. He foresaw the appalling sufferings that awaited him, but
when the lro()uois closed in on him they looked in vain for any sign of
cowardice or symptom of weakness. They tore the flesh in strips from his
body and devoured it in his presence, plucked out his finger-nails, and
scorched liini with burning brands. "You do not scream, Echon,"*
they said to him. " Why do you not moan ? We will make you."
Heating red hot a collar of hatchets they flung it over his head till the
flesh on his broad shoulders shrivelled up to the consistency of burned
leather. The odor of burning flesh made them demons. They glared
upon him like tigers; and when the unconquerable Priest raised his
voice in withering denunciation of their wickedness, they tore away
his lips and cut out his tongue. Still they wrung from him no cry of
pain. With torn lips and mutilated tongue he endeavored to warn them
of God's awful punishments. They replied with shouts of derision,
obscenity and filthy songs, cut off his fingers, joint by joint, and scorched
him with brand;; from head to foot ; but the iron frame and unconquerably

• Father Brebcuf's Indian name. After Brebeuf's death Fatlier Chaumonot fell heir to his title.
Fatlier Le Movne, w ho discovered the salt springs at Onondiiga, was known among the Iroquois b^
the title of Onifersoiik,

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Martyrdom of Brebeitf and Lalemant,

resolute nature of the indomitable Priest did not quail, and even they, stolid
and brutal as they were, marveled at a courage that gave no sign of weakness.
Thoy poured boiling water on his head, and in mockery of the sacrament of
Baptism cried out : "We baptise you, Echon, that you may be happy in
Heaven — for you black gowns tell us that no one can be saved without
baptism." Despairing of overcoming his wondrous fortitude they tore the
scalji from his head, laid open his side, and scooping up his blood in their
hands, drank it with the hope that they might partake of some portion of his
marvelous courage. A chief then advanced, and burying his hunting-knife
in the Priest's breast, tore out the palpitating heart, and holding it aloft
that all might see it, began to devour it with unspeakable relish.

The lustre of the eye is dimmed, the power of utterance is gone forever,
his countenance is marred and pitiable to look upon, and like his Divine
Master when the horrors of His crucifixion swept over Him, " There is no
beauty in his face nor comeliness." Thus died John de Brebeuf, Priest of
the Catholic Church, and one of the grandest men that ever trod the
American Continent. From that memorable day when, kneeling on the
rock at Stadacona, he dedicated his life to the conversion of the tribes, he
never wavered in his high resolve. For twenty-four years of laborious and
unceasing sacrifice, amid perils as fearful as ever tried the heart of man, he
walked the furrow to the martyr's stake, nor cast one halting, lingering look
behind. His zeal, his courage, his fidelity to duty in the presence of the
greatest dangers, his fortitude under hunger, weariness and excessive
fatigue, his angelic piety and his prodigious heroism under the excruciating
ordeal of Indian torture preach an eloquent sermon, and its burden is : " All
ye that seek the kingdom of God behold the paths that lead ye to it."

Brebcufs companion, Father Lalemant, was tortured with atrocious
cruelty. His body was swathed in birch bark smeared with pitch and the
torch put to it. In this state he was led out while they were rending the
body of Brebeuf; and when he beheld the unutterable condition of the
heroic Priest, whom he loved with the love of a brother, his agitation over-
came him, and throwing himself at the feet of the dying martyr he exclaimed :
" My God ! we're made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men."
He was then dragged away, and for seventeen hours from sunset to sunrise
was tortured with a refinement of cruelty that fills us with affright and
bevvfilderment. By a slow process he was literally roasted alive ; from head

«-

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'2H

Early Indian M'liithmn.

Ml
I hi

to foot there was no part of liis body that was not l)urne(l, even to his eyes,
in the sockets of whicli were phiced live coals.

The Tobacco Nation shared the fate of the llurons. With them
perished Father Garnier ; he was shot down in the act of ^ivinj; absolution
to a dyin^' Indian, and, while still breathinj^, his head was laid open with the
blow of a tomahawk. leather Chabanel, his companion, was kilkid on his
way from the mission of St. Matthias by a Huron reiu'}.,'ade, who, after
murderin^f him, threw his body into the river. He evidently had a pre-
.sentiment of his fate, for, before leaving vSt. Mary's on the Wye, he wrote to
his brother that he anticipated death, and probably by tire, at the hands of
the Iroquois.

The charred remains of the martyred Priests, Brebeuf and Lalemant,
were gathered together, their bones brought to Quebec, and there sacredly
guarded till they were removed to I'rance.* The bodies of the other three
Priests were given a grave in the wilderness, and the Huron Nation became
their mourners. No monument of granite or marble is there to challenge
the attention of passing man, and tell him that here lie the ashes of heroes
and of saints. Around them rise in stately grandeur the swaying pines
whose youth the martyrs saw; the waters of the broad Huron still lave the
fertile shores, the scene of their mighty deeds ; and the same sun that, three
hundred years ago, shone upon their heroism to-day warms the green turf
that shrouds their sanctified remains. They and their tawny converts are
gone forever; but on the altar of a neighboring church is still celebrated the
same unchangeable sacrifice that the martyred Priests offered to the
Adorable God centuries ago. A broad-shouldered, fair complexioned people
now listen to the same immortal truths that Brebeuf and his companions
preached to the dark-haired Hurons in the forests of Ihonatiria ; and while
these unalterable truths are wedded to the soul of man, the memory of the
dead Priests will live in the hearts of the brave and the true.f

The Hurons, despairing of ever recovering from the disastrous effects of
the sudden onslaught made upon them, and unable to cope with the terrible

"The skull of Father Hrebeuf is preserved in a silver reliquary in the Iliilel Dieu at (Quebec,
and mav be seen by anyone desirous of venerating the saered relic.

t Mr. Douglas ISryniner, the Canadian Archivist, in his report for 1ISS4 inserts an orginal accountof
the martyrdom of the two Jesuit Fathers. It was written by Christopher Regnaut, a lay brother
attached to the mission of St. Mary's on the Wye, and gives a graphic description of the horrible
tortures of the martyrs. To Mr, Byrmner belongs the credit of discovering and giving this document
to the public.

-«

Marttirdom of Breheuf and Ltdemnnt,

Iroquois, resolved to abandon their country. All was over with them ; and
having determined upon Hight, they at once carried the resolution into effect.
Inside of twelve days scarcely a Huron was left in the country ; they put
the torch to fifteen of their towns, fearing that the Iro(iuois would takx-
shelter in then Tlu-y disappeared in bands of twenty and liiirly families.
Some sought refuge with the Neutrals ; others again found an asylum among
the Algonquins on the northern shore of Lake Huron ; while others were
given a temporary home with the Tobacco Nation. One large party, under
the leadership of b'ather Kagueneau took up their cpiarters on Charity Island,
called by them the Island of St. Joseph. Even here they were not free
from the attacks of the Iro(}uois, who were continually prowling in the woods
or lying in ambush for days awaiting a favorable opportunity for a shot. The
winter was a terrible one for them ; famine added to the horrors of their
position ; disease lingered continually with the tribe.

At length, broken-hearted and discouraged, they left the Island early in
the spring, a'„companied by their Priests, and began their perilous journey
to Quebec. On their way to French River they skirted along the coast of
their own familiar country, now a land of horror and of desolation. Lake
Nipissing, on whose shores there dwelt a few years l)efore a once numerous
and powerful tribe, was stillness itself. I">om the fringe of the Georgian
Bay to the mouth of the Ottawa the land was a vast grave-yard, over which
there brooded the silence of death. On their way down the Ottawa they
met Father Bressani returning with a party of French and Hurons with
supplies for the mission of St. Joseph. On learning that the Island was a
desert and no living soul left upon it. Father Bressani retraced his route,
and in a few weeks the whole company reached Quebec. They settled
in a place some thirteen miles from the city, now called Lorette, where
still dwell all that remains of that mighty race of hunters and fighters
once known as the Huron Nation. " It may be asked," writes Bancroft,
"if these massacres quenched enthusiasm. I answer that the Jesuits nevr
receded one foot ; but as in a brave army new troops press forward to fill
the places of the fallen, they were never wanting in heroism and enterprise
on behalf of the cross."*

The scattered bands of Hurons were accompanied by their Priests.
Father Grelon, whose soutane hung in rags around him, clothed himself in

• Bancroft, iii. vol. pg. 141; eel. 1S46.

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■CBBiSR

Early Indiun Missions.

lii

the skins of animals, and northward by the shores, of Lake Huron, amid
the islets and rocks of its desolate coast, searched for the remnants of his
scattercvl flock. Another iilun<fed into the forest with a company of famish-
ing proselytes ; and, amid their miserable rovings through thicket and
mountain, jndured for months the horrors of cold and hunger. Father
Simon Lemoyne, years afterwards, visits the Onondagas, and is the hrst
white man to a.>-:cend the St. Lawrence River.* Pere Chaumonot and
Claude Dablon follow him a year after; and to the fierce Irocjuois who, a
few years before, had perpetrated such atrocious rruclties on the Ilurons,
preached the saving truths of Christianity. Rene Menard, in 1656, takes up
a permanent abode with the Cayugas ; and Chaumonot, the following year,
fearlessly enters the dens of the lions — the villages of the Sene^ '.s. In 1656
Fathers Gabriel Druillettcs and LecMiard Ga; leau — the one halving already
carried the cross tlnough the forests of Maine, and the other, eighteen years
before, a missionary with the Tobacco Nation, are captured by the Mohawks
after having started to visit the great Sioux Nation. f Thus before the
expiration of the year 1656 the Jesuit Priests, taking their lives in their
hands, began the conversion of those war-hawks of the wilderness — the five
notions of the Iroquois.

In 1660 the aged Menard, after weeks of great hardsliip and suffering,
visited the soutlicrn shore of Lake Superior ; and having l)egun a missior.
among the scattered Hurons found in this regicyi, plunged into the forest to
visit an inland tribe, and is never again heard of. The lion-hearted Claude
Allouez steps into the breach made in iiis death, and for thirty years this
Confessor of the Faith becomes the conijianion of roving Algoncjuins. lie
gave the name Ste. Marie to the waters di\ iding Lakes Superior and Huron,
where he established the first permnnent mission on the spot consecrated
twenty-five years before by tlie visit of the martyr Jogues and the
saintly Raymbault. This extracrdinary Priest established missions during
his long soiourn in the upper country among more then twentv different
nations, including Miamis, 'Saulteurs, Menomonies, Illinois, Chippcwas,

* I'alliLi' Lciiuiviie iUmon eroii tln' :.;ill luiiics at Salin;i on Aiiijust :6, 165.), two week.- after liis
ascont of tlio f;ieat river. Father Joseph J'oiiccl, in 1653, iiiaili; the lirsl dosccnl if tliis rive r from
Ogtien'-l)urg to Montreal,

t leather (iarreau, when on his way in :().sf> to open a ini-Nion amonj; the Oltawas of tlie Lalve
Superior rei^ion, was killed hv ll-.e troquois. He arrived in C .inada in i'>4.>, and in llie following year
was a missionary among the Unioii-. He was distinguished for great piety and child-like oljedienJ.; to
his Supei iors,

®-

-ta

«p-

-»

Flifiht of the Tionnoniates.

Sacs, Winnibagoes, Foxes, Potawatomics of Ivakr Michij^an, Kickapoos,
and anioii!^ the scattered Iliirons and Ottawas.

In 1668 Fathers Ual>lon, Nicolas and Manjuctte, soon to enter upon
the exploration of the Mississijipi, are with the tribes that occupy the vast
refj;ions extending:; from (ireen IJay to the Ik 1 of Lake Superior, " min,qlin<;
happiness with suffering and winning enduring glory by tb.eir fearless
perseverance."

Truly there were giants in thos' days ; and it is impossible not to
admire the sublime influence if the Catholic Churi h on llie hearts of men —
an iiiHuence which tiien, as now, inspired Priests to turn aside from the
allurements of civili/ed societ\ , and, untrammeled with wives or families,
devote themselves unreservedly to the ( lc\;ition of the savage races that
were buried in the darkness of the ValU) of Death.

FlICIIT of THIC Tl'tXNONTATIiS.

Soutli of the Noltawasaga Bav, and ai)<>ut two daxs journey west of the
Huron towns, were situated nine or ten villages (jf the Tionnontales or
Tobacco Nation, known to the b^-ench as Petuns. They numbenMl between
fifteen and twenty thousand souls when they joined the Huron ConT'deracy
in 1630.* They shared lo a large exlenl in the ruin and dispersion of tliat
unhappy peoph^ Among them the martyred Priests Garnier and Chabanel
had charge of tile mission of St. John, while Fathers Garreau and Grelon
looked after tlie mission of St. Matthias. Their jjiety, zeal and .self-denial
were softening the flinty hearts of the Petuns ; and when the Irocpiois began
their war of extermination the light of conversion was already breaking
above the horizon. When drixcn from tiieir counlr\- the remnant of this
great clan held tog<'ther and retained its tribal organization. There is not
in modern history, and taking no account of numbers, perhap.^ none in all
history, an event less g(Mierally known or more striking to the imagination
than the Higlit of this tribi' across tlir boundless plains and through the
forests of North Amerua. In the intense sufferings -if the men, women and
children there is much that appeals to the sympathy and pity of humanitv.
The gloomy vengeance of the ruthless enemy that hung upon the rear of the

•Mr. Ua\ ill liovlc, Uk' Onadiiiii Aichaologisl, in an iiiterostlng paper on tliis trilic pul)li^lie(l iSSy,
woulil lead us to infer, froi-.i the reTnain>< of tlie'r villages aiul Innial-nuniiuls, thai they were not only a
niinierouh people, lint, in point of intellineme, superior lo the oth r Irihes of North America.

«-

Early Indian Missiona.

I 4

fugitive band was like the solitary Miltonic hand pursuing through desert
spaces a rebellious host and overtaking those who believed themselves
already within the security of darkness. The reverses sustained by the
tribe, the untravellcd forests through which it opened a path, the foe ever
doggedly hanging to its skirts, and the hardships that became a part of its
very existence invest its exodus with melancholy interest. The anabasis of
the younger Cyrus, and the subscciuent retreat of the ten thousand to the
shores of the Black Sea ; the Parthian expeditions of the Romans, especially
those of Crassus and Julian, and the retreat of the French soldiers from
Moscow, whilst more disastrous in the loss of life, were not more pitiful in
the sufferings endured.

In 1652 they tied to Michilimackinac, and now the history of their
wanderings becomes intensely patheti<.. Tiie daring and ferocious Iroquois
drove them thence, and with the p; rtinacitv of blood-hounds hung upon
their trail, forcing them to scfh ■ refuge with the Puants of Green Bay.
From here they were driven^to the number of five hundred, and continued
their wanderings till they reached the countryof the Illinois. No hospitable
greeting awaited them ; and, worn out and discouraged, they addressed a
most pathetic appeal to the Andastes, pleading for shelter among them.
" We come from the land of souls, where all is sorrow, dismay and
desolation. Our fields are covered with blood, our wigwams are filled but
with the dead, and we ourselves have only life enough to beg our friends to
take pity on a people drawing near their end." Such was the burden of
their melancholy appeal ; but the Andastes, /earing to provoke the anger of
the Iroquois, turned a deaf ear to their petition and the unhappy people
began anew their wearisome journey, this time, towards the plains of the
Mississippi. The Sioux met them and drove them back. They next faced
towards Lake Superior, and after many adventures and reverses found a
resting-place at Ashl.nnd Bay, Wisconsin, where Father Allouez met them
in 1665. Their stay here was but temporary, when, under the care of
Father Marquette, after twenty years of wandering on the plains and in the
forests, they returned to the Mackinac Country. After remaining here for
some years they removed to Detroit and Sandusky ; and, engaging in the
wars of Pontiac, eventually as a tribe disappeared from off the face of the
earth.

During the long and weary years of the rovings o*" the Wyandots the
Feathers of the Society of Jesus had, when possible, faithfully attended to their

»-

-m

The Ihiji of Qxiiitf Misnion.

spiritual wants. Fathers Dablon, Marcjuette, Pierson, Marcst, Nouvel,
Enjalran, De Carheil, and many others, were with them from time to time
and kept aHve the Faith in their midst. So exemplary were the lives of these
Priests, and such their devotion to their Indian flocks, impelling them to
follow the tribes in their wandering.s, that Sir William Johnson, writinjj; to
the Lords of Trade, complained that Protestant missionaries were failures,
and might never look for success in converting the Indians till they could
practise sufficient self-denial to do as the Priests were doing.*

In 1748 Father J. B. Salleneuve Iniilt the first ciuirch at Sandwich,
Ont., where for some years he ministered to a small remnant of the Tobacco
Nation. He was succeeded by Father J. B. Marchand, a Sulpician Priest
from Montreal, who remained in charge from 1796 to 1825.

The Bay oi- Oi'inte Mission. »

The Jesuit Fathers, as already stated, secured a permanent foot-
hold among the five nations. " In the spring of 1O68," Father Francis
Mercier says in his Relation, " a large detachment of the Cayugas left
western New York and settled on the northern shores of Lake Ontario."
Early in the autumn this tribe sent a deputation to Montreal, asking that
Priests be sent among them, as the Jesuit Fathers with the Irocjuois were
too few in numbers to attend to their spiritual wants. Bishop Laval
invited the Sulpician Fathers of Montreal to take charge of the work; and,
in obedience to his wish. Fathers Fenelon and Trouve left La Chine for the
Bay of Quinte, arriving there 28th of October, having been twenty-six
days making the voyage. They were received with a hospitable welcome,
began their labors without delay, and were filled with hopes of encourage-
ment for the future. That a spirit of affectionate cordiality between the
Jesuits and Sulpicians existed, even at this early day, is evident from what
appears in the Jesuit Relations of this year. " Two fervent missionaries of
the Seminary of St. Sulpice. Fathers Fenolon and Trouve, were despatched
this year to the family of the Irocjuois called Oiogouens, who for some time
had been camping on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. These people
require pastors to confirm in them the spirit of Faith which for two years we
fanned and kept alive." The Priests met with comparatively little success

* Note Col. History, Vol. vii.. p. 5S0.

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i£-

EiirUi Tiidinn Missions-

in the conversion of the adult popukition. They were consoled, however,
in being permitted to baptise the daughter ut the chief, the children, and
many of the grown people on their death beds. The Cayugas at this period
occupied four villages. Keint-he and Canagora were situated thirty miles north
of Lake Ontario, some distance north of the Bay of Quinte.* The villages of
Tiot-hatton and Canohenda were five miles southward of these, necessitating
the Priests to be continually moving amid incredible hardships and fatigues.

In 1609 h'ather Fenelon, worn out \vith labor, but still full of zeal, went
to Ouebec, making his hr.^t call ui:)on Hishoj-) Laval, that he might pay
the trilnite of respect .nd reverence due to the great prelate and his exulted
office ; after a most affectionate and fraternal greeting his lordship question-
ed him concerning his apostolic labors, intimating that he wished to preserve
the details of his work among the Lpiscopal archives. " My Lord," replied
the saint^- i'riest, " the greatest kindness you can show us is to say noi-hing
at all about our work." He was accompanied on his return to the Bay of
Ouinte bv b'ather Lascaris d'Urse, who, in preparation for the life of a
missionarv, wished to learn the Irocjuois language and become familiar
with the habits and methods of life necessary for one who was to devote
himself to the Christianising of the savages. As soon as i'ather Fenelon
arrived at (.himte a deputation of the Cayugas, representing the Indians of
(iandaseteiadon, waited upon him, asking that he would open a mission at
their town. Leaving blathers d'Urse and Trouve at Ouinte,he accompanied
the deputation and passed the winter minist^ ring to the spiritual wants of
tlie people of Gandaseteiadon. In the winter of 1668 Fathers Dollier de
Casson and Barthelmy joined the blathers already at Quinte. De Casson,
after a short stay, left for Lake Nipissing and passed the winter with a
roving band of Ottawas, vho had come together after their dispersion by the
Iro(iuois and settled for a time on the shores of the Lake. During his stay
among these people he obtained information of innumerable tribes that
dwelt along the bank'-' of tlie Mississippi ; and burning with zeal for the
conversion of souls, he returned to Montreal, where, joining to himself
Father (ialinee, a distinguished mathematician and Priest of his own Order,
'le started with La Salle, the explorer, and on the 30th September, i66g,

* Mr. Kiiigsforcl, the liihloi ian, is of llie opiiiiur tiiat the missions of Qiiiir.e were sitiialed some-
where in the Townships of Frederici4luirj»h and Marvsburgh; hut Wentworth Greenhalj^li savs, in his
Report, that in 1(177 he visited all the Cayufja \illaf^es on the north shore of Lake Frontcnao (Ontario).
He places the first twa lliirty miles north of the Lake, and the others five miles south.ward of ihese.

« —

The Baji of Qiii)ite Miasinn. 35

reached the Grand River. Here La Salle's health gave out, and he was
compelled with his party to return to Lake Ontario. The Priests continued
their journey and made the first recorded ascent of the Detroit Ki'-er to
Lake Huron, and on the 25th of May arrived at the Sault Ste. Marie, where
they were met by Fathers Dablon and Marquette, who extended to them a
hospitable welcome. Failing in their attempts to obtain a guide and inter-
preter to accompany tliem on their journey to the Mississippi, they returned
home, visiting on their homeward journey the Straits of Mackinaw, and
reached Montreal on the i8th of June, 1670.

The Sulpician Fathers who had charge of the Ouinte Missions continued
to labor with apostolic zeal. After years of incredible labor and fatigue they
constructed central mission buildings, similar to those built by the Jesuits
years before at St. Mary's on the Wye. The diBiculties that confronted
them were, however, of a nature that paralyzed their sublimest efforts for
the conversion of the Cayugas. The restless nature of the tribes was
continually impelling them to change their cjuarters. It was impossible to
follow them in their rovings, and the Fathers abandoned the missions,
satisfied that their attempts for their reclamation, no matter how long
continued, would inevitably end in clisaj^pfjintment. A combination of
fatuous circumstances beyond the control of the Fathers brought about
their departure. Their courage and zeal were undaunted ; but their
expectations realised but comparative disappointment.

The Recollect Fathers, under the impression that the hardships of
missionary life were too much for the zeal of the Sulpicians, then entered
the abandoned field. Fathers Louis Hennepin, Luke Buis.set and Francis
Wasson labored for years with the heroism of martvrs, but reaped no harvest
of success, and in utter despair of accomplishing much good they left the
country forever, and in 1687 all traces of the missionaries, and, it may be
said, of the Indians of the Quinte district, disappear from the pages of
history.

Note. — We append for tlic iiistiuctioii of our yoimjicr readers a list of the discoveries of
the early Missionaries: Fathers Joseph Le L'aroii, in 1613, discovered Lake Nipissuig, and
was the first European that stood on the sii(>rv.'s i:f Laiic Huron. In 16.JI Fathers Joirii,_.s and
Rayambaidt iHscovered Lake Superior. In i()(6 Fatlier I)u()nen <hscovered Lake St. John,
and passed two months on its north-western shore preaching to a Montajjnais liand known
as the " Tribe of the Porcupine.' On ^Vuj^ust I6tli, 1654, Father Le .Mo\ne discovered

-m

I 1

Kniiy Indian Mission*.

the salt mini's at Salina. In 1616 Fatlit-r John D'Albc-au left with a roving band of
Montajjnais and met the Esi|iiinianx. In 1660 the Jesuits tra:ed on a map the highway of
waters from Lake Erie to Lake Superior, showing Lake Midiigan. In 1669 Feathers
Galinee and De Casson made the first recorded ascent of the Detroit River. In this year
Father Galinee drew the first map of the country from Montreal to Detroit, including Lake
Ontario and the south shore of Lake Erie. Father Le Moyne, in 1649, discovered the salt
wells at Onondaga. In 1653 Father Poncet was the first white man that ever sailed down
the St. Lawrence River. Father Lc Moyne, in 1654, was the first European that ever
ascended the same river. Father Charles Alhanel was the first man that ever made the
ov"'lan(l journey to Hudson Hay. He left Quebec on 6th of August, 1671, reached Lake
St. joiin in .September, and wintered there. On June the 25th he discovered Lake Nemis-
kau, and on July the 5th from the mouth of the Rupert River looked out upon the waters
of Hudson IJay. In 1661 Father Dablon penetrated ninety miles north of Lake .St. John,
preceding Chouart and Pierre D'Esprit eighteen years. In 1671 the Jesuits drew the first
inap of the Upper Lakes, and gave to the world the first authentic information of the
Wisconsin and Minnesota regions. In 1665 Father AUoucz confirmed the report of the
existence of copper on the islands of Lake Superior. Father Joseph Lafitau, in 1716,
discovered the plant jen-sing. The first church in Canada was built at Tadousac by Father
Le Caron in 1616. Father Louis Hennepin was the first European that saw the Niagara
Fails. In the same year, 167^, he discovered the Falls of St. Anthony. On June 17th,
'^73' Father Marc|uette, in company with Louis Joliet, discovered the Mississippi.

-m

EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN UPPER CANADA.

D. A O'SULLIVAN, M.A., LL.D.,

O.Vt: OF H£K MA7ESTy<S cor.vs£i.

'i'l

P^i

ill

II n xnn

The Right Reverknd Joseph Octave Plessis,

ELEVENTH BISIIOI" OK qUttUEC.

nOKN AT MONTA'EAL 3rd MARCH, 176.1.
DIED AT QUEBEC 4th DECEMBER, iS2s.

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CHAPTER II.

1760 to 1826.

EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN UPPER CANADA.

The Old Prorinre of Quebec — Earhj Missions and Pioneer Priests — Earl// Catholic Settle-
ments — Statisties — Missionari/ ]York — The Church and State — The Clergy
Reserves— Bishop Plessis — Division of the Diocese of Quebec.

"The life of a Missionary I'licsl is never wiitlen, nor can it be. lie has no Boswell. His biographer
may record the Priest's ]Hil)lic aiul otlicial act>. He may recount the churches he erected, the
schools he founded, the works of religion and ch.nrity lie inauj^urated and fostered, the serniont he
preached, the clildreu he catechized, the convertii he received into the fold; and this is already a great
deal. But it only touches ujion the surface of that devoted life. There is no memoir of his private
daily life of usefulness and of his s.icred and confidential relations with his tlock. All this is hidden
with Christ in God, and Is rei'istered only by ills recording angel." — C^kuinai. Uihhons.

¥HE fate of the Huron Missions at Penetanguishene, us recorded
in the preceding chapter, forms a remarkable episode in our
missionary annals. In the varied experience of the Catholic
Church she has seen her priests massacred and her churches
laid in ruins ; but the$e, from her exhaustless resources, she
replaces with others, and continues on in her work. But when, in the
middle of the seventeenth century, the churches around Georgian Bay had
been destroyed and the Jesuit Fathers martyred, there was no need of
replacing them. The Hurons were annihilated and the missions and their
history brought to an abrupt conclusion.

We have therefore no thread of narrative to take up from the foregoing
pages; and for the next one hundred years and over. Western Canada has
really no history of any sort. Lying between Quebec on the east and the
Hudson Bay Territory on the northwest, it was beyond the reach of
civilization ; and, with the exception of a few forts or trading posts, was
totally uninhabited. When the Seven Years' War was terminated by the
Treaty of Paris in 1763 Canada by the fortunes of war fell to the share of
the English, and it was not till about twenty years later that Western
Canada began to be settled. By the Quebec Act of 1774 the original
province of Quebec was extended westward to include not only what is now

S-

•m

Early IIi$to}-y of the Church in ]Ve$tern Canada.

Upper Canada, but also five or six states of the present American Union.
The American Revolution reduced the area of that immense Province, but
Western Canada along the Lakes remained part of the province of (Juebec
until the year 1791. In that year Upper Canada was carved out of the
province of Quebec, and corresponded substantially in geographical limits
to the present province of
Ontario. Within a dozen
years after the time that
England became possess-
ed of Canada she lost her
American colonies; and it
so happened that many of
her old subjects preferred
to live under the British,
rather than the American
flag. These .settled in Wes-
tern or Upper Canada.
They are known in our his-
tory as United Empire
Loyalists, and they form a
very important feature of
the early portions of it.
These came in the years
1 783-84, and the very great
majority of them were Pro-
testants; but they were not
the first settlers. As in the
ancient days of this coun-
try so it was in those of this
Province— the pioneer set-
tlement in W^estern Can-
ada was Catholic and the
first missionary a Priest.

~5r

"e?" 20 77"

QUKBEC UNDKR THE ACT OK 1774.

In these early days and down in tact to the year 1820 the religious care
of the Canadian and the immigrant was in charge of the Bishop of Quebec.
That ancient See not only embraced what is now the Dominion of Canada,
but extended to the south along the Mississippi as far as the Gulf of Mexico.

-«

EaHy MimUmH nnd IHonter Pr'ieit$.

Within its vast limits there was no settlement nor tradinj,' post nor fort
without a priest in char^^e; thouf,'h it was no lon^^er the Jesuit or I'Vanciscan
that ministered to its wants, hut the secular I'riestof the Diocese of yuehec.
It was no longer also the untutored savages that formed his little congrega-
tions or their surroundings, hut the Scotch or Irish immigrants and the
descendants of the ancient I'renrh settler. We accordingly have to begin
anew in our narrative and deal with otlier people and under very altered
conditions.

Sttll stands the forest priiiicvnl; but under tlie hhiule o( ith l)ranrlii'H
Dwells another race with other lustoins and language.

Whatever difficulties there may have been, and they were not a few,
that confronted the earlier missionary around the camp fires, they were all
one class of dangers and came from one direction ; but the difficulty of
establishing or maintaining the Catholic religion in any part of the British
Empire one hundred years ago was something not to be readily imagined by
us to-day. That religion was barely tolerated and its adherents regarded
with suspicion and distrust. All the terrors of penal legislation were evoked
for its destruction. Nevertheless Catholic immigrants found their way to
this country; the charges of disloyalty were proved to be groundless; the
legal difficulties were dissipated ; and the Church soon asserted its rights
and was secured and maintained in them.* It is to the events of this
pioneer period that attention is directed in this chapter.

Early Missions and Pioneer Priests.

Such information respecting the early settlement of Western Canada
as comes within reach of the general reader does not contain much that is
interesting or useful from a religious or ecclesiastical point of view. So long
as Canada remained French the missions in these western wilds flourished;
after the cession to England they languished, and some of them died out
altogether. Their struggles are untold and unknown; their chronicles come
to an end.

* The freedom of the Church was guaranteed bv the Treat)' of Paris and ll)e Quebec Act, though
it was not fully recognized till after the war of 1812. The reader w ill note the importance of the Quebec
Act, when the territory embraced in it is seen by the map on the preceding page to include all the
present Province of Ontario. In marked contrast to the freedom allowed in Canada was the rabid
intolerance manifested by the American colonies — Maryland perhaps the sole exception. .Sec Essays on
the Church in Canada in the American Catholic Quarterly Review, 1S85, by the writer of this chapter.

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CorporatiGn

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716)872-4503

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Early History of the Church in Western Canada.

" The cession of Canada to the British by the French," says Dr. Canniff,
" had been followed by a withdrawal of troops from many of the forts, around
which had clustered a few hamlets, specks of civilization in a vast wilderness,
and in most places things had lapsed into their primal state. And when
rebellion broke out in the colonies of Britain there were but a few posts
whereat were stationed any soldiers or where clustered the white settlers.
There were a few French living at Detroit and at Michilmacinac, and to the
north-east of Lake Huron."*

In the North-West, in what is now Canada, and the Illinois country,
there were only four priests, of whom Father Bocquet was at Detroit and
Father La France at Mackinac. The Sandwich mission, dating from 1748,
had I'^ather Potier at the time of the cession. Niagara was deserted, and
the Penetanguishene country still tenantless.

After the Revolution or rebellion of the American Colonies immigrants
from the British Islands came to Canada. Many of them came not only to
make a living, but to be allowed as Catholics to exist, to escape the persecu-
tion they endured elsewhere on account of their religion. The first of these.
Abbe Ferland tells us, were Highlanders who followed an Irish Priest named
Father McKenna. At that time M. Mongolfier, Superior of the Sulpicians,
had charge of Montreal and the Western Country, and in 1776, the Abbe
says,t he spoke of Father McKenna in these terms : " That Missionary has
been charged with accompanying a new colony of Highlanders, about 300 in
number, who, they say, ar.i going to settle in Upper Canada, where they
hope to enjoy the Catholic religion without molestation. They have already
arrived at Orange, and intend to hx altogether in the same place with their
missionary, who alone understands their language. I have given him the
ordinary powers for ministering to his ambulating parish." Many years
after, according to the .^bbe, " Mr. Alexander MacDonell joined to his first
troop a part of the Highlanders who had been licensed ; the whole formed
the settlement of Cilengarry."

The troop of Highlanders here referred to did not reach Upper Canada
until the lapse of nearly thirty years ; but it is likely that this was not only

* C.inniff's Settlement of I'pper Canada, page 192. The north-east of Lake Huron did not seem to
have anv missionary at this period.

■f Abbe Ferland's Life of Bishop Plessis, page 32. See also Le Foyer Canadien.

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Early Misiions and Pioneer Priests.

the first settlement of Catholics, but the pioneer settlement in Western
Canada.* They came out to the Mohawk valley, in the Province of New-
York, under the auspices of Sir William Johnson, in 1773, but were driven
therefrom by reason of the bigotry of the Dutch.

Not much is known of Father John McKenna, except that he was
educated at Louvain, and was the first resident Priest amonj^ the settlers in
New York since the Jesuit Fathers in Governor Dongan's time, nearly a
century before. He took up his abode in Montreal with the Jesuit Father
Flocquet ; and when the Hessians arrived in Canada, finding that many of
them were Catholics, he went from company to company preaching and
confessing in German, a language which he spoke fluently. f

Regarding Father McKenna's successor, Chevalier Macdonell, who
cites this reference in his Reminiscences of the late Bishop Macdonell, adds :
" The next Priest in that section seems to have been the Rev. Alexander
Macdonell, ordained in 1768, misssionary at New Johnson, Upper Canada,
in 1796, died at Mor^treal, gth July, 1803, aged 61 years. "J In the census of
Canada, to be referred to presently, this clergyman was stationed at
Oswegatchie in the year 1783, and the Rev. Roderick Macdonell was near
at hand in charge of the noted mission of St. Regis. Twenty years later,
when a second Father Alexander McDonell came with other Highlanders
from Scotland they joined the old settlement then in existence, and it has
never died out, and is to-day the See of a Bishop.

It is said that the Highlanders who settled in the neigh boriiood of St.
Andrew's, in the Township of Cornwall, put up a chapel soon after their
arrival. It was a humble structure, in fact, a log house, but in it the
services of the church were conducted until the first stone church was built.
This was commenced about 1788, but was not completed for some time.
It was continued in use till 1864, when the new church was consecrated.
For many years after the first settlement was formed there was no resident
Priest; the Rev. Roderick McDonell, who was then stationed at St. Regis,
came occasionally to St. Andrew's to conduct the services. ||

* The U. E. Loyalists did not come to CTiiiula till after the Treaty' of 1783, wlieii England recognized
the American Union,

I Ilis name does not appear in Abbe Tanguay's list. This is on the authority of Or. Shea in Iiis
history of the Church in the United States, Vol. ii., page 142.

{ Abbe Tanguav's Repertoire General du Clerge Canadien, page 124.

II Cornwall Frepholder, July, 1864, cited by Judge Pringle in his history of Lunenburg , or the old
Eastern district. See Mr. John McLennan's paper on " Glengarry," which was read before the Celtic
Society of Montreal, referring to this matter.

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Eiirlu ffistori/ of tlif Chiirrh in ]ycnteni Canada.

ill

The tirst rcti;ulcir parish priest of St. Andrew's vvds the Rev. Mr.
Fitzsiminons, who was appointed in 1805. About the same time the Rev. Alex.
McDonald took charge of Glengarry, on the decease of the Rev. Mr. Mac-
donell (Scotus). Mr. Fitzsimmons returned to Ireland in 1807, and for
thirteen years thereafter the late Venerable Bishop McDonell ministered to
the people both of Stormont and Glengarry, assisted by the then pastor of
St. Raphael's. Father Gaulin, aft. rwards Bishop of Kingston, was here
for four years, from 181 1 to 1815. The Rev. Mr. G'Meara took charge of
St. Andrew's in 1821, and was there until 1827.*

Kingston, formerly Cataraqui, was a seigniory of La Salle's in 1675
and subsisted as Fort Frontenac rather than as a trading post down into

ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, KINGSTON, BlILT iSoS.t

British rule. A large number of Iroquois savages having declared their
willingness to embrace Christianity, it had been proposed to establish a

• See Judge Pringle's refeience to Cornwall, in History of the Eastern aistrict, pages 2345; ''''so
pages 192-196 as to the U. E. Loyalists.

+ Since the erection of St. Mary's Calheilral, about half a century ago, that little church has been
used for a school, under care of the Sisters of the Congrega'i )ii de Notre Dame, and uas divided into
several coni|)artnients for the purpose of classification of pupils. It was at all times unsuited for school

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Early Missions and Pioneer Priests.

mission in the vicinity of Fort Frontenac. Abbe Piquet, a zealous mission-
ary in whom the natives evinced much confidence, was especially fitted for
the task. The missionary station and fort were however not established at
Frontenac, but further down the River St. Lawrence on the southern shore,
at what is now the city of Ogdensburg. Father Piquet arrived here in
1749, at the River then called Presentation, and laid the foundation of a
church, the Corner-stone of which is yet preserved in the City of Ogdens-
burg. As early as 1751 the Abbe, accompanied by an escort, sailed around
Lake Ontario, calling at Fort Niagara, and receiving a grand reception at
Kingston on his return. Some years later, when Canada was lost to his
countrymen, he traversed these places again, and he returned to France by
way of Louisiana. He died in 1781 ; he is known as the Apostle of the
Iroquois.* In 1783 about 700 of the U. E. Loyalists, some of whom were
Catholics, arrived at Kingston. It was visited in 1801 by Bishop Denaut
on his way to Detroit; and in Smith's Upper Canada we find it stated that
there was a Roman Catholic Chapel in Kingston in 181 2. The old French
church in Kingston was built in 1808, the Rev. Angus McDonell, V.G., being
in charge. Father Perinault and Father James McDonald were stationed
there three years later, and Father Salmon in 18 17. He was folio, ved by
Father Fraser, bringing us down to about the time of the establishment of
that place as the Episcopal See of Upper Canada. Bishop Plessis included
Kingston in his itinerary of Upper Canada in 1816, and the Catholic popu-
lation was then said to number 75 families, of which more than two-thirds
were F'rench Canadians. No doubt the archives of this city, so important
in our ecclesiastical history, have many interesting particulars, hut their
details are beyond the limits assigned to this chajiter.

Niagara, at the other end of the lake, was a fort early in the 18th
century, about the year 1720. There was then a chapel and a Recollect
r^ather in charge. Father Crespel was here in 1730, but for no considerable
time; and we find that P'ather Legrand, a missionary at Vincennes, died in

purposes and Inspectors made freciuent complaint of it. Recently the structure had hecome weakened
in various parts and the walls hulged out. This gave occasion to more urgent complaints on the part
of the Inspectors, and last ^ear thev olliciallv condemned it as imfil and dangerous, and threatened to
withdraw tlie annual grant. Early this year the Kingston City Commissioner likewise condemned it as
a peril to the lives of the citizens Ilence it became necessary to take it down and huild a new school
in its place. The new edifice is already nigh to completion.

I am indebted to Mr. Flanagan, City Clerk of Kingston, for a photograpli (Henderson & Co.) from
which the accompanying cut was taken. The engravet erased the supports which were on the side
and front of the church.

* Docutnentary History of New York.

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Early Hiitory of the Church in Western Canada.

1742, on his way between these two places. The services were continued
after Father Piquet's first visit; but in 1760 they ceased, and the Niagara
records are lost. It is supposed that they were carried away by Sir William
Johnson. A report on the Church of England states there was no clergy-
man at this point during the war of 1776, but this may have reference to
clergymen of that church. The earliest name I find, in connection with
British Niagara, is that of Vicar General Burke, who was stationed there
io 1796 to 1798. He apparently did duty then at York, and seems to have
been on intimate terms with the members of the Provincial Government.*
He and Father McKenna are the pioneer Irish priests in this Province. It
maybe that Father Roderick McDonnell was an Irishman, but some written
testimony and fair inferences from it point the other way.

In 1785 an Irish Bishop, in acceding to the desires of the Halifax
Catholics, offered some Irish priests for the assistance of the Diocese of
Quebec ; and on the faith of this Mgr. D'Esglis, then Bishop, wrote to the
Abbe Hussey at London, and begged of him to obtain from the British
ministry permission for Irish or English priests to come to Canada. These
were intended as teachers in the seminaries, and also for missionary work
among the Indians. It was probably a consequence of this recommendation
that M. Hussey sent Father Roderick McDonell and Father Burke to this
country. The former, for nearly five years, had charge of the Iroquois
mission at St. Regis with great success and edification. f Father Burke was
one of the directors of the Quebec Seminary in 1786, where he taught
philosophy and mathematics, and did missionary work, as we have seen, in
Niagara and also labored in Cornwall. Vicar General Burke was consecrated
Vicar Apostolic for Nova Scotia in 1817, and made titular Bishop of that
Province in the following year. The name of the priest that preceded
Father Burke is not given; but there were services in 1792 at Niagara,
because Navy Hall, the governor's residence, was alternately used for
members of the Church of England and the Church of Rome.;]: Father
Des Jardins was there in 1802. The importance of Niagara declined when
the seat of government was transferred to York, and there is little further

• There is in the Toronto Public Library, MSS. A ii, an original letter written by him to Hon. Mr.
Smith, Surveyor-General. See an extended slietch and portrait in Dr. Shea's History of the Church
in America, Vol. ii., page 474.

f Mandements, etc., of the Hishops of Quebec.Vol.ii., page 428. Dr. Shea regards Father McDonnell
as a Scotchman.

{ Rochefoucault Liancourt Travels in 1795 in Upper Canada.

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Early MiHsions and Pioneer Priesrs.

information in the first (juarter of this century. It was not until May, 1832,
that Bishop MacdoncU secured four acres of land in Niagara, whereon
Father Edward Gordon built a church.

Sandwich, or the old Assumption Parish, is the oldest mission in west-
ern Canada. It dates back to 1744, and the Huron church was built there
in 1748. Father Potier, the last of the Jesuits of the west, was here nearly
40 years, and died in 1781. For upwards of one hundred and fifty years
this ancient mission has, under French and English masters, continued to
exist, and is now the centre of many flourishing i)arishes.

There is abundant information to be had in reference to the early
missions in this western peninsula of Ontario, but it could not be condensed
satisfactorily within the limits of this chapter; only a few dates and facts
are given.

The Detroit mission is closely connected with the early settlements at
Sandwich and Maiden, and is in a sense the parent mission of these in the
western peninsula of Upper Canada. It began in the first years of the i8th
century, and in point of antiquity reaches further back than Niagara. Like
Niagara it had the honor of including in its missionaries a Vicar General,
who was afterwards a bishop in the church.

The mission was founded, some say, in 1700, others in 1702, but in the
third year of the century Father De Lhalle was in charge, though for no
considerable time; he was put to death by the Ottawas in 1706. Abbe
Tanguay has collected from the registers of Detroit that a Father Bonaven-
ture, Recollecc Missionary, was then in charge of that post. Then we find
in the same painstaking writer that Father Du Jaunay was there in 1724.
It is probable that the wars of 1759 and 1776 created some confusion in this
mission, but there is no evidence that it was at any time abandoned. In
the census of 1783 we find two priests. Father F. X. Dufaux and T'ather
Frechette. Father Dufaux is buried at Sandwich. He was Vicar General
and missionary at Detroit up to his death in 1796. In that year Detroit and
the Illinois country became part of the United States.

M. Hubert, afterwards Bishop of Quebec, solicited as a favor and pro-
cured permission to go as a missionary of the Hurons at Assumption,
Detroit. This was in 1781, and he remained at that mission until 1784,

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Early History nf the Church in Wettern Canada.

when he was named coadjutor to M^t. D'Ils}j;lis.* He afterwards, in 1789,
sent a pastoral letter to these Hurons, in which he counselled them to be
true to their reli}j;ion, and to the King — (ieorj^'e II I. f In 1790 the Catholics
of Detroit nunil)ered 2,330. After Father Dufaux came Father Francis
Ciquard, and at the same tiiiu; we find Father Marchand for Sandwich.
At this point the mission of Detroit belongs to another country, and hence-
forth we are concerned only with the Canadian Mission.]: Nevertheless in
1801 Father b'elix Gatien, in charge of Detroit, is included as one of the
priests of the Quebec diocese. Father Marchand was in charge of Sandwich
from 1796 to 1825, with some assistance from Father Crevier, who succeed-
ed him for a short time. Father Crevier was missionary at Maiden and on
the Thames, and 'vas transferred to Penetanguishene, but subsequently
retired to Lower Canada. In 1817 there was one church with two priests
at Sandwich, and one priest with one church at Maiden. The population
of Maiden was given at 675. || At this time there does not seem to be any
other priest or church west of Niagara. In 1816 Sandwich had a population
of 1,500 souls. "The old parish of St. Peter on the Thames (Riviere de
la Tranche)," adds Chevalier Macdonell in his Reminiscences of Bishop
Macdonell, " of which the wooden church still stands in the midst of St.
Clair flats, contained with the settlement at Maiden about 450 souls.
These two establishments were on the confines of civilization ; beyond
them commenced the great solitudes' of the west, known as the " Upper
Country," or " North West," where many Canadians were employed in the
service of the Hudson Bay and other fur trading companies."

When the seat of Government of Upper Canada was transferred in
1797 from Niagara to York (Toronto), it is probable that some priest visited
this place shortly thereafter. In 1805 Father Macdonell (afterwards
Bishop) came to Toronto, as we find in that year, December 11, that he
secured for the Church the block of land on Dundas street, and in the
following year, the property on the corner of George and Duke streets in this
city. This property was conveyed to the Hon. J. Baby, Reverend A.

Ill

•Mandements, etc., of the Bishops of Quebec, Vol. ii., page 341.

+ See the original ot this letter, vol. ii. of the Mandements, page 3S4.

X See Dr. Shea as to the Detroit mission and the boundaries of the Quebec and Baltimore dioceses,
vol. ii., page 465, et passim.

II Gourlay's Canada.

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Eiirli/ Miss'ioim mid Pioneer Prieata,

Macdoncll, and John Small, Hsciuirc, in trust for the Roman Catholic
Church, for the purpose of erecting a chapel thereon. Subsecjuently these
trustees represented to the Parliament of Upper Canada that this lot of
land was insufficient and inconvenient ; and accordingly power to sell was
granted in 1821. The Act also authorized the trustees to purchase other
land for the use of the Roman Catholic congregation of York and its vicin-
ity. In pursuance of this the present site of St. Paul's on Power street was
purchased.*

The late Mr. C. P. Mulvaney, in his " Toronto Past and Present,"
says, that the "Church of Rome began her ministrations in York about the
year 1801. The first services were conducted by missionary priests on their
way to visit the French settlements, which ever since the Conciuest lingered
around Detroit and the River St. Clair. At first these services were held at
the private residences of those Catholics who were prominent citizens or
members of the government; at length, in 1826, St. Paul's Church was
built, and is described by travellers of that time as the handsomest edifice
in Little York." Mr. Talbot, who was here in 1824, is one of the travellers
referred to, and he described the village or town as containing 1,336
inhabitants, occupying about 250 houses. "The public buildings are, a
Protestant Episcopal Church, a Roman Catholic Chapel, a Presbyterian
and Methodist meeting house, the Hospital, the I'arliament House, and the
residence of the Lieutenant-Governor. The Episcopal Church is a plain
timber building of tolerable size, with a small steeple of the same material.
The Roman Catholic Chapel, which is not yet completed, is a brick edifice,
and intended to be very magnificent." Dr. Scadding in several places gives
an account of old St. Paul's. "The material of the north and south walls
was worked into a kind of tesselated pattern, which was considered .something
very extraordinary. The spire was originally surmounted by a large and
spirited effigy of the bird that admonished St. Peter, and not by a Cross.
It was not a flat movable weathercock, but a fixed solid figure covered with
tin."t

The ground for St. Paul's was purchased in 1821, but the date at
which building operations began is not known definitely. As we have seen

* II Goo I\'., cap. xxix. This was the first .\ct passed by our Canadian Legislature in reference
to tlie Catholic Cliurch. Tlie school property on Jarvis and Lombard streets was secured by an order
in Council passed in 1817. See preamble to Act of Ontario Legislature, exchanging this for the
property on Duke street ; Acts of 18S4, page 383, drafted by the writer of this chapter.

•{•Toronto of Old, page J03.

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Early History of the Church in Western Canmla.

in Talbot's account, it was in course of erection in 1824. On the ist of March,
1829, a collection was taken up in aid of che fund to liquidate the debt, and
^55 Hs. 6(1. was realized, the Attornciy-Gcneral f^ivinj^ £$< '»"^i many other
Protestants contributing; generously. The Solicitor-Cieneral, Hon. W. \V.
Baldwin, M.P., Simon Washburn and James Fitzgibbon, Esquires, were the
collectors.*

Regarding other missions in Upper Canada a paragraph must suflice at
this place.

In 181 2, it is said, therc^ was a church at Cornwall, and three years later
Father Perinault was doing missionary work at Perth. After him we have
heather De La Mothe, who was succeeded by Father Sweeny, or Swiney as
the (Quebec Almanac for 1820 gives it. Mention is made of leather Angus
McDonell at Rideau, and a Father Morin at Raleigh. Father Haran, set
down in the Quebec Almanacs for Richmond, 1824-6, was the first mission-
ary at Bytown (Ottawa), 1827. The returns published in 1825 add two
parishes, St. Andrew's and Cornwall, in charge of Father O'Meara, and
York, in charge of Father Crowley. The following is the list for 1826 :

Mgr. Alkx. McDoNt;LL, Bishop.
Mr. Crowlkv, York. Mr. Haran, Richmond.

Mr. Wm. Fraser, Kingston. Mr. O'Meara, St. Andrew's.

Mr. Jean Macdonell, Perth. Mr. Angus McDonell, St. Raphael's.

Mr. Crevier, Sandwich and Maiden.
Mr. P^luet, Vicaire.f

Early Catholic Settlements.

When Canada passed over to the English in 1763 the total population
was put down at 70,000, of whom 350 or 400 were Protestants and all the
others Catholics. A few thousands would represent all west of Montreal.
After the lapse of a dozen years we have an estimate by Mr. Bouchette that

* See Memorial \'oluine of Toronto, 1884, for list ami fiirlher particulars. Father O'Grailv, was
then in charge of Toronto.

f Of these pioneers and others ahcady incnlioneil, we may say that Father Perinault died in Mon-
treal, 1821 Father De La Moihe left Perth in that vcar and was in Kinj^ston for the followinj; year;
he then went to Lower Canada, and died in 1S47 Father Marchand was at Sandwich for nearly ,v> vears,
and died there in 1S25. Father Crevier was about 10 years at the same place, and then went to I'ene-
tanguishene, and linally to Low er Canada. Father Sweeney, after two years in Perth, left that place in
iSzi for the United States. F.ither l)cs Jardins left Niagara in iSoj and returned to France, where he
died in 1833. Two I'athers Alex McDonnells died in 1S03 ; the others will be mentioned in the next
chapters. .See infra, page 54, as to Father Ahearn of Peterborough.

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Early CothoUc Hettkments.

the popuhition had then reached Mo,ooo. We come to definite figures in
17H3, when, at the ie(|iiest of the (iovernor, the Bishop of Ouehec directed
a census to be taken of the Canadian CathoHcs. The number reached
1 13,008, with 135 Priests and 234 Nuns, l-'our of the Priests were stationed
in Western Canada — two in Glenj^'arry and two at Detroit, as already men-
tioned. There is no possihihty of estimating;' exactly the Cathohc jiopula-
tion at these places, but it was probably between three and four thousand.
It is material to make some calculation, as in this year (1784) the settlement
of Western Canada began.

When the War of Independence in the United States was ended by
the Peace of Versailles in 1783, there was a number of the old colonists
there who did not favor this disruiUion of the F.mpire. Several regiments
of British soldiers were disbanded in 1783, and not caring, or not being
allowed to remain in the Union, they determined to come to Canada.
These were the United Empire Loyalists, and it is uncertain how many
came to this Province. A pretty common estimate is that in 1784 ten
thousand of these Loyalists settled along the shores of the St. Lawrence.
They received liberal grants from the Government, and in fact they had the
choice of the best land in this Province. In early times they came in for a
large share of abuse, not only from the Americans, but also from the
English.* In Western Canada they were supreme — they were the owners
of the soil — the nation-buikV>rs. In later days they have taken up the
cudgels in their own defence, and there is a large and increasing literature
now written by their de.scendants. Many of them, Dr. Cannifif says, were
Roman Catholics ; and Mr. J. A. Macdonell of Greenfield in his sketch of
the life of Bishop Macdonell gives a number of particulars in regard to
them which are well worth perusal.

In the sj)ace of one short year, Western Canada received such an
accession to its population as ordinarily would not come in a cjuarter of a
century. In 1790 the population of Canada had increased to 161,311, of
whom 134,374 were Catholics, and settled chiefly in the eastern part of the
Province. These were attended to by 142 priests in active service. The

Korli/ HiHtiirii of the Cliuirh in Wi'Hteni Cunmln.

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British (iovfrnmcnt, lindint; itself possessed of a colony composed of two
races and two relij^'ions, determini'd to divide the old Province of (Jiiehec,
and this was etVected in llu! followinjf year hy the Canada Hill. The
division took effect in 1792. I'rom that date we have to deal with Upper
Canada, or Canada West, as it was suhseejuently called. Thoiif^h Upper
Canada was mainly I'rotestant we hnd only Mr. Stuart of Kinj^ston, Mr.
Bryan of Cornwall, and a missionary named Lanf^horn doin^' duty for the
Church of i'lnj^land ; while Mr. Hetluine a Presbyterian clerj^yman, was the
only other representative of the Protest;. Church. Things were in a bad
state, according to a report on the State of Religicm, 1790. Amongst other
things the report says : " The neglect of church duty appears, from repeated
accounts sent to the Bishop of London, and the society, to be m(xst shame-
ful. There is not a single Protestant Church in the whole Province. The
French Minister at Quebec, a reformed Jesuit, cannot preach in English^
and is very negligent in his duty. The minister of Trois Rivieres is a most
dissolute character," ♦ • ♦ • ;vnd more of this sort. At that time
there were settlements on the Bay of Quinte, at Johnstown on the Crand
River, 40 miles above Niagara. The report al.so adds that there was not a
resident clergyman at Niagara during the whole war.*

In 1794 the State of the Dioce.se of Quebec was reported by the
l^ishop to the Propaganda at Rome; and there were then 160 priests, of
whom four were in Upper Canada. One of these was a grand vicar. " This
small number of priests," the report goes on to state, " suffices there for the
present ; but as this new country is being opened up and rapidly peopled, it
will recjuirc a large number of priests to attend to it."t

As regards the drifting of the Catholic emigrants, when they reached
Upper Canada, there is not much direct information before 1842. In that
year a census by Religions was given, and the Catholics then were about
one in eight of the population. The largest number was in the Eastern
district, then the Home district — that is, the counties around Toronto —
and next to that the Western district — the counties in the southwestern
part of the Province. These, with the Midland and Dalhousie districts,
made up more than one-half th<! entire Catholic population. In the
census of 1852 the Catholics had generally increased in the preceding

* Archives of Canada, 18S9, page 48.

f Maiidements, Vol.'li., p. 474. In 1790 in the United States tliere were but i Bishop, 5 Churches,
and 24 priests. Rev. Dr. Middlcton, O..S.A., RecordK Am. Cath. Hist. Society, vol. i., page 47.

li*

Karlji Catholic SfttlemcntH,

decide ; and out of a total population of g52,cx3o, over 1^7, ooo were
Catholics, (llen^'arry takes llic had; and Carleton, Essex, Toronto,
Hastin},'s conic in iliat order with over 7,000 in each. The hest test is the
comparative proportion, and wc find that Bytown (Ottawa) is the most
thickly settled with Catholics, and that they were a majority of the whole
population ; that Prescott comes next ; then (ilenj^'arry ; and no other
county, except Essex, approaches to a majority. There were, however,
large settlements in Simcoe, Wellin^'ton, Wentworth, Northumberland and
Peterhorouf^'h. In Toronto, Kinf,'ston, Hytown, Hamilton and London, ihe
a},'^ri'f,'ate Catholics formed about one-eighth of the entire Catholic
population.

Whatever index these figures may be of the previous settlements, it is
likely that the Catholics in Canada in early times, kept within reach of a
town, if possible, in order that they might be within the call of a priest. It is
characteristic of the whole .settlement of America. The Irish immigrants
especially have been often censured for it. The censure has been passed by
tho.se who did not, perhaps, take all the circumstances of the situation into
account. Where there is no injunction to go to church on Sunday, and no
penalty in not complying with the rules of one's church — if there be rules at
all — it is easy enough for .settlers to go where they please in a new country ;
but it is otherwise with Catholics who profess to live up to the ref|uirements
of their church. To be enabled to go to Mass on Sunday, or once a month,
or even at rarer intervals, has often determined the choice of our immigrants,
and invited them to riccej)t what onlookers would regard as undesirable
locations in the country, and inferior positions in the cities. The past is
not now easily judged in this matter.

We have seen that the first Catholic immigrants in Western Canada
were Highlanders, who settled in Glengarry and adjoining counties as early
as 1776. The next perceptible increase was the addition of whatever
Catholics there were with the U. E. Loyalists in 17H4. There was no
further increase, except by the immigration of the times, until i'"ather
Alexander Macdonell (afterwards Bishop) came out here in it^oj with the
Glengarry Fencibles, a Scotch regiment of which he was Chaplain. They
settled in Glengarry and were very numerous. The first number of Irish
Catholic immigrants arrived at Perth, and these were falsely reported as
riotous and mutinous, and an application made to the Home Government

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Early History of the Church in Western Can "la.

to have them put down. Bishop Macdonell said he was wilhng to pledge
his hfe for their good conduct if they yot fair phiy.* This was about the
year 1H23, and the Government had no reason to regret accepting the
.ssurance of the Hishoj). It was probably the disturbance created at. this
time that drove I^^ither Sweeney out ol Perth. The Perth mission con-
tinued to exist and Irish immigrants increased there and elsewhere.

In May, 1825, four hundred and fifteen families, numbering 2,024 souls,
sailed from Cork, and, arriving in Upper Canada, settled chi^'fly in the pre-
sent county of Peterborough, north of Rice Lake. These were jKipularly
known as Robinson's emigrant , having come cut under the patron.ige of
the Hon. Peter Robinson. One hundred acres of land were granted to each
family of five persons, and grown up sons were entitled to the same. The
settlers petitioned the (Governor General, setting out that they were in need
of clergymen and school teachers. Some of these settlers and their de-
scendants took up land around Lindsay and were the beginning of the
flourishing mission established there. t In 1826 Father Ahearn was in
I'eterborough, and after an interval we find Father Crowley in charge of
that place.

There was another settlement in i8ji; 150 persons were sent out to
Canada by the Marcpiis of Bath, and 100 commuted prisoners and their
families, with 1,700 emigrants who came at their own expense. These were
located in the Township of Dumir.cr, Peterborough County, under the
direction of Sir John Colborne.:[: As in the case of the Irish Catholics at
Perth, a cry of disloyalty was raised against these settlers. But that
ijuestion has been authoritatively settled by no less a personage than Sir
Francis Pond Head. Writing to Sir R. W. Horton, May 31st, 1838, he
says : " On receiv'ng intelligence that Toronto had been attacked by a band
of rebels, the settlers to whom you have alluded wcrc amongst those who at
once marched from the Newcastle district, in the depth of winter, nearly 100
miles, to support the Government. "||

* See Bishop Macdonell's letter cited by Clieval'er Macdonell, RemiuiBcences, page 52.

tSeo Maguire'!. Irlsli in America, 103. History of the County Peterborough, published by Hunter,
Rose & Co. (No author given).

J Mr. Pubidge's evidence bcfoii.' the Emigration Committee cited in llorton's Ireland and Canada,
vol. X., page 59 ; Canada Miscellaneous Tracts, Parliamentary Library, Ottawa

Ibid, pag" 7S. See letter to Rev. leather Crowley, Douro, 1S26, from Hon. Thomas A. Stewart,
as to the condact of these settlers, given in Poole's I'eterborough, page 10.

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Missionary Work,

And so, while tlie Scotch held their own and became r. power in the
land, the Irish soon appeared, and were to be found everywhere throughout
the Province. Their missions, once established, became permanent and
advanced with the growth of the country.*

With the ancient Indian missions it was sadly otherwise. The Quinte
mission languished and di- d out altogether. Father Fenelon returned to
France, ;"id Father Trouve wa.- taken prisoner, but released, and subse-
quently served for many years in Nova Scotia. The Lake Erie mis.':ion of
DoUier and Galinier was gone without a vestige, and Penetanguishene laid
waste. In the report already mentioned as sent to Rome in 1794 on the
state of the church in Canada, we are told that the Indian missions were
reduced to eight or ten, all attended by Secular Pries's in place of the
ancient Jesuits. The most numerous of these missions did not exceed 500
souls. They were reduced to one-tenth of what they were on the discovery
of Canada. t

Missionary Work.

The Catholic Priest be>;lns to care for man at the cradle, follows him with his ministry through all
the phas. > anil vicissitudes of life, and doi's not abandon him even when the last sod is put On his fjrave.
He follows him into the eternal world by his blessed ministrations, prayiiif; and offerinif sacrifice for his
departeil soul. Like his Divine Master, h'- goes about doing good, reclaiming the sinner, reconciling
neighbours, bringing peace into fam ies torn by dissensions, instructing the ig.iorant, visiting the sick,
comforting llie afflicted, helping the poor, protecting the widow and the orphan ; in a wo d, giving glory
to God in the highest and bringing peace and happiness to men of good will. — ARcmiiMroi' Wai.sii.

The organized missionary work in Upper Canada began with this
century. In the summer of 1801 Bishop Denaut journeyed as far west as
Kingston and Detroit; and in the following February, on his return, visited

•There was a projected !"rench settlement in the County of York about 1779, which is deserving
of some mention. Dr. Scadding. in liis Toronto of Old, has macie short references to it; but since he
wrote in 187,^, niucli further information has come to hand. On account of the disturbed state of
France after the Revolution a number of I'rench refugees who were in Kngland wished tu settle in
Canada. Some correspondence was held in 179S between the Duke of l'ortl,"nd ami I'eter Russell, who
was then President of the Council or (jovernment here in York (Toronto), as to regulations, grants of
Kind, &c., for these Loyalists. The Loyalists were represented by Count De Puisage, a Lieutenant
(jeneral, and there were many others of rank in France among their .lumbers. It was intended to
settle them in the northern part of the County of York and form I' em into a military corps. The
ni.thor' ies at York did not want them at all, and Osgoode, the Chief Justice, raised objections to the
land grants, though finally they were located, adjoining the Oak Ridges and north of the prese it town-
ships of Mrrkhi'm am' Whitchurch. Some few settled in Niagara. After suffering great hardships the
little colony was broken up, and the survivors went away greatly dissatis led with the treatment they
had received. The land on which they were located was of the poorest description, and the settlers
were purposely kept as far as possible from the other French speaking inhabitants of Canada. .See
Canadian Archives, 18S8, for lists and corres;)ondencc, &c.

■f" See report from the Diocese of Quebec to the I'ropa^anda, vol. ii. of the Mandcments, iS:c., page
j.-kj. This report was written by i'ather Plessis (after.vards Bishop Plessis), and contains a great deal
cf in£orm.»tion respecting the Indians.

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Early History of the Church in Western Canada.

St. Andrew's and St, Raphael's, and confirmed 2,000 persons at these hitter
places.*

In the same year {1802) the Bishop issued his first pastoral letter to the
" Inhabitants of Upper Canada." It was written in French ; but beinjj;
intended for the parishes of Glengarry, was directed to be translated into
Gaelic. One copy was sent to Mr. Alex. Macdonell, and the other to Mr.
Roderick McDonnell, and the letter itself was dated from Longueuil, 25th
April, 1802. There are eight regulations in it— the ist and 2nd constituting
the County ot Glengarry and other places served by Father McDonnell into
a parish under the invocation of the Archangel Raphael. The third referred
to payment of tithes, as in the other parts of the Diocese ; 4th, the appoint-
ment of three churchwardens and their duties, cS:c.; 5th, a parish registry
and what it should contain ; 6th, a baptismal registry and regulations
respecting it ; 7th, regulations as to ornaments, ike, of the church — the
whole containing a great number of details. f *

The future Bishop subsequently wrote as to the task before him :
" Upon entering upon my pastoral duties I liad the whole of the Province
in charge, and without any assistance for the space of ten years. During
that period I had to travel over the country from Lake Superior to the
Province line of Lower Canada, carrying the sacred vestments, sometimes
on my back, and sometimes in Indian birch canoes, living with savages
without any other shelter or comfort but what their fires and their fares and
the branches of the trees afforded : crossing the great lakes and rivers and
even descending the rapids cf the St. Lawrence in their dangerous and
wretched craft. Nor were the hardships and privations which I endured
among the new settlers and emigrants less than those I had to encounter
among the savages themselves, in their miserable shanties exposed on all
sides to the weather and destitute of every comfort. ":|:

.\ few years later Father McDonell was made Grand Vicar of Upper
Canada. " I am busynow," wrote Bishop Plessis in 1807, "with a difficult
task, that is, to get the Government to agree to the establishment of a

* Maiulemonts, &c., of the Bishops of Quebec, vol. ii., p.ige sf'.v Bishop I'oiitbiiaiul hiul visited
Uetroit and Ogdensljurg half a century before this— in 1755.

t Mandenients, vol. ii., page ',-5- Tlie original ,s two long for transcription. Il can be seen in the
Toronto I'ublic Library.

IBi'-liop Macdonell in iS,56. See extracts from Canniff's Settlement of I'pper Canada, page 3()v

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Miss'wnary Work,

Catholic Bishop in Upper Canada. If the thing turns out well I shall have
the honor of recommending to the Holy See the subject who seems to be
best calculated for that place, and whom I have already placed among the
number of my Grand Vicars." The war of 1812 prevented this recom-
mendation from being made, and other difficulties delayed the matter for
upwards of ten years. The question was first broached in 1789 under
Bishop Denaut, and subsecpiently his successor called attention " to the
impossibility of a single bishop extending his solicitude with any success
from Lake Superior to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That space contains
more than 200,000 Catholics, and yet there are only 180 priests to supply
all their wants. Add to that the numerous difficulties from their entangle-
ment with a Protestant poj^ulation, and the constant vigilance necessary to
avoid l)eing compromised with a Government which views things only
through the medium of its own principles, and is constantly making some
new effort to establish the supremacy of the King."*

This was in 1806, and the total Catholic population of L'pper Canada
at that time was a few thousand out o{ the 70,718 inhabitants. Bishop
Denaut died in this year and was succeeded by his Coadjutor, Bishop
Plessis, whose career will call for some extended remarks. Wlicn Bishop
D'Esglis was consecrated in 1784 he called, as we have seen, I'ather Mubert
from Detroit as his successor. The Bishop died four years afterwards, and
Bishop Hubert, his coadj utor, governed the diocese for nine years. I n 1 789 the
Dioceseof Baltimore was detached from theDioceseof Quebec and seven years
later took with it the Illinois country, cut off by Jay's Treaty of 1795. t The
Bishop at this time jiroposed a separation of Western Canada, but Cardinal
Antonelli was opposed to it. Unfortunately Bishop Hubert had difficulties
with Governor Prescott respecting the creation of new parishes, and these
difficulties were greatly increased by the action (jf his successor. Bishop
Denaut, until the liberties of the Church were greatly imperilled. Were it
not for the bold stand taken by Bishop Plessis there might have been in
Canada a repetition of the scenes under the so-called Galilean Church of
France. It may not be out of place here to advert briefiy to the relations

♦Bishop Plessis' Letters.

+ The reader of American history «ill remember that the Ueciaration of Independence, I77f>, and
the Treaty of 1783, affected only the old 13 colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. The lllii ois country
was claimed as Uritish territory till Jay's Treaty was signed in 1795. Ab we have seen, Detroit was a
Canadian parish in that year. See map ante page 40. , „ '

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Early History of the Church in Western Canada.

then existinf:^ between the Church and State in Canada, rendered more
antagonistic by the Act which brought Upper Canada into existence
in 1791.

The Church and State in Canada.

When it is said that a Catholic colony in the middle of the last century
fell under the control of a government so Protestant as England then was,
the reader will apprecint^e at once the position of the Canadian Catholics in
1763 and thereafter. When the Treaty of Paris of that year was signed
there was no sort of recognition or toleration for a Catholic in the British
Islands. The British law did not recognize any such person. The penal
laws were in force against him. But these laws, with one notable exception,
did not, however, extend to the colonies. The exception was a statute
passed in the first year of (^ueen Elizabeth, and it was in effect to abolish
the supremacy of the Pope in the British possessions, at home and abroad.
It was passed in the year 1558 when Canada belonged to the French.
In 1763, when Canada was handed over to the English, the fourth section
of the Treaty of Paris provided that the new Roman Catholic subjects of
His Majesty George III. should have freedom of religion, so far as the laws
of Great Britain would permit. A learned but not very sensible Attorney
General of Canada, named Mazeres, unearthed this old statute of Elizabeth ;
and though, if the terms of the Treaty were to be regarded at all, common
sen.se would have indicated that this obsolete statute could not apply in
Canada, learned opinions were given to the effect that Catholics were
indeed to enjoy their religion, but that the King of England and not the
Pope of Rome was the head of it. British statesmen, who were not
concerned with running counter to the Elizabethan statute — who saw at once
the absurdity of it — removed this difficulty in passing the famous Quebec
Act of 1774, by which, practically, an oath of allegiance was substituted for
the " supremacy" inconsistency. After that Catholics were allowed to
breathe ; but it was the one aim of the Canadian Governors to bring the
Catholic Church under the civil law, as an Establishment. This was so
notoriously the issue in the time of Bishop Plessis that the whole cjuestion
was fought out then and decided. The struggle terminated in favor of the
Church ; but long before the result was reached the Church of England had
secured the Clergy Reserves as a material foothold for itself, and then the

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The Clergy Eeseires.

Church of Scotland also secured its share, and secured also its recognition
as a church.

Such, briefly, was the position the Catholic Church held before the
law when and after Upper Canada came to be settled. The Church of
England and the Church of Scotland were the only other religious bodies
then known to the law. The Catholics in Western Canada were no more
than tolerated, but in the East there was not much change from early times.
They were too numerous and too necessary to be persecuted on the score
of religion ; and in the face of governors, under-secretaries and English
Churchmen, the British Government kept the terms of the Treaty of Paris
in view, and, all things considered, dealt fairly with the Canadian Catholics.*

The Clergy Reserves.

When the British Parliament, in 1774, passed the Quebec Act, it was
intended to be a measure of relief for the French Canadian and the Catholic
Church. In 1791 the same Parliament passed the Canada Bill, as it is
called, for the relief of the English settlers and the Church of England.
This relief was more substantial for the English Church and people than the
earner measure had been for the Canadian and his Church. It provided
that one-seventh of all the public lands granted were to be reserved for the
support and maintenance of a Protestant clergy. This reservation did not
constitute an act of appropriation ; but it put by part of the public domain
for an object specified and incapable of being otherwise applied — unless, of
course, at the will of the Home Government. The reserved lands in Upper
Canada amounted to about two millions of acres. This Church endowment
was intended to be the basis of Church rectories; in i8ig the Home
Government instructed the Colonial authorities to erect a Church of
England rectory in every township. This instruction was unheeded ; and
seven years later another instruction, much to the same efilect, came, and it
also was disregarded. Then came an agitation against these Reserves, and
in a very short time the Church of Scotland proved to the English law-officers
of the Crown that it was as good a church as the Church of England ever

* After 1775 the Bishop of Quebec received t'250 jicr annum from the Government, and in 1S13 this
was increased to £i,<.kic>. This latter sum was reguhirlv paid to Mgr, Plessis, Mgr Panet, and Mgr.,
Signay. On the death of Mgr. Signay the payment ceased. Tlie Protestant Bisliop, Dr. Mountain, was
paid .E3,0(X) per annum. Tlie Catliolic Church received 41x1 acres of tlie Clergy Reserve between 1789
and 1833, the Church of Scotland 1,160 acres, and the Church of England 22,345 "cres.

Early History of the Church in Western Canada.

was. The legal opinion went to this Hmit, but held that all other denomina-
tions were excluded. The other denominations, accordingly, arrayed them-
selves against these two claimants ; and before five years had elapsed the
Imperial Ciovernment declared that it abandoned the Reserves, and desired
that they should fall back into the general public lands of the Crown. The
popular feeling in Canada was against the reservation, but the Church of
England had strong friends in England and in this country. The elective
branch of the old U. C. Legislature declared on sixteen different occasions
for devoting these lands to general public purpo.ses, but the other branch of
the Legislature effectually blocked that disposition of them. Then they
engendered McKenzie's Rebellion ; and after it was suppressed. Lord
Sydenham, the (jovernor in Canada, procured a local bill dividing the lands
among a few favored denominations. The Church of England got the lion's
share, but that was not enough for the Archbishop of Canterbury ; he pre-
vailed on Lord John Russell to alter the bill. The alteration scarcely
suited the Archbishop, and displeased the Canadians, and nothing came of
it. Many years after Upper and Lower Canada were united,* a bill was
passed by which the proceeds of the sales of these lands were handed over
to the different : municipalities in the Province ; thus putting an end to this
unfortunate enactment, which, for upwards of sixty years, disturbed this
country. In 1857 Dr. Ryerson, the Chief Superintendent of Education in
Upper Canada, wished these moneys to be spent on educational improve-
ijient — on furnishing schools with maps, globes, &c., and especially with
libraries. He wanted the public to believe that the moneys ought to go in
that direction. By this means he filled each school section with books to
his own liking, and was taken to task for it by Father Bruyere, and van-
quished in a controversy published in the old Toronto Leader.

These two matters of the status of the Church and the Clergy Reserves
are important enough for the digressions, and we will now resume the mis-
sionary work of Upper Canada in 1806, and recur to the bishop then in
charge.

Bishop Plessis.

The Right Reverendjoseph Octave Plessis was born in Montreal in 1763,
and was ordained priest in 1786. He was for a time professor in St.
Raphael's College, and was subsequently Secretary of the Bishop of Quebec.

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liishirp Plcssis,

In 1797 he was nanifd Coadjutor lo Bishop Denaut, and oljtained the
Royal acceptance through (ieneral Prescott. By reason of the captivity of
Pius VI. the bulls for his appointment were delayed for some time ; but in
April, 1800, the new PontilT, Pius VII., appointed him Bishop of Canathe,
with the right of succession to the see of Quebec. He was consecrated
I^ishop of Quebec in January, i8oi.* Bishop Denaut died in 1806, and on
the 27th of January of the same year Mgr. Plcssis took possession of the See.
The new Bishoj) appointed Abbe Panet as his Coadjutor, and took the oath
of fidelity'to the King in presence of the members of the Legislative Council. f
The Government of the time disputed his right to be called Bishop of Que.
bee ; and for the first ten years of his episcopate there was a contest, as to
his status before the law, between him and (iovernors Craig and Prevost,
largely at the instigation of the new Anglican Bishop, Dr. Mountain. In
181 1 Bishop Plessis prepared an elaborate memorial on the position of the
Church since the cession, and the reader is referred to Abbe Ferland's
memoir for particulars of it.

In that important document J the Bishop s.it out the position of the
Church, botli before and after the cession of Canada to England in 1763,
and the position he contended it must occupy in the future. Ryland, the
Governor's Secretary, went to England to consult the Colonial Secretary,
but effected nothing. The Bishop subsequently went to Europe and
travelled to Rome, interviewing the French King on his return. The war
of 1812 put a new face on the question ;|| the conduct of the Bishop in en-

* See life of Myr. Plessis by Abbe Ferland; Morgan'.s Celebrated Can.iclians ; also I'Abbe Gosselin's
History of the Church of Canada. In each of tl.esc, different dates are given for the earlv events in the
life of the Uishop.

t The otVicious R \ laiul. tlif (iovernor's Secretarv, endeavor»"d to get the Hishop to take the oath
under the Eli/abcthan anil (iilit i statutes, but the Bishop indignantly refused. The Governor sent Ryland
the following day to ajiologi/.e to tlie Hishop,

J See a'so Christie's Canada, Appendix for valuable documents.

' The aid tjiven by the Catliolic Church to the authorities in Canada has on more than one occasion
preserved this colony to the Hrillsh Crown. In 1775, in 1S12, and in iS;7, its influence was in thi.-i
country, as it has been in every country and at all times, on the side of legitimate authority. In 1775
the Bishop issued a pastoral letter exhorting the faithful to be true to Hritish allegiance and repel the
American in\aders. This was the lime that I'rankin, Chase, and Father Carroll, came to Montreal to
influence tlie Canadians and endeavour to get them to join in the American revolution. They were
coldly received, and tlieir mission proved a failure. No wonder Governor Carleton declared publicly
in that year that if the Province of Quebec had been preserved to (ireat Britain, it was owing to the
Catholic Clergy.

" Warriors," said Bishop Plessis, addressing the Militia in 1812, " to you belongs the task of opposing
yourself as a wall to the approach of the enemy and to disconcert their measure*. " And the (iovern-
ment gr.icefully acknowledged his assistance. So did the Prince Consort for the services of Bishop
Macdonell in 1837.

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Early Iligtory of the Church in Western Canada.

couraging and supporting the militia drew on him the friendly regard of the
Home and Colonial Secretary ; and the result was that the Home Secretary
recognized the liishop as Bishop of Quebec, settled a pension on him for
life, and declined to decide adversely the various points raised against the
position of the Church. vSuhsequently, by a circular letter of Lord John
Russell, the title of Lord was added to the name of the Catholic Bish(jp.*
In 1817 the Bishop was called as a member of the Legislative Council of
Quebec, and remained as such till his death in 1825. In 1818 he was named
Archbishop of Quebec, but deemed it prudent not to assume the title, which
lay dormant till 1844."!

In 18 1 6 Bishop Plessis visited Upper Canada, giving confirmation at
St. Raphael's, at Kingston, and at Sandwich, and westward to the confines
of civilization. He visited Maiden and the Thames Settlement. (See
Itinerary for 18 16.) In trying to carry out the plan of Cardinal Gerdil in
1796, he aimed to have three Coiidjutors — one for Montreal, the second for
Upper Canada, and the third for the Gulf Provinces. In 1806 he wrote:
" My first attempt will be for Upper Canada. "|

Division of the Diocese of Quebec.

In time the Bishop took into consideration tlu; division of his vast
Diocese. He formed a permanent mission in the North-West, which
became an accomplished fact in i8ig; in July, 181 7, Nova Scotia was
detached, and erected into a Vicariate Apostolic ; and Upper Canada, with
New Brun.swick and Prince Edward Island, were detached from Quebec and
erected into Provinces in i8ig. In 1820 Bishop Plessis visited Upper
Canada, and went also to the North-West and Red River. At this time
he desired to divide up Quebec into five Dioceses : Gaspe, Quebec and
Three Rivers; the Gulf Country; Montreal; Upper Canada; and the Hudson
Bay Country. This was not acceptable at London, but finally four were
agreed on. The North-West was substituted for the Hudson Bay Country,
and there was only one Bishop along the Atlantic Coast. || The Bishop set
out for Europe in this year to lay his plans before the Courts of Rome and
St. James. The only condition imposed by the English Court was that the

* See Essays on the Church in C.inada, by the present writer, Cliap. VII., for tliis whole question,
f In 1820 wlien Mgr. Plessis was in Rome the Pope was satisfied with the prudence of this step.
{ Mandenients, &e., Bishops of Quebec, vol. iii., page 19.
Il Vol. iii., page 170, of the Mandeinents.

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Div'mon of the Diocese of Quebec.

new titularies were to depend completely on the l^ishop of Quebec* The
Court of Rome, in 1820, approved of the project, ^ivinj; an Administrator
for the District of Montreal, and a Vicar Apostolic for the North-West. In
1820, therefore, we find Upper Canada with an Auxiliary Bishop; and it
continued in this state for the following six years, till tlic Diocese of
Kingston was erected.

I'^atherMacdonellwas nominated Bishop of Resina - inpartibusinfidelium
— and \'icar Apostolic of Upper Canada on the i^th of January, 1819. He
was consecrated on the 31st December, 1820, in the Church of the Ursuline
Convent, Quebec. f Upper Canada was erected into a Bishopric on the
14th of February, 1826, and Bishop Macdonell appointed first Bishop under
the title of Regiopolis, or Kingston. It is said to be the first Diocese
erected in a British colony since the so-called Reformation in lingland.
The i)articulars of the life of this illustrious man, and of his labors in Upper
Canada, will be the subject of the next chapter.

This bird's-eye view of the Church in Western Canada down to 182O is
necessarily imperfect ; but it contains .some of the elements, and shows
some of the characteristics of Church history. '!'o the French Missionaries
in Canada must be accorded the first place. They colonized this country
and planted the Cross on its citadels and settlements. They mastered the
dialects of the savages, and taught them to pray in their own tongue. They
began and continued the evangelization of the native Indian. When the
British immigrant came, they took up the work of the mission on his behalf,
and obtained missionaries suitable for him, addressed him in his own tongue,
and continued their assistance till the immigrants could look after themselves.

Of these the Scotch are entitled to the premier rank. In (ilengarry and
in Kingston, and along the bt. Lawrence, Scotch settlements were estal)lished
and Scotch Priests were to be found. The first liishop was a Scotchman.
When Lord Sidmouth, in 1802, raised objections to the Highlanders coming
to Upper Canada, from his apprehension that the hold the parent State had

♦ Abbe Gosselin, Histoire de rEglise du Canada, page 1^5.

tin 1823 a circular letter in English was address;d by Bishop I'lessis to the Clergy of I'ppcr
Canada. Bishop McDonell wa.s in Europe at the time, and the Rev. Anthony Manseaii was appointed
to superintend the missions. Mandements, vol. iii., page iSo. Fatlier Manseau was never stationed in
Upper Canada, He was at Soulanges 1817 to 18J7, and died in 1866. He is named a Vicar General. -See
Tanguay, page 162.

H£

r^'^

Early History <>/ the Cliiirrh hi ]Vi'»tfni CuniKhi.

of the Can;id;is was too slender to be permanent, Father McDonnell assured
him " that the most effectual way to render that hold stronf,' and permanent
was to encourafje and facilitate the emij^ration of Scotch Ilii^Oilandcrs and
Irish Catholics into these colonies."

The Irish Catholics, now so imjiortant in the Church in Western
Canada, come indeed next in importance, but they came in sifch numbers as
soon to constitute the bone and sinew of the Church in this country. The
pioneer Priest, even amonj^'st the early 1 lij^dilanders, that came before
Father McDonnell reached America was Father McKenna, an Irishman;
and it may be that leather Roderick McDonnell, who labored at St. Re^'is
for twenty years before the (jlenj^arry b'encibles crossed the Atlantic, was of
the same nationality. The first iSishop of this Diocese was an Irishman.*

When the prejudice ayainst the Irish immi}j;rant died out or was stilled
large numbers of Irish came to Upper Canada, and the succeeding chapters
of this volume will be occupied chiefly in showing what they have done here.
The Catholic Church puts no one nationality before another — it recognizes
all nations and embraces all within her capacious bosom. While the three
we have referred to are prominent in our history there are yet substantial
services to be recorded from her children in England — a country to which
the church in all America is greatly indebted. Pausing at this point, not
70 years ago, we find in this Province one bishop with eight priests — 3
Scotch, 3 Irish and 2 French — and with parishioners scattered over the
whole Province, and numbering perhaps less than ten thousand souls. For
200 years prior to 1826 French Canada was indeed known and inhabited ;
but Western Canada, until 1784, was a desolation. Then all at once an
English-speaking and intensely Protestant band of immigrants landed in this
country in great numbers and the colony, Minerva-like, sprang at once into
existence. The Catholic Cluirch that was here in the beginning of our
civilization, and had ministered all along to her own children and to the
native Indians, suddenly found herself as an alien in her own territory.
The loyalty of the Catholics was suspected and the position of their spiritual
advisers questioned. Favors were heaped on what was the State Church in
England, and obstacles put in the way of the Catholic Church and her

♦But the Irish Piiesl, as a rule, went to the sea coast, as we have seen that \icar (jeneral Burke
did in 1798 In Abbe Tanguay's volume we find dozens of Irish Priests f<o'"g to Newfoundland and
what are now the Maritime Provinces, while only three or four remained in this country.

Ancient Diocese of Quebec,

adherents. At first she was menaced with the statute of I'-h/aheth,
deprivinff her of all recof:;nition ; and secondly she was offered the more
deadly alternative of falling; into the embrace of the State and becoming a
mere establishment by law. But amid all these and other diificulties the
Church maintained her own course and preserved her own position. British
connection depended continuously on her aid, which was cheerfully f^'iven,
and the State learned that the Catholics are loyal to every lej^'itimate form
of f^overnment. Then prejudice slowly disappeared; and thouf^h the
Emancipation Act was delayed for Ireland, Critholics in Canada, in the
midst of a Protestant population, enjoyed freedom of religion. And so the
Church pursued her steady cour.se through all the varying fortunes of
this country. " One great fact," says Parkman, " stands out conspicuously
in Canadian History — the Church of Rome. More even than the royal
power she shaped the character and destinies of the colony. She was its
nurse and almost its mother; and wayward and headstrong as it was it
never broke the ties of faith that held it to her. These ties formed under
the old regime the only vital coherence in the population. The Royal
Government was transient. The luiglish cnn(]uest, shattered the whole
apparatus of civil administration at a blow, but it left her untouched.
Confusion, if not anarchy, would have followed but for the parish priests,
who, in a character of double paternity, half spiritual and half temporal,
became more than ever the guardians of order throughout Canada."

Notwithstanding this continuity of the Church and this customary
devotion of her priesthood, common facts on the surface of history, there yet
remained difficulties for the British immigrants and the French Canadians
that were sufficient to depress, if not to dishearten them. They were
scattered over an area of territory immense and inaccessible ; they were dis-
covered and ministered to under circumstances of unusual hardships ; and
when the country became less thinly inhabited they found them.selves
wedged in amongst the adherents of a hostile faith. The Church could no
longer count on the support of the great French Catholic nation, and
English-speaking missionaries were needed and not readily obtained. In
the face of all these and other obstacles, there have been great strides made
in the Catholic Church in this western country during the last century and
a half. Even in the 50 years reviewed in this chapter, from Father Mc-
Kenna's time in 1776 to the establishment of the Diocese of Kingston, the
Church acquired a solid footing in Canada and her children shared

-«

I I '

i' :'

V\'

Karltt Ilittovji of thr Clninli in ]f'<'Hti'ni Ciuinda.

creditahly in its vicissitudes and prosperity. "We can IdoIx history in tli(>
face," says Thomas D'Arcy McGee, " and putting our hands on any part of
the fabric of the State, \vc can say as a people, 'I'll is was jiartly our work."

C'liiiKAi, NoTK. -Il would Ih' (lit)icul) to iudicati- the sources from whitli tlu- roiuliT
miijlit <;ol luMitioiiul information from the forei^oinj,' otiier than the Eeele->iastieal AiehiNe>.
at U (line, (jiioIkh-, anil i\.iii!^stoii. 'IMie niaiuleineiits of the Hisho|)>. of C^ueliee, ))iil)h><h(r(l
reei'iilh in linee \ ohmies, are important and will repay ioc'unj^ into. They t;ise the
Mishop-'' letters, and some reports, |)uhlie doc.iinents, i*te. Next in point of information
eome the areiii\es of Canada, issned iiy I). Hrymner, at Ottawa. I'iiese are indispensalile.
and frequent use has heen made of ihi'm in tlie forcj^oin;^. .\fler these, for persona! infor-
mation as to priests, Ahlie Tan>,'nay's Repertoire (ienerai <hi Clerj,"' Canadien is \iiy in-
leiestin;^, hnl ver\ hrief. For pnhlie doennu-nts the hist volume of Christie's Canada is of
ji'reat value, and eonld not he ()\erlooki(l. (iarneau's Canada has an inmiense .amount of
information ; hut in dealing with tiie Cliureh liie aiUhor has laid himself open to critieism,
aM<l has received it in several ipiarters. .'\hlie l''erland s Life of Misho]) I'lessis is interest-
in<;; maiiv fi'c'ts are fjiven in hrief in .\hhe I'aillon of Canadian History; (iosseiin's little
catechism of Chmcii history has facts and datis, hut is loo short ; Chevalier MaedonelPs
Reminiscences of Bishop Macdonell, and Mr. j. \. .\lacilo lell's sketch of the same person,
are both en rtaiidn^ little brochures, wliile a nnndtei- of other writers contribute here and
there facts respectinjj this jieriod. The U. I^. Loyalists have a number of historians and
apologists, the writings of whom are to be found in most public libraries. The Clergy
Reserves question has been discussed in a number of books and by a numb r of writers.
The legal aspect of the period has been wiitten in French by Mr. Fagnuelo of Montreal and
in English in Essays by the present writer. There are some local histories worth looking
into, Judge I'ringle's Eastern District, Lcavitt's Leeds and Grcnvillc, Scadding's Toronto
of Old, and others.

4^Hi4-0-(H)-»«HHHMMHH>

«4-IH)^MHHK

LIFE AXD TIMES OF TFIF lIOSOliMiLF AM> VJdllT RKVEHENn

ALEXAMtEH MAChOXEl.L.

II. F. MclNTOSTI, Esq.,

COKA-,:.S/-OXl>,XC MEMKKH OF TIIF. .1 V K K ICA X C.t THO,. IC UfSTO/^tCU SOCnV

cr riiu.Ania.rm \.

■O-0-O-(W>*-JH><MHMHHH>*"PHHM>-(MMW>

hiiii:.

^^'O^'y^^U

/ //' ' "/,

ThK rioNOKAHI.IC AND RiCHT RkVHRKND AlKXANMU'R MaCDONELL.
HORN AT GI. EN URQiUART, SCOT! At\D, JVIY tp/i, 1762.
DIED AT DUMFRIES, SCOT/.AA'D, yAXl'ARY l^lh, 1S40.

\ . ■

fiS-

cHAiTi-:i^ in.

I819-1840.
TJIK IJFE AX!) TIMES OF niSllOP MACDOSKLL.

The Diorcsv of KiiKiHtoii — liisltoii Macilonell — The Enrli/ Clcriiy — Cnrdiiud Weld — Vhita-

tioii of the Dloeeae—'The Pitiitihes — liiihop Gaidiii—'The Troubles nt York — New

Missions — An Interesting Event — IS3C) to IS-'iS — Stntisties — liishop

Maedoneirs Deatli and Biirinl.

rill' DiocKsi- OF Kingston.

" Kiuleari'il to all by llii' siinpliiitv of his niaiinor. In tlu- lieiu'voK'iui' of Ills disposilio;i, ami liv the
afffiMlonate warmtli of his lu-ail, liis iK-alli was ilrplori-d hv those who kiu \v him, ahiiosl as a doiiiostic
calamity; his loss was ref^ariloil as oiio whose phue eouKI never he siipplieil. With his iK'i)»lil>ois of
every ereeil ami of every shade of opinion, he lived in habits of faniill.ir and unreserved ioereourse.
Ardently altaehed to his religion himself, imbued with a deep sense of the sanetity of its prei ^pls, and
the divine anlhority of its doctrines, he sought to evtend its intUience among others, not by the jarring
elements of disputations criticism, not by woniuling the prejudices, or challenging the hostility of his
Protestant lirethren, but by the Innocence of his life, by the modesty of his demeanour, and by the
exercise of all the calm, cjuiet, unobtrusive virtues, which adorn th • character of the Christian."

Rkv. M. a. TiKRNicv ■., " Memoir of Dr. I.ingard."

¥\l\\ time had now come when the Chuiih in TjipiT Canada was to
enter upon a new epoch in her hi.story. Hitherto slie had formed
but a part of the vast Diocese of Quebec ; but now she was to enter
upon a corporate existence of her own and take her phice in tliat
world-wide circh: of episcopal sees which cluster round and draw
their refnlf^^ence from the See of Peter, the motlier and mistress of churches.
The division of the Diocese of Quebec was a project which, had occupied the
thoughts of Bishop Plessis from the very bci^innin;.; of his episcopate, and had
formed the subject of frequent addresses to the Propat^anda; but a multitude
of untoward circumstances which shall presently be summarized, had delayed its
realization. When he paid his first episcopal visit to the Province in 1816 and
sawwith his owneyes the promisint^stateof the missionsat St. Raphael, Kings-
ton and Sandwich, he was more than ever convinced of the necessity of placini;
them directly under the care of a resident bishop. But such was the position
of the Church at that time that he felt the necessity of fust -oming to a

«-

-9

The Lije and Times of Bishop Macdonell.

satisfactory understanding with the British Government as to his own title
ere he broached the subject of new bishoprics. Surprising as it may now
seem, objections had been taken to his use of the title, Bishop of Quebec,
although it had been borne by his predecessors for more than a century.
The ruling power made strenuous efforts to enforce the Royal Supremacy,
and, by claiming the right to nominate the pari.sh priests, sought to make
the Church the creature and slave of the State. But this question has
already been gone into at some length, and it is enough now to say that
Bishop Plessis, who was not a man to be easily daunted, steadfastly con-
tended for the freedom and dignity of his office ; and, as not infrequently is
the case, patience and courage gained the day. His title being at length
conceded to him, he lost no time in taking up again the project of the
division of his Diocese. At his instance Father Alexander Macdonell, who
was known to have great influence with the Court of St. James, proceed-
ed to England in 1816 to lay before the Ministers of the Crown the project
whicli Bishop Plessis had already brought to the notice of the Holy See.
On arriving in England Father Macdonell waited upon Viscount Sidmouth,
who mtroduced liim to the Colonial Secretary, Earl Bathurst. Thanks to the
iniluence which the Vicar General had with these Ministers, born of his
services to the Crown at an earlier period, he, to a certain extent, succeeded
in his mission.* Strange as it may appear, the Home Government, though
not too kindly inclined towards its own Catholic subjects, was disposed to
take a more liberal view of colonial affairs. Profiting by the lesson of the
revolt of the Thirteen Colonies, they were anxious to conciliate the Canadas,
and accordingly put no obstacle in the way, but ra«:her favored the irection
of new bishoprics, as proposed to them by Father Macdonell. Accordingly,
as a first step in this direction, in July, 1817, with the consent of the British
Government, the Holy Father separated Nova Scotia from the Diocese of
Quebec and erected it into a V'icariate y\postolic. About the same time an
agreement was arrived at between the Courts of Rome and London to erect
two other Vicariates, one in Upper Canada and the other to comprise New
Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island and the Magdalen Islands. This was
but a portion of the ecclesiastical divisions considered necessary by Bishop
Plessis: he desired to place a bishop in the district of Montreal and another
in the North-west Territory, but this general division of his diocese he hoped

* For a more extended account of his negotiations see Mgr. Tetu's "Les Eveques de Quebec:"
Quebec, 1889,

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The Diocese of Kitigston.

to obtain only after protracted negotiations at London and at Rome.
Father Macdonell had, in the meantime, returned to Canada.

Not having been apprised of the undenstandinf? which had been arrived
at between tlie Holy See and the British Government, Bisho)) Tlessis
himself was urj^ed by the most influential members of the Canadian clerfj;y
to proceed to Enj^land. Sir John Sherbrooke before quitting; Quebec in
.\ugust, 1818, had strongly advi.scd the Bishop to make tiiis vovage, which
he foresr.w would be of great advantage to Canada and to the Church. So
many solicitations, joined to the powerful motives suggested by the interests
of religion, decided Mgr. Plessis to cross the ocean to draw down more
efificaciously on the Church the benediction of the Pope and the favor of the
Sovereign. He accordingly sailed from Quebec on July jrd, i8ig. Shortly
after his arrival in London he was surprised to learn by letter from Canada
that within a few hours of his departure Bulls had been received from the
Holy See ai)pointing him Archbishop of Quebec, and giving him as
suffragans two bishops, one in charge of Upper Canada, the other of New
Brunswick and Prince Edward's Island. This was more than he contem-
plated ; for, as tlie British Government had not been apprised of the matter,
there was reason to fear that objections might be raised to the erection of
Quebec into a Metropolitan See. He therilore hastened to wait ujion Lord
Bathurst, and frankly explained the state of affairs. As he anticipated, the
news was not well received, and Lord Bathurst informed him that he had
better allow the title to remain in abeyance until some more convenient
time. .\t the same time he was assured that no objection would be taken
to the appointment of the new bishops, provided they did not assume the
titles of their respective Sees, but remamed for the present Vicars Apostolic
and Coadjutors to the Bishop of Quebec. Thereupon Mgr. Plessis proceed-
ed to Rome and sought an audience with the Holy Father. Kneeling at
the feet of the Father of Christendom, he begged permission to lay aside
the title of Metropolitan until such time as the British Government should
cease to be opposed to it. The well-known merit of Mgr. Plessis and his
influence at the Court of St. James induced Pius VH. to approve the
measure, and to grant the Bishop the privilege of deciding the time when
prudence would permit him to assume publicly the title of .Xrchbishop of
Quebec; it accordingly remained in abeyance until 1844, when it was

«f-

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-if

The Life and Times of Bishop Macdonell.

revived by Mgr. Signay, and has been borne by the subsequent occupants
of the See.

The Bulls appointing Father Macdonell Bishop of Resina and Vicar
Apostolic of Upper Canada were issued by Pope Pius VII. on January I2th,
1819. His consecration did not, however, take place until two years later,
the ceremony being performed by Bishop Plessis in the Church of the
Ursuline Convent, Quebec, on December jist, 1820. The new Bishop at
once returned to Upper Canada and entered upon the duties of his high
office with that zeal and determination characteristic of the man. Not-
withstanding he was close upon his sixtieth year, he became more than ever
the apostolic missionary, traversing the country in every direction and laying
broad and deep the foundations of the now flourishing Church of Ontario.

Although Upper Canada was now under the care of a Vicar Apostolic
the full desire of Bishops Plessis and Macdonell was yet to be realized.
Under the freedom and independence which the Church of to-day enjoys in
this thriving Province, it is difficult to realize the obstacles by which she was
hampered in the discharge of her Divine mission three quarters of a century
ago. It is an unpleasant fact to recall that she should have been dictat-
ed to by the civil government in things solely of the spiritual order. Yet so it
was ; and if, after lengthy negotiations, she was permitted to send a Bishop
into the new Province to administer her affairs, that Bishop was not allowed
to take the title of his See or to exercise fully his prerogatives. But Bishops
Plessis and Macdonell, who had fought so valiantly for the rights of the
Church, did not now relax in vigilance or determination. They continued
negotiations wich the Ministers in London to induce them to withdraw
opposition to the appointment of titular bishops in Canada, and the better
to further this end Bishop Macdonell visited England in 1825.* There he
found, to his relief and delight, that the Ministers of the Crown were
disposed to take a more reasonable view of things, and were now willing to
accede to the desires of the Canadian prelates. Bishop Macdonell accord-
ingly proceeded to Rome; and having there reported to the Holy Father
and to the Propaganda the altered state of affairs, he returned to Canada in
January of the following year.f During his absence Bishop Plessis, worn

* The Bishop h.id been in England .ilso in 1823.

■fWhile in England in 1823 Bishop Macdonell had called upon Mr. John Gait, the well-known
Scottish novelist, who was agent in England for those of the principal inhabitants of Upper Canada who
had claims aijainst the Government for losses incurred during the invasion of the Province by the armies
of the United States in 181^-15. The information given to Mr. Gait by the IMshop at this time
resulted shortly afterwards in the formation of the Canada Company. See Mr. Gait's "Autobiography."

-»

ifflyi

Binliop Mdctloiiell.

out by the cares and fatigues of the episcopate, had died and been succeeded
at Quebec by Mfjjr. I'anet.

On February 14th, 1826, Leo XII. erected Upper Canada into a diocese
and appointed Bishop Macdonell its first Bishop under the title of
Regiopohs or Kingston, Kingston being chosen as the episcopal city. The
diocese comprised the whole of the present Province of Ontario, which has
since been subdivided into tlie eight dioceses of Kingston, Toronto, Ottawa,
Hamilton, London, Peterborough, Pontiac (Pembroke) and Alexandria.

Bishop MAcnoNELr,.

Bishop Macdonell was born in (ilen L'rciuhart, on the borders of Loch
Ness, Invernesshire, Scotland, on July 17th, ijd2,* and being from his
infancy destined for the Church, was, at an early age, sent to Douay, then to
the Scottish College at Paris, and subsequently to the Scottish College at
Valladolid in Spain, where he was ordained priest on February i6th, 1787.
On leaving Valladolid he returned to Scotland and served for four or live
years as a missionary priest at Badenoch and the Braes of Lochaber, so
celebrated in the old Jacobite song, " Lochaber no more."

Towards the end of the last century a large proportion of the
smaller tenants in the Highlands of Scotland were reduced to the greatest
distress by reason of ejectments from their holdings, which the proprietors
had determined to convert into sheep-walks. At the same time the
restrictions of the emigration acts prevented them from emigrating to
the colonies. t In this dilemma, blather Macdonell, who labored amongst
the poor peojile and was a daily witness to their sufferings, sought and
obtained employment in the manufactories of Glasgow for seven or
eight hundri'd of the disjios.sessed Highlanders, the greater part of whom
were Catholics. This was in 1792. Here they remained until 1794,
giving full satisfaction to ihcir employers and, notwithstanding the bitter
hostility against Catholics characteristic of the time, J earning the

* " Reminiscences of Bishop Maciloiiell," l)y Cliexalier Macdonell, K.H.S.; Toronto, 1888. Another
account slates that he was horn in Iiu lihtggan in (ilcnganv hi 1760, hut tiie weight of testimony is in
favour of the former. Sec also Tanguaj's : " Repertoire Ciciieral du CIcrgc Cauadicn," Quehec, iSf>J<.
For information relating to the Hisl\op's career in Scotland I am mainlv indchted to the inteiesting
" Reminiscences" ahove q'roted.

fSee I>ord Selltirk's " Present State of tlie Highlanils of .Scotland."

f Only a few years hefore (1780) a riotous inoh led hy Lord George Gordon had hurned and sacked
the Catholic Chapel and priest's house in (ilasgo« .

«-

-9

I i

'/'//(' r/ijc mill Tiini'n of Dinhop MnrihiiirH.

friendshi)) and ijood-will of their I'fDtcstaiit ft'llow-workincn. In the hitter
year, owinjf to the troiil)les on the continent and the consequent stagnation
of the British export trade, there ensued a fi;eneral failure amonj^ the cotton
manufacturers of Cilasi^ow. Tlie result was that the greater part of the
operatives, Catholics as well as others, were thrown out of employment)
and were obliged by necessity to enlist in tin- numerous military organiza-
tions then being formed for the defence' of the country. Finding that the
Catholics under his charge were obliged to enlist in these bodies, and com-
pelled, acccjrding to the then universal practice, to declare themselves
Protestants, Father Macdonell conceived the idea of embodying them into
one corps as a Catholic regiment. With this \iew a meeting of Catholics
was held at l-'ort Augustus in 1794, and a loyal address to the King drawn
up, offering to raise a Catholic corps under command of young Macdonell
ot Glengarry ; a deputation was sent to London, and the address was most
graciously received by the King, a letter of service being issued to raise the
first Clengarry Fencible Regiment as a Catholic corps, the first raised as
such since the so-called Reformation. Father Macdonell, though contrary
to the then existing law, was gazetted chaplain.* In the summer of 1795
the regiment was ordered to the Isle of (iuernsey, and in 1798 was trans-
ferred to Ireland on the breaking out of the troubles in that country.

l)uring the peace of iSoj the Glengarry regiment was disbanded and
its members again reduced to great straits, the Scottish manufacturing
trade ha\ing been so circumscribed b\- the late .sanguinary war that the
Highlanders could not Hnd an as\lum or employment in their own country,
blither Macdonell then bi-gan to entertain the hope of establishing a claim
upon the (Government, so far at least as to obtain for them grants of land
in I'pper Canada, where many of their race were already settled on lands
obtained as rewards for services rendered during the .\nierican Revolutionary
War. Father Macdonell lost no time in putting his scheme into execution.
He proceeded to London about the year 1802 to lay before the Premier,
Right Hon. Henry Addington (afterwards Lord Sidmouth), the claimsof the
disbanded Highlanders, .\fler protracted negotiations success at length
crowned his efforts, and in iJSoj he obtained the Sign Manual for a grant of
land for every officer and soldiiT of the Cdengarry Regiment whom he should
introduce into I'pper Canada. Despite the o]-)position of the Highland

* C'l)cvalicr Matiloncir:

ReTiiiiii-ci'iices.

flp-

I'lir Karly Chiijii.

I a

proprietors, who wvw l(.;ith to sec- their people cini^n'ale, ;iiul in coiiseipieiiee
threw every obstacle in their power in the chaphiin's wa\ , the first hatcii
of his Mi<<hh'inclersleft Scothmd and huuled in Quelx'C in JtSoj, where h'ather
Macdonell soon joined them ; otliers foUowed at intervals (liirin<; that and
the followinj^ year and j)roeee(h'd to (^pper Canada, where, in what is now
the County of (ilengarry, their indomnitahle leader had, on the presentation
of his credentials to the then Lieutenant-( lovernor, i Jeulenant-( "leneral
Hunter, obtained the land slii)ulati'd for his followers aeeordins; to the order
of the Si<j;n Manual.

This was the third considerable settlement of Catholics in I'pper
Canada, and if the circumstances which led up to it have boen dwelt upon
at some length, it is because of the importance of their bearinf.,^ upon the
future of the Church in this Province.

Father Macdonell, as already related, had, immediately on his arrixal
in Canada, been ap])ointed to the mission of St. Ivaiihael in I'pper t'anada,
and in 1807 he became Vicar-Geni-ral. Here he devoted hiniseU in earnest
to the duties of his .sacred callinj;. " I'or more than thirty years," sa\s his
biof^rapher, " his life was devoted to the missions of Upper Canada. He
travelled from the province line at Coteau du Lac to Lake Superior, throu<,'h
a eountrv without roads or bridges, often carrxin^ his M'stments on his
back, sometimes on horseback, sometimes on foot, or in tlu' rou^h wa^^ons
then used, and sometimes in Indian bark canoes; traversin<;- the ,t,neat
inland lakes and navif^atin^ the ri\ers Ottawa and St. Lawrence, to preach
the Word of (iod and administer the rites of the Church to the widely
scattered Catholics, many of whom were Irish immigrants who had braxcd
the difficulties of settlinjj; in our Canadian woods and swamjis. B\ his zeal,
liis prudence, his iier.se\erance and !.;()od sense, thesi' settlers, as they
multiplied around him, were placed in that sphere and social position to
which they were justly entitled."*

'J'he K.\ri.y Ci.i:k(;v.

On the erection of Upper Canada into a diocese in 1.S2O there were but
seven priests in thi entire Province, viz.: leather William Fraser at
Kinj^ston, Father An^us MacdcMiell at St. Raphael, Father John Macdonald
at Perth, Father James Crowley at York, Father Patrick Harm at

•Chevalier Macdonell's " Reminiscences.."

r' j'^r'

«-

The I/i/c iiiid 'I'iiiicii of li'mhop Mdcilonell,

!i'

Richmond on the Dttiiwa, ami l'"athers Joseph Crevicr ami Louis Joseph
I'^liU't in charj^f of the missions at Sandwich and Maiden.* Churches and
schools were few in number ; and the Catholic settlers, scattered hen; and
there through the Province, t were forced to depend upon the occasional
visit of a priest for instruction and the consolations of religion.

I'\'ithcr I'raser, or " Priest" l"'raser as he was more familiarly called,
was a nati\e of Inverness, Scotland, and was born m 1788. He was
ordained priest at Quebec in iSig, and was at St. Raphael to welcome
Bishop Macdonell after his consecration in 1820. He was removed to
Kin<^^ston in 1822, where he built a fine stone jiresbyter)', afterwards
occupied by Bishop Macdonell during his residence in Kinj^ston, and
subsecjuently used as an academy by the Nuns of the Congrefijation. lie
died at Kin'^ston in 1836 after a life of exceptionally fruitful labor.

l''at]ier Angus Macdonell was born in (ilengarry in 1791, and ordained
priest in 1822. He sub.se(]uently became Vicar General, and was in his day
one of the most influential and best known of the Upper Canadian clergy.

The priest at that time in charge of the Perth mission deserves more
than a passing notice. leather John Macdonald was one of the most
noteworthy characters in the Province, and no history of the Church
in ( )ntario could make any pretence to completeness which failed to make
mention of him. He had been ordained at Quebec in 1814, coming to
Upper Canada in the following year, and settling at Kingston, where he
remained until he was appointed to Perth in 1822. He lived to a great age,
dying only a few years ago. Here is a pen-picture of him by a writer who
visited him not long before his death : " The great object of interest, love
and pride of all classes throughout the country was 'The Vicar,' old Father
John Macdonald, who had held their spiritual rule for over half a century,
and who was still living, hale and hearty, in a pleasant cottage in Glen-
garry. * * * This fine old priest was, without exception, the most
venerable and patriarchal figure the writer ever looked upon. He was
nearing his hundredth year of age. His massive head and trunk were un-
bent by years, and sound in every function. Only the limbs that had
travelled so many a weary mile, in days when the whole country was but an

* Quebec Almanac, 1S26.

■f We have no means of estimating the number of Catholics in the Provincr at tliis time. The total
population was 166,379.

-m

The Enrlii Clergy.

untrackcd wilderness, had yielded to time; and falif^uc and could no longer
bear up the colossal frame. Wallace himself had nol passed through more
bold adventures than this old Highland chief. • • * The reverence
and love that centred in him in his old age ga\e proof of his benign and
salutary use of his mighty sway."* " leather John" is the subject of many
interesting and amusing anecdotes, which, however, would be out of place
here.

Of blather Crowley, the pastor of St. Paul's, NOrk, until 1S29, very
little is known. On leaving York he went to retcrborough, remaining there
until 1H35, when his name disappears from the published lists of the Upjier
Canadian clergy. What became of him is not known.

blather Patrick Ilaranf was pastor of Richmond from 1826 until 1830,
when the jiarish was amalgamated with that of Bytoun. Whether b'ather
Haran died about that time or left the Province lias not been ascertained.
At any rate he is not mentioned in the clergy-lists after that year.

Father Crevier, who succeeded Father Marchand in charge of the
Sandwich mission, was born in lySO, ordained priest in i(Si6, and in the
same year became Father Marchand's vicar. On the hitter's death in 1H25
he succeeded him and remained in charge until 1831.+ During his incum-
bency a community of Nuns were induced to come to Sandwich to take
charge of the (iirls' school; but a project which had been entertained of
building a convent for them liaving fallen tluoui^li, llu' religious soon after
left the parish.

This same year was marked by the arri\al in tlu' Pioxince of Kev.
William Peter Macdonald, afterwards Vicar-( General, who took uj) his
residence at St. Raphael with the idea of taking charge of the BishojVs
intended seminary for ecclesiastics. § This well-known ecclesiastic was born
in Scotland in 1771, and was educated at Douay and at the Scottish College
at Valladolid in Spain, at which latter place he was ordamed on Nov. 29th,

* " Can.idian .Sketches' in "Irish Ecclesiastical Rccoid," Nov., 1S87.

tThere was a I'ather .\hearn at Peterborough in 1S26, hut wliclhir he was the same man I liave
nol hecn able to ascertain. The spellingof priests' names in the almanacs and other publications of the
time varies so much that it is sometimes ditlicult to identify them.

I Abbe Tanguav's " Repertoire (ieneral."

t5 " Tlie seminarv," savs Chevalier Macdonell, " was a very modest affair ; but it had the honor to
produce some of the most elTicient missionaries of the time, among whom may be mentioned Rev.
(ieorge Hay of St. Andrew's, Rev. Michael Brennan of Belleville, and Rev. F.dward Cjordon of
Hamilton."—" Reminiscences."

«-

•1

'J'lir [j'lj'r iukI T'nneH nf liitliop MutilnnfU.

1790. Returning to Scoll.ind he served Idt twelve years on the missions in
(liffcrcnt parts of the country. He whs sul)se(|uently in the service of the
Jirilish (lovernment in several important capacities, latterly as an attache
of the British ICnihassy in Spain. " lie was," says one who knew him well,
" a thorouf^h scholar and a jxilished f^ciitlcman. Possessed ola refined poetic
ta.ste, he left many pleasing,' productions of his |)ious muse, most of which
are still in manuscript."* I le puhlished a ni wspaper called " The Catholic"
at Kinj,'ston in 1830, and afterwards resumeil it at Hamilton from 1841 to
1844. He died at St. Michael's Palace, 'i'oronto, on April 2nd ((iood
I'riday), 1847, and his remains are buried in tlu' Cathedral, under the
(iospel side of the allar.

C,M<i)iN\i, W'l.i.n.

In the I'all of 1 826 occurred another e\cnt having an important hearinj.^
on the development of the Church in I'pper Canada. Advancing; aije and
increasing responsibility had caused Bishop Maedonell, when in Rome in
1825, to ask of the Holy See the appointment of a coadjutor to assist him
in the work of his extensive diocese, naming at the same time Rev. Thomas
Weld of Lulworth Castle in England. Leo XH. graciously acceded to his
request, and on Aug. 0th, 182G, Mgr. Weld receixcd episcopal consecration
as Bishop in partibiis of Arnycla. This estimable prelate was a descendant
of one of the oldest English Catholic families, who.se name is held in
benediction by reason of its princely benefactions to the Church. He was
born in Eondon on Jan. 22nd, 1773, and was educated entirely at home.
He early gave jiroofs of piet)- and munilicent charity, and on the death of
his father he succeeded to the estates of the family at Eulworth in Dorset-
shire. In the meantime he had married and been blessed by the birth of a
daughter, who subsecpiently became the wife of Eord Clifford. Mrs. Weld
died in 181 5, and not long afterwards her husband resigned his estates into
the hands of his brother, and retired on a pension to Paris to study for the
priesthood. He was ordained in April, 1821, by the Archbishop of that
city, and, returning to England, entered on the duties of the jiriesthood at
Chel.sea, where he remained until his appointment as coadjutor to Bishop
Maedonell. After his consecration he took up his residence at the Benedic-
tine Convent at Hammersmith. Being in j)0()r health he deferred his

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]'iaitiitiiiii III' llir hiiirrsc

dfpartiiiv lor Canada and otcupicd himself willi the dirri:li<)ii of llu' Hciic-
dictino C'oinnuinity, with whom hr rcsi(h(l. His health, however, (Hd not
improve, and by the advice df his phvsic ians he conliniied to resiiU in
ICnj^hmd until summoned to Koine t)\- Pojie l'ius\lll. in iS\n. On the
25th of May in that year lie was named Cardinal, and in the enjoyment of
that august dij^mity hf took up his [lermanent residence in the Internal City.
He died on April loth, iH^j, and is buried in the Church of St. Marcello,
where a handsome monumi'nt, from desif^ns by Sij^nor ( lior^ioli, is erected to
his memory. Ilis funeral discourse was preached In I )r. (afterwards
Cardinal) Wiseman, Kector of the linj^lish Colle^'e at I'Jome,* who, in his
" Recollections of the Last I'our Popes," .sa\s of his Eminence : " Seldom
has a stranjfer been more deeply and feelin^fls' rej^retted bv the inhabitants
of a city tlian was this holy man li\ the poor of Rome." The presbytery
and }^'reat church of St. Rai)hael in ( ilen^'arry were erected in anticipation of
M^r. Weld cominj; to Canada. iSishop Macdonell received many favours
from Rome throuf,di the influence of his former coadjutor, who, while he
lived, ever retained a deep interest in the well-beinj; of the Church in Upper
Canachi. Several f^enerous f^ifts from him of mone\', vestments and church
plate are recorded in Bishop Macdonell's correspondence.

Visitation oi- tiik Diockse.

In 1827 Bishop Macdonell bej^^in a visitation of his immense diocese.
Under his own immediate supervision tlu^re were parishes at Kinj^ston, still
presided over l)y blither I'laser; at Perth, under the charj^e of b'ather
Macdonald ; at Richmond, of which I'alher llaran was pastor; and at St.

* The following is that iinilion of l>r, Wiseiinin's scnnoii lehitiiif; to Canad.i: "In accepting this
otlicc (coailjutor to liishop M.udoncll) there could certainly lie no riiDni (or anihilion. It wuuUI lead
him into a far country, « here for the rest of liis days an ocean would roll het\yeen him and all tliat \Tas
dear to him on earlli. Tlie lield fit Ids exertions would liaye heen. in great measure, a district luit
lately colonized — yery unsettled, and unproyideil \\ilh many of those resources which loiif;' custom liad
rendered almost indispcnsahle for Ids happiness. In fact, it was at the risk of life Ih.il he lonsented to
accept his iu)niinalion : for already was his constitution enfeehleil, ami unei|ual to the unhealthy
cliiuate of so cold a latitude. 'liie remonstrances of his dcunestic and miilical adyisers, aiul the
bu.siness of his new district to he transacted in London, joined to other causes, dt tained him Ihree
years in England; hut though it delayed his departure from time to time, he never ahandoned the
intention of proceeding to Amerii.i In Ihe nuantime he was not unemployed, lie c<udd no longer
ilischarge the puhlic duties of the ecclesiastical state; hut he found means of compensation hy assuming
a charge which enahleii others to lill his place. He retired into Ihe Conyenl of llamiriersniith, and
devoted himself to the spiritual direction of edifying the Conimnnitv. Hut I'roxideiice now designed
him f<u- a higher dignitv, and a more extensive circle of usefulness. The health of his lielovcd daughter
reciuired the e\'|)eriinenl of a milder climate; and he look the opportunity of accompanying her, to
visit, before leaving Europe, the tomh of the Apostles. He had not been long in Rome before he was
invested by Pope I'ius \'III. with the dignity of Cardinal. His nomination took place on the 15th of
March, 1S30 "

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nil

The l/it'f iiikI Tiinen nf U'ltihop Mitrdoi"'!!.

Andrew's, in ch;u>;c of l'"athcr Macdont

the Hishop presided over in person. Hei
no resident priest. Arriviiij; in V'ork, tl
tiieii in the phiee still under the pastoral
church beinj; the only Catholic place of w

Proceedin},' on his journey westw.ird,
where he found his old fri<nd, Mr. John
his visit to ICn^fland in iX^^. Mr. (ialt,
months before as Commissioner of the C
and founder of (iuelph, the hrst tree o
felled, with helittinj^ ceremonies, on .\pril

liish(

op rcinanu'd tor scNcrai days as tli
had aln-ady erected a substantial lo^' Ik

wncrc

(lispcnsi'd a ''encrous

■;i)it

11. The church at St. Raphael's
:\vei'n Kinj^'ston and >'ork there was
le Hishop found the few Catholics
care of I'ather Crowley, St. Paul's

orship in the town.

Hishop Macdonell reached (iuelph,
(ialt, whom he had not seen since
who had come to Canada hut a few
anada Company, was the projector
n the site of the town havinj^ been

J ^rd of the same year (1H27). The
e f^uesl of the Commissioner, who

se on the banks of the river Speed,

dity.* In recognition of Hishop

GUELPH, 1827.

ShtKt'ing Mitaionetl street unit the sitf I'/i iv/tich the Church nmv stands.

Macdonell's services in the formation of the Canada Company, Mr. dcdt
presented him with a block of land on a commandin^f site on a hill over-
looking the settlement, on which to erect a church. f .\n incident with

* This house, which was the first erected In Guelph, still stands in perfect proservatioii, and is now
used l)v the C. P. R.as a railw.iv station. It was fornicrlv known as "The Priory."
f Gait's ''Autobiography.'

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i'iaifiitiini of the IHoct»e.

«-

reference to this ^,'ift is worth rccordiii},'. As a coniphinent to t'.if Hisliop,
Mr. (iah iit oiue set men to work to open an avenue* throu^li ilif fon-st,
cxti'iuliiiL,' from the river's Ijrink to the summit of the hill on wliicli the
cl\urch of the future was to lie huilt. On the crest of the iiill a hirf^c v\m
tree was left staiuhn^' in the midst of the clearinj,', " formiii;^," savs a
chronicler, " a very prominent feature in the landscape wiiicli the place then
presented." ( )n llie exact site of this tree the present mat,'niliceiu ( luircli
of the Jesuit l'"atiu'rs now stands, overlookin}^ the city and surroundint^
country. It is the hrst object that strikes the eye of the traveller api)roach-
ing (luelph from any (Urection.f

Leavin}^' (iuelpli, liishop Macdoncll mntinued his journev westward to
the J'alhol Settlement, where was a con^dei .|,lt' number of Catholics
scattered llnou.i^h the townships bordering on i .uke ICrie. This settlement
had been made and was then presided o by the celebrated Colonel
Talbot, whom tin; iiishop had met in York a short time before. Thou^'li a
member of the Church of ICngland, Col. Talbot was not unkindly disposetl
towards Catholics, and, on this occasion, extended a warm-hearted hospitali-
ty to till' Bishop, wlio remained in that vicinity as his guest for several days.|
Indeed it was to the urgent representations of Col. Talbot that ilie \isil of
hishop Macdonell was due. As a result of the Bishoi)'s observations,
b'ather Campion, then stationed at Niagara, was directed to visit St.
Thomas and London twice a y^ar.

From the T.Ubot Settlement the Bishop proceeded to the missions
along the Detroit River, then in charge of Fathers Crevier and I'Muet. Of
these the principal, as we have seen, was Sandwich, presided over bv
Father Crevier in person, while his vicar looked after Maiden. Here the

*This street still licai^ llif Bishop's name.

tMr. Gait mlmiis to li.ivc been of a propiietic turn of iiiinil. Writing from Ouelpli to a friend in
Knglanil he saiili "llitlurlo «e have iiad no adventure in (iuelph, not evrn one Sal)iiie sieiic; hut an
incident in tlie ileaiinff wa- Muiijnilicent. Desirous of seeinf; the effect of a rising; yrouiul, at llie end
of a street where .i popish church, about twice the size of St. I'eler's at Rome, is one day to lie liiiill (tlie
.site was chosen by tlie Hishop, ai\d we have some expectation that his coadjutor, Mr. Weld, of
Lulworth Castle, is coming liere), I collected all the choppers in the settlement to open a vista, and
exactly in two hours and ten minutes, 'l)y .Snrewsb\iry clocii,' or my own watch, an avenue was unfold-
ed as large as the I.onj, Walk in Windsor I'ark, and of trees that, by their stature, reduce to pigmies
all the greatest barons of the English groves." — Frasers Miij;a:iiit; ISjo. While the present noble struc-
ture is far from being "twice the size of St. Peter's," it may at least be said to be one of the largest and
most beautiful in Ontario. Whether it was intended that Mgr. Weld, in the event of his coming to
Canada, should take up his residence in Guelph or not, as mentioned above, is not definitely known.
Had he done so Guelph might have become permanently an episcopal city. A gift is recorded of
.Ci.ooo, from Cardinal Weld to Bishop Macdonell towards the erection of a church or college there.

J St. Thomas "Journal."

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iilili!.

1 1

'fifl

'J'hf L'l/i' tind 'J'iiiie.f <>/ Jiislmp MucdoixU.

I^isliop again met Mr. John (ialt, who was also on a tour of the Western
Province. Mr. (ialt, in his " Autohioi^raphy," states that on reachin<;
Detroit he was told that Bishop Macdonell was at the "seminary" on the
other side of the river, lie pn)!)al)lv meant the presbytery, as there was
no collei:;e erected there until many years after this date. The parish at
vSandwich was in a Hourishinj^ condition, and possessed a substantial church
(the Assumption), erected in 1782, a presbytery and a school. The
Catholics were more numerous than in any other district west of (ilengarry,
and their spiritual wants had hvcn well looked after by a succession of
zealous and devoted pastors.

Whether, on this tour, Hisliop Macdonell \isited ihc old Indian
missions on Manitoulin Island and along the shores of I>ake Superior does
not appear. But no jiriest attended there regularly until 1H35, when Father
Proulx took up his resilience at Penetanguishene, and from ti at out, for
many years, devoted himself to the welfare of the Indian.

The result of this protracted visitation of the diocese was a great
imjietus to religion and \.h<^ establishment of several new missions. As we
have seen, the numb;'r of priests in the Province in 1826 was seven: by
1830 they had increased to sixteen, and many new churches were erected or
in ]iros]ti'ct. •

Tm: Pakisiiks.

.As already stated, the only church in ^'ork at this lime was old St.
Paul's, r^ither Crowley continued in charge of the parish until i8j8, when
he was removed to Peterborough, where, so far as can be ascertained, he
was the first resident priest, lie was succeeded at \'ork by Father
()'(irady, an active man, but, as the seipiel proved, greatly lacking in that
humility which should ever characterize the true priest. One of blather
O'Cirady's Hrst acts in ^'o;•k was to raise funds towards li([uidating the debt
on the church. To this end he callr'd together his par'shioners and had a
committee appointed to take the matter in hand. As a result of their
deliberations a collection was made on Sunday, March ist, uSig, which
amounted, including donations, to /^55 8s. 6d. .\mong those who contri.
bated, as appears fnjin an advertisement in the " Loyalist," of March 14th,
were: The Attornev-CJeneral, Hon. Thomas Clark, Hon. \V. Dickson, Col.
W. Chewett, Rev. Dr. Phillips, Dr. Widmer, Dr. Diehl, John S. Baldwin,

«(

The Parishrs.

Esq., Captain Baldwin, k.N., Robert Haldwin, Esq., Kohert vSuUivan,
Esq., \V. R. Prentice, Est]., and Samiul P. Jarvis, Estj. At a subsequent
meeting of the committee (Marcii yth), Lawrence Heyden, Escj., J. P.,
presiding, the following resolution was adopted : " That we hail the
liberality which our Protestant and dissenting brethren manifested on this
interesting occasion as a certain prelude to future concord among all classes
of the community: That the Solicitor (ieneral, W. \V. Baldwin, Esq.,
M.P., vSimon Washburn and James Eitzgibbon, Esquires, are justly entitled
to our best thanks for having acted as collectors."* An instance of tolera-
tion and liberality such as this is recorded with pleasure, as proving con-
clusively that acts of a less happy nature which have marred the fair fame
of Toronto at sundry times, have not emanated from the better class of our
Protestant fellow-citizens.

Al)out this time the Bisho]) took up his residence in York. lie had
been named a member of the Legislative Council of Upjier Canada, and his
civil duties as such recjuirod liis presence in the capital during the Parlia-
mentary sessions. He lived in the house still standing, though somewhat
altered, on the south-east corner of Jarvis (then Nelson) anfl Duchess
streets. t Dr. Scadding is the authority for the statemiMit that the Bishop
also resided at one time in Russell Abbey, formerly the residence of lion.
Peter Russell, on Princes street. :j; The episcopal private chapel, a large
frame building, afterwards known to f;.me as the ' Soup Kitchen," which
was nearly opposite the Bishop's residence on Nt Ison street, was removed
onl}' a few years ago.

In 1827 leather James Campion was placed in charge of the mission at
Niagara. His parish, however, may be said to have extended from York
to the Detroit River, and this iinmrnse distr'cl he w.is accustomed to
traverse once or twice in the year. He was the first priest to visit (iuelph,
S''. Thomas, London, and other settlements, since Bishop Macdoneil's
visit in 1827. I'^ather Campion remained in charge of this mission until
1830, when he was removed to Prescott. He was a most devoted mission-
ary, and is said to have been a j)ersonal friend of the famous leather De
Smet, whose career in the wider lield of the " Vnr West" he emulated in

*" loroiito: I'asI ami Present." (Meinori.il Nohiine), p. i;.:.
t " Reininisceiices of Bishop Matilonell," p. 2(k
J " Toionto of OKI," p. 34.

III

ill 1

ii i

'Sf

Tlif Life iind 'rinicn of B'lHltop Mtinionrll.

the forests ;in(l clearings of Upper Canada. I le was succeeded by Father
John CuUen ; and he, in 1833, by Father Bollan (or Polin), who remained
until the appointnent of I-'ather Edward (jordon in 1835.

In 1832 Bishop Macdonell secured from the Government a grant of
four acres of land at Niagara, being part of the military reserve. Here, on
the advent of F'ather
Gordon about 1835,
a church was built
under the title of St.
Vincent de Paul,
which continues in
use to the present
da\ . Father Gor-
don, who was a con-
vert; * was destined
to become one of the
best-known and most
influential priests in '^(^
Upper Canada. He
continued in charge
at Niagara until the
division of tlie Dio-
cese of Kingston in
1842, and for some
time afterwards. Church of St. \'incent de P.vri., Niagara.

Subsequently he be- /■>r.,-^a^ou>,sj6.

came Vicar General of the Diocese of Toronto under Bishop de Charbonell,
and resided in Hamilton. On the erection of the Diocese of Hamilton in
1857, Bishop Farrell made him his Vicar-General, in the enjoyment of
which dignity he continued for the rest of his life.

The years 1828 and 1829 were marked by the rise of parishes in Peter-
borough, 13elleville, Prescott and Bytown (Ottawa). Of Peterborough,

* On the occasion of Father (iordon's visit to Groat Britain in 1S43, lie said, in reply to an address
from his Hock: " The individual who is the cause of my a!)senting myself for a short time from you is
an only hrolher in the decline of life a brother to whom I am hound by every endearing tie -one to
whomj 'nder Providence, I owe my conversion to the Catholic faith, and who has never ceased to
exhort me to the practice and faithful discharge o' all m\ spiritual and temporal duties." — "The
Catholic," July 12th, 18.(3.

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'J'h>' I',irishfs. 85

l-'cilluT Crowley, as already stated, was the iirst })ast()r, and continued as
such until 1835, when he was succeeded by Father John J^utlcr, who, for a
lonj,' term of years, labored with <;reat success on that mission. On I'el).
18th, 1834, Bishop Macdonell secured a grant of land in I'eterborou^'h in
trust for the erection of a church, etc. This grant consisted of lots 1 and 2,
south of Brock street and west of George street ; Nos. r and 2, north of
Hunter street and west of Cicorgc street; No. 14, new survey, fronting
Hunter street, and park lot 0. On this land ['"ather liutler began the
erection of a church, which is the present Cathedral of St. I'cler.

The first resident priest at Belleville was Father Michael Brennan,
who continued to minister to the Catholics of that mission during the life-
time of P)ish(jp Macdonell, and lor many years afterwards.

b'ather Timothy O'Meara's name first appears as resident pastor of
Prescott in 1830. He was probably placed in charge the previous year.
He was succeeded by blither James Campion, already referred to, who built
the priest's residence and the building known as Gren\dle College, which
was intended lO provide the C;>.th()lic xouth of the time with the means of a
liigher education. Dr. Thomas I'iolph, in his "Canada and the W'l'st
Indies," published at Dundas in 183O, describes this structure as "a very
elegant stone buildmg, 84 feet in length, with two wings, one at either end,
40 feet each in length, extending in a fine garden geometricallv arranged,
and lying between them and a si)lendid ston*' mansion erected for his
(b'ather Campion's) own residence." The zealous j^riest, however, attempt-
ed too much;* the building, though still standing, was never u.sed as a
college, but was diverted to other purposes, blither Campion went to the
United States in 1838, and some time afterwards died at Lewiston, N. "\'.
The next priest wliose name appears in the clergv lists as in charge of this
mission is blither James Clarke, t who rebuilt the front of the church and
erected thereon a tablet with an inscription to that effect.

Bytown, then a frontier settlement, but destined, under the nami- of
Ottawa, to become the capital of the Dominion and the seat of an arch-

* In conneclion with this establishment Father Campion inlcnticil lo havi- a library for general
circnlatioi\ This library was to have been bought at the public expense, and the ])rocee<ls were to be
<levoteil to the jiurehase of clothing for poor chililren, who would receive gratuitous in^^truction at the
college. This benevolent design, like that of Ihe college, seetus never lo have been realized.

t Chevalier Macdonell states that after Father Campion, and before Father Clarke, Revs. William
1*. Macdonald (afterwards \'icar CJenerall anil Patrick Foley resided at Frescott in the order named.

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'I'lie Li/c ami Times of Bishop Macdonell.

IWm

hisliopric, had for its first pastor Father Angus Macdonell, who remained
until about 1831 or 1832, when he was succeeded by Father John Cullen,
and he, in 1835, by Very Rev. \Vm. Peter Macdonald, Vicar General, who
had for his curate, or vicar. Father J. F. Cannon. On the removal of the
Vicar General to Hamilton in 1838, Father Cannon was installed as pastor,
and continued as such for some years. He it was who built the church now
known as the Basilica.

As we have already seen. Father Fraser was parish priest at King-
ston in 1826, and continued as such until 1828 or 1829, when he gave
place to Father W. P. Macdonald, V. G. P'ather Macdonald had as
assistants, first Father Murth Lawlor from 1830 to 1832, and then Father
Edward Gordon until 1835. Although Kingston was Bishop Macdonell's
titular city, he did not make it his permanent residence for some years after
this, and the Vicar General was in consequence first in authority. On the
removal of Father Macdon;'."d to Bytown in 1835, his place was tak^n by
Fathers Daniel Downie and J. II. McDonagh. Father Angus Macdonell's
name also appears in tlie published lists as residing at Kingston from 1836
to 1838, although at this time he was cure of Sandwich. He was, however,
absent from Sandwich for three years without resigning his office,* and it is
likely he spent this period in Kingston, though for what reason does not
appear.

Perth was in charge of Father John Macdonald until 1838. Here, in
1834, a grant of land was secured from the Government for a church and
burying ground, and shortly afterwards a church was erected thereon.

At St. Andrew's in Glengarry, there resided, during Bishop Macdonell's
episcopate. Fathers Angus Macdonell, Fraser, O'Meara and George Hay in
the order named. Dr. Thomas Rolph, writing in 1836,! refers to the
church at St. Andrew's as "a large building." It could not then have been
built but a short time.

Father Angus ^laclonell was pastor of St. Raphael until the erection
of a parish at Bytown in 1829 when he removed thither. He was succeeded
by Fatiier I'Vaser, and he by Father John Macdonald. Bishop Macdonell
resided here for many years and built the great church which, had the

*" History of the Citv ami Diocese of London," by Rev. J. F. Coffey, M.A., 1885.
t" Observations on Canada anil tlie West Indies."

>£

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i I

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Bishop (raiilin — The Troubles at ]'t)rl;.

orif^inal desiffn been adhered to, would luive been one of the finest in
Canada. Here too he had his seminary for ecclesiastics.

Bishop Gaulin.

Since the elevation of Mgr. Weld to the Cardinalate in 1H30, and his
consequent resignation of the coadjutorship of the Dioce.se, no successor
had been appointed until M^r. Kemi^ius Gaulin was consecrated Bishop of
Tabracca, 20th Oct., 1833, with right of succession to Kin<j;ston.* This
prelate was a native of Quebec, where he was born on June 30th, 1787.
He was ordained priest in 181 1, and from that date until Ims episcopal con-
secration he zealously discharged the duties of the ministry on various
missions throughout Canada. His last station was at Sault au Recollet,
near Montreal. After his consecration he, for a time, took charge of the
Seminary at St. Raphael, and subsequently removed to Kingston. On the
death of ]3ishop Macdonell in 1840 he, as we shall see, succeeded him as
Bishop of Kingston.

The Troubli:s at "N'ork.

We now return to the Church in York, still under the charge of blither
O'Grady. The subject is approached with difhdence as the name of this
unfortunate priest would be best consigned to oblivion. But, on the other
hand, it is well that in the interests of historical truth the true facts
should be recorded. Father O'Grady's name first ap)K'ars in the published
clergy lists as pari.sh priest at York in 1829. Where he came from is not now
known, but he appears to have been a man of uncommon energy, though
not too well grounded in prudence or discretion. From the fir.st he was an

* The coacijutDi^hip of Kirif^-ton appears to liavi- Ijoen (ifforeJ to luit declined hy Fatlicr joliii
Larkin, a Sulpiciaii I'riest of Montreal, at the time of Cardinal WeKlV resi^natiuii. On the death of
Bishop Power in [8(7 the same priest, then a Jesuit, was nominated for the Diocose of Toronto, whii h
dignity he likewise declined. (Jn the latter occasion he used these precise wonls in the presence of
several hrolher priests, one of whom was Taiher Micliael Nash. S.J., of New ^■ork, to whom I am
indebted for the information: "Do they think," said Father Larkin, "that .after ha\iiig refused the
whole of the great diocese of Kingston, I will now accept a portion of it." Father Allen Macdonell,
.S.I., of Kevser Island, Conn., a grand iieplicw of liishop Macdonell, stales that it is a continned,
iin(|uestioiied tradition in tlie family that I'ather Larkin refused tlie nomination to Kingston though
urged to accept it b_v both Cardinal Weld and i'.isliop Macdonell, and that in anticipation of his accept-
ance the Carilinal sent to him his ciozier and other articles lieloiiL;irifr to the olllce. On Father
Larkin's refusal a new list of candidates for theollicewas sent to tlie Holy See. .\ir,ong them were
Rev. John Murdocli of Glasgow and Rev. James (iillis of Edinlnirgh. 'I'lie choice fell upon the
former, and the hull for his ai>pointment was actually drawn up, but, on the strong representations of
the Scottish X'icars .\postolic, was camelled. Father Murdoch was soon after nominated coadjutcr of
the Western District of .Scotland and Father (iillis becani.; X'icar Apostolic of the Eastern IJisti ict.
See Rev. J. F. S. Gordon's " .Scolichronicon."

The Li/e <utd Times nf Bishop Murdonell.

ardent politician, and when his spiritual duties clashed with his political
views, the latter ^ot the upper hand. He allied himself to the political
party of William Lyon Mackenzie, and that fiery politician did not himself
espouse his cause with greater zeal than did the pastor of St. Paul's. Father
O'Grady's political creed was, possibly, his own affair, hut wiien, not
satisfied with holding; certain opinions as an individual, he dra<fged them
into the sanctuary and made the pulpit a political rostrum, the r3ishop con-
sidered it time to call a halt. With the merit or demerit of the political
(luestions which aj^itated the public mind in this Province sixty years ago it
is not our place here to deal. Feeling certainly ran high and found
expression in violent language, later in violent deeds. Catholics were to
be found in the ranks of both parties. Bishop Macdonell, who was con-
spicuous for his attachment to the British Crown and his loyalty to the
established authorities, deemed that Catholics as a body had been dealt
with in a fair and generous spirit by the Government, which, therefore, did
not merit abuse from them. Especially, in face of the trouljles that were
brewing, did h(; consider it the duty of a priest to fulhl his mission as
peace-maker rather than to spur men on to violence. He accordingly felt
constrained to rebuke Father O'Grady for the part he was playing and
to insist on discontinuance of it. But he was met with a defiant re-
joinder, and the rebellious i)riest carried his insubordination so far as to
leave the Bishop, in vindication of his olhce and for the best interests of his
flock, no other alternative than to resort to extreme measures. Father
O'Cirady was accordingly silenced. Whatever grounds for sympathy his
friends may thus far have imagined themselves to have had, there could be
none in the face of the priest's conduct in this crisis. He openly defied the
Bishop, and, disregarding all authority, continued to exercise the functions
of the priestly office and to exhort the i)eople to side with him. This a few
misguided spirits did; but, to the credit of the Catholics of York be it said,
the majority were true to the instincts of their faith and upheld the hands
of their l^i.shop in this trying crisis. Bisliop Macdonell proceeded to St-
Paul's, and, having caused h'alher O'Grady to be ejected, he installed
another in his place. With the subsequent career of the unfortunate priest
we are not concerned. He continued his unpriestly conduct, and when
summoned before the Committee on (jrievances of the House of Assemlih
to give evidence as to the state of affairs in the Province, made a series of
wanton and malicious charges against the Bishop, which, however, were

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'J'lir TrotihU'x (tt Ytirl;.

Hit

proved to be utterly without foundation. For instance, he ehar^u'd liim
with misappropriation to his own private purposes of funds "granted by tlie
Government for the support of churches and schools; and whereas the
Bishop had discretionary powers to appropriate such portion of the grant to
school purposes as he deemed necessary, it was char}j;ed that he was bound
to devote a fixed portion, but did not. The evidence, as printed in the
Seventh Report of the Committee on Grievances, proves the utter ground-
lessness of O'Grady's charges. The truth is, Bishop Macdonell had
impoverished hjiiself in l)uilding up the Church in Upper Canada. In
a letter to I-'athe; O'Cirady before any trouble had arisen between them, he
says: " If I be called thither (to Y'ork) ex-offkio, I shall go, but not other-
wise. For besides the fatigue of so long a journey, the jirecarious state of
the weather, and \;ant of accommodation in tliis inclement season of the
year, I find my funds .so completely drained and myself so much involved
by educating, boarding and clothing seven or eight ecclesiastics for so many
years at my own expense without the smallest assistance from any other
quarter except the few pounds that you have been remitting to the two of
them that have been teaching here, that I could hardly command to-day
what would defray my travelling expenses to and from ^'()rk." Again :
"Although upwards of live thousand j^ounds behind-hand between the new-
church of this parish (St. Raphael) and other churches, with the expenses of
supporting my ecclesiastics, and other outlays for religion, I am unwillmg to
appropriate any of the small property- ,, wn for the use of the Church as long
as I can, in full reliance that His Divine Majesty for whose honor and glory I
have involved myself in difficulties, will, in His gracious goodness, extricate me
out of them." And, writing to Sir l-'rancis 15ond Head, " under circum-
stances," says Dr. Canniff, "which precluded the possibility of any state-
ment accidentally creeping in which could not be fully substantiated,"' he
used these words : " As to the charges brought against myself, I feel very
little affected by them, having the consolation to think that fifty years sjient
in the faithful discharge of my duty to (iod and to my country, have
established my character upon a foundation too solid to be shaken by the
malicious calumnies of two notorious slanderers." And continuing, he
said: "In this way (travelling the country under great difficultii's in
discharge of his spiritual duties) 1 have been spending my time and my

i'l

I !

hr fllllsl''

I M!l

'/'//(■ Ll/i' iiiiil Tiiiii'i (if Binhn}! Miirdoitfll.

health, year after year, since 1 have been in Upper Canachi, and not clinging
to a seat in the Legislative Council and devoting my time to political strife,
as mv accusers are pleased to assert. The erection of five and thirty
churciies and chapels, great and small, although many of them are in an
unfinished state, built bv my exertion; and the zealous services of two and
twenty clergymen, the major part of whom have been educated at my own
expense, afford a substantial proof that I have not neglected my spiritual
functions, or the care of souls under my charge ; and if that be not
suilicient, 1 can jjroduce satisfactory documents to prove that I have
expended, since 1 ha\e been in this l*n)\ince, no less than thirteen
thousand pounds of m\ own private means, beside what I received from
other quarters, in building churches, chajiels, presbyteries and school-
houses, in rearing young men for the Church, and in jiromoting general
education. With a full knowledge of these facts, established beyond the
possibility (^f a contradiction, my accusers can have l)ut little regard for the
truth, when they tax me with neglecting my sjiiritual functions and the care
of souls. The framers of the address to His Excellency knew perfectly well
that I never had, or enjoyed, a situation, or place of profit or emolument,
except the salary which my Sovereign was jileased to bestow upon me, in
reward of forty-two vears faithful service to my country."

The conduct of leather O'CJrady was the more inexplicable in that
Bishop Macdonell had always treated him with consideration and respect
and had reposed in him a more than ordinary degree of confidence. He
made him a Vicar General and entrusted him with many difficult and
delicate missions, little suspecting the sort of treatment he was to receive
in return. Hut the Bishop has long been justly accorded a high place
among the makers of Upper Canada, while the unhappy priest is now well
nigh forgotten. But we turn to happier themes.

New Missions.

As if to console the Bishop for the sore trials through which he had
passed, a great impetus to religion occurred about this time. As the
Province became opened up, and priests were forthcoming, many new
parishes sprang into exi.stence, and the consolations of religion were placed
within reach of the Catholic settlers. Stations which hitherto had enjoyed
but the occasional visit of a priest now received pastors of their own.

AV((» MiKHiniis<.

This was llu' case in I1S33 aiul 1M34 wilii Cohoiir^, I'ort 1 lope, Duiulas,
Guelph, St. Thomas, London, St. Catharines, and other places. l*"ather
Demj^sey was j^iven charj^e of Col)our<,' and Port I lope, l*";ithc'r John
Cassidy of Dundas and (liu'Ipli, wiiih' l'";ith('r Daniel l)o\.,..c 100, ' after
St. Thomas and London.*

The hr.st church erected in (iiielph was commenced l)y Father Cullen,
who succeeded Father L'ampion, as missionary in the Western di:;trict.
This would be about icS^^ or uSj3.t It was comjileted by Father John
Cassidy, who was the hrst priest to reside in the villa<.(e. It was at first
named St. Patrick's,.]: and was a frame structure, which did duty for many
years, bein^ destroyer] by lire about the year 1844. It was replaced by the
stone church of St. Bartholomew in i'^45. Father Cassidy remained until
1837, when he was replaced by I'ather Thomas Cibney, who was parish
priest until 1846, when, on returnint; from a sick call, he was thrown from
his carriage and received injuries from wliicli he died soon after. §

Dundas was united with (iuelph until 1838, when h'ather John l"ox
was installed. In Dr. Roliili's "Canada and the West Indies" (1836) the
Catholic church is described as "an interesting object, with its white spire
surmounted by the holy symbol of the Christian faith."

In St. Thomas, blither Cullen obtained from a settler (Archibald
McNeil) three acres of land in the east end of the village, to be held and
used for a church and burying-ground.]] This is the site of the j^resent
church. The first church was built in 1830, and was a small frame
structure, afterwards used as a .school house. It was under the invocation
of St. George, and continued in use until the erection of the present Church
of the Holy .\ngels. On the retirement of Father Downie, Father J. M.
Burke took charge and remained until 1838, being succeeded bv Father M.
R. Mills for a brief space, and he by blather [ames OT'lynn, who presided
until 1842.

*Ruv. J. M. Coffey'- "Historical Sketch of London Diocese

J. ... J ... -. _- -se." Tfie "Quebec Almanac" jjives

Rev. fames Berinett, or licnnctt, as in cliarj^e of St. rhomas anil London in i^},\ and 1H35. and Rev. J.
Keegan in iS,5^and 1S37.

t" Annals of the Town of Guelpli," i.*<77.

t Bouchette's " British Dominions in North America."

§ Besides St. Bartholomew's C'hi'rch in (jiielph, I'alher Gibncy built churches at (ioderich, Iri-h-
town and Stratford. See " 'I'lic Catholic," i8.(i.

jl " .St. Thomas lournul."

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; i

Tlif Life iiHil 'I'liiifi (if IHhIidj) Mdcilnnctl,

The first cluircli built in London was on the corner of Richmond
stri'ct and Maple avenue. It was a |)riniili\(' structure of lo^'s with an
earthen Hoor, and was dedicated by I'atliei- I )ownie in 1S34. The fortunes
of London continued to be bound up with St. Thomas until 1H45, when
l'"ather Mills, formerly at St. Thomas, was placed in char^'e of the 'J'own-
ships of London and Westminster.*

Until the year 1S38 the Catholics of .St. Catharines were dependent
upon the priest at Niagara for the consolations of relij^ion. In that year
I'atlier J. M. Burke took up his residence amon^ them, and probabl}- built
the frame church which was burned down in i(S42.

The i)riest who succeeded b'ather Demjisey in Cobourj; was Father
Alexander Kiernan, who built the Hrst cliurch, a frame building', "subscribed
to bv C"hristians of all denominations." Sheriff Kuttan and Hon. /achariah
Hurnham donated tlu' ground and t;a\(' $60 cash. I''atliei Kieiiian also
received from Mr. Charles Clark, an .■\n<,dican, a },'ift of $50 and the site for
a church in the villaj^e of Bond Head, Claik Township. f In i<Sy and
1H35, leather b'itzmorris was in charge of the missions on the Ki\er Trent,
and b'ather Patrick Foley of those on the Thames.

An Interesting; Event.

A great stir was created in ^'ork in \^j,4 by the conversion of Hon.
John Flmsley to the Catholic faith. Mr. b'.lmsley was a .son of Chief
Justice Elmsley, and nephew, in con,se(|uence, to Peter I-llmsley of Oxford,
the celebrated classical critic and editor. He was born at " Elmsley
House," the site of the present (iovernment House, corner of King and
Simcoe streets, and during his earlier career served the Crown in various
capacities. In 1H30 he was called to the Executive Council of Upper
Canada, which dignity, howe\i'r, he resigned in i.Sjj owing to his inability,
as he said, to act independently there. The immediate occasion of his
conversion was the reading of Abbe Travern's (later Bishop of Strasbourg)
" Commentary on the sixth chajiter of St. John's Crospel." He had
hitherto been an active and zealous member of the Church of England, and
his withdrawal from that communion gave great offence to its chief pastor

•"Historical Skctoli of the Diocese of I.onilon," 18S5.
t"The Catholic," Dec. 22nd. iS.)i.

.1/1 Intnrxtnui Kiriit—IS.U-lSaS.

!»!J

ill ^'oils, the Vener.iMc Arclulcu-on Stnichaii. ()\viii<_,' to llic prijiuiiunt
position Mr. l-llni.sley occupird in the I'lONiiuc lie tilt il his duty to make
public his reasons for the nioiiKMitous st«'p he had taken, and this he did by
l)ui)lishin>.; an edition of the pamphlet \vhi( h had so greatly inlkienced him,
with comments thereon of liis own. This he circulated broadcast through

irited controversv ensued. Dr. Sliachan,

the

Tovincc f^ratis.

taking,' alarm lest Mr. b>lmsley's conversion mi^'ht intluenct; others, made the
event the text of a sermon from the jnilpit of St. James church, and folk)we(l

sm.

Then

came an

it up by a pamphlet on the ' I'>rors of Komani^

edition of Hlanco While's " I'oor Man's Preservative Aj^ainst I'opery," no

doubt considered unanswerable bv the bellicose Archdeacon, liut he was

t sulfired to have it all his own way. Bishop Macdonell, then resid

mtr

at York, was not disposed to interfere in the controversy, but not so his
Vicar. The " smoke of battle was scented afar" at Kintjston, and I'^ither
W. P. Macdonald j^nrded on his armour. In nn increiHbly short space of

time he had writte

and

lHll)MS

hed

Remarks on

Docti

)r Strachan's

Pamphlet Aj^ainst the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's I3ody and Blood in the
Eucharist," which jiamphlet practically settled the controversy, beiu},'
immeasurably the ablest and most effective that apjieared. It is an
admirable summarv, drawn from Scripture and the leathers, of Catholic
teaching on the subject of which it treats.*

Mr. I'Llmsley proved the sincerity of his conversion by the ardour with
which he threw himself into the practice of his new-found faith. Me
became a great benefactor of the Churchf and look an active i>art in every
good work. His death occurred in 1S65, in tin- 04th year of his age.

1S35 TO 1H38.

The years 1835 and 1H36 were signalized by the rise of parishes or
missions at Waterloo, Penetanguishene, Cornwall, and Kak^igh on I.ake
Erie. Of the former, blither J. B. Wirriats was the Hrst pastor, being
succeeded by blither Peter Schneider in 1H3S. The hrst prii-st in recent
times to reside at Penetanguishene was I'^ather J. B. Proulx, whose stalwart

♦There appeared also imothcr Catholic pamphlet entitled: " I lusenbeth's Defence of the Catholic
Church: with a preface by a Catholic Layinan of Upper Canada," Toronto, 1S34 The author !•< not
known.

t 'rhe ground on which St. Michael's College and St. Joseph's Convent now stand was the gift of
Mr. Elnisley. 'riie Hasilian Fathers have creeled a tablet to his memory in .St. Hasil's Churcli,

Thi' T.'ifi' mill I'iiiiin uf Ui»hoi> Miinhniill.

frame was so Inn^ conspicuous in the Diocese of Toronto. He, as already
nuMitioncd, took up his rcsich'iuc there in 1S35,* hut in iH^H removed to
Manitouhn Island, and was succeecU'd hy I'-'^her Amahle Charest. Previous
to iHj4 Cornwall had heen part of the p of St. .Andrew's, hut in that

year Father James Bennett took up his r^ jdence in the town. The first
church (a wooden building') had l)(>en huill in 1829 or 1850, and it continued
to do duty until the erection of the hrick church in 1S55 or 1H56. I'ather
Bennett continued as pastor until iS^j.f l'"ather J. B. Morin, who first
resided in the township of Kaleij^h (1835), continued in charge during
Bishop Macdonell's lifetime.

During the years US3O and 1H3S Bishop Macdonell issued several
pastoral addresses, not only to his own tlock, hut to the inhabitants of the
Province at large. In one of lliese, addressed more especially to
Protestants, he says: "I address my Protestant as well as my Catholic
friends because I feel assured that during the long period of four-and-forty
years that my intercourse with some; of yo and two-and-lhirty years with
others, has subsisted, no man will say in promoting your temporal

interest I ever made any difference betw itholic and Protestant ; and

indeed it would l)e both unjust and ungrateful in me if I did, for I have
found I'rotestants upon all occasions as ready to meet my wishes and
second my efforts to promote the public good as the Catholics themselves:
and it is with no small gratification that I here acknowledge having received
from Orangemen uneciuivocal and suljstantial proofs of disinterested friend-
ship and generosity of heart."

To his own Catholic countrymen he .said : "When a Prime Minister of
England (Mr. Addington) in 1802 expressed to me his reluctance to permit
Scotch Highlanders to emigrate to the Canadas, from his appr(;hension that
the hold the parent state had of the Canadas was too slender to be
permanent, I took the liberty of assuring him that the most effectual way to
render that hold strong and permanent was to encourage and facilitate the
emigration of Scotch Highlanders and Irish Catholics into these colonies."

* Lots 116 and 117 in 2nd concession, east side of Penetanguislionc road in 'I'ownship of Tiny, were
obtained hy grant from the Government on Feb, 3rd, 1834.

f Judge Pringle's •• Lunenlniry."

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ISdS to 1838.

And lastly to Irish Catholics, for whom lu; had cvt-r exhiljited a
patt'inal rr^^ard, he had this to say:* " ^'lllll■ lovalty and f^i'iicTal j^ood
conduct, my friends, have obtained for you the approbation and coniidcnce
of Government, notwithstanilin^; the attempt lliat was made to create a
general prejudice and raise an alarm in the Province on the arrival of the
first batch of Irish Catholic emigrants in the settlement of Perth. They
were reported as riotous, mutinous and what-not. ,-\n application was
made for military force t(j put tliem down, and this report was .sent to the
Home Government. Being at ihe time on the Continent, the Colonial
Minister, Earl Hathurst, wrote to me to hasten my return to Canada, as the
Irish Catholic emigrants were getting cpiite unruly. On coming to London
and calling at the Colonial Oflice I assured Lord Hathurst that if fair play
were given to the Irish Catholics and justice done to them 1 would pledge
my life their conduct would be as loyal and as orderly as that of any of
His Majesty's subjects. Mr. Wilmot Morton, the Under-Secretary, who
happeni'd tt) be in the office at the time, re(|uested that I would give him
that assurance in writing in order to take it to the Council, which was just
going to sit. ^'es, my friends, 1 pledged my life for your good conduct —
and during the period of fifteen years which have elapsed since that pledge
was given I have had no cause to regret the confidence I placed in vour
honour and vour loyalty."

The years 1H37 and iSvS were marked by the "Rebellion" in L^pper
Canada. " In 1H36," says Chevalier Macdonell, " Bishop Macdonell foresaw
the coming storm and considered it the duty of every citizen to exert the
utmost efforts to prevent the interests of justice and order from falling into
unworthy hands. lie issued an address to the freeholders of Stormont and
Glengarry, enjoinin ; tlu'm, in plain and forcible language, to elect
representatives of sound and loyal principles, who would have the real good
of their country at heart, and not allow themselves to be misled by the
political schemers who were endeavoring to drive the Province into rebellion
against the legally constituted authority. It must not, however, be
supposed that because the Bishop was such a strenuous advocate of law
and order he acted with slavish party attachment, or that he was unaware

* 111 a letter lo liis Vicar General in 1830 he wrote : " VVhiit a pity we could not prevail on sonic of
the noble-hcartcd and lioroic daughters of .St. Patrick to cross the Atlantic and comnuinicate a spark of
the love of (iod and holy /c.d for the religion of Christ which lilled their own liearts to the hard and
selfish mind of some of our Canadians of both Provinces."

— «

!»(')

T'le Life iiml Times of /iislinp Mocdoiiell.

of the m:inv iihust's which ihi'u wtij^hcU ui")()n Uu' country, inipovorishcd its
resources and chccki'd its pro<5ress. On thr contrary, he acknowledf^ed
these evils, hut, at the same time, lie maintained with reason that they were
foreign to, and not inherent in, the Constitution; that they' could he safely
and jicrmancntlv removed 1)\' constitutional means alone ; and that
rebellion, so far from redressing these j^rievances, would only confirm, and
perhaps aggravate them .i hundredfold." Hut the " Rebellion" belongs to
the domain of civil history, and we refer to it onl\- incidentally. As the
Bishoji jiredicted, it ended in ignominious failure, while the evils of wh'ch
the country complained were in due time removed by constitutional means.
At Kiiigston in 1S33 the Catholic clergy had a disagreeable duty to perform.
Von Shoultz and others of the "invaders" who had effected a landing near
Prescott, only to be taken pris )ners and condemned to death, were Catholics,
and it fell to the lot of Fathers Angus Macdonell and P. Dollard to prepare
them for the end. It will be remembered that at his trial \'on Shoultz was
defended by a then rising voung law\er who was destined in time to become
Prime Minister of Canada and one of the n'lt^st f.imous men of his day — John
A. Macdonald.

'fil'l

Ordained priest at Nalladolid, on the lOth i^( I'ebruary, 1787, Bishop
Macdonell celebrated his jubilee on the 16th of l'Y>bruary, 1837. The
ceremony took place in the parish church at St. Raphael -.r. presence of
more than two thousand persons. The gentlemen of the Seminary at
Montreal expressed a desire that the ceremony should be performed in the
magnificent parish church (Notre Dame) of that city, but th.e Bishop found
it more in accordance with lii^ own feelings, as it cenainh' was more
gratifying to his own people, among whom he had laboured for upwards of
thirty years, to celebrate this joyful event among them. The Bishop of
Montreal and manv of his clergy desired to be present, but were prevented
b\' tlu' se\erit\- of the weather. Nineteen priests, however, assisted at the
ceremon\ and all the |irominent gentlemen of the District, besides many
from a distance were present. The Bishop addressed his countrymen
before Mass in (iaelic, their native tongue; he called to their recollection
the destitute state in which he found their mission, and indeed the whole
I'rovince in regard to religion, on his arrixal in the countrs in 1S04, there
being no c'ergy, no churcliLS, no presbvteries, or schools ; arid what render-
ed the labour of a missionary more arduous, no roads. I lis pastoral labours

isan to isss.

were not confined to the County of (ilengarrj- ; thev extended from one end
of the Province to the; otlier, and for inanv vears lie had no fellowdabourer
to assist him wiJiin a distance of seven hundred miles. Under such over-
whelmin;.!; difficulties, he had much reason to acknowledf^e and thank the
merciful Providence of Almi<:[hty God for making him, although unworthy,
the humble instrument of [irocuring for them the many temporal and
spiritual advantages which they at present enjoy. In conclusion, as this
might be the last oppr<rtunity he should have of appearing before them in
this world. Bishop Macdonell begged their forgiveness for an)' bad example
he had given them and for an\ neglect or omission of his duty during his
ministry among them for so many years ; trusting much to their prayers and
supplications to the Throne of Mercy on his behalf, to enable him to
prepare his long and fearful accounts against the great and awful day of
reckoning, which, in the course of nature, could not be far distant : and he
promised them that hv would never cease to offer up his unworlhv prayers
for their spiritual and temporal welfare.* Tears flowed from the eyes of
the Bishop and lii^ hearers during this affecting discourse. After Mass,
the ceremony concluded with an impressive sermon by N'icar (General
Macdonald.

The long cherished desire of Bishop Aiacdonell to found and endow a
seminary for the education of his clerg\ was jiut into practical effect in
1837. He obtained a charter from the Legislature, and set aside a i)iecc of
land in Kingston on which to erect a building. .\t a meeting conven'cl at
his residence it was resolved that he should proceed to I-lngland, accom-
panied by I'ather Angus INIacdonell and Dr. Tlu)mas Rolph, for the purpo.se
of collecting funds wherewith to carr\- out his project.

The corner stone of the college w.is laid on June iilli, iSjS, liishoj)
Macdonell officiating, assisted by his coadjutor, Mgr. (iaulin, \'icar ("leiieral
Angus Macdonell and others of his clergy. .Vt the I^ishop's recjuest Dr.
Thomas Rolph delivered an address, saying, among other things, that it
was the anxious desire of the Bislio)) that a priesthood should be raised in
the Province, fearing God, attached to the institutions of the country, and
using their assiduous efforts to maintain its integrity ; that until such an
institution was founded, the Bishop could not be as responsible for his
clergy as he could wish to be. " Such," says Chevalier Macdonell, " was

* Clu'v.iliiT Maciloiiell's " RcmiiiiscL'iiLOs, ' p. 30.

«-

wm.

—m

!I8

The lAfe and Thnen of Bishop Macdonell.

the commencement of Regiopolis College. Sad to say the prosperous
career so fondly anticipated by the learned orator has not yet dawned upon
it. Its present condition wo all know ; its future, time alone can show."

Statistics.

Notwithstanding his great age Bishop Macdonell did not slacken in his
zeal for the Church, or in his efforts to place within reach of the humblest
and most isolated settlers in the Province the means of fulhlling their duties
as good Catholics. He had the consolation of knowing that the small band
of devoted priests whom he had to second his efforts at the beginning of his
episcopate had so multijilied that, on leaving for Europe in 1839, there were
no less than 34 scattered through the Province, from the Ottawa River to
the Detroit. No less than eight missions had sprung into existence in 1838
and 1839. A priest (I-'ather I-. Lefebvre) had taken up his residence at
L'Orignal, on the Ottawa ; at Amherstburg, in the West, Father Augustin
Vervais had been placed in charge ; while in what is now the Archdiocese
of Toronto, parishes had been established at the Gore of Toronto (I'^ather
Eugene O'Reilly), at Adjala (Father H. Fitzpatrick), and on Lake Simcoe
(Father John Cassidy). Father Proulx had gone to live amongst the
Indians on Manitoulin Island, leaving Father Charest in charge of Pene-
tanguishene ; and at Hamilton, Vicar General Macdonald had become the
fir.st resident priest. A church had been built some years before. In
Toronto (the name York had been discontinued in 1834), St. Paul's was still
the only Catholic church, though it hrd ceased to afford sufficient accom-
modation for the rapidly increasing Catholic population of the city and
vicinity. Father Patrick McDonagh had been its pastor since 1833, and
for a time he had as assistant Father Murth Lawlor (or Lalor), who, how-
ever, was transferred to Picton about 1838. Unfortunately we have no
means of estimating the Catholic population of the Province at the
beginning of Bishop Macdonell's episcopate or towards its clo.se. The
official census, though it gives the religious statistics of the other Provinces
of Canada, fails to do so in the case of Upjier Canada until the year 1842.
We are, accordingly, left entirely to conjecture. Ur. Thomas Rolph, in his
valuable work on " Canada and the West Indies," frequently quoted in the
course of this narrative, gives the Catholic census for 1834, but fails to say
whence his information is derived. His figures are as follows :

>¥

«-

offi

Statistics.

Eastern District.

Mission of St. Ra|)hael

Mission of St. Andrew . 4. 765.

3.587-

Ottawa District.

Mi.ssion of I,t)ngoiiil

2.554-

Johnstown District.
Mi.ssion of IVcscott and lirockville

J.5-2-

Hathl-rst Disi-rict.

Mission of Hytown

Mi.s.sion of Perth 3.22 1.

3.^>43-

MiDLANI. Dl.STRICT.

Mission of Kingston

4.163.

Hai i.owEi.i, District.

Mission of JJeileville

'.'35-

Newcasti.k District.
Mission of Peterborough . .

3.584-

Ho.ME District.

Mission of Toronto

Mis.sion of Adjala 3.240-

Mission of the Town;hi;;",;f i^;' ' ui and TrafhlgaV ''^f '

Mission of Penetanguishene ^ 785-

856.

(loRE District.
Mission of (luelph and Dundas

'.537-

NiACARA District.

Mission of Niagara

2,040.

London District. .

-NFi.ssion of |.(jiHlon and St. ■{■Ji(,M,is.

.■■■■■•■■■'■'■'•' •■ 3.536-

U'kstirn 'District. •• ' ■ •
Mussion of the River Thames. .'.;.'.■. . ■' .... ; ,

Mission of .Sandwich '-••.. 2,600.

Mis.sion of Aniherstbiirg. 4.724-

2,580.

'J'otal

52,428

The total population of the Provi
census, v

321,145. In 1H40 the popul

n thf

population of the P

rovince had

fi#- .^

IB"'''-

!■• ■!'.■;

i'H
1

llii^

100

The Life and Times of Biahop Mardonell.

increased to 432,159; the city of Toronto to 13,092 ; and it is certain the
Catholic population increased in the same period at a proportionate ratio.

In 1H34, according to Dr. Rolph, there were 34 churches (Catholic)
HI llpper Canada, viz.: two each in the missions of St. Raphael, St.
.\ndrew, Longeuil, Prescott, Bytown, Peterborough, Toronto, Adjala,
(iuelph, Niagara, London, and the River Thames ; one each in the missions
of Perth, Sandwich and Amherstburg ; three in Kingston mission, and four
in that of Belleville. In the missions of Toronto and Trafalgar Townships,
and in Penetanguishene, there does not at that time appear to have been
any church. There are no statistics of churches in 1839 and 1840 ; but,
judging from the number of new parishes and missions established in the
interv.'il, the increase must have been consiclerable.

Catholics had also begun to take an active part in tiie public affairs of
the Pro\in;c, and had established for themselves, as was fitting, an enviable
reputation as an industrious, law-abiding people. Major Dunlop, a well-
known character in the Province, writing in 1832, has referred to the Irish
Catholics as " by far the easiest conciliated of any emigrants who come to
the Province." The same writer's tribute to the Catholic clergy is worthy
of being reproduced here. He is arguing that a share of the Clergy
Reser\es should be given to tlic Catholics, and goes on to say :

" An elder of the Kirk, and bred in the most orthodox part of Scotland,
I came to this country strongly prejudiced against Catholicism and its
ministers; but experience has shown me th:it these prejudices were unjust.
I expected to find both priests and people as violently opposeci to the
British Ciovernment here as at home — I found them the strongest support-
ers of the Constitution. I had been taught to believe that a Catholic
priest was a hypocritical knave, who ruled his misguided followers for his
own selfish purpo;:es^-I have found the.v. ,;' moral and zealous clergy, more
strict in their att^,'ntic.n,'0 their parochial dyties than any Iiody of clergy I
ever met in any part of the world, antl.uot a .bit more intolerant than their
clerical brethren of any other sect."*

In addition to the grants already mentioned. Bishop MaccU)n('ll had
.secured from the Government, lands in trust for churches, etc., at Fenelon,

♦ " .Statistical .Sketches of Upper CaiiHda." London: 183^.

«-

Bishop MncdonclVa Death and Burial,

101

1826; Toronto Gore, 1834; Acljala, 1834; Township of Harwick (Town of
Chatliam), 1834; Trent, 1836; Tyendenaga, 1836; Toronto, on the kite
Mihtary Reserve (now occupied by St. Mary's Church and Presbytery),
1837 ; Township of London, 1837; on the River St. Chiir, in the Township
of Moore, 1838. He had also secured several money grants towards the
erection of churches and schools throughout his diocese. The Church of
England, however, had the lion's share of Government support. Between
the years 1789 and 1833, 23,905 acres of public lands had been set apart by
the Crown as glebes to clergymen. Of these the Church of England
received 22,345 a.cres, the Church of Scotland 1,160, while only 400 acres
fell to the Catholic Church.

To the Bishop's wisdom and foresight in thus providing ftjr future
generations, we are in this, as in other matters, deeply indebted. His
reward is in the stately fabric which the Church in Ontario has now grown
to be.

BiSHoi' Macdonell's Death and Burial.

Bef(M-e proceeding to Europe with his colleagues, as arranged in 1837,
Bishop Macdonell was tendered a bancjuet by the Celtic Society of Upper
Canada. The affair took place at Carmino's Hotel, Kingston, and was
largely attended, not only by leading Catholics but by most of the promin-
ent men of the city of all denominations and by the officers of the garrison.
It served to show in what estimation he was held by the leading men of the
day. A few weeks afterwards he sailed from Kingston on the steamboat
" Dolphin," and in due time landed at Liverpool (Aug. ist, 1839), proceed-
ing from thence to London, where he communicated with the Colonial
Office regarding emigration and other matters. In October he went to
Ireland, with the intention of i)eing present at a great dinner given to the
Catholic Prelates at Cork, Init being delayed in the journey he did not
arrive in time. Nevertheless he visited .several of the Bishops ; and being
unable, in the West of Ireland, to obtain any other conveyance than a
jaunting ear, lu> was exposed during an entire day to a drizzling rain, which
exposure brought on an attack of inflammation of the lungs. He was laid
up at Carlow College, and afterwards with the Jesuit P^athers at Clongowes
Wood, but recovered sufficiently to proceed to Dublin, where he was again
indisposed. On recovering, he visited the Catholic Primate at Armagh, and

102

The Life itnd Thnen of Bishop M<ic<hmell.

'^!^:.:.

from thence accepted the invitation of the PZarl of Gosford (formerly Gover-
nor-General of Canada) to visit him at (iosford Castle, near Armai(h, where,
under the roof of that kind-hearted nobleman, he appeared to have entirely
recovered his strength. Me shortly afterwards proceeded to Scotland,
arriving at Dumfries on Jan. iith, 1H40. What followed we learn from a
letter to Lord (iosford by Rev. William Reid, jKirish priest at that town,
whose guest the Bishop had become the day following his arrival.* Having
been all night on the road, bather Reid writes, the liishop was very much
fatigued, but, on the morning of the 12th, insisted on saying Mass, being,
however, almost exhausted by the effort. After breakfasting he became
quite a new man ; and, with the exception of one .short attack of difficulty
in breathing, continued apparently in excellent health and spirits until the
night of the 14th, when, about 4 o'clock a.m., he called his servant, told
him to bring his respirator, for he felt difficulty in breathing, to put on a
fire and to put the bedclothes closer to his back. Father Reid and a
physician were immediately summoned, and the former, who came
instantly, seeing how ill the Bishop was, administered to him without delay
the last rites of the Church. He was still in life, but spoke not another
word, and when the doctor arrived, had just breathed his last, " without a
struggle," says Father Reid, "without pain, and without the least agony."

The body was put into a leaden coffin, and, with the advice of Bishop
Carruthers, sent to Edinburgh, where Bishop Gillis,t Coadjutor to the
Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District of Scotland, in recognition of the
late prelate's illustrious services to the Catholic Highlanders, resolved that
he should be buried with honour. The funeral service took place in St.
Mary's Cathedral on January 25th, and was performed with extraordinary
pomp. Bishops Carruthers and Gillis of Edinburgh, Murdoch of Glasgow,
and Scott of Greenock, together with a great number of priests, assisted at

* Lord Gosford, on recuivinj^ tidings of the sad event about to be related, had written anxiously to
Father Reid for particulars. I regret that space forbids the publication in full of the latter's reply.
There is a copy in tlie arciiiv es of St. Mary's College, Montreal. Father Reid had been a fellow-
student of the Bishop's at V.illadolid.

t Bishop Gillis was a Canadian by birth, having lirst seen the light in Montreal on April yth, 1S02.
He received his early education under the .Sulpician Fathers in that citv, and, when fourteen years of
age, removed with his father to Scotland. He was the founder of St. Margaret's Convent, Edinburgh,
the first conventual institution established in Scotland since the so-called Reformation. lie died in
1864. Sec " History of .St. Margaret's Convent," Fdinburgh, 1886 .Another native Canadian who, as
an ecclesiastic, rose to great distinction abroad, was the late Vicar-Capitular of the Diocese of Hexham
and Newcastle, England, Mgr. Consitt, who was born at Clifton, Upper Canada, in 1819. He was the
author of a " Life of St. Cuthbert," and other important works. He died in 1887.—- R.LP. See
"Catholic Weekly Review," April, 1S88.

9i-

-9

Bishop MavdoncWs J)catk and Burial.

108

the ceremonies, which vvere witnessed by a large congregation met to do
honor to their distinguished countryman. The sermon was preached by
Bishop Murdoch of (ilasgow, who dwelt on the exalted character of his
deceased brother, and adverted to his zeal and perseverance in furthering
the interests of the Catholic faith, both in his native land and in Upper
Canada. At the conclusion of the ceremonies the body was removed to St.
Margaret's Convent and placed in the vaults beneath the chapel, pending
such arrangements a« should be made for its removal to Canada.

The news of Bishop Macdonell's death was received with the greatest
sorrow in Upper Canada. He had been so long identified with the
Province, and had taken such an active part in ;dl that pertained to its
development and prosperity, that it was felt on all sides that a great light
had been extinguished. Lord Gosford, a former Governor General, but
voiced the popular sentiment when he wrote : " Both on public as well as
private grounds his loss must be deeply deplored— to Canada indeed
irreparable, and at a moment, too, when the knowledge, experience,
integrity and philanthropy which he so pre-eminently possessed, were so
greatly needed in the settlement of its affairs, that country can scarcely
expect to find his like again. I had the happiness and satisfaction of know-
ing him intimately — in honesty of purpose, in spotless integrity, manly-
mindedness, and in benevolence of feeling, he was not to be surpassed."*

At Kingston a Solemn Requiem Mass was sung by Bishop Gaulin for
the repose of the deceased's soul. It was attended by all the priests of the
Province as well as several from the United States. Vicar-General Mac-
donald, one of the late Bishop's oldest and most valued friends, preached
the funeral sermon.

Although Bisho}) Macdonell's successors in the See of Kingston
always cherished the intention of bringing his remains to Canada, this was
not efTected until 1861, when Bishop Iloran visited Edinburgh, and by the
co-operation- of Bishop Gillis, then \'icar-Apostolic, accomplished his
mission. He returned to Canada in June of that year, bringing the remains
with him. They were placed in the vaults of Notre Dame Church,
Montreal, where they remained until October, when they were transferred

* Archives of .St. Mary's Colloj^e. An inip.irtial estimate of Uishop MaciloneH's career appeared
at the time in tlie '■ liritisli Whig" of Kingston. It is reprinted in Cheralier Macdonell's " Reminis-
cences," p. 4J.

®-

«-

llill

104

The Life and Times of Bishoji Macdonell.

to Kinj^ston. The ceremonies in connection with the re-interment were of
the most solemn character. Amonj^ those who assisted were the Archbishop
of Quebec, the Hishojis of St. Ilyacinthe, Three Rivers and Ottawa ; and
amon}4 laymen, Hon. (now Sir) .\lexander Campbell, James Morton,
M.P., and the Mayor of Kingston. A company of RiHes formed a guard
of honor. After vSolemn Requiem Mass, and a sermon by Father Bentley
of Montreal Seminary, the remains of the great Bishop and Patriot were
committed to their last resting place beneath the Cathedral, in the midst of
the people he had loved so well in life.*

But one event more in connection with Bishop Macdonell remains to
be chronicled. Me had been the means of establishing the Mighland
Society in Canada, and had ever taken a deep interest in its proceedings.
On his death, therefore, it was feit that sorrte action should be taken to per-
petuate his memory. Accordingly, in 1843, there was erected, with befitting
ceremonies, m the parisli church of St. Raphael, a marble tablet bearing
this inscription :

On riiK iSrii ok Jink, 1843,

THE IIKMII.ANI) SOCir.TY Ol- CANADA LRKCTRD THIS "ABLET
TO THE MEMORY OT THE

IIONORMUF- AND RIGHT REVEREND AI.KXANDKR MACDONELL,

BISHOP or KINGSTON.

Born i7^)o| - Died 1840.

TllOl'li"- DEAD, ITE STII.I. I.IVES IN THE HEARTS OK MIS lOU.VTRYMEN.

Criticai, Notk.— The v.inous sounos from which the foregoing narrative has been derived
have to some extent been indicated in the text and in foot notes. The reader who wishes to
pursue the subject further will find abundant material touching the earlier period in the jirinted
works there cited, and in such books as Abbe Ferland's Life of Bishop Hlessis and Abbe
Faillon's History of the French Colony in .America ; and, from a non-Catholic standpoint, in the
many books in English on early Canadian history. There is, however, a lamentable scarcity of
m.atcrial, ]iriiitcd or in nKinus(n|>t, touching the ]>eriod covet.Kl l)y Hishop Macdonell's episco-

* In September a solemn Requiem M;iss for the repose of Bishop M.icdonell's soul had been cele-
brated in St. Mich.iel's Cathedr.1l, Toronto, Father Northgraves being the celebrant.

t There is evidence to show that tlie Bishop was born on the I7tli July, lyCu. When a man has
long occupied a prominent position. |>eople are naturally inclined to overestimate hts age; thus a Scotch
periodical, in announcing the Bishop's death, assigned to him loo years. It seems that liis age was 77
years and almost 6 months." — Chevalier Macdonell.

Criliciil S'olf.

106

pate — i8i.; to 1840. The private papers of thai prelate have been lost, ami the most diligent
enquiries have thus far failed to find the least trace of them. Were they forthroming, a flood of
light would he thrown upon the early history of the Chun h in Upper Canada. Among printed
hooks, Chevalier Macilonell's Reminisi ences will lie found of great interest in the study of one of
the most picturescjue figures in the annals of the Province. Dr. Rolph's Statistical Account of
U|)per Canada (Dundas, 18^6), which, besides 1 eing the work of a noted Catholi<- layman, is also
interesting as heing among the earliest printed hooks in the Province. I'ather Macdonald's
periodical, "The Catholic" (Kingston, 1830), is valuahle, and so are the later volumes of "The
Mirror" (first published at Toronto, 1837). The earlier volumes yielded but scanty results.
Finally, the Archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal, are rich in the materials of Canadian
ecclesiastical history. 'I'hrough the kindness of Rev. I'ather Jones, S. J., the writer has been
permitted to avail himself of them

ADDENDA.

The following extract from the •• British \\'hig" I'f Kingston, 1840, already referred to,
will be read with interest in connection with the foregoing:

"Of the individuals ulm have passed away from us during tlu' last twenty five years, and
who have taken an interest in the advancement and i)rosperity of Canada West, no one jirobably
has won for himself in .so great a degree the esteem of all clashes of his fellow-citi/ens than has
Bishop Macdonell. Arriving in Canada at an early period of the [jresent < entury, at a time
when toil, privations and ditficulties inseparable from life in a new country awaited the zealous
missionary as well as the Kardy emigrant, he devoted himself in a noble sjjirit of self sacrifice, and
with imtiring energy, to the duties of his sacred calling, to the amelioration of the condition of
those entrusted to his s])iritual care. In him they foand a friend and counselor; to them he
endeared himself thiough his unbounded benevolence and greatness of soul. Moving among all
classes and creeds with a mind unbiased by religious prejudices, taking an interest in all that
tended to develop the resources or aided the general prosperity of the countrv, he ac(]uired a
popularity still memorable, an<l obtained o\er the minds of his fellow-citizens an influence only
e([ualled by their esteem and respect for him. 'I'he ripe scholar, the [)olished gentleman, the
learned divine, his main estimabk' (lualilies recommended him to the notice of the Court of
Rome; and he was elevated to the dignity of a Hisho[) of the C!atholic Church. The position
made no change in the man ; he remained still the zealous missionary, the indefatigable pastor.
His loy'Tlty to the British ("rown was ne\er surpassed ; when the interests of the Empire were
either assailed or jeopardized on this continent he stood forth their bold advocate ; by word and
deed he proved how sincere was his attachment to British institiiiions. and infused into the
hearts of his fellow-countrymen and others an eipial enthusiasm for their preservation and main-
tenance. Indeed, his noble conduct on several occasions tended so much to the preservr'.ion of
loyalty that it drew from the highest authorities re[)cated expressions of thanks and gratitude.
As a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada (to which he was called by Sir John

iii

Hif

11 H>

'I'lii' Lijv iiiiil 'I'iiiics 1)1 Hinlidii Mtiriliinell,

CollxiriK' on Oct. ijtii. iS 51 I Ills .ictivc mind, sla-iintliciK'd liy lApcriciici' ai(|uirL'(l by coiistaiit
iissoriation with all classes, I'lialilid iiini to slimiest many thin^js most lniii;fl('ial to ihc licsl
iiilirists of tin.' (iHintry, and tlu' piaic a\\i\ Itinnony of its inhabitants."

!■ I

01 a like I liara( t(.r is the estimate of l!ish(i|) Maedonell to be loiind in Mr. 11. |. Morgan's
'• llionraphii's of Celibrateil Canadians":

"In every rel.ilion of life, as siibji'el, nlati\i' ,nid friend, he was a model of everythili;^
\aliiable. To his Sovereign lie I roiight the warm and hearty homage of a sincere, enthiisiastie,
nneonditional alle^ianei', and the most invincible, iuk ompromisinj; loyalty ; as prelate, he was
kind, attntive and devoted to the interest.^, welfare and happiness of his i lergy ; av a relative ha
attachment was unl oimded, .nul his death created an aihin^; void to hundreds of sorrowing
rilatives whom he coiinsekd by his advice, assisted with his means, and |)rotected by his
inlhience ; as a friend, he was sincere, enthusiastic and unchangeable in his attachments. Such,
indeed, was the liberality of his views and liie inexpressible benignity of his dis|)osition, that all
cneds and (lasses imited in adnvr.ition of his character, respect for him, and congregale<l
together to bid h ni IV, ri well as he left the shores of the St. Lawrence on that voyage which
|)rove<l but the prelude to th.U long and 1. 1st one. from uhich iheri' is no return."

; ;m i

THE LIFE ANI> TIMES OF TIIF UUUFV UFV. MICIIAKL fnU'EIt, l,l>.

/■/A'.s /■ isisiior or roKOsni.

H. F. MdNTOSH, Ks,.).,

.onuEsroxmxa m,u„u<,< or r„r. amkruas cahiouv nisnmuA, socnn

"A riiii.Ain:i.riii.\. '

Vis

jf,!jr

Thf, Richt Rev. Mi< haki. Powfh, D.D,

/l<>K\ .-I / IIA/./hA\. X .V. (UIOHF/' ,4, iSla4.

nii-.n AT TOKOS 10. or

lit. 1.941.

CIIAI'II.K FV.

1H'»I 1847.

LIFE AND TIMES OF lilSlloi' I'OllKll.

liixhti/i (Itiiilin — hiovi'He a/ Kiniintoii (Uv'ided- Dhumc of Toronto — li'mliop I'ouer — The

FitHt DliucMn Synod — 'J'liv Clcnifi — The Cominr) of the Jeniiits—Xotal)h; F.rents — St,

Mii'hml's Cathedral — I'dstoinls — Deathof Greiiory XVI., and AceeHsion of I'iut

I.\. — The liishoft liHitii Enntpe — Tlie Typhus — Death of liishop J'ouer.

"Greater lovo Uiaii thin no man liatli, tlint a man lav down lii> lid- (or his frii nils."

I'l'II the death of Bishop Macdonell the scope of our history
narrows to the Western half of the Province;. True, more
than a year was yet to ehipse ere the division of the Diocese
should take place, but the interval is marked by no event,
save one, which need here be recorded.

hy ri^ht of succession M^r. Gaulin became Bishop of Kinj^ston on the
demise of Bishop Macdonell. He took formal possession of the See on
Passion Sunday, 1840, and, while his health lasted, discharj^ed the func-
tions of his oHice with zeal and discretion. The many <^ood works instituted
by his predecessor were continued by him, chief anion»( which may be
mentioned the erection of Re^iopolis College, which, in due time, opened
its doors to aspirants to the priesthood and to other young men in quest of
higher education. He al.so set on foot a project for the erection of a new
Cathedral, the corner stone of which was laid in September, 1843.

But the event for which his episcopate was chieHy remarkable was the
division of his Diocese, l^'eeling his health giving way, he applied to the
Holy See to be relieved of a portion of his vast charge, or, failing that, for
the appointment of a coadjutor, naming at the same time for the latter

«-

-m

»:-fI

fpw?

|ii!;l I

I ^ I l|!i':

!ii!l

1 -. ■

1 !;■

ili

)l(

Life tiiitl Tnnrs of 1i'i>:hnp I'mrcr.

office, Very Rev. Michael Power, Vicar (General of the Diocese of Montreal.
He was so far successful in his rejiresentations, that not only did the
division of his Diocese take place, but he leceived a coadjutor as well, not
in the person of l-^ither Power, hut in that of Rev. Patrick Phelan, formerly
a Sulpician priest of Montreal, and later, parish priest at Bytown, who, on
Aug. 20th, 1843, was con.secrated Bishop of Carrhac, with rij^ht of succes-
sion to Kingston. I-Vom the first, J-Jishoo Phelan, owing to the precarious
sti'.te of Bishop (iaulin's healtli, undertook the greater part of the diocesan
work; and when, through utter prostration, the latter retired to his native
Province for much-nt'cdcd rest, Bishop Plielan i)ecanie administrator.
Bishop Gaulin never returned alive to his See, his physical condition being
such as would not in-rmit him to resume the burdens of the episcopate.
He died at St. Philomene, on May 8th, 1857 ; and, on the 13th of the .same
month, his remains were brought to Kingston and interred beneath the
cathedral, l^ishop Phelan succeeded to the title, but survived his jirede-
cessor only one month. He died on June 6th, and was likewise laid to rest
in the vaults o*" St. Mary's Cathedral. " His loss," says his biographer,"
" has been deeply deplored, and his obsei|uies were kept with marked
devotion. Indefatigable in all the duties of a good pastor and faithful
Bishop, his memory will not die, but will \}r kept in eternal recollection. "f

DlOCKSK Ol' KiNC.SrON DlVIDIil).

The division of tlu- DiocesL- of Kingston had b(>en under consideration
even during Bishop Macdonell's lifetime. The rapid develojiment of the
I'rovince and the constant accessions to the Catholic jiopulation by immi-
gration, had put it out of the power of one Bishop to properl\- oversee so
extensive a dioce.se, and it is probable thai Bishop Macdonell had intended,
on finishing his business in Scotland, to proceed to Kome, and there to lav
the matter before ihc lloiy Sei'. His unexpected dea*'i int'Tvened; but on
liishoj) (iaulin's accession to the See ot Kingston, that prelate 'yMug then
in poor health, the necessity of the division of the diocese became more
than ever apparent, and fonned the subject of extensive correspondence

* " Life of Kt. Rev. Patriek rheli'n:" Kingston, iSr.j

t The Mibseciuenl Bisliop^ of Kinj^ston were Kt. Rev. [■'. J. ll".aii, i.SsS-;^ ; Kt Ke\. Joliii O'Brien,
lS75-<>; Most Rev. J. \'. Cle.irv. iSS ) .), when, on tlic -rectii)n of Kin-jslon i- to a Metropoliliiii See, he
hocanie .Vrclibishop. Tlie li'>t il.i.-.- of the old ilioeese have been reneweil iiiuler his vijrorous unci
enlightened rule.

«•

locrxc II

I Khiiiittiiii liiriili'il.

Ill

hetwccii till' several nuMnhers of the Cmiadian liifiarchv.* In 1S41
Bishop Bour^fct of Montrral xisitrd luiropc. Before his (h'parture lie wrote
to Bishoji (iauhn, expressiiiL; his wilhn^'ness, shouhl that prehite so desire,
to hiv tile p.ia
furtheriiii: the end in view. '1

Iter befori' the IVopaj^anchi, and to use hi

full

itl

IS intuienee ni

o this I)ishop daulin joyfulK' aeeeded a
to his brother prelate he entrusted a letter to Po|H' (irenorx' W'l., setti

forth fullv the state of aifairs and pra\
burdens wliich, in his we.ik state.

Uli.

)r relief fn

m a jiortion

weHJlied

nea\ii\- u|)on mm.

>f tl
ML^r.

ourtict

■ft (<

or I'.uropi' m

une

I S4 1

aei'ompame(

l-'ather Michael Power, .\fler \isitii

(1 1
d 1

>\' Ills

iiar ( H'lieral

ondon and 1 aris tliev proceet

led

to Rome, and, at tlu' first opjiortunity, the Bishop submitted to the Holy

Father the ai'fair of the l)i()C(>se of Kinj^ston. '{"lie l'o|

)e was n

luch im-

pressed with the aecouii

I of the state of rel

i.!;ion 111 thai distant portion o

the Christian \\ Orld and readilv acHjuieseed in the measure proposed to
him. He j)romised Mi;r. Bour^et that the matter would bi' earefulb eoii-

siderec

aiK

1 acti(

)n taken as sjieedilv as cireumstanees would pi'rmi

t. With

this assurance the Bishop left Rome and returned to Paris, whence b'ather

ower nad nrecef

h'd 1

liiii, haxiiii' stolen awa\' from tlu' I'.tcrnal C'itv

hope of es.apiiiLj the burden of the episcopate which, as he had bet'ome

ht for him. Se|)teml)er found the two ecclesiastics in

aware, was heinu sou'4

London, with the object of interviewing^ the Colonial Oflice with re}.^ard to
the proposed chanj^es in Ui)per Canada. Beinji; recjuested to submit their

proposals m writing

atli-r

'ower, as \'ic,ir Ceneral, addressed a letter to

the Secretary, Lord Stanley, settin;^; forth in detail the reasons for the
erection of a new diocese. " Our Bishoji's wish," hi' wrote, " is to ascertain
whether there should be r.av objection on the part of Her Majesty's (iovern-
meiit, if the proper ecclesiastical authorities thought fit to divide into two
distinct Sees, the Diocese ot Kin^fston, in that part o( Canada heretofore

cnown

as the Province o

f Cp,

ler Canad;

The molixc for asking th

division is the absolut(> imjiossibility of the whole of the existiiiLj D

locese

hem^ propeny

'foNcrned

hv one

Bish

op.

our

,or

■d.sh

up IS per

p IS 1

fectl

V aware

if the irreat extent of that iiart of Canada and it^

ousanc

Is of

iiureasm^ population

emi''

rants from tli<' ^b)ther Countrv are comi

nu in, and 111 al

probability will continue to [iroceed to that p.art of Her Majest\'s Doniii

ion

s for a number of vears to come. It therefore becomes urijent that a

lii

♦Ci'pic* of llii< I'onospDiulciu'o arc pitseii ij in the Archives of the .Vriluliocisc of Toroiilo.

lit

i :

I tint;

112

lAfe and Times of Jiisho]) Power.

new See be immediately erected at the other extremity of the I'rovince for
the purpose of providing; more effectually for the spiritual wants of those
who are actually settled in that part of Canada, as well as for the new
settlers who may arrive hereafter."* In reply, Lord Stanley, through his
Secretary, stated that he could not undertake to fix a date when the matter
would be decided, as the legal advisers of the Crown would first have to be
consulted. Verl)al assurance must, however, have been given to the effect
that no objection would be offered to the proposed measure, as official
sanction was not given until September, 1842, when the Diocese of Toronto
was already nearly nine months old. Having concluded their business in
London and Paris, Mgr. Bourget and his companion returned to Canada.

Thk UiocESE OF Toronto.

By a bull of Pope Gregory XVL, dated under the Fisherman's King,
Dec. 17th, 1841, the division of the Diocese of Kingston was effected, and
all that portion of the Province lying west of the District of Newcastle was
erected into a separate diocese. t On the same day Very Rev. Michael
Power was named the first Bishop, with permission to choo.se the city and
title of his See. On January gth following he received faculties, and
Bishop Gaulin was directed to attend to his consecration and installation
with all convenient speed.

Father Power was the unanimous choice of the Canadian episcopacy.
Archbishop Signav of Quebec, Bishops Bourget and Gaulin, and the clergy
of the two dioceses of Montreal and Kingston, had all addressed strong
recommendations to the Holy See in his behalf; and Pope (iri'gory XVI.,
recognizing in this concordant testimony that which tended to the best
interests of the Church in Upper Canada, was graciously pleased to comply,
b'ather Power, on the other hand, was not anxious for the dignit)-, having,
as already related, hurried away from Romi- in the hope of escaping it ; and
now that the appointment was actually made, he sought by every means in
his power to have it set aside. On April loth he addressed a strong letter
to his Bishop, pleading his unworthiness for so high and responsible an
office. But this humble estimate of himself did not find an echo in the

* W-iy xiev. M Power to Lord Stanley. Archives of the .Vrclidiocese of Toronto, vol. i., p. 1 1.

tThe limits of the Diocese were oflicialy defined as follows; West of Newcastle, from Lake
Ontario to Lake Muskoka; from thence by a line directed North-west through Lakes Moon and
Muskoka to Western branch of Two Rivers, emptying into the Ottawa; all W' est of that, ii\chiding Lake
Superior districts.

The Diocese of Toronto.

ii;5

hearts of others. He was recoj^mized on all sides as the man best fitted by
his wisdom, firmness and piety for the ^reat work of foundinjf a new diocese ;
and findinf^, therefore, that all his importunities to be passed over were of no
avail, the f^ood priest bowed to the yoke and prepared for the arduous work
that lay before him. liishop Bourj^'et on his part reco^Miized the ^neat loss
he would sustain by the departure from his diocese of .so <i;ood and zealous
a priest. Writing' to Hishoj) (laulin he said : " The subject whom you ask
of me appears the best jirepared for the important ministry about to be
conferred upon him. Althou.^h I have <,'reat need of his services I shall
part with him with a <^oo(l heart because the ijreatest ^^ood of the Church
is concerned."*

IIavin<4 accepted the office, Father Power, in conformity with the

privilege extended to him, cho.se Toronto as his I'2piscoj)al vSee. He

recognized in that city not only the most populous community in the

Province at that time, but also the great metropolis of the future, the
centre of wealth and influence, the home of culture and the fine arts.

Bishop Power's consecration took place in the parish church at La-
prairie, on May (Sth (Octave of the Ascension), 1842. The officiating
prelate was Hishoji (iaulin, who was assisted by Bishops liourget of
Montreal and Turgeon of vSydime (coadjutor to the Archbishop of C)uebec),
and by many of the clergy of the Diocese of Montreal. The ceremony was
witnessed by a vast concourse of people, who, while thev rejoiced over the
elevation of their beloved pastor to a higher dignity, yet their joy was not
unmixed with tears at the thought that he was leaving them forever.

On the day of his consecration the new Bishop addressed a Pastoral
letter to the clergy and laity of his Diocese, in the course of which he said :
" The common father of all Christians^ (iregorv X\'l., having taken into
serious consideration the vast extent of territorv heretofore placed under the
jurisdiction of our Vencraijle Urolher, the Right Rev. .Bishop of Kingston,
has been pleased to erect the whole of the more western portion of Canada
into a separate and distinct bishoprick : and bv apostolical letters bearing
date the seventeenth day of last December, and addressed to us, he has
likewise been graciously plea.sed to nominate and appoint us the first
Bishop of the newly erected Dioce.se and immediate suffragan of the Holy

* Ari-liivi'x, vol. i., p. j.

1 liiiii 1

iij

114

LiJ'c mill Tinicn <;/' B'mhop Poiver,

Roman See. We were at the same time authorized, by letters of the same
date, to make choice of the most suitable and convenient place in our
Diocese for our future residence. We have in consecjuence determined,
with the advice and approbation of our lipiscopal Brethren, to take our
title from the city of Toronto, and there to establish our Episcopal See.
Most wiilin^rjy would we have declined the responsibility of so hif^h and so
awful a di<i;nit\', and last vear while residinj^ in the Internal City, we made
the strongest representations that the choice should fall upon some one
more capable of fulhllinj; the duties of the epi.scopal charf;fe : for we had
frecjuently present to our mind the expressions of that f^reat li^ht of the
Church, St. John Chrysostom: 'that those who are raised to that office
recpiire a j^reat soul and much couraj^e: that they stand in need of a
thousand eyes on every side: that whilst they undertake to convert others,
they may not suffer themselves to be perverted.' But feelin<4 that all further
resistance on our part would be unsuccessful, we finally yielded to the
desire of the Sovereifi;n Pontiff and consented to take upon ourselves the
yoke of the Lord, by receiving; episcopal consecration. After our acceptance
our first thouj^ht was to cast ourselves in spirit at the feet of the j^reat
Prince o*" Shepherds and Chief Pastor of souls, to beg of Him to grant us
strength generously t(^ bear our burden, and bestow upon us a portion of His
divine grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ. For,
although deeply conscious of our inability to fulttll the obligations of the
high ollice to which we have been raised, we are nevertheless consoled with
the assurance that the Providence of Almigh.y (iod frecjuently makes use of
instruments apparentlv the most inade(|uate to accomplish its divine pur-
poses ; for we are informed by the Holy Spirit of (iod, that the foolish
things of the world hath (iod chosen that He may confound the wise : and
the weak that he may confound the strong : and the things that are base
and contemptible and the things that are not ; that no Hesh should glory in
His sight."*

On \'ay gth the Bishop formally named as his Secretary, Kev. John J.
Hay, a foi.ner student of the Propaganda, whom he raised to the priesthood
on the 2ist of the same month. f On the loth he named Father W. P.
Macdonald of Hamilton as his \'icar (ieneral.

* Archives, vol. i., pp. u iv

t At the s.imi- time he onlaintil thiLc other priests, ll\ico deacons and one sub-doaicn. The priests
were Revs. C. Cassidy, L. Turcot and M.J. Timlin.—'' !lie Catholic," June ist, 1S42,

l¥

Bishiiji I'oircr.

115

On June 25th Bishop Power, accompanied by Bishop (iauHn, arrixed
in Toronto. The two prelates were met at the wharf hv a hirj^e number
of CathoHc citizens and escorted to thi^ residence of the pastor of .St. Paul's,
Rev. \V. P. McDona^di. On the followin}^ day (.Sunday, June 2Gth) Bishop
Power was formally installed into the char<.fe of his Diocese. At the
appointed hour, a procession of about 1,500 men and boys formed in order
at the church and proceeded to blither McDonajfh's residence, where the
Bulls constituting M^;r. Power ISishop of Toronto were read and duly
acknowledf^ed by Bishop Gaulin. The procession then re-formed, and
accompanied by the two prelates, returned to the church, where the new
Bishop feelinf^ly addressed the people, and bespoke their earnest co-opera-
tion in the arduous labors that awaited him. The whole day, says a
contemporary, was passed in solemnity. After \'espers, at which the
Bishops assi.sted, a sermon was preached by Rev. Father Thomas W'il.son,
a Dominican from Zanesville, Ohio.*

BiSHOI' PoWKK.

It may be said with trutli that Toronto was blessed in its first Bi.shop.
In the person of Bishop Power were united the piety of the recluse, the zeal
and capacity of the missionary, and, as the event proved, the patience and
courage of the martyr — a happy combination only to be found in its jierfect
development in the ranks of the Catholic clerjf)-. lie was a native of
Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he first saw the light on Octc>ber 17th, 1804.
His father, William Power, was captain and owner of a vessel which .sailed
regularly between Halifax and St. John's, Newfoundland. His mother
was noted all her life for her piety and devotion to her husband and
children, and from her the future Bishop imbibed that simple, child-like
faith in God and devotion to the Blessec' Virgin which were two of his
strongest characteristics. When only twelve years of age, by the advice of
Bishop Burke, who even at that early age discerned in him the marks of a
true vocation, he was sent to Montreal, where he entered the Seminary of
St. Sulpice, and under the Fathers of that institution made rapid progress
in his studies. His theological studies were subsecjuently pursued, partly
in t'vj same institution and partly at the Seminary of Quebec. On Aug.
17th, 1827, being then in his 23rd year, he was ordamed priest at Montreal

♦ Kallier WiUon was at one time Pro\ incial of the Domiiiicaii Onlor in Ohio and Kentucky . See
I>r. John Gilmar^' Shea's " History' of the Catholic Cluiieh in the I'niteil States," vol. iii.

Ilii:;^

116

Li/c (111(1 Tillies (ij JlislKjp I'oiicr.

by Bishop Dubois* ;iii(l was immediately thereaftLT apj)oiiitecl to the mission
at Drummondville, Lower Canada, where he remained until iHji, when he
was placed in charge of all the missions on both sides of the Ottawa as far
as Bytown. After two years service in that capacity, lie was, in i8j3,
made cure of St. Martina, in the county of Beauharnois, and labored there
with <j;reat success until 1839. In the latter year he was removed to the
important parish of Laprairie, and was made Vicar General of the Diocese
of Mcmtreal, continuin<,' as such until his elevation to the episcopacy in
1842. A noteworthy incident in his jiastorate at Laprairie was his generous
and hospitable treatment of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, who, in the
early part of 1842, had come to Montreal on the invitation of Bishop
Lartigue, to resume those missionary labors whicli, in times past, had been
the glory of the Canadian Church. It was the design of ISisluip ISourget,
wiio had succeeded Mgr. Lartigue, to place these Fathers in charge of
Chambly College, but unexpected obstacles having intervened to prevent
this, he was, for the moment, in a cjuandary how to provide for them. In
this dilemma Father Power suggested that the\' should be installed pro-
visionall) at Laprairie, and the Bishop having at once accjuiesced, he went
to a great deal of trouble and expense in making suitable preparations for
their recejition. By his glowing accounts of the past history of the Jesuits
in Canada lie so inflamed the warm-hearted I'Vench Canadians that they
were impatient to receive the Fathers in their midst, and begged the Bishop
to make them their pastors when l^alher I'owcr should have taken his
departure for Toronto. Accordingly, the Jesuits became regularly installed
ai Laprairie, and blather Power's part in bringing about that consummation
is to this day remembered with gratitude by the Societ\-.t

In addition to his ordinary parochial duties at Laprairie, which in
themselves were by no means light, b'ather Power acli'd as chajilain to the
Catholic soldiers in the garrison. His services in this capacity were
formally recognized b\ the military authorities, and l)\ the Government. J

Ilis (k'parture trom Laprairie was the occasion of great sorrow and
regret, not only on the part of his own Hock, I)ut l)y all classes of the
community. The " Montreal Gazette" (May 20th, 1842), in the cour.se of

* Tanguay's " Hcpeitoiie (iciicral du Clcige Canadicii." Mgr. Diiboi.^ was liisliop of New York.
t .\rchive.s of St. Mary's College, Montreal.
J Canadian Archives, Series C, vol. Ixx., p. ly.

III

The Firit Diocesan Si/iind.

117

an editorial witli refcicncc to his consecration and apj)roacliinfj; departure,
thus spoke of him : " llis loyalty to the Sovereign has always been distin-
guished \)\ manly inti'f^aiL\ and unswerving zeal, as those who know his
endeavors to cjuell an unprovoked rebellion, and to control the passions of a
misguided people can testify. While discharging with truth and hdelity
the duties of his own station, he lived on uniform terms of friendship and
good neighborhood with every denomination of Christians, however different
from his own, and not only gained the esteem of Protestants, but of their
clergy, with many of whom he is associated in the true spirit of a gentle-
man, and on a footing of genuine Christian liberality and good-will.
Wherever he goes. Bishop Power, we are sure, will carry those feelings and
sentiments along with him ; and we cannot refrain from congratulating
those over whose religious duties he has been chosen to jireside, upon their
good fortune in being instructed and directed by a prelate w'ho, while he
will maintain the integrity of his sacred office untinged by bigotry or
superstition, cannot fail to indicate the truly British virtues of inflexible
loyalty, charity and hospitality."

The First Dioces.vn Svnou.

In taking up his residence in Toronto, Bishop Power found himself
face to face with difficulties of no ordinary kind, llis diocese covered an
immense territory, and the members of his Hock in many sections were
inadeciuately, if at all, supplied with the means of fulfilling their duty as true
children of the Church. In his own episcopal city, now grown to be a
thriving community of about thirteen thousand inhabitants, the Catholics
numbered about three thcnisand, with but one priest to minister to their
spiritual requirements. St. Paul's was the onl)- church in the city, and, on
the Bishop's advent, it became, for the time being, his Cathedral.

As a hrst step towards the pro()er organization of his Diocese, Bishop
Power summoned a Synod of his clergy. It met in the month of October
in St. Paul's church, being preceded by a spiritual retreat of Hve days, con-
ducted by Father Peter Chazelle, S. J., one of the six Jesuits who, in the
month of June ineceding, had arrived in Montreal from Kentucky.'
F'ather Chazelle had formerly been rector of St. Mary's College in that
State, and had a wide reputation as a preacher and director. He wis

rym i

I i'il'

118

Life (did Times of liighop Power.

assisted at the retreat by Father Louis Houe, a secuhxr priest who had
come to Canada with the Jesuits. The Synod was opened and presided
over by the Hishop in person, and was attended by sixteen priests, wliose
names and stations were as follows :

Very Rev. W. P. Macdonald, V. (i., Hamilton; Rev. M. R. Mills,
Brantford, Indiana and Dumfries; James O'I'lynn, Dundas, Oakville and
Trafalgar; James i^ennet, Tecumselli and Adjala ; Edward (iordon,
Niagara and Niagara Falls; Patrick O'Dwyer, London and St. Thomas;
Rugene O'Rielly, Toronto and Albion; J. B. Proulx, Manitoulin and the
Upper Lakes; Michael McDonnell, Nhiidstone and Rochester; Thomas
Ciibney, (juelph and Stratford ; Peter Schneider, Waterloo, Wilmot and
Cioderich ; James Quinlan, Newmarket and Barrie; Amable Charest, Pene-
tanguishene; W. P. McDonagh, Stephen Fergus, and J. J. Hay (Secretary
of the Diocese), Toronto. The only absentees were Very Rev. .^'Ineas
Macdonell, \'. Ci., Sandwich ; Revs. J. 11 Morin, Raleigh ; and y\ugustine
Vervais, Amherstburg, who, from legitimate causes, were unable to attend.
On the first day Bishop Power celebrated Pontifical Mass, Father Chazelle,
S.J., being Deacon, Father Proulx, Sub-Deacon, and Father Charest,
Assistant Priest. This was followed by the profession of faith of the clergy
present, and by the other formulas usual on such occasions. The .second
day was signalized by the celebration of Mass for the repose of the souls of
the late Bishop Macdonell and the deceased clergy of the Diocese ; and on
the third day, being Sunday, Mass was celebrated in honor of the Most
Pure Heart of Mary. The Synod was brought to a clo.se by the celebration
of a Mass of thanksgiving to the Holy Clhost, at which the Jiishop pontifi-
cated, after which a 7V Dcuin was sung and a .sermon preached by Father
Mills. At Vespers, Vicar General Macdonald preached an eloquent
sermon, which was followed by Benediction of the Bles.sed Sacrament.

Two events of the Synod call for special mention. The first in order
is the consecration of the Diocese to the Sacred Heart, which took place
with ceremonies of the mosL solemn and impressive character. To that act
of devotion, prompted by the Bishop's piety, it will perhaps nev'er be given
us to know just how much of the subsequent prosperity of the Diocese is
due.

The second event is the project of establishi.ig a college at Sandwich
which should be the centre of the Indian missions. It was the Bishop's

*.'i

'/'//(• Clen/y.

Hi)

design to rntrust the c;irr\in^ out of this project to the Jesuit l'"ather'^, but
his early death intervined, and it was not until 1857 that the sehenie was
realized. The Jesuits retained eharj^'e of the colle<;e for only two years,
when, on the advent of Hisliop I'insonneault, they withdrew and that
prelate placed it in eharj^e of the Hasilian leathers from Annonay, b'ranee,
who, after eonduetinj; it for a short time, also withdrew, hut ri-sumed control
under liishop W alsh, and have ever since conducted il, as well as its sisli'r
institution al Toronto (St. Michael's C'ollej^e), with marked ability.

The elfect of the Synod was to place the 1 )i()ix'se on a iirm footing,
and to provide for the proper or<(anization of the jiarishes. The statutes
adopted were chiefly directed to this end, and they bear the impress of
Bishop Power's executive and administrative ability. They were such as
much older dioce.ses had not at the time the ad\anta<^fe of possessing;.

On September 15th, formal advice; had been received from vSir Charles
Ba^ot, then Governor (ieneral, to the elfect that the Colonial Secretary had
communicated to him Her Majesty's authority for recof^nizin^' M^^r.
Power in his oflicial character as Koman Catholic Bishop of Toronto. The
reader will r.'collcct that when in Huf^land in 1.^41, Bishoj) (then l''ather)
Power had, as N'icar (Ieneral of the Diocese of Montreal, written to Lord
Stanley to ascertain if there would be any objection on the part of Her
Majesty's (government to the erection of a new diocese in Western Canada.

In entering;, therefore, upon the second year of his episcopate, the
Bishop had the fi;ratitication of knowing- that he occupied a satisfactory
position with respect to the civil as well as to tlie ecclesiastical authorities.

TlIK Cl.KKdV.

Of the priests who assisted at this Synod it may be interestinjj;, as well
as being in keeping with the plan and scope of this work, to give such
meagre biographical details as I ha\e been able to glean from the Archives
of the Diocese, and from periodicals and other publications of the time.
Some of them have already been noticed in the j)receding chajiter, to which
the reader is referred.

Father Michael Robert Mills came to the Diocese from Dublin, where
he had labored for some years with great fruit under Archbishop Murray.
It is said he was formerly an Anglican clergyman and a graduate of the

1'20

Life (I nil Times of IVmlutp Power.

University ol Oxford, lie \s;is ct-rtainly a firu' scholar and prc-aclu-r, and
his services in the latter capacity were in constant demand at chnrch
opcninj^'s, the hiving,' of corner stones and other notable occasions, lie
went to London in 1S43, and was for some time chaplain to the j^arri.son
there. 1 le sul).se(iuently became a Trappist, and in that austere community
died a hol\' death.

l'"ather W. 1". McDona^h came from the .\r( lulioccse of Tu.iiu in
Ireland, lie was sent to Canada by Archijishop ( )'l\ellv to collect funds
towards the erection of a new cathedral, and on the invitation of liishop
Macdor.ell decided to remain h(>re. His first station was at ^'ork, where he
succeeded I'ather O'Cirady. lie aftirw.ucls went to St. Catharines, where
he earned the thanks of his ecclesiastical superiors and of the civil authori-
ties by practically jjuttin;; an end to faction fi^'hts amonfj; the laborers on
the Welland Canal. He Iniilt a church at St. Catharines in 1S44 which
cost seventeen thousand dollars, lie died at Douro, in tiie countv of
Northumberland, some )-ears later.

Father Thomas (iibney, whose pastorate at (luelph has already been
referred to, was a native of County Meath, Ireland, whence he came
to Canada about 1S35 or i^ijG, and was shortly afterwards ordained priest.
Guelph was his first station in I'pper Canada, and he ended his days there
in 1846, as already related. lie was a pious, zealous man, and was nuich
respected bv all classes of the community.

Father Michael McDonnell came from the Dioce.se of Limerick in 1840,
and was jilaced in charge of the mission at Maidstone and Rochester. lie
retired from tlie Diocese in 1844.

Father J. H. I'roulx, born at Lachine in 1808, was ordained at Mon-
treal on July iOth, 1835, and was first stationed at Laprarie, ()i)p()site
Montreal.* On cominfi; to Upper Canada he was sent by Bishop Macdonell
to work amonj; the Indians at Penetanguishene, and afterwards on Mani-
toulin Island. In 1846 he was given charge of the parish at Oshawa, and
in 1858 came to Toronto. His later career is fresh in the memor\- of all.

I'ather Amable Charest was a native of St. Anne de la Perade, in the
Province of Ouebec, where he was born in 1807. He was raised to the

77(( ( Iriiiif,

lil

priesthood in ( ilciif^arry in iHjy, and was sent ininn'dialcly lo iNiulan-
^iiisliciu- to take up the work so well hegun liy I'atlur I'roiiK. Here lie
remained for many years, and in 1S34 returned to his nalisc ri(i\iiu-u.

l'"allur I'atrieU O'Dwyer was born in iISoj in ll.e Aixlidioccst' ot Cashel,

^";hind. On becoming a priest in 18^3 he came to Canada, and labored

sr -sively at Quebec, St. Dunstan, Hcaiiporl, and (irossc Isle. lie .came

o " per Canada in 1837,* and after some years removed to the Cnited

States and settled :'.t Cincinnati.

leather John James Ha)', already referred to as Secretary of the
Diocese, was born in the County of (ilengarryon June J4th, iSiS. His
theological studies were pursued in the Seminary of St. Raphael, and sub-
.sei|uently at the I'ropaganda, Rome. lie was ordained priest at Montreal
on May 21st, 1842, having, a few days previously, been named b\ Bishop
Power (who ordained him) Secretary for the new Diocese of Toronto. The
wisdom of this appointment was more than justified by the exemplary man-
ner in which h'ather Hay discharged the duties of the ofhce. .Almost all
the earlv records of the Diocese arc in his handwriting, and llic neatness
and circumspection in which they were kept prove him to have been a
model secretary. In 1H46 he liecame first .\rchdeacon of the Diocese, and
was twice admmistrator, first during Bishop Bower's absence in luirope in
the early part of 1847, and latc-r, jointly with blather Carroll, on the
Bisho|)'s death in the b'all of the same ye.ar. He survived the B>ish()p less
than two years, his death occurring on b'eb.- 19th, 1849, in the 31st year of
his age, to the sorrow and regret of the whole community. He v\a^ buried
in St. Michael's Cathedral, where a handsome marble tabl(>t marks his last
resting place. Father Hay was a model priest, and his early death
deprived the Diocese of one who had, to all appearances, a career of useful-
ness and distinction before him.

Of Fathers James (.juinlan and Stephen Fergus all that can be ascer-
tained is that the former was ordained in 1834 by the Bishop of Waterford,
and that he left Iri>land in 1837, and that the latter came from the Arch-
diocese of Tuam.f

Father James Bennett, who was in charge of Tecumseth and .\djala in

* Abbe Tanguav's " Repertoire (ieiieral."

f /Vrchives of Uie Archdiocese of 'roronto, vol. i., pp .^o-.iy.

►K

III

1'22

f.il'f iiiiil 'I'iiiii'H i>f IHhIidp I'liwcr.

iM4^, was liansfi-rrcd to \\hitl)y in June, iH4^, l>iit did not loiij^r survive the
rlian>;c. lie dii'd al Kinj^stoii in S(|)l., iN.)^, and is Imiit-d ti\(rf.*

Of I'allicrs ()'l''lynn, Scliiicidir, O'Kcill)', Monn and Vt-Tvais, the
Anliivis of tin; Arclidioccsf make no mention ix-Nond the entry of their
fatuities. Tliey are remembered by the ohler people as zealous and
devoted priests, who, havinj^ finished their labors in this world, now slei-p

the >leep of tile just.

'I'lll'. ("()MIN(. ol' Till'; Jl'.sriTS.

On Nov. iJth, Hisliop Power made formal application to Very Rev.
I'alher Koothaan, (ieneral of the Society of Jesus, for priests of that
Society to aid him in the missions of his Diocese. In the cour.se of a lon^
and interestinj^t letter he dwelt with enthusiasm on the \y.isi history of the
Jc^suit missions in Canada; on the patient zeal and heroic fortitude of those
early missionaries who had traver.sed the inmost recesses of tin- continent in
the hope of winninj; the untutored savaj^es to Christianity and to civiliza-
tion ; and with special emphasis did he call to mind the intrepid Hrelxeuf
and his companions, who had watered with their blood the soil of what is
now the .Archdiocese of Toronto. The Bishop had always been an ardent
admirer of the Society of Jesus, lit; had, on the advent of its sons al
Moiilreal, proved their staunch friend, and had boj^un the labors of his own
Diocese by summonin^M)ne of them to conduct the liist Diocesan Retreat, and
to contribute his l<nowled}.(e and his experience to the councils of his first
S\nod, and now he sou^dit to enlist their services permanenttv in the work
upon which Uv had entered.

In the course of his letter to I'ather Koothaan he j^ives some very
interestinj^ information about the Diocese. The total number oi Catholics
within its limits he placed at about fifty thousand, mostly l^uropeans and
their descendants, with here and there a settlement of Christian Indians.
This number was beinj^ constantly au<;mented by the arrival of Irish
immifj;rants and a few Catholics of other nationalities, who were attracted
bv tiie promising field wiiich Upper Canada, or Canada West as it was
now very j^enerally called, then presented. This rapid increase in his flock
necessitated also an increase in the ranks of his clerfj;y, and with the

* Archives, vol. i., p. 50.
t Anhives, vol. i , pp. ,\y^.

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I'lic Cominij <>J the •IcKtiitt.

128

mea^n' rcsourcrs at his disposal, and in the face of otlu r ditlK iiilits in-
cidental to a new diocese, he natiirall) turned to l-'ather Koothaan (whom
he had visited when in luirope in 1H41) for aid. It was his desire that the
Jesuits should take u|) the tlirea<l of their ancient missions in the territory
liorderiiif^ on (ieor;^iaii Hay, on Maniloulin Island, and alonj,' the north
shori' of i .akes lluron and Superior; and he also contemplated, as alriady
.stated, the foundation of a Collej^e which should he entrusted to their tare.

He then goes on to say that on his recent visit to the northern portion
of his Diocese he had found one mission of about Goo Indians, all of whom
were Catholics. In another colony of 0,5(k) Indians, there were -',500
Catholics, and of the others, man\ showed a disposition to embrace
Christianity, lie had himself bapti/td Oj intidels, of whom v'^ wert' adults,
one a chief of the tribe, and the missionary (blither I'roulx) had in a short
time baptized 40 children. At the same time the Bishop had conferred
Confirmation upon i()t> Indians who had been prep.ired for llu' Sat ranu nt
by l''ather Proul.x. '1 he f,aeat drawbaci which lu- had found to the conver-
sion of the poor people was the presi nee amon^ them .»f sectaries, who,
tlu)u;.;h they met with but indilferent success, yet manaf^'ed, by a free use of
money and presents, to produce a certain external conformity.

Bishop i'ower's appeal to l'"allier Koothaan nut with a favorablt;
response. In July, 1843, Fathers P(,'ter I'oint and John Peter Chone came
to the Diocese and were, the month following, placed in charf^e of the
Parish of the Assumption at Sandwich, where, with other b'atlujrs of their
Society, they continued to reside until 1859, when, on the transfer of liishop
Pinsonneault's See from London to Sandwich, they relintiuished charj^t- of
that mission. Of l-'ather Point, a writer in " L'bUendard"* in iS<S4 thus
speak.s : " The Jesuits, on coming' to Sandwich, had at their head a man
who, besides a rare administrative talent, was possessed of ardent zeal, a
rare gift of speech, and was blessed with the heart of an ajiostle — l'\-ither
Peter Point." Tlu! labors of the.se b'athers at Sandwich were sini/ularl\'
fruitful, and their departure was an occasion of deep rt'gret to i'ver\- member
of the parish, from the highest to the lowest. The new church commenced
by leather Macdonell, V.(j., was completed by thvm and dedicated in 1^)46,
and, as already recorded, they founded the College of the Assumption in

i«57_____ '

* "Ciilliolic Record," Mav .?ist, 188.4, <'''ecl i'l ratlu-r Coffcv's •' Cilv aii<l Diocesf of F-ondon." iSSs

m^\

«-

li i

VI i

Life mid T'imvH uf Jiisliop I'mrrr.

Hesides the mission at Sandwich, the Jesuit l''atlu'is had at one time
charge also of Chatham and ot W'ihnot (now the village ot New Ciermany),
in the County of Waterloo. In the year Ujj they were installed by Bishop
dv Charlionell to the pastoral care of (iuelph, where they have ever since
continued to reside, to ihc gre;;t advantage of religion and education.
This, with the exception of the Lake Superior and (ieorgian Ha\- missions,
is tl.e only pari.-'i in Ontario now under their care.

It was in the vcar i(S40 that the Jesuits arrived in I'enetanguishene to
resume their labors amongst the Indians on the I'pper Lakes.* Fathers
D.miiiiic l)uran(iuel and J. P. tl.one were the pioneers, and they were fol-
lowed by others not less devoted than themselves who literally turned their
backs upon civilization for the sake of the Red Man. The lal)ors of these
l-'alhers recall to mind the missions of the seventeenth century in the same
locality, the soil of which had been consecrated by the blood of martyrs.
At the present time the Jesuit l'"athers have under their charge missions at
Tort Arthu'-, Ni/rth Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, I'ort W'lliam, Manitowaning,
Garden iviver, W'ikwemikong and Sudbury, all in the Diocese of Peter-
borough. They have had phenomenal success with the Indians, wIk)
regard them with a love and trust truly Hlial in its character.

Xor.Mu.i': I'^VENTS.

On Nov 2Jnd, 1^42, the devotion of the \\ a\' of the Cross was erected
in St. Pai'l's Church, Toronto, being the first church in th(! Diocese so
favi)red. The next to receive a simil.ir favor was the church of St. N'incent
de Paul, Niagara, on Dec. ijth, 1^44.

On March loth, 1S43, the Bishops of Canadaf addressed a joint letter
to the Direc*^ rs of tin- Hudson's bay Company, on the subject of the .sale
of liquor .v) tiie 'nd ans. The liavoc caused by this dangerous traffic was
gre it and widespread, .ind had, pernajis, more to dn with the degradation
of Mil- native races of America than all other cau.ses combined. Tlu;
Bisht.jis' letter imjilr cd the go\erning body of that ancient and powerful
corporation to stay the ruin being broughl upon the Indians by the inilis-

* .\ii iiitt'ic>lii'g aci'diint of tlii- p.irisli was read bv Iho prcsi'nt pastor, Katlicr l.atioicaii, al llu-
muotii'j; of llu' Crnaiiiaii In-ijtuli' al that place in llic N.inuncr of 1S91.

i I'lio iJishoii.i who iillixcil their signatures to this letter were .Vrelihisl-op Sijjiiav ami l>i<hop Tiir-
neon, QiKbcc: Hishops Bourgel, Montreal ; Gaiilin, Kingstoti; and Power, 'roronlo.

Xotiiblt' Krciitx.

l-i")

criminate sale of intoxicating; licjuors, and to t.ikc sinh measures as woiihl
coniinc the trallic within safe limits. 'J'he evil has nexcr \)vvu altoi^cther
overcome, hut it was no douhl due to the copiilnned inHiuMice of the
Catholic Bishops that some mitigation of it was sul)seiiiieiitl\- hrouj^lit
about.

In Mav (<f this year there came to tht I.">ioce.si' I'atlu r |olin fanoll.
This priest, a native of Oueen's County, Ireland, came to America while
d pursued his studies at Halifax, N.S., where he was ordained

}

oun;

by Bishop Hurke, whose nephew he was.* Durhij; his sub.se(|uent residence
in Halifax he was instrumental in securing the abolition of the Test Act, the
provisions t)f .<hich excluded Catholics from public ofHces.t He afterwards
labored in the DicKt.ses of CJuebec and Charlottetown, I'.l",.!., his exeat
from the latter being dated .\ug. 17th, I1S32.+ On his ad\ent at 'I lonlo,
Bishop Power made him a \'icar (ieneral, and on the cU'ath of the Jiislio]^
he, joinilv with Archdeacon Hay, became .Administrator of the Diocese,
and on tin- death of the latter in 1849, acted alone in that capacity mtil
the arrival of Bishop de Charbonnel. During his achninistration t!ie clergy
of the Dioce.se presented to the (iovernor deneral, the Kt. Hon, Karl of

J'Llirin and Wincardine, an address of s\ m

ipathy

on occasion

certam

violent attacks made upon his I'.xcellency's conduct ol his high otfue. On
leather Carroll's resignation of the Administratorshij), when a successor to
Bishoj) Power had been apjiointed, he was made the recipient of an
acUhess and testimonial by the Catholics of Toronto, lie subsecpiently
went to the Cnited States and died at C'iiicago in icSSy, the oldest priest in
.\merica, lacking onl\- four years ot being a centenarian. He is .saitl to have

f the celebrated Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of

been a near n

•lat

\\v o

the sig'iers of the Declaration of Independence, whom he fre(|uentl\- \isited
at his ancestral home in \'irgini;i.

leathers Peter Connolly, Hugh iMtzpatrick, P. S. Sanderl, William
Mcintosh, Francis PriMidergast and Charles Kileen also came to the
Dioce.se m the vear 1S43. b'ather Connolly can..' irom the 1 )ioce.si' of

again in 1S44. I'athi'r

liost

on.

but did not remain Ioiili here, lea\in<

Fitzpatrick, who had been with Bishop Gaulin in Kingston, al.so left ii

' Haltii

11' ••Catluilii- Mirror," I line ^^lli, iSSy.

t " 'I'lif Cluirili of Knfi;liiiul in N()\a .Siolia": N V., 1S91,

t .\ri' hives, vol. i..

!'■ 47

«-

fTwrr

\'r

1 pi.
mm

I i i |1[ ■ ,

1-2G

IJJc and Times of Binliop I'uirer,

i(S.^4, and l'"atliei" .Sandcrl was a Kfdi'mptorist, wlio, on leavinj^' the Diocese
a^aiii al)()ut 1H53, went on a pil^riina^^e to Jerusalem.* No particulars are
now obtainable about Father Mcintosh, who was a talented young priest
and very promising;. He was assistant to I-'ather Macdonald at Hamilton.
I'"ather Prendergast came from the Archdiocese of Tuam. Father Kileen,
who came from Cincinnatti, was ordained by Bishop Power.

In September Bishoj) Powjr visited the Western portion of his
Diocese. t To the Catholics of Amherstburg, Sandwich and Tilbury, he
addressed pastoral letters, commending their lidelity to their several
pastors, their zeal and charity in every good work, and urging them to
further efforts for the advancement of religion and the education and
religi(His training of their children.

On Julv iJth., 1S44, the Sovereign Pontiff issued a Hull, erecting all
the Dioceses of Canada into one Ecclesiastical Province, with Ouebec as
the Metropolitan See. The reader will remember that when, in i<Si9, the
then reigning Pontiff, Pius VH., raised (_)uebec to this dignit\-, exception
was taken to the measure by the liritish CioviTumenl ; and in deference
thereto. Bishop Plessis had obtained from the Holy l*\ither ju-rmission to
defer the assumption of the archiepiscopal title until such time as a change
should take place in the attitude of the civil authorities. This change had
long since come to pass, and, in 1841, negotiations had been opened
between the Canadian Bishops and the Holy See towards the erection of an
Ecclesiastical Province and the consecjuent assumption by the Archbishop
of Quebec of his proper title and dignity. By Apostolical Letters, Pope
Ciregory X\'I. had now made this an accomplished fact, and the evei;t was
an occasion of great joy to the Church in Canada.

Bishop Power, in his pastoral address announcing it, said : " We
iinit' you, brethren, to return heartfelt thank- to Almight\- God for this
new manifestation of His divine favor to His Church in Canada, and fron-'
which we may hope to derive many signal blessings and important
advantages. Let us pray that this complete ecclesiastical organization
may lencl to the more rapid i)rogress of the Catholic fiiith, bind together

* lie is iiunlioiu'ii in IJc Cimicv's " C.illiolic Chiirili in thu I'liilL'il Stiiti'>," Dr. Shen^ traiislatidii,
N.Y., 1857.

+ The Bishop's tirsi pa>l<)ial visit was to IViietanitiiisliLMU' ami Jtaiiilouliii Island in .August, iH^i.
Heinj; unable to pioci'eci as far as .Sault .Sto. Maiii-, lie sent Katlier I'roulx in his stead, making him the
hearer of a h.'ller to the C'alluilii's of that settlement. Arehives, vol. i., p. zi.

-9

S)-

.S7. Michael's Cathedral.

127

more firmly ;ill the members of the Chiircli, iilford to lier now \vell-eslal)lislied
hierarchy the means of hihorinj^' toj^^ether in more perfect unity of desij^n,
and lt\ the united efforts of her first Pastors, of infusing new vigor and
fresh energy to the most remote and most infant portions of the CathoHc
Church in this l^rovince."*

On March 25th, 1845, tlie Legislative AssenihK of the Province of
Canada issued Letters of Incorporation to the Bishops of Toronto and
Kingston, empowering them to acciuire and possess proi)erty for eleemosyn-
ary, ecclesiastical and educational purposes, and in general to exercise
such powers as are common to bodies corporate. The Act also extended
the same powers to other dioceses that might in the future come into exist-
ence in the Province.

St. Michael's Cathi:i)Kai..

I'Vom the beginning of iiis ejiiscopate Bishop Power had felt the need
of a suitable Cathedral Church. Tl.^ Catholic population, keejMiig pace
with the expansion of the city, had long since outgrown St. Paul's ; and,
with the march of the city westward, it Ix.-came necessary to providi' for
tho.se who resided at a distance from the old church, which had been built
in the davs when Toronto was but a hamlet on the banks of the Don.
One of tile Bishop's Hrst cares, therefore, on coming to the city, was to
secure a suitable site for his projected Cathedral, and with tliis in \ iew lie
instituted a weekly penny collection at St. Paul's, as the nucleus of a
building fund. He Hnallv succeeded in purchasing the block of land on
Church street, on whicli the Cathedral, Palace and Loretto Convent now
stand. It wa< owned In Hon. Peter McGill of Montreal, and had formerlv
been used as a market garden. The price paid for the property was £i,Hoo,
which sum Bishop Power advanced out of his own private means. t The
Bishop was adver.sely criticized by some people for having fixed on a site
lying so much on the outskirts of the city, but it tool.- but a few years to
demonstrate the wLsdom of his choice. What then la\ on the outskirts is
now in the verv heart of the city, and, at Toronto's present rate of pro-
gress, it is, perhaps, only a (|uestion of years when it ma}- be found expedient
to erect a new and larger Cathedral much further west and north.

* Arcliiveti, vol,

. PI'- 7--3'

■{■"Life of .'Vrchbishop I.vnoh," by H. C McKeown^ iSb6.

«-

''■

li:

-ft

fif

12fi

Ijij'c mill Thiu's of Binhojt I'viter.

Tlie excavation for the new Cathedral was be<;un on April 7th, 1H45.
On that day a larj^e force of men, who j^ave their services for the occasion
j^'ratuitously, assembled with their teams, and in an incredibly short space of
time the work was done. Building,' operatit)ns began immediately and
proffressed so rapidly that on May 8th the corner-stone was laid by the
Bishop in person, assisted by Fathers M.icdonald, V. C, Mcl)ona<,di,
(iordon, O'Reilly, O'Dwycr, Timlin, Carroll, Hay, Ouinlan and Nij^htin-
gale.* It was an ambitious design in the state of things at that time to
enter upon an undertaking of such magnitude ; but Bishop Power was a
man of faith, and confided thoroughly in the generosity of his Hock. Nor
was this confidence misplaced, for his efforts were noriy seconded at every
turn ; and Bishop, priests and people being thus united, the fair form of St.
Michael's Cathedral gradually rose fiom the soil and gave to the world
another example of Catholic faith and generosity. Unfortunately Bishop
Power did not live to see this great work completed, but at his death he
left it so fir advanced, •:hat within ;i year thereafter (Sej)t. 29th, 1848) it
was solemnly dedicated to the service of Almighty Cod b}- his Lordship
Bishc^p Bourget of Montreal, assisted by the Bishops of Kingston, Bytown
and Martyropolis.

Concurrently with the Cathedral was erected St. Michael's Palace,
which has ever since been the official residence of the Bishops and Arch-
bishops t)f Toronto. It was blessed on Dec. 7th, 1846.

Pastok.\ls.

Bishop Power's pastorals are twelve m number, dating from the letter
he addressed to his people from Laprairie prior to taking ix)s.session oT his
See. They all bear the impress of a strong iiidividuality, and are charac-
terized by a sweet and ardent piety, and a heartfe't affection for those com-
mitted to his care. Some of them lia :e already been enumerated in the
foregoing pages, and consetiuently do not call for furtlv r mention.

He was accustomed to address his tlock at each recurring Lent, and it
is in these letters especially tha.; we get a glimjise of the saintliness of his
character. In that of 1844 he announced the establislunent in his Dioce.se
of the Association of the Propagation of the Faith, which he describes as

* l'"iilher William Nightinj|alo came from Loiulon, Kii}{liiiul. He was i^ubseqiiently in Guiana,
Simtli Aincica, then in N'.'w 'I'oik. He remained 'n Toronto less tlian a vcar. Artliive>, vol. i., p. 77.

Death of Gre^orii AT/. (///-/ .4 cress (oo of I'iit.s IX. 12'.*

" one of ihc iiKJst admirable instiiulions and ^^reatest works of nicrcv ol
modern times."

" We should not forget," he wrote, " tiiat we have not fulfilled our
dut}- towards our neij^hbour if we conhne our rharit\ and our solicitude to
th(\se with whom we live ; for the divine lij^ht of revelation shows us a
brother, a friend in e\ery member of the human race, and the order of the
Lord is that each man should take care of his neighbour. It teaches us,
moreover, that all men, witliout exception, are our neighbours and should be
dear to us ; for all men for'^i but one faniil\- in Adam and in Jesus Christ.
We, therefore, stand indebted to those who have not \et received the
precious gift of faith, who, in the energetic words of Holy Scripture, are
.seated in darkness and in the shadow of death, and who would, i)erhaps,
liave made a better use of this inestimable blessing than we have done.
Let us, therefore, cheerfully contribute to the good work and bestow our
mite on those trulv evangelical men who sacrifice all the comforts of this
world, their repose, their hcilth, their liberty, and who ari' even ready to lay
down their lives for the propagation of the I'aith."* Little did he realize
that in this last clause he \v:is portraving his own glorious end.

Of the Bishop's pastorals on the death of l\jpe C^regor) X\'l., and the
election of Pius LX., and of that on the famine and distress in Ireland in
1847, 1 shall ha\e occasion to speak later on. Mis last, (kited just two
months before his death, was to promulgate the Jubilee proclaimed by I'ius
L\. on the occasi(Mi of his elevation lo lh(- Papal Throne.

DlvATII Ol" C'lRKCORV .W'l. A.NK .VcCICSSION Ol' I'll.S IX.

On June isl, 1S4O, His Holiness Pope (jregory X\i. entered into rest.
In announiing the melancholy intelligence to his jieojile Pishop Power
wrote :

" It is with feelings of no ordinarv grief that we make known to you
that it has plea.sed Almighty God to withdraw from this world, after a life
of great labors and eminent piety, the Supreme Pastor of His Church, and
the Father of all the faithful, (iregory W'L, who departed this life, full of
years and of merits, in the capital of the Christian world, on Mondav, the
hrst day of June. l"rt)m what we know of the; burning zeal anil .spotless life

i;Bi

•Archives, vol. i , pp 5'^>i>.

«-

it I

I'l'lii'lBlllil!'''

Ii! I |ii

IlliiiHiiiii

i:t(>

l.lj'c (111(1 Tliitfit of liisJiop Power.

of this excellent ;iiul well-beloved Pontiff, we have every reason to hope that
he has already received at the hands of a merciful God the fullness of the
reward jiromised to the j^ood and faithful steward, who had not neglected
but improved tlie man)' talents committed to his care. But, beloved
brethren, the judgments of (iod are very severe: we, therefore, most
earnestly invite )()u to join witli all the children of the Church, and to beg
fervently of the Almight\- (if He has not alreadv glorified His servant) to
listen, m his behalf, to the voice of tiie Church, now praying throughout the
world, through tlie merits of Jesi. Christ, whose N'icar he was uj^on earth,
to hasten the moment when he who was our High Priest may be graciously
admitted to a place of light, of refreshment, and of everlasting jx-ace."

Tlie interregnum between the dealh of (iri'gory X\T. and the election
of a succi ssor was one of the shortest in the annals of the Church. Sixteen
days only had elap.sed when it was made known to the world that his Emin-
ence Cardinal Alastai I'erretti had been dui\ and canonically raised to the
Supremr Pontilicate, and had ascended the Throne of Peter under the title
of Pius IX. To enter into details of this most memorable event is not
within the scope o^ this history, but in common with the rest of tiie Catholic
world the event itself was personal to every member of the Diocese. " How
ccmsoling," wrote the IrJishnp to his people, " for us to witness, in the midst
of all the trials and tribulations of our Holy .Mcjther the Church, the
continued fulfilment of the eternal promises of Christ, and to l)ehold, not-
withstanding the convulsions and revolutions of states and empires, and in
dehance c'' all the changes of the oldest institutions of the world, the
wonderful stability of that Divine Structure founded on a rock, against
which the powers of Hell shall never prevail !"

Till-: r^isHOP \'isiTs Europe.

In t)rdcr to obtain additional priests for his dioce.se, as well as to seek
assistance in the building of his Cathedral, Hishoj) Power visited Europe in
January, 1847. In announcing his coming dejxirture to his people, he
besought their earnest prayers for the success of his mission and for his own
safe return ; he urged them to renewed efforts for the completion of the
sacred edifice which had been so auspiciously begun ; and he committed
the care of the Diocese during his absence to his Vicar Cieneral and Artli-
deacon. Fathers Macdonald and Hay.

-«

-»

Tlif Itigliitp Vmtx Europe.

181

Ihe number of priests at his disposal was alto^'ether inadecjuate to the
wants of the Diocese. They were twenty-five in number, an increase of
seven since his first arrival in Toronto, their names and parishes beinf( as
follows:* Fathers W. P. Macdonald and John O'Reilly, Hamilton; I'.
Point and J. A. Menet, S.J.'s, Sandwich ; James jaffray, Maidstoni' ; M.
Duramiuet, S.|., Walpole Island; J. J. Chone and J. Ilanipaux, S.J.'s,
Manitoulin Island ; J. P. Pedelupe, S.J., St. Mary's Falls; P. J. Peaupre,
S.J.,t Amhcrstbur^s J- P- Morin, I-^ast Tilbury; M. R. Mills, St. Thomas
and London ; James Quinlan, Prantford ; P. Schneider, CJoderich ; .Simon
.Sanderl, Wilmot and C'.uelph ; W'm. Mcintosh, Indiana ; P. O'Dwyer,
Dundas; \V. P. McD<Miaf^h, St. Catharines; \L. Ciordon, Niaf!;ara ; E.
O'Reilly, (iore of Toronto; J. P>. Proulx, Newmarket; A. Charest, Pene-
tanguishene; and {. J. May, ). IX Ryan and T. T. Kirwan (Pastor of St.
Paul's), Toronto. Some of these remained in the Dioce.se but a short time;
the connection of others with it or with dioceses subsecjuentlv cut off from
it, was life-lonn. Prominent among the.se was I'ather fohn O'Reillv, then
curate to b'ather Macdonald, who, as Dean of the Diocese of Hamilton,
died at Dundas in [(S84. blither O'Reilly had been ordained by Pishop
Power in 1846, and was immediately thereafter sent to Hamilton, and then
to Dundas. When the fever broke out in 1H47, the Pishop recalled him to
Toronto, where for four weeks he laboured incessantlv in the immigrant
sheds, administering the sacraments to as man\ as forty-live in a day. At
the end of that time he w;'s himself prostrated with the disease, but, not-
withstanding, continued his priestly labors until cjuite exhausted. On his
recovery he returned to Dundas, where he ministered for the rest of his life,
loved and respected l)y all who knew him.

Bishop Power remained in Purope for nearly six montlis. lie spent
some time in Rome, and had several audiences with the Holy Father, in
tlu> last of which, on the eve of his departurt', he received in person from
the JTand of Pius l.\. his ICncyclical Letter on the state of affairs in Ireland.
I'rom London he addressed a short Pastoral Letter to his flock, transmitting
to them this weighty document of the Father of the b^iithful, whose
paternal heart went out in sympathetic sorrow to the suffering poor in that
unhappv country. Pishop Power had himself witnessed the terrible distress
to which the Irish people were reduced at this memorable period, having

* Cunailiaii .Mcrcaiililf Almanac: Niasjara and 'I'oronto, 1S47.
t Not inonlioncil in I'angiiay's " Reperloiie Gential."

i >

■:s i

V.V2

I. he iiiiil 'fniicfi III' Bhliitp I'oiirr,

spoilt some weeks in thrir midst ; ;iiul the lu'art-rt'ndin;^ scenes willi wliic li
he was there brouf^ht face to face so wroiifjjht upon his sensitl\-e and ( oni-
passionate natiuc as to impart to liis eountenanee thereafter an lial.)itual
sachiess of expression.

'I'he allHelioii honi whii li tlie pcasaiUr\ of Ireland at this lime Milfend
was the f^rim spectre, ianiinc The faihire of the potato crop, their staple
article of food, iiad phmj^ed them willioul warnin;,', and therefore without
preparation, mto a season oi tiie (hrest and most terrible distress, which not
even the elaborate machinery of modern philanthropy was able adecjuatelv
to alleviate. The (iovernmenl, thouj^'h tardiK', made some effort to avert
the impending calamity, and private charity did nobly; but misj^overnment
and absentee landlordism had already done their work, and in spite of
e\er\- effort to the contrary the poor people by tiie thousand perished on the
roadside like dofj;s, and found a pauper's j^rave under the <.;reen .sod of their
well-beloved but j;rievousl\- afHicted land.

The paliencH' and resif^'nation which llu' peo))le of Ireland exhibited in
this fearful crisis won for them the admiration of the ( i\ili7,ed world.

rhere is," said a writer in th<' l)ul

)lin

l',\enni<f

'ost.

no more extra-

ordinar\' fact connected with the de))loral)le condition of this c()untr\ than
the jiatience with which our poor people endure their sulfermj^s.

IK \

ion, aiu

have been tauf;ht by their admirable pastors the duty of submiss

they have exhibited to the world an examjile for which, perhaps, there is m

parallel in ancient or modi-rn times. In n

ply t

o expre.ssions of cominisera

tion, the starvin^f peasant would exclaim : ' Welcome be the will of (iod.

«-

\\ hen in Ireland jiishoi) Power made arrangements with the Lori-tto
Community t(.) send a colonv of their Nuns to Toronto, to assist in the work
of Catholic education. Accordin.^ly, in September, li\e members of the
order arrived here, and were joyfully received by tlu' people. Owini; to the
death of the Bishop which occurred within a month from their arri\al, the

poor Sisters were left " fatherle;

(1 unprovided for ; but the charit^' of

t'ne Catholics of Toronto came to their aid, and their difhculties beino- tided

o\er, they cmliarked on that career of usefulness which has confc
inestimable beneHls up<.n the city and Province.

rred

sue

^ m

riir 'ri/i>iii(n.

in;!

VI'IIUS.

ollowiiiLr in the wiikc ot tlu> f;iniiiic in Ircliind ranic Icmi

;in(

1 1>

(• Mxm called ui'on

Ifncc. riidsc wild had rscapcd death in llie one lonii wci
to c-ontVont it in anotlier ; and, in the lij^^lit of sul)sei|uenl extiits, theirs was
perliajis the liappier h)t wlio, in tlic lirst nioiilhs of tlu' famine, siu i iiinlied
to its fearful rava;^cs. 'ilicN were at least spared the horrifvinf4 speitacle to
which the siieei'edin^' pestilence reduced their unhap)n ( (Hintr\ men.

Mu( h has been written in late \fars on the >ul)ject of ahsentee land-

lordism in 'a'ni'ral

ind on the landlordism of Ireland in particulai

It IS

not my intention to enter ujion a discussion of the subject, which would he
altoj^fether out of place here. Hut it is imjiossiMe altof,M'th( r to avoid it in

narratui'' events wii

ich

were f^uiii'' on in Ireland at the time >.)( which I

write, and which had a very direct effect upon the course of Catholic affairs
The efforts made 1)\ the lUitish ( 'io\ crnmeiu to mitiifatc the

in C'.inada.
distress, aiK

1 the heroic charil\ of indi\id

uals, lia\<' alreadx li.'eii relerred

to, hut ne\('! did the landlords of Inland aiipe.ir in a less enxiaiile lii^lit

111 (Uirin;'

thi^

)eriod of national luimi

liati

on.

lonora

l.k

exce

ption.-

there no doubt were, but as a class, the one thinij which seemed to concern

n\ was

those to wlioni the people had a ri^ht to look tor help ,md s\'mi)at
how best they ini<iht rid themselves of so uncomfortable a burden. The
poor-houses wen; already crowded to excess, and hence no axciuie of relief
was available in that (|uarter, but there lay a vast new country far .icross
the ocean which seemed to offer a convenient dumpinji;-f.fround for the
star\in,t; creatures wlio.se piteous appi'als tor a crust of bread were anythin.L;

])load after sliiji-

i)ut music in the landlord's ear. The embarkation of sh
load of aj^ed and inlirm, of helpless widows with lar^'e families, and of those
whose c(.mstitutions had been enteebled by jirevious sickness and destitution
was the result. It was not the younjj;, able-bodied laborer who was lIius
S()U<;lit to be !j;ot rid ot, l)ut, in nine ca.ses out of ten, just such |)ersoiis as
de.scribed ; and as the Ihiited States (iovernment had but recently passed
strinj.(ent laws aijainst the landin}j; of penniless emij^M-ants on its shores, the
tide naturally turned towards Canada, '("he people on their part, seeing no
prospect of relief from this desperate state of affairs in Ireland, and misled
by the promises of a.ssistance to be j^iveii thiMii on tlieii arri\al at Quebec,*

These pioniises were never fulfiUod, perhaps were never intended to be. Kor instance: " upwards

of tw(i thousand persons," savs Mr. J. M. O'l.earv,

hipped liy tile a;fents of [.ord Pahnerstc

<if

181

//(/(■ iiiid I'iiinit iif limliiip I'oiirr.

(•a^( rl\ J4ras[)i(l al the specious offers lukl out to tlu'in, and conseciuentlv
the opening' months of 1S47 witnessed :i spcelaele which, thank (lod, is as
rare as it is melancholy. "The (|uays of Duhlin," says a contemjiorary
writer, " resemhle the lialtinff-piace of ,111 eastern caravan. Crowds of
emif,aants, with their se|)arate allotments of l)af,'t,M}.;e, cover every available
spot. 'The f^'reater number are conveved to Liverpool, but many sliipped
diri'ctly frcMii this port. Two \essels .sailed last week with a full comjile-
ment, and two mon-, in which nearly 1,200 passeuf^ers are booked, will s; il
on Tuesd^'v next. .\ Dublin a^^-nt has <,'one lo Liverpool to charter vessels
for the conveyance of i,jc)o families from one Irish estate, the expenses to
be jiartlv borne by the landlord and ten.mt."*

In this way close on J 00,000 emigrants (piitted Ireland for the British
Colonies in America duriiij,' the Hrst six months of 1847. Meanwhile, what
was passinf,^ in Canada? The Canadian ( ioviTnment, fori!warned bv its
medical officials, had established a (|uarantine station at drosse Isle in the
(.ulf of St. Lawrence, and, in antuipatioii of coiisidi'rcdjle sickness amonj,'
the emif^rants, had made somewhat extensivi' prei)arations for their
recepti(Mi and treatment. ]iut they ^'reatly under-estimated the task that
lay before them. The constitutions of the emij^rants, enfeebled b) llu;
famine tiirou}j;h which the)' had passed, and the accommodation provided for
them on board ship beinj,' miserably insufficient for animals, far less human
beiuf^fs, the mortality amon<,'st them on the voyage over was a|)i)allin,L;.
l'\ver and dysentery broki' out a few days after leaving port, and there
being no adecjuate medical attendance to relieve the stricken, there was in
most cases nothing left for them but to du Out of 2,782 emigrants who
left Ireland in seven vessels which reaihed (irosse Isle between the 14th
and 2ist of May, 184 had died on the voyage, and a large proportion of the
survivors had contracted the dread disease, the typhus. Mr. Stejihen I )e
Vere, a nephew of Lord Monteagle, who had heroically submitted himself
to the privations of a steerage passage for the i)urpose of learning b)' a( lual
experience the real condition of the emigrant, thus describes what he saw :

" Before the emigrant has been a weekf at sea, he is an altered man.

from his Irish ebtates, who not only proniis.fd them clothing, but assured them that his Lordship's
agent at Quebec, uliere there wa'- no such person, had been instructed to pav them from t'J to I'; each
family according to their number." — "C'atliolic Record, " April <jth, iN;-'.

♦Cited by Mr. [. M. O'Lear^- in llie "Catholic Kecord," April i^th, iSyj. The whole melancholy
story is very iiblv aiid fullv told by Mr. O'Leary in this and following numbers of the " Reiord. "

t'riie vessel on which Mr. Oe \'ere embarked was two rufmthv on the voyage out.

(£

'J 'III' 'J'/lpllllH.

1«5

How c;in it be otlurwisc? I liindit'ds of poor pcopli-, men, womc'ii and
( Iiildrt'ii of all aj^es, from tlu- driveling' idiot of ninety to tlir haht; just horn,
luuldlcd tof^'fther without li^ht, without air, wallowin}^ in filth, and breath-
ing' a fetid atniosphert', siik in body and despair at heart; the fevered
l)atii'nls lyin}4 between the sound in slccpinj^ places so narrow as almost to
deny them the j)ower of indulf^in;^', by a chanf^e of position, the natural rest-
lessness of the disease ; by their agonized ravinj^s disturbing; those around
and predisposing them, throuj^h the effects of the imaj^ination, to imbibe
the contaj^ion ; li\in^f without food or medicine, except as administered 1)\
the hand of casual charity ; d)inj; without the voice ot spiritual consolation,
and liuried in the de(>p without tlii' rites of tlie Church."*

And was the condition of the unfortunate peoj)le an}' better at Grosse
Isle ? Somewhat, doul)tless, but the preii.irations made by the (lovernment
wtii' entirely inadequate to the exitjencies of the occasion. The only
accommodation for emigrants on thi' island was the hospital sheds of 1832
and 1S34 (the cholera years), and tlic new one erected in Ma\ of this xcar.
These wen; soon crowded to overtlowini; ; and as other vessels arrived, onlv
the dan<,ferously ill were permitted to land, and the many others who had
the disease in \arious staj^es were kejit on board until further accommoda-
tion could be provided. Recourse was then had to mar(|uees and bell-tents,
but onl\ when i)ul>lic opinion had lorced the (iovernnient to take further
action in the matter.

HuL 1 have not spac{> to ;^o further into details of the sad story.
\'es.sels continued to arrive and to discharj^e their pestilential freight on the
inh.ospitable isle. During all that summer the energies of the small staff of
pliNsicians and cli'rgymen were taxed to the utmost cajiarity, and all they
could do was to ease and console the bedside of the d}ing as their limited
strength would allow, in all 90,150 emigrants landed at Quebec in the
year I1S47. There had died on the voyage 5,282, and in ijuarantine 3,389,
a total of nearly nine thousand victims to long years of misgovernment and
oppression in holv yet unhappy Irehind. Aid year after year, as the blue
waters of the rioble St. Lawrence sweep past the loiielv isle, bearing on its
peaceful bosom the floating palaces which carry a constant stream of
pleasure-seekers between the old and the new worlds, how few are aware,
or if aware, ever give a passing thought to the innocent castaways who,

i'lf

* " Catholic Record," April 9th, iSyj.

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22 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

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1B6

Life (iiiil 'riiiifH of Jiisho'i I'owi'r.

beneath the sod (-f (irossc Isle, sleep their last long sleep until the threat
da)' when they shall be summoned into rest and peace eternal.

■!1'4H)

Death or Bisiioi' Powkk.

\\ liat, the reader may ask, has the foregoing to do with the Dioeese of
Toronto ? We shall seC. Those who passed tlu> inspection of the
(|uarantine ofiicers and were allowed to proceed u]) the river to Monii(\d
and to Upper Canada, carried with them the seeds of the pestilence and
scattered them far and wide. The fever broke out simultaneousK in manv
places and added victims 1)\ the hundred to the already vast total on board
ship and at (jrosse Isle. Over .seven hund'ed died at Quebec ; 3,330
(these are the official figures) at Point St. Charles, Montreal ; 130 at
Lachine, and 3,048 at various jwints in Ontario, not including Toronto.*
At Toronto the mortality was very great also (B63), and Bi.shop Power's clergy
were entirelx uiie(iual to the responsibility thus thrust upon them, though
ihev worked heroicall}- day and night t(^ console and succor the sick and
the dying. The priests residing at Toronto were Fathers Hay and Kir-
wan ; but, owing l(j the ahead}' precarious state of the former's health, the
work (.'evolved almost entirely upon the latter, until Father John O'Reilly
was summoned from Dundas to assist him. I'alher Carroll also came from
Niagara to lend a helping hand; and these three were constant in thi'ir
attendance at the innnigrant sheds, in the hospital, and in the liomes where
the disease had penetrated. One by one they sank under the work from
sheer fatigue, or themselves succumbed to the fever ; the Bishop was then
left almost alone, to battle as best he could with the difficulties of the
situation, leather Carroll was able, in soiiie measure, to assist him, but
the Bishoj> for some da.\'s bore the brunt of the work. Then came a call at
midnight that a poor wom.an lay dying at the immigrant sheds, and asked for
succour. There being no one else tt> answer to the call, the liishop,
recognizing in the poorest and most helpless of the Irish immigrants a
member of his Hock, placed the Bread of l.ife in h.is bosom and went out
into the night tf) ft)rtify a soul for its last journey. He fulhlled his mission,
but, as it jiroved, at the cost of his own precious life. It is said that as he
came out of the pestilential abode, he raised his hands and his eyes to
Heaven, and, in a voice of deep emotion exclaimed: " M)' (iodi what

' In all there perished during this miserable year on the > oyage and in Canada, 16,825 <>ut of
97,953 eniiijrants.

-«

Dfitfli III' liinhop Poirer.

137

crimes England has to answer for !" The next day symptoms of the dread
malady exhibited themselves and rajiidl\- developed into a malij^Miant case,
which in a few days terminated fatally.

When it became known in the city that Bishop Power was dead
expressions of the most heartfelt sorrow were heard on every side, and the
occasion and manner of his death called forth the respect and admiration
of the entire community. The " Hritish Colonist," the leading newspaper
of the day, referring to the sad event, '^aid : " It is not for ns to pronounce
his eulogy. The sorrow of his Hock ; the regret of the community, the mem-
bers of which have learned to appreciate his exertions to promote peace and
brotherly love among us ; the tears that iiioisten the cheeks of nianv [ler-
sons not within the pale of his Church, to whom we have spoken of his
untimelv decease, are the best evidences of the loss sustained in his death.
May it be our lot to see a succes.sor aj))>ointed to the episcopate whom all
may learn to love as well."

The Bishop's death occurred on the first of October. ()n the 5th his
remains were conveyed to their last resting place beneath the new Cathe-
dral. .\s that edihce was not yet roofed in, the funeral cortege hrst
proceeded to St. Paul's Church, where the solemn sc!-vices for the dead
were performed and the peo]ile allowed to jxiy their last tribute of respect
to the dejiarted.* .\s an additional evidence of the respect in which i^ishoji
Power was held b\- others than the members of his own Hock, it may be
stated that the shojis on the line of the funeral procession, with one or two
exceptions, were closed, and that thousands thronged to witness the mourn-
ful spectacle.

Some years afterwards a movement to erect a memorial of Bishop
Power was set on foot in Toronto. In calling attention to the matter a
correspondent of "The Mirror" (Dec. 3rd, 1S38) wrote: "Supported b\-
that pure charitv wliieh animated the .Apostles, the saintl\- Bishop Power
inight be seen traversing the almost deserted streets of Toronto to afford
the last solemnities to the soul of a departing immigrant. No ho\el was too
mean, no fever shed too loathsome to bar his entrance or thwart him from
his purpo.se, which was the greater glory of (iod and the salvation of

* .\ funeral service for Bishop I'ower was hold also in .St. Marv's (Jalhedral, Halifax- lli^ Mali\r
citv. A Kiquieni .Mass was cildirated hv \'erv Rev. Father Ci)nnolly, Father Haiinan beiiiH de,<( on.
an<) Father I'hel.iu ~iihileacon. It is worths ol rttnark that the two hr>t named lieeinnc siil)sei|ucntl_v
Arclihishops of Halifax.

►P

Il!l

188

IJj'c 1111(1 Tiiiu'K of Bhiioit Power.

immortJil souls. But he fell in the performanc-j of his sacred duties; he
yielded up his life a martyr to the sufferin<;s of our countrymen, ^'et still
his remains lie cold and unhonored in St. Michael's Cathedral ; no monu-
ment is there to tell the tra\eller of the j^'loiies of the i)ast ; no lasting
tribute of }-our thankfulness for the j^reatest of benefits. lie is ^one ;
the silent earth has clo.sed o\er him, and with it, it seems to me, the
memory of his heroic deeds is buried in olilivion. But such, I am sure,
cannot be the case. It is almost impossible for iiishmen to recall the
memories of the frif^htful calamity without a feelinjj; of the deepest venera-
tion for the Hrst Bishop of Toronto and his exalted virtues. If your minds
be dead to his j^^reat sacrihce, then let him rest unhonored and unnamed ;
if not, let some outward mark of resp(>ct be paid to his untirin^^ zeal and
enerj^fy."

'riie outcome of this movement was the nandsome marble tablet which
now adorns the chancel of the Cathedra!, and which bears the following
inscription :

IN- MK.MOHIAM.

ILI.Mi i:r Ki:\ KKKNDMi MICIIAELIS I'OWKK,

I'riini ICpiscopi Toronliiii.

In Cixiliite Halifaxiensi, N. S . nalu:- est.

SacL'idos ordinaliis in Diticesi Marianopolitana.

Cimi niagno aiiiiiiariim fnictu laboiavit.

Cicatiis est Kpiscopiis in tcclcsia I.apraiiie,

Uio viii. Maii, 184.;.

I'uiulaiiK'iila liiijii--cc Catheilralis die viii. Maii, 1S45, jecit.

l^)^t niiillos laboi-es pro Cliiisto >ueeplo> inorlnim Ictlialem contraxit

in visitandis aogrolantibus hie infeclis.et,

lieelesia' sacrarnenlis nuinilus SpiiiUiin Deo reddidit atatis siue 4.5. A.D. i^-(7.

Ciijus ossa ])rope allare niajus in ervptis religiose servantnr.

There stood also another tablet directl\- over the Bishop's place of
sepulture bearing an English inscription, but this was removed during the
recent alterations. It ma^ be well to append it also. It read as follows :

I'ndkknk.m II iiK nil-: remains ok
RIGHT UKV. DR. MICIIAKI, I'OWER,

lidRN IN II Al.llAN, N. S.

COXSIXRATEI)

1''|RNT lilsliop Of ToKONTO ON THI-: fSfll ol Mav, IS4J.

He laid down IMS I.II K loR Ills lUKK ON llIK I ST ()! OCTOIIKR, 1S47,
llKIMi rilK 4JNI) 01 MIS Al.K. R. I. I'.

Little remains to hv added to the history of this period. Bi.shop
Power's best eulogy is in th<^ simple, unadorned story of his useful life and

I' >

-«

Dfiitli III' li'iahiiii I'liiriT.

189

holy death. I lis residence in Toronto was too short, |XThai)s, to enable him
to hrin-i to fruition the many projects he had in view for tlie advancement
of reli^non in the Diocese ; but it was at least \on<i enoujj^h to allow him to
lay a Hrm and sure foundation, upon which his successors have raised a
{glorious and enduring structure. The Diocese came into his hands raw-
material : he drew together its widely scattered missions and formed tliem
into a concordant whole, in constant communication with tiie fountain-
head at Toronto. He personally \isited the members of his flock, even in
the most remote sections, and by his jiaternal solicitude for their welfare,
tenijioral as well as spiritual, caused theni to feel that in him they had a
Hishoj) who was truly a father to his people. His constant endeavour was
to gather around him a band of zealous and devoted j)riests, who would
second his efforts at every turn, working with him and with his i)e'ple for
the growth and advancement of the Catholic faith in this country, then just
emerging from primeval solitude, and offering une(|ual advantages to tlie long
oppressed children of his race who could here pursue their wa\- in the
peaceful enjoyment of their religion and the undisputed possession of their
homes. Under his wise; direction much was accomplished towards this
end; and looking back from this last decade of the century to review the
progress of fifty years, we can, with grateful hearts, acknowledge that in
Bishop Power the Diocese had a wise and prudent founder to whom we are
indebted for many of the blessings w^e now enjoy.

But his richest gifts to us are his holy memory and his honoured name,
which should ever be cherished as among the most valued of our possessions.
Of him may be used with ecjual truth the words applied to the great pioneer
Bishop of the neighboring Republic : " The scrutiny of history in our day
recognizes the high estimate of his personal virtues, his purity, meekness,
prudence, and his providential work in mouldmg the diverse elements in
the Province into an organized church. His administrative ability stands
out in high reltef when we view the results produced by others who,
unactjuainted with the country, rashly promised themselves to cover the land
with the blossoms of peace, but raised only harvests of thorns."*

No words can more Httingly clo.sc tiiis chapter than those witii whicii
it is begun : " (Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down
his life for his friends."

* " Life and Tinios of .\ichbihliop Carroll," l\v John (iilin.nrv Shea. New York, iSS8.

!;:» I

ill

l..:|'-

140

I/ifc (iiul Times of Jihhop J'oirer.

Criticai, Noti;.— Unlike the jjcriod embraced within the jjrecedint; chapter, the historian
or the student of the life and episcoj.ate of Hishop I'ouer has abundant manuscript material to
work upon, though the foregoing may be said to be the first published work on the subject.
Bishop Power, besides being conspicuous as a man of action, was also of studious and methodical
habits ; and he caused to be set down in writing every fac t of any consecjuence, and carefully
preserved every document of imjiortance which related to the Diocese. The result is that the
student of history is placed under a ileep debt of gratitude to him for these commendable precau-
tions. Little, therefore, need beaddeil for the information of those who may desire to go deeper into
the subJLMt, the printed authorities, as in the case of the former chaiHer, being fully indicated in
die text and foot notes. I'here is, however, a short .sketch of the Hishop in the initial number of
"I'he Irish Canailian" which has been made use of; and 1 cannot forbear again calling attention
to the able ami complete account of the melancholy events of 1847 which Mr. James M.
Ol.eary of Ottawa has jjiiblished recently in the "Catholic Record." It is to be hoped he may
be induced to republish it in a more permanent form.

-«

If*

THK lAVK AM) TrMES OK THE

niGirr rev. aumand fiuxcts marie, comte i,e c

.IIUOXD ISISIIOJ- n/.- TO/iOXTO,

IIAHnONNEL,

RFA-. JOHN R. TE[.:FV. H.A., C.S.H.,

■WVAAVr-A- OF XT. M/CIAI^rs COfJ.EUK. iOKOym.

■>«'«"MHHKHHQ^H)4iHM>'«<4'^^

4M>

The Ric.ht Ri:v. Akmand Fkaxcis Mahih, Comtk di: CtiAKnoxN'r.L

Se<viiJ /}islio/> of Toiviito.

ROKS AT MOSIS I KOI. SVRl.OIKE. FKAWE. ni-.i.- EM r.EK nl. iSnj.
DIED A r lKI-.SI, l-RASXli, MARCH -iiHi. '.I'/'^

US'

(MIAl'TI'K \'.

1.SB(J-I8S9.

77//'; LIFE ANJ> TIMKS Or II /SHOP DE VHAUliOSS EL.

EtunUii—Unluuitiini mid Entrii tn St. Sidpivc—Ciimimj to .liiicrlni—Scrciren .Amowj the

Fever Ptiticnts—liiHliop „/ Ti>roiito—Sei>(imte Schooh—lleturn to Frame— Pro-

lul'liltioll III' llir Edith Arrlihiihiii) 1)1' So:()p<)H,'<.

" \Vlu)!.e ri'riiciuliranci' vt'l
t.ivrs ill iiu'ii's evfs ; ami will locals and loimiu's
13c tlieiiic ami lnai iiig ivci." — CvM.. Ait iii., ijr. i.

Ii was reserved for l-'rancc, so eloselv coniU'cted with the earher
history ot tliis country, and so renowned for the missionary spirit of
her chil(h-en, to i^ive Toronto its second bisliop in tiu' person of
Armand Francis Marie, Cunite de CharlwnneL lie belonged to an
old and illustrious family numbering amongst its ancestry many a member
who had, at the i)oint of the sword and with his blood, inscribed his
name in chivalry's golden records. During the second crusade (1147-1149)
John de Charbonnel had received from his sovereign, Louis \'1I. of I'' ranee,
his title of Count for services rendered Church and country. In the fifteenth
century the descendants of this John de Charbonnel, originally from the old
Province of \'ivarais, which corresponds to the department of Ardeche,
settled not far away in the Haute Loire. Ui^iv they ac(|uired by marriage
.several castles and a baronetcy in ^■ssingeau\, still a flourishing town. St.
Francis of Sales was a kinsman of the family.

The Bishop's father was John Baptist de Charbonnel, his full title
l)eing C()mte de Charbonnel, Baron of Saussac, Lord of Bets, Machats
and Camblaire. It was he who in 1791 had saved the two daughters of
Louis .W. and aunts of Liniis .W'l. by securing their escape from F' ranee.
He married in 1789 Mary Claudine di I'radier, daughter of the Manjuis
D'Agrain, first President of the Parliament of Dijon, during the war of the
French revolution. The second s(M1 of this marriage was .\rmand I'Vancis

' !

(*.

*—

III

144

The Life und Tiiiifn (it' IHhIio/i ilr Chnrliointcl.

Marie, the subjccl of our skclch, l)orn iiciir Monisliol-sur-Loire on llic lirst
of DeccinlKT, 1802.

At tlic aj^c of iiiiic lie was sent to collfi^c ;il MoiUlirixni (I -oire), and
the following year to Annonay, where he continiu-d his classical studies with
hrilliant success. Wishing' to dexote himself to the priesthood, he entered
the Seminary of St. Siilpiee in I'aris for the course of philosophy and
theology. Mere he .so distinguished himself that at the age of twenty (1S22)
he was offered a j^rofessorship of philosophy.

The following year, when ahout to enter upon his suli-deaconship, he
was earnestly reciuested by his father to abandon the ecclesiastical state and
become head of the family. He refused, saying that if he abandoned what
his superiors deemed to be his true vocation, far from bi'ing the support and
honor of his name, he would be its disgrace, and he would furthermori' risk
his eternal salvation by not corres]>onding to a call from Cod.

Mis ordination as priest took place in 1S23. Mis rank and talent
immediately brought him into notice ; he was appointed almoner to the
Duchess of lierry in memory of the loyal courage of his father. Hut the
honor signified by the choice of a sovereign, the glory attached to the exalted
functions, the prospects held out for the future, wi're no temptation to
the young Abbe, who had already trampled high earthly dignities under
foot. Mis soul needed a more active and trying life to satisfy his zeal and
si)irit of sacrifice. " The grace which (iod gave me," he used to say after-
wards, " of declining this favor, was in my eyes, after that of holy orders,
the greatest of my life."

I'^NTHv TO THK Sf i.rrn.ws.

Father de Charbonnel entered the Society of St. Sulpice* and was sent
to Lyons in iH^O, where he was professor of dogmatic theology and Holy
Scripture, and afterwards treasurer. At Lyons in 1.S33, during a revolt of
working men, he saved by his energy and persuasive elocjuence the (irand
Seminary from pillage and the government troops from a severe encounter.
For this signal service he was offered a cross of the Legion of Honor, which
he steadfastly refused.

* Amongst his companions in tlir imvitiatr were the late .Vrchhishop I'uriejl of Cincinnati, tlie
Rev. Fathers Qiiihlier, Bihlaiulelc ami Hallo, who, c\icpt Ihi' tirsi naimil, in turn heiaine .Superiors
of the Sulpitiati^ in Montreal.

«-

-»

Ih'iMfliin' I'di- .lincrint. It,')

riic followiii'' \t';ir liis licallli nblnjcd luin to rest. It liciiiL: ifstturd,

he was s<

■111 to tlic ( iiand Scminar\

cisa

cars, am

1 aft

crwards to that ol

I5..I'

(icaiix.

ill(

Icrc lie t(

Where IK' icmamec

1 t

the resolution ol

comiii^^ to Anu'rica. It is very diHuiilt to assi^Mi ihi' true reason which
determined the Al)l)c dc Cliari)omicl to this important stc|). lie was a verv
successful teacher; his learniii;;, his (|uicl\, lively cloi|U('ncc, his <;reat spirit
of faith, his chanuinL; orij^inality, were reineiiilxTed at l.\ons and Pxudeaux
for forlv vears. (."ardinal Doiinet, who had heeii at college with him at

niionav, wi

shed to make him his vicar ■/cneral, or at least to ui\c him tli

superiorship of his (Irand Seminary in place of M. Hamon. Ilis wish to
escape these and all other honors may have been one factor in his resolution;
hut ju(l,L,Mnj,f ])}■ the eiierf^y which he afterwards displayed, a j^ncater factor
his (U^sire for harder work in the \asl missionary fields of America.

was

Not only was there continual iiU<rcourse between the

Sulpit

lans o

f b

ranee

and their American houses at Montreal and Baltimore, but the immediate

us.

was the lirst

predecessor of M;^r. 1 )()miet was Cardinal C"lie\(r
His]io[) of Boston, whence he was called in iSj^ to l'"i"ance to the See of
Montauban until iS^G, at which date he was madi: Archl)ishop of Jiordi'aux.
As his death took place in iiSjO, the year before the Abbe dc; C'liarbomiel
was stationed in this city, the subj(!ct of our sketch must have heard directly
from llu' zealous prehile, or from those with whom he had but lately
spoken, of the ^rowin^' church beyond the si-a. .Accordim^'ly lie determined
to k'ave his country and ^ive himself heart an<l soul to more a|)ostolic w.irk
than was alforded in anv educational institution.

I )i,i'.\Ki iivi-; lOK Ami.ki

(A.

He left b'rancc for Canada in iS^i). After remainiiij^' at Montreal for
some time, where his elo(|uent sermons soon attracted attention, he went to
Baltimore for the purpose of stu(hin,i^ I'.iiLjlisli, and nturiu'd to Montreal
about the vear 1S4J. The epi.scopal dij^nity still pursued him. Befor«!
he had been three months in the country, the (i()vernor-(ieneral, Lord
Sydenham, askeil him to accept the mitre in some ICiij^lish colon\ . He
replied with his usual vi\ai it\ : " li I had wished to be bishop I would not
have left b' ranee." In 1S44 M;j;r. IManc, Archl)islio|) of New Orleans,
besouffht him to be his c<Kvd]i.\U)r cum jure siuccssiniiis. The suffra<,'ans of the
New Orleans jirovince petitioned the Holy See upon the same subjet t ; but
the missionarv was inexorable. I'alher de CliarbonmTs distate for tlit;

',; H

N 1

i!r

I It;

'I'lll l.ijC mill 'JillllH i;/' li'mlltip llr ('llilllinllllll.

t'|)i.sc()|):itc nr.iy he },'alli(ii(l IVom the fdllowiiin <'\lr:i(ls of letters written
nfler his consecratioii :

'!"() l'"atli<r i'l.iiit, Sandwich, dated Toronto, Septemlier ^5, 1^50:
" AIa\' yon he jilessed, yon and yonrs, with the heart of one who rather
would he a Jesuit than Bishop, and pray for liini as, ac-cordin;; to the
Litanies, for those in their aj;(>ny, oni pro inc."

To the same leather Point, S.J. : " Why can 1 not till 'n< vacancies
with the sons of St. Ij^'natius, and after the hist stroke l)ec()nK le ni_\self ?
\ i)U would choose rather to be onlv a simple and modest relij,nous, and I
also, dear heather : let us unite our two acts of ohedience in the l)i\ine
Heart, source of all ohediiMice, and there let us embrace each other as two
brothers who help each other to carr\' their crosses."

To Mf^r. (iaulin, liishop of Kingston, dated Oct. \2, iS.V": " Mon-
seifjjneur I do not know how to excuse myself to )<iu for not having
written sooner: it is not, however, through bad will, still less to avenge
nuself for the fact that \()u are one of the principal causes of the position
in which 1 find myself. If there is a diocese of Toronto in the Church, and
if there is a poor liishop whom people call the Hishoj) of Toronto, it is to
the liishop of Kinj^ston h<' owes it. If )()u had kept all the diocese which
ceased to belong to )()U by division there would neither have Ix'cn first or
second liishop of Toronto. 1 cannot but admire the zeal which made; you
divide your diocese, but ne\ertheless from it I have become what I am, as
the j.;ood l'\ither Larkin expresses it : llu' one of all the bisho|)s in the vast
W(>rld who needs compassion most."

'I'lii; i'"i;vi;i< Amoncsi' tiii; Ikish.

The Abbe de Charbonnel remained in Montreal until 1S46, the year of
the dreadful fever amoni^st the Irish immigrants. Iiroken in health and
heart the.se jioor jieople had come out to this country in sliip loads, only to
fmd a grave where the}- had hoped to build a home. Even to-day in Mon-
treal the traveller may see hard by the waters of the swift St. Lawrence the
cairn marking the s]X)t where thou.sands of these victims lie l)uried. Many
ol their children found a jiarent's love and a jiarent's roof amongst the
charitable French Canadians. What jiart the saintly FatluT de Charbon-

'/'//(' ll'iHliiip 1)/ Tiu'duIo,

117

nrl took in all this, liis ran- of tlic (l\ iii<,', of tiiosc that wrrc left In hind, .iml
still more

" Tliiil lir^l |ii)rll()ii ip( II ;;i)i)il iiian's lifi',
Ills llttU', iiaiiifli'M«, iinri'iiHMiilifii'd ill-Is
f)f kiinlncs* ami of lovo,"

noiir l)Ul the historian of hcaxcii Iviiowcth. 'l"he sadness of that lime is
hittLT — the circ-uinstaiici-s which drove the exiles from home and lliose
under wliieli the\ entered this country, and tlu- half-hearted mannei' they
were cared for hy the ( lovernmeiil, and the wholesale slaaj^hler uhii li the
pestili'iice made amoiij^'st them — all these may he for;;iven hut can never he
foi-f^otteii. 'I"he ministers of relij^ion did their utmost ; their zeal remains
in f^'rateful memory. And none laliored more- di'votedly than the apostolic
h'ather de Charhonnel. lleedin.L,' no (hinj^er he was continually in the fever
sheds, with heavenly consolation for the d\in)^ and earthU -charitv for those
who were spared. While manv of his comrades in the priesthood fell at
their post, he, trustinjj; to his stront,' constitution, lahored on. Hut at last,
the plaj;ue overtook him ; he was stricken down with the fever and hronLjht
to the \-ery ed<;e of the j^aave. His vij^or served him he recovered, and on
l)e(()min<,f convalescent he went to l'"r,ince for the sake of his health.

The followinj^ vear (1H4S) tlu' electors of the llaute-Loire wislied him
to enter the national as.semhiy in place of his brother, Louis, who had been
killed at the barricades in the I'auboui^; St. Antoine at Paris in the month
of .\u,L;ust, 1S4S. The Abbe declined the honor, pri'ferrinf,' the professional
chair which he occupied once more in the (irand Seminary of Aix in
l*ro\enc('.

Tni; 1)1SII(I|' nl ToKoNTO.

.\i)out this time tlie see of Toronto had become vacant bv the death of
its lirst bisho)), Dr. i'ower. l'"allur John 1-arkin,* who had refused the
same mitre in i>S4i, was named in 1M41S. In fact the 1 kills had arrived, but
he ))ositivel\- declined the honor. Then the choice fell upon the .Abbe de
Charbonnel, who, from a retreat which he had |ireache(l in KS45, was
already favorably known to the priests of the diocese. In a consistory held
at Koine, March 15, iiS5o, he vv.is preconi/.td Hishoj) of Toronto. The
Bulls reachinfj; him April iHth, he immediately (piilted Aix for the purpo.se

* Father Laikin was a native of Newcastle, Knj{land. (Jn coiiiinn to Canada he became a .Sulpillaii
and taufjlit in Montreal .Seminary. Me subsequently entered the .Societv of Jesus in Kentucky and
became one of the foremost members of the order.

>l<

III

1-JS

The Life (iiifl Tiini'H of liislioji de ('iKtrhonncl.

of ploiulinj,' llio cause v)f liis liumility l)efi)rc tlu- Supreme Pdntiff. The
Pope, Pius IX,, would not take a refusal, and as an encouragement
promised to consecrate Di. de Charbonnel with his own hands. The cere-
mony took place in A\c Sistine Chapel on May jGih, 1H50, in presence of a
large asseml)ly, amongst whom were the h>ench Ambassador and the
General of the Vv' nch tr(K)ps at Rome. As a sou\enir of con.secration the
Holy l''alher presented tlie Bishop with a well iilled j)urse and a chasuble
of gold cloth ujton which were eml)roidered the Papal iirms. In addition to
these His Holiness offered him his choice between a fine ciborium and a
rich chalice. His Lordship chose the ciborium ; then taking the chalice in
the other hand, he turned towards Pius IX., saying : " Qtiui rcfribuain Domino
pro omnibus quae ntribuit mihi ;" and Hnishing the (juotation said : " Caliccm
salutavis accipiam ct nomoi Domini invocabo.'" (" 1 shall take the chalice
01 salvation and call upon tlie name of the Lord.") The Pope, with a
smile, ajipreciated the icady answer, and the Bishoji withdrew, hap}n-
possessor of all three. A few days afterwards he ([uitted Rome to travel
through bVance in the interests of his diocese; and while he is on his way to
the scene of his labors, let us cast a glance at religion in Toronto.

Nearly three years had passed since the death of Mgr. Power. During
the hrst part of this interregnum Archdeacon Hay was administrator ; he
dying in 1849, the Very Rev. John Carroll was placed in charge. There
were in the diocese 28 priests, from O.shawa on the East to Sandwich on the
West, and as far North as the Manitoulin Island and Sault Ste. Marie.
Within the present limits of the diocese the following is th(^ list of priests:
City of Toronto, Very Rev. J. J. Hay and Rev. 1". Kirwan ; County of
York, Rev. J. B. ProuI.N ; Whitby District, Rev. L. Smith; Adjala, Rev.
M. R. Mills; Penetangui.shene, Rev. \. Charest ; Niagara, Rev. J. Carroll ;
St. Catharines, Rev. W. P. McDonagh. This leaves zz for the present
dioceses of Hamilton and London, the most flourishing missions being those
of tb.e I'rench on the West Outside of the cities of Toronto and Hamilton
there could not be said to be a single r("sident priest. Those who are put
down kit a certain place, as Dean Kirwan for London in 1850, and leather
Proulx for Oshawa, had such a vast extent of country to visit that their dut\-
was everywhere aiul their home nowhere.

The following, taken from the Provincial Census, is tlie population
which th2se handful of workmen had to serve ;

i£

isa

The liixhap of Tn-oiito. 149

Torcinto Dioccsr- (pn-sent limits) 1H50 :

^'"y 7.940

f'"iiiilry 23,004

■''ot:>l 29.944

Hamilton .ind London Dioceses:

("ily of [laniilion ^,ySi

(."ity of I,on:'on . 1,171^

<-^'>iiiitry 42,101

'•'"l.tl 47,z6i

("iniul Total 77,20-

The districts of Manitoulin Island and Sault Sle. Marie are not iiulff'.-
ed m tins tahle. Making an approximation, the population would be
80,000.

There were not many clerical chanj^'es at this period. .\ resident priest
was placed at London in 1849, and the following; year IiiLjersoll and Dundas
were opened.

Institutions there were none. There were poor and infirm, hut charitv
had not as yet built them a home. The only relij^nous in the city were the
Ladies of Loretto, Comini^^ just as Bishop Power was on his death-bed,
with only one priest, or at most two, in the city, and these overtaxed by the
calls which the fever made ui)on tliem, this pioneer community was most
severely trijd. They have outlived the.se difliculties; and their history is
as edifyin,^ for their zeal and success in the woik of education as for their
patience in tlieir earh' su^ferin.L,^

Owino both to the unsettled state of the law and the scattered
population, Catholic schools were few in numl)er and poor in prosjject.
The followin.L; is the number for the l'ro\ince:

^''■»''- ■ No.

I <S48 ^ ,

•849 "5,

'«5o 46

iM-om a " Statement furni.shed ihe City Board of Trustees" in 1852 we
hnd that there w(>re in the Catholic Schools of Toronto job pupils under

>i<

1;10

Tlif Life (Uid 'I'iiiifti (if lilxlioji lie Clinihniuirl.

the care of 12 teachers, of wliom two were Sisters of I.oretto, and five- were
Christian l^rotliers.

At tliis time tliere were only two Catholic churches in Toronto, the
Cathech.il and St. I'aul's. 'l"he interior of tlie former was (|uite unadorned.
With phxin wmdows and white walls the da/./,lin<; li^Mit presented a very
unpleasant ^lare, and stood in strange contrast to its ajipep.rance after
Canon Filbert had employed his art upon it. Al thi' tini" of which we
write there was no tower, nc^ siicristy. The altar stood a litth' forward of
its present position, with a jiassa^^e on either side leading to small galleries.
An immen.se picture of the Last vSupper formed a reredos to the main altar,
which was in fact the only one. It was consecrated on Sept. 29, 184S, l.\-
Bishop ]^our<.';et of Montreal, Bishop Phelan of Kingston i)reachin,L; the
sermon. .\s canon law forbids the consecration of a church in debt, that of
the Cathedral (857, boo) was assumed b\ llu' lat<.' lion. Jo!in I'.hnsley
and the late S. (i. Lynn, Lstp

I'^roni the hist(;r\' of the different missions it will !)e schmi tliat in 1X50
there were very few churches outside the city. The Iol; hut ol tin' early
settler served the purpose ; or, .sometimes

" A nurilix fastiiuil
1 ligli on Uir trunk of a tree * * * * *
Looked «ith its ii};oni/eil faee on the niuUiliidc kneeling heneatli it
This was tlieir riir.Tl eliapel."

When the word reached them that th(> priest had come, the faithful
gathered from far and near. With tear-stained cheek and swellinL!; breast
they worshiped at that humble shrine and strcn^lluncd their soul with llu-
Bread of heaven, 'i'heir lot was hard: their life was simple. In that
simplicity they left to succeedinj^ >;enerations the laith which lhe\- had
transplanted from saintly soil, if the Church has since lost numbers of its
children in this country it is due, not so mucli to tlu^ ciiai^actcM' of the
pioneers themselves, as to the want of orj^anizalion And instruction, 'i'o
effect the one and impart the other was under the then exisliuL; circum-
stances imjiossible. l''ew if any priests had accompanied the different
bodies of immif^rants, and those who were already here were not inmn rous
enou};h. The settlers themselves were too scattered to ha\e that rej^ularity
and fretiuency of attendance .so neces.sary to sustain faith aiul |)iety.

t!i

If-*'

Aniriil ill 'ViiiiiHtii.
.\kki\ai. in ToKdNTO.

151

vSutli was the stale t)f llic dioix'se when M^i'- tit: Cliarl)()iiiicl, after a
brief sojourn in I'rance, entered ToronLO Sejit. 2ist, 1850, as its ecclcsias-
tiiai luM<l. lie was a( eomjianied by Mj^r. I'riiue, Coadjutor Hishop of
Montreal, one IJasilian priest (b'ather ^b)lony), and three students. 'I"he
foUowinjj; chiy, Sunday, he took formal possession of the See, and (as lie
writes) " the debt with whieh it is burthened," the full amount of which was
§^70,000. We are indebted to " 'i"he Mirror" of Sept. 27th, 1850, for a
report :

"The newl\- insl.illed Uishnp olliciated. Rev. Mr. Manoux was
assistant jiriest. Messrs. Telli(;r, S.J., and \'illeneuve were (U aeons of
honor; and Messrs. Schneider and I'roulx were deacon and sub-deacon of
the Nbiss. Tlic Uishop preached in the e\enin,'j; upon the duties of the
Good Shepherd. He i)egan by hoping,' that t-hey would excuse his imperfect
Enj^lish, when he assured them th;it he warnilv represented to I lis liolincss
the pop,' hi>w ullerK unlit he was for the p.).^ition, that he onl\- accepted it
upon ilu' express command ol the lloly bather, lie spoke ol his labors in
Montreal amonjij.st the Irish immigrants. He had caught, he continued, the
fe\er during that memorable year and was lyin^f upon what was considered
his death-bed. l-Jut tliat providence, whos.; invisible hand directs and
governs all tlun^s, had otherwise decreed ; and throu'.:;!! Us controlling will
he stood then before them as their Chief I'astor, ready at all times to risk
everything, to sacrifice everything, even life itself, if necessary, for the
welfare of the H(jck committed to his care. In proof of his entire devotion
to their services lu' assured them th;it he had madi: over the whole of his
paternal estate in I'rance to assist in licpiidating the debt contracti'd for the
building of the magniiicent Cathedral in which they were, and for such
other religit)us purposes as the Hioce.se mostly stood in need t)f, without so
much as reserving a single farthing for his own private use. He concluded
!))■ promising to visit tlii'm all ; but he wanted especially to see the poor, to
cheer, to console, and it possible to relieve them. He wished to be a friend
and father to them all, and he hoped with Cod's blessing to act the part of
the (iood Shepherd with benefit to their eternal salvation and his own."

Such was the zeal and devotion with which the .saintly Hishoji entered
upon his onercnis duties. What were the results of his first year's labors
may be judged from his report to Rome, written at Baltimore :

1 ''

152

'/'/('' /,//(' mill 'riiiirn <>/ lihlmp dc Cltdrlmniifi.

"Thanks to ("i<h1, and the zeal of live disinterested priests who hve
witli me under an easy rule, tlnn-^'s are f^oint; bt'tler.

" I have striven to overcome my repuj^nance to preach in En<4iis]i, the
only lanj^ua,t;e necessary for me, preachinjj; every week, and often two or
three times, and more parti(~iilarly in Lent.

" The ceremonies and instructions fill our Cathedral at Vespers as well
as at the Hij.^h Mass.

" I have visited a portion of the Cntholics of the city, s^oinj^ from house
to house, s'X^kinj^ the lost sheep ; a certain number have returned to the
pasture of our holy church ; but all is not jierfect. I intend to have a
mission ^iven as soon as I shall have a sullicient number of workmen.

" I am expectiu', Caiiuchins, Oblates from Marseilles, Marists from
Lyons and ]^;isilians from \'iviers. The founder of llu: lirst, Louis (klla
Vagna,* a (ienoese, has stopped at London to assist his T-lminence
Cardinal Wiseman.

" I have alreadv sixteen blithers of the Societ)- of Jesus, who render
me all kinds of consolation b}- their fervor and zeal. 1 have one of them
(Father Tellier) who is my confessor and that of all the jiriests in Toronto,
by their own choice.

" I have asked for Hve lirothers of the De La Salle Institute in order
ti) open Catholic schools.

" I hope to ha\e soon some Sisters of Charity called the Sisters of St.
Joseph, or the non-cloistered Sisters of the Visitation of St. b^ancis de
Sales. In the meantime we have established two benevolent Societies, one
for men and the other for women, whose alms added to our own resources
make an annual total of fourteen or fifteen hundred dollars for our poor.

" The rich amonjj;st the Catholics of the city are most edifyinj^s and
several render me all kinds of ser\ices. Two Lnji^lishmen, converts from
Anglicanism, have saved the whole Catholic establishment in Toronto by
givin<; all their fortune as security. I should be happy, Mgr., if the Holy
See would grant a mark of satisfaction to those two f( rvent Christians, the

* This saintly priest eventually e.-iuic to Toronto in the Spi injj of 1856 and was plaeed in charge of
St. Maiv's Clinich. .See an inteiesting slieteli In .Mr. II, 1". Melntosli.

1% .

89-

Arrinil in Toninli).

ir>8

lion. Capliiin )<)liii I'llinsley, and Mr. S. (i. Lynn, MeuhaiU. They
resemble, body and soul, those Anj^'les of whom St. (irej.;or\- remarked, when
he saw them for .sah' in tlie market phice at Rome, that they woidd soon
come to be called Ani^cls. Cajitain I'^lmsley has <;one to sea in order to
fjjain money and help his Bishop, from which I was not able to dissuade
him. He has also p;iven me .some land which I have already t)ffered to the
Rev. Jesuit leathers in order to induce them to establish themselves.

" By the ;:;enerosity of Toronto, of tlu' Propa<,'atioii of the l'"aith, of my
relatives and friends, 1 have already paid $14,000 of my debts. 1 am
availing myself of the vacancy in the see of Baltimore,* where 1 worked
some time, to come here and receive gifts from m\- friends and establish
purses for my diocese in the Grand and Little Seminaries oi" Baltimore,
which are excellent."

In the Spring after his arrival he issued the following pastoral imiting
the Catholics of the Diocese to contribute towards the li(piidati()n of the
Cathedral debt :

"Dearh' Belo\ed Brethren: When our illustrious predecessor was
cjuestioned where he would tind means lor building the Cathedral of
Toronto, he answered, ' In the hearts, faith, pi(-t)' and de\-otedness of our
poor but generous people.'

" Relying upon that sure and inexhaustible source, nine months before
his glorious death he invited all of you, by the most impressive motives, to
contribute towards his great undertaking, which, .said he, could be com-
pleted or paid for only through the zealous co-operation of the city and
whole diocese of Toronto. ' Let everyone (pastoral address of the 29th of
December, 1846) give with a good heart whatever he can spare, and this
noble pile will soon stand before all as a monument of your zeal for the
glory of the House of God. If any one should be unable to contribute at
once let him treasure up daily, weekly and monthly, whatever he jiurposes
to give for liis niotlur church. We would be very sorry to jilace any bounds
to your lil)eralitv ; but there are none that have been in this favored
Province for a short time who cannot contribute at least five shillings
towards this sacred edifice. Your faith teaches you that (iod leaves no

* It was in the interval between the death of Arehhishop Ecilestone and the eon>ei'rali()n of Areh-
bishop Franeis I'atrick Keniick.

►K

151

Tlir LU'f and Timcn of Bishop ile ClinrliDinirl.

f^'ood work unrt'wardcd, and that therefore l)y your coiUril)utions you will
prepare abundant blessing's for yourselves, for your children, and for your
children's children for ^venerations to come.'

" Your first Bishop's heroic charity, dearly I )eloved brethren, made him
f^ive his life for you, before you f^ave him your contributions; I say for you,
Catholics of the Diocese, as well as for those of T(jronto, because when,
durin}^ tlu> ra^inj,' typhus of 1N47, he was pressed not to expose himself
but to send for some country missionaries. ' No !' was his reply. ' My
missionaries will not send for me on such occasions — let every one — let me
be at my post!'

"It is in the name of that magnanimous Pontiff, dearly beloved brethren,
that we, his unworthy successor, come now to l)eg of you what you would
give him for his Cathedral, were he to come from Heaven to receive him-
self your generosities.

"On our arrival we found a debt of £\i,2\.G lis. Owing to the un-
]iaralleled lil)erality of Toronto, combined with our exertions, blessed by
I'ius l.\., we have diminished tlu; debt by ^.2,500, and destined the interest
of the same to our contemplated s. hools.

"Dearly beloved brethren, be proud, as I am, of our brethren of Toronto;
at the 'lid of October last, they gave us in cash for our debt /^i6o. During
November thirteen hundred of them subscribed ^'1,300, to be paid within
twelve months, and have paid for their lirst instalment upwards of £2^0,
besides the £2} given every Sunday either at the door of the Church or at
the Offertory, and ^^163 as a Christmas gift.

"Who could believe all this done in four months by a congregation of
six or seven thousand, amongst whom so many are late immigrants in
distress? Catholics of the diocese! I am sun^ v<>u will imitate the noble-
ness of Torontt) ; and you — ever very liberal even to foreigners — will not
have the blame of sending abroad your own Bishop for the purpose of
begging on behalf of so rich a Province. Yes ! We will pay the debt of our
Cathedral ! The House of God shall cease to be the property of men ; and
we pledge ourselves (besides offering up weekly, and on the 2gth day of
Sejitember in each year, the Holy Sacrifice for St. Michael's benefactors)
to apply the interest of such amount as you may please to contribute

-«

,p1

Arrival in Toronto,

155

towards the lk|uiclation of the debt, in fiiricliing your nunuious and always
incrcasintf missions with new and select missionaries. •

" Unless the Clergy exert themselves, ' as they are hound to do,' wrote
f)ur predecessor, ' the people will not take the interest that they should do
in the Cathedral.' But, far from any such danger, thank God, we have
already received substantial proofs of the zealous and liberal co-operation
of our venerated co-laborers. Moreover, we have been obliged to moderate
the excessive contributions of s(jme of them.

" Wherefore, according to the direction of your late Bishop, in each
mission let a committee be formed, composed of the clergymen and two t)r
three laymen, who will receive donations and subscriptions for the Cathedral
at stated times, and send every sum of ^5 to us, or to Mr. Maurice
Scollard at the Bank of Upper Canada, in Toronto, with the names and
donations of the subscribers, that they may be jiublished successively in the
columns of the 'The Mirror,' to which journal we are already very much
indebted for many \aluable services.

"This letter shall be read in all the Churches and Stations, throughout
the Diocese, on the Sundays immediately after Easter and on the Sunday
previ(^us to our visitation, during which we will have the pleasure of reading
from the altar the list of the subscriptions of our benefactors.

" Pray for your Bishop, dearly beloved brethren ; he wants it much more
than money; and may the Almighty pour down His blessings on your
spiritual and temporal concerns ! Amen
"Toronto, March 25th, 1 85 1."

The zeal and devotion of the earnest Bishop were already bearing fruit
in the spiritual, the educational, and the material order of the diocese.

On Ma}' 1st, 1H51, the hve Christian Brothers referred to in the report
were installed by Brother Patrick, who afterwards became Assistant
Superior of the Order m Paris. These devoted sons of the Blessed De La
Salle have, to the advantage of growing generations, ever since been in
charge of the Toronto Separate Schools.

In (October of the same year four Sisters of St. Jose))!! came from
Philadelphia to take charge of the poor. This was the mustard seed of
charity wliich, grown to a goodly tree, has now spread its branches over the

-L

tiii^M'i rill

mC)

VV/c Life tiiid Times of liixhup <le Chtirliotinel.

four dioceses of Toronto, Hamilton, London and IVittirhorouf^h — the Hrsl
of those saintly handmaids of relijj;ion who, in the schools, or}ihanaj;es and
hospitals, have d(jne such noble work in the various occupations of corporal
and spiritual mercy. Their interesting,' history will be found in another
chapter of this volume. Sufficient will it be here to cpiote concernin;^' them
from Bishop de Charbonnel's second report to Rome, dated Haltimore,
May i8th, US52. lie writes: "My Sisti-rs of Charity have a happy
success, and we have l)een able to found a branch in the second city of the
Diocese, Ilamiltoii. Those ot Toronto have charge of 55 orphans, visit tiie
silk, lielp the poor."

TiiK HousK t)F Pk()Vii)i:nce.

It was not until 1856 that Bishop de Charbonnel undertook the build-
in-; of the I louse of Providence, for which delay he apok)gizes in his
pastoral : " Had we not found a debt of ^^'i .2,000, with a yearly interest of
^700, to be licjuidated when we arrived amongst you, dear brethren ; had it
not been our hrst duty to build a college, a female academy, and make
provision for religious education, an indispensable foundation of all good,
immigrants in distress would have been the princijial (object of our devoted-
ness."

" Be not astonished," he continues, " dear l)rethr(ii at those special
feelings of our heart towards emigrants ; we ourself, an emigrant's son,
whose parents and relations received in the greatest distress the kindest
hospitality in CJlermany and England ; and our tender mother was so kind
towards the companions of her adversity in the laiul of exile, that she sold
a part of her fme dress to support a starving octogenarian emigrant.

"Besides giving a little comfort to poor emigrants in our Mouse of
Providence, could we not therein also attend .some sjiecial cases of sickness
and gather uji .some more orpiums ? We supported 30 of them a few years
ago ; we support now 80, and had we more room we might receive a
hundred more.

" .Another motive for increasing our houses of beneficence is that
indigence, idleness, mendicancy, intemperance, and all immoralities, are too
often si-sters living together; therefore, to suppress, or at least to diminish
these domestic and .social disorders, which will be one of the main objects
o{ the House of Providence, is one of the best works of moralization ; and

d»

-«

Erection of tlir Diocesi' of Iluniiltoii uinl Lmtdon.

167

this want is so imu li fill thai one of our members, dear infthrt'ii, luis
already subscribed l-ioo, and several others ha\c made j^cnerous ofiiis for
the same jiurpose.

"A personal reason for us to found that House of Providence is our
lonjj; desire to die in a house of the kind ; as soon as our Holy l^'ather, our
supreme master upon earth, will f^'ive his consent to our withdrawal from
the f^overnment of this diocese, we will resign St. Michael's House into
other hands, to make of your House of l'rt)vidence our restinj^' place.
There, emij^rant, poor, old and inhrm, we will be the chaplain, the servant,
the friend, the father of all the sulferini^ or aflhcted inmates of that house: of
your benevolence, and so we will prepare ourselves for that happ}' death
promised to the merciful mercy, happiness and glory."

I'^KKCTION OK THK DlOCJ-.SICS Ol^ HAMILTON AN'D LoNHoN.

The last paragraph speaks ele.irly the zealous but liea\v- hearted
Bishop's mind upon one point, his continued aversion for the episcopate
and his desire for retirinj^. As early as the second year after his consecra-
tion we hnd him makint; strong representations to Rome upon the necessity
of accepting his resignation, or at least of granting an au\iliary who by lan-
guage would be more in toucli with the people. In 1X33 he had succeeded
in having a very stnmg appeal, if not command, made to ,in eminent
Sulpitian* of Montreal, to be associated with him as Coadjutor Bishop. It
was Bishop de Charbonnel's intention for one to remain in Toronto, while
the other was to reside at llaniikon. He suggested that on account of
Hamilton's central position it should be raised to an archl)ishopric.
Through the humility of the priest referred ti), the plan was a failure. His
Lordship theref(jre asked that two new Sees be erected, one at Hamilton, the
other at London. To this effect the Council of Quebec, on June 3rd, 1H54,
petitioned the Hol\- See; and the following year the Council again pressed
its prayer most urgently. The prelates plcdd the great necessity of priests.
" In the division of Hamilton," they wril( , "there is one mission of more
than i5,oocj Catholics where there are onlv two priests. The Rural Dean
of London could not succeed in four years in getting anv lu'lp for his vast
mission." The necessities of schools, worship, ihsiruction, discipline, were
all laid before the Propaganda with such force that the prayer was readily

: ii
-• I-

; li

■I !

i! i

f, I

♦The late venei;il)le Father Dowd.

-S

16H 'I'hc f/ij'e mill 'ilinfx nf TihtHhop tie Charhonncl.

f,'r;iin(>d ;iiid tlic IjuIIs issued fstublisluii;; the two Si'cs of Ilaniillon and
l-oiulon. Tlu! Kl. \<v\ . John l'";urcll of iV'turhorough was coiisccratcd
Bishop of llamillon on May iitli, 1K56, by M^a. dc Cliarlionni'l ; and tlu;
Kt. lu'v. iV'tcr Adolphc IMnsonneault was consecrated at Montreal, the

iSth of llic same niontli, I'isiio)) of London.

It was for the accompHshment of this fj;reat work that the Bishops of
Canada in Council at Quebec f.;ave Dr. de Charbonnel the title of " I'ather
and founder of the ecclesiastical province of Toronto," and wrote to Bins
IX. " that his works were prodi^nous and they struck everyone with
astonishment."

All important as the erection of these two Sees was, it by no means
absorbed the attention of llu' zealous Bishop, whose work of establishinf,^
the Sisters of St. Joseph in this diocese was the last we noticed. In
Auj^aist, 185.2, four Basilians, with the Very Kev. b'ather Soulerin as
Superior, arrived at Toronto, to begin a Catholic College. No work was so
dear to the heart of Bishop de Charbonnel as that of education, and
especially the propi'r formation of young men for the holy priesthood. He
writes May 30th, 1H53: — "I have received from I'rovidence 15 workmen
whom I deem good and some excellent. Of these last are five Basilian
priests,* who direct my rising Seminar}. I have bought some adjacent
land and built an addition to the episcopal residencef at a price of !?9,6o().
I have already thirty students, who give hope, and of whom f(nir will soon
be studying logic. I have six others in theology at Montreal, one at
Cjucbec, one at All Hallows, with whom the different Superiors are well
.satisfied; so that in a few years, si Diiis iiiciriiinitiiiii dat (if (iod give the
increase), we shall have missionaries, children of the soil, well called and
formed to the ecclesiastical sjnrit, learning and discipline.

SliFAKATE SCHOOI.S.

Anotlu'r kindred subject was the perplexing and serious (pieslion of
Separate Schools. From Bishop de Charbonnel's residence in Montreal
for several years he was (juite conversant with the state of education in
Lower Canada, as well as with the struggles which the Upper Canadian

' The lUtli was Fatlier Mo1()ti\, who liad coiiil' out with the Uishop on his thsl arrival in Toronto.
I The old St. \'ineent Chapel.

.; ! i - .i5-Maai ^ aM.W ii M W I

•y*

Sfimnitr SrlinolH.

100

C'allioliis wore maiiit;iiiiinj; on behalf of Separate Scliools. \\ lun, iIhtc-
fore, ujioii his arrival as Bishop of Toronto, he found the Art of 1^50 ready
to lie put into fon (• he knew tlie i^Mduiid upon wiiieh he stood and the task
which lay before him. At the close of the lirst year of liis episcopate he
wrote to I^ome upon the sui)je(t : " 1 i)urpose to ncLtleet nothiiiLf to assure
the succi'ss of this vital (pu'Stion." lie certainly kept his resolution with
the couraj^fe of his ancestral crusaders. " In season and out of .season,"
" in f,'ood repute and cxil repute ;" amidst the insults of mobs and the
calumniating; misrepresentations of more insidious foes; now in council with
his fellow-bishops, now sin^de-handed, Bishop de Charbonnel fouj^ht the
fi;j;ht for the conscience of his peoi)le. I le petitioned the j)olitical authorities;
he commanded his own subjects ; he appealed to the rc!li<.;ious faith of every
Catholic member of the I louse of Parliament and to the justice of every
fair-minded I'pper Canadian. I lis whoU; episcopate was one continual
stru<.(j;le af^ainst an autocratic Superintendc-nt, a<.;ainst wil)' politicians and
a},'ainst jiopular bij^otry upon this vital subject. The success he achieved was
not all that could I r' desired ; but, considering the circumstances, it was a
<;reat deal. To explain his stand ujion the subject we (|uote at lenj^fth from a
letter written to |)r. Kxcrson, Chief Supc'rintendent of b',(lu( alion, dated
May 1st, 185.2 :

" I read secondly in the correspondence of that <;reat .\rchbishop whom
the whole Church lamented, the mecHator between Ireland and Mnj^land,
the Dove of Dublin. In Ireland it was recjuired that in all the .schools for
the education of the poor, the Bible, with )ut notes, should be read in tin;
presence of all the pupils of all the schools, and that the catechism and
all books of that kind should be excluded. Is not this the case in our
mixed schools? ' Thes(> rej^ulations (continues the incomparable Dr.
Murray) our Bishop resisted and endeavored most earnestly to withdraw
the Catholic pupils from the schools of that kind. That a remedy mi^ht be
provided for this most wretched state of things, our Ciovernment, stron<j;ly
urged by me, and others, at length decided to establish another system of
educating the jioor, which would be more acceptable to the Catholics.'

' !!

• ii

I !•

! i[

Suffer me then, Mr. Superintendent, to obey (iod rather than man,

con

d to resist, as did the loval a

iciliating Archbishoj^, your unhappy
school system, strive to rescue from it my dear children, and to remedy this
great scourge by urging our Government to give us a .system which will be

nfi-r

M i

Kid

'/'//(' /,//'/• iiiiil I'imi'H of IHhIkiii ill' ( 'hiirliiiinii'l-

;i(c»|)t;il>lt' to us ;i system wliicli sliall not iciulir the roiiditioii of the Irish
lu'i'i' worsi.' than it is in Inland a system worthy of American or C'ana(han
lilx-ralism, so much wanted in this worhl, unless I'pper Canada prefers to
continue, what 1 cannot, in strict lof^ic, call anylliinj^^ l)ut a cruel and
disguised [)ersecution.

" I have said, that if the i atechism were suriicientl)' tauf^ht in the
famih or 1)\- the |)aslor, so ran- in this Iav^v Pioccse, and if the n'ixed
schools were exclusively for secular instruction, and without danj^er to our
Cathtjlits, in rej,'ard to masters, hooks and companions, the Catholic
Hierarchy mij,dit tolerate it, as I have done in certain localities, after having
made due in(|uir\ .

"Otherwise, in detaull of tlu'se conditions, it is forhidden to our
faithful to send their children to these schools, on pain of the refusal of the
Sacraments ; hecausi' the soul and heaven ahovi' e\i'r\thin>^ ; hec ause the
foot, the hand, the eye, occasions of sin, ou},'ht to be sacriliced to salvation;
because, hnally, Ji'sus Christ has confided the mission of instruction which
has civilized the world to ni )thers than the Apostles and lluir successors
lo the vnd of time. .

" It is their ri>;ht, so sacred and inali<nalile, that every wise and
paternal christian governor has madi' laws respecting instruction only in
perfect harmony with tlu' teaching Church- — the Ilishops united to their
supr(;me and universal I lead ; and this right is so inviolable that of late, as
well as in former times, in h'rance, in Ik'lgium, in Prussia, in Austria, as in
Ireland, the Bishops, with the Pope, have done everything to overthrow or
modify every school or university system opposed to the mission given by
Jesus Christ to Ills sacred college.

"'Cio therefore teach all nations, and preach to every creature (St.
Mark), teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you, and lo, I am with you even to the end of the world.' (St. Matthew.)
'lie that believeth shall be saved, and he that belie\elh not shall be
condemned.'" (St. Mark).

«-

-«

ymtm

'I'lif i'lDjiirsH of till hioceae.

161

'liii; l'u(i(ii<i:ss HI' rill'; DioiKsi;.

Wliilc llie I'diualloniil stru^^;li' was a continual anxictv to Dr. \)c
C'liarlnjimcl lu' still had L-ntTj^y to ;,'ivL' to the inatfii.il order of the dioeesc,
whiih steadily advanced. New thurche.s were built, new parishes formed.
In the city, St. Mary's (."hunh on iiathurst street was erected in 1.S31 ;
and, after beinj; served from the Cathedral for a fi'w years, had a resident
pastor for the first tnne in i^<34. St. Basil's parish was started for the
northern portion, when tin- Hasilian bathers n.Mnoved to their property on
St. Joseph street in 1^*30; St. Patrick's parish was the last established in
the city under Hishop de C'harbonnel. The country kept |).iee. harrie in
1855 started a distiiif^niished roll of zealous pastors witli ['"ather Jamot,
afterwards Hishop of l'eterborou|,'h, while liruck could boast of havni^' as its
first pastor no less a person than the jiresent Archbishop of Toronto. The
foUowinjj; year Orillia was ojjened with. Father Synnot as p.irish prii'sl.

The returns for i(S5(j ;^ive j^ priests in llu' diocese. Adj.il.i was
divided into two parishes; Streetsville and b'ort Mrie were ,dso formed.
The stall' of the Cathedral debt may be gathered from liie ft)llowing extract
of a letter written by Hishop de C'harbonnel to tlu' President of tiie
Proi)af;ation of the l""aith at Lyons, l'"rance, dated Oiiebi^c, May jHth,
1855: "I hasten therefore to tell you that, thanks to the gifts of the
Propagation of tlu' l"'aith, the debt with which the Church had burthened
me is nearly altogether extinct, and to repeat to you in my gratitude that
without some unforeseen misfortune I hopi' to spare you funds in faxor of
some Hishop poorer than I am."

In this .same report his Lordship tells us that there were thrt;c
Conferences of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and that he celebrated
the Definition of the Immaculate Conception during the first three Sundays
of February with all the pomp of which they were capable. The Atlantic
cable was not then laid ; so that it was some time after the delinition when
the news was announced in Toronto.

The state of the diocese and its vast extent kejit Hishop de Charbonnel
always on the move. During the first two }ears of his episcopate he did
not pass a dozen Sundays at home. In May. 1851, he was at Haltimore
collecting ; and shortly after at Quebec attending the Hrst Provincial
Council. The following year his Lordship was again at Haltimore at the

I.;

«-

\('>'l Till' L'ifc mill Tiiiic.i III' IHkIidi) ilc Clniilioinirl.

IMcii.'iry Council of tlic Aimrican C'hurcli. In I1S54, at the r('(|ucst of
l^isliop Spaldini;, he pre;, lud a rrtri-at to the Ch-rj^y of Louisville,
i\(iUuil<\. 'riure he met for the lirst time his ct)untrym:in, leather
l>ru}ere, whom he afterwards induced to come to Toronto, and whom, ;n
1857, he made his \'iear-("u'ni'ral. In 1855, in company with Archbishop
llu<,'hes of New Yovk, and Hishop McKii ion of Arichat, Nova Scotia,
Hishop de Charh.)nnel assisted at the openin^; of the new Cathedral at St.
John's, Newft)undland, when he consecrated one of the altars. He visited
Rome twice, T.rst in 1S56 and a^ain in 1857.

Coiiceniini; the \isilalion of his own diocese, his Lordship writes:
" My health iiennils me to travel and collect continually in the diocese;
while at tlu' same time; 1 preach, hear confessions, coniirm, officiate, inspect ;
and my expenses of house, table, clothes, travel, are reduced to almost
nothinL^. 1 travel alone and by ways as economical as they are incommo-
dious ; but all that is nothing in comparison with the pleasure of licjuidatinj^^
tlu' debt put upon me; of founding and ami'lionitinj^r useful institutions, all
in ke(-i)ini; a slate of luMJth which is almost scandalous ; another wouUl be
sick unto death -tile worst news and business have not yet cieprived me of
three minutes' slee]i when 1 throw m\self upon my ouch, nor a mouthful
when 1 ,!.(o to table ; and however, 1 drink only water and mi'k. There is
something more, it is, that if 1 could lau,L,fh in Ln^lish as well 's 1 can in
P'reiich m\' ijaietx would be excessive."

ll;s LoKiisiiir I\i;si(;ns \ni> Ki-.tikns m 1'"k.\N('1':.

Thron^h all this i^rowlh of religion, whiU' ollurs idmired, one alone
was ni'Xir salislied IJisho)) de CharboniKl hiii\sclf. In his own e\es he
was but .1 useless servant. It mattered not that his zeal aiiu self-denial had
freed the diocese from debt, had slarti:d and fostered much-needed institu-
tions; that his prudence and judii^ment (jf character had peopled the
country with ,i new itinera lion of earnest priests; and tliat his courage had
remained uiukuniled in llu' ureal bailie of relij^ious education. In his own
siLjhl all this was notlunj^. It was not enouuli that he had been freed from
two-thirds of his diocese; he lon<,'ed for a coadjutor more kindred to his
jieople, who would free him still more. To the lirst steps which his
Lortlshiji took for this [)ur|)ose before ihe llol\ See, I'ius L\. repliecL "1
have received onl\ praise of \()ur administration." The Pope sent the
Hi^lio)i to ni.d<e a retreat at St. Lusebius that he mifj;Iit cintent himself

•». I

Ilin Ltinhhiii h'cxii^iia (iiiii Hctiinis to I-'niiitr.

1G;{

witli rc'iiiainin^f Hislioj) i)t ToioiUo. 1 ic ohcNcd and icliirncd Id hi> See,
l)iit only to renew his prayer more earnestly the follow iiii^ \iar (iS^cS).
This time it was j^Manted ; Father L\nch, President of tlie CoileLje of the
Holy Anj^els, Nia<;ara l'"alls, was chosen and consecrated coadjutor, Nov.
2oth, 1859. On the feast of the I'liriHcation, I'eh. _'nd, iSfx), Hishon de
C'harhonnel perfoniu'd for the last lime his v iscopal lum lions in Toronto
by consecratinj^ tlie lli,!j;h Altar in Si. Michai'l's C'athechal. I'wo adchesses
were presented his Lordship, one on !)ehalf of the C'lerj^A- h\ the Kev.
leather Walsh, now Archbishop Walsh ; the other on behalf of the laity.
In a few days he started for F.urope. lie resij^ned his See April J(jth, i860,
when he was named Bishop of Sozojioiis.

Later tlu' ^ame year there mi^hl havt' !)een seen at the noviliaU' of the
Capuchin Monastery of Aui^uste (.\lma) in thj Roman l'ro\inc(\a no\ici' as
remarkable for his fervor as he was distinguished for his ai,'e and dij^mity.
It was Bislu)p de C'harbonnel. Thither had hi,-, love of poverty and
sacrihce attracted him. .\l the close of his novitiate he returned to I'rance
and took up his residence at Lyons. Honors which he had axoided with
such care and laid aside with such selt'-deiii.i], still pursued him m his
monastic retreat. He was ollered one of the Sees of .\.l^'eria, which he
refused. He consecrated the rest of his life to preachinL,^ and to the con-
ductini; of retreats. But the work of his [iredilection, to which he ,L;ave his
whole soul, was the l'ropaj,,Mlion of the b'aith. His simpli- e\an<;elical
word, orii^inal in its (.'xpression and spoken with the ardor of an apostolic
heart, produced the most wonderful results of j^enerous devotion both in
town and country. His success caused the two central councils of the
As.sociation to ask the Suiireme Pontiff that M'^r. de Charbonnel should be
entrustt'd with the mission of iireachiiii;- e\cr\ wheix' in faxor of the Propaga-
tion of the P'ailh. " None," wrote the Presidents, " ha\e the work more at
heart or understand so well the means of spreadini; it by preachiiii;.
I'ndoubtedlv very few po.ssess in so hij;h a de<;ree the art of drawinj.,' the
multitudes, and very few .see their words followed by more coi.solint; results."
Accordinj^lv Cardinal Barnabo, lhrou;;h the Superior denenil of the
Capuchins, imposed this work u|ion Bishcjj) de Charbonnel, and recom-
mended all Ordinaries to treat with the jfreatest respect a Bishoj) " who
had deserved most excellently of the Catholic relij^ion." (/A' Catholica
nli^i^ioiic optiiiif iiicntttm.)

'i ■:

■i ;!
r I

lit

Iff ■

«-

nil

The L'lff (111(1 'I'niics of li'mhop ilc Ch((rhiii'nfl.

I.'ot long after his return to I-'rancu he was apjiointcd iVuxiliary to
Cardinal Ronald, Archbishop of Lyons, whom he represented at the Vatican
Council. Mis time was very much occupied with the various episcopal
functions. Hut this did not prevent him undertaking and performing much
more. In fact he seemed to nuiltipiv his works as he advanced in age.
More than fifty ecclesiastical retreats, besides those given to religious
communities, missions in parishes, confirmation in six different dioceses,
ordinations for years at Lyons and Annonay, were the works of supereroga-
tion of tliis indefntigable laborer. To those who represented that .so much
was not compatible with his agi' and dignity he replied : " We shall rest in
heaven ; here bi'low we must work for the good Master."

L'pon one of these occasions, when he was in Paris at the Church of
St. Roch, a collection for the Irish, who were suffering from famine at the
time, w,is taken up, in which L^ady Mc^Ldlon was deeply interested. The
venerable Bisiiop de Charbonnel, in his generosity, took off his pectoral
cross, and threw it into the plate, exclaiming : " I am but a poor Capuchin:
I have nothing; but I cannot forget my Irish people of Montreal and
Toronto — I givt' my cross." The following day the cross was returned to
him, ha\ing been redeemed at a high price.

It must not, however, be supjiosed that Bishop de Cliarbonnel was
nierelv an active- minister of religion, mighty in word and work. He was
especiallv a man of ("iod,;i man of deep interior spirit, indefatigably devoted
to tJK' work of his own j)erfection, as edifying by the simplicity of his
manners as by the austerity of his life and the practice of tho.se virtues
whicli form saintly priests. Many are the stories of his humility, while his
sjiirit of mortification rendered his house bv no means pleasant to such as
did not feel called to lead a severe monastic life. His love of jioxcrty is
shown in the following anecdote : a friiMid met his Lordship in a third-class
railway carriage, and en(|uired how it was that a gentleman of his rank and
years travelled third class. " Because," was the characteristic reply, "there
is no fourth class." Of undoubted talent, and still more exalted virtue, he
was a bishop of the i)rimitive Church ; and, like them, he has left his mark
wherever he passed. The clergy of France, the immigrants of Montreal,
the people of Toronto, still bear the fruits of his cultured learning, his
zealous charity and his indefatigable labors.

-m

umi:

Archbishop of Sozopolis.
Archhisiiop Ol' So/.OPOLIS.

i(>r>

III' had l)cen away from Canada about ten years when Toronto was
raised to an archdiocese, and in iSSo Archbishop I>yiuh of Toronto,
Bishops Walsh of London, Crinnon of I lainilton, and Jamot of the Northern
\'icariate,* petitioned tlie I'ojh; that His Holiness would j;ive Mj^r. de Char-
bonnel some special mark of satisfaction " for the si^Mial services he had
rendered the Church both in Canada and France by raisinj^ him to the rank
of Archbishop." Cardinal Caverot, Archbishop of Lyons, associated him-
self to the plan in very warm terms, deeming' it a debt of f^'ratitude which ho
and his people owed to this venerable prelate. The petition was ^'ranted.
On Dec. i6th, 1880, His Holiness, Leo XII I., issued a decree, orderinj; that
Mgr. Armand Francis Marie de Charbonnel, Hishop of vSozopolis, shall
enjoy the hierarchical deforce, title and honor of Archbishop of Sozopolis and
the title of Archbishop, so that henceforth he shall be called Archl)ish()p —
liishop of Sozoj)olis.

The honor he then received neither turned him away from his work
nor exalted him in his own eyes. It was only in 18H3, when his failin-^^
strcuffth prevented him under<,'oin^ the fatigue of jireaching and administer-
ing, that he gave up an\- portion ot iiis labors and withdrew to La kocli, not
far from Lyons. He afterwards retired to a small Capuchin monastery at
Crest, a small town in the Department of Drome, for the purpose, as he used to
say himself, of making by i)rayer and austerity a more immediate preparation
for eternity. He kept on working, and it was only at the age of eighty-five
tliat he wrote most affectionately and mournfully to the Superior of the Basil-
ians at Annonay that he could never go to ordain any more members of that
family he loved so well. But if he could not go abroad he could do some-
thing at home ; so he used to hear confessions in the monastery. (Juieth-
his life passed on like the sKiw ebb of a placid sea, or the calm sunset of a
long summer day. The end came and found him still at \\\>vk. On Hob
Saturday, when he had spent several hours in the confessional, he was
taken ill, and on the followi'-g day, Easter Sunday, March 2()th, iSqi, the
soul of this venerable, saintly jirelate passed to its reward for the long and
u.seful life worn out in the glory of God and the sahation of his neighbour.

On the Wednesday following the funeral service, at which the Bishop
of Valence presided, was held in the parish church at Crest. The Cardinal

* The Diocese of Kingston was vacant at the time.

an-

fl HI l!

160

The fj'ife and 'I'lmcH of IVn^hap iJe Chnvhanucl.

of I.yoiis \v;is represented at tlie ohsiuiuics. All that was mortal of the
great, ajiostolie liisliop de ("harbonnel was tlun placed in the vault of the
Capuchin Convent of Crest, llisj^raveis there; hut his monument is in
our very midst ; and his memory is in benediction.

ADDENDA.

We subjoin a short sketch of the late venerable Monsi^nore liruyere,
the latter part of whose career was spent in London, but whose name will
ever be closely associated with that of Dr. de ("harlionnij as Bishop of
Toronto, not only because of the close friinidship which existed between
them, but esptxially for the active part which the Monsi<,'nore took in the
defence and cause of religion during his residence in Toronto.

Jean Marie Bruyere was born at Chezelles, a pretty village situated on
the Khone in the south of I'" ranee, not far from the great city of Lyons.
He received no!)- Orders in icSjo, and ten }-ears after, volunteered his
sacerdotal services to the American mission, of the labours and sacrihces of
which he had heard through the renown of his saintly countryman. Bishop
I'laget, the apostle and pioneer prelate of Kentucky. When in 1840
Father Bruyere arrived at Louisville, Kentucky, he was apjiointed jirofessor
of dogmatic theology in the College of Bardstown. At this time. Father
Martin John Spalding, afterwards Bishop of Louisville, and later still
Archbishop of Baltimore, was pastor of the Cathedral of Bardstown.
Between them a cordial intimac}' sprang up, so that when elevatcl to the
ejiiscopate Bishop Spalding urgently invited Father Bruyere to take charge
of tlie Cathedral of Louisville, which the latter accepted in 1848. From
Louisville he came to Toronto in 1854, and was jilaced in charge of St.
Michael's Cathedral, where " by his unfeigned piety, his devotion to duty,
his condescension and kindness he commanded the respect and admiration
of all classes." His celebrated controversy with the Chief Superintendent
of I'^ducation upon the Catholic School (.hiestion attracted widespread
attention and proved him to be a most vigorous writer and valiant
champion of religious freedom.

In 1857 he was ajipointed Vicar-Cicneral by the following letter from
liishop de Charboiincl, who at the time was in Koine : " \'ery ]\ev. and

Aililcnda.

1()

l.)o;ir Sir--In consitkiration of your services, particularly in the cause of
Catholic education, or rather to speak a more apostolic lanffuafj;e, in order
that you may more effectually serve the Church, he jileased to accejit the
titles of Vicar-General of the Diocese of Toronto, and of Administrator of
the same in case of death, with all faculties, which, for the due performance
of these two-fold duties, and li\' the authority of the Holy See, \\c can and
do confer ui)on you."

After the retirement of Bishop de Charbonnel from the See of Toronto,
at the urj^ent request of Hisliop IMnscMineault, and with the consent of his
Ordinary, Father ISruyere went to the London Diocese, continuing; his
work of zeal in the capacity of Vicar-General and rector of the Cathedral of
Sandwich. Besides the parochial duties incumbent upon him, from which
he never relaxed, he was often deputed to fulfill difficult tasks of a
diplomatic character, which he never failed to accomplish to the best
interests of all concerned.

Shortly after the arrival of Dr. Walsh as Bishop he continued the good
jiriest in his office and dignil)-. When his Lordship chanfj;ed the See to
London b'ather Bruyere accompanied him, and for over twenty years
continued there the faithful exercise of his priestly functions and the hoi}'
practice of his priestly virtues, so exemplary, so eminent and so manifold.
In all his relations with his brother priests he was most courteous and
condescendinj;, while towards ejMscopal authority he was a model of loyaltv
and obedience. Without l)einfi; ascetic he was a man of j^reat piety, faith
and prayer, lie was the first to enter the Church for his meditation in the
morning, and tlie last to leave his jiost in the confessional at night. His
charities were of that nature which does not permit the left hand to know
what the right hand doeth. Sixty years of service, with no extravagance
of livmg, no luxury, with only a few books, not enough saved to l)ury him !
Such was the result of his labors.

While on a visit to Rome Bishop Walsh obtained from the Holy
I"'ather, Pius IX., the elevation of Vicar-General Bruyere to the Roman
Prelature. The decree reacts as follows: "Beloved Son — Health and
Apostolic Benediction. We arv aware of your merits, so consonant with
the excellence and dignity of an ecclesiastical person, that we are induced
to confer upon you an honor which will be an evidence of our paternal

-m

i.-s ;l 1

': i

11 !

KiH

The Life and Times of Bishop de Chdihoiinel.

iificction for you. Wherefore we absolve you from all ecclesiastical
censures, which would be an obstacle in this matter, if you have incurred
any, and by these letters, by our Apostolic authority, we choose, appoint
and declare you to be a Monsignore of this city, that is to say, our domestic
prelate. Therefore, beloved son, you may freely and lawfully wear the robe
and cape commonly called McDttclctta, of violet color, and outside of the
Roman Court, the Rochet ; and by the same authority, and in virtue of
these presents, we grant to you the enjoyment of all the rights, faculties,
indults, privileges, prerogatives and precedencies which our other domestic
prelates use and enjoy, and which they are, or will be, entitled to use and
enjoy, all other Apostolic constitutions and decrees to the contrary notwith-
standing.

" Dated at Rome at St. Peter's under the seal of the Fisherman, 12th
December, 1876, in the thirty-first year of our Pontificate."

Monsignore Bruyere lived to enjoy this well-deserved token of his
Bishop's respect and friendship for a little over eleven years, when he died
at the patriarchal age of ninety-two on Feb. 13th, 1888. His name, like the
names of his countrymen. Bishops Flagetj de Charbonnel, Jamot, will ever
be found amongst the apostles and missionaries of this Western Continent.*

* This account of Monsignore Briivcru is substantially t.ilicn from " Tlic Catholic Itccoril," London,
Ontario.

^'''Q ■^.'>}/>;

*****JM*4^M-0-0**H1'.(1-(M)-I>HMHWV

'/'///•; LIFE AXn TIMES OF TIIF MOST REV. .JOHN JOSEl'H lASCH,

AKC/IIUSIIOI' <>/■■ rCKOXTO,

'I'HF, HON. I'. W. .\N(;i,IN,

lil

/■:.\-sr/:AKi:K o/-- hie iiovse of lommoxs.

^>-0H>-0H>***^HHH)-O-0-0-0'-0-0-0-(M>-0-()-(y

The Mos'i' Rev. John Joseph Lvnc

Fiist Anhhisliop of Toioiilo.

nOKN AT Cl.OXIiS. lOlxrV ,MO.\Ai,IIA.\. IKKl.AXn. f-J-:iSKrAK\- 6lli, iSi6.
niKII AT rOK(i.X70. MAV ijth. iSSS.

fif

CIIAI'TILK \1.

1830-1888.
TlIK LIFE AM> TIMES oE AUClllllSllol' DWCH.

Birth mil} Eilin-ittion — WtHsionnrji Career — CoUnie of the Ilnlii AikhIh- Iiinhoit of
Toronlii — .1 nlihixliop-Silrcr Jnli'ilrc I)(ii/li.

" And, to luKI f,'iciilL'r lioiioui^ to his age
'riian man coukl k'^^' liim, he dieil,
I'carini; (ioil."— KiN(i 1Ii-n.:v \iii., Act iv. Sc. 2.

^TW LTHOUOII C":illi()lic;ity h-id niadr .sucli wnndirful proj.^rcss in
/ I llpper Canada while Bisliop rowxr and Bishop dc C'harl)()nncl
I M^ [governed the Diocese of Toronto, the eondition of tlie C'iuirch in
•^ this Province was still in nianv respects unsatisfactory. The

religious institutions founded bv those Hishojis were vet in their infaiie\
and recjuired infinite care and constant elfort to sustain and de\elop ihein;
others were recjuircd and must be established as soon as possible. I'he
number of jiriests was far too small, and to increa.se their number was very
dillicult. The churches, few in number, were nearK' all mere temporarv
structures, .scarcely sufficient to shelter those who could assemble in them.
In many districts the Catholics were so few in number, so scattered, and so
poor, as to be unable to erect even the most humble ihaj)els. i'liese
districts a priest seldom visited, unless when called to a(hiiinister the last
Sacraments to the dyinj,'. To hear M;;ss and a|)proach the Sacraments
were blessin,L,'s which the Catholics so situated could enjoy only on rare
occasions and at lon<.( intervals. The priests, overburilened with the; other
labors of their ministry, could not even in the cities and towns attend
sufficiently to the religious instrui tion and training of Catholic children.
In country districts Catholic children had little opportunity of learning any
more of their religion than their parents, sometimes ignorant, generally
exhausted by excessive labour, could impart; and knowledge, strength of
mind and the most robust faith were there required to resist the malarious

17'2

'/'//(' l/ijv iiiid TiiiH'H III AirhluHliop Ljiiiilt.

inlliieiuf of llu! aiiti-C'atliolii: atlnosplurc in which liicy lived, liij^'otrv,
prijiidicc and inlolcrancf were rampant, and rendered llu; i:()n(hti<)n of
many Catholic families almost intolerable ; and the majority, iioping that
the Connnon S( liool would prove the f^rave of Catholicity, opposed every
amendment of the School Law wln( h the ("athoiics demanded.

It was evident that if C'atholicit}' was not to suffer serious losses in the
conflict in which all human powers and influences were arrayed aj^'ainst it,
the succi'ssor of Bishop de I'harhonnel nuist he a mm of ^rv.ii ability, of
f^'reat learniii},', elocpient, full of zeal, full of enerj^'y, self-sacrifuinj;, pious,
prudent, practical, conciliatorv and couraijeous; one whose dexotion to
duty and simplicity of life all ^ood w-n must admire; one to whom,
because of his learninf^, his earnestness, hi,^ moderation and his charity, the
fiercest fanatic must listen with resp(>ct. Providence, which orders all
thinj^s wisely, had prepared such a man for the position.

HlKlll \Nh r.iM( \-ri()N.

)()]ui losejih L\iicli was born near C'loius, in the C"ount\' of Mona^^h

Ireland, in the year iSiO. Owinj^^ lar<;ely lo the intku'nce of his mother, of
wliom he always spoke with lovinj^ reverence, he, at a very early aj^e, was
HUed with a desire to become a priest, and to devote his life to the propaf^a-
tion of the faith in inhdel lands, or to the service of those of his fellow country-

men in Ameri

ca, wlio

or want of priests, were unable to jiractise

their

rehijfion.

Tlu! purity of his life, his piet)-, the re^'ularity with which he received the
sacraments, and his earnest devotion to the Blessed \'ir<,nn, proved that he

as indeed called i)V (iod, and that 1

le was true to his vocation.

received his early education at a school in Lucan tau|^ht by a j.,M-aduate of
the Dublin Cnixersity, and he was there distinguished for his bri^'ht
intellect and his attiMition to his studies. When seventeen years of age he
went to the Academy of St. Joseph at Clondalkin, where he spent a year
and a half, and in 1835 he entered the College of the Lazarists at Castle-
knock, established a short time previously. There he studied diligently for
two years. Those who knew him in after life will not be surprised to learn
that he excelled in logic, and that he was the most active member of the
Literary Club of the College, which he founded. His ability to govern
even then manifested itself, and he was made Prefect of the boys. He
finished the collegiate course at Castleknock in 1837 ; and having then

88-

Mistiiinttn/ C<tri'er. 17!l

(IcUrniiiicd lo join the Lazarist Order — lli" C'on^rcf^ation of tlic IVicsls of
the Mission- lie was sent to the Siniinary of St. Lazare, I'aris, the first
postulant from the Collej^'e at Castleknock. '['here he spent three years
earnestly striving,' to i)repare for the work of the l"orei<,Mi Missions, in whiih
he lioped to he enj^aj^ed, and dcMitiiif^f ever\' iiour which lie could spare
from the re^'ular work of his class to the study of history, sacred and
profane, for which the line lihrars of the Seminary afforded special facilities.
In due time he received minor orders and sub-deaconship from Mf^r. .\fire,
the Archbishop of I'aris, who a few years afterwards was killed ;it the
barricades, a martyr of charity. I lis superiors soon after determined that
he should return to Iri-land, there to be ordained priest, and take part in
the work in which the Lazarists were en;,M,i,'ed. I.onj^in^f for the realization
of the wishes and hopes of his boyhood and youth, he bej^'j^ed that he should
rather be sent on a Mission to the heathens, or allowed to work in any of
the countries in which Irish Catholics were so much in need of priests.
His superiors thouj^ht the work then to be done ii: Ireland of f^reat import-
ance ; and with that profound respect for authority for which he was so
distinj;uished throuj^^hout his whole life, he submitted to their decision
and returned to Ca.stleknock. In June, 1843, he was ordained deacon and
priest at Maynooth b\ Dr. Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, and on the feast
of Corpus Christi he celebrated his first Mass, at which his father and
mother and brother and sisters assisted.

MissuixAKv C.\I\i:i:k.

Father Lynch, full of zeal and cner^'y, devoted himself earnestly to the
laborious and exhausting' work of the Missions. lie took especial' deli<,'ht
in instructing' the younj;, expoundinj,' to them in simple lan^aiaj^'e the great
truths of Christianity, enkindling their enthusiasm, strengthening their faith
with knowledge, and preparing them to resist successfully the temptations
which manv of them, he knew, must encounter.

In this work he was engaged until 1846, when Bishop Odin, him.self a
Lazarist, who had been appointed \'icar Apostolic of Texas, went to
Ireland to look for priests who would aid him in the cultivation of that vast
Held of missionary work and enterprise, h'ather Lynch he found eager to
accept his invitation ; and his superiors, urged by the Bishop, who repre-
sented the deplorable condition of the country entrusted to his care,

l»

171

'I'lir I, iff mill 'I'iini'H of Anhliinhnii lii/mh.

K'liii l.iiilK t^iivc tln'ii .issciil. Ill liiok |i,iss.ij;c l((i N't w ( )rl(;iiis in
( iiinpiinywitli l''.itlirr I'it/^ii.ild, .iiiullin I ,;i/.iiist, who was also dcstiiicd
Ini llif Tex, IS inissinii. Tins laiidi'd in thai < ity on )iinr .'.(}, iH.;-/, and
\\t M kiiidU nccivcd l>s ill"' Arc liliish<i|), Mj^i. Hlani . Ilavin)^' uhtaincd
passaj^c in a small stcanici ini|i|u\i(| in (aiiyinf; I', S. snldicrs linni New
()il(,m'. 1(1 Vera Cm/ im mi\ii<' hi llir Mcxiian War, wliich had hci^iin a
shdit time Ix'luic, tlit'V rta( hc<l (lalvcsldn caiK in |(ils and jxik reded
thcMic, accompanied l>\' hishop ()(lin, lo Houston. I his was to lie tluii
head-c|uaitt'rs (or sonic linic-.

Texas was at th.il lime sparsely settled. I he population was to he
loiind, ,is in this ccmnliA in its eaijier days, .iloii;^ the hanks ol tlii' rive is.
The tola! luimlii r o| ('.illiolics was supposed to he .ihoui ten ihoiis.ind.

Some wcie Mexicans

hill t

le in.!|oril\ were I rish ; aiic

>l oj I

le:.e not a lew

were .IS iciAcnl in theii i.iilh as when they lioci the f^'iceii lull;, ol holy
Ireland, .ind stro\e e.iiiiestly to transmit tlic' lailli to then c hildicn. lUit
in in.in\' the want ol piicsl and .saciilic c and i^iciaiiKiil, .ind the' I'lcitesLint
inlliieiKis h\' whiih lhc\ were sin iciimdi cl, had chilled m p,ii,il\'sc<l the
iiiith, sn ih.il II could sc.iicily he regarded as .in\ longer livin^; .md ihe
children ol sue h Catholic s, il nothing; wen done to save them, would almost
ccrtaiiils liecome rrotesl.iiits. ( )l those whose iiaiciils had never taken
the Irouhle lo le.ic h lliein wli.il Cilholic ity is, .several were avowed
Methodists or l>,iplists.

I'',ilhei l,\nth and I'ather l'"ilz;;er,ild were the lirsl priests who had
e\('l heell rei^ul.IlK st.llioiied al I lou^toll, wlllc II W.is lull llie ( ciiire ol' their
opeialions. .\s soon as llie\ were l.iirly set tied there, and the neeessary
pri'parations were made, h'ather Lynch, on horse-hack, with luif^c' .saddle-
hai^'s, in whic li were packed vestments and the oilier recpiisiles for the lloly
Saciilicc, and such ihannes of liiun and other underclothing' as were'
ahsoluleU necessar\', .set out to look lor ( atholic s \\here\cr the\- nii^hl hc'
louiiel and to c.iii A to them the ci insolations ol relii^ion. lie was e nurteouslv
and ("ven kinellv received everswliere. W'heri'ver he lound any ("atliolies
he fj;ave instructions, heard confessions, s.iid Mass, i.,Mve I loly ("ominunioii
to those who made due pre)iaratiein, hlessed marriaj^'es and liaplized
children. Ihe Catholic- churches of an\' des(ri|ilion were \c'r\' few and he
usualU he.irel confessions and said Mass in pri\ate hou.ses, or in barns
when the housi's wen" not larsic enouf/h. lie preached in hotels, ceiurt-

HHiiinnni ( iivrvr.

I7r.

liniisc!^, .iikI wIkiimi lie ( mild f^ct .111 .iiidiciK r. In Aii-.t in, I lif (Mpit.il '>|
llic Stale, lliriT was no ( .itlmlit C'liiiK li. In tin inuiniiij; \\v sai<l Mass ill
the liniisc of ;i Callidlii ; lull in the cvriiiii^; llw I .inis|;ii j vc ( "liainlicrs were
plaicil at his (iis|)(isal, aiul llic (inviriior .iiid si m r.il nilui rintistiiits
wric aiiiiiiif; ijic cnnnn'^^at uni. Iiidicd ricilisl.inls, iii.iiu ol ulicun li.nl
llcNci srcii .1 piKsl, iii(i\id li\ "iiilosity, (loudrd l.i lie, 11 Iniii. .\iiiiiii;;st
lliusi' (^ciiciallv regarded as rrulistaiits were sctim Catluilii ;., wIid soii^dit
to lie rccoiuilcd III till' ("liiinli, plcadiiii^ in isi iisr lor tlirii rowardl)
( oiidiit I that as tluir wiir im jh irsts in the i miiiti) and tin rmlrsl.mts
were intrnsrl) |iii |iiilu id .if^aiiisl C.illiolic s, tlii'\ tlioii;;ht it lust to sa)'
notliinj^ ahoiit llnii n Ic'ioii. All this invoKrd t onst.nit and scm ic lalmr ;
hut thr lati<;ni', liardshijis .ind rsposiirc to intense In at and lieice storms
which he had to undergo in seaK liiiif^ lor the ("atlioliis wlm 'ived in remote
seltleinents, and sometimes l;ir lioni any settlement, win- iH' exhaiistin;^
anddani^eroiisloln .ilih. T ie(|iii nth , altei ,1 |on;4(lay's |oin in \ 'ht hit anse
he h.id lost his way m had niiscah iil.iti d the distanre, he ua: 1 oiiipi lli d to
sleep on the ).;roiind, with his saddle ,is ,1 i)illow, loitiiiiale il no storm huist
over the |)lat e when he la\ . Soiintimes, after riding; all A.w m a drenehiiif^
rain-storm, nii'lit o\ei took him |,ii iiom ,in\ hnni.in haliitation. I li Imrd to

tell ol the in.iin nisi, nil IS m \\linh,\\h

lie t

HIS w.iinlei iim, iir was iinuiijiii

tialU led to the dwelliiii^s ol (atholii s, oi whom he h.nl not hciid. More
than oin e he \\,is thus ludii^ht to the ludside i>| thr i|\in; m iimr to
ailministei the last sac rameiits.

lie s

itislactioii wliii h he iiiiist have lilt in reviviin

n' I, nth III the

indillerent and tepid, m hriii^inj,' the consolations of ri|iL;ioii to ihoM in
dan^;er of de.ith, .mil m the m,imleslalioiis ol jo) ,inil delight with uliiili
he was recei\cd li\ those who irmiiined steadfast amidst trials and
temptations imisl have done iniu h to i ontinu t the ellei t ol thr privations,
siilleriiif^s and excessive fatigue to which he was so oftin imposed; and
hen the weather was line, and his daily joiiiin)s not too loiii;, he ima^'ined

that he was e\en stlciiii'er a

nil m better health than at aii\' pre\ i
lersh

oils i)erio(|

of his life. I le had iMii learned to pi iler sleepme out nl'diinis in line weather
wlu'ii the alternati\c' was speiidmj^ the niehl in the stilling atmosphere of a
badly l<epl bed-room in a Texas inn. iUil .soon after his return to Houston
in the fall of 1M.17 he was attacked by a fever which brou^dit him to the point
of death. He recovered, but h(' had not le^aiind his slreiitith when il

tn-came nc:cess;

iry tor him lo resume his labors, as ihc services o

.f hi.^

«-

176

The Life and Times of Archbishop I,}inch.

assistant, Father Fitzf^erald, were urjj;ently rcciuired in another district.
Excessive f;i^i^fue lirf)tif^ht on a relapse; and again he seemed to be in danger
of death. This attack of fever was followed by an attack of ague, which
proved so debilitating that he was unable to discharge any of his duties.
Bishop Odin took him to (ialveston, hojiing that change of air and careful
nursing would restore his health ; but when, after some months, there
a]ipeared to be no improvement, he accepted the invitation of Archbishop
Blanc to spend .some time in New Orleans. Thc/e he regained his
strength so far as to be able to say Mass and hear Confessions occasionally,
and to attend the invalid .soldiers sent from the .seat of wjir in Mexico to the
Military Hospital near the city. But the fever still clung to him, often
prosirating iiis strength completely, and on the approach of summer it was
decided that he must proceed farther north. Accordingly in March he went
to a Lazarist College in Missouri known as St. Mary's of the Barrens,
which has given many zealous bishops and devoted priests to the Church.
Having recovered his health and strength sufficiently, he was appointed
President of the College. In this position, for which his qualities of mind
and his experience at Castleknock and at St. Lazare seemed peculiarly to
fit liim, lie was eminently .successful. He '.ntroduced, as far as practicable,
the system and discipline of the old Benedictine monasteries. His duiies
as President did not occupy all his time, nor did the most crreful attention
to those duties satisfy his zeal for the glory of God and the .salvation of
souls, and he fretjuently engaged in missionary work. In 1849 he wa«
elected by the Lazarists in America to attend the general assembly of the
Order which was held in Paris in that year. When the work of the
assembly was done he visited Rome and had an interview with the Holy
Father, Pope Pius th.e Ninth, who granted an indulgence to the students of
St. Mary's to be obtained as often as they studied in presence of the Statue
cf the Blessed Virgin, which was placed in the study hall when the office of
Prefect was abolished. Before he returned to America he made a brief
visit to his family in Ireland. Ik; loved to relate that soon after he reached
home his pious mother said to him: " I am delighted to .see you, but I did
not ask for this blessing. I always invoke the assistance of the Blc ssed
Virgin in anything I a.sk from Ciod, and I always obtain it. I did not ask
that you should come and see me. I was afraid to ask that, lest my prayer
should be granted and I should thus be the means of taking you from your
duties to God and to your people." It is no wonder that the son of such a

-«

CoUffic III' I he llohi Aiii/rlx. 177

mother vv;is, during his whole life, remarkable for his simiilc, child-like faith,
his spirit of self-denial and sflf-sacrihce, and his devotion to (lut\.

i-Ie was President of St. Mary's for seven )^ars. It seemed that he
had found the place in which he could be most useful, and that the rest of
his life would be devoted to the work in which he was so successful. ISut
this was not the will of (iod. He had partly recovered his slreni^th, but the
position of the College was so unhealthy that it was found necessary soon
after to abandon it; and I'allier I.vncli, in his zeal for (lod's service,
disrejrarded the cUctates of the most ordinary prudiMice. l*-\posure and
excessive work broui^ht on paralysis of the side. The attack for a time
threatened to prove fatal, and from its effects he never fully recovered. It
was obviously necessary that he should leave St. Mary's and seek farther
north a place not scourged by fever and ague.

College oi- nii! lioi.v .\n(;i:i,s.

In what he called '' a discourse" delivered in November, 1881, Dr. L\ nch
stated that when he was a little boy a picture of Niagara Falls made a
wonderful imjiression on him. " lie gazed on it again and again with
astonishment and delight, and raising his heart to God he anxiousl\
enquired if there were Catholics living round the place where they could so
well adore God, the Creator of hea\en and earth and of all things. This
image, this thought, this enquiry pursued him until lu beheld mvltitudes of
Catholics around the h'alls with their teiujiles of true worship, nd with a
College and Seniirary to train u|) jtriests who would offer up the most holv
sacrihce of the new law, and give honor and praise to God for evir and
ever. Tiiis is tlie work of (iod: the loncejUion came from Ilim, and the
means and the perfection of the work." In the course of time he met
Bishop Tiinon, then Bishop of Buffalo, who sj)oke (.f having Niagara I'alls
in his Dioce.se, and he asked : " Were there Catholics around it, and had
they a Church?" "There are a few Catholics," was the reply; "but
there is no church. Come to us and we ^hall haxc ,1 (lunch an<l a
Seminary also." At that time it seemed to all who knew him that the
education and training of yourig men for the priesthood was his especial
vocation, and that it should be his life work. The invitation was renewed
at intervals ; and when in 1855 blather Lynch, having lieen again elected to
represent the American Lazarists at a general assembly in Paris, obtained

17H

'/'//(' />//(' (iiiil 'I'iiiioi iif Archlii-slio}) Ljjiuh.

from the Superior (jeneral leave to accept the I-5ishop'.s invitation, the day-
dream of liis ho\lioo(l seemed to he fulfiheth

In
1 1

■"iH ']-r-

I I i

The estal)hshnu'nt of tlie Seminary of Our L.ady of the Angels was not
without many and serious difficulties, and the beginnings were small. It
was diflicult to procure a suitable site, and difficult to get money suflicient
to pay for the land re{|uired and for the buildings which must be erected.
While the efforts to (nercome these difficulties were made, leather L\nch
de\-oled himself to the arduous work of giving Missions, and li.irdships,
privations and overwork again brought on an attack of chills and fever. He
iiad scarcely recovered from this when he returned to work, and again he
was prostrated by sickness. When giving a retreat to young men in the
Buffalo Cathedral he had an attack of erisypelas of a most dangerous
character. All these difficulties were overcome by the help of Providence.
A magnificent site within fifteen minutes drive of the Falls was secured for
the Semmary. .\ priest, who had prayed for months that God would direct
him how to use ten thousand dollars which was at his disposal, was led to
bestow it ui)on b'ather f^ynch for thi' Seminary ; otiier donations were
received ; Father Lynch recovered his health, and a number of pious,
intelligent youths jiresented themselves as canchdates for the ministry.
The grandeur and sublime beauty of the place inspired professors and
students and did much to create a profundity of feeling and an elevation of
thought, strengthening the purpose and purifying the aspirations of those
who wished to devote their life to the service of God in religion. In the
di.scourse to which we ha\e referred Dr. Lvnch said : " It was a delight on
f(>stival days to cross o\c'r to the island of Niagara Falls, and there to sing
the Magnificat and other canticles in praise of God and His Blessed
Mother. ']"he scene nas grand and the chant soul-stirring. I^efore us was
the iriighty cataract, with clouds of incense arising at Nature's high altar.
The lH)oming of the falling torrents was a solemn bass to the vocal praise of
a few Catholic bo\s with pure hearts and noble intentions and resolves to
serve that (iod who sjieaks in the voice of many wat<'rs." ( )f the total
numlxM' of students during the first twent\-five years of the Seminary's
existence it is estimated that three hundred became priests. The number
ordamed in the Seminary during that period was two hundred and fifty.
What, as Dr. L\ n( h said in his discourse, must at first have appeared "the
wild project of a penniless enthusiast" soon proved to be the work of

8B-

-«

CoUi'iif iif thr lldhi Aiif/fh.

179

wisdom wliicli, under Frovidencf, relies on tlie zeal and self-sacrificinjj; sjnrit
of the Catholic priesthood and the faith and generosity o( the Catholic
people.

When the success of the Seminary was assured I'alher Lynch, who
saw the hopes, the aspirations, the longings of his boyhood thus realized,
might well have thought that this place, to which Providence had led him
by paths so long, so difficult, and apparently so devious, was to be his
permanent abode ; that here he vvould for the rest of his life do, in obedience
to (iod".. will, the work for which he was by many deemed to be especially
destined. Hut he had not yet reached the goal. We see now — what he
could not ha\e known then — that he was stdl undergoing preparation,
spiritual and intellectual, for the work, more important for the glory of (iod
and for the salvation of souls, in which he was so long to be engaged.

It has been already stated that Hishoj) de Charbonnel, on a visit
to the Irish College at Paris, first heard of Father Lynch and of the
establishment of the Seminary of the Holy Angels from I'ather McNamara
of the Irish College in that city. Father AIcNamara spoke so highly of his
fellow-student that the Bishop, as he afterwards related, said to himself: " 1
have found ni)- coadjutor." On his return to Canada the Hisho)> called
on Feather L\ nch and invited him to preach a retreat to the nuns of St.
Joseph's, Toronto, and afterwards to give a mission in St. Michael's
Cathedral. This was in the summer of 1858. The Bishop, finding that
he posses.sed the great cjualities which Father McNamara had so enthusias-
tically described, besought the Pope to give him the assistance of Father
Lynch in the work which had become too heavy for him to perform unaided.
Of this the Bisho)), perhaps fearing another disappointment, said nothing;
and when, in Sejitember, 1859, l^'ather Lynch received the Bulls appointing
him coadjutor Bishop with the right of succession, he was so surprised that
he could not for some time determine what he ought to do. He loved the
work in which he was then engaged, and the Seminar\' still re(|uired all that
his piet}-, his learning, his experience and his zeal could do for it to ensure
its success. He dreaded the turmoil, the excitement, the life of continued
effort and struggle to which he was now called, and in liis humility he
shrank from undertaking the dread responsibilities of the Episcopate. He
praved for (if)d's guidance ; he sought the advice of manv friends. I'"orced
to the conclusion that it was the will of (iod, he at length conserted to take
up the heavy burden which (jod's Vicegerent thought fit to impose ui)on

-m

i'!

IHO

The Life und Tuncx oj A rilil)isli<)p Li/nch.

him, and on the 20th of November he was consecrated in St. Michael's
Cathechal \>y the Hisliop of Toronto, .i;sisted by Bishop l'"arrell of Hamilton
and J3isiiop Timon of Buffalo.

Bisiioi- oi' Toronto.

When, in the follo\vin|.( Ai)ril, P)ishop de Charbonnel's resif^nalion was
accepted, Dr. I>vnch became Bishop of 'J'oronto. The difficulties with
which he found himself surrounded might almost be regarded as appalling —
difficulties from within and difliculties from without. The want of priests
too often leads t>i apathy on the part of the people, and to a spirit of
insubordination which .sometimes assumes the mask of religious zeal.
Bishop de Charbonnel had done all in his power to supply the want of
jiriests. He had induced several saintly ecclesiastics to come from France
to his assistance', .some of whom remain with us to this day, edifying their
flocks by their piety and their devt)tion to (jri's service. But in the whole
diocese, when Dr. L\iich became Bishop, there were only thirty-six priests,
including the four Basilian Fathers in charge of St. Michael's College. Of
the thirty-six, four returned to I'rance with Bishop de Charbonnel, and
others soon after. .\s in other parts of America, vocations to the priesthood
were few, and to procure a sufficient number of priests required much time
and paticiU ellorts. Bishoji Lynch took to his own house and himself taught
such young men as .seemed to possess the dispositions which should
distinguish the candidates for Holy Orders. The churches numbered
forty-three, but with few exceptions these were small and rudely constructed.
The convents and other Catholic institutions were doing much good, but
were still in their feeble infancy. The policy of Bishop Lynch, as
enunciated by him.self, was " to build on the foundations which his prede-
cessor had laid, and t(^ follow his blessed example." To inflame the spirit
of Catholicity wherever it was smouldering, to awaken it where dormant, to
strengthen it where it was weak, was an imperative duty, and until this was
done little else could be accomplished. The Bi-shop, as soon as possible,
visited every part of the Diocese, giving retreats followed Ijy the Forty
Hours' Devotion, preaching, teaching, administering Confirmation, promoting
the establishment or improvement of Catholic sclu)ols, and doing all that
could be done in the way of reorganization with the very limited means at
his disposal. In all this he was zealously and ably seconded by his priests,
who, animated !)y his example and guided by his wisdom, shared his energy

-9

Jiishop of Tiiiotitd.

181

and fnthusiasm. He fully understood the importance of teaching Catholics,
and as far as may he Protestants ;ds<), what Catholic doctrine is and what
men must do to be saved ; and in most cases he found that it was absolute!}
necessary to prepare for such instructions by showin^f that the Church docs
not teacij the doctrines falsely ascribed to her by her enemies. In lanj^uage
studiously plain and simple, yet penetrating and jirofoundly clocpunl, he
dispelled errors, refuted calumnies and proclaimed the glorious truths wliuli
the Catholic Church, faithful to her divine commission, teaches always and
everywhere. Up to the close of his life crowds, Protestants and Catholics,
Hocked to St. Michael's to hear his sermons and lectures, ever beautiful in
tlieir simplicity and effective i)ecause they were earnest, clear, comprehen-
sive and thorough. How much these did to dispel the clouds of misbelief,
to mollify the fierce bigotry and bitter prejudices which darkened the moral
atmosphere of Toronto and other parts of Ontario in his early days, and to
create that better feeling which of late has begun to prevail amongst the
educated and well disposed it would be ditficult to estimate, as it would be
im}:ossil)le to tell how much they did amongst Catholics to revive faith and
enkindle devotion, to strengthen the weak, confirm tlu^ wavering and bring
souls to God.

In 1862 l-5ishop Lynch visited Rome on the invitation of Pope Pius l.\.
to attend the canonization of the Martyrs of Japan. His Holiness had a
very vivid recollection of the College President whose modes of instruction
and ideas of discipline he so much admired. On his way back he visited
Ireland and saw much of the country and of the condition to which the
people were reduced. He spoke on this occasion at a great meeting held in
the Rotunda, Dublin, at which Archbishop Hughes of New^ York also spoke.
Both exhorted the people to continue the peaceable constitutional agitation
for Home RuK' m which the\' wire engaged, and thus to obtain the changes
in the land laws and the freedom to strive for the industrial development .so
essential to their welfare. In 1863 Bishop Lynch held his first d'ocesan
synod, and submitted for its approval a code of rules adapted to the wants
and circumstances of the diocese and thoroughlv in harmonv w'th the
general laws of the Church. In 1S65 he addressed a letter to tlie Bishops
and Clergy of Iri'land which attracted much attention at the time. He
described in strong and earnest language " the evils of a wholesale emigra-
tion of an impoverished people." Left without guidance, deprived of the
wholesome influences which had sustained their fathers in trials and

It i

«-

-9

182

'I'lic Life mill Tiiiien of Archlnnhop Li/ni:h.

tcmptritions, living' where they seldom heard Mass or saw a priest, t)r buried
in the most wretched ([uarters of the j^reat cities where irrehf^ion and vice
were rampant, many, he declared witli sorrow, were sunk in social and
moral degradation. It was asserted, and with too nnuh trulli, that millions
were thus lost to the Church and to (iod. lie wrote similar letters after-
wards, l)ut it was not easy to find or su,i(<^fest an effectual remedy for evils so
frightful. The jxnerty which drove the Irish people from home prevented
any organization of their emigration, and so destitute were the great
majority when the)' landed on this continent that tlu'\- must accept emjiloy-
ment of anv kind wherever il could be got.

In September, i86g, Bishop Lynch, in obedience to the summons of
the Sovereign Pontiff, left 'rt)ronto to attend the Vatican Council. On his
way to the Internal Cit\- h.e visited the Lazarists at their home in Paris, and
afterwards visited the Capuchins at Lyons, where he passed some days with
his saintly predecessor, Bishop de Charbonnel. He arrived in Kome fi\ e days
before the formal opening of the Council on December 8th, the l'\'ast of the
Immaculate Conception. In this, the greatest, grandest and most important
asseml)lage that the world had witnessed for centuries, amongst the yzo
bishops and the other dignitaries who, at the call of the successor of St.
Peter, had gathered from all (juarters of the world, the most illustrious
men of all the nations and peoples on whom (jod has bestowed the great
gift of the Faith, and who have been true to their vocation, the Bishop of
Toronto held a position of which his children in the Faith might well be
l>roud.

Akchiushoi' ()]■ Toronto.

All Upper Canada and the country stretching thence towards the
setting sun was at one time part of the Diocese of Quebec. The great
Province of Ontario was still a portion of the ecclesiastical Province of
Cjuebec. For many obvious reasons it had for some time been deemed
desirable to erect an independent Province in ()ntario, of which Toronto
should be the Metropolitan See. The growth and progress of the Church
m Ontario had been such as to justify this creation and render it desirable.
The presence of the Canadian Bishops in Rome afforded the opportunity of
consulting them all without the delays which so often attend on correspond-
ence. On March 15th Dr. Lynch was aj^pointed Archbishop; on the 20th
of the same month he ajipeared before the Consistory to " postulate for the

«-

ii<

«-

-m

Airhhishiip of Tornufo.

18!5

l';illiiim" in person; and on the ^^tli, the Feast of tlic Annunciation, he
received the PalHum from the liands of Cardinal AntonelH in the Pope's
private chapel. At the neKt meeting of the Council he was conducted by
his venerable predecessor, Bishop de Charbonnel, to the place assigned to
him amonj^fst the Archbishops. Of the Archbishops and liishops from
British America, only the Archbishop of Toronto and the Archbisho)) of
Halifax spoke in the Council on the great question of the Infallibility of the
Pope. Dr. L\-nch spoke earnestly in sui)port of the proposal that the
dogiu.i should Ix; immediately 'leHned, but he suggested some amendments
in the wording of the resolution proposed for adojition.

The Council was not permi,t( d to complete its work. The outbreak
of one of those terrible wars which have .so transformed the face of Europe
within a few years, rendered an a'ljournment necessary. But it was not
adjourned until, by the definition of the dogma, the Church was jirepared to
encounter more vigorously and promptK- the perils with which she was
tlireatened.

Of the seven hundred and twenty-five Bishops who attended at the
Council six had been stud' nts in the nttle College at Castleknock at the
same time. At the Council they represented all these ({uarters of the globe.
They were Dr. McCabe of Ardagh (Ireland) ; Dr. Finnelly (Vicar Apostolic),
Madras ;. Dr. Grimley, Cape of Good Hope ; Dr. Feehan of Nashville (now
Archbishop of Chicago) ; Dr. Moran of Dunedin (.Australia), and I )r. Lynch
of Toronto.

On his return to Toronto the Archbishoi) was welcomed in a manner
becoming his high character and the dignity of the great position to which
he had been ele\ate(l. The first Council of the new ecclesiastical Province
was held at Toronto in 1873, and was attended by Bishop Walsh of
London, Bishop Crinnon of Hamilton, Bishop O'Brien of Kingston, and
the Archbishop, who, of course, presided.

In 1879 the .Archbishop again went to Pome to i>ay his decennial visit
(/(/ liiiiiini .Ipostoloniin. He again visited Ireland in that year, making, as
before, careful observations and diligent eni]uiries into the condition of the
people. In the interviews he had with the Duke of Manchester, who was
then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and with Sir Stafford Northcote (Lord
Iddersleigh), a member of the Imperial Cabinet, he strongly urged that the
only certain remedy for the evils, about the existence of which there was no

181

The Life und T'nno/i tif Airhltiiiliiiji Liimli.

question, was I Ionic Ru\v. It was on this occasion that he was presented
at a levee held by the Prince of Wales on liehaif of tlie Oueen. This was
the first appearance of a Catholic prelate at the ICn^lish Court since thi-
rei}:[n of James II. The formal recognition of the rank and dignity of a
Catholic Archbishop by the Sovereif^n may, he liiouf^lit, do somethin;,' for
the promotion of Catholicity, which he had always so much at heart.

When the {growth of the population in the Northwestern pari of the
Archdiocese rendered a division necessary I'ather Janiot, win) had served
years as Vicar Ceneral in Toronto, was, on the recommentlation of the
Archbishop, appointed Vicar Apostolic of all the district on the Canadian
side of Lake Superior, and was consecrated Bishop of Sarepta, in pmii/nis
iiifiihliiini, in the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Issonden,
b' ranee, on February 24th, 1H74. A few years after, the creation of a new
diocese to th(; eastward of Toronto became necessary, and in July, i88j, on
the recommendation of the Archbishop, who, with the approval of the
Suffra}j;an Bishops, visited Rome for the purpose, the diocese of Peterboro'
was created and Dr. Jamot was appointed its Bishop, retaininjf for the time
the administration of the Vicariate in the far west. On the 21st of
September Bishop jamot was duly installed in the new See.

In the summer of this year the Archbishop had a severe attack of
erysipelas. His recovery was for some time extremely doubtful, and he
never became completely free from its debilitating effects. It was fortunate
that he had some time before secured the services of Dr. O'Mahony,
Bishop of Eudocia, /'// pnrtihiis iitpdcliiiiii, as assistant Bisliop. The ability,
elociuence, energy and zeal of Dr. O'Mahony did all that was possible to
supply the want which the prolonged illness of the Archbishop created.

These are but the mile-slones which marked the career oi the great
Archbishop and the progress which the Church made in this Province while
he was Bishop and Archbishop of Toronto. He worked incessantly, inde-
fatigably, in season and out of season. His whole life was devoted to the
service of God and of the Church. His every thought and word and act
were directed to the one great purpose. The pleasures of the world he
seemed utterly to disregard. He lived with the most frugal economy. The
merely j^ersonal expenses of any respectable mechanic were probably
greater than those of the Archbishop ; but no well-founded appeal to his
charity or his patriotism was ever made in vain. He never sought to do by

l«

AriJili'nilhiji (if 'I'm until. IH">

;i ft'w .spasmodic clTorts wli.it lie kiuw imist lie ;u{i)ini)lisli((l li\ p.iticiu
effort, lonj.; sustained; and so tin- Ljnal insliuilioiis which arc now the <^\nr\
(if tlie Archdiocese and the pride ol ihe Cathohc people rose ^raihiallv and
steadilv from their small he^Mnnin^'s, almost imperceptihK' altainin.i; theii'
present ^^randeur and importance. W halevt'r siemed neccssar\ loi ihe
salvation of souls he endeavored to do; whatever appeared to he niosl
urf^cnt he strove most earnestK' to accomplish, lie nej^lec led nolliin',;; he
forf^ot nothiiif^f. DiHiculties did not abate his resolution nor (lela\s iliill his
ardour in the service of those entrusted to his care. The sermons he
preached, the lectures he delivered, the pastorals and the letters on Irish
and Catholic (piestions which he wrote, would, if collected, hll man\-
volumes, and yet not the smallest of his pastoral duties was ever nej^U'cted
or postjioned. lie was ahle to do so much work because he worked so
many hours e\er\' day of his life ; bei'ause he worked so earnestly and with
such a profound .sense of responsiliilit\ ; and because his object in all he did
was to serve dod and do his dutv. .\nd his labours were so successful
because he alwavs strove to (U> what was ri_L,du and said wh.it w,is crue.

Mr. McKeown, in his life of .\ithbishop L\-nch, published in nSSfj, says:
" The amount of labour performed by his ( trace since hrsl taking possession
of his See has been .something enormous. He has repeatedly visited all
portions of his dioce.se. lie has preached, confirmed, ordained priests,
con.secrated bishops, assisted at Councils, and has many times borne the
inconvenience of an oci'an xoyage to visit Rome in connection with the
affairs of his vast and important charge. From the day the mitre was
placed upon his head to the present he has never spent an idle hour. Age
has not impaired his activity nor affected his zeal, i le is as anxious for the
welfare of the Church and as zealous for the salvation of souls to-dav as he
was when, as a joung priest, he braved the hardships of a missionar\ life in
Texas. His health, though greatly enfeebled in the many serious attacks
he has suffered from disease and the ravages incurred by hardships and
overwork, still permits him to do good service in the cau.se of religion bv the
indomitable will of its possi'ssor. Although at an age when most men would
rather be relieved from tlie labour of preaching, the Archbishoji jireaches
more frecjuently than any of his priests. His lectures upon Catholic
doctrine and belief always attract large audiences; and it is not an infre(pient
sight to see the vast and spacious Cathechal iilled from the altar to the
doors with eager auditors composed in a large measure of Protestants.

1-«

; m

IHCi 'I'ltc I/iJ'i mill 'I'iiiifH iif iichhinhnii 1,1111th.

1 11(1(1(1 ;i l;ir)^'c mimhcr of I'diicati'd aiul culUircd iion-CallioIics in;ikc it a
|)()iiU of rc'^iilarl) allciuliiif^ his (iracc's (liscoiirscs, and many have Itccii liy
tlu'sc nu'ans broiij^'ht into the CIuiitIi. It is always oxcccdinf^ly diflicult to
c'stimati- the valui' and cficcls of purely spiritual work. IVoselytfS indeed
may lie nunilicrcd, Imt who could venture to nunilur the souls in which
faith was rekindled and the love of religion was re\ ived by tin . e eiiorls ot
the Archbishop ; or to tell how oftiMi the waverin;^ were strenj^tliened, the
tepid \,\h\ indifferent were awakened to a sense of duty, the weak and errin^j
were brouf^'ht l)ack to the ways of \irtLic inid piety. ( )f the millions who
were driven from luirope and cast ujion the shores of America about the
middle of this centurv, very many were poorly e(iuii)p('d for the j^reat
spiritual struf.,'^le in which they were forced to eni^faj^e ; and it would be no
slij^ht i)raise of am Hishop to say that durinjj; this transition period, this
period of severe trials and main tribulations, few or none were lost to the
t'hurch in his diocese."

The spirit m.inifested .it the Separate School Hoard, excn in ncenl
years, shows how serious were the danj^ers through whi( h the An hbishop
founded his Hock with safety. Nowhere perhaps were the danj^^ers and
diiiiculties which beset Catholicity j^reatcT or more formidable ; nowhere
wer(" the> more br.ively confronted ; nowhere were thev more successfully
overcome. The storm of bi<;(jtry and hatred which ra<;ed round his jirede-
cjssor lost none of its fury when Dr. Lynch became y\.rchbishop ; but, met
with unyieldinjj; firmness and Christian moderation by arffument and ap[)eals
to reason, it lost much of its force. The intellij^ent and well-disposed were
frst reached, and they often, without intending' it, exercised a wholesome
influence over the; ij^morant and \iolent. The intolerance begotten of
fanaticism and if^norance still prevails all loo widely, still loves to indulj.i;e
in offensive lanj^'uaf^a- and (.)trensive demonstrations, and exercises a malif.(nant
influence on public affairs; but it is no lonj^cr as fierce and violent as it was
when Dr. Lynch became Bishop of Toronto. This chanj^^e is due larj^ely to
the firm, conciliatory conduct of the Catholics, the ^n^eal majorit\- of whom
have admirably exemplified, as business men and workmen, as fathers of
families and as citizens, the truth, the excellence and the ennobling principles
ot their faith ; but much is due also to the spread of knowledj^'e and the
j^rowth of better feelings amongst Protestants, to which the lectures of the
Archbishop materially contril)uted.

Afilii^hiiji (if I'lirtiiiti),

187

Wlu'ii Dr. Ivvnch became liisliop of Toronto tlu' rxcitcnient caused hy
the <lis(iissioii of tiie Separate vSeliool (|uestioii was at its lieij^'lil. I^ii;otr)'
and intolerance wen,' at wiiite heat. To continue the a<,Mtation for C'athohe
rij^lits under such lircunistanct.'s and to carry it to a successful issue was a
task of great difliculty, and the lnunt of the confhct nuist neces.sarily be
borne by the Hishop of Toronto. Abuse, threats and violence Dr. Ivvnch
met with firmness and a calm dij^nity, which won the respect of the
bitterest foes of the Church. Misrepresentation and calumny gave him
opportunities for those appeals to common sense, and to the love of truth
and justice, wliich in time jiroduced such remarkable effects. It was evident
from the very be^dnning that under his guidance the Catholic cause was
gaining ground. An account of the immediate circumstances which brought
abt)iit a legislative settlement of the long-pending and vexed School Ouestion
in 1H63, as well as of the various amendments of the Separate School Act
passed since that time, will be found in another chapter. The passage of
the Separate School Act in 1863 was followed by a lull in the fierce sectarian
tempest which had raged .so long. But when, some years afterwards, .Arch-
bishop LmicI) objected to having those Catholic children, who still attended
public schools, ft)rced to u.se Scott's Marniion in the study of English jioetr) ,
a fierce cry arose, j)roving that the feeling of hostility to Catholic education,
so universal at one time, was still widespread and jiowerful. Happily the
results of the elections which it was hoped could be carried by such
means proved that intelligence, good sense, sound ideas of justice and right
and kind feeling are now so widely diffused that efforts to gain power and
place bv ai)peals of that kind will probably never again be successful.

b'or that better knowledge of what Catholicity is, and what Catholics
who live up to tlu' princijiles and precepts of their religion must be ; for the
more liberal spirit and the more kindly feelings which now jirevail, the
Province and its people, Protestant and Catholic, Kngli.sh, Scotch, French,
Irish and (iernian, are much indebted to the wisdom and prudence and
untiring, incess.inl efforts of Archbishop Lvnch.

The growth of Calh(.)licity rendered it necessary to transfer to other
portions of (iod's vineyard some of the jiriests on whose counsel and
co-operation the Archbishoj) was wont chiefly to relv. lie was forced
to give Dr. Walsh to the diocese of Sandwich, now the diocese of London,
and the success which crowned the laljours of that prelate, the magniltcenl

188

yVn' Lijr itHit 'I'iiiii'H fij .Irilihixltiij) l.ijinli.

(•;itli(>(lr;il uliicli lif if.ivi; to London, the niimcnnis spacious and liandsonu'
cliurilu's huill tliroii^lioul lliat (lii>ccsc, tlic increase in the nunil)eror priests
and of reiij^ious institutions, and ahose all the inerease of fervor and piety
aintiiij^sl the Catliolic people, prove liow wise was the ehoic how ^M'eal

was the saeritice. Vicar ( iiMieral Janiot, one of the most e. icst, zealous,
enerj^'etic and devoted of jniests, lu> afterwards i^'ave to the diocese of I'eter-
horouf^h. Of the thirty-six |)riests who welcomed Dr. Lynch on his coining
to the diocese, only ten remained in the Archdiocese when the Archbishop
celebrated his Silver Jubilee. And amonj^sl the voun.^' nun whom he raised
to the pri(!Sthoo(l, death was ever st) busy that the number of priests increas-
ed slowly.

Mr. M( Keown, in liis a(bnirable bio;4raphv of the Aichbishop, says of
the work accomplished in the diotcse durin<^ these years : " In iS3{) theri'
were in the dioce.se forty-three churches. .\t present there ari' st!venty-oni'
churches in all. St. Michael's Cathedral has lujen hnished, the tower and
spire compl("te(l, and altof^ether about !i>4o,ooo lia\ f been spen* upon it w ithin
the last twenty-live years. Of institutions of learninj^ tl are the St.

Michael's C!olle,L;e ; the l)e I „i Salle Institute, conducted hrotlu'rs

of the Christian Schools ; the Convents of St. Joseph and uoretto ; the
Monastery of ( )ur Lady of Mount Carmel at the Niagara Falls, and also the
fine Coincnt of the Loretto Nuns at the same place. This last named
( )rder has also I'stablished Convents in Toronto, Hamibon, Stratford,
Lindsay, C.uelph and nelleville. The Convent in Lindsav, built under the
l)ersonal super\ision ol the lale lamented l'"ather Slalford was one of the
lincst ((hicalioii.il liuildinL;,^ in tlu> country. The Sisters of St. Joseph have
also, in :i(ldili('ii to ilieir line institutions in Toronto established others in
several towns and cities of Ontario, and have in the city of St. Catharines
by far the finest buildmg for educational j^urposes in the place. The c.om-
munil\ of St. losejih have ojiened a Convent under the name of Notre Dame
Institute in Toronto, where such younj,' ladies as come lo Toronto for the
puri'ost' of attendmi; the l'ro\incial Normal .School niav obtain board at
reasonable rates and be protected from the dantj;ers to which younj;
women from the country are more or less exposed in tlii' boarding hou.ses
of a large i ity like Toronto. This noble community, in addition to
teaching the girls of the Separate Schools, also take charge of the St.
Nicholas llome, a boarding house established for the accommodation of

-9

Artlihinlhiii of 'rui'iinto.

IHit

m—

lllc uoikiiif,' l)()ys of the city. riic Sisters ..I' St. Joscpli ;i|.sn (lircil the
I l(>ll^( n( I'lnvidciu'c, ;i cli.i I it.ihic iiist i t ill ioii |.)r the ,il;c(1 and iiilirm.

" Oipli. invalid (li^litutiM liildnn, especially those iii danger of lucoiuinK
vicious and depraved, are also receiv<'d in the I louse of Providence. Tlie
l)oys arc .sent to tiie heautiful Orphanaj^e at Suiinyside, one of the f^r.indesl
ineiiiorials of Dr. Lynch's administration ; the f^irlsare still cared for in the
I louse of I'rovidence. The Convent of the Precious Hlood, the nuns of
which spend their lives in prayer and holy ( dnleniplatioii and in lahor, was
fouiuh-d in those years, and lilvc all the other religious in.stitutions, has
j;rown despite dilficullii's and disc ouranenients.

" 'I'he in.scriptions on some of the shields with which St. Michael's
Cathc'ch-.il was adorned on the occasion of thc> SilvcM- [iihilee, furnish |)erhaps
the hesl c'pitonie of the princii.al cwnts in his administr.ition of the
diocesi'.

I.orciio Convent, L'stalilislucl ill iHru.

.St. Jo.scph's Coiuvnl, fstablislKcl in iSf)^.

St. iVIichai'l's tower and s|)iri' hiiili in iSfii^.

l.oreltd XblRv, Wi'llin^^ton I'lacc. lAtindid in iSny.

St. Niciiiias Home, established in i.S6(;.

Attended Kciimeiiic al (loiincil in i8c;o.

De I.a Salle Institute, established in 1S71.

Consecrated Hishop O'Mricn, Kinj^slon, in iS;^^.

ConseiTated Mishop Crinnon, llainiltoii, in 1.S74.

Consec-ratcd Archbishop I asi lirrcail, (,)iubec', in.lS;).

Convent of the I'lec-ious liiood, islalilisiu'd in 1.S71,

MaLidaien Asylum, established in 1X75.

Coments of Si, Joseph, (■>labhslucl in St. Calh.irines, Thorold, P.arrie and Oshawa.

I'orty Parish Chiir( lies and thirty Presbyteries eslabiished.

Se\eiity I'riests ordained for the I )ioi'ese.

St. John's C.ro\e and I louse cslablisheci.

To these should he added the (lunch of our l.adyof l-ourcies, the
memorial of the Arclihishop's Jubilee. And t.\\r beautiful new Churches of
St. Mar)- and St. Paul. Toronto, deserve especial mention,

I'or those who, immersed in sue h occupations and burdened with oj-eat
responsibilities, think only of all ih.it has yet to be done, of the difficulties
to be ov(>rcome, the wants to be supplied, the <food to be accomplished,

£!■"

ill!

V ^m

I'M

'I'lie Life mill 'I'inii'n of Anhhi.tliop L/jnch,

time tlifs rapidly. The t\vnty-(iftli anniversary of his consecration jnusl
have come ujion Dr. Lynch ahnost by suri)rise, hut he prepared to celebrate
it with due solemnity. Then were the deep affection and he'.rtfelt rever-
ence of his flock, and the esteem and respect of the people of Toronto of all
denominations fully manifested. The Archbishop, who had attended the
('ouncil at Baltimore as a f^'uest, w;'.s accompanied on his rtturn by the
Archbishoj) of Philadelphia, the Bishops of Buffalo, of l^urlington, Vt., of
Marnsbur^, Pa., of Oj^^densburg, N.Y., of Cleveland, ()., of Savanna, (ia.,
of Albany, N.V., of Brooklyn, N.Y., of Detroit Mich., of Little l-Jock, Ark.,
of Newark, N.J. The Catholic Societies wearing their regalia, carrying
their banners, and preceded by bands of music, and the other Catholics of
the city in carriages and on foot, went to the railw;iy station to welcome the
Archbishop and his gue.sts. The streets along the line of the procession
were crowded by citizens of all races and creeds, and of every class, who
joined heartily in the welcome. Amid the cheering of the multitudes, the
music of the bands, the joyous clangour of bells, and tiie glare of numberless
hreworks, the prelates were escorted ^o St. Michael's Cathedral, which was
beautifully decorated and brilliantly illuminated. Amongst those who wel-
comed the American Bishops at the railway station, or united with them in
the thanksgiving at the Cathedral, were the Archb-shop of Quebec, the
Archbishop of Halifax, the Bishops of Montreal, Ottawa, St. Il\acinthe,
St. John, N.B., Kingston, London, Hamilton, Peterborough, and Ludocia,
the Vicar Apostolic of Pontiac, and a large number of the most eminent of
the Clergy of all the Provinces. The Cathedral could not contain a fourth
of the multitude who sought admission. The ceremony of the next day
was grand and impressive beyond description. The sermon, preached l;y
the ekujuent Archbishop of Philadelphia, was a magnilicent utterance of
the thankfulness and the pious emotions of the vast congregation and of the
thousands who in vain sought even standing room. As evidence of the
strength and general prevalence of the good-will and friendly feeling which
the Arclibishop ever sought to create and foster, and of the resjiect and
esteem in which he was then held by all classe.>, it may be well to state that
the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, Hon. J. B. Robinson (anil Mrs.
Robinson), and tlie Mayor of Toronto, Mr. Boswcil, attended oihcially,
sitting in the seats set apart for them, and that of those who were so for-
tunate as to obtain admission to the Church, a large jiroportion were
Protestants. After ^hlss, addresses were presented by the Cler^> of the

-9

A rcliliinli(>j> >/ I'liiiiiitii.

191

Archdiocese, and 1)) llie ("atholir laity of the several parishes, i'lach was
accompanied by a " testimonial of tiic low and esteem enshrined in the
hearts" of the Catholic jieople.

The relif^ioLis ceremony was followed in the evening by a bancjuet at
the Kossin House, to which, besides the Archbishops, Bishops and Priests
who had crowded the Cathedral Sanctuary in the forenoon, and a number
of prominent Catholics, several representative Protestants were invited.
The Archbislu)ps and Hisliops who spoke at this bancpiet dwelt mainl\ on
the services Dr. Lynch had rendered to the Church. Bishop Loughlin, of
Brooklvn, said he "had known His (irace before he was raised to the
Mpiscopacy. His (jrace had been a great worker for his Divine Master,
and he had done a great deal to advance religion. The speaker was at his
Consecration twenty-hve years ago, and all who witnessed his manner of
lixing since that time would say that he had been loyal to his countrv, and
loval to his (icid ever since he took charge of this See." Archbishop l\\an,
of i'hiladclphia saivl : " b'or over thirty years 1 have known your Arch-
bishop. 1 knew him in Missouri, llie scene of his missionary labors, and
have marked his career ever since, always with the greatest gratification
and pride in my old friend of thirty years ago." Archbishop (now-
Cardinal) Taschereau, of Quebec, said he " had come here a long distance
after a long voyage from liurope, to show his gratitude to the Archbisho[)
of Toronto, who was liis Consecrator." Archbishop O'Brien, of Halifax,
said that " down by the sea they were glad that this celebration was taking
place, and in congratulating his Cirace he spoke for many." Bishop Rvan,
of Bultalo, " was glad to see that Archbishop Lynch had been so justl\-
honored. He had done a great deal in the way of harmonizing the Society
in which liis lot liad been cast." The Bishops of the Province, in like
manner, bore testimon\- to the \alue of the services which the Archbishop
had rendered to religion. The Protestant dignitaries who spoke bore testi-
mony to the immen.se services his (irace had rendered to Societv, dispelling
prejudice and creating a spirit of harmony where strife and animositv had
long prevailed. Lieutenant-( iovernor Ivobinson, in proposing the health of
the Archbishop said: " The interesting ceremonies of this da\- are brought
to a Htting conclusion in this sociable and hospitabl(> gathering. .\s 1
looked upon this scene I could not but think it an evidence of the generous
si)irit of an Irishman — the doing of one who was unwilling that this, one of
the greatest days of his life, should pass without th.e presence of his friends,

'.V

19i

Th)' Li/c iind Times of Anlihislnip J.i/iicli.

Protestant and Catholic alike, to share with him the remeinl)rance of this
day twenty-five years a<;(). I'\'w of us, perhaps none, can exjiect to ci|ual
the f^race and ma<j;nitude of tlie hospitality which has called us here
to-nij^'ht ; I)ut there is one tliinj;' rrotestants and Catholics alike may well
try to enuilate — the noble and liberal spirit which has prompted it. . . .
The Archbishop of Toronto, in the discharge of his great duties, has
preached the gospel of ))eace, good-will and mutual respect." Mayor
Hoswell made a few remarks, commenting with expressions of pleasure upon
the good feeling whicli existed between all classes of the community, lie
congratulated the Archbishop u|)on his broad-mindedness. lion. ().
Mowat, Premier of Ontario, said : " I have been delighted, sir, with the
observations you have made to-night. I share with all my heart in the
sentiments you have expressed regarding the desirability of harmony
amongst all classes of tlu' comnumil}-. I rejoice to know that there is so
much good feeling between the Protestants ■\nd Roman Catholics of m\-
Province. There ne\er was a time wOien there was so much unity between
the two great sections of the community as at this moment. ... I
a]>prehend, sir, that not a little of this feeling is due to your (irace. During
t\\v twenty-five years you ha\e lived amongst us in yo. ." high position, we
have learned to know .something about you. We know that amongst your
own people you are loved and admired, and that you deserxe to be. We
have learned also the esteem and resjxnt which are due to your character.
We have found you, sir, to be a man of the most genlk' nature, of most
kindly disposition, of most geni'rous cliaracter. We ha\e found you always
interested in whatever was for the benefit of the pojr and suffering. We
have found vou anxious to promote what you considciod to be for the jiublic
advantage, and while we Protestants cannot join in the religious congratu-
lations you have received this day, we can, at all events, congratulate our
Catholic fellow-citizens upon ha\ing sucli an Archbishop as you are. . . .
The good feeling which |revails amongst us is manifested in many ways.
I am glad to have this opportunit\- of expressing the great esteem
and respect with which the Protestants of this counlr\- regard you." Arch-
bishop Lynch's own views and feelings on this subject wi're admirably
exjiressed in the speech in which he reiili(Hl to the toast proposed by the
Lieutenant Ciovernor. lie said: " I rejoice very much indeed at the good,
kindly feeling which exists amongst, I mri}- say, the elite of Toronto of all
nationalities and all creeds. We are here as brothers t)n this earth of ours.

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A ichhiHliop tij' 'I'linmto.

193

not to li;iriii one another, but to honor and reverence and respect one
another, and especially to respect the conscientious feelings of our
neip;hbors. I would have a very poor opinion of a man wiio would not love
a friend l)ecause he was o{ another way of think•in^^ We siiould nt)t allow
our politics or our relij^ion to interfere with our friendships. l-Viendship is
too holy a thing to be interfered with l)y outside-world considi-rations.
Hence I say that our friends are of no particular jiolitics. Thev are our
friends, and that is cjuite enough."

The testimonials presented on this occasion the Archbishop ck voted to
the erection oi the Cliurch of Our Lady of Lourdes, to whom he had a
particular devotion. This beautiful little church will serve, as he intended,
as a memorial of his Silver Jubilee, and of the growth and pro<n-ess of
Catholicity in the archdiocese while governed by him. It was not necessar\-
to keep alive his name and his memory, which are enshrined in the hearts
of a grateful people.

The y\rchbishop's health was remarkably good at the time of his jubilee,
and he continued to work with zeal as fervent as ever and with renewed
activity. He preached and lectured and wrote more frequently and
earnestly, and attended carefully to his multifarious duties, never nc'flectin"
even the least important. It .seemed that a life so useful, so valuable to
those over whom lie had charge, and to others, would be prolonged for many
years. But such was not God's holy will. He died unexpectedly a martyr
to duty, and his death was a fit crowning of a life which had lieen all
devoted to the .service of Ciod and the good of h.is fellow men.

On Sunday, May 6th, 1888, he jireached in St. Michael's Cathedral, and
was apparently as strong and vigorous as he had been at any time for years.
On the forenoon of Tuesday, May 8th, although he felt unwell, he left Toronto
to attend a conference of the clergy at St. Catharines. On the w v to St.
Catharines he accidentally received a slight wetting, and this almost imme-
diately aggravated his illness. So unwell was he on Wednesday that several
of the priests urged him either to remain at St. Catharines and call in
medical assistance or to return at once to Toronto for the purpose. Hut he
had made an appointment to give Confirmation at Merritton on Thursday,
and he would not, because of an illness which he did not think dangerous
disappoint the children and their parents who had made preparation for his
visit. After the clo.se of the Conference on Wednesday, he proceeded to

-9

lid

Tlic Life iiiul T'niici of Arfhhishoji Tji/iuh.

ilJJ

Mcrritton and tlierc, altlioii^'h surrt,rin<f nmch froin the illness which had
made rapid prof^ress, hi; contirniL'd all the children who were prepared for
the reception of that j^reat Sacrament. His work having been done he
hastened hack to Toronto. Arriving there late on Thursday night he
drove to St. John's drove, where he had chieHy resided for several years.
Tile j)hysicians, wIkj were summoned as soon as possible, found that ho was
SI' .'^firing from congestion of the lungs, which had made such progress that
' -covery was imi)ossii)le. One who was in attendance at his death-bed
wn.es: "His indomitable courage never for an instant failed him. He
heard calmly the decision of the physicians, provided for the administration
of the diocese, made a slight addition to his will, and then asked that the
last Sacraments should be administered to him. They were administered
by the Right Reverend T. O'Mahony, Bishop of Eudocia, /// pdrtibiis
i)iji(lc/iiiiii, his Auxiliary, in jiresence of \'ery Reverend V. P. Rooney and
Very Reverend J. M. Laurent, his Vicars-General, of Very ReNcnnd J. J.
McCann, Dean, and Reverend J. I"\ McBride, his Secretary. A few hours
after his heart began to fail, and at one a.m. on Saturday, May 12th, 1888,
the great Archbishoji pas.sed to his eternal rest so calmly that those who
watched b\ his couch scarcely knew when he departed." On the following
da\' the triumphant festival of the Ascension was celebrated with becoming
pomp in St. Micliael's Cathedral, but its heavily draped pulpit proclaimed
to the vast congregation that its Archbishop was no more. Vicar-Cieneral
Lauren: made the usual announcements, and with the affecting simplicity
and sublime tenderness that the Church deals with all its children, it was
noticed that when the faithful were asked to pray for the souls of those in
the parish who died during the week, amongst others there was mentioned
the name of John Josej)h Lynch.

The news of the Archbishop's death took the public by surprise, and all
sections of the ct)mmunity were profoundly moved. The expressionsof esteem
for his loss were universal and earnest, and all joined in paying respect to his
memory. On the day of his funeral the chancel of St. Michael's was crowded
with Bishops and Priests, who had come from many quarters to manifest the
esteem in which he was held, and to take part in the solemn Sacrihce, the
pious prayers and the mournful and impressive ceremonies with which the
Church consigns the mortal remains of her prelates to the tomb, b'rom
the time of his death until Monday evening the dead Archbishop lay in the

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Arrhh'ishop of Toronto,

l^B

parlor in St. John's Grove. The body wa.s then removed to the Cathedral,
followed by an immense procession, and laid in the ^rave on Wednesday
following. It was the wish of the deceased prelate that his body should not
be interred within the Cathedral, but in a plot of earth on its north side, so
that those who visited might recite a prayer over his grave. At the Requiem
Mass His Eminence Cardinal Taschereau officiated and there were present
the Archbishops of Montreal and Ottawa, and a great number of Bishops
and ecclesiastical dignitaries. The Right Reverend Bishop Ryan preached
an appropriate eulogium on the occasion. The Government of the Province)
the Council of the City of Toronto, and other public bodies, were represented
at the funeral, and the great church, the surrounding grounds and the
street, were densely crowded by Catholics, who wished to give expression to
their feelings of sorrow for their spiritual father, and of loving affection and
reverence for the great pastor who had lived and (Hed in tlieir service and
God's ; and by Protestants, who thus manifested their esteem and respect
for him who, fulfilling all the duties of his exalted position, had rendered
such great services to the whole community. The inlluence for good, which
he wielded during his administration of the Archdiocese, the memory of his
many virtues will do much to perpetuate.

The .\rchbishop's will, which is a very brief document, gives further
evidence of his entire unselfishness and of his thorough devotion to the
service of God's Church and (jod's people. Poor, it says, he came to the
Archdiocese, and poor he left it. From the revenues he had never taken
for his own use more than sufficient to cover the cost of his very frugal
living and other unavoidable expenses, and at his deatli the utmost value of
all the personal property at liis disposal was but a few hundred dollars.
This he left to his successor to be used in the service of the Church, with tin;
exception of a small sum to be paid for Masses for the repose of his soul
and a small amount to be paid by way of annuity to an aged relative.*

* Wlion the Aiclibisluip's will wms proved it was found that his fslatc amnuiilcd to k-ss than live
hundred dollars — not enough to pay his funeral expenses. Me left no debts.

The following is the le.vl of liis will ;

In the name of the Most Hol\ and liidivided Trinity, Anun.

This is the last Will and Testament of me, John rose|)h Lyneli, Archbishop of Toronto, Assistant at
the Pontitieal Throne, iVc.

I do hereby protest that T die in the )<rnfession of tiie Uolv Roman Catholic anil Apostolic Church,
and Ihcrewith send to his Holiness Leo NIll.. the successor of .St, Peter, my last act of homage and
veneration and ask his Apostolic henedii tion.

»-

I'll)

Tliv lA/r 1111(1 'I'imcs of Arrliliixhoj) Liinrli.

The crck'si;istic;il affairs of the See of Toronto, on the demise of Arcli-
i)ishop Lynch, were entrusted to Vicar-General Kooney and Vicar-General
Laurent, pendinj^^ the appointment of a successor. This was not accom-
plished for some time, wiien the present Archhisho]), the Most Rev. John
Walsh, D.D., formerly Bishop of London, was elevated to the Metropolitan
■ank. .\ sketch of his life and labors, so far as they have f^one, has already
been placed before the reader at the bef^innin*;; of this volume. his chapter
therefore completes the history of the prelates of the Archdiocese of Toronto
up to I he present time.

I commend iny soul to the meicv of God, and I diifct lh.it mv body be buried in the m.inner and
aeeordinj; to tlu' directions yivcii to my Kxecutors.

I came poor to tlie Diocese and poor I am leiivinj; it. not liaving appropriated anylhiiii,' of llie
revenues Ijeyoiid my necessary expenses.

I liereliy ileclare tl\at all lands and tenements, goods, cluittels, moneys and property of every liind
and nature soever, and wherever sitnate, sliall become tlie property of mv successor wlien he shall be
appointed by llie Holy .See.

I appoint the Ki.uht Revereml Bishop O'.Mahony, .Auxiliary of the Arcbbi'shop, and the Very Reverend
l''aUier Rooney, N'icar (jeneral. both of this ( ity, to be tlie Kxecutors of this my last Will and Testament,
and I direct tliein to have two hundred Masses said for the repose of my soul.

I revoke all former wills made by nie heretofore at any time.

Hated at Toronto. Ibis i.^ib day of March, in tlie year of our Lord iScS,?,

Signed, ,)OHN .lO.SKl'H LYNCH, Arp , Toronto.

Signed, piiblished and declared, by the said Testator as and for his last Will and 'restament, in the
presence of us present at the same time, who in his presence and at his reiiuesi have hereunto siijned
our names as witnesses.

.Signed. I). A. OSULLIVAN, HarristeralLaw.

.Signed, CHARLES J. O'HACERrY, R C.C.

.Signed, ,1. H. CAMKRON, M.B.

In consideration of having left all my personal property to my successor in Uie Diocese of Toronto,
I direct him to pay lo my sister, Mrs. I£liza McDonald, care of Thos. O'Callaglian, Dundalk, Ireland, the
sum of one hundred dollars per year as long as she lives, and if necessary this is to form a Oidicil to my
will executed i ?tb March, 1SS5. "

Signed, .IGHN .lO^KPH LYNCH,

Archbp. of Toronto.
.Signed in the |)resence of two witnesses, present at Ibe same time

I) A OSULLIVAN. CHARLKS .1. O'HAGERTY, R.C.C.

' ctC^'

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TEK RFJ.iaiOJ'S COMMl SniES.

REV. JOHN R. TKKFV, H.A, C'.S.B.,

sfPEK/fiK OF ST. .\nci/.{j-u:.s loi.i.iu:/:, roKoxro.

<Ml-(HHMMMHHM)HMH]-<i-(>^-O-l>-(H)-a-0-a-0-

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\'i;i\V Ri;\i:i<i:ni) Cii.\ki.i;s Vincicnt, \'.G

: ill/ , ' l//t- Ci'iiiiiiii:ii/v i</' SI lliisi/.

JiOKX AT r.U.I.OXS. FK-tXCF.. yr.VK jo. /X

HI 1:11 AT TOKOS ro. SOiEMItlR i. iXi)u.

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C'lfAT'I'l'I^ \\\.
I HE ni'.LKiloVS COMMIXITIES ANh Till:!!: \i<)l!h\

'I'lir /»V(.si/i(n/s — Father SDiilcrin — Fnthvr i'iinrnt — Tlic Clnititinii HrothtrH — 'I'lie Sigtcrs

of Loi villi -'I'lic S'ixlcf!i III' St. ./iisiiili —'I'lir Home <i/ I'mridi iirc — The Xiiiih

of tlw I'riciiiiiK liliKiil — TIk Sinters of the (ioinl Shephenl.

Ir is f:iir to this history, :is it will iiiulouhtcdly he intcrcstinj^ to our
rcadiTs, that a special chapter he .t;iven to the relij^ious comnninitiis,
whose works are so monumental and so closely connected with the
progress of relij^ion in tliis portion of the Lord's vineyard. The
zealous prelates of tlie diocese, recoj^nizini; its wants, have all in turn ( ailed
to their aid first one society and then another, until education and charity
are verv well provided for. Under the care of these men and women, insti-
tutions have been built up which Ikuc become the pridi' of all concerned.
There are the Christian Brothers and three religious communities of jiriests,
the Basilians, the Carmelites, and the Kedemptorists, while the following
communities of Sisters are established here, viz : the Sisters of Loretto,
St. Joseph, the I'recious Blood, ;ind the; Ciood Shepherd.

The object of the Carmelites and liJedemptorists bi'ing to give missions
and preach retreats, a brief sketch of them is given in connection with tin-
two parishes of which they have charge, viz : Niagara Falls, on the Canadian
side, and St. Patrick's Church in the City of Toronto.

SECriDN 1.

Thic I^asii.ians.

From an earlier chapter in this volume it will be seen that Dr. de
Charbonnel, who received his classical education in one of the houses of this
community, introduced it into his diocese. And avoiding repetitions we
open this section with a short history of the Congregation of St. Basil.

At the close of the last century two disastrous events threatened ruin to
the jformation of the b'rench clergy, the suppression of the Jesuits and the

H+-

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200

Tlir lieliffloiiH Coiiniuiiiitii's.

Kci'Mi of Terror. To c ounlcrh.ilaiui' tlic lornier sevcnil siiiall ;ism)i i.ilions of
priests were formed, h;ivinfi; for their object the early educntion of laiKhdates
for the priestlioixl ; Imt the latter swept like a hunicane over the fair land
of France, deslroyinj^' the sheltered homes of clerical learnin},' and well nij^jh
sweepinj; all marks of reli^Mon into the depths of frantic unbelief and
legitimized jierseciilion, which has not ceased even to this day. It was
under such auspices that the Hasilian community had its be^inniii}^'. In
1800 M^'r. d'yVviau, Archbishop of Vienne, a town south of Lyons, desirinj;
to recruit subjects for the priesthood, opened for younj^' men a refuse where
a few could devote themselves to study and the carrying out of their pious
ambition. Three priests, secondinjj; his wishes, began at St. Symphorien,
in ihe mountains of \'ivarais, to teach tlie rudiments of Latin to young
peasants. The following year the establishment, endowed by the Govern-
ment with the title of secondary school, numbered more than a hundred
students. In 1802 the school was moved to Annonay, the most important
town of the Department of Vivarais. Here, advancing with the authorization
of the Empire, its numbers swelled to four hundred. In iSjj, upon the
advice of Mgr. Hrulley, Hishop of Mende and administrator of the Diocese
of \'iviers, the professors of the College of Annonay formed a pious
a.ssociation, binding themselves by a simple promise to consecrate their life
to the teaching of youth. The association formed at that time, although
somewhiit varied and modihed, remains the same. .\s early as 1837 Pope
Gregory XVL i)ronounced by a decree the Institute of the Priests of St.
Hasil worthy of praise : " Inslitiitiini Socictatis saardotiim a saiicto liiisilio
/aiidaiuitiiii." Taking a further step at the suggestion of Mgr. (Juibert,
Bishop of Viviers, and afterwards Archbishop of Paris, the members of the
Society applied to Rome for their establishment as a community bound by
the religious vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and stability. At length,
on November 2^, 1863, Pius IX., of holy memory, issued a decree approving
and conhrming the " pious Institute." Such is a very brief sketch of a
small community whose work is as inqiortant and successful in the new
world as it is in the old. To its history in the new world let us now devote
a short space.

The foundation of the provincial house in Toronto in 185J has
already been noted, and we take them up again, fairly established with the
late venerable Father Soulerin as Superior, and a staff consisting of Fathers
Maloney, Malbos, Vincent and Flannery. The last two were at that time

Fiitlirr Siiiitrrin.

201

ccrk'siastics in minor orflcrs. ( )f iliis pioneer hand l'"atiier Manneiy is the
only siir\ivor. lioni in the Count)' of Tippeiary, Ireland, he was sent lor
his education to thi; Basilian Fathers, ani()n{j;st whom lie liad frii-nds. And
when an Mnj^iish colony w;is started, as mif^'ht he expe( ted, he came with it.
Some vears after his ordination as priest, which took place in 185^, he
withdrew from Collcf^e work and was attached to the Arcluhocese of Toronto.
This field he also chanfj;cd for London, where lie has for a lonj^' time heen
the respected pastor of the city of St. Thomas. 1 lere, still hale and hearty,
with hajipy recollections of times lon<,' },'one h)' and companions now passed
away, wIumi friends feather around, he tells of the early days of St. Michael's
College and the students who have since risen to distinction. .\ man of
hne literary taste, rich in lumior and imaf^ination, with a xcin of poetrv
which he has cultivated with success, h'ather I'lannery was admirably fitted
for a professor's chair. And although he j^ave up ti'achinf.^ he never aban-
doned the cultivation of his natural talent for literature : beinj; for a lonj,'
time editor of the "Catholic Record" of London ind the "Catholic
Weekly Review" of Toronto.

On June the Jcjth, of the |)resent year, in rccoj^nition of l'"atli(r
Flannery's literary attainments and the services he had l)\ his pen rendered
reli}.jion, the University of Georj^etown, District of Columbia, which is under
the care of the Society of Jesus, conferred upon him the honorarv title of
Doctor of Divinity.

1'" Vllll'.K Sori.KKIN.

There arc few names with sweeter memories to those who knew him
than the name and memory of the .saintls' and revered b'ather Soulerin, first
Superior of St. .Michael's College.

Me was born near Largentiere,a small town in the South of l'rance,in the
year US07. He received his education amongst tlu' Basilian bathers, whom,
after its completion, he joined in their work of zeal. At tlu; re(|uest of the
Bishop of (irenobli; he accepted, in 1H2H, the profes.sorship of IMiilosophy
in the Seminary of that important diocese. Aftor a residence here of two
years he was appointed ))rofessor of Khetoric in the College of i'Y'ysin, Isere.
This establishment being supi)ressed in 1849, the Abbe Soulerin was made
Director of Studies in the College of Annonay. When Bishop de Charbonnel
applied to the Superior (ieneral of the Basilians to open a College in

U-

•2(1:;

77/c ltiTni'i<iiiK f'iniinniiiilicii.

Torniiid, l".itl)cr S(iiil( rin was sent, in 1^52, as Superior. 'I'lic Inslitulinii
iijiclH'd 111 oiir (>r the houses on ( hiccli street opposite tlie present Metro-
politan Metiiodisl ("lunch ; but it was moved to a win^ of St. Micliael's
I'aiare, which had been especially built lor tlu' purpose, and wl'ii h was
afl( iwards known as St. Viiucnt's Chapel. Mere bi)\s who are now
Hishops ot (lod's Church learni'd the elements of their (lassies; lor it
numbers amon<,fst its earliest students liishops I )enis ( )'Connor ot London,
Kichard .\. ()'Conn()r ol I'etiirborouf^h, and T. J. howliiifj; of llamillon.
'These ,ind others, like \'iear-(ieneral lleenan and l'"ather ['"er^'uson, are
ainoiii^sl the honoured names ol those who s.il on the eaiU ioiiiis ol the
Collej,fe. In September, i^=)=), tlu' corner stone ol the (u'cseiit buildiiif^ ol
St. Michael's Collej^c on St. |ose|)h street was laid, and the work of teachiiif;
l)e}.fan in it the lollowinjj; Septeinbir. Since that time the followiiit^ additions
to the building, which t<'rminated then at the second door to the east: In
1863 the main buildiiiL; was extended to the eastern wiiij.;, which was added
in iiSjj. In 1S77 the Sanctuary of St. Basil's Church was built, and in
|S(S() the Church was extended in Iront and the tower erei ted.

Ketuinini; to b'lither Soulerin : he continued, with zeal and prudence,
the mana«,fement of the CoUej^e until Ma), uS()3, when he was el(;cted
Superior-( leneral of the Community of St. liasil. This reijuired his
removal to I'rance. He had been made \'icar-(ieneral by l^ishop de
Charbonnel, and was twict' administrator ol the 1 )ioce.se durinjf his Lord-
sliip's ab.si'iice. His extensive learninj^, his deen humility and simple piety
won for him the esteem and confidence of his etpials, the lo\c ,uid respect
of all his confreres and studtMits.

.After {.fovernin^ the community for fourteen years with the s nne care
as had characterized him in .America, b'ather Soulerin reivi. i,,! his soul t..
Ciod in November, 1879.

l\\riii:K \'i\(rcNT.

Father Soulerin's successor was Charle
twenty-one years, from i(S65 to 1HH6; ar

III, .perior for

>, so \:> i\ dej).irted, still
man . ^reat simplicity, of
(paick, practical jud,L;nient and deep insij^jht into character, and cominj^ ti
this country while younjf, he was well fitted to take ( harge of an education;
institution which had a large field for usefulness and a briefht future be*--!

lingers in the hearts of all that knew him.

?ir;-^-^

u
O

LiJ

_l
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0)
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UJ
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': S'

Ftithcr Viiifoif.

208

it. IJikUt liim the L;nnvlh of the CoUepfe advanced stcadilv ; tlic nuinlxT of
students increased and the building cnku,;c(l. In iSSi the C'ollci^c was
alrtliated to the University of Toronto upon a basis similar to that of several
of tile CathoHcs of linj,'land and Ireland with the London University. All
the teaehin<^, or as much of it as the College authorities find convenient,
may be done in the CoUej^e ; while all the examinations uj)on mental and
nK)ral science are upon the matters taught in St. Michael's Colle<^e.*

Father Vincent was born at Vallons, in the Department of .Xrdeche,
France, June 30th, 1828. His education was bej^un in theColle<;e of Aubinas,
and completed in the Collef^^e of Annonay, where he joined the Basilian
Community. He had only minor orders when he came to America, but
was ordained priest on May 22nd, 1853, in the Chapel of Uoretto Convent,
then situated on Simcoe street, in the buildin;; which for man\ years jiast has
been used for the oilices of the Attorney C-eneral of the I'roxince.

In 1870, at the request of Bishop Walsh of London, the Basilian
Fathers started a College at Sandwich, entitled Assumption Collef;e, with
the Rev. Denis O'Connor, C.S.B., as Suj^erior. When Dr. O'Connor was
raised to the episcopate he vvas succt;eded by the Rev. Daniel Cushing,
C.S.B., who still presides over it, to its continual success and jiroj^ress.

On Ma}' 22nd, 1878, the Silver Jubilee of Father Vincent's priesthood
was celebrated with a great outburst of enthusiasm and affection on the part
of the old students and friends t)f the College. Archbishop Lynch, to show
his ajipreciation of him, made; him his Vicar-General, which honor was also
conferred upon him by the present .\rchl)ishop of 'r<M-onto, soon after his
Grace came to the city.

In 188O, feeling thai hv. had long enough held the reins, and that his
strength was giving way, he asked to be relieved of the Superiorsliip of the
College, while lie was to retain the Frovincialship of the Comnuinitx. His
recjuest was granted, and I'alher Daniel Cushing, at the time Director of
Studies in Assumption College, Sandwich, was apjiointed Superior of St.
Michael's College. FathtT Vircent continued io reside in the College.
His health growing very feeble m 1890, he resigned his provincialship. Soon

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* TtiL' follow iiii; is llu' Statute of the I'niicrsilv Soiiali- : " In the honor ileparlniont of Mental ami
Moral I'liilovophv of the fourth \ear the Senate ^hall in^tiUito two ilistinet examinations on the two
svNtenis of I'liilosopliN tanjjht in the eonfederating arts eollenes."

In the sciond an<l third years all the examinations are iiiulcr the direelion of the Colleges.

l«

204

The Iteligious Coinmunities.

afterwards a cold hrou<(ht on an attack of jaundice and dropsy, which, after
a lingerinff iiincss, carried him off on the ist of November, iSgo. Strange
coincidence, his funeral took place on his feast, St. Charles' Day, November
4th ; and many an old student, who so often had come to rej(-ice with him
on that day, now came to pay his last resj)ect to his memory and offer
praNcr for his soul.

In tin: I'rovincialsliip I'ather Vincent was succeeded by the Very Rev.
Victor Marijon, who also is from the Department of Ardeche, France, who
is tlu; present zealous and juous Provincial of the Basilians.

After three years I'^ither Cushing, resigned the Superiorship of the
College, and was succeeded, in iHHg, by the writer of this sketch.

It would be impossible to enumerate the many ecclesiastical and other
professional men of the country and of the neiglii^oring republic who have
passed through St. Michael's College. Besides the Bishops of Hamilton,
Peterborough, and London, already mentioned, there are the two Vicars-
(ieneral* of Toronto, \'icar-(jeneral Heenan of tlie Diocese of Hamilton,
two of the Deansf of Toronto, Archdeacon Campl)ell, blither IMcEvay,
Rector of the Cathedral of Hamilton ; Father Rudkins, Chancellor of the
Dioce.se of Peterborough ; F'ather Cjuinlivan of St. Patrick's, Montreal ;
b'ather Conrov, Chancellor of the ( )gdensburg Diocese; and many others
whose talents, burnished b}- the liasilian Fathers, are in the service of the
(".real Master, to the honor of their teac'iers and the sanctiHcation of souls.

SECTION II.

TnK Chkistian Brothers.

This Coniinunit}-, whost' prt)per title is " Brothers of the Christian
Schools," was founded by a l^"rench priest, the Blessed Abbe Jean Baptiste De
La Salle, an intimate friend of M.Nyel of Rouen, who drew his attention to the
subject of education, tiie importance of which his tenderest charit)' and keen
[lerception fully ap''"-eciated. He resigned his preferment, renounced his pri-
vate fortune, and gave nimself up to the work of forming these teachers into a

* \ ti V Ke\. I" 1'. R<>i)iu'\ ami \ i-i v Ri\. J. \. MiC'jiin.
■f \orv Rev. Dciin II;ini> .mil \'ei > Rev. Dean Cassidy.

®-

The Christian Bnithevit. 205

community by giving them rules and the title which they bear to this dav.
The teaching was to be gratuitous. He insisted that Latin should l)e no
longer an obligatory subject, but that the basis of their teaching, after the
catechism, should be their own language. He retiuired that the Brothers,
who bound themselves b}- vow lo devote their lives to teaching in the
schools, and wore the religious habit, should be and should remain laymen
equally with the professors and assistant teachers employed under them.
For the training of the Brothers the b^ounder instituted a Novitiate; and
for the professors, Ike, a Normal .school. Founded at Rheims in 1686, this
appears to have been the first training scliool for primary teachers in Kurojie.
The Blessed De La Salle lived to see his community established in many of
the [principal towns of France. Since his death, which took place on the 7th
of Aj)ril, 1719, it has not only survived the many shocks given society in
France by revolution, hut it has spread through various other countries.
y\ccording to the statistics of i8gi the Brothers had under their charge
1,750 schools, attended by 314,133 scholars, of whom 289,000 were receiving
gratuitous instruction. There were 13,262 13rothers and 5,000 Professors
employed in teaching. At the same date the Novices numl.)ered 3,897.

The Christian Brothers were hrst brought to Toronto in May, 185J,
by Bishop de Charbonnel. Brother Patrick, who afterwards became one of
the Assistants to the Superior Cieneral of the whole Order, and whose death
took place a year or so ago, introduced and established them in Toronto.
St. Michael's School was the hrst opened, and in September of the same
year, two classes were .started in St. Paul's Church. St. I'atrick's School
followed in 1853 in a red brick building on the eastern side of St. Patrick's
Market. It consisted of four classes, two taught by the Brothers and two
by the Sisters of Loretto. In the same year a school-house containing
three rooms was built for St. Paul's Parish on the corner of Power and
Queen streets. St. Mary's School, Bathurst street, was opened about 1854.
These schools have since been either very much enlarged, or replaced
by new and splendid buildings erected to supjily the increasing demands
of the various parishes. The school for St. Paul's parish, built some
twelve years ago, is a handsome, commodious building ; St. Mary's has
also been very much enlarged and renovated ; St. Helen's of Brockton
has just completed a second magnificent building for a school ; St. Basil's
parish has two, one on St. \'incent street and the other on ^'onge
street, near the Catliolic Cemetery. There are not Brothers in all these ;

II ■

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11' i .

li ]

iSi

2()r>

The ]leli;ii(>i(H Coiiinntiiitii's.

but thcv liiivc }^n(-)vvii witli tlic j^rowth of Catholicity. ]3rotlH;r I'alrick
was succeeded i)y Brothei Hu;.(h, who first opened the Aca'demy of the
De I. a Salle in 1HO3 on |arvis street, which was mtended for those who
wished an advanced education in commercial subjects, as well as for those
who ]iuri)()sed enterin^^ aflcrwards upon a classical course jireparatcn')' tcT
j)hilosophv and theoloj^y. I'he Academy jjrovinf; very successful, it was
determined tcD establish an institution which would stand to the separate
schools of Toronto as the collej^iate institutes do to the [)ublic schools.
The Bank ol Upper Canada, on the corner of Cieorge and Duke streets,
was secured. Hy a strange turn of events, the land upon which the Hank
stood was but reverting, if not to its original, at least to a very kindnd,
purpose — it having been donated by the (iovernment to Bishop Macdonell
for a churcli and afterwards exchanged by his I^ordshipfor ten acres outside
of the cit\ . The pupils of the Academy w..;e transferred to the Bank on the
17th of March, 1H70. In iHyi the energetic Brother Arnold, wlio was then
at the head of the Institute, built a large addition to the old i)uilcling. The
pro|)ert\ is now vested in the separate school board, who also provided for
the Collegiate Inslilule work for girls bv p-lacing them undc'r the care of the
Sisters of St. jo.seph.

Brother Arnold, wlio was the third SujKrior of 'I'oronto, removed to
Montreal, where he still continues the self-.sacriHcing work of education.
To him succeeded Brother Tobias, under whose energy and government
the Communitv of Toronto has grown into a separate province, which step
was taken May jOth, 188S, when the houses of Ontario were: separated
from the District of Montreal. On December J/tli, iHcjo, the ( )ntario
novitiate was o|)ene(l at the De La Salle Institute. It comprises three
departments, viz : a prejiaratory and a senior novitiate and a .scholasticate
the Hrst under Brother Sulpicius, late Director of the Community of St.
Catharines; the .second under Brother 1 lalward, who for many years had
been Director of the Coiiimunity of Kingston; and the third under Bro.
lldward, former I)ir''(*>r ot St. Patrick's Lyceum, ( )ttawa.

The new District 01 Toronto has alread}" shown pros})erity and de\-elop-
ment. Larly in 1890 a new house was opened at Renfrew, and in the same
year the Brothers took charge of St. Helen's school, l^rockton. In i8gi
his Lordsliip l^ishop Dowling, of Hamilton, established a house of the
Community in that city. The.se houses and that of St. Catharines, founded

-«

'J'lif Sixtrrs of Loretto.

207

)£

in 187G, are tlie ()ut<^rowth of tlic zeal and devotion of an t'arnesl and
successful teaching religious order. It would be out of place here to pass
any eulogy or do anything more than sketch their establishment and progress
in the Diocese. Their rule a severe one — standing through two hundred
vears, is a proof of its wisdom, stability and excellence; lluir religious life
is a guarantee that the)- are teachers of something more than men- book-
learning, and gives thc'm an insight into character which enablc^s tlum to
exerci.se a powerful influence in directing the mind and moulding the
character of those under their ciiarge.*

SKCIION III.

TllH SlSTKKS ()|- LoKI/riO.

The effect of religious persecution is very strikingly evident in England,
where the comparatively faithful few suffered and endured lieroicallv,
suffered, not alone the swift death which gave them the martyr's palm and
crown, but endured the slow, agonizing torture, the \\car\ jjrison, exile bom
home and country, in line, tlie dejirixation of all things earthl)- rather than
.separate from tht; love of Christ.

The spirit of these noble sufferers for conscience sake isaj)tly expressed
in the answer given by Sir Thomas More to the Duke of Norfolk. When
the Dord Chancellor made his final decision to stand upon his principles
the Duke told him of his danger, saying: " l^y the Mass, Master More, it is
perilous striving with princ-es ; the anger of a prince brings death." -'Is
that all, m\- Lord?" said More; "then the dilfeniici' between you and me
is this that I shall die to-day, and )()u to-morrow."

It is to this same age of persecution that the children of Mary's
Institute look for their spiritual ancestry; it is there they find the founda-
tion-stones and first pillars of their Congregation. 1 )uring the troubled era
of James I. and his successors certain noble ladies, .utualed by a spiiit of
zeal and self-sacrifice, h ft luigland, sought refuge on the Continent, and
hnally estal)lished tluinselves in Bavaria. Ilere they realized the two-fold
object of their .s( .f-impo.sed exile — the peaceful exerci.se of their holv religion,
and the lauda.jle work of i)roviding for young English girls a i^lace of
Catholic education where they might be thoroughly trained for the contest

* 'I'liis accdimt of the Cliiisli.iii liiollicis is takoii lai-^uly fioni the I, iff of .Arcliliisliop I.viuli l)v II.
t". McKeown, Km|.

) ■

1
I

: ••

i ^'"

•■'.

■■ ;

tiiij

■Ilfli!

208

The Belifiious Communities.

which awaited them in their native hind. The history of tlieir early
vicissitudes, recorded elsewhere,* belongs not, properly speaking,', to these
pages ; but the arduous beginnings deserve at least a passing notice, if only
to mari\ how the Canadian Mission resembled the ])arent Institute in that
dominant characteristic of all works on which God has set His seal.

The Institute, in its early days, had houses in the princijial cities of
h^urope; but Munich, Bavaria, is regarded as the cradle of the Congrega-
tion. Here the " English ladies" found warm and constant friends in the
persons of the Elector, Maximilian I., and his wife, lilizabeth. The l-llectoral
familv never wavered in its friendship towards them, and Maximilian I'lmma-
nuel (grandson of Maximilian I.), Duke of both Havarias and Prince lilector
of the Sacred Roman Empire, was among the first to petition the Holy See
for the confirmation of the Rules of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It was during the administration of Anna Barbara Babthc^rpe, Superior-
(ieneral, that this petition was granted by His Holiness, Poj^e Clement XL,
who, on the 13th jf June, 1703, issued a brief containing the apostolic approval
of the Rules of the Institute. Thus the Rules were confirmed without the
Community being approved, b'rom the \<ar 1703, then, until late m the
nineteenth century the " iMiglish Virgins" stood in an exceptional and
anomalous position among congregations of simple vows. Their rule liad
been approved, while to the Institute it.self such approval was wanting ; it
was evident, owing to its anticjuity alone, that it did not possess an advantage
enjcned by kindred congregations of more modern origm. \'ery earnestly,
therefore, did the Superior of the York Convent, Rev. Mother Juliana
Martin, hope and jirax that .so desirable an oi)ject might be attained. She
did not, however, see her way towards proceeding actively in the matter
until, in 1876, Father John Morris, of the Society of Jesus, one of the "best
friends of the Institute, took the case in hand, and so skiifiilly directed it,
that to him, under Cjod, its successful issue must be mainly attributed. In
September, 1S76, a petition was addres.sed by the Superior and Com-
munity of the \'ork Convent to his Holiness, Pope Pius I.\. of l)lessed
nuMiiory, begging the fa\()r of apostolic aj^probalioii and conlirnialion of the
Institute. The petition was accompanied by commendatory letters from
lIk- P.ishoj-) of Beverley, the Right Rev. Dr. Cornthwaite, and the P)ishop of
Rodiopolis, \'icar-.\postolic of Patna, the ecclesiastical Superior of some oi

* Liff <jf M.iiv Ward, by Mary C", K. Cliainhcrs ; St. Man's Convenl, \\>vk, cilited In- II. J.
Coloriilirt., S.J.; Mrs, Ball: a blograpliv , In- William Uiilili, l).l). ; "Mother rraiues Teresa Ball, by H.'j.
Cok'rid}{C, .S.J.

■il

^^xsmmTsmmma

Till' Sisters of Loirfto.

•10'.)

the houses of the Institute established in India, and which were fiUations of
Kathtarnham. With a readiness and pronijititude whicli excited ^^eneral sur-
prise, the Holy Father, by a decree of the Sacred Con},ne<;ation of the
Propaj^randa, dated February 15th, 1877, granted his solemn approbation
and confirmation of the Institute.

Returning to the earlier history, we fnid that the i)ermanent establish-
ment of the Institute in York was mainly effected, under Almighty God, by
Sir Thomas Gascoigne. Through his l)enefactions the Superior, Mrs.
Redmgfield, was enabled to purchase, on the 5th of Nov., 1G86, a house and
garden at Micklegate Hai, on the site of the present convent, which the
Institute of Mary has occupied uninterruptedly ever since. Here went on
a (luick, hidden work which effected more than can be told for the preserva-
tion of the Catholic faith in the country through the apparently hopeless
years of penal persecution. This con\-ent became a favorite place of female
education, and has just claims on our affectionate veneration: it deserves
well of the Catholic w^)rld if no other work had been acc(jmplished within
its walls tlian the training of two such noble souls as Frances Ball and Mary
Aikenhead. Here Frances Hall spent hve years of her girlhood; hither
when assured of her vocation to the doisler, she came, at the express wish
of Dr. Murray, the great Archbishop of Dublin, to be thoroughly trained in
the traditions and principles of the spiritual life. Here she pas.sed seven
years of probation and iireiKiration, returning with two companions to
Dublin in 182 1, to plant at Kathfarnham, " under the shadow of the saving
Cro.ss," the Irish offshoot of the Institute, in .speaking of which our late
Holy Father, I'ius IX., said : " 1 know it well— it is a fruitful branch of a
noble tree."

Reverend Mother Ball called the iir.st hou.se of the Institute in Ireland
" Loretto Abbey," from Loretto, the celebrated Italian shrine. The other
hou.ses of the Institute of the Ble.s.sed \irgin Mary are called " Loretto Con-
vents," from the parent house at Ratlifarnham ; from the houses the nam(>
has passed, almost uncon.sciously, to the inmates, who are generally known
as " Loretto Nuns."

At the present date the Institute has more than one hundred and fifty
houses in different parts of the world— Bavaria, Pru.ssia, Au.stria, the Tyrol,
Hungary, Italy, Spain, Turkey, ILngland, Ireland, India, America, Australia!

I I

'1' i-

210

The licUii'iinis Cumintimt'icn.

South Africa, and tlic Mauritius. Of these about fiftv arc filiations of tlu>
Irish Hranrh of tlie Institute.

Upon his appointment to the Episcopal Sec ofToronto the Ri<,'ht Rev.
Dr. Power \isited Ireland, and obtained from Mrs. Ball a jiromise that, as
soon as he should have made the necessary i)rej)arati()ns for their reception,
she would send him some members of the Institute to conduct the superior
education of the female portion of li.. flock. It was not until i''~>47 that the
desif.fn was carried out. In that year, on the ['"east of ()ur Ladv of the
Snow, Au,<i[ust the 5th, four profes.sed nuns and one novice set out from Kings-
town to proceed to America by way of Liverpool. These were Sisters M.
Teresa Dease, M. Bonaventure Phelan, M. (lertrude l'"lemin<j;, and
Reverend Mother I^natia Hutchinson, whom Mrs. ]-?all had appointed
Superior of the little band of missionaries.

They reached Liverpool on the ()th of August and immediatel)' pro-
ceeded to the Convent of Mercy, where they receucd a most cordial
welcome from the Superior, Mrs. White. Here they had the pleasure of
an introduction to the celebrated Father Gentili, who addressed them in a
few words which wi're admirably calculated to impress them with a high
sense of the dignity which (iod had conferred on them in calling them to
labor in the forcMgn missions.

The vcnage to America, which was made in the sailing vessel " (iarrick,"
proved far from comfortable to the little band of religious women owing to
the rough manners and language of some on board. After a passage of six
weeks they reached New York and thence started for th<>ir new home in
Toronto, where the\- arrived on Sejitember i6th, 1847.

On landing the embarrassment of the poor nuns was very great. They
knew not where to go, and were too timid to ask. And when at last they
succeeded in reaching the Bishop's residence, it was only to meet a father
upon whom death had thrown its terrible shadow. His Lordship could not
hide his anxiety, wliich was increased bv the arrival of these poor Sisters at
a time when the nciv cit) was a plague-house, and his own home a hospital,
and the few priests near him strickc-n with the fever. But his zeal did not
forsake him ; and he who had stood by the bed of sickness until he was
about to be inostrated by it, installed these chosen childrcMi of < ,\iv Blessed

m —

The Sixtrr^ iif Loirtlit.

•21

Mother, who had roiuc so f";ii" to sitxc him, in their new honic on Duki'
street.

They were welcomed by ;i few of tlie leacliiii,' Catholics of Toronto, whose
names have lon<i; l)een cherished and rememl)ere(l with j^ratitude hy tlie
Community Amongst them we select the well known promoter of everv
Catholic canst' in Toronto, the lion. John I'.lmsley, and Mi. L\nn, the latter
of whom is hound to the history of Loretto Coinciit 1)\- his eldest daiij^hter,
Charlotte, who was the hrst member of the Hlessi'd Xirj^^'in's So(Ialit\- in the
Canadian schools, and one of the first postulants in the Sist('rhood, and,
since the death of Mother Teresa, Superior of the American branch of the
" Loretto Nuns."

We now resume the recital ol the early histor\. The death of the
Miurable IJishop Power prostrated Mother Mary Ij^natia and her (om-
panions ; but with true reli;,'ious virtue and faith the\' bowed thcniseKcs
under Mie hand ol ( lod.

b'ather I'are was now sent with kind offers of ser\ice on the p.irt of the
Bishop of Montreal. Another devoted friend was I'ather llarkin, who was
chajilain, confes.sor, and indeed class-master.

Takin<; advantaj^e of the Christmas vacation the nuns made tlu'ir ei.ijht
days' annual retreat, which they had been unable to do at thi! usual time.
During that retreat, Sisters M. Bonaventure and (iertrudi' showed .symptoms
of the disease which was to l)ring tlieni, after terrible sulferin^r, to an early
grave.

The Sisters who taught in the poor school, which w.is a loni; distanci:
from the Convent, were obliged to walk llu're e\ery da\ in winter through
unusually deep snow. ( )n reaching the school their clothes were often almost
saturated, and in this condition they taught and labon;d till fi\'e in the
afternoon, when the\' retLinied home, scarccK able to see their \\;\\ throu"h
llu' clouds of snow. ( )ne morning, it is related, tb.e cold was so intense
that on suddenly entering the school-room, heated by the crowd of little
ones, one of the Sisters, overpowered by the ch;inge of temperature, fell,
to all api)earance, lifeless. Help was sought, l)ut when it arrived the
courageous religious had already arisen and was presiding o\er one hundred
and hftypuj)ils. Sister Mary (iertrude had charge of this school, and .Mmighty
Ciod so j-KTmitted it that, notwithstanding her state of suffering from a swell-

!1'2

77a' /{i'liii'ioiiH ('oiitiiiinillicH.

\u^ in lu:r kiU'c, hy uliii li Ikt loot was also allcc led, slic coiUiiuicd Id walk
to aiul from the school every day, each step causing,' her intense a^'ony. At
last she was ohli^^ed to n'liiKiuish her labors anionj^st the |)()<)r, whom she so
much loved ; nevertheless, in the true spirit of her vocation, she desired to
work, ,ind continuecl to he of much use to the C'ommunit)- at home. It was
an admir;d)le lesson to see Sister M. (ierlrude enlivenin;^' by her cheerful
presence the hours of recreation, while the pain she endured f^rom her
swollen and f^'anj^'rened foot ncxcr for an instant left her. The wildest and
most unmanageable |Hii)ils were subdued by her hrm, yet gentle manner,
and knowin<^' somethinj,^ of her j^'reat sufferini^s they revered her as a saint.

While Sister M;iry (iertrude was endiuin^f her severe tortures, dis-
ea.se had carried off Sister Marv lionaveiitun", who died on the iitli of
.April, \H^i). Three da)s after her death Kev. Mother Hall, as if by
inspiration, asked two of the Community in Irel.ind to come to the relief of
tlie Canadian Colon). TIun accepted ; Sister Joachim Murray; who still
lives, lo\ed with deep affection by all her old jnipils and revered b) .dl who
know her, and a la\' Sister, Sister Ita Cummins.

The Commuml)' was still further tried when Sister Certrude had to
have her le<4 amputated -but to little i)urpose. She lin-^'ered in patience
and sufferinj; until Christmas of 1830, when she died a saintly death. To
her memory the following tribute is paid by one of the Community who
knew lur : " So edifvin.L,' was this Sister that the memory of her virtues
remained lonj,' after she had been witluh'awn from this pa.ssing world."
But the heaviest loss was yet to come when the Superior, Mother Ij^Miatia,
was called to her eternal reward on the cjth of March, 1851. " Nature and
grace combined to her adornment, as the purity of her soul seemed reflected
on lier beautiful countcnanci'. Iler career was brief, but well lilted to
]irepare her for the happ\' close which ended her life of trial and suffering
in Canada."*

Mother Teresa Dea.se, being chosen to succeed as Superior, assumed
the duties of her office under depressing circumstances. The Communit\
consisted of only three professed choir sisters, two novices and two lay sisters.
The pupils were few, and the house inconvenient. Hut they found one com-
fort in their confessor, the Kev. l-'ather Tellier, S.J. His holy example, his

♦Notes bv one of Mother Igiialia's spiritual cliiklrcii.

h
h
u
q:

[Hi

.;ii^:

■

:!|i

Ifi

>i<

77/c SmlrrH of Luirtln.

2iy

t;itli( rly advice and his rci^iilar attiiulaiicc, i>ri)V((l a consolation aiul sujiport
to the risini; ("oniinunit)'.

Hislioi) (Ic l"hari)onni'l wrote to tin ArcliUisliop of DiiMin, setting' fortli
the misery in wliicli tiie poor Sisters were situated, and a|i|)ealinj,' for nior*'
volunteers. " Most K'ev. Lord," he (oni hides, " I earmstly I.e- your ( iracc
the fa\(ir o( olilainin^r from llie niotlu r house ol oui' vtiieraMe Sisters what-
ever )-oii can in their hehalf. 'I'hey are the chihh-en of Ireland and a f^lory
to their countr\'; they were your spiritual dau^diters before hecominn mine;
tlu^y have made the most j^'enerous sacrifice; they have suirercd heroicall\- ;
they are sinkinj,' under the hardships of tlunr situation."

Towards the close of 1S31 the .Bishop's letter pioduied fruit, when
Sisters M. I'milication OuKhan and M. Ucrc liinans Lalor came to the help
of the Canadian mission. The lollowinj^' year tin; Sisters moscd to a
c(jnvent on Hathurst street, which iiad been built for them— not particu-
larly comfortable or imixisiiv^, but healthy and commodious. And the
chaiif^^e soon maile itself fell. In iS-,3 the Communi' had so far increased
in luimbers that live were sent to ojien a house in liranlford, wliicli place
was, a few years afterwards, changed for London, where they had better
opportunities for jiromotiii'^' the object of the Institute. W'iien Bishop
l'\irrell took charge of Hamilton he oflereil the Sisters of I.orett(j a house in
Ciuelph. They readily accepted and tf!:)k possession in June, 1856, The
house in (luelph proved so successful that during: the first few years of
its existence no fewer than thirlv-four of the pupils became members of the
Communit\-.

The Community now steadily advanced: a house was opened at Belle-
ville in 1H57; anollu'r at Nia^^ara b'alls, on the Canadian side, in 1H61. In
1870 the latter had flourished .so well that the foundation stone of a maj^mi-
ficent buildin^r was laid, which is to-ilay a beautiful work of art amidst the
most beaulidil surniun(linL;s oi nature. Then, in 1865, a charminj,' site in
Hamilton having fjeen purchasc;d, Mt. St. Mary's was opened under the
]irotection of " Mater Arlmirabilis."

Keturnin;; to the mother-house, we (ind them chanf^inj; the conxcnt on
Bathurst street for a much better one on Bond street, which in turn soon
became too small, so prosperousl}- did thinj^s advance. At last, in 1867,
through the kind services of the present Archbishop of Toronto, then Vicar-

■■;¥ I

"I'M

! 1

ST-

214

'I'lic llcHiiioiis Cnmimmit'u'H.

("icncral o( ihc Diocese ;in(i pastor of St. Mary's Cburch, the j)r j))erty known
as " Lyndhurst " was purchased ; and from September 8'h. 1867, what had
been a most fashional)k' hou.-^c of the world was thencefortn to be a religious
bouse of education, and known to manvof our readers as Lorctto Abbe}'.

In 1874 a branch was started at l.mdsay, which lias siiice been
closed. A house -.vas founded in 1878 at Stratford; and in 1880 a new field
of labor WPS opened up at Joliet, a city of Illinois, not far from Chicago. An
idea of the goo(i which the Institute is doing in that western city can best
'oe formed from the f,>ct that there are 200 nupils in its Academy and
about 7tx) in the two jiarochial schools of whi'jli the Sisters have charge.

The following are the statistics of the schools and academies, as far as
available :

Ski'AKAII. Si ficioi.s. I'riMi.s,

Siratford 250

(iiictpli 300

Hamilton . . . . 160

Jolitt

IMlcvillc

Niagara I'alls . . .
I)c l,a Salic ....

lirocklon

\\'iiulicstL'r street

670

Al ADKMIKS. Pi IMLS.

Siratford 72

Ciiiuiph 83

I laniiltoii 125

Juliet 200

Hellevillc 60

Niagara i'alls 85

[>oretti> \l)l)ey 200

Hoiul street 140

'i\'elleslev I'laie 100

McrriiKk M. Tkkhsa I^icask.

W'c close this .section with a sketch wf the late reverend Mother Mary
Tere-.a Dease, written byain:;mber of her communiiy. We deem it a fitting
tribu ' ) the memory of on whose hidden life, as religious and superi')t,
for ,s. . n.im \ears was -■ Hiodel to her sisters, a guide to her pupils, and an
edification to the Church in thiS country.

" Reverend Milher M; ry Teresa Ellen Dease," inscribi'd on a tomb
iiear the prett\- HilIc cemetery i/ Loretto Convent, Niagara brills, is a
siin;->le and striking epitaph ih.it arrests the attention of even the casual
visitor to this (|uiet home of the dead. This epitaph contains only three
word;;: "Mother, Model, C, aide " — simple, indeed, but most elocjuent and
truthful return o*" love ar.d lovaltv from devoted children to the cherished
memv..)' of ibeir rexeredand lamented reverend Mother, Mary Teresa Ellen

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Miitltcr M. T>. resti Dcanr.

215

Dease, for forty years (1831-1889) the Superior of the Sisters of Loretto in
Canada.

The many foundations, convents, educational and reHjj;i()us works that
have been brieH) outlined in the forej^'oinj^ sketch of the Loretto Institute in
Canada, all remain as monuments to Mother Teresa's meniorv. l>ut the
simple words inscribed on her tomb tell the secret of her life's success, and
are the surest pledf^e that her work shall live in the li\es of those to whom
she was Mother, Model and (iuide.

The history of Catholicity in the Archdiocese of Toronto would not be
complete witliout a few words on the life and character of Rev. Mother
Mary Teresa. This i^inarkable woman had ail the (|ualities that win
admiration, success and esteei.i in any walk of life. I-Jishop dc Charboiincl,
second Bishop of 'J'oronto, a man of wide experience, deep discernment, and
cautious opinion, said that Kev. Mother Teresa was the most perfect
type of the lady and relit,nous lu' iiad ever iiiet. She jiossessed all the
advantages of family and birth, all the t;races of h.i,!;h l)rredin,L,s all the
cliarminj^ attractions of personal b(aut\', the most winniuf^f swcelness, com-
bined with a rare dignity and repose of manner — everything, in line, that
g )es to secure highest social success, while her brilliant and solid intelltHtual
gifts would have easily led up to literary famt\ lUit her success was to he
foil ' in tlie service of (iod, ana her fame to be a modi! lo her children of
Loretto.

Ellen Dease was born of distinguished famiK in the countv of Mealh,
Ireland, on May 7th, 1S21. The best blood ot Nugenls, ()'Reillys and
Deascs Howed in her \eins. The lati^ illustrious Count Nugent of Austria
was her r.ear kinsman. ller cousin, the Very Ke\ . l-.dmund ()"l\eilly
Dea.se, to whom Ab)ther Teresa bore striking resemblance, was main \cars
l'ro\incial of Hie Society ol Jesu.s in liclaiid. lie was a man of surpassing
>;.fts of mind and heart, and was acknowK'dgcd to be the greatest b.nglish
theologian of his time, beloved by his Jesuit brethren lor his smiple,
sweet and most amiable character. Indeed, those who ki.. w both well
said I'atlu'r ( )'Keillv .iiid Mother Marv leresi were e\<tedingl\ alike in
mind and heart, as well as in personal appear:inee. The laembeis of
Lllen Dease's own immediate I'amih were distinguished tor talent .ind pietv,
as well as for noble work m the cause ol Cod and llis Cluncli. I'er ildet
;-ister, Anna Maria, was a religious of the Institute of Loretto in Ireland,

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fill

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iri

Irl

^u^

8J-

210

The EcUff'ioiis Communities.

and died in the odor of sanctity at Loretto Convent, Fermoy, in 1878^
havinjj; been Superior for 25 years. Tlie example of lier sister's life in
Loretto niif^ht have had some iniluence, under Ciod, in deciding I-Ulen's
vocation.

It is one of the most strikinjj; thinfijs in llie life of Mother Teresa that
little is known of her (iarly years, for she never talked about herself. We
learn, however, that after careful home trainins^ under attentive private
tutors, slie completed her education in the best schools of Dublin ; and, in
answer to the call of the Master, left home, and family, and friends, joyously
gave u]) all that the world holds dear, and on the ibth of January, 1845,
entered the novitiate at Loretto Ablniy, I^athfarnham, near Dublin, to con-
secrate her life to God. The chstinguished Kev. Mother l);ill was then
Superior of Loretto. Her ([uick intuition and keen spiritual discernment
.soon discovered in her postulant a pearl of great ))rice, a chosen soul,
destined to do great things for (iod. Lrom the ver\- brgimiing of her
religious life, Ellen Dease put into dail\- practice the (li\in( principle she
afterwards gave her children as their religious motto — " /;/ siUiilio ct spc
fovtitiido vcstra.'' " In silence and hope be your strength."

On the 15th of October, 1845, Miss Dea.se received, with the usual
.solemnity, the religious name of Mary Teresa, which she bore with such
honor for 44 years ; and on the 3rd of August, 1H47, Sister Mar\- Teresa was
solemnly profes.sed. This profession completed her i)reparation ; for
just two days after, she, with live other Nuns, was chosen tor the mission to
Canada. The story of their coming, of their early struggles, disapi)oint-
ments and suiferings, iias been alread)' told. \'er)' little of her privations
was ever heard from Mary Tere.sa. Her strength was indei'd in sdence and
hope, and never was such .strength more needed than in the beginnings of
the little Coninuinilv of Loretto in Canada. When the first Superior of this
valiant band, MoUier Mary Ignatia Hutchinson, was called ;o her reward in
1 85 1, Sister M. Teresa was chosen to take her place. The world wants
statistics as proofs of successful wor'- It has these statistics of Mother
Teresa's success in the brief history 01 the Institute of Loretto in Canada
given above. The summary is ek'xiii lirst-class educational institutions
directed by teachers who have receiyed the higlu>st testimonials of excel-
lence and conijietency, and whose jnijiils have often gixen public proof of
the best intellectual and moral training. What the world does not stop to

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Mdlliir M. 'I'firxd hnisc.

217

consider is the silc iil nowc r lli.il cslahlishcd these InstilLilidiis, and llic
wisdom IVdhi above llial lasliioncd and formed to strcni^th and cHuirney
those ^\•ho dnccl them so weU.

The f,Teat mind that jilanned in silence, the brave heart that worked on
in hope, were known only to (iod, and to those who see in faith the slrenj^th
of Ciod beneath the surface of thinj;s that ai)pear. The ministers of (iod
know how to admire the threat soul of Mother Mary Teresa, and how to a))-
preciate the spiritual influence of her silent power and action. Three distin-
j^uished prelates of Toronto had ample ojiportunitN' of studying; her character.
We have hc^ard the testimony of Hishop de Charbonnel. .Seeinj^ the
wonderful formative influence Mother Teresa exercised over hir children,
the late lamented .Vrchbishop Lynch said, " that holy woman has infused
Iter spirit into the whole Community."

Hut perhaps no one living; had better ojiportunities and power of judg-
inj.; the true character of Mother Mary Teresa than the ]iresent illustrious
Archbishoi) Walsh. As a youni; priest at St. Mar\ s, Toronto, he was chap-
lain and spiritual director of the CommunitN-; and his interest in evervthini;
connected with the welfare and proj^nx'ssof the Institute increased with years,
and is now made perfect in the kindest paternal care. What imjiressed him
most in the character of Mother Teresa was her profound and practical
reverence for everythiuL; lK)ly and divine. And what was parlicularK- strik-
in^^f in tliis ^'reat rc:\erence was that Mother Teresa had a deep sacred
respect for souls, for the secrets of hearts, and for every human beinj;.
Iler stronjj; and lively faitii beheld Christ in ever\ Christian, and saw the
Creator in every soul made to the imaj^e of Ck)d.

But, after all, it was onl\ lur childrt'U wIk) could know MothtT Teresa
as she was. Thev saw the f^'reat, brij^fht, broad mind in her every word and
work. Thvy knew the security they had in ^ivinj^ most sacred confidence
to her wi.s(! and prudent keepini,', and how safeK- tlu'V could trust to her
holy {guidance. Hut esj)ecially did the children of her love feel the beating
of that great heart of h(M\s, always ready with the wind of c;>mfort,
encouragement and gentle praise. Mother, indeed, was she in the re.erent
and tender care she had for the least of her children — model and guide in
followinjj; to the tetter the rule she would haw her children observe.

The lidhj'uim i'omniiinitks.

As M()tht:r, Model and (iuidc, may she conliiuif to live in those she has
left to complete lier work.

SIX'TION IV.

Till': SisTKKs OF St. Josiciti.
The foundation of the " Congre{:fation of the Sisters of St. Joseph '"
dates back to the year 1650. Under Divine Providence, its founders were
the saintly Mf^r. de Maupas, Bishop of Le Puy, France, and Rev. Jean
Paul Medaille, of the Society of Jesus.

In Ills missionary labors, Father Medaille had met many pious
young women, who, besides having in view their own sanctiHcaion, were
anxious to devote themselves to the works of charity in the service of their
neighbor. He was pleased with their pious desires, and suggested to
Bishop de Maupas the establishment of the " Sisters of St. Joseph." That
eminent prelate, calling to mind the original idea of St. Francis de Sales,
warmly aj)proved of the ..uggestion of Father Medaille.

In establishing the Order 0/ the Visitation, St. Francis de Sales
intended it to be a Congregation of women who, in addition to self-perfection,
should undertake the visitation of the sick and poor, and, m geni'ral, all these
duties that tend to advance the spiritual and temporal welfare of their
neighbor. Though the saintly founder Hnally yielded to the force of
arguments in favor of a cloistered community, his first design was happily
realized a few years later, in the establishment of the " Congregation of the
Sisters o'" St. Joseph," an Order uniting, as i*^ does, a life of contemplation
with the active works of charity and education.

in compliance with the Bishop's desire, I'ath.er Medaille assemljled
these pious young women in the house of Madame de Joux, a devout widow
of Le Puy. In 1650. on the feast of St. Teresa (Oct. 15), the Bishop
placed the Female Orphan Asylum under the charge of the little Com-
munity. After exhorting them to the two-hold exercise of charity- -the love
(,)f (}(^d and the love of their neighbor — he invested them with the religious
hal)it, placed them under the protection of St. Joseph, and ordered that
henceforth they should be called the " C( ngregation of the Sisters of St.
Joseph."

These first founders then set about drawing up rules which would assure
the stability of the new societ}'. They were decided on little by little, the

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The Sisfcm of St. JoHeph.

211)

foundation heinjf those iirst written l)y St. Francis de Sales for the Order
of the Visitation, and whicli Bishop de Maupas called the best guarantee
for the future of the new Institute. I'ather Medaille added thereto .some
retfulations of St. Ignatius, especially in regard to the vows which were to
impose the same obligations as the simple vows pronounced at the close of
the novitiate in the Society of Jesus.

By an episcopal oidinance, dated March lo, 1651, Bishop de Maupas
solemnly confirmed the establishment of the new Institute; he founded
several houses of the Congregation in his own diocese, and throughout his
life manifested the greatest zeal for its advancement. His successors
continued to promote the good work, the civil power gave its sanction, and
Louis XIV. confirmed by letters patent the establishment of the Congre-
gation.

Gradually the Order spread through the adjoining parts of !<' ranee.
Its members were employed in various ways ; the education of the y<ning ;
the care of tlie orphan, the sick and the infirm ; the charge of hospitals,
and the visitation of the poor — such were, up to the time of the l-'reneh
revolution, the principal works which claimed their attention.

But the fatal year of i/Sg brought many miseries to the church m
France, and not the least among them was the forced suppression of
religious Coinnuinities. The convents of the Sisters of St. Joseph were
taken possession of in the name of the Commune, and the members obliged
to seek, as best thc;y could, some place of slielter. '1 h(' Su[ierior, Rv\ .
Mother St. John I'\)ntbonne, found a refuge in the home of her parents.
Here she was joined by two other sisters, and together they performed the
religious exercises of the Community. Being, at length- discovered, liie>'
were loaded with chains, and dragged to the prison of St. I)idier, then; to
;iwait the death .sentence. Many other members of tlie Conununity were
tlirown into the same prison, and Mother St. John proved herself an heroic
mtJther to her companions by constantly encouraging thiMii to suffer with
fortitude and resignation. ()n .1 te-'.ain day they were to be guillotined for
rtifusing to take the i)rescribe{l oatii : morning came and found them in
readiness, but the sudden fall ol ivojjespierre the night before brought them
pardon and liberty. TlKuigh these courageous .souls w.-re not privileged to
die for the faith, the names of Sisters of St. Joseph are not wanting on the
list of the martyrs of the rtivolutionarx period.

i ' !

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220

Tlie Iteiiyious Coiiiiininities.

As soon as peace was restored to the Church, Mother St. Jolm
endeavored to reorj^^anize the Coniniunity. This i)roved to Ik- no serious
task; the restoration of tlieir property was refused, and a sjiirit liostih;
to rehfj;ious orders ]ire\ailed anioni,' the; jieople. Ikit aftt^r }cars of
patient sufferinj^s and ardent supphqations, Mother St. John was called
to the city of St. Etiennc to transform a pious association there established
into a new (xMigrej^ation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Archbislu)|)
of Lyons, Most Ke\-. Dr. Fesch, strongly approved of restoring the Order
by means of this association, composed, a>' it was, of youn<^ girls and
former members of religious communities. Phis was accordingly done
in 1808, and shortly after, the Sisters were able to resume the religious
habit, reopen their convents, schools and a.sylums. And in a triil\ wonder-
ful '.nanner did the Order increase; the (ioxernment ga\e its authorization
in 1812, and henceforth new foundations were made, not only in b'rance,
but in many other European countries. A few years later, and we trace
the Congregation to the shores of India and America.

The mother-house of the Sisters had, in the meantime, been establish-
ed in Lyons, and from this centre radiated the various colonies of the
Community that supplied " the foreign missioi'S." The Sisli'rs of St.
Joseph hrst came to America in the year 1836. 'Phey were but six in num-
ber, and came to the diocese of St. Louis, Missouri, at the request of the late
Hi-shoji Rosati. Among these missionaries were two nieces of Rev. Mother
St. John Ivjntbonne, already mentioned as the second foundress of the
Community. One of these. Mother Dclphine l'"ontbonn<', was placed in
charge of the fu'st consent opened in America, that of Carondelet, in the
suburbs of St. Louis. Soon alle'r she was appointed Sujierior of a convent
and novitiate optlied in 1 'hiladelplii.i.

In the year 1851 the late revered Bisho|) de Charbonnel jiasscd through
tliat city on his return from a visit to Laltimore. lie had felt that his epi.scopal
city of Toronto stood in pressing need of a community that would instruct
the young, visit the sick and the poor, and take care of orphan children.
The family of P'onlbonne* in l'"rance being fa\-orabl\' known to P)isliop de
Charbonnel, he entreated Ivt. Ke\ . Dr. Kenrick, Bishop of I'hiladelphia, to
send Mother Delphine, with some of her religious, to make a foundation in

* Tlio Hishop's {aUiff, Count ile Chaibonni'l, hail gifail v assivitil Mnllicr SI |nlui I'oiil Imiiitic in
reorganizing; llie Coninmnitv after llic French Hevolnlion.

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The SistcfH of St. ■loncpli.

•221

his diocese. Permission licinj^ f^iven, Motlu>r Ddpliinc arrived in 'I'oronto
Oct. 7, 1851. She w.is accompanied by Sister M. Martha, from the
novitiate of St. Louis; Sister M. Alphonsus, and Sister M. Bernard,* from
the niixiiiate of lMiihid(>lpliia. ( )n iheir arrival in Toronto, the Sisters were
entrusted with the care of an Orphan Asyhini situated on Jar\ is street,
(forn'ierly Nelson). A novitiate for the new foundation was soon opened,
and in it many pious souls souf^ht seclusion from the world. In the follow-
ing year, 1S52, the Separate Schools were placed under the direction of the
Sisters; and thou.i^h difficulties presented llicniscKfs, owin^ to povi'rlv on
the one hand and l)ijj[otry on the other, the classes were well attended.
(iratifyin<j; results soon rewardetl the labors of the Sisters. I'he orphans
were well provided for ; the children prep/ared for the worthy recej.tion of
the Sacraments without detriment to their proijress in secular learninj; ;
siniurs were reclaimed ; j)risoners visited and instructed ; the sick and the
(hiuL; consoled.

Ill Ai)ril, 1S52, at thi; reipiest of the \'er\- Kev. I'., (lordon, Wd., three
Sisters were sent to llamillon to take chari;e of an ()r()han As\lum there.
l"or over four years the establishment remained a mission house of tlu'
Toronto Novitiate; but with the formation of Hamilton Dioce.se the branch
in'came a parent stem, from which, in turn, other missions ha\e successiveh'
spruni^. In addition to \arious charitable mstitulions, the Sisters conduct
main- of the parochial schools throughout the diocese of llamillon.

In June, 1S54, the Sisters remoxcd to their (■onxciUon I'ower street,
which the\ had m the meantime been enabled to erect. In the ( )r|)han
As\luni a suMicient number icmained to .attend to iis v.irious duties. I he
new Convent was blessed and the first Mass celebrated by the late \'er\
l\e\-. h'ather ( lordon, \'.( '•., on the feast of the \'isitation. In September oi
the followinn Near, 1S33, the first boarding' school for xouni; ladies was
opene<l in St. Paul's parish. The little C'ommunitv', ra|ii(ll\ incrcasim;, soon
extended its sphere of cseiuhu'ss. In less than li\e years' time it numbered
fi\'e different houses three within the cit\' limits, and two in other |)arts of
the diocese.

'I' 'riu' i)nl\ sijivhcif nf lluM' four inU-^iDiKiiirs i-. Molliui- M. l!,TM:iril Diiiaii, [\iv VfiU'iMlilc
.SiipiTior of Ulo '■ Sai Till lli'iiil ( )r|)h;ni .\~\luin,"' Suniivsiili.', 'roroiilo l"oi- o\<'i foil» I wo vimi^ sIh'
has horiio llu' swuet yokf of Iut Div iiu- Ma --I it. ami faiUifiill \ mtv iil I II in In -onu' of I In- nio-l ii-poii-
.■.ible olllcc's of till' Coninuiiiitv.

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222

The Rel'Ki'mua Communities.

Hut Cod, whose dcsif^ms arc all-wise and inscrutable, willed to impress
the sif^n of the Cross on the humble Community blessed with so prosperous
a bcf^inniiifj;. It pleased Him to call to Himself Rev. Mother I~)elphine,
and to crown her \irtuous life with a happy and edifying' death.

Towards the close of the year 1855 a fever-stricken patient was
admitted unawares into the Sisters' Orphan Asylum. Rajiidly the contaj^ion
spread amon;^^ the inmates ; and in attending; them, no fewer than nine
Sisters contracted the disease. Their devoted Superior, Rev. Mother
Deiphine, though overwhelmed with grief, was untiring in her attention on
her beloved children. Hut when (iod re([uires the .sacrifice maternal
tenderness and unremittmg care are unavailing. After witnessing the
edifying death of two of her Sisters she herself was stricken with the disease ;
and on tlic 7th of I'cbruary, 1856, she was numbered among " the faithful
depart(>d." I laving in life been a holy example to her dear .spiritual children,
she taught them in her last moments how a true religious .should prepare to
meet her crucitied Spouse.

Rarely has a Superior been more tenderly venerated, more deeply
lamented. The sorrow of her sisters, assembled around her death-bed, was
in proportion to the affection they bore their .saintly mother, who.se cherished
name still lives in the hearts of iier spiritual children ; and to-day, after ;i
lapse of well nigh thirty-.seven years, the sacrifices she made, the virtues
she practised, are fr(H|uently recounted for the edification and example of
the young religious.

In a letter written by Hishop de Charbonnel to the Director of the
Grand Seminarv of Lyons, France, the sad news was conveyed to Mother
Delphiiie's brother, Rev. J. l'^)ntl)onne. His Lordship pays the decea.sed
Sui)erior the following tril)ute :

" My Dear h'riend It will be easier for you than for me to find the
Abbe I'ontbonne, formerly a missionary in America, and at present stationed
in the diocese of Lyons, somewhere about \'errieres, if I am not mistaken.

" it is my sad duty to announce to him that his sister, Mother Deiphine
I'ontbonne, bOundress and Superior of the Religious of St. Josi ph in
Canada, entered into h(,'r reward, b'ebruary 7, 1856, (Mie hour after midday,
holily fortified »vith all the rites of the Church, and surrounded by tlie most
devt)led attentions.

77«' Sistcm <;/■ .S7. Jompk. 2'2!J

" This cxc(!llciil ;iiul worlhy iiiecc of the suinlly Mother St. jolin had,
111 hvc years, cstabHshed hi Toronto, a Novitiate, an Orphan Asylum, a
House of Providence, which affords to the poor every spiritual and l«'inpoiaI
succor, and several other houses in the diocese, luidowed with j^reat
wisdom and experience, this holy Superior enforced the rule with swccnicss
and firmness. Iler judj^nnent was solid, her mind clear and penetrating;,
her prudence enli^ditencd and far-seeing'. She was laborious, enernetic,
active and provident.

"At the age of twenty-one she was appointed Superior of the first
colony of Sisters sent from I'rance to St. Louis, Mo., and now she is dead
at the early age of forty-two.

" Her robust health promised her a long life, but slu' has fallen a victim
to her charity while attending some of her sisters and novices stricken
with fever.

" Will you be kind enough to transmit this (dnimunicalioii to Ikt
reverend brother, and inform also the Rev. Superior C.eneral of the
Mother House at Lyons, that the suffrages of the Coinmunitx inav be given
to our dear decea.sed Sister, although 1 feel assured she has eiitercfinto
beatitude.

" I hope when I go to Europe to be able to get a considerable number
of sisters and novices. We have work here for a hundred if we could get

^^^^^ 'i^he religious are called to do an immense good here ;

and, as I sometimes tell them, they can do everything but give absolution ;
they can, however, give instead perfect contrition and charity."

The obseijuies of Rev. Mother Delphine, at which IJishop de
Charbonnel officiated, were celebrated on the gth of I-"ebruar\ , with a
religious solemnity worthy of her who was lamented. It was liideed an
edifying and most affecting sight to witness the whole Communitv, then
forty-eight in number, paying a last iniblic tribute of veneration to llu'ir dear
departed Mother. And it would seem that her petitions in heaven were
more powerful than her prayers on earth had been : after lur death the
epide.nic that had done such fatal work entirely ceased, and her remaining
spiritual children, guided by a wise and prudent Superit)r, K'l'v. Mother
Teresa, were spared to continue their various charitable undertakings.

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221

'J'lif licVni'uiuH CiimmiuulUH.

> ■ 1

()ii<i>rtli<' iiidst iin|>(iil,ml of tlicsr was llic lu.m.iLjciiiciU nf llic I louse of
I 'i(i\ i(l( luc.

Ill llif (oiirsf of ;i lew Ncars tlic ("omiminitv was attain in a |)rospii(>iis
(•(iiulitioii ; main- iciAcnl siihjcrls had lucii rcccixcd, srvcral mw liouscs of
tiic C'oiij^rc^'alioii opened, and the pupils of holli the jiaiixliial and llie
hoarding' sciiools ronstanlh on the increase.

The convent erected on Power street in nS^^ soon proved too small to
serve the tiiple purposi' of mother house, novitiate and acadeinw It was,
therefore, considered necessary to erect a I'onvent that would allord ampK:
accommodation to the steadiK- increasin<4 Community IWit lackin;,' as they
did all cailhK re.sonrccs, the Sisters could oiiK' appeal with childlike conli-
dence to I Inn who (iromises a hunch'ed fold, even in this life, to those who
leave all for ills sake. Though not in a desiraMe localit\-, the }.;round
adjoining' the House oi l'ro\ idence was at the disposal ol ihe Sisters, in case
the\- wished to build lIuK'oii. This they rcluctantK dci ided lo do, fearm^
that nothing hetter would oiler itself. Stoii 'S lor the foundation were
accordin^h' ch"awn ai. 1 other prejiarations made foi' lieL;imiini; the work in
the spring;' of iSOj. |>ui I )ivine Providence willed otheiwise. A novcna of
adoration was he^un li\ ihe Community in ord<r to learn, if |)ossil)k', the
holv will of ( iod in tlu ir import.mt undertakinj.,', and in answer '.o it their
faith and )>iet\ were reuardi (I. In I'^ehruary, 1S62, the lion, joim PImsley
heard, throuj^h the j^mxhI Hasilian leathers, of the difficullies under which
the Sisti'rs labored, and <;enerousl\- donated them two acres of the land
known as the "Clover llill Pstati;."

The erection of St. Joseph's Convent and .\cadem\ was immediatelv
bes^un, and in .\ui;u.^t, USO3, the building; was comphted. It was blessed
on the P'east of the Assumption, the first Mass bein<^ ((lebrated b\' the late
Archbishop P\nch, who deli\(re(l a fatherly and most iiathetic di.seour.se to
the assembled Sisters. Several additions havi- sim-e been madt' to the
main buildings the principal beinji; the new eastern win<,^ erec ted in iSS^.
and sj)eciall)- devoted to academic purposes.

The Community had, in the mean time, succeedid in purchasing,' a
number i)f adjoining lots; these, in addition to the land donated, form the
spacious square known as " St. Joseph's Place."

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As previously stated, tlie Sisters were .ijiven rhar^n^ of tlie paroehial
schools in the city as early as 1852, tiie first under their direction heinii,' St.
Patrick's school, then situated on Oueen street. In the followin.i; year a
school was opened in St. Paul's parish, two Sisters being placed in charge.
Gradually the number of iiarochial schools increased, till at present (1892)
there are under the din^ction of th(^ Sisters of St. Joseph in Toronto and its
immediate vicinit\- forty-four classes with a daily average attendance of
over two thousand two hundred |nipils.

The high classes for girls of the Separate schools are taught b\- the
vSisters of St. Joseph. To the curriculum of studies, formerly identical
wiuh that of collegiate institutes, have lately lu^en added phonography, type-
writing, and a thorough commercial course. The pupils (jualify for third
and second class teacher certificates, and the success attending their efforts
at the various departmental examinations jinnes that the work of jirejiaration
is carefully and thoroughly done. In addition to the Separate schools, the
Sisteis in St. Mary's parish conduct a private day-school for young ladies
and a class for junior boys. In vSeptember, :8(jo, the Sisters removed into
their new " St. Mark's Convent " on Bathurst street, a large and cheerful
building.

Several new and important missions had in the mean time been opened.
In December, 1856, at the recjuest of \'er\ Kev. Dean (Irattan, three Sisters
were sent to St. Catharines to take charge of the parochial schools. With
the growth and prosjierity of the town the number of classes gradually
increased ; as did also the attendance in the select school openecl for young
ladies in 1870. The Sisters were, therefore, encouraged to ]irovide more
ample accommodation, and as a c()nse(]uence they erected, in 1874, St.
Joseph's Convent and .\cademy, one of the most imposing edifices in thr
city of St. Catharines. In January, 183S, four Sisters were .sent to Harrie
at the re(|uest of Kev. b'ather |amot, afterwards Hishop of Peterborough.
In November of the same year, in respon.se to the appeal of l-Iex'. leather
Proulx, the mission of ( )shaw,i was opened; and ii. August, 1875, four
Sisters were sent to Thorold to open a branch house of the Comnlunitw
The permanent establishment of the Sisters of St. Joseph in this town
is principally owing to th(- endeavors of the zealous pastor, Kev. T.
Sullivan.

i I

•220

'I'lic Rd'ni'wuH Coiiiiiiiinities.

In all llicsc (lillcrcnt missions the Sisters take charf^e of the jjaiochial
schools, conduct music classes, visit the sick and poor, and attend to the
religious training of the children entrusted to their care.

The next mission w.is opened in London in Decemln'r, iSOS. At ilie
request of Kt. Kev. Dr. Walsh, now .\r(hl)ishop of Toronto, li\e Sisters
were sent to take chartj;e of an Orphan .\sylum. The little Comnmnit\-
remained subject to the mother hou.u: in Toronto until December, 1871.
On receiving letters of obedience from Most Rev. Archbishop Lynch, the
Sisters in London were constituted into a regular diocesan Community ;
a novitiate was at once opened and in a short timi' mission houses were
established throughout the diocese. In addition to the care of the sick ;ind
poor, the Sisters are engaged in conducting l)oth parochial and select
schools.

At the recpiest of the late revered Bishop Jamot, who had a previous
knowledge of the work of the .Sisters in the Archdiocese of Toronto, a colony
of five Sisters was sent to Port Arthur in August, 1881. They took charge
of ihe paroc:hial schools, conducted music classes, and undertook such
works of mercy as the exigencies of the- jilacc required. In an addition
built to their convent in 1883 the Sisters were induced to open a teniporary
hospital. The following year the erection of " St. Joseph's Hospital" was
begun, and rajiidly pushed on to completion. Though under Oovernmont
control, the Sisters have retained the direct management of this great
work of charit}-.

In September, 18S3, at the re(|uest of Rt. Rvv. I^ishop Jamot, four
Sisters were sent to take charge of the i)arc)chial schools in C'obourg. The
luijiils increas ng in numl)ers, additional Sisters were soon recpiired. A
private class (or young ladies was also opened in the convent building ; but
being found a matter of much inconvenience, it was closed aft(,r a short
time.

In llie \icinity of I'ort Arthur is situated the Indian village of b'ort
William. In the summer of 1884, in answi'r to the re()uest of l>isho)i
Jamot, four Sisters went from Toronto to take charge of the school for
Indian girls, who are kejit as boarders in the Con\-ent. They are t'lther
orphans or children whose homes are at too great a distance from tlie school
to allow them to attend it regularly. Besides the ordinary work of the

-®

Sitrrnl Heart Orplntii Asijliiiii. Sintnijsiilr. .2'27

class n... Ill iIk: pupils aiv l.-iu-ht scwin-. knittin<,Mnul all kinds ..f house-
work, sdim-wliat afUT tlic manner of an industrial school.

The diocesan or>;anization of the Sisters of St. Jo.seph in the diocese of
I'eterborou-h is of recent date, l^y the wish of their ecclesiastical Supi^riors
the Sisters remained subject to the mother house in Toronto for nine years,
the Hnal separation takin- place in June, iS.jo. 'I'he ni<.tli<r house or
novitiate of the diocese is in f.indsay ; and thou-h but a short time opened,
many fervent subjects have embraced therein the humble and laborious life
of reh^nous. To the direction of the Sisters the <;irls' classes of the
parochial schools in Lindsa)- are entrusted.

In the nei.L^diborinj,^ town of Teterborou-h the fine new " Ilos|)ilal of St.
Joseph" is under the care of the Sisters. This charitable institution is open
to all classes and creeds; and, apparently, sectarian differences do not
hinder a lar<;e number from .seeking admission. Many additional n.iuests
for new foundations from the mother house in Toronto have been rcf^ac'tfullv
refused, owin<4 to the limited number of subjects to meet the demand.

SArKKi) Heart Okimiax .\svh:.m, Sinnvsi di:.

It has already been noticed that an Orphan .\svlum was intrusted to
the care of the Sisters of St. Jo.seph on their arrival in Toronto in 1S31.
This home for the homeless was founded by that ^leat and <^nod man, lion.
John b:imsley, under the auspices of the saintly J^ishop de Charbonnel.
Until his Lordship's charitable design of op(.nin<,r a House of I'rovich'nce
was realized in 1837, the .A.-ylum supplied, as far as possible the Ion- fok
want of such an institution. In 1S59 the orphans were transferred froin the
Asylum on Jar\is street to the Hou.se of Providence, in which separate
apartments were fitted up for their accommodation. But after the lapse of
a few years it was considered neces.sary to secure a separate buildin;; for the
children and leave the House of Providence for what it was originally
intended--a home for the sick, the incurable and the a^ed poor. With a
view, therefore, to opening a branch institute of the Hou.se of Providence,
the Sunnyside property was purchased in i.SSi. This jiropertv, situated
near the junction of Oueen .street and \U<ih Park, had pre\ iouslv lucn in the
temporary posses.sion of the Sisters. In 1S76 the charitable owner, Mr. 11.
Speid, offered to the Superior of the House of Providence the free use of the
house and ^'rounds for the space of three years, with the expressed wish that

T1 M

T ■

t i

I,'

■1-lH

Till' lU'Viit'ioiix ('itiiniiiuiitii

tlir n^idiiuc should he used as an (irphananc. lit' ^ciieiousU ('\lciul( d
llic lime for two \cars loiiL^cr, and llicii (ilfrRd tlic proixTtv at a \-cry
reasonahli- price. In |unc, iSNi, his l.ortlship l-Jisliop O'Mahonx, witli llie
approval of Arc-liliishop l,\iirh, made the )nn"('has<' for the sum of S(),5oo.

Thf .Sisters a^'ain ohlained possession and in a comparalivcK short
time th(>y renio\ed the infant ehildren to their new home, leavinj;, for the
time bein^, the huf^er ones in the House of Providence. But that institu-
tion becomin^f overcrowded, 't was considered advisable to erect an addition
to the Sunnvside buildinL,^ for the Ix^ttt^r aeeoniniodation of the orphan boys.
The corner-stone ol the new institute w.is laid on the feast of the Nati\it\ of
Our Lady, 18H4, b\- his (iraci .\rchi)isho)) Lynch ; and on the feast of St.
Teresa, October 15, i>SiS5, the orphan boys, to the number of one hundred
and thirt\-, were transferred to the new Asvlum at Sunnyside. The chanj^'e
has proNi'd a hij;hlv benefuTiI one the picturescpie and healtiili'l surround-
in<j;s, the out-(h)or exercises, the larj^e and cheerful class rooms, liave each
and all contributed to elevate the moral and physical well-bein;,' of these
homeless boys.

With .so pleasinj^ an experience, the Sisters next endeavored to improve
the temporal welfare of the orphanj^irls, who had, in the mean time, remained
in the Hou.se of Providence. In the Spring of i8yo it was decided by
the C'ommunitv, with the approbation of his (irace .\rchl)ishop W'alsh, to
erect a second addition to the Sunnyside Institute for the accommodation
of the orphan '^\r\s. The first sod was turned on the 27th of .April, 1890,
the feast of the Patronafj;e of St. Joseph, and in .Vu.gust, 1891, the entire
buildiuf; was complete. On the 8th of September iollowing one hundred
and twentv orphan i^jirls were removed to tlie "Sacred lleart Orphan
.\svlum," the name by which the institute is at present known. CMiildren
are left at the Mou.se of Providence till old enou}j;h to enter the class room.
On the 24th of the same month .\rchbishop Walsh dedicated the new
" Chapel of St. Jos(;ph," and " Sacred Heart ( )rphan .\s\lum." In doinjj;
so, his (irace delivered a most ehxpient and pathetic discourse ; he eulo-
gized the good work in which the Sisters were engaged, and showed that
in taking care of the poor and the homeless they were doing the work our
Divine Lord began on earth.

In the new portion of the building, also, the class room, dormitories,
refectories and plav rooms are large, airy and well lighted, and every

St. Nir!inl,,-i Iiist'itiitr Niilrr Ditnii IlislilKlr.

229

arniii-eiiiL'iit sccins (lc^,i.^'nc(ll\ in.ulc Iv lu'iictit "Cod's poor liltli' ones."
In addition to class work thi; -iris are tau^dit sewing, knittint; and various
other housrliold duties; tlie hoys l.ein.^- oeeiipied at the same time in
tailorings knitting, gardening and other u.^eful employments. The regis-
tered attendance of children averages about two hundred and seventy,
though the institution has amjjle accommodation for nearlv four hundred
inmates.

St. Nil Hoi. as I.Nsrni'n:.

The St. Nicholas Institute was founded in iHOy hv the late distin-
guished i)relate, .\rchl)ishop Lynch. He conceived the charitai)le design
of opening a hou.se for working hoys wherein they w.)uld he protected from
e\il society, and exixrience at the same time the comforts of a home. The
huilding is connected with [\\v Convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph on
Lombard street. These good religi(His have the general management of the
institute, wliile a trustworthy man has the immediate- superintendence of
the boys. These average in number about lifty, and are in general well
conducted and honorable. In course of lime main- of them have greativ
improved their condition in life, and have thus liappil\- realized the antici-
pations of the illustrious founder.

Notre Damk Institute.

In April, iK7i,the Notre Dame Institute was founded by the late
Archhishoi) Lynch. Knowing that many respectable Catholic girls came to
the city to attend the Normal School, fill positions in stores, learn trades,
etc., he determined to secure them a comfortable boarding house under the
control of a Religious ( )rder. I'or this purpose the building on Jarvis strei't,
formerly used as an Orphan .\sylum, was titled up, a large addition built,
and the institution placed m charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph. So well
did the establishment succeed, that in the course of a few \-ears it was found
necessary to .secure a more comnii dious huilding.

The new Institute on Bond street, to which the Sisters removed in
i<S(S5, is well adapted to the needs of the occu])ants. It is in a more desira-
ble locality, and within easy reach of churches, schools, and the business
portion of the city.

' I

•230

'I'lir Ili'lii/ioitu Cniiniiiniitii

This hiiildiiiL,' sitiiiili'd on Hoiul sUcil Iiiid (uicc lucii ciniiloxcd
;vs a liaplist Cliiirch. Il was |iurcliascd 1)\- .\nhlii^liii|) l,\iuli and lurncd
iiiti) a public hall. The Sisters of vSl. Joseph llieii liniiL;iit it, and (■omi>letely
chaiif^'inj^' the interior, turned il to the purpose lor which Notre l)aine had
been established.

Within tiic last few months the purpose of the house has a^'ain been
chan^'ed, and Notre Dame has been converted int(j a Catholic Ibjspilal
under the cJKir^e of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Ilorsr; or I'koviiucnci:, Tokon i

().

The lar;.;fst charitable institution in the; cit\- of Toronto, if not in the
Pro\ince, is that known as the; House of Providence, situated in the east
end of th<' ( it}-. It is an iniposin^f ediHce, the main luiildin.i; bt'in.i;' 130 feet
by Oo feet and four stories hi<j;h, and is situatid in a \(rv desirable localitw

I'nder (iod, the Mouse of I'rovidenci' owi'S its orii^in to the charitable
zeal and wise lorethouij;ht of the late Monst'i.^Mieur de Charbonnel, that truly
^ood man, wliose heart was ever responsive to the appeal of the sulfeiiiiL;
pot)r, and whose mind was tireless in its efforts to assuage their miseries.

The laudable work undertaken by his predecessor was assiduously
carried on by the late lamented and much revered .Archbishop L}nch, and
to his wonderful energy and whole-souled charity may l)e attributed many
of the sjiiritual and temi)oral bU'ssini^fs now enjo\'e(l b\- its inmates.

The object o( its establishment, together with the projt'cted plan of
maintenance-, probablv suLjijested to the hol\ founder of the institution the
name " House of Providence," so aptl)' aj)plit'd. Since its foundation in
1857, it has been a refu,L;e and a comfortable home to thousands of sick,
inhrm, destitute and forsaken, who otherwise would have been thrown on a
cold world.

A special inter|)osition of Providence seems, too, to have contributed
to the success and support of the establishmi'iit. .\t the time of its
commencement the spirit of i)igotry prevailinj; in Toronto was very stron<f,
and was manifested in an attt'inpt to destroy the new buildmj,' by a modern
" (iunpowder Plot." An early discovery of the desij^n, however, happily
led to it beinn frustrated. Many interestinff circumstances are still related
b\ tlu' older members and by friends of the ("ommunit\-, to show the truly

l!S-

IfiiiiHe of I'mridciicp, Toronto. ygj

providential manner in winch the institution, in its earlier (lavs, was often
relieved and its inmates sueeored at a time when i)rosi)eets looked anything
hut encoura'fin'T.

In the year 1S57, wliile the Iniilch'n.Lj was yet under course of eonstrue-
tion and almost destitute of furniture, it was opened under the direction and
manafrement of the Sisters of St. Josepli.

A nunilxr ,,f sick and destitute were its first inmates; and, tliou-h
accommodations were meagre and sources of maintenance uncertain, the

IIOCSK 01- Pki)VU)KN( K, I'dWKR SjRKKI.

Sisters were not discouraged, hut went hravely on in their divine mission,
sometimes going frou) door to door soliciting alms to procure the necessaries
of life for (iod's poor and needy who w(;re given to their care.

In the year 1S39 a numlx r ..f orjihan children who, since 1851, had heen
un(l<r the charge of the Sisters on Jarvis street, were removed to the House?
of Providence, and a portion of the huilding was set aside f.,r tlx'ir accommo-
dation, as their late .isyluin vwis not large enough for the constantly
increasing numhers. Prom that time until J885, when Sumivside IIom('
was ])repar(-d for the orphan hoys, the two institutions were conihined, Ining
under the same roof and the same management.

The orphan girls remained at the Ilou.se of Providence until Septemher of
last year (rSyi), when, Sunnyside Home having heen suitahly enlarged, they too

't'-

«-

-m

•282

The li'fl'uiioiis ConimtniUies.

.M.(l-

wen; removed lliere. With tlie exeeplioii of childii'ii under four \e;irs, wlio
still occupy iIk' first ll;it, till' House of I'rovidencc is now filUid with the
s'ck, the a^'ed ;ind the incurubles, for whose benefit it was orij^'inally
intended. Tlie poor old men occup\ detaclied Ijuildin^s, except the;
incurables, who haxc jusl bien remoxcd to the Jarj^e sihool rooms lately
vacated b\- the orphan ^nrls.

rile f;rowth ot the Mouse of l'ro\ idence has kept pace with that of the
city, and with the ever incnasinj^f demands made ui)on such institutions;
but thouj^h the buildini; has been enlar<;((l to almost four times its orij^inal
size, it is at present lilled to its utmost cai)acity, havin<; about li\c hundred
and thirty inmates — includinj; thirty Sisters in charj;e.

In the course of about ten years from the dat(; of foundation, the build-
ing had become! so over-crowded that, fn/m time to time, n)an\- deservmi;
poor had to be denied admittance ; but owiiii^ to limited resources and the
stru^f<:(linj;' of the Sisters to mei'l current and necessary expenses, all thought
of enlar^nn.L; the buildin.iC was reluctantl}' set aside until Christmas, iSjj.

While several charitable ladies were dcvotin,^ at that festive season
their means and time to the poor, they noticed with pain how the Superior
was obliged, on account of the crowded state of the house, to close (iod's
door against the suffering members of Christ. Explanations followed ; a
public meeting was called ; a list ojiened, and lixc thousand dollars were
subscribed forthwith. The Catholics throughout the cit\' were ai)iieale(l to,
and responded with their usual generosit)'. Indeed it would be unfair not
to notice the charity of all citizens when it was ever a ([uestion of the House
of Providence. The rich have gi\'en of their abundance, and the poor have
added their mite. It wt)uld not do for a book like this to name or distin-
guish an\ — betti'r for them that their names be written in the Book of Life.

The new wing, a large building 140 feet b\' 55 feet, was com))leted at the
close of 1874, at a cost of i::>j5,Goo ; and in January, iiS75, was blessed by
his Grace Archl)ishoi") Lvnch. An increase in the Government grant at that
particular time, obtained through the influence of the Hon. C. V. b'raser,
was indeed most o]iportune. In an amendment to the " Charity Aid Act,"
a clause was introduced awarding a certain sum towards tlu! sup|iort of each
inmate in the different charitable institutions, instead of giving indiscrimi-
nateh , as had been done heretofore. This ob\iouslv just and wise measure

)«

IlitiiHt' <if I'riiriilciiic, 'I'liiiiiito.

2!J!t

was loiif,' and strenuously opposed by an ;inti-C'atliolir faction of the Covern-
ment, who eoniphiined of its bein;,' "an appropriation of pubhc funds to
sectarian purposes;" but nolwithstancbiin this opposition |usti(<' jirevailed,
and instead of the pittance fornieri\ ;4ranted, the llousc^ of I'lovideiuc
received the next year from (iovi'rnnient the very hberal sum of !rl3,298.54,
and the Orphan Asylum >Si,3(J3.SS; niakinj^ a total of !!>4,<S92.4_', as com-
pared with the f^rant of )|> 1,500 of ilie previous year. By the adjustment of
this j^raiU seven cenls a day was allowed for each inmate of the House of
Proxidence, iiiid two cents a day for each inmate of the ()ri)han Asylum.

In order to show the fairness and the justice of ijii.s measure we make a
few (juotations. In his report on " Charities" to the I .ieuti'nanl-( lo\ernor
in Council, the Inspector, Mr. Lan;.;iiiuir, made the following' remarks:
" These h^^uri's appear to prove that, in the past, this lar^a- institution, the
Hou.se of I'rovideiue, has not received from the (;overnnient, an)thiny like
what it deserved for the work it has peiTornied."

I'our years jirrviou.sly, in iSji.lhe ( .r.uid J ury reported as follows:

1 louse 01

ni\ idenc<\ 111 which there

"The Crand )ui\ this da)' visited the
were j(x) inmates. They found the Ibni.se .scrupulously clean and evidently
well manaf^ed, and they fully concur with the opinion of the last Crand Jury,
that the CJovernment grant of 8(/)<) per annum is (|uite disproportionate to
the magnitude and work of the establishment ."

There bein.i; no i)ropcr accommodation for the mmati's lo hear Mass,
it was de(;me(l necessary to build a ( hapel, which was done in the year 18S1.
This new buildin.t,' afforded further a<commodation, so nuu h needed, on
the -ground floor and basement. The latter had been originallv intended
for the incurable men, but on account of the j^reat numbers of sick poor who
daily and weekly sought admittance, the\ were destined, until the jiresent
year, to be deprived of it.

We (piote from a circular of Arcbl)i>.hop L)nch, in reference to the
annual statement of the House of Pro\idence:

"Nothing short of an almo,-,t miraculous interi)osili()n of rroxidence
could have enabled the good Sisters presiding ovi'r the institution, with the
slender resources at their disposal, to shelter, feed and clothe so many (530)
poor whom Ciod has adoi)ted as His own children; to supply medicine to
the sick, and even to provide coilins for those whom God has called to Ilim-

:il

Till' KfVui'wum ('oiiniinniticH,

sc'lt". 'I'lir mlcllij^.ni (• and |).iticncc, ahoNc all, tlic indiisH)- aiul sdl'-sac rilici'
exhibited li\ the pniir Sisters in llu' maiiancincnt of liie estal)lislini(iU arc
Ix-yond all piaisc I'.very liand that lan he (•mi)l())cd is liaincd lo iiuUistry.
'I'hf m.d<iiiLj and mending of elotiics, washinj;, tookinj; and.l)akin^ are done
in thf 1 louse. Ii\ inchistry siieh as this salaries to servants are saved, and
the Sisters an- ahlc to su|)|)ort, at a cost of less than fifty dollars a year,
pcM'sons who, in ( lovcrnincnt estahlishnicnts, would eost three or four linies
that amount. l'"roni this it will he seen how worthy so noMe an institution
as the 1 lou.se of I'rovidenec is ot the supp of the l<iiid-hearted people;
and those who eontrihutcd towards it, according' to their inrans, will not
hear a(Uh'esse(i to thcni on the fi;ri'at l)a\ of |u(l^inent the reproaeh of our
Hl(;ssi'd 1,1)1(1 : ' I was hunj.;r\' and \ou .L;ave nie ni>l to tat ; naked and )()U
clotjicd me not ; homeless and \(ni took um- not in.'

" The expcnditLirc last Near (iSjI.Goo) was mcrca.sed hy thr crcc lion of
a new roof on the main huildini^, and payments of (hihts on the chapel and
adjoinini; luiildin^s. These costK' repairs were not undertaken for the sake
of emhellishmeiU, but beeause tlu\ were absolutely iieeessary. |)esirablc
as ornaments are, the ^ood Sisters would not think of saeriheinj,' for them
funds so much needed b\ the destitute t)rpiians and sirk poor, whose wel-
fare, both spiritual and temiM)ral, the\ so dearly prize."

On another oeeasion his (iraee wrote : " TIk j;ood Sisters have all the
trouble and anxit'ty of coUeetin^ funds and manaj^in-f .so larf^e an institution,
and suffer a <,freat deal mentally and bodily ; but they act as the ser\ants of
Jesus Christ, and their eonlidenee in His mercy is justified."

The Archbishop made fre(|uenl \isits to the House of I'rosidence;
and, with his usual paternal kinchiess and condescension, would walk
around the sick wards to speak words of comfoit and encouragement to the
suffering |)atients and feeble old people.

Besides the care and anxiety his (irac(> always took in the spiritual

interests of God's poor and lowly, he showed an equal solicitude in
alleviatinj;' their tenijioral wants. For many years he had aj^itated an
increase of (iovernment grant for the incurables in the House, and in i>SiS5
succeeded in obtaining it. The year following he addressed a pastoral to

e jiatrons an

d benefactors of the House, of which he

wriies m

ie.se

terms : " We are happy to say that the Ciovernment, on the rt'port of the
visiting physicians, and on the recommendation of Hon. Mr. Christie,

"^W?'"'

Uiiinr III' f'riiriili'iiir, 'I'lirinilii.

28f!

Iia^ .illiiiud tluTf l,ii«;c \v;ir(l> in the House .is ;i lionic lor inciir.ihli-s,
iiiid Ikis (^r.intcd llic daily allowaiur (13 (cnls each) which is .^ivcii to
the incuralih' Hospital o| ilu- city. This will proxc a \(|-\ f^'icit liclp,
and has lucn fairly iiicrilcd. 'I'hc I louse of l*ro\ideiice has receiith- lieeii
\isited liy his Honor the Lieuten.mt ( lovcrnor and sexcial nienduMs of'
i'arliantent, and more recently In his Worship the Maxor, and nianv of the
Aldermen. I'.very part of the lloust', from the kitchen to the upper
dormitories, was insjiected. All were surfirised at the extent, llu cleanli-
ness, and till' fj;ood order, evidently not expectiiif,' to see so much Ljood in
oprnitio'-' His Honor the Lieutenant ( lovernor made the followinj,' report:
' 'J"ht; Lieutenant (iovernor has ^n'l'at pleasure in recording for himself and
lor those hy whom he is acconiiianied the j^reat satisfa( lion with which they
ha\(' \iewed the excellent institution, which speaks volumes tor the care,
order, pra( lical charity and skill with wliic h it is conducted.'

" His Worship the Ma\t)|- also wrote ; 'i have felt ^reat pleasure in
ohserviilj^f the care and kindness which are notiicahle in tlx House; also
the perfect onler and cleanliness of the institution.'

" Many similai records m.iy he seen in the visitors' hook, as several
dislinj^uished persons have from time to time since its estahlishnient honored
the House by their visits. Amon^r the.-,e may lir mentioned Ihr lu.)al
Hif.(hncss Princess Louise, and each newly ajipoinlc d ( ■o\(rnor-( itiieral, his
I'.minence Cardinal 'I'aschereau, besides prelates and i ler!,'y from all parts."

'idle House of Providence depends for its support maiiiK on the
voluntary contributions of the charitable citizens of Toronto and the Arch-
diocese, supplemented by the <,nant before mentioned from the Ontario
(iovernnient, and another from the city, which latter has steadilv increased
from §>rcH) to S3,()()(), the l^imiU of the present \ear. It is, besides, occasion-
ally assisted by donations from municipalities and be(iuests of private
iiidixiduals.

As its door is open to all classes and creeds, Protestants have at all
times been very liberal in their contributions, and especially has this been
the case on the occasion of the Sisters' annual collecting; tour throuf.,di the
city in the fall. An annual pic-nic held on the Oiieen's Birthday is another
source of revenue; and citizi-ns testifx', by their attendance in <;reat
numbers, their apjireciation of the j^ood work and their interest in its
success.

»*!■

p\ lllli

P!<

•i:w

'I'lii' Uriiii'miii ('oninuni'it'ifx.

A few ver.rs ."f^o llie Sisters wcic luconU'd llic piixilo^c of making,' an
annual colh^ction in llic montli of November in ibe various Calliolif
( lunclus of Ine ciu, the proceeds of which ar,' appoilioni'd to tlie I louse of
l''o\ idt'iKH' and Smnu side ( Orphan .\s\linn. The Sisters also eolleel ainoni,'
the farmers in the Winter season tlour, meal, butter, wool, cjothiii!;, eti.,
; I of which f^i'es to lessen the monelar\ expenses of the House.

In this somewhat K'n.!;th\' skelcli v,e luve endeavored to ,i;i\(' to the
publu an outline of die ioun(latii>n ,^r>d bistor\' o{ one of Toronto's oldest
and most noted benexolenl insl itulions ; also to set before them some
intormation as regards its aims, the nature o! the work it performs, and its
character in j^eiii'ral. Crude ar ! imperlect thou_;h it bi', it will not, we
hope, be dcNoid ol interest to those acti\el\- or otherwise I'mploxcd in the
urand and doddike work ol Christian charil\.

Ccntinuiii': under t'u- patronage of the ^reai St. Joseph the silent
saint of the Catholic Church we trust that its future niav be producti\-e of
the sanu' bi'iielicent results as its p.ist, and that it ma\ alwa\s rank lore-
most amonij institutions of its kind in Anurica.

si:('ii()N \'

Tur: Sisia:K's or

nil:

KI.CIiUs 1)1,00 11

One ot the most important works in the Church is tiie hidden work of
prayer. And m no a^c have there been w.mtinfj; chosen children of Christ's
Spouse who ha\e been K d to devote thei lif(> ami ener<^ies to contempla-
tion and to the repanitioii of the mjurit'S and insults which sin offers to the
outra^'ed niajestv ol Cmd. In such an atmosphere' haxc ^nnvii uj) inaiiv of
tho most fra},naiU flowers of the Saints tlu' CalhariiU's, the (iertrudes .md
the Teresas whose virtues and tervor havt" been an odor ot sweetness to
the whole Church. Most, if not nearh' all of t''"se Communities were
founded in luirope. Hut Canada mav pride itself in having' established one,
havini; lor its specilic object the adoration ol the most rrecioiis lUood.

In iS()i Mi^r. Joseph i-aroc(pie, l-5ishop of St. lUacinthe in the Pro-
vince of Quebec, (U'cided, afttr ma.tur(> consideration, to lollow the i>rompt-
inj^s of divine grace which were very evidently manifested in the person of
Miss .Aurelie Caouc^tte, a \(uin,ii; ladv of his cathedral city. While still
at the convc'it of iNotrc D.ime Miss Caouette was wonderfully attracted

Till Sisfcin ,)/ thr PrcriouH BInol. 237

to Icvotion towards the niosl I'r.cious l^lo.nl. Tlu- spirial favors wliirli
she recrived, and the suiH-niatural ovidcMU'c of Cod":, will (l-tcnDiiud ilic
saintly M-r. Larocquc to cntrr upon the arduous task of rstahlishino a
contrniplative Community \vlu\sc partirular purpose would hr to lionor ilie
Precious I^lood of our Divine Lord, and l.\ their life of pr.iver and penance
niala^ atonement for the insults which -in oilers that threat price of our
redemption.

Accoidinol^-^ on the l-'east ol
he
Miss Caouette

he l'.\ailalion o| the I lol\ Cross, Septem-
ber the 14th, iSf)!, the pioneers of the Communit \-, four in numi.er. met in
e's house, wh(>re holy Mass was ct'lehralcd. ( )f this little hand
only two remain, the foundress, who took for hei- name in relii^ion Sister
Catharine. \ur<'lieofihe Precious illoo.l.and hercou.>iii, iuiphrasia Caou(>tte,
whose name in religion is Mother >t. Joseph, and who h ,s l,e<n Superior of
the house in Toronto ever since its foundation. i'he nouii- religious hef^^in
with more zeal than prudence. The penances winch' these innocent s.nil>
imposed up<.n Ihemselves, the .•mire child-like trust thev placed in ( iod, and
the fervor 'nth which ihev performed all thr ivli-ious exercises, were inoiv
to be admired than imilat<>(L However, m due course of time the .saintiv
prudence n( M.^v. Lar()C(iue lemixred their zeal, and t^xperieiice tau.i,dit
the sisters themselves t^at if they wished their Community to have
any stability, to take its rank amongst the reli^-ious institutes of the Church,
they must moderate theirardor .i]u\ not follow their own <;uidance. .\ strict
but careful ruU' was little bv little drawn up, which has sin.v, with, some
modiHcations, been t'onditionallv appro\cd li\ the llol\ See.

In |S()4 .\rchbi>hop Lyiu h first conceived the idea of introducing; the
Sisters of the Precious Blood into hisdioce.se, "in ord,.,," as he expre.s.sed
it to the Sisters themselves, "to help him-to brill- down the bk^ssinos of
(uul upon those souls which wen- the object of his .solicituth-." Ikit it was
not until iS(),jthat this wish was accomplished. The community was too
ft'w, loo \.)unLj and too poor to stand division. Put on the lM';ist of the
Nativity of the RIe.s.sed \ ir^in, Si'pteinber Sth, iStx), the Coiuent of the
Precious Hlood was founded in Toronto bv Hve choir sisters and one lay
sister cho.seii from^ tin- St. Il\acinthe Monastery. Of these only one
remains to tell tl,e story of their earl\ trials and sulferin-s, the revered
Sui)erior, Mother St. Jose|)h, who still -overiis her hou.se with the ze.il and
prudence of a trui- reli-ious. who has .s,vn the little home of St. Ifvacinthe

-?'?

1 ' 5

238

The lieliyious CoinmunitieH.

sprcul until it numbers to-diiy seven flourishing houses and near!)- two
hunch'ed sisters in all. The early chapter of the Community's history in
Toronto is one of" poverty and hardship. They at first were settled in the
old Loretto Con\ont on ]-5athurst street. In 1872 thev moved to the corner
of St. Joseph and St. \'iiicent streets, opposite St. Mich.ael's College. This
hous(! in turn became too small, and a larger one was purchased farther
vest on St. Joseph stre(!t. Hut no private residence is very suital)le for a
religious family. And this was the ca.se with the Sisters of the Precious
lilood in Tororto. The Sisters increasing in number, the building was too
small ; and, what was of more serious consideration, they could not cany
out their rule, which recpiired that they should be cloistered and entirely
secluded from the world. l'\)r some time the lu-.dth of the Sisters was so
seriously affected by the crowded state of the house that a change was of
vital importance^ to the continuance of the Community. Accordingly a
large addition was made to the Convent, the corner stone of which was
laid by his (irace .\rchbishop Walsh, May 28th, 1891 ; and now that it is
completed, the Sisters enjoy all the accommodation for their life and rule
according to the directions of the Institute. The cost of the inijirovements
is about 8-4,000.

In the basement are latticed waiting rooms for visitors, refectories for
ladies making lengthened visits, kitchen and laundry. The greater part of
the ground floor is occupied by the chapel, which is divided into two
sections — one for the nuns and one for the public. Vhc novitiate is also
on this floor. The Hrsl floor above is devoted to Community rooms, parlors,
and rooms for ladies who wish to spend some days in retreat. The whole
of the second floor is devoted to cells for nuns, of which there are twenty-
seven. The furnishings tliroughout are neat, Init simple and severe, and in
perfect keeping with the unostentatious piety and mortification of the Sisters
of the Precious Blood.

Their life consists chielK- in jirayer. They recite every da\ the divine
office, rising at midnigiit to chant matins and lauds. Special days of fast
and abstinence are ordered every week bv the rule, and .severe penances are
practised by these holy .souls, who, unknown to the world, presetU them-
L^elves as holocausts to the Precious Bk)od of our Divine Saviour. Suffering
and silent prayer were I lis lot upon earth ; they yearn to imitate Him and
to obtain for His Precious Blood a more abundant harvest of souls. What

The Sisters of Our Laili/ of Chanty of Itefutjc. 23!)

K^ood these hdly sisters do i, -ne Inu the ;in<,'els know; they are, however, faith-
ful ,!4uar(h;ins upon earth of our spiritual interests. We need thtni in these
days of an unspiritual people, and it is one of God's ehoieest blessings upon
this Diocese that a house of this Community has l)een established herein.

We feel that no historical notice of the Sisters of the Precious Blood
would be complete without a word concerning one who has been to tlu-m
much more than ordinary benefactress. If this Community is estal)lished in
Toronto upon anything like a firm basis, it is due to the zeal, the prudence
and devotion of Miss Mary Hoskin. Not only did this charitable lad\ bring
the Community out of its lowest state of poverty and enable it to buv the
jiroperty on the corner of St. Joseph and St. Vincent streets, but the Sisters
owe their rtne new home to her energy and care. Miss Hoskin is of an
English family, sister of one of the leading lawyers in this city, and is a
convert to the faith. Since her mother's death, some sears ago, she lives in
the Convent of the Precious Blood, to whose interests sh" d.'voles her life
With most deser\ed success.

SKCI'IOX \^l.

The Sisters of Otr Lady or C(iai;itv oi Ivi:ii;c,k.

] he more abandoned a s(HiI is the more does it become an objeC of
that divine charity which ever seeks the lost and strives to raise the fallen.
And of all abandoned souls none is more pitiable than those of unfortunate
women. Betrayed by false friends, condemned In the world and ostracized
by society, they have too often jierished in their mi.sery or Ijeen a scandal
to thousands. But from the time when the Master of all took one such by
the hand and, raising her up from degradation, made her the model of all
penitent souls, there have always been communities of women specially
devoted to the work of reforming their sex. Of one of these we have the good
fortune of possessing a house in the city of Toronto. The titlt> of the
Community is the Order of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge, which was
founded by the venerable I'ather John b:udes at Caen in Immiic.' in the year
1641. It IS modelled upon the Community of nuns established by St.
Augustine, whose rules were in substance adopted by the saintly priest when
founding them. They received approbation from Pojie Ale.vmder \'ll.
in 1G66, from Innocent XI. in ibSi, and from Benedict .\1\'. in i 74 i , who
put a hnal seal upon the constitutions and statutes of the Order, which had

-!i

-9

240 The IicHjiiiJiiH Coiinnniiiticn.

been revised at the (".cncral Asscmbh of tlie Community lield at Caen
in 1734.

The end of ttie Institute is to labor for the salvation of souls, for wliith
purpose the nuns, in ad(litit)n to the usual vows of povertv, obedience and
chastitv, bind themselves In a fourth vow to spend their life in the instruc-
tion of those wlu) \oluntarily place tluinseKes under their care to reform and
do penance. The rule also allows the Sisters to educate children for
preservation from a life which, bv its surroundiuf^s, mij^ht be an occasion of
sin. The ('ommunity, a strictly cloistered one, is composed of choir, lay,
and out-door sisters-- tlu last named hiinij principally employed in the care
of the apartments outside the enchjsure and in transactini;' the business of
the monastery. There are houses of the Communitv in many of the luiro-
pean countries as well as in America.

1 liis order, at the recpiest of the late saintly and charitable .\rchbishop
Lynch, established a house in Toronto in 1H75, under the title of " ^b>nas-
tery of our Lady of Charity." The founder. Mother St. Jerome, Tourneux,
professed in the Conxent at Kennes, had come from h'rance to JUdTalo, N. Y.,
as Sujierior of the ( iood Shepherd Con\enl there in 1H55. Thence she
went to Ottawa, where she established a convent in iSGO. Here she
remained until 1875, when, accompanied by Sister Mary of St. Joseph
Raiche as assistant and tw'o other choir sisters, one la\' and one out-door
sister, she arrixcd in Toronto on the 1 ith of September. They were most
heartily welcomed by Archbishop L\nch, who remarked that for t.-leven
years he had been askinj; for a house of tlieir Community, and now he
thanked (iod the\- had come at last.

On the feast of St Teresa, the 15th of October, the day from which the
foundation dates, .Xrchbishoj) Lynch assisted by Vicar-(ieneral Rooney,
blessed the altar and chaixl.

As with the other coiiiiiuniities of the diocese, the early years of these
devoted religious were marked b\ po\erl\', selt-dcnial and hardship. At
first occu]-)\inj,' that buildinj; which is closely connected with three out of
the four Communities of Sisters in tlu' ckv, viz : the l-Jathurst street
Loretto Convent, thev moxed to a prt)pert\ known as West Lod.ii;e pleasure
•frounds. On the 13th of [ulv, 1S79, the Sisters, with nineteen inmates,
took possession of their new home. 'I'heii lu'xt step was to jiurchase four
adjoinin<; lots for a sum of sixteen hundred dollars (iSi,boo). Then, in

-m

l«

The Sintcrx of the Holy Cross. o , |

1879, they l)uilt a house for the "children," the name hv which the penit.-nts
are called, which enabled them to carry out the rule reciuirin- the children
to be entirely separated from the Community. This was thorou-hlv carried
out, when a handsome and more commodious house was erected, tlie corner
stone of whuh was lai<l on the 30th of September, 1888. by the Wry Rev-
bather Kooiu^y, at that time Administrator of the Diocese. Thi's new
Monastery was solemnly blessed bv his (;race .\rchbish..p \\ ,,lsh on the
I2th of DecembfM", iSSq.

'i'he C-ommumtv numbers twenty-seven profe.ssed sisters and ei-ht
novices. At present the.se have char-e of .seventy-five penitents They
are diMd. ,1 into ihic'e classes : lir.stly, the youn- -iris; secondly, the a-ed and
■nhiiu ; and lastly, the class of perseverance, or of St. Maj^dalene, consist-
in- of tho.se who wish to remain all their life. After several vears of trial
in which thc.y must -ive proofs of solid virtue, they are pern^itted to bind
themselves by promise to remain all their life within the enclosure They
wear a special habit and have particular devotions and a rule of llu^r ,.wn"-
thev are not, however, allowed to become members of the C.nimunity.

In IN;,) ^b.ther .Mary of St. Aloysius Schottmuller, who had found.d
the .Monastery at Pitlsbui-h, was elected Superior in place <.f Mother St
Jerome, which odue she still holds, l,, the welfare and success of all .mi-
cerned.

si'X:ii()\ \ii.

riir; SisTi.K's 01 riir; Holy Ckoss.

This Community, which has chai-e of St. K-aphael's .\ca<lenn , Sainte
Croix in the County of Simcoe, was overlooked in the general list of the
reh-ious at the introduction of this chapter on account of the <listaiu situa-
tion of Its house and the purely local character of its work.

In 1S.S5 the late balluM- .Muhel, then pastor of Sainte Croix parish
invited the.se -ood Sisters h-oiii Montreal to teach the b:n-lish and French
lan-ua-es m th<. Separate .sch.,ols of his pari.sh, and to take charoe of an
.\cademy which he had built. Noiuithstandin- manv other demaiuls fn„n
various quarters upon the Sisters, they readily complied. Six Sisters
cominsat the close of the year iHH^, opened the select .school on January
7th 1886. I hey have an average of ninety pupils at the Separate school
and of thirty at the Convent. •

Ml )

■^

«<

242

Clutntablv Onianizdtions.

Tlie Institute ori^nnnted at Le Mans, l>ance, some fifty years a^^'o
llin)u<,'h the zeal of leather Antoine Basile Moreau, who had previously
founded thf; Fathers of the Holy Cross and the Brothers of St. Joseph.
The three Orders are cliielh devoted to the instructit)n of Nouth. Sliorth-
after its establishment hraneh houses were started in the United States and
Canada. 'i"he Indiana hraneh became, twenty-five years a<;(), independ-
ent of I'ranct; ; and this example was afterwards followed by tiie Canadian
branch, whicli has its mother house at St. Laurent, near Montreal.

sri'PLb:MHN'r.

CIIARriAI'.l.l', ()K(iANI/..\ri()NS.

I.
Till-; Sr. \'in(i:nt i>i: I'aci. Socii/rv.
Althouj^fh this Society lays no claim to the rank of a religious com-
munity, still the work it does is so kindred to that ol the Connnunilies that
no more suitable place than the present chapter could be found wherein to
record its histor\- .nd work in the Diocese.

The ])rinciple of this most deserving Society is thus laid down by
b'rederick Ozonam, its chief founder: " It is for the members to maintain
themselves stronj^^ in the Catholic faith, and i)rojia<j;ate it amongst others b)-
the practice of charitw"

The Hrst C(jnference of Charity of the Society of St. \'incent de Paul in
Toronto, and in the Province of Ontario, was founded on the loth of No-
\cniber, 1H50, by seven Catholic gentlemen, of whom but one sur\i\(s, the
\ eiurable Chevalier Macdonell, President of the Particular Couni il of tln'
city. The other names were: (). M. Muir, T. Mayes, C. Robertson. D. K.
b'eehan, and S. Ci. Lynn. A Conference was formed under the title of
" The Conference of Charity of Our Lady of Toronto," with the following

ollicers :

/'resilient, - - - - Ci. M. MuiR

( 'irc-PrcsiJeiit, - - - - 'I', Haves.

Secretary. . - - - W J Macponki.l

Treasurer, . . . . ("hari.ks Roi'.ertson.

Assistant -See retarv, - - D K. Fkkha.n'.

.Issistant 7'reasiirer, - . S. G. I.VNN.

1 > -

'flic St. Vincent dc I'mil Society, 2li\

His Lordship Bishop de Charbonnel, bcinj^ present diiriiiL; a portion of
the nicetin.,', was re(iuestcd by the President to ^rant them his approbation,
and " ihat he would do them the favor of accepting' the title of Patron of
their Society in this Diocese." 'i^he Bishop expressed himself " satisfied
with the object of the Society, of which hv much ai)proved, and staled that
when in France he had been an honorary member of one of the Confcnnces.
In the course of an instruction which he addressed to the C'onfercnce, his
Lordship earnestly recommended the practice of abne^rati.Mi of self, of
humility, of union amonc,r the members of the Society, a careful selection of
candidates for admission as mendjers, on which the success of the Society
would greatly depend, together with Christian prudence and a (autious
avoidance of .^ivin;; unnecessarv publicitv to the acts of charit\- performed
by them."

The school house on Stanley (Lombard) street was offered and accepted
for the meetinj^s, which, it was agreed, should be held every Sunday after
\espers. A room m the rear of the premises of the \'ice-Presi(lent, T.
Hayes, bLscp, was given for the safe kee[)iiiu of their stores and provisions.

After a collection, which amounted to one pound li\e shillings and
three halfpence, the meeting was closed with |)raver.

Thus was started in the Sacristy of St. Joseph's Chapel, St. Mieliael's
Cathedral, the Society which, during the past forty years and more, has
done through the city so much hidden g,,od and practised so n'luch
unostentatious charity.

The President, Air. George Manly Muir, who was a clerk in the
Legi.slative .Assembly, changed his residence, the following year. 185 1, to
Quebec, where he was appointed President of the Particular Council in i>'S5(j.
In i860 Mr. Muir became President of the Superior Council of Canada--
which position he held until about a year before his death, whi( h look j)lace
on the .Sth of July, iHHj. Mis name was held in veneration bv the early
members of the Conference he founded, and his words of wisdom and charitv
were deepl) cherished when he addressed them from his higher position.

I. he Conference of Our Lad)' continued to increa.se m resources, num-
l)ers and works, so that at the end of two years it was deemed expedient to
establish a new conference in the east end of the city. But a> it is too Ion*'
for the purpose of this sketch to trace fully the growth of the Societv, the

' I

<Jt

•ill

Char'itiihJi' ( hiiinii:iili<iiis.

follow in<4 cxlnuts from llic Report for Toronto, read at the j^cncral iiifctiiij^s
July -H), I1S90, j^ive the date of establishment of each Conference and the
different Presidents:

"The Conference oi onr i.ady was a^nri'^aled on itie ()lli of |,uuiai\,
i«5i- tlie tirst President Ixinj^, as alreach' stated, Clie\alier ("■. M. Muir.
His successors have been : W. J. Macdonell, John W'allis, Charles Koberl-
^on, Patrick II utiles, Patrick Curran and !•". V. Wheaton.

" The Conference of St. I'aul was a>,'^re<j;ated on December Kjth, i^^J,,
under the jiresidency of 1). K. l'e(>lian, succeeded b\ W'illiani Paterson, ).
CJ. Moylan and J.J. Mallon.

" The Conference of St. Mary was a^f^res^ated on the ijlh June, 1N54.
Till' Presidents have been James McMahon, |ames Nolan, 'I'homas Harr\ ,
Patrick CosL;ra\-e, h'rancis Rush and Martin liurns.

" The Confer(.'nce of St. IJasil was ai^^i^re^'ated on the jimI of ( )ctt)ber,
uS5(), under the Presidency of the lion. John l^lnisley, succeeded 1)\' Chark'S
Rolieitson, Richard P)ai,L;cnt, l\em\- I'.lmsley, M. O'Ponnell and ]. ).
Murplu .

" The Conference of St. Patrick was aj^^rej^ated on the .^cjtli of l'\l>ruar\-,
1S64 — Presidents: J;imes Nolan, Martin Murphy ;ind William P)urns.

" The Conference of St. Peter was a^j^ae^ated on the 2jrd May, liSby.
Presidents: Michael Ryan, Samuel Dunbar and John Rodsj^ers.

" The Conference of the Sacred Heart (French Canadian) was aj^fgre-
gated on the 6th of November, 1889 — President, P. Jobin.

"The Conference of Our Lady of Lourdes was aggregated on the 0th
of November, 1889 — Patrick Hughes, President.

" A Conference exists in St. Helen's, Brockton, which has not \v{ been
aggregated to the Society."

A Conference also exists in St. Joseph's parish, Leslie\ille, which has
not yet been aggregated to the Society.

The following extract is taken from the Rejiort of the .Superior Council
of Canada for 1891. Reviewing the work done in Toronto, the report says:
" The Conferences of this city, over and above the ordinary works of the

f»

The St. Vincent de Paul Society. 245

Sociot)-, pay ^rcat attt-ntion to visitin^r the poor in the hospitals, and have
for the purpose a special committee, with ollicers to look after them and see
to the collection of funds for their assistance. And how much «oo(l conse-
quently do they not do amonj,' the suffering membersof Jesus Christ, as well
as am(inf< those who are expiating their misdeeds against society! By
means of visits, prayer hooks, rosaries, and good hooks, they inspire the one
with patience and the other with the resolutions to lead Letter lives. But
if they ininister to the sick and to those in prison, they also labor to moral-
ize the poor by means of libraries. Several conferences have their libraries,
ontaining a large number of volumes, which they annually increase. Thus
the St. Basil Conference possesses 1013 volumes. The Librarian acknow-
ledges receipts to the amount of $40.47, and an outlay of 840.27 ; 64 volumes
were added during 1S90, and 886 books were loaned during the' \car.

"I he St. Patrick's Conference has to-day 916 volumes on its shelves,
file receipts of its library were i^SS-JV^, and the outlay § ^

.11.

We give the following table showing the work done by the Society

during th(! \arious }ears mentioned :

YKAU.

No. o(

No. of

lUcfipt^

No. of

Corjtcrciices.

Members.

for the Yenr.

I'crsonK Relieved.

KS7S*

*.?-3.:y

l8N>

•:4.'i

.^••M''

>.<>i,5

iSi^o

248

' .y.^y

1,01 J

The Constitutions of the Society re(|uire that when there are two or
more Conferences in a town they shall be united under a particular Council,
which is designed for the directi.Mi and supervision of the woiks and
mea.sures which interest all the Conferences. The Particular Council <,f
Toronto was established on I'ebruary 2rjth, 1854, with Chevalier W |
Macdonell as President, who still holds this important jiosition. The
Chevalier sat at the cradle of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in this city;
he has^'ver since taken the deepest interest in its steady growth and its

t This was the first year in wliicli the annual report was printed.

\l-

M '■ 1"

ii(

2 in

( '/(((/ ildlili' <)r<iiiiti;iiti()iin.

ur.told works of charity. liy <;(liKation, rank aiul iliaractcr he was adniir-
al)ly titled for the ihair which he has so Ion;,' occupied, and he f^ave himself
up lo the work whi( h it entailed with a devotion which has produced

excellent fruit both in the spirit
aniniatiii}^ the Society and the
•;()od whicli it has done.

William Ji>lin Macdonell,
who comes of a vScotch family,
was horn at Boston in the State
of Massachusetts, on November
14th, 1S14. lie recei\ed his
preliminary education in Boston
1 lit;)! School, and completed it in
Montreal C'ollef^'e with the vSul-
picians, where he acquired a
ihorouj^h knowledge of the l""rench
languaj^e. In his early business
lifi: he was cn^aj^ed at Kingston
as forwarding Commissioner.
When, afterwards, he came to
Toronto he was Manager of seve-
ral banking and loan institutions, being for ten years President of the
Toronto Savings l->ank and ten more its Manager. He was for many years
a member of St, Andrew's Society.

lie lield the distinguished position of French vice-consul for twenty-six
years, and resigned through ill health. In recognition" of his long services
the French (iovernment conferred upon him the Cross of the Legion of
Honor. Some few years ago he was also signally honored by the Holy
Father, who, througli the intervention of the Patriarch of Jeru.salem, created
him a Knight of the I loly Sepulchre, so that his title is Chevalier Macdonell.

We have briellx outlined the career of one whose fatherly care of the
St. Vincent de Paul Societ) well deserved more than a passing notice. Mr.
Macdonell is a man of wonderful memory, of deep piety and great charity-
one of those souls who are in the world, yet not of the world, and who are
l)ecoming rarer by reason of the spirit of the age.

Clli;\ AI.IKH W. J. M.MDOVRI.I.,

h'iii-;lil ,1/ f/ir /loly S,-/'til,liiY.

-»

Thr St. I'lnrcnl ilf F'tiul Societif.

247

The Clicv.ilicr, li;ivin<; ;i i^Tcat taste for literature, j^'atliered in tlie
course of his loiif,^ career on<'. of the finest private libraries in Toronto,
Amongst tliese valuable works, in company with the j^'reat writers of the
past, he used to sjx'nd his leisure hours, and cultivate his mind with a
learning; which was both varied in its subjects and deep in its resi'arch.
Mr. Macdonell has ^'onerously donated his library to St. MiclKuTh Colk'^i;,
where it is preser\i(l and Isiiown as " Tlu- Macdonell ijbrar\."

Taking uj* ihe account of the Particular Council, we ^i\-e its ofiicers as
at present constituted :

y'riw/i/r///,

I irc-J'rcsiiloil,

.Sccri'tarv,

,Iss/s/(Im/ .Srcniiiry.

Ass is/a III 7 'rviisii rt ■/■,

CiiiA Ai.ii.N W. J. M \(ii()Ni:i.i.,

J. |. MiRl'IIN.
.\l,KXA.\l>K.I< .M At lioSKI.l,,

J. \ Mies Ryan.

II. r. Kkm.v.

M. Mia IK.

In jul\-, i<S84, a special Board consistinj; of such members as should be
apjiointcd was established for the purpose of visitiuij; the hospitals and
prisons. The duties were to visit tlie sick and supply as far as possible
religious and interestiiif,' readin<,s as well as clothin.i,' when re(|uire<l. In
order to place the Board in a jx.sition to carry on the work more ellicienlly
his Grace Archbishop W'.ilsh kindly <,'ranted an annual collection in all the
Churches of the city- " Hospital Sunday." The following,' iij^ures will >,nve
an idea of the articles distributed, but cannot convey any notion of the
sympathy afforded and the consolation bestowed: Prayer Books, 245;
l^eads, 2^2 ; S( a|)ulars, C rucifixes, cS:c. The members of the

the Board* are

/'/■(.■■/(/(■///,

I '/ii-/'rrs/,/(///.

■ Si'rrc/irrv.

7'irasiirir aiiti l-ihrariaii.

I'AIKU K Ih.VKS.
MaKI'IN Ik'KNS.

K. \. Cui.i.Kurov.

[. J. MURI'HV.

Outside of the city then; are conferences of the St. X'incent de Paul
Society at Collingwood, orfi;anized in 1874; Orillia, or^fanized in 18.85;
Newmarket, organized several vears ago ; and St. Catharines, organized in

1885.

•This li^-t i^ from llu- Report of 1S90.

r i

-©

«-

'ill

248

('hiiiitiihir Onidti'Kiit'iDiiM.

II.

1 1 1 ■:

\|l^

N'isiToKs Til iiii-: lldsni Ai.

This work, iiftcr calliiij^ ;itl('nti()ii to the llospit;)! iSoard of llic Si.
X'imciit (Ic Paul Society, cannot be passed hv unnotici'd. Tlic work is of a
kindred nature. When the St. X'intcnl de Paul Societ} appointed itsCoin-
mitti'e of Hospital Visitation a dilla iilt\ was found in regard to the female
patients. The Hoard waited upon the late .Arc hhishop 1 .)ii(h to propose the
advisability of forniin-.^ a .Society of Hadii-s who wouhl undertake the work of
lookiiif^' after the spiritual interests of these sulf(;rers. According,'!)' in Ma\-,
1885, a society was established with Mis. l!. I), liu^'hes as President ; and
to this i^^ood lady's direction the efficiency of this desi'rviui,' association is
lar}.fel\- due. The other officers are :

• Siiri'/ary,
Trcii surer,

/.ii'riiriiii/.

Miss MaIO 1"()S ,

Miss Mai!n I1(i>mn.
Miss NlAin t'Assii)\.

The F H-it'tv is formed of members from the parishes of St. .Michael,
St. Paul, St. Basil, St. Patrick, and ( )ur l.adv of Lourdes. I'ach parish
takes a month for visitin<,^ Its inectinf,^s are held the first Monday of every
month. The fees are made up of an annual subscription of one dollar from
the members, and a share in the " Hospital Sundav" mentioned above.

•O-OHMMMWWy'O-O-lWMWMWV'O-i-O^^Ml-O-O-

SEl'MiM'E SCHOOL LAW

I'm: si:i>Ai!.\TK schools of tiil m:ciii>iocese

jAMKs !■ wmri';, i:m...,

IXSfKCTDK or SIU'AKAII. .V( 7/(>( '/..V.

J <f% [i

»- i

KkV. Hko. roillAS,

''A'i>r/.\-c/.it i>F I in-: t iii;is t ias i :<ii iiiek.s

CiiAPTi:!^ \III.

SEI'AliA TK SCJKK) LS.

f:<irh, r,v,,hh,tw>,~AvtH of inni, IS53, lS5,-i. hSUS-ScporaW SrhnnI I.,,,,- „f Ontario

Hiuhr thf British North Amelia, Art~Itecciit L<.'ijisl,(tinii--

Scpanitf Schools of the Arrhdioir.se.

CTX i thr tnnr of ilu^ Ini,,,!, ( h,d)rc aliv;ulv had a system of S.^paraic
/■ scluH.ls, and hotl, Provinces had devoted to secondarv edurati..n
r^ rehitively -reater attention than to primary, so that rons(-<|uently
^ the hitter was not j^enerally in a Hourishin- conchiion. -n,,. ins't

i'arhament under the new institution passed a School Act, appHcabli' alike
to l.oth sections of the Province, providin- for Separate or Dissentient
schools in each, and lar-ely increasing the -rants f-r elementarv education
In regard to Separate schools, the chief features were that the reli-ious
mnionty mi^^ht collectively si-nify their dissent in writin-, statin- the names
of the persons chosen as trustees, who should have the sanu^■i^hts and
duties as those elected for Common schools. Taxes were levied imiformlv
on all, and, with the k-ishitive -rant, were divided between the tuo classes
of schools in proportion to the number of their supporters. Separate
schools were not authorized in towns and cities; but, in htui of this, a joint
Hoard of Catholics and I'rote.stants, in eiiual numbers, controlled all urban
schools. They wore empowered to license teachers, to .'select text-books
and re-ulate the course of study, and to visit and examine all classes, [f it
were arran^^ed that certain of these sche )ls should be attended onh bv
Catholics and others only by Protestants, then the Catholic committee was
1-0 have exclusive c^mtrol over these Catholic .schools, and the Protestants
over their own. But, where mixed schools prevailed, there should be no
distinct committees. This measure was introduced as much at the re(|U(st

Mlli

' •■ I

i»!

■2'}-l Si'piiidti- SrliddlH.

(if the I'rolcstants of Lower C;in:ul;i as to hciiciil llu- reli^nous minority
here, and was passed with httle if any ojiposition. The lirsl rural Catholic
Separate school established under this law was in the to\vnship of Kinj^ston ;
hut not nian\' were or^^anized for the tirst two or three; \ears. A short trial
proved that, with such (hfferent conditions in the two parts of the I'rovnne,
one School Act would not work harmoniously. Accordingly a n(>w law was
passed in 1^43, applicable to Ontario alone. This recoj^nized and extended
the principle of Separate schools, permitting them either in town or in
country, and to Catholics or to Protestants, upon the application in writini;
often residents. Hut Catholics could demand such a school only when the
Common school teacher was a Protestant, and Protestants had alike choice
if the teacher weie a Catholic. These schools receixed thi-ir share of the
icf^islative .^rant accorcUng to a\-eraj;(> attcmdance, and were subject to like
laws and rej^ulalions with Common schools.

M( anwhile Dr. K\crson, who had been appointed Chief Superintendent
of F.tiucation for (')iper Canacki, and had spent sometime in examining the
school systems of luirope and the Cnited States, published an elaliorate
report on elementar\' education as the result of his investigations. lie
ad\ocaled the taxation of all property for school support, the establishing of
Normal and Model schools, the appointing of District Superintendents, and
insisted that e\crv Protestant had the right to have his child use the Pible
as a text-book. To aid him there was appointed a Council of Pul)lic
Instruction, haxing represtmtatives of the chief religious denominations.
Bishoi^ Power ha\ ing consented to act was named Chairman. An Act framed
b\ Dr. Kyerson, and based on his report, was passed in 1846. li. legard to
Sii)arate schot)ls its provisions were identical with those of the preceding
measure. But in the following year a new school bill became law, giving
Hoards of trustees m cities and towns power to determine the character of
the schools, whether " denominational or mixed." This restored matters to
nearly the same position as they were in by the Act of 1841, but without the
safeguard that one-half the Board should be Catholic. Plvidentlv it was
intended to suppress, if possible, all urban Separate schools, since they
could be established only at the pleasure of a Common school Board.
Naturally Catholics complained loudly at being thus deprived of their then
existing rights. .\t the same time opponents of Dr. Ryerson's views fiercely
assailed his Common School Act through the press and in Parliament.
l<"inally a new measure was, without due consideration, pas.sed through the

The Act of 1851.

•253

House in 1849. It contained no provisions for Separate schools in an\
form, liLit forbade the use of the Bible as a text-book. Upon the advice ()f
some of his Ministry, the Governor suspended the operation of the bill, and
in the following year another regulation framed by Dr. Ryerson was enacted.
Upon the petition of the Catholics, headed by Rev. J. Carroll, Administrator
of Toronto, most of their former rights were restored to Separate school
supporters. The Act made it the dnfy of the Board, upon the application
in writing of twelve residents, to authorize the establishment of one or more
Separate schools, for " Protestants, Catholics or colored people," to pre-
scribe the limits for such .schools and to arrange for the first election of their
trustees. Hut, as before, Catliolics could have a Separate .school (^nlv
when the teaclier o( the Common school was a Protestant, and vice vasa.
Though this permitted greater freedom than former Acts and was to thai
extent .1 welcome concession, a few )ears' working convinced clerg\ and
IK'ople that its provisions were still too re.stricted. As an instance, when
the Catholics of Toronto applied to have a second .school thev were refused
on tlie gnnind that the statute allowed but one in a municipality This
objection havmg been sustained in Court, a "Short Act" was introduced
in US51, restoring the right to have a Separate .school in each ward, ..r in
two or more wards united, as the; applicants might judge expedient.

At that lime taxes were levied alike on the supporters of Coinnu>n and
Separate schools, and, along with the government grant, were dividid
between them in proportion to their average attendance. The Act delincd
the "school fund" to consist of the legislative grant and ;it least ,ni
ecjual sum ra.si'd by local a.s.se.ssmeiit. liut some Boards interi)reted
this to mean that, if they rai.sed an amount larger than the C.o\-ernment
grant, Seji.irate schools would not be entitled to share in such oscrplus.
The Protestants of Ch.itham, deciding to erect a new scluu.! buildnig
costmg /. i,J(K), levied for this purpo.se a tax on all i)n)peily indis-
criminateh'. To this the Separate .school supporters submitted, thinking
they would receive; their due: .share ; but the l^oard refused to give them any
portion ot l.iis surplus money or to allow them the use of anv p.irt of the
budding. The Catholics complained of this great injustice, and Bishop de
Charbonnel laid the matter iiefore Dr. Ryerson. He protesle<l also against
the use in mixed schools of anti-Catholic text-books, and against Catholic
pupils being compelled in some places to assist at Protestant praxcrs or
religious exercises. The Chief Superintendent attempted to defend this

-»

•iiVl

Scpitnitc SrhonlH.

unjust taxing of Catholics on tlic rather sophistical p\v.[\ that they mij^ht
afterwards join these Common schools; and he threatened that, if the
Separate school agitation were continued, all Catholic teaclu'rs in the
Common schools would be dismissed.

Actinf? together the Catholics again petitioned tlie C.overnment for
relief from an imperfect and unjust school law. The Bishops conjointly
addressed a memorial to the Governor protesting against their people being
forced to suj)port the Common school system as one " conducive to
indifferentism and often to aversion for religion," and asking that Separate
school supporters be relieved from contributing to the building or mainten-
ance of Common schools. They also recjuested to know from the Ministrv,
from some of whom they had received jiromi.ses of relief, whether they
intv,'nd(Hl incorjxirating into the new school bill the amendments indisi)ens-
able for securing the rights of Catholics. In reply Bishop de Charbonnel
recei\ed earh' in US53 this assurance from Attorney (ieneral Richards: " 1
hope that the provisions of the Bill will be such as to prevent future dispute
and difference. As I .said before to you personally, I ha\e endeavored to
give to the Separate schools in Upper Canada the same rights and powers
as the Dissentient schools in I.ower Canada ha\e."

But, despitt' tliese protests of good will and etiual rights, the (iovern-
mcnt declined to make more than a nominal improvement in the law, as a
powerful agitation against Catholic claims had ari.sen in the country.
Heretofore all vSi'parate school measures had passed with the con.sent of
both sides of the House and in general without any division. 13ut now a
new party had arisen with the avowed object of aboUshing Separate scliools.
Dis.senting ministi'rs })reached against them, and a section of the press
denounced them in no measured terms. The .schools were descril)ed as
supported by Protestant money, and inflammatory appeals were made not
to allow Catholic doctrine to be inculcated in .schools assisted by the state.

About 1S51 Catholic Institutes were first organized in Ontario, one of
th"ir chief ol)jects being to further the interests of Separate schools. At a
meeting of the Toronto society early in 1H53, presided over by Bishop de
Charbonnel, a resolution was ]iassed )-»ledging the Institute " to oppose by ,ill
constitutional means the re-election of the present Ministry, and of an) of
their supporters, if at the next session of the Provincial Parliament full
justice is not done to the Catholics of Western Canada with reference io

-«

-ii

The Art of 1855.

255

the free workin- of their Separate schools." Directed by these Institutes,
petitions were widely circulated and largely signed; as many as 18,000
names l)eing sent to the Government, 2,000 of which came from Toronto.
VVhen these petitions were presented, the Hon. Mr. Hincks, leader of the
Reform Government, in the course of the discussion paid a high tribute to
the moderation which Bishop de Charbonnel had always shown on the
seliool ,|uestion. The bill of this session known as " The Supplementary
School Act" was satisfactory as originally introduced; but through chan-res
made m committee it became of little service. '^

The Act of '855.

^ In 1854 all the Bishops of Canada met in the Second Ecclesiastical
Council of Quebec and issued a highly important pastoral on education.
1 hev ■ iiw ■> 1 ....

sa)-

beseech you, dearly beloved brethren, if you feel the
slightest solicitude for the salvation of your children, do not expose them to
enter those schools where they will be taught to call into .juestion the mo-i
positive dogmas of revelation." At the same meeting they memorialized
the Governor-General, Lord Elgin: " We do not ask exclu'sive privileges ;
we demand simply and solely that the law which regulates Separate schools
on behalt of Protestants in Lower Canada, should be extended to the
Catholics of Upper Canada."

Meanwhile a general election was held, and the whole Catholic body,
headed by their Bishops, took an active part in the contest to protect
their cherished rights. Party lines were for the time laid aside, and a
solid Catholic vote given to those candidates who were readv to redress
their grievances. As a consequence, a majority f^ivorable to their demands
were returned. Petitions asking for a fair recognition of their educa-
tional rights were signed by Catholics in thousands. The three Bish.^ps
of Upper Canada issued a comparative tal)le showing in what resix-cts
the Catholic minority- here were at a disadvantage as compared with the
position of the Protestants in Ouebec, and framed a Bill embodx'ing the
changes .ought from the (iovernment. The chief demands were :"(i) The
jilacing of Separate schools for everything under one official, not oppo.sed
to the system ; (j) But one trustee for each ward and one Board in
towns and cities ; (3) Free circumscription of sections ; (4) That three
heads of families, not twelve as now required, might establish a school ;

lill ;

•J5(]

Separate Schools,

(5) A sharr 111 all taxes and municipal funds in the ratio of |)o|Hil.aioii ;

(6) That trustees should license teachers till they secure a Catholic Normal
School ; (7) That having; once joined a Sejiarate school, the supporter be
relie\ed of makin<j; an annual declaration; (H) Tliat they be freed from
contiibutin<,f to Common school libraries or buildinj^'s.

'l"he Bishops had received assurances from the new Ministry that they
were most anxious to meet their \iews and to allow Catholics to educate
their youth in their own way. Bishop I'helan, with the approx.il o( tlu'
other Bishojis of Upper Canada, wrote to lion. John A. Macdonald, Attor-
ney (ieneral. West : " 1 trust you will not be prevented from doiiiL; us
justice by allowinjj; us the same riLjhts and i^rivilej^a's for our Sejiarate
schools as are allowed the Protestants of Lower Canada. If this be done
at the present session we will have no reason to complain, and the odium
thrown upon \-ou for bi'ini; controlk'd bv Dr. Kyerson will be effectually
removed. If on the contrary the voice of our opponent ujion the ([uestion
of Sej)arate .schools is more attended to and respected than the voice oj
the Catholic Bishops, the Clerify and nearly jocj.ooo of her Majesty's loyal
Catholic subjects claiming justice for the education of their \outli, sureh
the Ministry that refuses us such rights cannot blame us for beinj.; clis-
jileased with them, and consecpiently for being determined to use e\er\-
constitutional means in our jiower to pre\ent their future return to
Parliament."

PinalK lion. Mr. Morin, who had expressed his determination to
obtain e(|ual rights for his co-religionists here, or resign his scat in the
Cabinet, drew up, at tlu' recpiest of his colleagues, a bill which was just and
satisfactory. Being rai.sed to the bench he entrusted the measure to
.\tt(une) (iiMieral Macdonald, who owed his election largely to Catholics,
and who expres.sed his desire to give them full justice. But Mr. Macdonakl,
thinking it would be safer in the hands of an Irish Catholic, passed it to
lion. I.. T. Drummond. The latter prepared a bill gri'atly inferior to that
of Mr. Morin, which, however, upon the protest of the Bishop he ))roniised
to amend. But, as the session was nearing an end without the measure
being introduied. Dr. de Charbonnel hastened to Ouebec to watch over tlu-
interests of his people. At last it was brought up in the Council by Col.
Tache ; and immediately afterward in the AssembK by Mr. M.tcdonald, and
passed its .second reading with but some unimportant amendment.-- which

-8B

)■ I

-®

'/'//(' .1,7 (if ISC)').

257

teml.d nither to its improvement. The friends of the nuasure then
relHxed their efforts and most of them left the Capital, amongst others
Hishop de C harbonnel, " thanking Clod that after seven years of severe
stru-dm- e.|ual n-hts were seeured at last !" On the last ni-dit of the
session It eameupfor the third readin- under rhar-<.ofMr. Dnnninond
who with the lar-c majority at h.s hack could have carric.l it throu..], wilh-
"ut a s,n;.de chan-e. P.ut in committee (leor-e l>,rown n^.ved amendments
^vl^.■h he saw were of a triflin.i; character, an.l the ( iou.rnment suffered
d.an,c. a tc.r chan,;e till at last Lh. l.lH.ral nature of the act was completely
destroyed. Jmme<liately on tin- passing of th.. lull, mlormation was tele'
^;raphed to 1 oronlo, and, not knowing the decc.ption that had I.een practised,
the ]^,shop thankvd the GovernnuMU for having passed the nu^asure. Hut,
when tin. truth was known, nothing could exceed the indi^^nation felt and
shown In the friends of Catholic education upon finding how thev had been
cajoled and deceived. The Bishop forwarded to the (governor his resi-ma-
t.on as a member of the Council of Public Instruction, declaring that itwas
:m insult to prefer, as the (Government had, on a .,uestion .solelv affe,-ting
the Cathohe people, the advice of Dr. Kverson, a Methodist minister, to
that..! the he^ulsof their Church ; and protesting against the conduct of
Air. Drummond and oth.-rs on the last night of the sessi<.n.

This measure was not of course whollv bad; it conferred several
important advantages: (r) Catholics were no "h>nger re, |uired to app..,d to
the o.nmon school l^oard, a presumably unfriendlv bodv, for authoritv to
estabbsh then- schools; (.) Separate schools could be. organi/c^d even when
the Conmion sch.-ol teacher was a Catholic; ( ^) Trustees for Separate
schools were placed on the same footing as those, for Common schools-
(4) It allowed a Catholic tenant of a Protestant landlord to support a'
Separate school ; (5) The list of supporters with the amount subscribed
was required but once a year instead of twice as formerlv; (6) The le-Ms-
hu.ve grant was now received direct from the Chief Superintendent, not
tl,r,>„,J, ,1,.. i,,^,,,| inspectors.

througli till

I^^it whi e these changes were certainly of benerit to the schools, the
Act yet fel far short of a full measure <,f justice. The chief grievances
complained of, and those from which Quebec Protestants were five were •
(1) hxclu.sion from the municipal assessment for school purposes"
(-') Rc..iuinng an annual notihcation ; (3) Contribuli.ig to Comm..n school

as-

III

•258

Separate ScIwoIh.

I)iiil(liiif,fs and libraries; (4) Receivinj^' no share of public school moneys
except the lej^islative <j[rant ; (5) Preventing Catholics from sujijiortin^' a
school in a neif^'liborinj; section. This last restriction was one of ^^reat
severity, for it allowed in j^'cneral only weak sections in rural districts where,
with a scattered |)(>|>uIation, it was usually impossible to (;stablish a stroiij^r
school within the boundaries of the Common school section. Municipal
Councils and Common school Hoards, to whom Catholics had previouslv to
apjily bt fore le<;ally establishing a Sei)arate school, fre(|uently took more
than a fair advantaj^'e of their powers In' alle<^ing all sorts of irret,adarities or
nieri' pretexts as a pli'a for not f^'rantin.i; them a |)roper share of the school
fund. In general, great ditViciilty was experienced in the endeavor to collect
tax(>s under the Act, so that in Toronto, with a population of two thousand
Catholic ratepayers, the Sejiarate schools were unjustly (lej)rived of the
taxes of eight hundred. In consetiuence, tiie trustees decided to throw
theinst'lves upon the voluntary sujiport of the people and made collections
at the church doors.

The first sections of the law of 1855 repealed .all the pro\isions of
pre\'ious Acts and contained no clause perpetuating an\' Separate school
already established. It provided simply for the establishment of new school
corporations. As first introduced the bill granted the same privilege to
Episcopalians, Jews, colored persons, cSrc, the intention being that anv
denomination might have its own Separate schools. It also contained at
lirst, a highly important clause adopted from the measure proposed b)' the
Bishops, ri'iiuirmg that " all the provisions of this Act and general!)- all the
words and expressions thereof, shall receive such large, benelicial and
liberal construction as will best secure the attainment of the objects thereof,
and the enforcement of its enactments, according to their true mteiit, s[)irit
and meaning."

Soon, letters ap]ieared from different parts of the ccnintry protestin'f
against the hardships of the Act and demanding a new measure, since
Catholics in some cases were yet taxed twice. Thus the camj^aign oj)ened
anew; and, instead of the matter having been settled b\ the Coalition
(Government, it was left in a more complicated and ditruult form than ever.

In December of the same year Bishop de Charbonnel published a letter
pointing out the advantages and the defects of the school law, and advisni"-
the course to be pursued to obtain a more e(]uitable enactment : (i) " 'J'o

?;*:

The Art of I86r>.

•2r,!»

ri-.|uirc In.ii, :iny new candidate U l';uli;iinr,u a i,!,.,!.^.. t,, si,,,,).„t S.,,,,-
aU; schools in I'pp.T Canada as enj..yc:<l l,v thr l-mt,. slants in OurW,
2) lo „,,pos.., I.y all constitutional means, ll„. .Iciion of any nuMnl..r who
has voted or a<te<l a-ainst that support. If ..ur a.liv,. ro-operation n,i..ht
Ih' of anys(^rvi(-c m anycoMstitu.'iuyofourDio.esr, . . . We would

give it most willin-ly within the measun- of our al,ll,l^ ;,nd without any
human consideration, (j) To make the nece.ssarv d.rlaration l„|ore the
hrst o lehruary," etc. \^n in his Lenten pastoral he strongly e.vhorts
Catholic electors to use their votes and influence in favor. .f Separate schools
.md he .■njonis parents that they are under ohIi.Ljation to make s.uriliees
necessary to secure such schools rather than in. ur tli.. .lan-.r o|
their childr.'ii to mixed sch.x.ls.

sendin'T

At the openin- ..f the se.s.sion .,f i.S5f, ;,n am.n.Inunt to tl„. \, t of ih.^
previous y.'ar, which had authori/.d il,.. ,louM,. taxm- of Catlmli.s was
intr..duced In th,. Tonmto meinlnr, .Mr. Il.nves, as th.. .Mnnstrv f.'arin.''
tn Mr Oran-.' supp.-rters, declin,.,l i,, ,nake it a (;..vermn..nt m.^suiv \o
<>p.),.s,t,<.n was anticipate.! to such a just and ...|uitabl.. clau.se, hut, to tl„.
surprise of ,,11, a Minist.'nal amen.hneni was in.)v.;d thai th.. law was
sati.sfactory as u then st.,.,d. This was def,.ated. (loi^.. lin.wn m.nc.l'a
resolution to abolish all Separat.- ,scho.,l.s in Upper Canada, as.s..rtin.. that
they wc.re demanded .>nly In tin. clei-y and that the laity di.l not^avor
them. In reply, Mr. Felt.^n, a l'r.)testant m..ml„.r fn.m I.ow.'r Canida
stated that he had no faith in the sincerity ..f th.. hn.ad iVot.stant prin. ipk.s

Mr. JJrown, who dealt largely in appeals to the passions and ill fec^lin-^s

01 ditlerent sects, hoping thereby to m..unt to power. \\v believ.d that the
Protestants ..f Cpper Canada were not .,f the .same opinion as .Mr Hmwn
since the highest auth.)rity of the Church ..f I

•-ni'lan.

here

lia.

re.fitiv

expre.sse.l views entirely ..pp..,site. 11.. propos,.<l an am..n.l,n..nl to ..onfer
mi Catholics. n Upper Canada the same privileges as were enj.ned bv th..
I rotestants ..f Ouebec. The outcome of the debate was that n.;tlnn.: was
done, the .ju. lion being given a hoist. "^

It IS impossible in a .sketch like the pr..,s..nt to <l.. anvthin, m.,re than
merely n..ta. the various battles of this ,reat .campaign.' In the general
electi.>nso 1857 Catholics obtained from promin..nt Cnservativvs assur-
ances of relief on the .seh..ol question. Hut, th.>ugh the ( ,.,v..rnn,<.nt h'a.l a
good working majority, it did nothing t.. fuKil its pn.mi.ses.

2(;o

Si'pttniti' SrlionlH,

Tlu'ii cHiiu; the i|ui'sti()ii of the Cler^'v Kcsctni'S. Dr. Kycrsoii juhiscd
tlu; imiiiicipulilii's to dcxote the inoiu;y to establish scliool lihrarics. l-'atluT
HruNcic objected to ihi' proposal on the j^round that the ofiicial list of books
from uliitli township libraries were lo Ik' selected w.is, on account of its
sectarian bias, unfair towards Catholics. A warm and celebrated coiitro-
ver.sy ensui-d. Dr. Kyerson allej^'ed that Dr. I'ower, the lirst Hishop of
Toronto, was favorable to the t'onimon school system. lUit letters of Dr.
I'owi'r to the lion. John l^lmsley were (pioled proviiiL; the contrary.
Bishop Pinsonneault of London, writinj.; to con)^'ratulate I'^allicr Hruyere on
his able defence of Catholic education, declared that both Bishops
Macdonell and I'ower, far from favoring mixed education, had merelv
tolerated what they the', could not prevent, and that they had labored most
faithfully to establish thoroughly Catholic .schools wherever circumstances
permitted.

In I'S^i) Dr. Lynch was consecrated l')ishop, and Dr. de ("harbonnel
retired to Lrance. Although the latter had not secured all that he desired
still he li.ul gaiiK'd a great deal. I lis zealous successor continued the fight.

ICarly in the session of i«6o Mr. R. W. .Scott, member for Ottawa,
introduced a bill to improve the condition of Separate schools. The chief
changes proposed were : (i) Five heads of families instead of twelve might
organize a school ; (2) The one notific ition gi\('n by a supporter on joining
to be sufiicient without annual renewal ; (3') Trustees should be relieved
from making their returns of attendance under oath-, thus j^lacing them in
the .same position as Common school trustees ; (4) Allowing the supporters
of rural schools to form their own r.ections, and to have a union of adjoining
sections. These would all be important concessions, particularl\ tlie last,
as heretofore it had been found very difficult to establish strong rural
schools.

The third reading of this bill fell on the morning the House was to be
prorogued. When it came up the Hon. (ieorge Brown aro.se and announced
that, though the measure might have a majority ten times as great, he would
not permit it to become law. His intention was to speak against time until
the Governor should arrive. He gained his point, sealed the fate of the
bill, and prevented justice being done.

Early in the session of 1861 Mr. Scott introduced a nearly similar
measure, which never reached its second reading.

.',v

The Art of IHiVt.

•H\\

III Ajiril iS(jj Mr. Scolt omc more brought his l)ill ln'forc llif llduse.
It was ch.'inf^cd somewhat from the former measures, and particiihirly in the
fiillowinj,' points: (i) Trustees should have power to ^rant certilicatcs ;
{S) Notice of support to be j^iven on or before March ist; {>,) A sc-hool
shouhl not sliare in tlie ( iovernment j^rant unlt.'ss the averaj^e attendance
reached ;it least fifteen ; (4) Ivoman Catholic clerffymen slioiihl be cr-nZ/'/nV;
members of Sei)arate school Hoards within their respective missions;
(5) The holidays for ("oinmon schools not to be binding; on Separate schools,
but tile trustees to prescribe such vacations as they see lit, provided the
tearhint,' days did not exceed a certain number each half year; (6) The
l''.(lucati(iii l)epartinenl to enforce no rules for the manaj^ement of such
schools, and not to interfere with their te\l-b(juks.

Till' bill was referred to a C'oniinitti^e of the House and wa^ understood
to have the support of the Ministry, the second reading Uing carried by a
vote of 93 to 1^;. Rut, though its prospc^cts appeared so favorable, it again
happened that a single member was able to prevent justice being done.
Mr. I'\'rguson, Deputy (irand Master of the Orangemen, expressed his deter-
mination to sjieak hour after liour, and, if need be, day after day, to enforce
the withdrawal of the bill. However uni>alatal)le this display of unreasonable
ojiposition to what the majority considered a just measure, there was no
course but to abandon it for a time, or delay indeliiiiteK the business of the
ses.sion.

Soon afterwards the Coalition ( ioverniiu'iit was defeated on the Miliiia
Hill, and a Liberal Miiiislrv succeeded to oilice, with John SaiuUield
"McDonald and L. \'. Sicotte as li'aders for Upper and Lower Canada
respectively. At the formation of the: Cabinet the (piestion of Separate
schools was discusstcl, and it was agreed that a satisfactory bill should be
carried the following session. On going to their constituents for re-ek'ction,
members of tlie Ministry repeated this declaration. It was, however, not
to l)e a (iovernment measuii', but left to a private member. This open
guarantee of fair play was uiKjuestionably the best course for the ministers
to jHirsue, as it tended to disarm unreasonable opposition and alla\- ground-
less fears.

Al)out this time the Anglicans began anew an agitation to have their
claims recognized, as they had for some years been maintaining a .system of
Separate .schools while contributing also to Common schools. They had

-; " .*i

•li>-i

Si'i>iiriili' SfhiKilH.

already lu'titioni-d I'arliaiiuMit i:i^,'lil or nine tim(!s,l)iil their Hisliop attrihuti-d
the faiUires to the fact of their heiiij^ iiisuiruieiitly supported. 'They now
resolved to demand that, when any denomination sliould at their own
expense erect sclinni iioiises within cities or towns, the ( los-ernmenl should
extend to such denomination the i)rovisions of tlie Separate School Act.

'11

; "I

: I

'riiic A< I oi- 1SO3.

In .March, \^()}„ Mr. Scott once more introduced his hill. This was the
))erfectcd work of three years, emhodyinj,' certain chan^^es suj,ff.,'ested by the
l^ishops and trustees, and accepted as satisfactory by Dr. Kyerson, who had
ohjeiled to his former hills. In moxim; the seiond readin;;, Mr. Scott said
that lie sought for his co-relij.,Monists only the rights to which the)- were
eiilillcd, luit with no desire to interfere with the ("ommon school system.

The chief ohjection urj^'ed ai^ainsl this measuri' was, thai other denomi-
nations would have the .same ri<^hts as Catholics to ilemand such concessions,
and the j,'rantin<i; of them would break up the Common st:h()ols. Hut it
must have been evident, even to those who were raising this objection, that
as the Catholic Church, Ljuided bv its jirelates, had been the onl\- denomi-
nation which, with unanimity and persistence, demanded Separate .schools,
.so Catholics alone would feel conscientiously obliijed to maintain them.
With them it was a question of faith and reli^Mous principle, with which no
temporal expediency could interfere.

The princii)al amendments proposed were : (i) That trustees should
be emiiowered to ^rant ct^rtificatc^s to the teachers ; (2) That a Separate
school should be open at least six months in the \('ar and have an avera<^e
of fifteen or more jjujiils to entitle it to share in the le^^'islative ^nant ;
[]) That these schools should not receive any ))art of the Clerj^v Reserves
when devoted to school purposes. These amendments were all lost. Mi.
Scott moved that teachers for Separate schools should obtain their certificates
in the same maniKr as Common school teachers ^'eni'rally, "providid that
persons ([ualihed by law as teachers either in Upper or Lower Canada
shall be considered <|ualilied teachers for the purposes of this act." This
was a most imi)ort>int p(jint, as it ensured a proper standard ol <iualilicatioii
for si'cular teachers, while permittini; the employment of relij^ious orders
without further examination ; it was duly adopted.

*i<

Thf Art of ISft.l,

'2C,'.\

Few measures, having arrayed aj,'ainst them so many and sue li powerful
influencesjiad ever been carried throuj^li the I louse witli such lar^,'e majorities
oil every division. On the second reading' it passed hy Ho to 22, hciri"
supported by a majority of 14 from I'pper Canada, and by all the Lowe?-
Canadian follow(>rs of the Government except one. The vote on the third
reading was 70 to 31, tiiere i)einf4 Iml tluee Catholic menihcrs from Upper
Canada. This time there was not a majority from I'pper Canada, and
some opponents of the measure raised the question of double majoritv, as
the projiosal affected the interests of only one section of the Province, and it
should have a clear majority from that section to become law. But this
principle had not been strictly observed for some time, and John S.
McDonald decidin-,' to call for the yeas and nays, the bill pa.ssed on the
division, and he was sustainrid in his cuur-e. In the l'p|)er Ffouse the
majority on every reading was yet lar>,'er th.v . the Assembly. The Act
was finally sanctioned on May 5th, iSOj, to t I effect from December 31st
of the .same vear.

Thus, after a brave struj^.s^le of more than twenty years, the Catholics of
Upper Canada had at last obtained a fair measure of the educational freedom
to which they were .so justly entitled. The almost ince.s.sant aj^itation on
this i]uestion had been the cause of bitter sectarian disputes and much dis-
content, but no previous attempt at solution could be considered satisfactorv.
It is (lillicull to see the consistency f)f opposition that, while acceptinj,^ the
jirinciple ol Separate schools in af^reeinji to maintain .liem as then existinj.(,
would yet oppo.se all attempts at their improvement, which, without Imw^
unfair to Protestants, would be a j.,'reat relief to Catholics. lUit the elections
of the same year <,'ave an assurance that the a^ntation in the country a;,'ainst
the measure had pr:u lically ceased, for but oiu' member pledj.;ed to repeal
the Act was elected. \'n the untiring' zeal and pirsexcrance with whi( h Mr.
Scott battled (or true toleration and recognition of just rij^hts in education
is attributable in no small de.i;ree the triumph of this measure in the Mouse,
and the Catholics of Ontario owe him con.se(|uently a deep debt of gratitude.

The following utterance of " The Canadian Freeman " of Mai'ch lyth,
1863, .shows how Catholics at that time viewed th(> measure as to its Hnalitv :
" We regard the slight concessions contained in Mr. Scott's bill only in the
light of an instalment of our legitimate demands. Sooner or later the whole
debt must be acknowledged and paid. We stand upon tlu; broad and

ItHi

—m

201

Separate Schools.

liberal basis of the Constitution, and demand for our co-rclii^ionists in
Western Canada the same rights and advantaj^es as are enjoyed by the
Protestants throughout the Province."

The chief b' neiits conferred by this Act were : (i) Dispensinj^ with the
yearly notification from supporters ; {z) Exemjiting trustees from swearing
to the correctness of their report ; (3) Permitting the union of adjacent
rural sections, and allowing any Catholic within three miles of ihc school to
become a supporter ; (4) Requiring of lav teachers the same ([ualiHcations
as for Common schools; (5) (iiving a share in all public apiirojiriations for
elementary education. The schools were at the same time made subjc-ct to
inspection and to such regulations as the Chief Superintendent might
impose. The opinion of this official was that, while correcting Jie anomalies
and inetiualities of the law of 1855, this Act did not extend the principle of
Separate schools, and would be really beneficial to the Con mon school
system by diverting opposition.

When, some two years later. Dr. Kyerson publicly as.serted that Hishoji
Lynch had accepted this Act as "a linality," the latter wrote: — " When
earnestly pressed to ace pt the bill as a finalit}' I studiously avoided the
term, and was taken to task by a city journal for so doing. The term sa\ orcd
too much of the jjerfection of human progress, and seemed to place a bar
to the claims and exigencies of the future. 1 said I was content with the
bill, as were also my brethren in the episcopate, .so far as I knew their
sentiments. . . . But I consider that we slionid be w.anting greatly in
zeal for the good of jiosterity were we to content ourselves with anxthing
less than the Protestant minority of Lower Canada have. I therefore
rejoice that 1 did not use the word ' finality,' which, even had 1 used, could
not certainly be interpreted to mean final under any and all circumstances,
but final onb' so long as the jiosition of the two provinces remained
unchanged."

When the ))lan of Confederation was about to be adopted, J^isliop
Lynch and the other prelates of Canada, feariny that, when educational
legislation was entrusted to each separate Provii. :e, the Catholic minor-
ity in Ontario need expect no very liberal treatment, made strenuous
efforts to have the (juestion of Catholic schools put on a satisfactory
footing. But, though they recjuired merely a guarantee that Separate
schools in the west should have the same rights and privileges as had been

[.(Iter Lci^islation.

266

solemnly assured to the Protestant minority in the east, they were Hot
successful. Confederation was a compromise on many very important
(juestions, accepted by men of all -.arties and creeds, but an essential part
of it, without which the measure would not have been aj^reed to, was the
pro\ision ^aiaranteeiu},^ by Imperial enactment Separate schools to the
respective minorities in Ontario and Quebec. This con.stitution reserves to
the Dominion Parliament a most important iiower — j^ivint,^ not onlv the
Ti'^ht to veto injurious leo;islation, but also the authority to'jwss remedial
measures if found necessary; while the power to abolish such Separate
scli.K.ls is vested only in the Imperial Parliament, on who.sc honor Catholics
rely for a continuance of their recognized rights and privileges.

Later Lkgislation.

The law of uSGj remained unch.angcd for fourteen years; then the
amendments of 1S77 relieved Separate school trustees from supplying .-
yearly list of their supporters, imposing this duty on the assessor.' The
Court of Rexision was emjiowered to determine all' complaints in regard to
persons all(>ged to be wrongfully placed upon, or omitted from, the roll. But
under the operation of this act frequent mistakes .still occurred in rating the
supporters of Separate schools. Accordingly the law was further amended
in rS79, and the efficiency of these schools was improved b\ the folIowin<' •

(i) l-:iecti()n of tru.stees in cities, towns and villages to be h.Jd as in the
case of Public school Boards; and in town.ship.s, ; ^ in rural school sections;
{2) Trustees authorized to borrow on the security of the .school premises or
rates; (3) A non-resident owner of unoccupied land may reipiire the .schoo'
rates thereon to be ])aid to the Separate .school ; (4) An)- Separate school
rates charged upon real estate and uncollected at the end of any one year,
as in the like case of Public school rates, to be advanced bv the town. ship ;
(5) So much of the general county rate for salaries of Public .school teachers
ievicnl from Separate school supporters to be paid over to the Sejiarate
.school trustees; (6) Where the trustees of Separate .schools exercise their
option of having the rates collected b\- municipal machinery, the as.ses.sor is
authorized to accept the knowledge of a person being a K'oman Catholic
as prima facif evidence of his being a Separate .school supporter; (7) A
Separate .school may become a Model school for the preliminarv training of

irf

liij'

«-

266

Separate Schools,

I )

Catholic teachers ; and the Minister of Education may appoint a CathoHc
member of the County Board of Examiners.

As ori^'inally introduced, the bills both of ]Hjj and 1.S63 provided that
all Catholics within the lej^al boundaries should l)e considered as Separate
scho(jl supporters, followiu'^f in this matter the law of Lower Canada. But
strong; objection haviniL; been taken to these clauses 'they were finally
omitted. Attain in iS/g it was mo\cd that every Roman Catholic should
be deemed ipso facto a Separate school supporter, and that only on his j<i\in,<;
written notice of joininjf a Public school could he be rated for its support.
Thi.s was voted down, th(; (iovernment contending that the fundamental
principle of Separate schools was permissive supjx^rt.

Under regulations framed by Dr. Ryerson and continued after the
Department parsed in iHyb under a responsible Minister, the inspection of
Separate schools in cities and towns was confided to the High school
Inspectors, while in rural sections the duty was entrusted to the Public
school Inspectors. But, as the work of the High school Insjiectors had
greatly increa.sed, and as the two duties were not very comj)atible, the
Government, upon due representation (jf the facts, and at the recjuest of

the Archbishop, in 1882 created the office of Se})arate school Inspector

the writer being the first appointed. But the large number of schools made
it impossible for one to discharge properly all the duties of the ])o--ition, and
two years later a second was named — Mr. C. Donovan, M.A., who had for
many years ably filled the position of Headmaster in Hamilton Separate
school.

In 1886 the law was again amended in the following particulars: (1) A
company may rcvjuire the pro})ortion of stock or personal property of its
Catholic members to be asses.sed for Separate schools; (2) Where a
majority of a municipal council are not Separate school supjxirters they
may agree to pay to the Separate school trustees such a proportion of the
school taxes of the whole municipality as may fairl)- represent the relative
assessment of the Catholic property; (3) In jilaces where High schools are
established, the Separate school Board may appoint a trustee, but not one
of themselves.

In the general Provincial electionsof 1886 and i8go, attempts were made
by tl Opposition to gain political capital by accusing the Government of

»-

Later IjCj^'mhit'ion.

2(57

unduly fostering Separate schools to thf injur)- of the Public school system.
Butm hoth contests these unworthy appeals to passion and religious bigotry
utterly failed, and the Government was sustained by such majorities as
showed that the great bod\- of Protestant electors could not at tliis date be
inHuenced by such unscrupulous tactics.

Again, in kScj.j the great feature of the debates in the House was "the
battle ot the schools." A large majority of the Con.servative party main-
taiiu-d that Separate s( hools had been accorded too many privileges to the'
detrnnent ol Public .schools, and some even advocated their entire abolition.
1 he Pqual Rights party was established chieHy on this latter principle; and
they alleged that, by amendments to the law of 1S63, the support of
Separate schools was no longer voluntarv-, but really a.mpuLsory on all
Catholics. The clause referred to reads: "The assessor shall accept the
.statement of, <„- made on behalf of, any r itepaver, that he is a Roman
Catholic, as sullieient prima Jacc c:vidence for placing such person in the
proper column ot the assessment roll f,,r S.'parate school supporters "
Ihe (|uesti,.n having be.-n referred l<. the Judges of the High Court thev
decided that s.-nttcMi notice is still necessarv to make a CathoUc a 'valid
supporter ..f a Separate .school ; y..t, if the assessor knows a man to be a
Catholic, this IS sunieient/./7//m facie evideMKe for placing him on the b.t ..f
Separate .school supporters, though appeal can be made against such ratm-^
1 hereupon tlie (iovernment passed a bill requiring the .Icrk of eidi
municipality to keep an in.lex book with the names of persons who havc^
given such written notice of supporting Separate s<hools, ami directing the
a.ssessor m compiling his roll to be guid<-d simpiv bv this .'ntr\ .;f noti.-es.

In the .same .ses.sion a meml)er of the ( )ppo,.irioii moved ih.n ,-,11 teat her^
of Separate .schools should pass tin- s^nue examination as those for Public
schools. Ihis amendm.Dt was .lesigned to depriv the religious teachin.^
orders ot the privileges grant<>d tlx^ni by tlu' Act of ,S6s, confirmed by
the Pntish North America Art, and ihus placed beyond the authority Jf
the As.sembly to allect prejuthcially. In opposing this motion, the Minister
of b.ducation stated that a considerable number of thes.> reli-ious had
previously obtained certificates as teachers, and that during tlieir'novitiate
they have not only a literary, but also a professional, training under
competent instructors, lie showed from the reports of the High .school
Inspectors, when examining Separate .schools, that the standinjj'of these

(, !

''I

' t

2()8

Si'i)(tr(ite Si'IiddIh.

classes was not inferior; wliiie the results of public examinations for entrance
to High schools and for teachers' certihcates gave very satisfactory evidence
of the success of Separate schools and the competency of religious teachers.
The motion was accordingly voted down.

GROWTH OK ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOLS.

YKAH.

Schools o]

184I

1H50

-'I

i860

1870

■^M

1880

ic;6

1 840

-'59

Tenchcl-s.

I'lipils.

....

ir,2

M.708

23^'

20,652

344

-5-3> '

5^>9

34,5 7'

RECKII^TS.

(iovLTiimcnt
(trant.

$7,411;

8.l;o6
14,102
18,652

Taxes, etc.

$23,941

49-594
122,771
294,674

Kvpcnditure.

$31,360

58. 498

I2S.463

289,703

This steady and rapid growth of the system must be highly gratifying
to all friends of Catholic education. It is due to the hearty co-operation
and noble sacrifices of clergy and laity, animated by a sense of their solemn
duty in this sacred cause; and, while the present standing of the.se schools is
most satisfactory, especially when viewed in the light of their great struggles
for a projier measure of freedom, their future pros})ects apjiear ecjually
encouraging.

Schools of thk .XKrHDiorEsr-..

Of the earl} Catholic teachers and schools in Toronto it is dil'licult at
the jire.sent day to get full and relial)le information. The first Catholic
teacher was John Harvey, who taught in an old frame building on Jarvis
street, standing at the head of what was then called Nelson street, and
situated near the farm belonging to the late S. P. Jarvis, Esc]. lie taught
about 1830. Then came Joseph Scyers, who tauglit on ^'ork street, between
King and Richmond. Mr. Hutler, a ripe scholar, taught on the corner of
Jordan and iVIelinda streets. He resigned and became a priest, Peterborough
being the field of his ministry. Afterwards Mr. Denis Heffernan opened a

-m

Scliuolii III' till' .IrrhiHocCHe.

2(i!»

private school. In 1843 this came under the operation of the Separate school
law ; the attendance was about forty, mostly boys ; the f:;irls were tau<,fht in
anolhi r room by the teacher's wife. The old fashioned method then pre-
vailed of punishini; by hoistini;' tlic ( ulprit on another boy's back and liberally
applying the i)ir(li ; and this master had the rejnitation of being rather .seyere.
He was, however, one of the ablest of his day in mathematics, and was
succeeded by Air. Timothy McCarthy, also a clever Irish mathematician,
who held the position until 1847. Next followed Mr. Taalfe, and after him
Mr. O'llalloran, who held the place until the coming of the Christian
Brothers. One of tlie hrst Catholic classical academies was opened b\ Mr.
Patrick Lee, in a lirick hou.se on Jarvis street at the corner of Richmond,
the l)uilding to the south being a Commercial school taught by Mr. lliggins.
Both these schools were started with the aid and encouragement of lion.
Jolm I'lhnsle\-, to whose zeal and liberal assistance early Catholic education
in this cit\- owes so much. Next followed .Mr. Dussaulx, who taught in the
coach house of St. Michael's Palace, which was suitabh fitted up. Besides
giving instruction m classii:s lie trained the Hrst CathoHc temperance band.
In 1S30 came Rev. Father Molony, who kept the school on Cjueen street
until till' arrival of the Basil^;'.ii Fathers.

Separate schools are tstablislied 111 se\tMi rural sections and in many of
the towns and villages of the .Archdiocese. In Toronto tlu're are thirteen
.schot)ls attended by about four thousand hve hundred pupils, with a total
staff Of seventy-nine teachers, of whom forty-five are Sisters of St. Joseph,
eleven of tiie order of Loretto, twenty-one Christian Brothers and two
secular teachers. Of late years great im]n-ovement has been made both in
the buildings and in llie e(]uipment ; in these respects Catholics have no
reason to feel ashamed of their .schools. .Among the most important of
these buildings is the De La Salle Institute, .serving as a i>rimary school for
the Cathedral jiarish and for the boys' l.igh classes as well as for the
Christian l)rollicr>' noxitiale. In St. Paul's the lirgc brick school, situate
near the splendid new Church, provides ample accommodation for over six
hundred pupils in charge of thirteen teachers. In Si. AIar\'s there are
three schools, two of the buildings ranking among the best of the kind in the
city. ( )ther jiarishes are also well supplied, for primary schools are scattered
over the cit\' wherever the population rr(|uiri's. Nor ha\-etlie orphans been
neglected ; the home at Sunnvside has school rooms that ate unsurpassed
by any in the Proxince. In addition to these primar\- schools there ;.re

270

Sijiiiriilf Silioiils.

icntral liiuli c lasses lor l)<)\s and for '-;irls, wlio are adinillcd on jiassinj^' a
wiillcn examination corn'spondin.Lj to iliat for (■iitrame to the mdinar)' Ilij^h
schools. 'J'hc n'irls' divisions of these; jiij^h classes are taui;lit !>)• the Sisters
of St. Josejih. The course of study comprises i)()th the ordinars commercial
branches, includinj^ t\ pewritin^s t<:c., and the iiroj;ramme for teach -rs' non-
professional certilicates. In both these departments, as shown b\- the
results of the jiublic exaiinnations, the Sisters ha\c beei-. particularly
successful. In the corresponding; class of boys, the course has been chiefly
commi'rcial \v<irl\, but with sjk cial attention to freehand and industrial
cb'awinL,^ The success of the trainins; here ^i\en is evidenced by the many
rc'sponsible jiositions ably filled b\ the 'graduates.

if it ma\' be permitted to single out an\' one to whom s|)e(ial credit is
due for the interest taken in llie work of the Catholic schools of this
city, It is the \enerable I'^itlur Koonex , \"icar-( "i(mi(MmI of the Archdiocese.
For many years ("hairman of the I'xiard of Separate scliools in l\)ronto, he
has witnessed their ifrowlh from small and humble lieeinnings to their
present ))romipent rank in numbers and efhcienc\-, and has. 1)\- his influential
position in the Church and on ijic juiaid, \ivcn largely instrumental in
bringing.; about this hajipx state of alV.urs.

St. Calhai'ines has three schools, and with the completion of St.
Bridget's, it can boast of haxing accommodations among the liest of any
place in the Province. Much of the credit for this most favorable showing
must be given to the \'er\- Rvv. Dean Harris, under whose administration
all these buildings lia\e been erected, and who is indefatigable in his efforts
to bring his schools to the highest degree of excellence. The Sisters of St.
Joseph have charge of two of these schools, and the Christian Brothers
take the management ol the boys' classes ; the attendance in all reaches
nearlv five hundred.

In Barrie, where the school has done very successful work, there is a
staff of three teachers, two of whom are Sisters of vSt. Joscjih, having charge
of the girls' dejiartments. b'or man\- years this school was under the careful
and constant supervision of the Ivight Rew P)ish()i)( )'(^)nnor of Peterborough,
then Dean of l^arrie, and it is largely owing to his fostering care and
protection that the school has had so prosperous a care(>r. Oriliia has an
excellent brick school house, with fine playgrounds; there are three secular
teachers in charge and the standing of the school is highly creditable.

-9

Schonh of till' ArcliiriiivHf. • 271

Kcv. I'alluT Cain|)l)('ll has labored most zcalf)iisly and constantly to
advance the interests of Catholic education in his parish, with the most
f,aatifyin^r results. The school in Thorold is tauf,^ht l.v four of the
Community of St. Jos.'ph and a mah^ teacher. A larj,a^ additic^i has
recently heen made to the brick buildinn;, so that now the accommodations
and e<iuipment are very ^nKxl. Kv.x. 1-athcr Sullixan has ever been most
solicitous about the education of his Hock, and the standing' of his school is
hi{,ddy satisfactory. At Merritton there is an excellent building, provided at
a c.on.siderable sacriHce by the comparatively \vss- ratei)avers. The- Sisters
of St. Joseph art- the teachers, and it is needless to sav that under their
mana,^rement the sihool has steadil) improved, 'i'he Loretto Sisters who
are in charge of ;l-.e Separate .school at Xia^'ara l-aljs are zealous and
capable teachers, ii.der whom the school has reached a hi.ijhly creditable
standin-^. The same community lias a school at balls \'iew, kept in the
Convent, which has been of <,ncat benefit to the Catholics of that nei^ddwr-
hood. Newmarket, Whitby, Port Colborn(> and Weston have had S(>parate
schools, established many years a^o, all tau.L^ht by secular teaclu-rs. There
is a hne brick buildin<i with attractiw -'ounds at Newmarket; the others
are frame. At Lafontaine in Tiny township there is a settlement of French
Canadians, v.ho have a larj^ely attended Separate school directed b}- the
nuns of the Holy Cross order— the only hou.se of this communitv in the
Archdiocese. A recently erected brick school house <,Mves suitable accom-
modations ; and the earnest work of these religious has been of great benefit
in this somewhat remote district. In xara (Brechin) and Adjala (Colgan)
there are good brick school buildings, well etiuipped and largely attended.
Toronto Gore ((iribbin) and \"espra have schools established many years
ago and still doing useful work. North Toronto has oxellent accommoda-
tions for Its school, which is under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

SUMMARY FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE.

1
\f»o. 1800. '''"" Voarn' tnorease

rii. rcase. per cent.

No. of Schools 5, ,f, g jf,

Xo. of Icadicis 76 ,12 ^^, ^^

'^'<'- "f" ''I'I'ils 555,., 6,7,^. ,,,7> ,,

'I'otal Rcivipts $:i2.i 20 $68,442 $,^'^i.:,22 I 1 5

Total Ivx|K'iuliturc' $.50,916 $65,150 $,U-2'4 m

.*' I

-«

272 '

Sfparatc ScIkkiU.

It ni;iy \>v litliiiL; ti> conclude tliis chapter by sonic extracts iVom a most
c]o(|ucnt and compriihcnsivi: pastoral on lulucation issued liv liis (irace
Arcliliisliop Walsh in Ianiiar\', iHjj, when jircsidinL, o\ir the Sec of
London :

" 'riic (|U(>tion ot ('athojic cducalion is the Ljrt'at ahsorhin^ (picstion of
till prcscnl day (or Calliolics ihrouj^hoiil the world, and on the manni'r in
whiili It shall he solved must depend the ruin or s;dvation of thousands.
• . . 1 lence the ("liureh wishes that religion shall he the tutelary spirit
in the school house, that it sh.dl knt:ad and mould the plastic character of
our children ; that it shall spread its blessed radiance, its transfi^'urinj;
power, on their youn^' minds, and consecrate them bv the baptism of holy
faith, so that durini; their seliool da\s tin ir mnocence and purit\, tender
and delicate as the ilowers of Spring;, ina\- be sheltered from all slain and
bli,i;ht ; that their uncertain and timid footsteps may be directed to the
path of rectitude and \irtue, and of reli<,Mous princi|)les, which leads to
Christian manhood and ln)noral)le old, a-^e, and conducts to a bk'ssed
inimortalit\ . She demands that the secular sciences should hold their
subordinate places, and that reliL;ion should, like the sun, be the orb around
which thev should, as satellites, re\-olve, and from which they should borrow
an additional li,L;ht and beauty. . . The duty of inculcating^ relij^ion

must be exercised in the school-room, .md not releijated to parents, wearied
with tluirda\'^ hard work, and perhajis unable or unwillin;^' to fulfil it. This
dut\ must not be conlined to Sunda\ , for the impressions made during; that
dav arc; too easilv ellaced during; the subsecpient week. . . . The morality
inculcated in Common schools must necessarily be ba.sed cjn the assumption
that all Christian denominations are equally f^ood, an assumption which of
course is utterly untrue, anc' must necessarily result in reli<;i()us indifferent-
ism. There is another consideration to be added lure, it is the baneful
impressions that may be made on the younjj; mind b\- ncjii-Catholic teachers.
The child 's naturally disposed to respect the teacher, to look up to him as
the embodiment of wisdom, and to consider his words as oracular utterances
not to be cpiestioned for a mon^ent. It is eas)- then to see what fatal and
perhaps lastinj,^ imjiressions may be made on pupils by a casual expression,
a sugtjfestive hint, a snecT at ' Popish practices,' a <,feneral tone of contempt
for Catholic usaj^es, indufi^ed in by a teadier who is not a Catholic.
The Church prizes education, and is the mother of Christian civilization,
but she brands with anathemas f^odle.ss education, which destroys the souls

Schooh (if the Archdioct'ne.

278

ol so many children. 'Tlu' Cluncli,' says Jnlm Henry Newman, ' rej^^ards
this world and all that is in it as a mere shade, as dust and ashes, eompared
with the value of one sin^'le soul. She holds that it were better for tiie sun
and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth to fail, and for all its many
millions who are on it to die of starvation in extreniest aj^onv, as far as
temporal aCllietion <;oes, ///<(// ///<;/ oin- son/ should he lost: Direeted and
animated by this principle, our Hol\ h'ather, Pope Pius l.\., has detlared
m the famous Syllabus that Catholics cannot 'approve of a system (,f
educatin^j youth unconnected with Catholic faith and the power of the
Church, and which regards the knowledge of merely natural things; and
only, or at least primarily, the ends of social life.' . . . in the face of
one of the.se solemn utterances of the infallible head of the Church, and of
our own Canadian hierarchy, no Catholic can conscientiou.sly i)atronize the
Common or mixed schools, so long as he has Catholic sciiools in which to
educate his children. . . . Vou have hitherto done wonders, you and our
faithful clergy, to establish Separate .schools and to encourage and sujiport
them. Let us exhort you to persevere in this great and gn.nl work ; bx doing
so you will bring blessings innumerable upon yourselves and the children
committed to your care. . . . 'i'hus honor, conscience, faith, the exam-
ple of our forefathers, the voice of our Holy Church, and the commands of
(jod, all considerations of our honor as men, and of our (lut\- as Catholics
call upon us to be faithful to our trust as Catholic paients, to sup[)orl and
encourage our Separate schools, and our Catholic colleges and convents.
By so doing we shall plant the faith deep in this soil, we shall leave behind
us a legacy of great price, more jirecious far than all tlu; riches of the earth.
. . . It is true that the .shibboleth of the age is the maxim • knowledge
is power.' But the greatest and most beneficial power of all is the religion
of the Crucihed, which has triumphed over the powers of earth and hell.
This is the power which triumi^hs over our ba.se passions, which enables us
to reskst evil inclinations, which breathes hoiie into the despairing, which
consoles in deep sorrow, which wijies the tear from the eye of grief, which
staunches the wounds of the afllicted heart, walks with us like an angel of
light through the darksome journey of time, sustains us amid the perils and
bitter trials of life, as.sists at our death-bed like the angel of consolation at
the agony of our Saviour, fans with its heavenly wings the heat of our dying
hour, and wafts the liberated soul to its eternal home. 'Phis is the power
which should take precedence of all others~-in the school-room first, and

* -

274 Scpiivttic Sclividn.

then on the staf^'e of mature Hfc. This, says St. John, is tin- victory wiiic.h
overcometh the world, our faith."

CuiruAi, NoTii,— In one olthc debutes regarding Clonfedcration, Hon. Mr Rose, siieaking
on l)ehalfor his Protestant .(.-religionists of Lower Canada, said ;^ " 1 believe wc have always
had our fair share of the piiblie grants in so far as the Fren. i. element eoiild control tiiem, and
not only the liberty luit every f^ieility for the establishment of Sei)ar,ite dissentient schools
wherever they were deemed desir.dile. A single person has the right under the law of establish-
ing a dissentiem school, and obtaining a fair share of the edu( ational grant, if he can gather
together fifteen children who desire instruction in it. . . . So far as beuig lunided over to
the freni h in the Local Parliament and our rights being interfered with, 1 feel every assurance
that the spirit of the answer will be carried out" This answer was a guarantee given by the
C.overnment that all the rights and privileges ifien enjoyed by Protestants in regard to their
schools wouUl be maintained inviolate. .\nd on May 2.;th, i8y2, .Mr. Scriver, a Prote,stant
member from (Juebec, bore this testimony as to how ihese [.romises had been fulCilled :— "The
Protestant min.mty of (,)uebec have been treated since Confederation uilh [.erfcrt fairness and
with the utmost liberabty by the majority of that Province. Protestants could not live there were
it not for the privileges they enjoyed.''

4HH>HMHMH>-4-0-(KHHH>-()>«HHHHH)-(>>«

TIN: DKAMlllY OF TOlloS'lO.

I dukii in-

RK.V. j. R. IKKI V, 1! A,, c. s, li.

'0-IIHy-fi^W>-ft^-CHWWMM>-0Hli^HW)-0-(l-l>-O-(y

ill'

Very Reverend Edward Cassidy,

DEAN OF rOKONTO.

^SSSBMBi

lii

CIIAI'I IJv l,\.

'/'///•; i>k.\m:i!y or touosto.

In IN

onii I i()\.

CTT'S ihr funnalion of the I )iocTS(; is lully -iwii in ClLii.tcr i\'.
/■ rel'fr our rcadiTs I., the accounl therein ecnt.iin.d. Th, limits
r^ Hsofhdallydelined.wcre: \V..st of Newcastle, (n.ni Lake Ontai i.i
^ to Lake Muskoka; thence l.y a line (hreet Xorth-uest thiou-h

Lakes M.n.n and Muskoka to western brand, ,.fTwo i^ivers, enipivin^.- inu>
the Ottawa; all west ,.f that, inelu.lin,^ Lake Supmor district;. \his
embraced the counties west ..f I )urhani, and all the Districts,, I Muskoka
Parry Sound, Ali;„ma, and the re.t of ih,. lerriDrv now lomun. the n.-rlh-rn
portion of the J)u,cese uf I'elerbon.ugh. When, in .S^,,, Hamilton and
1 -oiulon were erected into Dioceses, all west of the i\
of the County of Simcoe, except the Counties o

the Niagara peninsula, was taken fr,„n -rnmntu. Th.ncc forth the lunits of
ioronto Diocese comprised the Counties of Ontario, V„rk, IVel, Lincoln
W elland, Simcoe and Cardwell. In this area there arc: at present lorty-two
parishes, of which niiu: are in the city. These various districts are <livided
into three deanenes-Toronlo, St. Clatharines and Larrie-each of which
occupies a chapter m this vohini,-, will, a brief sketch of a hislorv of th,.
diilerent parishes.

ouiUy of Peel and north
Lincoln ai,(l WVlland on

I ,

* \'iil i>. 1 I J.

tif

l.y. fi|

■US

1 ntrodiK'tioii.

Toronto \v;is erected into an Archdijcese on March uS, iH'/o, with thi;
follouin.L; Se(;s tor SulTraf^ans; Kingston, Pctcrhorout^h. llamihon and
London. In 1889, Kingston being raised to a Metropolitan See, Peter-
borough ceased to be a suffragan of Toronto ; so that tlie ecclesias-
tical Province of Toronto consists of the Sec'S of Toronto, Hamilton
and London.

TJK' oflicers of the Diocese are: The Most lu\. Jolin Walsh, D.D.,
.\rclil)is]i.)p ; Au\iliar\ P>ishop, Right Kev. T. O'Mahony, 1).])., Bishoj)
of Ludocii ; \'icars-(ieneral, \'ery Jve\-. l'\ P. Roonc) and \( ry Rev.
J. |. McCaiui ; Archdeacon, \'en. K. .\. Campbell; Secretary, Ivev. Jas.
Walsh; Deans, \'(iv l\ev. W. 1\. Harris, E. J. Cassidy and \V.
Hen'in; Pishop's Council, The \'ery Jveverends, the \'icars-Ceneral and
the Deans.

The l^eanerv of Toronto comi)rises the parishes of the City of Toronto;
also Adjala, Brock, Caledon, Dixie, Dullin's Creek, Core of Toionto, New-
market, Orangeville, ()shaw;>, Schomberg, Thornhill, Lxl)ridge and

Whitby.

The Deanerv of St. Catharines comprises the parishes of Fort \iv\v.,
Mcrrilton, Niagara b'alls. Port Colboi e, Smitluille, St. Catharines, St.
Mar\'s (in St. Catharines), and Thorold.

The Deanery of IWirrie comprises the parishes of .Mlisloii, l>arrie,
Brentwood, etc., Brechin, Collingwood, b'los, Mara, Midlaiul, ()rillia, I'cne-
tanguishene, Stayner, and Ste. Croix.

The following figures gi\'e the gcMieral statistics of thi' Diocese:—
Priests — Ivegular, 2y, Secular, 54. Total, 77. Ciiurches and Chapels, 95.
Catholic population, Oo,ooo.

.S7. Mhhiiil's Cnllicilnd,

'27'J

St. ^[I(■|| \i; i.'s C" ATiii-DK \i..

An accounl of the purcliasc of llir projicrts' upnu whitli the C"allu'(I

nil

IS I)L1I

It, and the 1 niiiL:* of tlu' conuT .stom

IV Sth, l.S.

Li. I'y

BislK

I'owcr, will 1)1' found in an earlier portion of this work. Some of our
will remember the ceremonN', and how thcv roasted an o\

older readers

whole upon the auspicious oceasu

uid how, as the huildini/ urew, i

t (Hd

not lack sad recollections as well as most pleasing.; ones ; how one of the
liuihlers, Mr. Iluf^he.s, was killed hy falliui,^ from its roof; and how the
.sainllv prelate wiio had founded it died Ijcfore its completion. The corner
stone contains anion<^st other thini^s fraj.;ments of a stone pier from the nave
of the Cathedral of ^■ork, and of the Knjrlish oak roof of the same, which

s l)uilt in 1340, and also a fra.^Mrieiit of one of tlu' earliest Roman t

emples

I'.mjland

liui

t hefore the c

omersion o

f tl

P.rit

ons.

,ty

IS a ver

arcliitrcluic is ^n)thit- of the early part of the 14th ceiiturw It
(hffiM(>nl lookins/ huildiii'T lo-da\ from what it was when on St. Michael'

l)a\, Sciitemher 20th, 1S4S, it

was sok'i

nnly dedicatecf liy Bishop JJour-^et

of Montreal. I'.ach of thr liishops in turn has done much for the Ijeauti-
fviiifj; and improvin;.; of the Cathedral. .\s already noted, Bishop de
Charhonnel turned it into a buiUlinjj; of the Horid ,ij;othic style, and imported
from !•" ranee tlu' ma-rniticent stained i^lass window l)ack of the main altar,

representini

levi

not.

the Crucifixion, and whi

And ll

cli was niadi' bv a

ast otiicial act whicli Ins

celebrated artist,
irdship i)erformed in

'oronto w.is to consecrate the t/rand altar on

I'ebruarv 10, iMix).

Archbishoi) Lyncli followed out the phm by completin;^^ the tower and
•.graceful spire which, crowned by a beautiful i^ilt cross, rises to a height of
over 260 feet. Hurinj^ his time also an iron fence was built around the
Cathedral, and a line orfjaii piatcd in the ^'allerv.

ne o!

the fust object> \\hich en<.;a^e

d tl

attention of .\rchl

)isnon

dsh, on takinif possession 01

the See (

>f T

oroiito, was the renovation o

the Cathedr;

neat morning; chap

feet bv JN feel, was built to tl

north, a cloister connectinj; it with the Bishop's hou.ve. The whoh; interior
of the Cathedral was renewed and frescoed in far more cheerful colors than
before ; so that now its i;raceful jiillars and lineK- ])roportioncd arches show

* Tlu- silver trowel used upon Iheoiiasion is still earefiillv preserved and frci|iieii'lv used, 'riie
last oeeasioii upon whieli it was emploved was the laving of the eorner sione of the Masillaii Novitiate,
.Mav Sth, iS^j.

flB

280

Till' IhUDtcVjl of Tiirniito.

to advaiita>;e, and ihc appearance of the eluireli is in keepin,L; with its metro-
politan (li.^nity. It was formally oi)ene(l on jLin(> ytli, nSqi, with imposinj<
ceremonies in presence of a lar^^e numher of jirelates and i)riests. The
]\i.i4ht K'ev. Dr. McOuaid, Hishopof Rochester, preached upon the occasion.
The total expense upon the imiiro\-ement of the Cathedral and tlu' erection
of the chajiel was aliout 840,000.

A beautilul stained ,i;iass window has been placed in the north sitle to
the memory of the late .Vrchhishop Lynch. The central portion consists of
a representation of the Last Supper. Lx-low tliis is a j^ood portrait in i^dass
of his Grace, surrounded on either side hv his patron saints, lohn and
Joseph. The inscrijition beneath lells its purpose. It is the ijift of the
Ki^ht l\cv. Bishop O'Connor of I'eterboroumh.

The exterior of the Cathedral is ujo feet Ion;.; and 1 15 feet wide; inte-
riorly it is iSj feet by 80, exclu-ive of the transepts. It is capable of .seatin.s;
sixteen hundred. There. are eii^ht lar^e decorated arches in tin buildings
giving- an ele\ation of 60 feet to the na\-e and 45 feet to the side aisles.

There are four chapels, tli.il .if llu lilessed \'ir-in ;uul of St. Jo.seph
being to the gosjiel and epistle ^id(■ ol the m;un aliar respectivel\- ; a
mortuary chajiel in the iKulli trans(4it, and one dedicated to the Sa( icd
Heart in the scnitli. A few tablets on the pillars and walls perpetuate' the
memory of some of the earl\ leadinL; Calllolic^

James Hay, first Archdea

eon 01

)ne to the \"ery Rev. )

onu

oronto. One is ereeted to th

e remem-

brance ot

(>Kl:(a)R^ okwi oorK m ACDoN.via)

K 1 1 \ A I . N A \

■l. l.A 11. ONK 01 Ill-.K

AIK.MVV lldNOUAHI.K CoRI'S or

(JkN 11.1 Ml' \- \l -Al<M>,"

who died in 1858. To the right o{' the F)!esse(l Nirgin's Altar i.':

s a marhle

tablet, inlaid up<in black stone, sacred to the meniorv of Sir C

larles

Chichester, Lieutenant-Colonel and Brigadier ( ien
in 1847, and who was buried with militar\- honors.

eral in S)iain, who died

■lat

wo prelates lia\c been eonsec rah d wilhm its sanctu;

Lynch and Walsh; and two lie buried hex' Bishop I

.\ichbisho|

ower, who rests m

the crypt below.

and

Archbishop Lynch, beneath the shadow of the nortl

all.

le other chief rcliiiiou

s ceremomes celehrated wcr

e llie

ouina 01

irr

srf

,-^^vg*, ^- ■--->-- *^'-^^^>---^^5s-is.^'^*fe,w-;,;:T^^^^''***^^S^^^^

St. Michael's Cathedral. To

RONTO

■i -i v.

iSV. Mirhavl'x Cdthcilnil.

281

the Immaculatr Conception in I'chruarv, 1.S55, ami a funeral ^fass for the
late holy Father, I'ius l.\., iu 1S7S.

\'arious synods, and tlie Provincial Council of 1^73, held their puMic
siltinns within this church.

1 nrnin'4 to the i)ri(>sls who have heen stationed at the Cathedral, it
would 1)(- im|)ossil.lc to notice all. .Ninon^t^st the most prominent names is
that of the Wry K'cv. I'ather Jamot, Vicar-( ;eneral, and afterwards liishop
of 1 'eterl>orou!,'h.

John iM-ancis jamot was Ixn-n at Creux in I'r.mce on |uiie j yd, iSj.S.
Most of his studies were made in his native land, hut he completed his
theology m .Ml Hallows Ci)llcj.(c near Dublin, Ireland, lie was sent to
this institution hy j'.ishop de Charbonnel, wht) nut him on a tour which
his Lordshiii made throu-h JM-ance after his consecration. Soon after
coniinj.^ to Canada he was ordained priest in iK^^. In the year 1S55 he
took charge of Barrie mi.><sion, which at that time included the northern
part of the County of Simcoe. This was the school of /cal and self-
devotion in which the apostolic Father Jamot U^ariied the crreat heroic
virtues which characterized him m the wider field and hi-her sphert' to which
he was afterwards called, liarly mi.ssion life has hec ?i alreadv pictured for
our readers ; it is unnecessary to dwell upon it ; hut none pa.s.sed throuj^h
its labors and ditliculties with more enerj^a and success than the saintly
suh.ject of this para-rajili. .\ hardy constitution enabled him to underijo
tlie pri\auons which his duties neces.sarily entailed, and his solid, priestK-
piety prevented him yieldinj^ to the fatigue which ultimatelv undermined
his health and brought him to the grave while yet in the prime of life. In
i86t) he was appointed \'icar-(;eneral of the Diocese, and caine four years
after to take charge of the Cathedral. The people of this parish remember
his untiring devotion to (lut\- during his re.-.idence of fourti'en vears here,
while the spire and tlie iron fince are lasting monuments of his administra-
tion. On the -'5th()f January, 1S74, the Holy I'ather, I'ius IX., erected the
\'icariate of Western Canada, and leather Jamot was named Hishei) of
Sarepta /// f^aiiihus iii/u/c/iiiiii and \'icar Apostolic of the new \'icariate.
I lis Lordship was con.secrated on the J4th of h'ebruarv following b\ Arch-
bishop Lynch, assist(-d by Bishop de Charbonnel. " W'e had," writes Dr.
Jamot in his first p.istoral, " the honor of receiving tlu; c^pi.scopal cons.cia-
li(jn in one of the sanctuaries devoted to the Oueen of Heaven, in the

f»

282

'I'lir Ditiiicri/ (if 'Viiiiiiitii.

Cluircli of Our L;i(ly of the Sacred Heart at Issondun. We by no means
expected tliis favor; we had even taken steps towards having the ceremony
in another phice, the UttU- Seminars' de I'^elletin, wliich is very dear to
us, since it was in this liouse \\v found those i)ious and devout masters
who ha\c ia\islied their pains upon us during our chissical studies."
I lis Lordship iirst liad liis See at Sault Ste. Marie, and afterwards at
Bracchrid.ne. Hut in 1.SS2 a portion of l\in;;ston Diocese was assi^nied to
I-Jishop )amot, and the whok' territory erected into a diocese, witli
P(.'terl)oroUL;h for a C'athechal citw liis Lordship continued tlic exercise
not oiilv of his episcopal but also of his priestly functions with the same
zeal, humilit\- and jiiety as when a \'oun,L( curate or simple missionary.
The hardships of his earlv and later apostk'ship cut him oil at the aj^e of
forty-ei^ht. ilis death took place on May 4th, 1886.

Anolhei' name .^till fresh in the memorx' of the Cathedral is that of the
late leather Laurent. The jilace of his birth is not certain. The sear
jj;iven for it is iSjj. In 1856 he came to Canada from h'rance, where
he had belonncd to a religious community of P>rothers who instruct deaf
mutes. l'"ather Laurent was ordained i')ri<st in i860. He was stationed
in the C'alhedral for some time ; but the jiarish witli which his name
and work are most closel\- connected is .St. Patrick's church, Toronto,
to the account of which we refer our readers. In 18S1 he was removed back
to tlie Cathedral, and made \ iear-CniK ral of the Diocese, where he remained
until his sudden death on December Hjth, i8go. Indefatii^able in his
labors, b'alher Laurent reail\- died in harness, .\fter hearing; confessions at
the Convent of the Cood Shepherd, Parkdale, he was proceeding home
N\hen he was taken ill upon the street. Lpon beinj; carried into a gentle-
man's resicUmce he died of heart disease within a few minutes. Pending
tlie apjiointment of a succes.sor to the late Archbishop Lynch Vicar-General
Laurent was co-administrator of the ArchcUocese. I'or man\- vicars he
was an eilicient member of tlie Separate School Loard, and also of the
Doard of the 1 lou.se of IndustiA, where his charitv and affability com-
manded ihi; respect and admiration of all.

'J'lu' preseni rector of the Cathedral i.s the \'er} Kev. J. |. McCann,
\'icar-(ieneral, who celebrated last Iul\- th(> twenty-fifth anniversarv of his
ordination. His classical studies were pursued with success in St. Mic;haers
College, entering in 1859 and spending there hve years. I le early showed a

p^m^wf^^^ '

VeryRev.J.J.Mc.Gann.V.G.

! At

St. Miiliiii'l'n Ciilhcilrdl.

288

talciil which has l)c(!ii of j^ivat scrvicx' to him as a idx'achcr and which <,nvcs
Ills sermons a \mh'.Uc and li^rurativc character, l^ich in imaf^inationrand
choice in lan;;ua^ro and chction, hVither Mcfann hohls a deservedly iii^Oi
rank amonj^st the Canachan CatlioHc pulpit orators. I'roni Toronto he
proceeded to Montreal Crand Seminary for the iiursuancc of ids theolof^ncal
studies, lie was ordained priest in St. Mary's Church, Toronto, In^the
late Archlnsjioi) Lynch on July the ^ist, iHOj. His missionary work was
be<;un at St. Catli, nines, where he was assistant to the late Dcaii Mulligan;
thence lie was removed to St. Mary's, Toronto. IK^ left this to take" his
first jia.storal charj^re of the (lore jtarish. In iHCh) he was Rector of the
Cathedral, and a,^^ain in 1.S77 ; afterwards jiaslor of St. Ih-len's, I'.rockton,
when h.' was made Dean of Toronto. After the death of I'-ather Laurent
Father McCann once more took char^^' of the Cathedral and was appointed
\'icar-(ieneral.

On the J I St of July, i8(j^, th<< very reverend i^U'iitleman c.'lel.rated the
silver jubilee of his priesthood. Most -enerous pre.sents, most pleasinjr
addresses, most cordial conoratulations bespoke tlu- esteem in which I'athtT
McCann is held hy his Superior, by his equals amon^'st the cler^^, and bv
the iK'o|)le for whom he labors.

Attached to the staff of the Cathedral is the K'ev. i-rancis i'\ Rohleder.
He was born in Prussia in 1S46 and came to Toronto in icSOO. After
finishing; his classical studies in St. Michael's Collej^'e he went U> Montreal
to prosecute ids theolo-^ical course. He was ordained priest on the 2(jth of
June, 1.S73. I lis first curacy was at St. I'aul's, 'J'onjuto ; from which place,
after nine months, he was transferred to the Cathedral. Here he remain.^d
for seven years. In iSSi he was appointed pastor of lirock. where he
labored zealously for t<Mi years, until his return to the Cathedral in lamiarv
1891. " • '

The third member is Father Francis Ryan, whose burning eIo(iuence
and thorough theological training are a great aid towards tlie spiritual
welfare of the parish. I le was a prominent member of the S.xiety of Jesus
and came to St. MichacTs Cath<.ral in the early pari of the present year '

■ . ■ t

I "

2H4

'/'//(' I iciiiiiif/ III' '/'ormito.
St. I'aim.'s I'akisii, Tok'onto.

St. I'aul's, Toronto, is the premier purisli, auA one of the lar^^cst and
most important in the Aiclidioeese. I'or man)- years its iiistory may i)e
said to be ahnost tlie history of the Arciuliocese, as it was for some time tlie
Cathedral parisli and the scene of many important events, as rel.iled in
the third and fourth chapters of this work. Its histor\- dales from the early
years of the pre.sent eentiiry ; and, indeed, if we dale fiom llie hr-.t time a
]iriesc ofheiated at Toronto, we have to j,'o f;ir bael< into the ei«;htetnth
eentur)'. When the fust Mass was .said on the site of the modern citv it is

not c-asN' to say,
Sulpici', in m;

The famous Father l^i(|uet, of the Con^Tei>alion of .St.
ikin^' a lour of tlie missions on I ,al<e ( )nlario in a boat ^upphVd

to him for the purjiose by orderof the Kin^ of b' ranee, arri\ed at tlie b'ren
tradin<,f post of b'ort Rouille, or Toronto (ereeted 1749) on Jun<' jOih 1

It seems ([iiite certain that b'ather I'icpiet said Mass on this occasion, as wo
tind him conferring; with the Mississaga Indians, whom he loimd here, with
reference to the erection of a regular mission at ihe post. These Indians
complained that thev were not as well treated as the Iroipiois, in that the
latter liad been providi'd with missionaries, while thev (the Missi.s.sagas)
had not even a church erected for them, but had U
canteen. This would le.id us to suppose thai otlu

contiMit with a

r missionaries

(>asse{

irouyli Here,

aiu

I that coiLsecpiently Mass had been said at a

n e\ en earlier

wlieii i\ev,

period. LUil, to come down to a lati'r date : it is related that
I'ldmund Hurkc:, afterwards \'icar .\postolic of Nova Scotia, was stationed
at Niagara in 1797, he occasionally visited "^'ork, and undoubtedly said Mass
for the few Catholics who had taken up their residence here.

The next priest to \isit \'ork, ol whom we hax'e am record, was bather

exander

icdone

I ft

erwards hrst Bishop of Kingston, who, as related

elsewhere, shortly after his arrival in Canada, proceeded to Ynvk to
arrange with the authorities for the land granted to the Catholii- lligh-
landers by the llome (iovernment. This brings us into the present century.
( )ther missionaries \isited Ynv\< at intervals on iheir tours of the l*ro\ince,
then a vast wilderness, but no regular mission was established until I'ather
James L'rowley came as the first resident priest, and, gatherini; the few
Catholics around him, fornied them into the infant Pari.sh of St. Paul.

*Tlu' site (if I'orl Rouille is incliiilfd in the piesont ICxhiliition (irounds, and is niaiked b\ ii liand-
soni'; jjranite inonunu-nt. .See Dr. Seadding's " Old Freneli Fort and its Mrnuiiient." 'roronto: 1SS7.

-Sf

u
q:

if)

yl<

St. I'linl'x I'liiiiih, 'I'liiDiihi,

•iH.-

'I'liis was in tlu' si^toiul (kculc ot the iiiUmy. SoiiU' vcais bcluic (l)i'(cm-
1)(M' iitli, iH()()) Vicar-Cienenil Macdoiifll had secured lioin the (iovirn-
iiiciu a Mock nl' land, heint; lot 3, I)uiidas street, ^ Ork, on uliicli to erect a
church and schcu)!. Dundas street is tiie modern (Hieen street, wliic h at
that time existed onlv on thi' map of tlie surveyor. On tliis block of land
now stand St. 'aul's church, sciiool and presh) tery, and the I louse,' of
Providence. It was also the site of the first Catholic cemel<ry in Toronto.

Ihc fust (hurch liuilt in ^ Ork is said lo lia\c liecn .1 wooden liuildinv;,
whi( li, however, soon j;ave place to the sulisl.inlial hric k stiuclurc which did
(lul\ lor so nian\ \i'ars, and ceased to he the parish ( Jiurc h onl\ on the
coniplelioii of the inat^nilicent new ediiici' whit h, thanks to the iiieruA and
the taith of his Lordship l:Jishop ()'.Mahon\-, now adorns the corner of
Oueen .ind I 'ower streets. The old church, built hetween iSjoand |S_'(),
and some \cars a^o c<»nsidei,iiil\ i.ular;;ed, i^ n<>u transformed into a
parish hall.

'i'he moie important incident-- in llie historv ol' llie p.irish under l'",illier
Crowley and his successors, l''atliers ( )'( iiad\ , Mel )onaL;h .ind Kirwan, ha\e
already been related in the earlier pari of this woik, ,ind m cd not here be
repeated. It contmu<Hl to be ihe oiiU parish in the cit\ until liishoj)
Power's time, when ihal much lamenled jirelate Ixi^an the ere( lion of Si.
Michael's cathedral. St. Pciiil's elimcli was Bisho(i Power's cathedral, and
in it took place his hmeral service. At the time of the lli.-liop's dealh,
I'alher J. j. Kirwan was its paslor ; and afur Inm canit; l\uhei- ilarkin for
a year or two, and then P'ather Thomas [•"itzhenrx , who remained for some
\ears. On the hitter's withdraw.d in Hishop de CharbomuTs lime, leather
(now .\rchbishop) Walsh look charge (or a brief period, and then ihe parish
passed under the care of I'athei- I". P. Kooney, now the \ener,ible ,ind miu h
respected senior \'icar-(ieneral of the Diocese. I''alher Koone\ coniimied
as Pastor of St. Paul's for ni'arly twelve \iars, and durin- that time put the
parish on a lirm and enduiiuL; fooiini;-. .\fU:r his remoxal to St. Mar\'s
church, St. Paul's had m;iny (hani^cs ir. its pastors- until llie acKcnl of
his Lordship J-Jishop ()'Mahon\. I'"alhers McCann, KelK and Conw.iv
each spent a year or more in tli': parish, the latter bcin;,; the immediale
predecessor of the Hisho)) of luidocia.

The ;ul\i'nt ol l^ishop ()'.\lahon\ maiks an ej)och m the hislor\ of St.
Paul's, .\jiart from the distinction of tlie parish havins.,' a liishop for its

'28H Tlic Ih'itiififi 1)1 'I'liiiiiito.

pastor, the manv j^reat works set on foot durini:; liis rcLjiinc must c:\er mark
it as a memciralile ])eriod in its annaks.

Bisliop O'Mahony is a native of Cork, and spent many years of his
priestly life in that city. Possessed of talents of a hii^h order, and bein^
ever conspicuous for his enerj^y and piety, he was selected i)y Pope Pius I.\.,

of lioK niemorx , as the Hrst Bishop of tlie Diocese of Armidale, Auslniha.
There he laliorcd with f^reat fruit tor some years; hut liic hot tlimate, and
theexposure conse([urnt upon his visitations of so vast a diocese, told upon
his constitution and ohlij^ed him io resij^n his charj^e and return to Euro}ie.
To use his own words, he returned to the Eternal City to die. But a few
\-ears' rest in Ivmic somewhat restored his lu-ilth. and at the it'<|U(st of tlic
kite Arclihishop Lynch he came to Canada in 1879 to co-operate in tlie work
of tl;c .\rchdiocese of Toronto. On his arriv.il here, he at once took charj^e
of St. Paul's parish, where he; has ever siiuc remained. Tlie result of his
twelve \ cars' jiastorate is seen in the comiin nlmus schools <-)n ( )ueen street,
in the sjilendid new church, in the ,i;ener il condition of the surroundings,
but, abo\c all, in the thonniij;!! or^'ani/.ation and administration of tiie
parish, and the spirit of taith and de\dtion which animates its people.

( )n takin^^ charj^e of St. Paul's J-Jishop O'Mahonv foiwul the- old church
entireh inadeepiate to the recjuirements of the [larisli. Owv of his first
thouj.,'hts, theref\)re, was the erection of a new buildinj^' which would be
more worth\- of Almighty God, and at the .same time afford proper accom-
modation to his pet)ple. To this end his Lordship institiilcd a weekl\-
collection, which was continued for several years, (mablini; him in 1SS7 to
break j.7ound for the foundation of the new church. The corner stone was
laid on October cjth of the same year by his Eminence Cardinal Taschen^au,
assisted b\ his (irace Arch))ishop Lynch, their Lordships Bishops Walsh
and O'Malionv , and M'j,r. ( )'Bryen, Papal Ablegate; and sue h was th.e ener^A'
with which the work was prosecuted that ov. Deccml •■ j,";;!, i8S(j, the new
temple was solemnly dedicated to the senile of Almighty G'-d bv his
(".race the Archbishop of Kingston. The church is not yet completed
accoiding to the original design ; but even as it stands, it is mut h ilie fint'st
cicclesiaslical building 'n ':he cil\ . It is >in the svinbolii- cruciform plan
and con.sists of vast nave and spreading aisles and transepts, apsidal chancel
and side chapels, lofty campanile and roomy sacristies. The basement
contains a spacious ci)ptical church, sub-sacristy and elaborate steam

I:;!:'r

I 'I

Rt. Rev Timothy OMahony

Auxiliai^' Bishop

I I

i M

111

)|| .I'M J

St. Mil III' X I'lirixli.

287

heating ;ipp;ir;ilus. Tlie external dimensions arc as U)ll()\vs : Total len,i,ftii,
174 feet ; width across nave and aisle, 70 feet : width aeross transept, uxi
feet; heij^lit of campanile (stilt imtinished), ug feet. It has a seatint;
capacity of 1,250, while the hasement will seat 1,000. The cost to date
has been considerably in excess of one hundred thousand dollars. The
architect is Mr. Joseph ConnolK', R.C.A.

Altliou,L;h Bishop ( )' Mahon\- has been enabled to see his new church
practicalh- completi-d, it has been at the cost of his own health. When he
entered upon the work he was compar:iti\<l\ a \ii;<)rous man, but now,
unliappily, lie is broken in health and a conhrmed invalid, and the work of
the parish dex'olves at jnesent (Mitirely upon his assistants, Fathers Lynch
and Minehan. F>ut whether his Lordship's time be lon.i; or slK)rt, liis
memory will ev(M- be jj;ratefull\- and affectionately cherished b\- his }>eopl(\ to
whom he has been a faithful and devoted pastor; and he will be remembered
as a prelate of j^real leaniiiu and abilitv, and as a friend sin.i^ularh' constant
and urbane.

The Catholic |)opulation of Toronto mission (which included all the
territory l_\ing about the city) in 1834 was 3,-!4o; in 1844, accordintj; to the
assessor's returns, the Catholics of the cit\- alone numbered 3,^78 ; in 1845
thev had increased to 4,04(1 out ol a total population of ig,7o6. (See
Brown's Directorv, 1845.) The latest census of St. Paul's parish within its
pres(Mit boundaries .<j;ivcs about a thousand families, exclusive of those of
I'Vench ori;4;in, who, thou<j;h residinj^ within the parish limits, worship at the
church of the Sacred Heart, under the direction of Rev. b'ather Lamarche.
'{"he number of individuals is not stated. These liL,auvs '^\vv an idea at
once of the ^'cneral expansion of the cit\', and in particular of the <frowth
and prosperitv oi St. Paul's under a succession oi zealous ,ind de\oted
pastors.

St. M vky's Parish.

'i'his parish, the third in order of tune, dates from the vear 183J. Thus
far the {growth of the Catholic jiopulation of Toronto was confined to the
east and the centre. .Ml that portion of the citv west of Sjiadina avenue
was an extensivi' common, used chieHv for militar\- parades, and unbrok(;n,
save by a few isolated houses, and outlined streets which then had dim
prospects of becoming <,'reat public' thoroughfares. Hut, "Westward the

--■-it

2S8

'J'l(( J>(:ii,Niii (it 'J'liniiitd.

course of cnipin' lakes it way;" and llie church that spread from Si. I'aul's,
on the exlrerne easl, lo Si. Michael's in tlie centre, now extended still

further west to St. Nfarv's on l^.alhurst street.

e v<'nerahle

HislK

Ma( (lonell, durini; his episcoiiacy, nianiiesled ;;real foresight and /eal h\-
S(;curiii,L; portions of land in -several localities (or church i)ur()oses uhene\cr
llie future would point to llieii convenience or necessit\. One such ;;rant
was >ituated at the head of Adelaide street, on the west side of Hatluirst
street, and is ui 'W know n as Macdonell Sipiare.* I lere Hishop'de Charlionnel
resol\i:d to build a iluirch, a whiu.' hrick edilice of modest design and
dimensions, which, wh<n cianpleted, w.is to he d( (healed to the Immaculate
Conception. The hojic whith his i^ordship enterlaiped, that when a
Church was there a c i)n;.;re^ation would soon be lound, was most hapiiih-
realized. Thus was established the nucleus of the now riourisliin<:; jiarish of

St. Marv's.

corner sloiie of this Church was

ai(

1 in M:

i\ ,

IS:

The pri ju hei- upon the occasion was Kev. h'ather L)nch, uncle of his
Lordship l-lishop l)owlinL;'ol Hamilton.

The IK w |iaiish, b\ no means populous, made up for its want of
subjec Is b\ its extent of lerritor\ ; beini;' bounded on the east b\ Simcoe
street, on the west by the l\i\<r liuinber, on the north 1)\ the Davenport
road, and on the south b\ Lake ()ntario.

1 he Church which was then irei led m.uiitesicd betore mail)' \ears slu h
c\ident siij;ns of unsafe construction that it was necessary to pull it down
and erect a new one in its place. Whether these indications resulted from
the insecurity of the foundation or irom the unskilled character of the
workmanshii"), it is impossible now to determine. The old buildinj^ was
torn down in iS^S, and a second church built upon its site. The walls
were commenced on the old loundaltons, which had never been verv secure;
and as these walls were ionmr and his/her than the former, the second build-
in<;, soon after its com[iletion, ,L;a\e sij,ms ot weakness, which would have
terminated with similar results if due precaution had not been taken. The
heav\ 1 ,ick walls and the weij^hty roof proved too ^reat a burden for the
weak toiindation. Iron ,i,'irders were inserted, bindiuL;' the walls toi^ether
tiid saxiiv.; the structure until, in answer lo their prayers, thev should be in
possession of a Church, solid and permanent, and worth\' of them.selves and

\-i.i

* It i- ile-i'i'ibeii in llu' C'ilv l>ii rclm \ :i~ niiiiiiny wfv| ftotn T.^i H.ithiirst slici'l to llcfoi' ".lit^i't.

Id. i>. loi 11

f Ihi-

:)h

St Mary's Church and School

> ■ I I

I'l

Miti

i u\

! i ii

11 : i

>l<

!.■(.;■

St. .I/k/'/.s- I'dVi^li.

•2H!t

till ISC in chari^fc. Tliis cluiicli was coniplclcd and dcdicalcd, and in iS()( ) was
solemnlv conscciatcd hv the laic .\i(hl)isli()|) LmkIi. The M()>t \\v\ . I )r.
'Pinion, liisliopof HulTalo, N'.^'.. prcaclu^d upon the occasion a \(r\- c'lo(|iicnl
scnnon on llic liol\- sacrifice ol \.\\v Mass. After some vcars the weakness
of till' toiindation', the laull of conslrLU"tion and the L;i\inL; \\a\- of the roof,
made It incumlient upon those concerned to taisc ste)is to huild a third
Church. At List the initiati\e was hcjL^un li\' creclinL; a tcmjiorarv shi d on
l^athurst strti^, which was to be used as a chapel until the new Church
would lie Hni.slicd, wliich n(;w stands a model of arcliiteclur.d style, one of tiie
|)rini ipal ornaments of tlu; western part of the ( it\ . It was designed li\
)ose))h Connollx, l'.si|., who has done so much (or church aichitectLire in
Canada.

This, tin- third Church of St. Mary's, is of the l'"rench ^otlnc st\le,
and IS comj)osed ol na\e and aisles with ,i clere-stor\', tr.insepts, chancel and
side chapels, tower and baptistery. Connected with the Church is a
charmiui;' winter chapel, with a beautiful altar, and with confessionals
projecting- outwards from the side and end walls of the na\c , each entered
by a triplet of <_(othic arches. .\ sacrist\- and .i chiistii ed pa.s.sa<{e connect-
in<4 the' church and i)resbvter\- arc in the plan. 'i"he main Church is about
lOo feet bv j-} feil at the transepts, and 53 feel in tlu' other [larts of the
nave. i'he buildinj; is white brick, with ( )hi() sandstone and ;.;ranitt: for
dressiuL; -the walls standiuL; on the most firm foundations. l*"inelv
\arnished pine ,L,Mves the roof a li.L;ht, h.mdsome ap))earance ; while the oiled
oak (if the jjews and of the heavil\ carved communion railin;^' sets the whole
buildini,' off with a charm of solid beaut\. The aisles and transepts are
separated li\ two rows of stately arches sprinj.,nng from ))olished (granite
))illars, with mouKU'd and carv(-d capitals and bases. The jiohshed red
i^ranite pillars suiiporiin.L; the arch of the chamcl rest on lar^e yet j^raceful
corbels, each wrou<^hl with a figure of an an^jel bearinj,' satTcd .symbols.
The corbels supjiortin;; the main timbers of the roof are richb' carved.
I'lu' ground floor of the lowci' forms the chief vestibule of the church,
surrounded on either side b\ an entrance for stornn we.ithcr. The
view on entering the Chunh ihrou.nh the main door \:- \cr\ pleasinj^ —
embracing the s^raceful arches, the lofty nave, the stately transepts, and in
th(> distance the rich and beautiful chancel with its jjoly^onal ajise lighted
by traceried windows of i^raceful desij^m, and with a richlv vaulted and
'groined roof forniiiiL; a suitable c.mopy for the whole. The chancel has

'rl

•iiio

'I'lw l)i'(ini'rii III 'I'lirmilii.

reccnlly I)l'('I1 IkmuUIuIIn frescoed in elinste colors einl)()(l)in^' prominent
subjects from sacred liistorv. The cost of tlie huildins^ when complete will
i)e about t)i>7o,ooo. Il will remain for ^^fenerations a nioiuimeni to the zealous
pastor and };('nerous people of St. Mars's.

The corner stone wa.s liiid on the i 5th of August, iI^it^T; an<l the opening'
services took place with ureat cerenion\- on Iwbruarx i7th, nSHcj. The l\ij;ht
lve\-. 1 )r. Dowlint,', ^is]i<i|i of Hamilton, inrformed tlu' cerernon\' of (k'dica-
lioii; the Most 1^'v. Dr. Clears, .\rclibisho)i of Kingston, celebrated pontifical
hin'h Mass. The sermon of the dav w.is preached l)\- his firace Archbishop
Walsh, who :it that time still lu^ld the :-e(M)f London. It was one of his best
and happio>st eftorts. The Ri;^ht Re\ . Dr. ivichard A. OX'onnor, Bishop of
P(HerboroLi,i;h, pr(>sid(xl at \"es]iers, when the \'ery Ki.\ . I'ather Hennini;,
C.SS.Iv., )ire. idled upon the lilessed V'irj^in. 'J'his closed a memorable day
in the annals of St. Mary's, when, with the people a-sembled for the first
time in their ma,L,miticcnt temple, the holy sacritici' was offered and e\enin<;
song chanted in gratitude to (iod, who had crowned the work with I lis
blessing and with success.

Turning our attention to the various priests who have had charge of
this parish, wo learn that it was first the intention of l^ishop de Charbonnel
to establish the Basilian leathers here and give them charge of the Little
Seminary which formed j)art of his plan. With this end in \iew a large
frame building was constructed in the Church grounds of St. ^hlry's. This
plan was not carried out ; the Basilians opened their College in St.
Michael's l^dace. The house was then given in charge to the Sisters of
Loretto. I'rom that time up to the present, on account of Loretto Abbey
b(!ing situati'd in the jiarish, the pastors of St. Mary's have had more or
less charge of these devout religious. After the removal of the Loretto
nuns to Bond street this house w-as for a time vacant. However, it was
sooa occujiied by the Sisters of Charity who converted it into an industrial
.>chool for girls. Then those Sisters of St. [oseph who were engaged in St.
Mary's Scliools took possession. At length, after being connected with
nearly all the Communities in the city, the old building was sold and removed
to make room for the handsome presbytery which was erected bv leather
Rooney on its site.

After the dedication of the first church St, Mary's was attended for a
time from the Cathedral, and chiefly by Father McLaughlin. The Hrst

.S7. Mnn/'x I'misli,

25)1

pastor was thf laic I'atluT Jolm O'Ncil. During his iiu uinluiuy lif luiill a
frame parisli house on {\\r norlli-wcst corner of lialluirsl street .mil
IMacdoiicll sfiuari;. I'atlier O'Neil was a zealous priest and was highly
esteemed for his good (|ualities and brilliant attainments. But his health
soon became impaired 1)\ the multiplicity of his arduous labors, and he was
obliged to retire from active duty.

e was succeeded

illler

<nus de

a'jna,

puchiii fri.ir.

Tiiis saintl}' priest was born at deiioa in ItaK in the \ear iSoi. 1

entered the b'ranciscan Order, and bein'r in due t

line oidamed priest, was

nominated to the mission o( the northwestern coasts of Murope. While in
Paris he met liishoj) de Charl

)<)nnel, who urged up(

nm to come to

Canada. The missionary, after working hard in England for a few \ears,

fulHI

■d his promise, and came to Canada in '.he spring of 1S56. On

Ascension Day of that year he was introduced bv his Lordship in St.
Paul's Church, and the following Sunda\- was inducted into tlu' pastoral
charge of St. Marv's. " To recount hi

IS nraxers.

tell

lis ltiogra|)her

his exhortalitjns, his multiform duties, while pastor of .St. Mar\'s, \>

ini

possi

Suffice it to s;i\- that whil

11 the ,hiv

Ion'.;

Wdl'Kcd

and

preached, it may be said that all the night long he prayed and wept for the
faults of his people, and with the deepest luimilitv, while li\ing the life of a
saint, ht^ accounted himself the lowliest Christian amongst them." Hut
the great difference between the Canadian ,in<l the Itabaii ( liin.Ue, not to
sjieak ot the rigorous mortifications which lie piactisi^d, was too much for
his health. On March the 13th, 1M57, he was taken down with intlamma-

tion of thi; 1

urn

d died four da\s after

the feast of St. Patrick

While his body la\ in state at St. Micluu-l's Cathedral crowds |)ressed
eagerh' around, if onl\- to touch the hem of his garment, or snatch a thread

IS a relic from his coar^e hatiil.

l)Od

\ was temporariK placed in the

crypt of the Cathedral, and solemnlv removed to St. Mary's Church on

April 16th. Here the late .Monsignore J3ruyere sai

iss.

aiu

1 1

Grace Archbishop Walsh preached upon the occasion, lie was then buried
under St. Mary's Church ; and when in iS.S/ the workmen were making
excavations for the new church, they came upon the iron co(iin in which the

oi'e.

shde was ojie

ned

and

corpse had been interred thirt\ years be

the face seen to be in precisely the state in which it had been buried.

i.i

* \itl. Life of Katliur dclhi \'agiKi, p. 15.

fft

292

'I'lif I ii'innr/i oi Toriinlo.

When 'm- s.'inctiKiry of the new tluircli was l)iiilt, the (-onin was placed in a
vaiill l)L'neaUi, wliicli had Ix-i'ii prepared lor it. Tlic lollowiiiL,' is the taMct
over his j^rave :

111- S KM II AKK I)KI'(

I 1 EI> IMK RkmAINS III

IIIK \\Ai\ KK\KUKM) I'ATIIKR I.OIIS OKI, I, A \ \(i\A,

IMK liKliKK

II (AIM 1 IUNn

A ii;iti\r uf (ii'iioa— He lovi'cl I'ovi'ity, Obodu'iui', Cliiislity llo Iciln iiKHlilieil lifi-. ,iiut
\MiK a strict ohservcr of llu' rule of Ht Kninii--

h DIKI) (IN I'lIK 17111 (I

I M \Kl H, INSJ. J I

Mary kka i i \ i iii^

Alter the dealli of l''alher Lmiis, l'"alh(r ( )ii(ll(tte athiiinislercd the
parish for a short time until th(! appoiiilment of l'"ather W'.dsli, now liappil\-

i<j;nin,i; as Archbishop. At that time a \(iun>^ priis

t of

Ljreat promise,

priK

lenc

cc and pietv, an ehK[uent preaiher, he w

as wiilcomed to St. .Marv's

th ^reat joy. Soon after I5ishop l.\iich'> tonsecration I'.iliui-

Wal

sli

was remox'ed to the Cathedral, of which he was appointed rector. His
al)sence from St. Mar\'s was felt all the more keenly, as his presence and
enertj;v were considered neces.sar\ to assist tiiem in pa\inf^ off the debt upon
their sec(jnfl church, which had but lateb been built. I'he [)eo]>K' besought
his retuin, and his Lordship Bishoj) L)nch j^MMiited their re(|uist.
Walsh continued in the charge of St. Mar\'s until, in iS(:

Fath

e e})iscopacv,

rge
' 11(111 resumin<f his ehan

7, lie was raised to
b

ahored assi(luousl\ in tli(

(hscharsie of his mam (hities, in the establishment of new schools and the

general supervision of jKirochial matters, wliil

on accoun

t of 1

IIS aim.iliili

and sua\it\ , he was belo\'e(

in- al

In the interval of b'ather W

ilsli s

lirst

and second <'hari;e of the iiarish I'ather lloliin was tenipor.iiiK appointed,
wiio built a line school hou.se of four rooms (|uite ade(|uate for the time and
well furnished with all necessary e(|uipnients. 1 le was made |iari>h priest
of Xiat

ara.

uniu

ins

first incumbency l*~ather W'.ilsh had as assistants b.ither

()uelli'tl<', who WI

thdrc

I ft

e\v atier\var(

Is to tl

leiic of .St. llvacinthe

ehec, wlK

■re he tauj^dit as profes.sor and where

he IS now superior.

aiK

Canon of the Diocese of St. llvacinthe. Tl
Sau\adet, who was transferred to St. Patrick's ;

u' next cur.ite was
and alter him came

itl

itiier

itl

itner

Michel, who left here to be parish jiriest of the Core of Toront

().

tien

Father Walsh returned to St. Mar

ry s lie hrou^'lit wilii linn iMther I'loulx,

wamm

MONSIGNORE ROONEY, V. G

>7t

.S7. Mdii/'x I'm mil

•i'.tst

will) su('C{'t!(l((l lo tlif p.istoratc. I'"iillii|- rnuilx iidiniiiislcnd tlir p.irisli
uilli considcrMMc success. His Ion?,' career as inissiduarv aiuotii^'st tlie
Indians and in ullier places made liim a man of ),'reat cxiH-rience and ripe
jiids^nicnl. Ilew.i^ lian>ferred lo liie Catliedral alxiiit the \car 1S73, and
not jonj,' alter made Dean of 'I'oronto, and then promoted to the hi^'her
dij,mity of Roman I'relati'. His health failin,L(, he returned to his friends
in the Province of (Uiebc'C, and (lied in iSSi ai the 1 ipe a<;e of se\cnt\ -ihifc.

hurini; his inciiniheiii \ of St. Mar\'s I'allu r I'lonK had ( oii>( i iiti\ e|\
for as^istanl.^ h'alhers \\'iiit<', ()'|)onoho(, KclK and Sulliv.m. The lirsl of
tlu:se left the dioia'se .'did joini'd the l!enedi(line ( )r(ler, with whom he
served most faithfully, and amonj^st whom lu died last year a holy death.
I'ather Kell)- is now chaplain of the Christian Hrothers ; and I'atlier
Sulli\an's name and labors will In' found in the accouni of tlu 'I'horold
parish. I'"alher )ain( s ()' 1 )onohoe, still lemenihered li\ iho^-e who kni w
him as an aMe and ehxpieiit m,in, died sonv \cars aj^'o m l>arrie.

To l'"alhei- l'roul\ .succeeded tin prese t revend p.istor, \ icar-Oener.d
Kooney, conecrninn wliose life and work soniclhin^ more.i^ iii|uirt(l ih.in a
mcT(; passin'.,^ word.

i'rani is Patrick Kooni')' wks horn in the County of .VrmaLjh, Ireland,
where, also, he reci'ived his classical education in the diocoan Semin.irx.
.\.l)out the time that hv was fmishin'^, it was commonh r( poi'icd that
father l)ow(l, who was well known in th.il p.irl of ihe idunti\, was to he
co-adjulor Bishop of Toronto. This deli rmined l'",ither Koonc\- to come
to Canada; and on writin;.( Hishop de Charhonnd. he receixcd a letter in
reply which was a most cordial invitation. lie rearhi<l Toronto in |uly,
l(S33. When St. Michael's Colletic opened the fr>llowinLj Seplc nilier, l'"atlH:r
Kooiiex , then eiilerin^f upon his theo|o'_;\, hecame prelect ol studies. Me
continued in the College as Profes.sor uiilil after hi> ordination as priest,
which took place on the I'east of St. Rose of Lima, .\u^u>t ^^<>lh, 1H37.
lie remained still in the College ; and for one \ear in addition to teachiuL;

he Had cnartre or

St. I

sasil s parish.

hi' toilowiiiij' summer he was called

upon l)\ P)ishop de Charhonnel to he pastor

St. I'

;iul s.

ii> ))ansli at

the time was in a state of excitement and anyer. It recpiired prudence and
lirniness to settle matters, and hrinj;' them to that habit of disi ipline and
respect which are such necessar\' dispositions for the (ruittulness ol ( lod's
word. l'",ilher I\oone\-, notw ithslandin,i( his inexperience in the hoh priest-

\U'i'.

294

77/c htiiiiirii (if Taritnto.

hood, acted with such caution and determination, that in a shor*: time he
liad the satisfaction of iei<,Miinf,' o\er a peaceful and united people. For
twelve vejirs he labored here earnest, ', /t%'iloush and successfulK . When
he arrived there was no presbytery ; he built a larj^e one, which is e\'er since
the parish house. He pro^•i(l<•d tor the spiritu ;1 wants of the people in
repairini^ and decorating the Church, in estaolishing new .>^chools where
necessary and enlarj^nnj.; old ones, and ecjuippinL,' all at his persona.! expense.
At this time the Separate schools were in their infancy ; the means at their
disposal for their sustentation were xery limited. .\nd in order to supple-
nuT.c their revenues the pastors of the se\eral ))arishes in the city found it
necessary out of their limited revenues to contribute to their sujtport. Be
this ever recorded to the credit of such men as leather Kooney, that it ma)
not be forgotten by younger generations, how these zealous jiriests purchased
propertv for .school sites, and erected school hou.ses, and by their fostering
care brought them out of the swaddling clothes of jiovertv, weakness and
inelhciency, and helped most materially to pLu e them in the s.itisfactory
positie.. they occupy to-day.

Soon after Bishop Walsh's consecration in 18O7 Archbishop Lynch
showed his conhdence in l'"ather Rt)oney by making him Vicar-Cieneral of
the Diocese. Nor was this confidence at all misjilaced. I'rom the time of
the appointnuMit I 1 the death o( th.e \-entrable prelate who c<Mifene(l it,
leather b'ooney served him with the most constant and dexoted lovallv.
When .\rchbishop Walsh took ]K)ssession of the See he continued leather
Rooney in his dignity of N'icar-deneral. In the interval I)efween the
decease of .\rchbishop Lvnch and the accession of Dr. Walsh he was
eo-administralor ol the dioce.'^e with bather Laurent ; Init the whole work
practicalK- fell upon him :\s senior priest, afid as having already .idministered
tile dioc se se\eral times when his Cirace had been abse'it.

till

Kesuming the history ot ''is parochial work, we li.id \'i( ar-Cieneral
Roonev , in i^ijo, called from St. Paul's to St. Mary's. Here Ik san man)
important works neces.sary f'^r the benefit of the parish. ( )ne of the Hrst
was to erect St. Helen's in the village of Brockton for the .service of the
northwesttrn portion of St. Mar\'s i)eople. We refer our readers to the
accoUiU of t!,is now active and flourishing parish, whic h formed for se\eral
years a part of St. Mary's. The next work which engaged the pastor's
aUention was a presbytery. It was completed in a short time, and is not

'A," *f-

1*1-

St. Mari/'n Parish. 296

the least of tlie west end iniprovMnents. I^ut now th.u the p.oplo nortlnvest
of the C.urch were accommodafd, th. necessity was soon found of a
school du-ectly north of St. Mary's, as the distance was too ,reat and n.anv
of me children too youn.^^ to attend regularlv; and what was a mon- sctIous
considcnmon, many were at the neic^^hhorin.i^^ public schools. Father
Ivooaey pmrha.sed land on the corner of Hathurst and Rloor streets exteii-
S've enou,:^h not only for a school hut also for a church and preshvterN' thus
tormniK the nucleus of a parish. A buildin-,. was erected upon it' which
serves as a s, hool durmg the week, and in which Mass can be offered when
necessary. \\ lun completed it was dedicated to St. Peter and bh ,ed by
Archbishop Lynch on tlu^ 4th of Januarv, iS;. ; since which time two
Ma.s.ses arc> re.alarly celebrafd in ,t on Sundavs and holidays. Here is an
enc^r^etic Conference :>f Vincent d. I'.ui Society, with Mr, Inseph Kod^^ers
as president. '^ ' '

The next matter rcqmrin.^^ attention was further .school accommodation
1 ropc.rty was , urchased <.n Alannin.^^ ayenue and St. l-'rancis' school built
conta.nm,^ lour rooms, and well e.,u,pp,.<l with all modern improyen,, :Us'
1 he .schoo.. in the ^roun.ls around St. MaiVs Church occupy twely. rooms'
and are hUe.l to oyerflowin- The Chri.stian Brothers haxv a hous, ne ir
by ; while the Sisters of St. Joseph haye within the past few y-.rs erectixl
a very comfortabl.. and substantial Convent on Dathursi street for these
Sisters who teach m th. parish of St. Mary's, and also for the purpos. s of
a select sch(x)l.

The spiritual state of ih,- parish i- in kvcpin- with the materid \
riourishm- Conference of U,,. St. \-ince.u .Ir Paul SocietN, haxin^- ,-,n active
membership of 70, with Mr. M.nim }. Hums as President, attc^ids to the
wants at tlu. poor. There i- also a League of the Sacred Heart with
over a thousand mnnb, rs. \n Altar Society of four hundred and ,

Sodality of one hundicd ,ind
,i;etic socu'tics in the parish.

hft

\', com

pli'te the most

promiiuiit ,111(1

All tl

is is to a larn-e extent ihw to the zeal and

(ieiieral, who has watched and fostered it for tl

I'rudi nee of the

eiier-

icar-

Venerable in aj^e and connected witl

le past twent\-two \ear.'-

1 \ve

1 oronto,
know him.

I'ath

er Kooncy commar.ds the estec

ni^di forty years of the hist

(jr\- o

m and affection of all

who

In the parishes whriv he has served his name is a household

♦ II

is M'lviif- oil ihf School l!(i;iiil

111.' iioU'il ill C'liiiDli

*i,

296

'I'lic Dciiiicrfi of 'J'oroiili).

word ; wliilf amonj^st llu' ))iiests, likf Nestor of old, he lias seen two
^generations pass awav, and he now r(?ij^ns amonj^st a third.

The |)resenl emales at St. Mary's are the l\e\-. ['"athers 1). Sheahaii,
J. Cruise and I'. C'o\le. The lirst is a native of Ireland, where he lom-
jileted his education before ciiniinL; to this country, h'ather C'luisi,' is from
Nova Scotia, and is :i con\ert to the faith, .\fter stuilyini; ni Toronio and
St. Ihacinthe, he wcMit to (lenoa, Italy, lor his tlieolo^jy ; returning' to
Toronto, he was ordained prii-st in iSS-|)\ the lati' Archbishop L\nch.
blither Coyle is "to the manner i)orn." lie made his classical and |)hil(.-
sophical courses in St. Mic liael's College, and was then sent to coni))lete
his theoloj^'v in tlie same institution with bather C'ruise, and w.i^ r.iised to
the holv priesthood in ltal\' in iS(ji.

Si . 1 ) \si i.'s I'ak 1 sH.

This i^ tlu' northern apex of the original ecclesiastical trian^h into
whicli the cilN' was (li\ ided, and of wliicli St. Paul's and St. Mar\'s form
the other an-^ular points. The paii>]i is under the direction of the ]')a>ilian
leathers who ha\-e charj;!' of St. MiclKuTs College. To a priest of the
C'ommunit) is L;iven the spei ial dut}' ol attendinj; to the s[)iritual wants of
the parishit)ners ; and th* dillerent professors takinj^ a share in tin- Sundav
.services, the imposiuLj ceremonies of the Church are carried out witli suitable
pomp and impressiveness.

We reter our reader,-^ to tlu p,iL;e.s devoted to the l^>asilian communitx tor
an account of this parish, whoM' hi>tory and efiiciencv an- so closeb connected
vs'idi '-Jt. Michaer> Co]let;i'. We propose here brietl)- to supplem-'Ut it.

.\s the Cliurcli and College now stand, the\ present a vei\- differiMit
appearance from that of the original plan desiniied l)\ Mr. W illiani lla\,
.'^rchiteet. The l)uildin,ns were arranged i'l the form of a tpiadran,^ie, alter
th<; manner of the ancient baii^lish colleij;es. The Church, occu))\in,L; one
side of this stpiare, consists of na\e and aisles, with an e\tende(l chancel.
The stvle of the sacn edifice is .seNcre hr^t pointed, or that which pre\ailed
in blngland about the middle of the thirteenth centurw The principal
entrance, a \er\ handsome one, is through the tower at the south-east
corner, reached b}' a circular walk and dri\e from St. Josepli street. This
entrance is through a cut stone doorway, whose arch is .-^uiiported b\
granite pillais. The i-)wer above is of pressed brick, surmonnN'd b\ a

SI. Jiaxll's ]',irlxh.

297

slated sp.rc 150 feet high to the top of the cross. Iw-om this entrance
which IS ,2 feet s,iuare, wc pass hy a Hij^^ht of stone steps to tlie vestibule
or narthex, wh.ch is 25 feet long by 16 feet wide, with three doors opening
^. the churcl, proper, and stairways leading to the gallery above, and the
Society rooms ,n the basement l,eneath respectively. The roof is of open
tnnber construction of bold design, supported by eighteen pillars, with
several dormer windows, which throw ;, chastened light over the otherwise
sombre scone.

Tile sanctuary has a dimension of 32 f,.ct bv 2^. The mam altar is of
wood handsomely carved and richly gilt, with pannelings on the gospel and
epistle sides, and above the tabernacle a deep niche containing a statue of
the Sacred Heart. The reredos, terminating in various pinnacles and

crosses, mounting higher toward the centre,

give', the whole, especially

when illuminated, a most devotional ( ffect. Behind and above this altar ,s
• a richly colored window of three nidies representing St. Michael St 15 isil
and St. Cliarles, th(,. gift of the \'ery Rev. Father Laurent of Toronto, the
\ery l-a.v. p.-.ther Rooney of Toronto and the X'ery K.'v. I'ather Heenan
of Hamilton. All the windows of the church are gifts of „ld students of the
Colegc who became priests, and whose names are at the fnot of each-
while the slab m the entrance retains the names of other benefactors who'
out of regard for their Alma M
completion of the College church

The altars of ihe HIes.sed \'i

Iter, (■oiUributed

most .ucncrousK' to th

e sanctuar)-. They are white, with gilt ornamentat

3f th

statues and the liii- size crucili
interior.

rgin and St. Joseph neatly a<l(M-n the ends

ions.

le various

X lend \cr\- nuich to the sol

nn aspect of the

Just outside tl

tablet with the f<

V-' sanctuarx- near the Hh

d \

essed \ irgin's .Vltar is a marble

olinvmg inscription in raised <n'lt letters*

Vi-i

HON. JO.WXI l.l.MM.i;v.

I'tjls I IIR UK

Dki-ositim kst, S(i( iktas S. 13asii.ii (^rata.
sunt oculis insipientium niori ; illi .lutein Mint in pace. ,S m. j{{ ^ ,

K. I. I". ' ' "

heanu'Lre'Sosned."'" "•^'"^'""'>- " T'- >^<>.-t, of Si. Ka-M in Knititucle ,o.|„„„ E,.,.,.,, .,„,.,

In the .sight of tile unwise IIkm seem t<i liir: b

III tliey .ire in peace. Wimki.m iii., ;, 3.

2;)S

The Deanery of Toronto.

Mr. IClmsley liad made provision by will that his heart should be takrii
from his body and placed in St. Basil's Church, which, during his life, he
so dearly loved. After his death his heart was hermetically sealed in
alcohol, and deposited in a niche behind the tablet where it now rests.
The body is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral.

The history of this parish is briefly told : it being a continued advance
for many years as the citv grew and business forced the population farther
outward. If we regard the interior causes for the efficient state of thv.
Church, it is largely due to the energy of Father Lawrence Brennan, C.S.B.,
who is now parish ])riest of St. Basil's. The front extension in 1886, with
all the material improvements which were made at that time, was the work
of his zeal. The parish is well organized, with largely attended Sodalities
and an excellent Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which has
an acti\e membership of twenty-five under the Presidencv t)f Mr. J. J.
Murph) . This Society has charge of the Parish Library, containing over"
one thousand volumes. There is also a Ladies' Sewing Society that meets
every week during the winter for serving the poor with clothes.

This year the Basilians erected a novitiate for their Community upcMi
their property on St. Clair avenue. It is a handsome four story building,
with a neat chapel sufficiently large, not only for the private use of those
residing in the house, but also for the Catholic public in the neighborhood.
It will thus form the beginning of a parish in the northwestern section of
St. Basil's.

The corner stone was laid on May 8th, 1892, by the Right Rev. Denis
O'Connor, C.S.B., Bishop of London. A large procession formed at St.
Michael's College, consisting of a number of the Benevolent Societies of the
City, and, headed by the College Band, marched to the grounds. After
the ceremony his Grace Archbishop Walsh preached an eloquent sermon
upon the gieat work of Catholic education. This discourse was followed by
addresses from Father Flannery, sole survivor of the pioneers of the Basilian
Community in this country, and by Dr. Cassidy and J. J. Foy, Q.C., on the
part of the old students of the College. Thus closed a mernoiable day in
the annals of this parish anc the Community in whose charge ic is placed.

<SV. I'alrick'H I'idixh. 20!)

St. Patrick's Takisii.

Tlie western half of the central portion of the citv was formed into a
parish in the latter part of Bishop de Charbonnel's rei^n, and place<l under
the mvocation of Ireland's patron Saint. It was ori-inallv composed of
portions both of the Cathedral and St. Marv's parishes ; and'is hounded on
the north hy College street, on tlie east l-v h-hzahe^tli and \nv\< streets, on
the .south by the Ba)', and on the west by Beter street and Spadin.i avnuie.

The people of this ixirish were .served for a short time :)y the late
Father Proulx. .\fter him .ame Father Sauvmlet, from iSoi' to 1865
Ihis priest afterwards went to Cleveland, Ohio, to which dioce.se we still
fmd in the clerical directory his name attached as chaplain of a hosi>ital
in ioledo. Father Sauvadet was succeeded by leather Key, who
remained till 1867; when he was replaced by Father Laurent, w'h'o was
parish priest of St. Patrick's for fourteen years, from 186; to 1.S81, when he
was made rector of the Cathedral and \'icar-C<'neral. Durin- this time
Father Laurent so devoted him.self to the spiritual and mater?al pro-rcss
of the parish, so won the affections of his peojije, that when he, in
obedience to duty, left them for a hi-her position, his tlock were extien'ieh
loth to part with him. Upon the removal of 1-ather Laurent the congrega-
tion w,,s placed under the charge of tlu; Hedemptorist I'athers, who enteivd
upon IJieir work on l-ebru.iry i st, iSSi, with the late Verv Rev. F.u>^ene
(inmm as Superior, and Fatht'i-s F. X. Miller, S. j. Kivin, A. |. Mclnerney
and J. Ilayden as assistants. Among.st these, I^ithers Melnernev and
Krein are at St. Patrick's for a .second term, IJie former being the present
Superior. Father C.rimm was succeeded b\ Father Sigl, and he 1)\
Father Henning ; after whom comes Father A. |. Mclne'rn'e\, who was
ordained Alay joth, 1N73. Mis a.ssistants aiv Fathers Krein, McCarthy,
Cook and (Irogan. There are also three lay brothers in the house. Th.'
Redemptorist Fathers of the yrovince of Bal'timore, Maryland, were called
by his Grace Archbishop Lynch to take charge of the parish and to give
missions in tlu' dioce.se. The regret which the parishioners felt at losin-
blither Laurent yielded to respect and affection, win n the\-
ac(|uainted with the fer\enl commuiiit\ in whosr
placed.

The church of this parish, situated on William street, between Caer
Howell and Anderson streets, is a neac brick building of gothic de.si'.m.

necame
charge I hey had been

•s<

800

Tlif Ihuiiicrii (if 'I'orniitd.

Tlic fust fliurcli creeled here, ;i fraini' one, was deslnncd by lire on Jinu'
_'Jiid, 1SO3. In i(S6(j I'^alher Laurent started to build a new eliurch, wliich
was c.onipleled the lollowiiii; yt;ar, and di'dicalcd Noxcmiber Ji^tli, 1870, 1)\'
Archbishop Lxiicli. I'isliop Farrell of Hamilton sani; the Mass, while the
sermon was preaelu'd by liis (irace Archliisiiop Walsh, then liishop of
London. L>ish(i(i MeChiaid of I'Jochester preaehed in tlie excniiiLi;.

Since tliat time llie ("hurcli has been frescoed in chaste desinii, and
two neat oratories lia\-e lieeii erected on either side ol the main altar. These
j;i\e the sanctuar\- a more roonu appearanic; and when, at solemn e\cnini;'
services, the altars are lii.,'lited, the effect is most pleasinij.

\\ hen the l\edem[)torists came, the presb\ti'r\ jiroNc d aUoi:ether too
small and mconveni(-nl for a communitx . In iSSG b'.ither Si;;], who was
then Sujierior, er(>cted the present handsome i cin\ent upon McCaiil street.
The ba.semcnt contains a fine hall, where lh(^ \ari<His .societies can hold
pi'bli( as well as ordinar\ nieetin^s. fhe rest of the house is de\oted
to C"ommunit\ puipose-;, ha\inL,'on the second .-^lorx a small but la^teiul
private chajH'!.

built in iSbj.

riiere is one Separate school 0.. W illiam street, noith of the ("lun"ch,
'ntil the openiuL,' of the new church it ser\ed for reliiiiious
j)ur|ioses on Sundavs and I'east da\s. There is an attendance of 400
children at the various clastiCS, which are lau.nht 1)\ the C'hrislian brothers
and the Sisters of St. |oseph.

Tht lollowinn reli,L,'ious and literar\' soiietics are connected with llie
parish : St. Patrick's ConferiMice of the St. \ inceiit de Paul Societv , under
the i)i'esidenc\' of Mr. William lUnns, with an actisc membership of

ft)rt\ -se\ ( n ; Children

irv

three branches of tlu .\rch-Conlr.ilerni

t\ of

the I lol\ I'amily ; the St. .\l\

(1 the St. Cathari

ne s 1 oun<j

tnonsus 1 oim<^ .Men s
Ladies' Literar\' Associati

Cathi>lic .\ssoiiation,

le i.lSt two

meetuiL; at stated tnnes ni the p.irish h.ul for reh^'ious, mental and plnsical

nnnroxci

nent. Al

tJK'se .societK's a

re under tlu direction of tiie i'"atliers.

The Catholic population of tlu' jiarish is ^i\en at J,^V'" soul.'-

I "i I

St. Uclcu'a I'urixli.

301

St. 1 1 i:i,i:n's Parish.

.About twcnl}' \(';irs ;i<^o Mr. .Mfxander Macdonell {ijavc some land for
church purjioses in wliat wa.s then tlu; vilhi<i;c of Brockton, situated on the
corner of Lansdowne avenue and Dundas street. To this properlN- I'allier
I'Jooney, who was at the time parish priest of S. Mary's, achled !))■ i)urrha.se
an acre and a half. In 1S72 he l>uilt a church here, which was dedicated
to vSt. I'rancis and St. Helen, the former hein;.; the patron saint of the
pastor, and the latter l)ein<,' achU.'d in accordance with the donor's wishes.
The title of St. Francis has jjractically dropped out, and the parish church
is better known as St. Helen's. Archbishop Lynch performed the dedica-
tory .services, and Archbishop Walsh, who had preached at the layins; of the
corner stone, was the preacher ui)on the occasion.

Sancti AUY 01 .St. IIki.knS Chikim, liuoi k ion.

This church, a neat red brick structure, prominent b\ its jtosiiion on
rising ground, served very well until the growtii of the population c ailed
for more accommodation. Accordingly, in 18H8, the Very Rev. I'^ather
McCann commenced the Iniilding of a new one, the rear portion of which,
consisting of a hnc sanctuary and transepts, as gi\en in the preceding

; \

8(»2

'I'lir Ihiiiirri/ of Turoiiln.

\i('\v, is all thai is vet liiiislu'd. 'I'his, joined l<i llic old cluircli, fornis Iml
one ('{litic(!, and is nuite suHiciciil for the |iicsent wants i I the eon^'rcf^'ation.

In constructing' the first huihlinf; the haseiiient was so arranijed that it
made; a very j^ood scliool, which lasted for several years. Hut the iiistor)'
of l^rockton Separate school dates much farther hack. It had heen estah-
lished in 1W57 by his (irace Archl)ish(>|) Walsh, when pastor of St. Mar\'s,
in a frame huihhn;.,' on St. Clarence avenue, leather McC'ann, in iHSj,
secured the erection of a substantial school of lour rooms, to the north of
the church. .A second buildin^f of similar dimensions is in courst' of
erection, and will be finished Ixifore the close of the; jiresent year.

The Christian l^rothers have charge of tlu' bovs ; and the vSisttTs of
Loretto, of the skirls.

b'or a few years after the erection of St. Helen's it was attended from
St, Mar)'s Church. But in November, 1H75, it was erc-cted into a sejiarate
parish, under the care of blather J. J. Shea. This name, familiar to many
of our readers, recalls a most amiable and ^^enerous character, whose career
was cut off a few years a^o by sudden death while still littk' Ixnond the
prime of life.

In ]88o leather Shea was succeeded by the Very Rev. Father Conwa\-,
who was apjiointed Dean <^f Toronto in 1JS82. The \'er\- Iun. b'ather
McCann followed shortly after. He enlarged the presbyter}-, which had
Ixen erected bv his predecessor. His other nnprovements ha\c been
ah'ead\' noticed. All this time the parish had been rajjidlv incri'asiiiLj, so
that a second priest was necessarv, bather Harold beiuL:, apjiointed in iiScSr.

When b'ather McCann was, in Januarv, 1S91, appointed Kector of the
Cathedral b'ather Cassidv took charj^e of St. HehMi's, and was made Dean
ot Toronto.

b'.clward Cassid\- is an old Toronto bov, beinj; born in this city
October 4th, 1845. He received his classical education at St. Michael's
Collegi', and studied theolo;^y in the (irand Seminary at Montreal. His
ordination as prii'st t(H)k place on the 4th of Octolxn^, iSOS. 'Thornhill,
Pickerings Dixie, Adjala, I^arrie. were all in onh'r. prixious tcj Hrockton,
scenes of b'ather Cassidy's .pnostly labors. In all of these parishes he
commanded the respect of his different flocks, and in main- he left substan-

>'!i

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.S7. UiIch'h I'diialt.

8()H

tial miirlss of his zt'al. ll is (lilfuLilt to skcUli tlU: clianutcr of a liviiii;
man; but history will know Dean Cassidy as a prudent, careful priest, whosi'
career is iittini^K- honored with the di^^Miity bestowed upon him,

l'"ather Joseph !•". M( I hide, wlio

riie i)resent assistant at St. ilcl

1
iti\i- of ScotlaiK

en s IS

His eailv t'ducation was recei\cd in Strtclsxil

IS a n

Ilil^di school. lie attended the Colle,i;e of the Holy .\n>.;els at Niaf^ara
I'alls, and completed his theolofjjy in the (irand Seminary at Montreal, in
1877 he was raised to the lioly priesthood, after which he was made
Secretar\ to the late Archbishop. This position he held, with the exception
of a few \cars' residence in l'enetan}j;uishene, until the death of Dr. Lvnch.
Since that time I'ather MeF)ride, on leavin<j[ Our Lady of Lourdes, where
he was parish priest, took charj^^e of Dixie, and afterwards, at his own
recpiest, was ajipoinled curate at lirockton. Besides his clerical duties he

IS at pre sen

t editor of " The Catholic Weel<l\' Review " of Toronto.

In addition to St. I lele

n s (lull

ch the priests of Brockton have charge

if \\ fston, where a ( luirch was erected b\ the \'er\' l\e\

atlicr Soulcrin,

Superior of St. Michael's College, in I1S33, and dedicated to St. John llu;
Jivanj^'elist, Up to the appointment of a resident pastor of Brtjckton,
this Churcli was served by the Basilian I'^ithers. A Separate; school also
was or<j;anized at Weston in 1856, and has ever since becMi maintained. So

far tl

le sacnsl\ has been used for a school room ; but stejjs are

Deiii'i

tak

for the erection of a scho

louse proper.

A larL;e Separate school was built in 18SS in the extreme north-west

part of the city, immediately adjoining Toronto Junction. This build
lemporaril}' used as a church for the accommodation of the ("atl
between Brockton and Weston.

lllii IS

lollCS

Thus we hnd springiiiL; from the parent stock of St. Mary's not the

ISlll'f

ere mission chapel of St. Helen's, but a flourishing parish with prom
future, and other churches branching from it in turn. .\ Conference of the
St. \'incent de I'aul Societv, with an active membc^rship of twcntN-fne,
under the presidency of Mr. V'. P. I-'ayle, a flourishing League of tlu Sacred
Heart, and other vSodalities bespeak the satisfactory state of religion,
the bright prospects for the future, and the zeal of the priests and people in
this rising young parish of the west.

|>K

80i 'I'll'' IffOIITI/ i]f Tl'l-Ollfl),

St. Josicrii's Pakisii, Lusi.ihvi i.ij;.

Lt-aviiij,' the western parish, the next in orcUir of time is St. Josejjh's,
Li'^-lie\illi', in the eastern extremity (if the city. It hej^Mn jiractieally when
the Separate school was opi'ned on Cur/.on street about the vear 1^63 ; for
soon aitcrwards Mass was eek,'l)rale(l in it every Sunda\ for the aecommo-
dalidii of those parishioners of St. Paul's who lived beyond the Don. A
new school hou.se containinjj; two rooms was built in 1S71, which was also
used for divine .services. It continued to be attended by the priests of St.
Taul's until Novendier 10th, 1H7S, when it was erected into a separate
parish, under the invocation of St. Jose|)h. lUil the cluinh was not built
until the Near I-SS4, when the corner stone was laid. it was dedicated in

Jul), iSSO, 1

Ills

Lordshi)) Bishop ()'Malion\

le |)arish has siiict

so far increased that a second church was needed

still farther east, near the villaj^e of ^'ork. As early as 1853 or 1H54 the
lat" Mr. Terence ()'\eil, who tli(Mi lived in the neij^Oiborhood, ^'ave some
land for a chuixli, In .lulifullvsituated on liif^h <,'round which overlooks the lake.
Hut ii li;ul little pi'ospect of ever beinj^, (K'voted to tlu! sacred purposes for
which it was intended ; s|)arseness of Catholics, scarcity of priests, and the
slow growth of the city in that direction prevented an\' action beinj.; taken.
However, the donor himself, when speakiii); upon the subject, hoped a<;ainst
hope, and with faith used always remark that .^ome day or other Mass
would be offeivd (i\(T that spot for tin; repo.se of his soul. Nearly forty
\ears Weill bv ; Mr. ()"Neil himself passed awa}' ; l)ut at lenj.^th his comictioii
]iro\((l a piophecy. A neat chapel was erected, and dedicated to St. John
the l",\ani;elist by his (irace .Xrchbishop Walsh on Sunday, May 22nd, 1892.
On the followinj,' Wednesday the hol>' sacrifice was offered for the repose of

tlu

oul ot tile iicn

erous i-iver of the land.

The population of tlie whole parish is about two hundred and twenty
imilii's, althou.i^h it iluctuates, on account of the neif^borhood being a

uorite summer resort.

The present j^astor, h'ather M. McC. O'Reilly, has been parish jiriest
since its .sejiaration from St. I'aul's. This j^ood priest was born at
(jranard in the C"ounl\ of Lon<,'ford, Ireland. After completing his
classical education in St. Mel's Seminary, Longford, he came to this

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23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

( 716) 872-4503

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Parish of Our Ididy of Loiinhii.

305

country, and entered St. Michael's College, Toronto, for his philosophy.
He studied theolofry in the Seminary of the Holy Angels, Niagara Falls,
and also at Montreal. Archbishop Lynch ordained him priest September
2 1st, 1865. Since that time he has been stationed at Thorold, for a short
while, Stayner for seven years, and St. Joseph's, Leslieville, for the last
fourteen. He has been always an active church builder— Merritton, Stayner,
Brentwood and the two churches of his present parish being the enduring
evidence of his devoted work in the priesthood.

Parish of Ol'r Lady of Lotkuks.

This parish dates from the year 1886. When his Grace the late
Archbishop Lynch celebrated the Silver Jubilee of his episcopate in 1884,
the erection of a memorial church was decided upon as the most fitting way
in which to commemorate the event. The site chosen was the Sherbourne
street front of the ecclesiastical property known as St. John's (irove, the
private residence of the Archbishoj). Hitherto the north-eastern part of
the city had had no regular place of worship, t'aough Catholic residents
were generally admitted to the private Mass of his Crace or of his resident
Chaplain in the basement of the archiepiscopal hou.se. But the room
was small and inconvenient, and as the neighborhood grew and developed,
the necessity of a larger and better eidapted chapel became apparent.'
Having, therefore, decided upon the erection of a church as stated above,
the Archbishop entrusted to Commander Law, R.N., the preparation of
(ilans and specifications. The handsome Church of Our Lady of Lourdes
is the result of that gentleman's work, and stands to-day a monument to
his architectural skill. The corner stone was laid on June 21st, 1885, bv
his Grace Archbish()|) Lynch, assi.sted by his Lordship Bisht)p O'Mahony,
the latter of whom preached the sermon. On October 2qth, 1886, the
solemn dedication services took place. Archbishop Lynch again officiating,
assisted by their Lordships Bishop Walsh of London and Carberv of
Hamilton. The sermon on this occasion was preached by the Bishop of
London.

The church is in the clas.sic Italian style of architecture, and is
modelled after that of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It consists of
transept and nave, and is surmounted by a spacious dome 97 feet in height
and 26 and one half in diameter. The interior length of the structure is

!1 II

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i: ;i! [ .-

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;j()()

'I'lic Dfiiiieri/ of Toronld.

loo feet and the width 35 feet, the whole, with its uni<iue .'•■chemeof culorins;
and artistic woodwork, formin;^ a most charminf; interior. The external
appearance is likewise plensin<;, the symmetrical dome and statel) facade,
surmounted by the words: "(iloria in lixcelsis Deo," presentin<^ a pro-
minent feature in thai jiart of Sheri)ourne street. The cost of the structure
was about 840,000.

C'ontemporan )usl)- with llie ojn'ninj; of the church was i)roclaimed the
erection of a new jiarish under the invocation of ( )ur Lady of Lourdes and
St. John the Kvani^elist. Its boundaries were deHned as follows : On the
east, the River Don ; on the south, Carleton street to Church street ; thence
up Church street (includinj^ both sides) to Bloor street ; thence alonj^' Bloor
street to (iwynne street; thence to the old northerly boundary of St. Paul's
parish.

The hrst rector was l\e\-. ). V. McBride, so long and iavorabh' known
as Secreta\- to the late Archbishop Lvncli, and, on the hitter's death, to
the \'erv \\v.\ . Administrators of the Archdiocese. l'"ather MclJride is
referred to at length elsewhere, and we have here to do onl\ with his incum-
bencv of the church under survey. Under his fostering care the jiarish
grew rapidlv.ancl many good works were inauguratc-d, which have not failed
to bear fruit durmg sul)se(|U(nt years.

Upon the ai)pointment of the Most Rev. John Walsh as Archbishop
of Toronto in 1889, b'ather McBride was replaced by I'athi-r James
W'alsli, nephew and Secretary of the .\rchl)isho|), and who became second
Rector of the ))arish. These offices he still holds, and has Hrmlv estab-
lished himself in the affections of his peo^)le.

Father Walsh was born in 1857 at Mooncoin in Ireland, in the same
house in which had been born, twenty-seven years before, his illustrious uncle,
i le studied for four years at St. Patrick's College, Carlow, and thence
|-)roceeded to Rome, where, at the College of the Propaganda, he remained
four years, comjileting his theological studies and prejiaring himself for the
priesthood. He was ordained on March 13th, 1881, bv his Eminence
Cardinal La\'aletta, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Cathedral
C'hurch of the Popes as Bishops of Rome. He came to Canada in Septem-
ber of the same year and proceeded to London, of which Diocese his uncle
was at that time Bishop. He remained there as assistant priest of St.

'J'lir Sitcrcd Ifi'iiii Por'mh.

Peter's Cathedral and Chaplain, hrst of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum,
Mount Hope, and latterly of the Sacred Heart Convent ; and, on the
removal of Bishop Walsh to Toronto, accompanied him hither, and was
installed mto his present charj^e. He is known and esteemed both in Lon-
don and in Toronto as a zealous, pious and devoted priest, an eflicient
Diocesan Secretary, and an eloquent pulpit orator.

Under Father Walsh the parish has made steady proj^ress, and now
numbers 150 families. In addition to the Archbishop's residence, it eon-
tains an Academy on Wellesley .street, conducted by the Nuns of Loretto,
and a Separate .school ; and in connection with the Church there are a
Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Sacred Heart Altnr
Society, a Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mar), and a Branch of the
C. M. B. A.

Tiiic Sacked Hf.vrt Parish.

This, the last of the city parishes, differs in this respect: that the basis
of its separation from the others is not in regard to place, but to language.
The Sacred Heart parish has been erected for the benefit of the iM-encli
speaking Catholics of Toronto, whose interests are more carefully attended
to when they have a priest of their own language and nationality. And this
city having more or less French, it was a continued source of anxiety on the
part of the bishops, as it was the wish of the people themselves, to have
their own ehureh, wherein they would hear their motlier tongue, b'or
several years the Basilian Fathers used to gather .several iM-eneh families in
their College chapel, and, after a few prayers, preach to them. P)Ut this
met with no degree of success : the few and the good came ; the many and
those who needed special attention remained away. At length, in 1887, a
iM-ench Canadian jiriest was brought from Montreal and given special
charge over all the iMXMich Catholics of the city. On the jOth of June he
held his Hr.st services in the St. Vincent de Paul Chapel in St. Michael's
Palace, where they remained for hfteen months. Then an old Presbyterian
church on Xing street, between Power street and the Don, was purchased;
and, having been refitted, was blessed on October 7th, 1888, by the late
\'icar-General Laurent.

The population attached to the parish numbers one hundred and thirty
families, and is continually increasing. When we consider tin- difficulties

•it

308

The Dennery of Toronto.

and religious dangers for a foreign speaking people in a mixed community,
we readily discern the good which this parish has done and is doing
amongst a class who, at home, have always been remarkable for their spirit
of simjile faith. Their prie«t, since first the parish was organized, is b'ather
Philijipe LaMarche, a native of Montreal. He prosecuted his studies, both
classical and theological, in Joliette College, where al.so he was raised to the
holy priesthood by Archbishop Fabre May igth, 1883. Between this date
and his coming to Toronto, four years after, he remained in Montreal as
curate, and was attached to various churches in that city.

There is a Separate school in this parish taught by two Sisters of St.
Joseph, where the .scholars are instructed in both English and French.
It was opened in the year i8gi, and already numbers one hundred pupils.
The parish has two societies, which are devoted to the various wants of
the poor: a benevolent society under the patronage of St. Joseph, for the
benefit of the French Canadians, with a membership of sixty ; and a Con-
ference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, having 30 active members,
under the presidency of Mr. P. Jobin.

The League of the Sacred Heart and the usual parochial Sodalities
are well established, and give evidence of their earnestness and activity.

A notable event worthy of chronicling in connection with this parish
is the visit of his b^minence Cardinal Taschereau, October 9th, 1887, when
he came to Toronto for the purpose of laying the corner stone of St.
Paul's new church. This first Canadian Prince of the Church kindly paid
his fellow countrymen a special visit, and gave them a special blessing for
their union, encouragement and success, which, as time advances, is pro-
ducing its fruit under tlie care of their zealous pastor.

The Parish of Adj.vla.

In the sketches of the country parishes, instead of taking them accord-
ing to the time of their establishment, as was done with those of the city,
we follow the alphabetical order. This plan very appropriately opens with
the prosperous and historical parish of Adjala, situated in the south-western
part of the County of Simcoe.

The Catholic settlement in the township after which the parish is
named dates from the early part of this century. Bishop Macdonell wish-

JilUMUl

iwpiwm

The rnrinh of Adjulu. .^qj,

in- that, in advancing to the back portions of the country, his people should
not be scattered, advised particukir sections. Amongst these was the fertile
township of Adjala. In order still further to secure his object, a verbal agree-
ment was entered into with the English church authorities that all Protestant
settlers should be advised to go to the neighboring townships of IMuln'iur
and Mono, and all Catholics to Adjala. We may relate a typical case, that
of the late Mr. Hugh I'Y>rgu.son, father of the Rev. M. J. I'crguson, c'.S.H.
Mr. Fergu.son, with some neighbors, had been Iuml)ering in Maine, but
turned towards Upper Canada in the hope of getting better land. They
applied at Kingston for information, and were recommended t(j go to Adjala,
where i^ishop Macdonell had, on liis visitation not long before, found the
land very good. A number of families also came from the W'elLind Canal.
In this way Adjala grew up to be a Catholic township, peopled with the
nobles of the soil, a race hardy and brave, with not much boc-k learning, but
well trained in the simplicity, honor and faith of their Irish forefathers^'

For these good settlers, many of whom he had been instrument;

sending there, Bishoji Macdonell obtained

a I m

described as " i)roken lots lo, ii and 13 in tlie Hth Adjal;

church and school

liouse.

The foil

in 1834, about 1S5 acres of land,
I, in trust for a

church,
of tl

A second was built upon its site about iS

ing year is the date gi\cn for the tirst

year previous is to be found in the parochial arch

50, as a sui)scription list

sacred edihce, a handsome brick build

ucs.

lie present

111'

was erected bv I'atl

irr C

1888. It was blessed b)- the Very Rev. I'ather Roonev, then co-ad

iissid\- in

)f the .Vrchdiocese, in th

e ea

ministrator

y part of 1889, and dedicated to St. |

lines.

Bishop Macdonell visited this parish during its earliest days. The
next episcopal visit was that of his co-adjutor. Bishop (iaulin, who admin-
istered Conhrmation here on the 2jih of .Vugust, 1837. Bish,,,, I'owe,- c,f
Toronto made his Hrst pastoral visitation to Adjala in 1844.

The Hrst priest's name is that of Father Lawlor, Missionary Apostolic
who attended this rnssion from June, 1833, to I'ebruary, uS^s;. After him'
we have the following series of priests : Father Fitzpatrick from March,
1837, to March, 1840; l-^ither O'Dwyer from the last date till October,'
1841 ; Father James Bennett, the first resident pastor, from March, 1842'
to June, 1843; Father Flynn till 1S46; Father Mills from 1847 to' 1849 •
Father Rattigan to 1855; F. X. Pourret to 1859; M. M. O'Shea till i860'

I
s

s
it

;M()

'I'lif I)cinicni of 'I'oionti).

Tliis last was succeeded by I'^athcr John 1'". Synott, wluisc i)astoral iliarj^'c;
of six \i'ars terminated sadly l)\ him hciii^ thrown IVom his l>u<,'j^\- and
killed. l'"ather j. Michel was !ie\t ajipoiiUed, hut remained only a year and
a half, when he was followed by I'ather Richard A. O'Connor, now hishop
of I'eterboroiij^fh. In 1870 he was replaced by Father Harris, now Dean of
Si. Catharines, who remained till 1875; aftiu" him came l'"ather McSpinlt
till 1SS7. In November of that year b'ather b'dward C"assid\-, now Dean of
Toronto, was appointed pastor, and was succeeded in |anuar\, iScjo, by the
present incumbent, b'ather James Kilcullen.

leather Kilcullen made his classical course in the Seminary of the
Diocese of Achonry, ^layo County, Ireland. I b then came to this countr\',
and studied philo.so[)liy and tlieolo,ny in tiie Grand Seminary of St Sulpice,
Montreal. His ordination to tlie holy priesthood took place I\lav 30th,
i86y, after whicli he was ajipointcd curate in the Hrock mission. Mis first
and onl\' parish, previous to .\djala, was I'ort Colborne, of which lie had
chars^e for eighteen years.

Fx'sides the parish church of St. James, situated in the centre of a fine
farming district, there are two others. That of St. b'rancis at Tottenham,
a village on the Hamilton and North-western railroad, and about three miles
from the presbytery, is a neat brick structure, erected in 1SS4. ( )n the
western border of the parish, at Achil, is the second, a frame chapel, St.
Mary's, of unpretentious appearance, built some twenty years ago.

The Catholic population is about 1050, distributed as follows: 430
belong to St. James' or the parochial church ; 350 to St. Mary's at Achil ;
and 250 to St. Francis', Tottenham.

The majorit\' of the scliuol sections being entirel\- Catholic, the schools
are classed as Public, and are taught by Catholics. Of these there are Hve,
and there is in the parish but one Separate school, strictb called.

At present the mission consists of the southern section of .Adjala town-
ship and jiart of Tecumseli, about four miles in length 1)\- thret' in width.
HuL in the beginning it comj^rised the townships of Tei umseh, .\djala North
and .South, Mono, Mulmur, Kssa, King and Tossorontio.

It may not be unworthy of mention that Adjala parish (including North
as well as South) is the birthplace of six priests — b\- far the greatest

I^i I

AdJALA and Pen ETAN GUISHENb..

77/c I'iuimIi of liioih.

Mil

luimber from Miiyoiuj mission in the Aniidiocese. 'V\nvv of tlicni arc mcm-
Ihts of tlu- Hasilian Comnninity. still doin'; active dutv l'"atlifrs i-VT^nison,
llaydcn and Kelly a lourtli was also a liasilian, l''atlier Morrow, wIk)
died some years a,L((). The liftli was llie lat.' Father Skelly, a priest U the
Archdiocese, who passed away iiol jonj; after his ordination. The last is
I'ather John n'j^eary, at present parish i)riest of iMfelton in the Di.ucse
of I iamilton.

Tin: I'akisii oi Hkock.

This parish derives its name from the township of Uroek in the C'ounlv
of Ontario, where the parochial church and residence are situated.

It dates as far back as 1833, when hather Walsh, now Ardihishop of
Toronto, was aj.pointed its first ri'sident pastor. Before his time it used to
be visited occasionally from (Xshawa by a priest, who said Mass m a
small frame church, which had been encted .some years before. When
Father Walsh entered upon his jiarocliial charf^e there was no priest's
house, and he was obliged to board with one of tlu' Catholic families in the
neifrhborhood. At this time tlie district t'xlended over the townships of
P.rock, I'Jeach, Hxbridge, Scott, (ieorgina. North (Iwillimbury, Thorah
and Mara. To accommodate a large number of Catholic.^ .,<• built
a frauK' cluirch inC.eorgina lounship, not far from Lake Simcoe, on tw(.
acres of land f^ixeii by a Mr. Anilionv Charpentier.

1-alher Walsh, being 'ailed to take charge of St. .\[arv'^ in Toronto,
was succeeded m J-Jrock by I'ather John Lee in US57.' 'J'hn.ugh the
generosity of .mic of his parishioners, St(Tling Pangman, who ga\e hmi two
acres of land at Vroomanton, Father [.ee built a parsonage, lie erect.>d
also a fram(' church m Thorah. In i860 I-ather Louis Braire was appointed
to the mission, and labored hard in it for twenty-one years. Du.iii" his
long incumbenc\ churches si)rang up under his Zealand energy; and" two
mi.ssions, that of Mara on the north, and Uxbridge on the south' were cut
oflf from Brock. Thus the mission now includes the Townships of North
Gwilliml)ury, Georgina, Thorah and Brock, with three churches— one in
(ieorgina, a second in Thorah, and the other, with the presbyter\-, at
A'roomanton in Broc k.

Father Braire was succeeded l)y Father Rohleder, and he, in !S()i
the present incumbent, I'ather Batritk Kicrnan.

I.v

tl!

SVl

Till' lU'unfiji iij Toronto.

liKK 1<, lil<c .\(lj;il;i, lias l)i't'n tlu> Idrthplace of several priests. Vicar-
( iriicral McCaiin spent here his earl) ix)) liood ; Archdeacon Cainphell of
()rillia; I'athcrs Donald McRae of Parkhill, in the Diocese of London;
Kcnnclh McKae of Sniithvillc ; and 1'. C'oyle of St. Mary's, Toronto, were
all liorn in I'rock.

'Jiir, I'xKisii (>i C'ai.i:i)on.

This pari.sh, situated in the Township of Caledon and County oi I'eel,
l»elon^;ed to the ( iorc of T' mtvi until its establishment in 1HO7.

The Catholic settlement in this pari of the countr) is very old, and has
a ^nnilar ori^'in to the lart^'er Catholic colony of Adjala. As in ail other
districts, tin.' holy sacrifice was lirst offered in private houses. But as
early as I1S34 a lof,' church was built and served by l*'ather Lawlor.
This made way for a frame one which l'*ath(;r luij^ene O'Keilly erected in
iS^^, and which did duty for over fortv vears. In the year 1885 it was torn
down, and a substantial brick churt h, dedicated to St. Cornelius, raised
upon its site.

Helon^'in^' to the parish there is a second church, that of St. Alphonsus,
in the township of Albion, built also in 1834. It was the lirst sacred edifice
in .Mbion, and is still in j^ood preservation.

The lirst pastor of Caledon was l''ather McSpiritt, who had charj^'c
for live }ears. I'athers LalK)ureau and Key came next in order, but
remained only one year each. Father Ej^an succeeded, and held the
mission for six \ears, when he was replaced by Father F-ugenc (iallaj.(her.
It was durinij his incumbency that the present fine church of Caledon was
erected. .After laboring zealously for seven years he was, in 1887, followed
by the present parish priest, b'ather Patrick Whitney.

Father Whitney studied theology in Genoa, where he was also ordained
priest, September 23rd, 1882. After filling several curacies he was made
l)astor of the Gore in 1886, which he changed the following year for Caledon
ami .\lbit)n.

The Parish ov Dixie.

One of the olde.st churches in the Diocese was that on the Fifth line of
Toronto township, in the County of Peel, and which derived its name from
its situation. It was built about the year 1830, and was the original parish

-S

'I'lif I'liriih of Div'ie.

H18

duircli o( this .listrict. Siiuc that tinu' the parochial residence has chained
from the I'lfth line to Streetsville, and fn.m Streetsville t.. Dixie, where ^for
the last twenty years, it is firmly established.

Tlie liist priest's name on the n.-^Msters is onr well known to many
p.irts of the country, l-ather John McNulty, who attended the parish from
1S5O to July, r85H. Thou^'h he was not resident pastor, he luiih a frame
presbytery at the l-ifih Ime, and the present brick church of Streetsville.
The namrs ..f many of the priests who preceded hi,,, l,;ive |)assed intc".
oblivum ; bill b'alher Cordon, afterwards Vicar( ;ene,-al ,,f Uan.ilton, and
l-'ather lui-ene O'Reilly of Toronto Core are still Ix'ld in ci.vrished recol-
ifction by many of the old inhabitants. The latter, having' direct char^'c of
this church, as part of his parish, visited it regularly ; th.' former only bom
time to time, according as his duties calh'd him in this direction.

b'ather McNulty afterwards went to Hamilton dioce.se, and was parish
priest i>{ Caledonia for many years. Having i)urchased a propert\ in
Dundas, he bestowed it ui)on the Sisters of St. Jo.seph for a Ifou.se of
Providence. Here he spent the last t\v(j years of his long life, the greater
portion of which had been zealously devoted to the arduous duties of a
homeless missionary.

After him came P'athcr Michel, who attended this i)arisli fn.m the
Core. Then we find Father Conway pari.sh priest of Streetsville in iH^cj,
and Father J. J. Shea pastor of the Fifth line from March, rHfjo, till May!
1S61, when he was succeeded by leather Flannery, whose name is already
familiar to our readers. 1 le jiurchased the church property at Dixie, where
he built the present presbytery. It is situated on Dundas street,' about
twelve miles from the city of Toronto. l''ather tannery remained until
1867, 'Hifl was replaced by Father Finan, and he by I-ather T. J. Morris.
The last named priest erected a portion of the present church at Dixie, which
was completed, cxcx-y,]. the sanctuary and tower, by Father McEntee, his
successor. It was opened in Octolier, 1872. Father Cas.sidy came to' this
parish in 1877, and remained ten years. During his charge he built the pre-
sent church at Port Credit, a neat brick church at the !• ifth line, and a frame
church at Lambton, where he formed a new congregation. Ht also
imj)roved the presbytery, and erected new altars in the churches of Dixie,
Streetsville and Port Credit. Father Cassidy was followed by Father
Harold, who erected the sanctuary and .sacrist v of the Dixie church.

ffj

III

-«

;jli!l

:^(!i>

>Ji

814

The l>i'iiiicrij of Tiinniti).

Helwecn ihf hist naiiud ;ind the present incuiHl)ent, h';ither TniyHn^,
who was appointed February ist, iHgi, the pastorates were l)rief and
unmarked l)\ any event of historiial unportance.

'I'lii: I'AKisii oi' Ni'.v, MAKKirr.

( )n the Hrst of November, 1H5S, a meetinj^' of the C'atliolies ot New-
market was hehl at me residence o( Mr. John Walsh, store-keeper, to tal.e
into consideration tiie a''\ 'sai)inty of I)uildinj; a church tliere. All the
Catholics in the \irmity, numl)erin«,' but six, were present, whose names
tradition still preserves - John Walsh, Patrick (iibbons, Michael Gibbons,
Michael Cannon, William Wallis and Francis Kalferty. The sum of sixtv
dollars w<.s subscrilu'd, but was considered too small tt- commence with. A
.second met tint; was held the following year at the house of Mr. William
Wallis. In addii'on to the six named above three more were present — and
it was resolved to ))roceed. A grant of half an acre of land was obtained
from Mr. C.eorge Fount, and preparations were made to build. .Accordingly,
in 1840. the little band of Catholics of Newmarket had the happiness of
possessing a neat rough-cast church 01 tln' modest dimensions of 30 leet by
20, when' till' boh Mass was offered occasionallw .\fter the erection of
the church more Catholics settled around Newmarket, and a small congre-
gation was formed. .V large number of immigrants came in 18.1.7 '^'ifl the
following year; but the fever, which was raging at the time, crowded the
cemeterv ather than filled the church.

'J'he lirst priest stationed here was I'l-.ther ( hiinlan, who ent( red ujton
his charge , at the lime uie church was built — about the year 1840. He
was succeeded in 1S45 by Father Nightingale, who remained only a shor:
time. 1'; tiler I'roulx came in 1847, and had his headtjuarters here for four
years. After him there was a vacancy until the appointment of Father
OLoughlin in 1833. Then, in 1855, l-'ather McNulty, diocesan missionarv,
attended Newniaiket, two or tlu'e \ears. .\fter a short interxal we have
a series of pastors beginning with bather Wardv (froir. 1838 to i80j) and
ending with the present incumbent. Father !). Morris, l^'ather Keane, who
had charge of the parish for nine years (1867 — 1876), replaced the old
church by a hands-tnie gothic biick structure, (U'dicated to St. |ohn
ClT-yscstom. Mis immediate successor, blither Harris, was here for the
•same length of time, and built an excellent Separate school house, the
classes of which had been till then taught in the old church.

•wyif

The I'lirisli of Oranffcvillc. \\\t^

I'ather D. Morris was educated at All Hallows Colk-e, Dublin,
Ireland, and was raised to the holy priesthood June z^^h, ICS84 After
ordination he was assistant at St. Paul's, Toronto, until iScjo', when he was
made pastor of Orangeville, from whieh place he was removed to Newmarket
the following ) ear.

'J'here is a Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, liavin-
twelve active members, under the presidenc)- of Mr. p. J. ( )'Mall('v.

Besides the p, -ish church there is another dedicatee' to the 1-ortv
Martyrs at Bradford in the County of Simcoe, built about the year i8gJ
which IS attended by thirty-hve families. The Catholic population of the
parish IS given at one hundred and sixty-five families, of whom on(- lumd.c.l
and thirty belong to Newmarket, and the remainder :.. Bradford.

Tin- Parish of ()R.,N'f,i.:viLLi;.

'rhis parish was erected in June, 1885, by his Crace the late .\rchbi.shop
l.ynch. It includes also the missions of .\b>no West, ]>,rampton and
Cataract. The first pastor was Kev. Michael Jeffcott, who, about a vcar
ago, was succeeded by Kev. Henry J. McPhillips, still the incumbent. "

Orangeville was formerly attended from Caledon. Vox mam \eirs
Mass was .said in the house of one of the Catholic residents, until twelve
year.s ago Rev. J. J. Rgan, at that time in charge of the parish, erc-cted
the brick church winch still continues in use. On his advent, in 188.
father JeflTcott purcha.sed the hou.se which is now used as a presbjiery. "

Mono West contained at one time nearly thirtv Catholic families [t
was originally attached to the parish of .\djala, and' subsequently to that of
North .Vdjala, until united with Orangeville under the care'of leather
Jeffcot . Ihe old log church was built about thirts years a.o upon a. plot
of land of four acres, donated for the purpos( bv Mr. Patrick MrCab' nf
this township.

Brampton has been attended from various points. In the beginnin.^ the
priest fronj the hiftn hne visited it occasionally ; then it was attended ?rom
the Core, from 1 oronto, and from Caledon, in the order nanu.l. .\lthou-h a
Own of .some .limensions, Brampton has few Catholic familu.s. not suHuaent
to form a distinct parish, and is therefore united with ()rangevill,> The
first church, a brick one, was erected twentv-seven vears a-o- but m

m'A

«-

316

The Deanery of Toronto.

^<t

the year 1875, it was burned by an incendiary. Subsetjuently an edifice
formerly used by the Presbyterians was purchased and transformed into a
CathoHc churcli, which continues in use to the present time.

The small mission of Cataract, which contains a brick church, built in
the year 1882, was formerly attended from Caledon, but within the last
three years it has l)een attached to Oranj^eville.

Father Henry J. McPIiillips, the present pastor of these missions, is a
native of Alabama, United States, and was ordained jiriest on July loth,
itSHy. After studying at the Seminary of the Holy An<fels, Nia<2;ara b'alls,
he completed his theoloi^y at Montreal. He was for a few 3'ears assistant
priest at St. Helen's, Toronto, and while there was elected to a seat on
the Separate school board. He is an acti\t', oner<(etic youn<j; priest, entirely
devoted to his work.

The Parish of Oshawa.

Tlie parish records not going beyond 1843, it is difficult to trace the
historv of Catholicity in Oshawa ; for it is certain that as early as 1825 the
few settlers here were visited by a Catholic priest. In 1830 Mass was first
celebrated in this mission, in the house of the late Mr. Daniel Leonard,
by Father O'Grady. He visited the town sub-secjuently at intervals to
administer sacraments to the dying, and to afford the scattered families
opportunity of complying with the precept of Plaster Communion. Father
Butler of Peterborough also attended this settlement occasionall\- in the
course of his missionary tours. Tradition, piously treasured by the few
remaining pioneers, makes mention of I'^ithers McDonagh, Gibney and
Ouinlan of Toronto. From 1836 to 184J Oshawa .seems to have been
under the pastors of Cobourg. In 1841 Father Kirwan commenced the
erection of the present church. Previous to its opening, which took place
the following year, the holy sacrifice used to be offered up once a month for a
period of five or six years in McGregor's school house. The old building
still stands, a venerable witness of the early struggles of the Catholic
immigrants who settled in this locality.

The first resident priest was Father Henry Fitzpatrick, who was
appointed in 1843. He was succeeded the following year by Father Night-
in<nUe, whose first entry on the baptismal records ai)pears November ist,

f&-

Ill

The P,iri^h of Virkennii. ;jiy

US44- These two priests alternated in the' char-e of the mission until
April, 1847. P>et\veen this date and the appointment of I'ather I'rouK,
Au-ust 20th, 1848, local tradition assi-ns the pastorate to leather Smith • hut
of his administration no record remains. When 1-ather I'roulx 'look-
possession Oshawa mrluded the whole County of Ontario, where there are
nowei-ht parish priests attending fifteen churches. In ,852 he enlananl
the church ; and m iS^.j he l.uilt th<' hrsl Catlu.lic school of th.^ town To
preside over the education of th.. youn- he estahlished the .Sisters of Si
Jo.seph. I his venerai,le priest remained in Oshawa until i860, when he
was succeeded by leather luigene (TKeefe-a man of literarv taste and
oratorical power, si, 11 remembered for his .scholarK- lectures. Me was
the hr.st pnest to have Mass every Sundav in Wlmbv,' where he established
aLso a Sei)arate school, in existence to the present. He resi-ned his char-e
in l8o_' ; MU\ was replaced by Father j. J. Shea. This last remained for
ten years, and m 186S he erected a Catholic church in \Vhiu>y After
bather Shea came b^ilhrr McCan,,, who was appointed November rst
1872. I)ur,nj4 Ins pastoraU^ he built a -(hkI pamclual hou.se, improved
and enlaro-ed the .school, and procured .i^round for a Cath.-lic cemeterv To
him succeeded Father Mcb:ntee, in .877, who remained till January, 1800,
and was then replaced In the present incumbent, blither John L Hand
who had been, up l„ his c ha.-e nf this parish, assistant at the Cathedral
trom his ordmalion \\\ |S,S^.

In .882 WJutby was separatcl from Oshawa and erected into a distinct
parish, with b'alherJ.J. M< Call as its hrsl pastor, l-ilher Patrick Ki<.rnan
succeeded him, but was transf.-rred to Rnnk .\pnl. iS,,,. when Whitbv was
a.<^ain attcMided from Dshawa.

III.

\K'i^ll 1)1

II ki;k'I.\(;.

This

mission comprises the townships of I'ickerinL^ and Scarl
It was formerl\- kn
of the ( )shawa mission

jorouyh.

known as Dutmrs Crec:k, and in the ..Id rlavs formed part

1 he hrsl church ,n I'ickerinu (St. Wmefrid's) was a fr.ame buildin-^
erected m the year 184,, by the uMierable b-ather I'roulx, at that timC
-stationed at O.shawa. This belove.l missinnarv continued to minister to
the spiritual wants ot the people ,n this section uniil his removal to

., i\

fJ18

TIic Deancr;/ of Tontiiti

Toronto in 1858. Soon after (18O0) Pickcrin.sj; was erected into a separate
parish, witli l^ev. V. D. Laurent (now parisli i)riest of Lindsay and Vicar-
Cieneral of the Diocese of PeterboroU),'h) as lirst pastor. Father Laurent
had formerly been assistant to Father Proulx at Osiiawa. On talvin^^ charf,^e
of Pickering he built a presbytery and put the jxirish into a thorou,ij;h state
of organi/cation. Me was succeeded by the saintly b'atlu-r Philip Cummins,
who, however, died about a year afterwards. The next ]iastor was Kev. A.
P. Finan, who remained about live years, l)eing followed by Kev. William
Flannery, now of St. Thomas. I'athcr Flannery soon gave place to Rev.
Father Conway, and lie, in 1868, to Rev. l\-itlier I-Ia)(len, who remained
until 1875, when Rev. \i. Cassidy took ch.irge for one year, being followed
by Rev. William Bergin, who, in November, 1877, was succeeded by the
late Rev. James Beausang. During l'"ather Beausang's pastorate a good
addition to the presbytery was built. The next jiastor was Rev. D. j.
Sheahiin, who was appointed in 1883. He remained until January, i8go,
when the present jiastor. Rev. Michael }effcott, was installed.

A tradition in connection with Pickering is worth recording. Although
th(> lirst priest to ofiiciate in the section of whom there is any record was
the fust incumbent of the parish of ()shawa, it is said that in olden times,
when Canada was under I'rench dominion, Rev. Pere Fenelon, brother of
the famous Archbishop of Cambray, landed at iM-enchnian's Bay, and said
Mass there.

The present church, under the patronage of St. I'^rancis de Sales, is a
handsome brick building, erected in 1871, during the jiastorate of Father
Ilayden.

Pickering has given many of her sons and daughters to the church. In
this respect it is perhaps unsurpassed b)- any parish in the province oi the
same extent. The present Bishop of London, Right Rev. Dr. O'Connor,
is a native of Pickering; so also is Rew Robert McBrady, C.S.B., of St.
Michael's College, Toronto. It was also the birthplace of the late Rev.
John O'Connor, parish priest of Maidstone, as well as of Rev. M. J. Redden,
of the Archdiocese of Toronto, and I'ather Walsh, C.S.B., who was born
at Highland Creek. It would be impos.sible here to enumerate all the ladies
who from this parish have entered the religious orders.

77/r' f'ariuli III' Si'liDiiilicni. gjf)

The present church (St. Joseph's) at IIi<rhhind (Vcck in the Tuwnship
of Scarborough, was l)uilt hy Father Troulx al.out 1S31. It is a frame
l)uilclini( still in a fair state of preservation.

Tlic pn^.sent parish priest, Father Michael Jeffcott, was horn in '{"ralee,
Ireland, in 1S57. .\fter fmishin,!,^ his classical course in St. Hrendan'.s
Colle-^'c, Killarney, he studied philosophy ;ind theolo-^^v in the Grand
Seminary, Namur, Bel<,num, for six years, and was ordained priest on
July (jth, iSSj, liy Ki^rht Rev. Dr. Mig-^nns, ]3is]iop of Killarney. After
comin;^^ to tlie .Vrchdiocese of Toronto he was assistant priest to lu'v.
Father Lahoureau, Penetan-uishene ; then cliaplain to the Mouse of Provi-
dence, Toronto ; and, for a short time, Secretary to the late Archhishoii
Pynch. 1 lis pastorate of (Jran}j;eville is referred to elsewhere. In January,
i.Sgo, he became pastor of Pickx-rin.L;. His career is marked by a faithful
and enerf,a;tic di.scharge of the duties of the sacred maiislrv.

The Catholic population of
borouirh rd)out locx

ck-.-rini,' is about J50, and that of Scar-

:;,

'llli; P\KISH U|- SciIOMIilCKC;.

This

IS mission comprises a portion of the Township of KiiiL; in \'ork
County, and also a part of the Town>iiip of Teciimseh in the County of
Simcoe.

It ori,c,nii;dly belonged to Adjala parish, from which it was cut off about
hfteen years a,i;o. The Church of St. Margaret in Tecumseh dates as far
back as 1836; while St. Mary's in King is .some twenty years later. Old
•settlers tell of F^ither (iordon of Mamilton as the first priest visiting this
part of the country. When i'"ather Lawlor became i)arish priest of Adjala*
this section was attended regularl\-.

The

.f S(

hrst pastor oi ^cnomberg, as a separate mission, was l-"ather
Sheahan, followed by I'atliers Mullen, Mc(;inley, P. Kiernan and l-.ugene
l'\ Gallagher. The last named is at present in charge. He studied
classics and philosophy m St. Macartan's Seminary, Counlv of Monaghan,
Ireland, and theology at the Grand Seminary in Montreal, Canada. After

his ordination to the hoI\-
at St. Cath

priesthood, September 21st, 1877, h

le was assistant

larines, then pastor of Niagara, Caledon and HnalK Schoml

)eri'

*\'id. -ki'tcli iif Ailjjia, |>,

,i<i9-

> I

I
I

;(0() 'J'lii' J>fi(iici/i iif Toronlo.

'\'\\V. I'aKISII Ol' 'rilOKNIIIl.L.

The vm\\ hislors (if lliis mission is loiiiicclcd with Nc\vni:irket, by the
priests of wliich iilacc it wiis visited periodieiillN . In iS4<J wc lind l'';ithcr
Jiyrne residing; tor a short time in Thornliill ; hut the priest who may he
re,i;arded as the hrst jiastor ol this parish was h'athe'r Louis (".riffa, a native
orrurin, Italv. lie came to this countr) in 1S5S, and was phiced in cliar^'e
of tliisdistrirt, hut remained only two years.* The eliurch was commenced
nearly fortv-live years a-^o by Father ( hiinlan, and was comi)Ieted by Father
I'rouix, who succeeded him. The list of priests whose names are still on
the records corresponds very closely with the Newmarket series. We select
Father McNulty from amon,L!;st * them, as iH-in.t,^ |on,t;vr connected with
Thornhill. comiiiLi in 1S53 and leavin-' in 1S3S. lie built an addition to the
church, and attached a win^ which si;rved as the pastoral residence for many
vears. It was onlv in 1S79 that it was vacated for the neat brick presbytery
built bv h'ather McC.inley while parish priest from 1S76 to 1881. He had
been preceded by a lon.i; list of cldi^ynien who were each in charge for a
short term, and was followed b\ the i\e\ . J. j. Iv^an, the present incumbent.

Father lv..^an is a native of Irelaiul. and studied in the Diocesan
College of luinis in the County of Clare. In iSGq he came to Canada, and
after ''completing philosoi)hy at St. Michael's College, he attended the
Grand Seminary at Montreal for theology. Archbishop Lynch ordained
him priest at St. Michael's Cathedral, June 2cjth, 1S73, and sent him as
assistant at Thorold. I lis Hrst pastoral charge was Caledon, during which,
as has been already noted, he erected the church of Orangeville. The
other names which are most associated with Thornhill are those of 1'c.ther
James O'Donohoe, who liad charge for about four years (i860— 1864), and
Dean Cassidy from 1S71 to 1875.

There is a second church attached to the mission, that of St. ]\Iary's
at Richmond Hill, a village four miles north of Thornhill. Two acres of
land were purchased ostensibly for other purposes, and a church erected,
which was blessed in 1857 by the Very Rev. F^ither Rooney.

* KatliLT CJiiffa, or iis he is beUer known to his okl naiishione.-s, I'aUier I.ouis, w.is luxl .-it St.
Michiel's Cnhjdral for a short tim.- II.' afttrwanls went io I.ondon l>iocose and then to the United
isiates. He lived to celebrate his jroUlen jubilee as priest, and died onlv I wo years since (1S90) at
Chatliam, New Yorli, in the Diocese of .Mbany, where he was pastor.

Tlif J'((rinli III' I'.ihriilfifl. »}2]

Nearly at thr same lirnc as the huildiiiLj ui the thuicli of Kiclimoiul
ilili, I'atlicr McNultyi)urrliasr(l;i l,,i at Markham villa^^c, with the intention
ol cn-rliii^^ a cluircli u\Mm it. During I'^itlicr ( )'l )(>n(ili<)c's iiicunilxncy
tliis plan \v,is carried out, and lor years Markham l.elon-ed to the Thor
mission, i)ut in uSSi w, is attached to r\l)rid;;e.

)riihil

ni:

A K I SI I ()|-

XliK'IDC, !•;

J he southern portion of I'>rock parish was separated from it, and, witii
Markham viUaj^'e, erected into a chstinct mission, havin^c <"ie church at
Markham, another at Port l'errv,and a tln'rd at I '\hri(f-e, where the juslor
resides.

Ihe carhest history of our reh'.^ion in this fhstrict is connected with
J'ather I'rouhN, who, whiU; in Oshavva, used to visit it occasionall\ . In
tiiose and later davs Mass used to he celebratcid in the house nf Mr.
Michael ONeil until the chin-ch was huilt in 1864. The pre.sent Markham
church dates from 1S7,), while that of |'<,rt Perry was erected ten years a<;o.

'J'lie lollowin.i,' is a list of the priests who have been in chart^^e of this
mission: h'athers P. Kiernan, I'inan, ( )' K'eilly, Mch'.ntee, I'.oan, McCall,
Allain and Keane, the present pastcjr.

Father Keane, after studyin.L;- in San iM-ancisco, ("alif )rnia, came to
Toronto and completed his philosophical and sacerdotal education at St.
Michael's Colle^H! and the Seminary of the Holy .\n,i,a'ls at ^'ia<,^ara Falls.
After his ordination as priest on the 6th of April, 1862, he was first stationed
as curate of St. Paul's, Toronto. Suhseciuenth his name and works are
found connected with the parishes of Port C'olborne, Newmarket, the (lore,
and now I 'xhridsjc.

111-:

'aK'ISII 01 ■ ToKOXTo CiUH

.f ll

e regret that o\\in,L,^ to the manuscript haxin.L;- heen mislaid our sketch

IS jiarisli does not appi-ar in its projx'r order.

ns mission like many others of the countrx districts dat

es trom the

earlier part ot the present ii'iitury, when many immii^r.mts formed Catholic
.settlements, here and there, throu-(hout the Province. .\mon<;st such
colonics few were more prosperous than the Gore, which derives its name

from the T

ownship of 'J'oionto (iore in the County of Peel. In it

s earl\

322

The lifiincrji <;/' Toronto.

(lays the parish included all the dioeese west of the city of Toronto and
south of Adjala. Hut its houiidarics have; been since very much decreased
by the erection of new parishes in the luij^hborhood, and its numbers have
diminished by the emi^n-atimi of the people. I Icrc, near Wiidheld post office,
stands one of the oldest land marks in the archdiocese — St. Patrick's
church, which was built in US37, and attended bv I'ather T.awlor. [hit the
first resident pastor of the (ion; of Toronto was l'"alher luij^ene O'Reilly,
who completed the church, and who, after ser\in^f the mission for many
years, died about the year iHfx). A number of parish priests folKiwed in
order until, in i^^7, b'ather McSpiritt, the present incumbent, was
appointed.

The Rev. b>ancis McSpiritt received his classical education in the
Diocesan Seminars- of Cavan; and on cominj^f to this country studied philo-
sophy at St. Alicliael's College, Toronto, and theolo^'y in the Cirand
Seminar)- of Montreal. He was (jrdained in Jaiuiar)-, 1H65. Besides the
Gore of Toronto, which he now attends, Caledon, Nia<.(ara Falls and South
Adjala have been the parislies over which he has ruled durinj^ his priestly
career.

There is in this mission a small Separate school, estaljlished thirty-
three years a^o, and ever since maintained with a success varying in
proportion to the population of the district.

iOHWMMMM>-D--O-0-()-<HH>-O-<)-'<)H>-<HHHHW)-

THE DEANKU] OF ST. C.ITJIAIUXKS.

i:i>nKi> 11 V

RHV. I. K. IKKIN. 15 A.. C. S. D.

-«

Vkkv Jvevekknd William K. IIakkis,

/li'.-I.V ('/• Sr. (A JJIAKIMuS.

CIIAri'ILK \.

THE DKASJIHY oi' ST. r,l77/.l /.'/.VA'.S'.

SI. Cillnir'nirs'- ^Icrrithw — Siai,,n;i;m.th,-l.,il,r -Simiara FalU--l>„rt CulhoriH-

Sniitlirille- — 'ilnivolil.

Till-; I'akism oi' St. C" \'ni nkim'.s.

IN' iSjj St. Ciitharinc's li.ul a pninilatioii of from two to three hundred,
among whom were ;i mere liandfiil of C'athohcs, wlio were visited at
rare intervals by Fathci Polin, then stationed at Xijigara. In iSj;
I'ather C'ainpion, who was foi st)me time jiastor of Xiaj^ar;'., took up
Ins residence, and lived in a small fr.ime house built on tin- f^Tound now
known as the "Monte Hello (iardens." In 1S28 Father liurke .said Mas.s
here about once ever\- three months.

W e find that, from this date, the mission was attended for some years by
]\ev. John C'ullen, who had Xia,L;ara, (;uelph and DunJas in his s|)iritual
care. lie v-as succeeded by I'ather Crowley, wIkj remained .some time,
and left in 1H34 for Ireland. In 1S33 the first church, a frame edifice,
was built by b'allui- (iordon, then stationed at Xia,i,^ira. I'Voin 1840 to
1S41 FathersCuIlen andC^issidy w(>re resident here,tlM' former for six months
and the latter for nine. In .XuK'ust, 1.S4J, the frame church built b\ b'ather
Gordon was burned down, supposed to have been the act of an incendiary, as
party spirit ran very lii^^h in thos(- days. Rev. Dr. Lec> was then, and had
been for some trme previously, the pastor of this missi.Mi, which included
within its limit nearly all the Xia-^Mra peninsula. He died at Marshville
m the fall of US42, and his remains were brought to St. Catiiarines and
buried in the graveyard adjoining the church, whence they were transferred
to their present resting place beneath the high altar.

fit

820 '/'"' lU'iuiirji of St. ('iitliiiriiii'H.

Duriiif,' the liiltcr p.iit of 1S4J and a portii'ii of tlx' followiii}^ year the
mission was attended l)y I'atlier ( iordon and others, who eaine from Niaf^ara
once a month, and offered up the holv sacrifice, sometimes in jirivate houses,

at others m ScIih Kunia s sail lott, and laslK m a harn on the prenuses ol ( i. ri.
Adams on ()iil.irio street, now owned l)\ Ividh'y ("oHei^e. In the fall of
|S.)^ I''ather M( i)onoii;;h was appointed )"»astor, and coiitiiuied unlil 1.S50,

wliin lie was succeet

led

leather Mousard, and he in tiiin l)\

atlier

W'ardv, who, remainiii}; hut a short li ne, was replaced in iS^j |)\ j'ather
(irallan. '("his last named cUirf^yman was the first hcanof the Niaj^'ara
peninsula, and is slill renieinliered with feclinj^s of resjxct li\' the ohUr

meml)ers o

I th(

parish. I lis charge included not onI\ St. Catharines, hut
also ThoroUl, I'orl ("ollioriu' and Sinitluille. In the duties whicli this vast

extent of country entailed he had as curali
whose name is already familiar to our readers.

his nephew, l'"ather Conway,
I'.ither ( irattan was succeeded

1)\- l)<an Mulligan, who iahoicd l"aithfull\- .md /I'.ilou^K in this parish for
ninel"en \cars. ( )wiii;,' to ill hcaltli he retired in iSN|,and the present

pastor.

allier

airis,'was chosen to lill his jilace

The Very Ue\ . William K. Harris was horn at Cork, Ireland, on the
yd of March, 1H47, hul came to this countrv with his jjarents at an early
a^e. I lis classical studies were pursui'd at St. .Michael's CoUei^'e, Toronto ;

his the(jlo>ncal at St. ,\nne's Seminar\, ( )uel

lec

and also

at the (

OlIC'C ot

the l'rol>a^aiida. Koine, where he took the decree of liachelorot l)i\initv,

.\fter

Ills ordination, w

hid

1 occurred in iS-

lie continu(;d as Si-crelar'

to .\rchl)ishop Lynch. Previous to the I )e,nishi|) which he now holds, lu*
was pastor of .\djala, rector of St. Michael's Cathedral for a short lime, and
j)arish priest ol Newni.arket, where he nMiiaiiied eij.,rht \cars. |)ean Harris
was elected li\ acclamation 1 'resident of the As.sociation of Mechanics'
Institutes of ( )ntario for the years iiScS5and i.SiS(). His work and succe

a paragraph upon the

ss in

his present position may he best ap[)rt'ciated
church and schools of St. Catharines.

he m

;iiii portion of this tasteful thou^'h irre;^ularly coiislrui'ted church
was built in 1S44 by h'alhir McDonouj^h. Deans (iratt;tn and Mullij.,'an

each a(f(fe<l a win''

aiK

1 Fat

arris, duriiii; his charj^e, has spent twi'iilV'

two thousand dollars on its further enlarf^^ement and decoration,
stands, with its beautiful marble altars, its richl\- adoriu'd sanctuar\-, and its

•hastely

frescoed walls, much is due, not only to the j^encrosity of the people.

but also to the zeal and hnancial talent of its urbane Dean and pastor.

^^r^' ' '•^J»r ^1111! Iliiliillllllllliliiill 1(1)1,1^

P^^SSl^^^Sfeiai^^i^SpFW^

s^>^*iK»tg^

St Catharines" Ch

U R CH AN D

ScH

OOL.

Tlu' Pdriufi of St. Cathnr'nics. ;5.27

As an instance of the liberality of the parishioners we may mention
that the ma.^mihcent main altar was the gift of Mr. William Aliern, who is
still livinj; at the a,t,'e of eij.,'hty-six, and whose name we hnd amont,Ahe list
of contributors to the support of religion here for the year ICS44. The altar
of the Blessed Virgin was built by Captain King, and the third by Mrs.
Scott to the memory of her husband.

The Separate .schools of St. C^athaniics date from the pastorate of Dean
(irattan, under w!iom one was opened in a brick building which he erected.
A new era, however, was marked in their history when Dean Harris rop-
slructed the present line building at a cost of twenty thou.sand dollars, with
eight splendid rooms, which has lately been opened. There are' Hve
hundred children attending the .schools of this parish, taught by the
Christian Brothers and the Sisters of St. Joseph. The largc^ecreation
ground of the Separate school was donated by .Mr. b.dward McArdle at a
cost of twelve hundred dollars.

St. Catharines has been the .school in which many who are now pastors
were first trained as curates. .\s the majtjrity of these names are met in
the various i)arishes, we mention only two, who were cut off so early in tlieir
priestly career that they could not fullil the promise wliich their talent and
virtues had already given. These are Fathers O'llagartv and Shanahan.
The latter was a Toronto boy, who, after completing his classical education
at St. Michael's College, where l^e distinguished himself, proceeded to
Genoa, Italy, for the study of theology, lie was (.rdained in St. Paul's
church, Toronto, by BLshop O'Mahony on the Sth of December, 1SH3. At
the time of his death, which took plac'e August ist, iS(,(., he was pastor of
Merritton, but had been in charge onlv six months.

I'ather O'Hagarty was hovn at Montreal, but spent his youth in
Ireland, where also he was educated. Meeting .Vrchbishop Lvndi at .\ll
Hallows College, Dul)lin, he decided to come to Toronto, and was ordained
1a his (Irace at Lotigh Derg, Ireland, in i<SH2. Upon returning to this
country he held various positions m the archdiocese before being made
pastor of St. Mary's church in the city of St. Catharines, which he held
until his death on the 5th of February, iHgo.

The city of St. Catharines contains a second parish, St. Mary's, whose
history is too brief to call for a .section of its own. It first formed'a distinct

828

The JJeuiury of St. CitUtur'iticx.

mission in 1885; ' ut the church dates back to the year 1867, when it was
built by Dean MuHigan. There is attached to this parish a second church
at Port Dalhousie, which was erected in 1875, and dedicated to Mary the
Star of the Sea.

The first pastor was the hite Ivither McGinley, who was followed by
Father O'Hagarty, arid he by the present incumbent, Father Allain. This
good priest is an Acadian by birth, in whose public schools he received his
early education. lie afterwards attended St. Lawrence College, Montreal,
and that of the Jesuits in the same city. lie was raised to the holy priest-
hood September 2isi:, 1878, by Bi.shop Rogers, in his native city of
Chatham, New^ Brunswick. Soon after his ordination he came to Toronto,
and has worked successfully and zealously in the parishes of I'xbridge and
Merritton and the present scene of his labors.

There is one Separate school in St. Mary's, under the charge of nvo
Sisters of St. Joseph, who reside in the Convent at St. Catharines.

Dean Mulligan also built a third church, St. Patrick's, situated in the
direction of Niagara, which is served by the Dean of the city and his
assistant.

The Parish of Murritton.

This parish is situated, between St. Catharines and Thorold, in the
manufacturing village from which it derives its name. Long before it was
separated from Thorold, in 1883, Mass used to be celebrated in the frame
church which served during the week as a school house. This building was
moved from Port Colborne about twx-nty years ago to the site which it now
occupies. Since the erection of the parish it was renovated by h'ather
Allain, and a sacristy added to it by the late Father Shanahan.

The first pastor was the Rev. A. P. Finan, who labored de\()tedly for
the firm establishment and proper organization of the parish, and built a
neat brick presbytery while in charge of Merritton. To him succeeded
Father Allain. Me was chiefiy instrumental in erecting a handsome
Catholic school, so that the former building was left free for the sacred pur-
poses of religion. This school is conducted by two Sisters of St. Jo.seph,
who come every day from St. Catharines. I-^ither Allain was replaced by
the Rev. T. J. Shanahan, whose death rendered a second change necessary,

-«

The Parish of Niagaraon-the-I Mhe .

!!20

and Father McColl, tlie present incumbent, was appointed to fill Hie vacancy

in Sciitemhcr, i8go.

1 he Ivcv. r. J. McColl pursued iiis studies in Fort lulwird Institute
and at St. Marie de Monier Colle<(e, near Montreal, and thereupon entered
St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, New York, for his theolo<ry. He was ordained
priest M^y 12th, 1H78, in St. Mary's church, Toronto, and soon afterwards
appointed pastor of Uxhridf^e, Owin.t^to ill liealth he resigned, and was
appointed chaplain of tiie Central Prison and the Mercer Institute, and in
1883 placed in charge of the newly erected parish of Whitby, which he held
until being transferred to Merritton.

Pakish of Niacara-on-the-Lake.

This parish embraces the north-ea!stern portion of the township of
Niagara in the county of Lincoln, and the church and presbytery are
situated in the old capital of Upper Canada, the town of Niagara, or as
some call it " Niagara-on-the-Lake," in order to distinguish it from Niagara
Falls, a tcnvn twehe miles distant.

During the first (juarterof the present century the few Catholics settled
m tlie district were provided with Sacraments and other ministrations of
our holy religion by priests who held stations at rare intervals, after a Ion---
and tedious jf)urney from Dundas. Some of the records of those early
days are still preserved, and speak more elo(iuently than words, of the faith
of the fiock and the ardent zeal of the pastors. Here is the first entry in
the time worn register: "The first day of June, 1827, by me, Roman
Catholic Missionary at Niagara, Dundas, etc., etc., has been baptized Mary
Anne Hughes, born the 2nd day of January, 1827, of the lawful marriage of
Jas. Hughes of Niagara and Mary May. James \V. Ca.mi'iox, M. I't.''^

Another child was baptized the same day, and not till the 12th of
August does the signature indicate the next visit of the Missionary. It
appears the Right Rev. Bishop Macdonell was at Niagara alxuit this date,
for several baptisms performed by him are entered and certified by leather-
Campion, whose name appears for the last time on the i8ih of August, 1830.
It is well to note that this zealous priest signs as P. P. <>f Niagara, etc., on
and after the 27th December, 1828.

a:iO

The Dcitnerji of St. Cttthitr'nicn.

Tlif next priest whose name appears on the records is Rev. Father
Edward (iordon, afterwards \'iear-C.eneral of Hamilton. He sul).scril)es a
baptism performed b}' him May 3()th, 1S30. This mu.st have been a casual
visit, as I'ather Campion was here as late as Au<,nist i8th of that year.

November i6th, \^^2, we have the name of " M. Lalor, Miss. Ap.,"
who apjK'ars to have resided in the town from that date till May 6th, 1833.
A certain '* P. Polin, IM'.," then assumed chari,^e, and seems to have been
the only priest from Jul\ till NoNcniiier 31)1.

On .\pnl .:3rd, 1834, the i\ev. Mdward Cordon took charge of the
mission of Nia,i,'ara and its vicinity, accordin^f to his own statement written
at the head of pa^'e g; in the old re^nster. He resided in the presbytery
built shortlv after the erection of the church, and kept a detailed and exact
account of all transactions affecting,' relidon in this parish till the 27th
October, l8-l().

On the Sth of November of the same year Kiv. leather Carroll assumed
charge, and remained until March, 183.!. The next jiriests in charge of
the mission were l\ev. L. Mou.sard* and Rev. C. Wardy, whose administra-
tions reached the year 1857. Father Mulligan, afterwards Dean of St.
Catharines, was in charge from September, 1857, till December, i8bo,
assisted occasionally by leather juhel.

Rev. Louis (iriffa's name appears m the new baptismal register, pro-
vided by b'ather Mulligan, from jjiuI December, i860, till August 13th,
1861. Rev. F'ather Hobin succeeded Father Criffa ; and the names of
Fathers T. J. Sullivan, J. Kelly, Thus. Laboureau, Wm. Bergin, A. J.
O'lveilly, M. Ap., V. Kiernan, E. (iallagher, A. Murphy, O.C.C, and T.
Shanahan bring down the succession of pastors to the present incumbent,
Rev. P. J. Harold.

The old frame church still staiids by dint of constant repairing, and at
its altar about 200 souls receive the Sacraments.

The present pastor. Rev. P. j. Harold, made his prejiaratory and
commercial course in Detroit (Christian Brothers' Academy), classics at
the Collegiate Institute, St. Catharines, rhetoric and ecclesiastical studies
at St. Michael's College, Toronto, and the Crand Seminary, Montreal.

*This iiiinie appears in the " C.-iniuliiin Aliiiaiiai" spoiled in \ arious \va_v>
according to the records of the parish of St. Catharines.^ ICn.

VVc have adopted i'

The Parinh of XiiKiani FnH.'i.

3:u

He was assistant at St. Michael's Cathedral in uSjO, Thorold in 1.S77,
Brockton in icSHi, and was pastor of Div.'c in 18SS.

TiiK Parish oi- Xiaciaka V

ALLS.

This mission rc(iniies Ics.s tlie pen of an historian than l.rush of an
artist, who would -^nviphically jiicturc the wonders of the waters, who.se
thundering,' torrents the little parish church overlooks. Tradition tells us
that the first white man to discover the I'"alls was a priest. Whether he
ever offered the holy sacrifice, or what were Iils feelings, his dreams of the
future, it matters not ; for we do not record the event as the starting link
of our historic chain. W'c also leave aside all mention of the" later
missionaries who, in the days of leather Hennipen and the venerable
Bishop Neumann, hallowed this pictunvscjue spot with the sacred rites of
our holy religion, and we open our l.rief sketch with events still fresh in the
memory of living men. The oldest settlers of this district, as is well
remembered, travelled t( Kingston that they might fulfil their duty of
Easter connnunion. P.ut the name which heads the li.st of those who have,
down to the present, regularly officiated at Niagara I'alls is leather Campion,'
about the year iSiij. He used to say Mass in a ncIIow cottage where now
.stands the residence^ of Mr. Sutherland Macklem. Then leather (iordon,
while pastor of Niagara-on-the-Lake, used to come and officiate every
second Sunday. He it was who built the church on the River bank, ju.st
above the Horse Shoe I'alls. The corner stone was laid the i ^th of June,
1837, and the building, when completed, was dedicated to the prie.st'.s
patron, St. P:dward. This title was changed at the time of the American
civil war by the late Archbishop Lynch to "Our Lady of Peace." A frame
addition was afterwards made to the church by leather Juhel in i860.
The church, of cruciform shape, is (juaint in appearance; and, beautifully
situated within the .sound and sight of Niagara's mightv Hood, it lends
devotion to the prayerful worshipiK-r and adds the awe of grace to the
surrounding majesty of nature. Its dimensions are .seventh-five feet b\-
twenty-two ; and the arms of the cross sixty by fifteen.

After \icar-(;eneral Gordon the congregation continued to be .served
from old Niagara until 1858, when the Falls was erected into a distinct
parish and Father Juhel appointed pastor. This good priest died here
in the odor of sanctity, January, 1862, and is buried beneath the church.

•it

■5>

i 4

332 '/'/(/• Dcdiin-i/ <>/ St. Ciithnr'nics.

Between lum and the Carmelites, who took char^'c in OctoUer, 1875, we have
the followinf,^ hst : Father IMulHf^^an till Deeember, 1865 ; I-ather K. A.
O'Connor (now Bishop of Peterborou^di) till September, 1868; Father
Miehel till July, 1872; and b'ather MeSpiritt.

One of the clurishcd ideas of Arehbishop Lynch was to erect a Hospice
at Falls View, similar in spirit and rule to the ancient Hospice of Mount
Carmel in the Holv Fand, which still exists and dispenses the traditional
hospitality of the monks of old l'"or the- jnirpose of carryin.^^ out this
intention, Dr. Fviuh introduced a small branch of the Carmelites, one of
the oldest orders in the church, whose devotion and history are closely
interwoven with the Brown Scapular. His (irace t^ave the community a
farm of two hundred acres of land on the banks of the Nia.t^^ara. The first
to take charj^e was the \'ery Rev. It,matius Beerhorst, O.C.C. Several
followed, amongst whom may be mentioned blither Mayer, O.C.C, at
present Provincial of the Order in America, and b'ather A. J. Sinits, so
favoral)ly known to many of the parishes of the Archdiocese by the mis.sions
which he preached. The present prior is the Very Rev. Anastasius J.
Kreidt, O.C.C. He finished his studies at Rome, was ordained in Holland,
and was shortly afterwards sent to Montpellier, b" ranee, where he remained
until his comnninity wat, expelled. In 1879 he came to America, and has
since been stationed in many of the hou.ses of his order in this country.
Some years ago he was honored l)y Rome with the title of Sanctcc Thcologin-
Magistcr (Doctor of Holy Theolofj;y). There are also two other priests,
who reside in the monastery, Fathers Philip A. Best, O.C.C, and D. F.
Best, O.C.C: thev are natives of Hamilton and are brothers.

Tlu' little church of Our Lady of Peace was endowed by Pius IX., of
holy memory, with all the privileges of a pilgrimage, where may be gained
the indulgences attached to the oldest shrines of bUirope.

There is a small but successful Separate school here, taught by the
Sisters of Loretto, who have given a large room in their convent for this
purpose.

Besides Our Lady of Peace there is a second church, St. Patrick's,
situated at Clifton, which district was erected into a distinct parish in 1863;
but since the coming of the Carmelites it has been attended from its parent
mission of F'alls View.

The I'ansh of I'ort Ctdhonie ami U'rlltnul.

hh;5

A third church, St. Josepli's, stands at the intersection of tlic roads
leadinjj; from StevensviUe, Cliippevva, Bhick Creek and Netherh',-, wliosc
congreffation is made up of Oermans. Till uS8o they were in charge of the
Jesuits at Buffalo, but were then placed under the zealous care of the
Carmelites.

Directly opposite the city of Buffalo are the remains of a fort, from
which the village of Fort Erie derives its name Here was, until last \ear, a
small parish, which included all the territor> from Lake lirie on the south
to the International Bridge on the north, and from Niagara River on the
east to ividgeway. A frame church was built here in iS5>S, but afterwards
burned. The present church, a brick building, was erected ten years later.
Its first pastor was the Rev. G. A. Voisard, who, serving it faithfullv,
retired a few years ago on account of bad health. Many others priests had
charge of Fort Erie at different times, until, February ist, 1891, Father
Trayling, the last .secular pa.stor, was replaced by the Carmelites, to whose
parish of b'alls \'iew it is now attached.

It was within the limits of the mission of Niagara I-'alls that th(; lu-nian
raid took place. Father (now Bishop) O'Connor relates how, "In June,
1866, part of the volunteers and regulars encamped in a Held adjoining
the German Catholic Church." He goes on to tell that in the afternoon
he heard in the tents the confessions of many of the Catholic .soldiers who
belonged to the 16th and 47th regulars. The following morning, in company
with Vicar-General Jamot, he said Mass in i)resence of a few dozen lay
persons and a handful of Catholic soldiers, as all l)ut seventy-fiv(; had
proceeded on Saturda\- night towards Fort Erie.

In Niagara Kuer, a few miles abo\e the I'\dls, lies Navy Island,
imjiortant as being associated with the early history of this country. It is
also worthy of note that the few Catholics living there have received
religious ministration from time to time.

The P.srish oi- Port Colhohxi-, and We

IJ.AM).

Like many other missions in the Niagara jieninsula, the early historv
of Port Colborne and W'elland is connected with St. Catharines. As fa'r
back as 1844 we are told of P^ather McDonough celel)raling Mass in the
Colored Barracks of Welland, and also in Ouinn's Hotel, and a school

The Ikancry of St. Cath'iniivH.

bo-*

1 ,- 1- u.y^<\ loidin" to Port Robinson. Dean C.nittan and
house on the ^^-•\':'''^' ff;;-^ ,^,,, ,i,, until iSfM.vvhen the present
F-ithor Conwav continued m liu s.iim i

I-; n 1 In "viU :.. school Ix.usc upon it, was pur.-l,...!. 1 „■ sc sc v«

: .'ous as wdl as cUua.ional purposes until .lu. n.w , ,>„vh >vas I,
by l.-alLr Wardy of Thon.ia, winch, wl,o,, linishe,!. was clcchcatcd ,o .ho

Japanese Martyrs in 1864.

Port Colborne, or as it was then <alled, ClravellyHaN dates fnnn the
s-vnJ time and priest as Welland. In the days of Father Mel onou,h and
h s .^"ssor Mass used to be oHered in various plaees, an old null upon
. a school house, an.l at the residences of dilierent f^vnuhes. whos

hies wl sanctilned ni those primeval days by the tread <;i ^'^ ^<- ;;'
M^n-spots morc= hallowed than broken eoUuun or ancient ^f^^^^^
mt this order of things ,ave way for a better when, ni -;/'.; '^l
C nwav erected a franK. church at I'orl C-olb..rnc., whuh servcnl unt 1 ..s,9,
then o^uly .oth, Archbishop Lynch laid the corner stone o the ne=U
'st:ucture where the faithful of the western extre,n,ty^>f the duK s
now worshi,. It was de.licated under the patronage of St. iatnck In
Bishop O'Mahony, March the 14th, 1880.

Port Colborne and Fort Erie were erected mto a parish m 185.^ with
Father Voisard as pastor. His residence was in the former oi these pac
hi" oul being a Jmall addition to the church. He was succeeded (.80 )
h Fa^r Kcuie, who remained two years, after whic a --mcy cjccurred^
nnd it was attended from Thorold. Father Voisard returned 1868 and
"ma ned il 871. Fort b:rie was then made a distinct mission, being
"r'Vfrom Port Colborne, which received Welland as an adjunct, and
he w^ assumed its present form. Father Kilcullen was appointed pasto
and h eighteen years of administration were nuirked by great advance,., nt
ant nis ci^ml y Colborne is due to him ; the

:;;, ™tt" . h pJu;:; ::nd .ho docora.io„ of .he dnnd, a. XVolland
a Fs's "me of .he fruits of his pas.ora.e. This^ «ood pr.es , up"" 1-

Tmo'^l to Adjala, January. .«90, was succeeded a. for. Co n,e by

Father McEntee.

The Rev lolm ]. Mcl-aUee received his primary education ni the
Sepa I oo s of -rironto, whence he entered St. Michael's College lor h«.

claLical and philosophical studies. Cpon contplet.ng these he proce.le.l,

The Porixh of Siiilthnllc.

33r,

ill I S7 1 , to tlie Cirand Seminary of Montreal for theology. Here he remained
two years, when he letiirncd to his former college for the completion of his
studies. He was ordained priest ()etoi)er 18th, 1870, in St. Michael's
Catliedral by Archi)ishop Lynch. He was assistant at St. Paul's and
Thorold, and in 1S72 appointed pastor of Dixie, where he ri-mained live
years; and after a brief charge of I'xbridge, he was made parish priest
of Oshawa and W'hitliy. His reign in this nussion lasted twolvr^ Ncars,
when he was transferred to his present Held of labor.

There is a Separate school at Port Coll)orne, started in 1H64, whose
classes are conducted in the old frame church, forming, by its lofty ceiling,
an airy room : it has an attendance at present of sevent)-.

Tin: Parish oi' Smii'iivii.i.I';.

This mission, situated in the County of Lmcoln, compri.ses the town-
ships of North and South (Irimsby, Clinton, (Jainsborough and Caistor.
Its jKipulation does not rale in proportion to its territory, this vast area
containing at present onl\ two hundred and si\l}- Catholics.

It was established as a .separate parish in .September, jSbO, and has two
churches, St. Martin's at Smilhvilk', where the priest resides, and a small
stone chapel, under the patronage of St. Joseph, at (Jrimsby. Land has
been purchased for a third church, to be built at Peamsville.

The sjiiritual needs of the few Catholics scattered through this .sectit)n,
before being erected into a distinct mission, were attended from St.
Catharines, then for a short time from Cayuga in the Diocese of Hamilton,
and finally from Thorold. Put the Hrst priest to visit these parts was
P\ither Gordon, while he was chaplain to the troops stationed at Niagara.
The priests of Cayuga who attended Smithville were Fathers Mcintosh and
McLoughlin. In US57 Father Cirattan of St. Catharines took chargi, and
built the two churches already mentioned. Before the erection of thai at
Smithville Mass used to be celebrated in the residence of the late Mr.
Martin i oily, then in his cooper-shop, and for a lime in the old Methodist
churcli. At (irimsby the religious services varied between dilterenl private
houses and the Town Hall. .\t Beamsville, even to this day, on account
of the small number of the faithful, a similar state of affairs exists.

t! I

i! •

8a6

'I'lic lU'diivrji iif St. CiitliKrincM.

The first parish priest of .Smithville was I'^athcr Lahouroau, who
remainod between four and five years. He was transferred to Thorold, from
wliich place this mission was thenceforward attended. Hut in 1S75 it was
reopened as a distinct parish, and I'ath'M" Heausanj,^ appointed. I)urin<^
liis brief pastorate of two years a presbytery was l)iiiil, wiiic.h was afterwards
destroyed by Hrc durinj^ the administration of I'ather McMuhan. father
McMahon was preceded Ijy I'^ithers Skx'lly and Davis ; and followed by the
present parish jiriest, the Rev. Kenneth McKae. This youn<; eler^^ynian is
a native of the diocese, beinj^, as already stated, born in Brock mission.
lie received his classical education i)artially at Assumption C'olle<,fe, .Sand-
wicii, and partiall\' at St. Michael's College, Toronto. After spending; a
few moiiti/s at All Hallows Collef;e, Dublin, he was sent to Cienoa, Italy,
where he made a course of five years in philosophy and theolo<;)', and where
he was ordained priest, December iHth, 1886. Returninj^f to Canada, he
was appointed curate in ;\djala for a very short time, and then placed in
charj^e of the small but no less important mission wiiose histor) we have
briefly outlined.

The I'akism oi- Tmokom).

I'rior to the be^innin;^' of this century a few pioneers had entered the
forests of the vicinity where to-day stands the town of Thoiold. Of these
settlers and their immediate followers, most, if not all, were non-Catholics;
so that, for the first tjuarter of the century, accounts are .so few and
uncertain, that we have little better than conjecture that the |irimitive
missionaries passinjj; between the earlier colonies of Niaj^ara and Dundas
may have left their re<;ular route in .search of souls in newer .settlements.

In time, .some Catholics began to move into this place, for some years
known as Stumptown ; and as their number increased, they were given as
fre(iuent and regular atteiulance as the few priests in these districts could
afford. Stations were held by the nearest clergyman, that is, from Niagara;
and to that place the people had to go for baptisms, until, in 1835, the first
church was built at St. Catharines, only four miles distant. Thenceforward
until Thorold had a priest resident, this mi.ssion came undi'r the jurisdiction
of St. Catharines; and Thorold peojile attended church there till about 1843,
when their first place for worship, a frame structure, was built. Thus the
birth and early progress of Catholicity in Thorold are associated with the
opening chapters of our religious history in St. Catharines, to which sketch

77/c P„rl>ili of TlinroU.

887

wt! refer our readers. Tlie names of the same pastors, as leathers Campion,
Hurlre and Cullcn, appear on the rerords, and Wvv. in loeal trachtion ; while
the labors of the \cneral)le l"atlier (iordon, who is of later date, are still
fresh in tlic memory of most of our older people. 'I'hen the Rev. Dr. Lee
commenced his arduous duties, which soon terminated in his untimely
death, an account f)f which has already appeared in these paj^es. It is
mentioned here ui^ain, lK>eausc his body lay in state for onv ni^'lit in
Thorold church, when the funeral was on its way to St. Catharines.

St. Catharines heinjf aj,'ain without a resident priest, this place also
had to look to h'ather (iordon of Nia<^'ara, for attendance until, in the fall of
1843, at the appointment of Father Mc])onou;;h to St. Catharines, Thorold
was again attended from there, leather McDonough retained the charge
until 1 85 J, it being under his administration that the fu'st church was com-
pleted here, for the building of which much good will seiims to have existed
on the part of Protestants.

The Catholics who look- an active part m the erection of the lirsl
church were Messrs. Thomas O'llrien, W'illi.im Ileenan, James Boyle and
Amandus Schwall(>r, the last of whom alone sur\ives.

In 1853 Thorold, for the first time, had a resident priest in the person
of Keverend Michael McLaughlin, who, during his stay here, resided with
a private family. During this same year the Very Rev. I>. (irattan was
appointed to St. Catharines, and made first Dean of this district. Owing
to the increasing labor in caring for the large numbers employed along the
Welland canal and in its thriving villages — for Thorold had, in 1851, become
a village — Father Grattan was given as assistant, his nephew. Rev. Patrick
Conway, whose name app^^ars fre(|uently in the parish registers between the
years 1855 and i860. It was during Dean Grattan's care of this place in
1853 thai tht: lirsl Catholic school was built on the same premises as those
upon which the church stood. In January, i860. Father Eugene O'Keefe
arrived, but gave jikice, in April of the same year, to Father Christie, who
at once engaged himself in building a priest's residence of brick, and one
which was considered in those days to be palatial. Father Christie was
relieved between 1862 and 1865 by Father Wardy; and returning, remained
for three years, when ill health obliged him to retire to his native
diocese in bVance, where he died not long after. Mis place here was filled

»!]8

77/c hfiDirvii of St. Cfitliiir'nifH.

in Aiij^iisl, iSf)7, hy I'atlicr (iril)l)in, wlio, in the spring,' of iHfx), vviis
followed !)>• l'';itluT Michael O'l^eilly, now of St. Joseph's Chmrh, Toronto.
In two years aj^'a in a dian^a' occurs, and ['"atlu^r O'Keilly is succeeded by
l'"alher Ivaboureau, wlio remained until the fall. 'I'liis hrinf^s us to the
period of the present pastor, one from whic h dates the suhstantial proj.;rcss
in every department of the |)arish.

In Noxcmher, KSyi, leather 'T. J. Sullisan w.is transferred from Adjala
to 'Thorold, and has since been its permam-nt pastor. I lis fust elforts in the
interests of his new mission were directed towards the welfare of the youn<^.
By 1S74 a convent, of brick, was completed, and in the y(>;ir followin;^' some
Sisters of St. loseph procured, who, since thai lime, liave, with the ;iid of a
master for larL,^cr bovs, conducle<l the schools. The buiidin<< occupied for
this purpose was a frame one, and was made to serve until 1W2, when the
first part of the present brick structure was put up on a new site, directl)
opposite thecon\-ent. This school was enlarf.;ed in iS(jo so as to accommo-
date 250 children.

( )ii Kosary Sundax', iSjS, his drace the late Archbishop Lynch
laid ihe corner stone of the new cluirch. I'ather Sullivan's aim beinj,'
to keep it free from debt so that it could be consecrated when finished, its
erection was neces.sarilv slow. The building,' was roofed in iSSi, and for
ten years Mass was said in the basement, work bein^ done on the upper
part whenever circumstances permitted.

Throuj^^h the assistance of knid friends in Canada and the I'nited
States, Father Sullivan was so far able lo comphite his church that it was
ready this year for consecration. It is a hand.some red stone buildiiif^, of
(fothic architectur(!^, beautitiilK- situated on a hill which o\erlooks a charm-
ins^ stretch of country and the city of St. Catharijics in the distance. The
interior of the nave and chancel is very chaste and devotional — the delicate
wooden pillars allowing; a free view of the altar from e\er\- j)ortion of the
church, and the clere-story windows casting a gentle light upon column and
wall. The altar is marble, consisting of bku; Italian, Mexican onyx and
white American, whose varied colors add the charm of beauty to stability
of material, while the effect of the scene is further heightened by the taste-
ful surroundings of the sanctuary. .\ silver plate upon the handsomely
carved altar railing records the fact that it was the gift of the late Mr. John
Battle of Thorold.

®-

■-!

Port Colborn e an d T h orol(

®-

The I'lirixh of Thorohl.

889

Oil June the igth of the ))re.sent yeiir the crown of solemn consecration
was placed upon this «;reat work, nhich had engai^ed the energies of a zeal-
ous priest and the generosity of a faithful people for fourteen years. The
sacred ceremony was '/performed by the Right Reverend R. A. O'Connor,
Bishop of Peterl)orougli, who also sang I'ontihcal Mass, with the Reverend
Father Carroll of Providence, Rhode Island, as deacon, and Father
McColl of F'ort Elrie, as sub-deacon. The Archbishop of Teronto, the
Most Reverend Dr. Walsh, occupied the throne; and a number of clergy-
men were present in the sanctuarw

The sermon at the Mass was delivered Ijy the Very Rev. I'ather
Mclnerney, C.SS.R., of Toronto, who took for his subject the Church as the
house of C.od. He complimented the pastor, the parish and the town of
Thorold upon the religious completion of the church in which they assembled
that day as a congregation for the Hrst time.

Mis (irace also took tht? o))portunity to address a few words of
congratulation ujion the church which they had just consecrated. lie paid
a glowing tribute to Father Sullivan, " who had worked -st. earnestly on
the labor of love. The people had upheld him in his efforts, and the entire
Catholic church appreciated what he had done." " Here," concluded the
venerable prelate, "when all that is mortal of us shall be laid at rest, will
the grand monument of \-our devotion stand, and aloft on the hilltop raise
the sjiire, bringing to men christian hopes and aspirations, and thoughts
of those whose hands and hearts did thcMr share in the erection of this
glorious temple of Almighty (iod."

In the evening Vespers were sung l)y the Very Reverend Vicar-(jeneral
Rooney, and a discourse delivered by Father Ryan upon Our Lady of the
Rosary, to whom the church was solemnly dedicated. And then, with
Benediction of the Mo.st Blessed Sacrament, given by the .Archbishoj), closed
a memorable day for the jiarish and people of Thorold.

The Reverend Timothy J. Sullivan was born in tlie Count\- of Cork,
Ireland; but received his education in this country at the College of Our
Lady of the Angels, Niagara l^dls, New \'ork. He was ordained priest at
St. Catharines on the Fea.st of the A.s.sumption (.Vugust i5th), [S6S. The
greater part of his sacerdotal career is told in the above sketch of Thorold
parish, where he has now been pastor twenty-one years. Not only are the

\t\

i ,

»-

(J JO The Deuneri/ of St. Cuthnrtuva.

material structures jiroofs of his zeal, but his s,)iritual care of his people, his
earnest and continued efforts in the cause of education, are likewise a hi^'her
evidence of his jmous character and priestly enerj^^y.

Father Sullivan's iippointment in 1.S71 included char-^u- over Merritton,
which place he held until 1S83. He secured an acre of ^^round and erected
a temporary church, all of which were paid for by him before resisning the
mission. Also (irimsby and Smithville fell to his care, until 1S75, when he
was relieved of that mission by the appointment of a pastor, and Port
Robinson was given to him, where he expended a large sum for a church,
and the jiroperty upon which it is erected.

ADDENDUM.

The sketches of the parishes, as they appear, are taken from reports
made out last year (1H91). Since that time the following changes have taken
place in this Deanery:— Father McCoU has been transferred from Merritton
to Fort Erie,* which again forms a distinct parish, and is succeeded in the
former mission by leather Lynett.

*Vid. p. 433, whL-i-c Foi-t Kiic is Micntioiied as attiichcd to Niagaia Falls.^Ki).

<^^'iii-i^9^fH>'9r9>'0r0^>-Mf«-Orfi'<6'^^

THE D KAN Eli Y OE HA HI! IE

Kr)irKi) iiv

RKV. f. R. 'I'Kl'.IN. 1!.A.. ( - H.

'O-0-O-0-d-(H)-0'4-0-(l-(HWMH>«-<)-IW)-0-0-(>*

Vkhv l\r:vERENi> William Berc.iN,
ni.M.v OF r!.\i!i;n:.

lii

CHAPTER XI.

THE DEANERY OF BARUIE.

liarr'u — AUlnton—Birchin — Brentwood — Collingii-ood — Flos — Murd — ^Fldlnn(^ — OrUlitt
— I'enetanguishene — Ste. Croix — Stai/iwr.

The Parish of Bakrik.

^"J^^^WM spiritual wants of the few scattered settlers who formed tlie
^L^^^ pioneer band of this now tlourishinfT parish were attended to by
^^yP^ the priests of Penetanguishene. In such times the holy sacrifice
^1 uscil to l)e offered at the residence of the late Mr. James Bergin,

who lived on the Penetanguishene road. At his house a b'ather Dempsey,
who had gone to Penetanguishene in 1832, died two years later. The
following account is given of his death by Mrs. Bergin, who has had her
home at St. Joseph's Convent, Toronto, for many years, and wlio, though
now (1892) over ninety years of age, still remembers the earlv demise of this
youn'T priest. Upon one occasion Father Dempsey had been down in
Toronto on business, and while at Holland Landing, waiting for the l)oat
to take him up Lake Simcoe, he heard of this family, who had .settled in the
neighborhood of Barrie ; so he determined to visit them. His ordinary
route liome in those days was from Orillia b\' the Coldwater Road.
Instead, therefore, of continuing up Lake Simcoe to Lake Couchiching, the
missionary turned his boat into Kempenfeldt Bay and landed at Barrie,
which then contained one store and a few liouses.* He found his way to
Mr. Bergin's, who welcomed liim most warml\ , as he had not seen a priest
during the seven years he had been living in that district. Fatlier Dempsey

* In 1S37 its population was, according to '■ Smitli's Gazetteer," twenty-eight families

g,j4 Tlw Dcann-fi of Ihirric.

was taken ill the very ni^ht he arrived ; an<l, although he said one Mass he
never left the house, hut ^rew worse, and died in less than three weeks.
His hody was taken to I'enetan^uishene, wh.-re it lies huned heneath the
sanctuary of the Catholie church.

Father Proulx, who al this time was settled amon^^st the Tn.lians, was
the next to serve the miss.on. The Kev. Amahle Charest, dunn^ Hh. nst
four years of his lon^^ residence at Penetan^uishene ( ' «37-- ' ^M) - "^^'^^ t"
visit Harne regularly. Then Father Ouinlan, who resided at Newmarket,
attended and celebrated Mass in the houses of the pnncpal Catholics.
\fter a while a I'rotestant, Mr. Charles Thompson, ^.vve the Catholics the
use of his lar^e stable, where Mass was offered up and services he d for some-
time Bishop Power of Toront., visited Harrie in 1845, and administered
Conhrmation to several candidates in a private house belonj^m. to Mr.
John O'Neil.

Father McNulty was the next m.ssionarv who served Harne .\s
tin. Catholics were be^innin, to increase in numbers '-' --;"\;'l'';" ,^,^^
the necessity of a church. Two half acre lots were granted l>y the (.o^crn-
n for ths purpose, described as lots Nos. 1.7 -ni i.S on the north
side of Macdonell street, upon which the present church and schoo lious
are situated. The church was be.nm in .S49, -u was completed he
O,llowin, vear. It was constructed of a heavy tnnlK.r fr^une, whu^h t^^
farn.ers themselvc-s had hewn, sheeted on the outs.de, and was hft> feet
,,,,,. ,,v Ourtv-six feet wide. 1 lenceforth the kchhI settlers had the pnvileK^e
of a priest about once a month, and sometimes even more fre.piently.
Shortlv after the Catholics became so numerous that Bishop de Uia -

1(1 Barrie and the surround-

bonnel resolved to place a resident priest to a

countr\-

was c

ibli'ied *.'

Accordin-lv, in 1855, l^=^ther Jamot was sent as i^astor,
, hoard amon-st the Catholic families until a residence

but

was

prov

/ided.

e m

ission then i

ncluded the villa

'V of Barrie and the town-

ships of Vespra, Innisiil, Oi

)ro ICssa, West C.willimbury, Sunnidate, I'h

Medonte, Nottawasai^^a an

1 the villatj;es o

f CoUint'wood and Belle Fwart.

In July, 1S53, Father 11

ohm

then j

ust ore

lained, was sent as curate to

I. The latter's first step wa

Ivither Jamo

accordinf^ly he jiurchased

the Convent of St. Josejiirsnow

to 1

.trocu

re a dwellin'S and

a site on the w

est side of Mulcaster street, where

stands. The house, a

small frame building

Rt.Rev.R.A.O'Gonnor.D.D.

Bishop of ?el'ei'boitiu(5h

fif

»i>

Tllf I'ltilxh iif liiirrir. ;j|r,

situated on the south-cKist corner of tlie lot, served as tlu; prii'st's residence
until the hrirk preshj'tery was erected in 1862. The n6xt thin^ Father
Jamot did was to start a Separate school, conducted in a small frame
structure north of the parish house, and which was used afterwards for the
Nuns. In 1856 a frame school house was Iniilt on the west end of the
church lot, and which served until 1872, when it was removed to make room
for the new church.

Bishop Lynch, recognizinj; the administrative powers of l'"atlier Jamot,
chanj,^(;d him from Barrie to St. Michael's Cathedral; and, in 186^, sent
the Kvx. (;eor<(e Northf,'raves as his successor and Dean of Barrie. Durinn
his administration the new presbytery was freed from debt, land purchased
in Brentwood and Stayner for churches, and fifty acres bought in the suburbs
of J-Jarrie for a cemetery.

Tlie next pastor was the NCry i^:ever(•^d [■"ather O'Connor, who was
installed Dean of Barrie by \'icar-(".eneral Jamoi, October 2 ^rd, 1870. After
administcrin<;- tlu' parish and deanery with [irudence and zeal for over
ei-,'hteen years he received in In^bruary, 1889, his J^ulls as iJishoj^ of
Peterborou,i;h. He was consecrated in his cathedral church on the hrst of
May followinj,' by the Most Reverend James Vincent Cleary, Archbishop of
Kin<(ston, assisted bv Archbishops b'abre of Montreal and Duhaiiu^l of
Ottawa. The sermon, a very elo(|uent one, was preached by Archbishdj)
Walsh, then Bishop of London.

Bishop Richard Alphonsus O'Connor is a native of Ireland, but has
spent nearly all his life in this country, his father .settling in Toronto when
his Lordship was very youn,i,^ Mis classical education was received at St.
Michael's College, of whu h h<- was amongst the earliest .students, and to
which he has ever since proved himself an earnest and devoted friend.
After Hnishing his theology at the C.rand Seminary of St. Sulpice in
Montreal he was ordained priest by .\rchbi.shop Lynch on the feast of his
patron, St ' ' '

the 2nd, 1861. From that date until the ti

of his consecration he served tlie Archdiocese of Toronto
and prudent energy which were the keys of his sue

) with that piety

le was leavmsi

for tl

cess as jiastor.

hen

c wider sphere to which he was called, his breth

the Toronto jiriesthood showed their appreciation of his ch

regret at losing such a worthy friend, and their satisfaction at his elevation

iren oi

iracter, their

)y presenting him with a congratulatorv address and th

e insignia of a

840

The l)c(iiicri) (if liiuric.

hishnp. The i)ri(;sts of tlic Rarrie Deanery made his Lordsliip a special
oiferiii^ of a \i ry iiandsoine episcopal v'\u^. \iy his oUl parishioners I-Jishop
O'Connor's >,'ain was paiticuhirly feh to i)e their loss, and althouj,di tli(;v
rejoiced at the wi'll deserved lionor h<' was lo rcctMve, tlie\- sincerely mourned
that their Dean, who had been so loved In his own Hock and respected by
all, should be removed from those whom he had ruled with such <;entleness,
and whom he had led in the wrys of (iod for so lonj,' a time. To manifest
their esteem for his many ser\ices the Catholics of Barrie presented his
Lordsliij) with a farewell address and a purse of li\c hundred dollars.
Many other kind words were spoken and kind acts done by various societies
to join in the hearty wish of all for the success of the new Bishop of Beter-
borouj^h. With his work, now that he has left Toronto, this volume is
not closely concerned ; but all, })riests and people, who knew him, feel a
continued joy in his i ontinued success.

]\esumin}4 our sketch, we learn that, before bein^; transferreil to Toronto,
Dean Northj^raves had already made certain pri'parations for a new church,
winch the f^rowth of the Catholic jiopulation of Barrie rendered necessary.
His successor, the \'ery Rev. R. A. O'Connor, continued these jirejiarations
with such promptness that the corner stone was laid the s})rin,if followinj^^ his
entry to the parish, June 3rd, 1871. The ceremony was performed b}-
Archbislioii Lynch, while l-'ather Northi^raves preached the sermon of the
day. The church was completed the follow inj^' }(-ar, and was dedicated to
the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mar\' on December 15th, iHj2. The
l)uildin<j; is of j^othic desij^n- red brick with white trimmin.^s. Since the
openinj^ the followinj^ improvements have been made in and around it : the
sjMre Hnished, and a neat iron fence upon a stone foundation enclosing the
.^rounds, in 1H76; and in uSHcS the frescoini; of the interior with handsome
paintings of differc;nt Saints on large panels.

After Bishop O'Connor left, the church was serxed from Toronto until
Archbishop Walsh, in Januar}-, iScjo, installed leather b'.dw.ird Cassidy
Dean of l^arrie. During his brief pastorate of less than a \ear b'athcr
Cassidy made .several improvements in both the church and pi-esbyter\-.
He, being transferred to his present charge of St. Helen's, Brockton, was
succeeded in the Deanship of ]-}arrie by the \'ery Rev. William l^ergin on
January 17th, 1891.

RR I E

Church and P

RES B-.'TEIRV

'I'll!' I'linnh 1)1' lliiirir.

I'.ithcr Ucrf^'in is ;i native of C'aslicl in the ("(iiiiil\' of 'rippcrary,
Ireland, wIuk' lie was Iidiii Ndveinher it)tli, I'^-fJ. ilis classical cdinse
was l)e;,'un at the .\lilie\, I ip|)erar\, and linished ,it the hiocesan C"(ille>,'e.
Upon rmisliin,L,' Ins course he catne to America, and joining' lh<' Archdiocese
of Toronto he went to Montreal in i<S6.S |or the completion of his tlu'olonical
studies. In iSjo he was ordained priest at London hy the present Arch-
hishop of Torontii. Me was inunediately appointed to a position in St.
Michael's Citliedral. Alter fuUillin^' w 11 his duties there he; was assi>,'ned
various charges in the (lioces<' imtil, in iH(ji, his (irace Arclihi.shop Walsh,
showinjj; his confidence in I'ather I3ei>;iii, honored him with the Deaiishipof
liarric. l'"or several vears diirinj^ his residence in the city of Toronto he
was financial secretary and treasurer of the Separate school hoard, for
which he pro\( (1 himself admirahlv filti'd hv his administrati\c ahilitv .

As early as 1S57 the Si>l( is oi St. |(»eph established a luam h of their
Community at Harrie ; and i'ather Jamot had the old .school hou.se on the
west side of Mulcaster stn et eiilarj^ed .md fitted up for their residence.
This huildiiii.^ lasted until, in 1MM3, l)eaii O'Connor took steps to erect the
l-re.sent line hrick convent directly opposite the church, a pleasant home for
the half dozen Sisters who form the Community, of which two were the
pioneer hand. Besides the Nuns teaching in the Separate .school, a head
master has Ixcii emplo\ed for the past twelve years for the older pupils.

There is also a second Separate school in the parish, established
bv leather Jamot in iMOo, and which has ever since been maintained,
and which is for the benelit of tlu; Catholics on the t(;nth concession of
Vespra and the district. .\ new frame school house was built here in i^yq
to replace tlu; I014 one, which had till that time been tln' humble hall of
learnin;^'. In this buildins;' the holy sacrifice is offered up occasionalK
for the people of the nei^hliorhood, who can thus attend to their blaster
oblij^ation.

Some tweiilv miles north of Harrie is the village of Brentwood, where,
in I1S64, Father Norlhgraves purcha.sed land for the buihhns.,' of a church,
which was afterwards erected in 1871 by Dean O'Connor. It is a small frame
structure dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumiption ; but is large enough
for the congregation, which consists principally of French Canadians.
.About the same distance south of Barrie is another village. Belle Fwart, on
Lake Simcoe, with a small Catholic chapel and a small congregation.

;is

'I'lic l>rinici

if liiirv'ir.

To S'jrNc tlu'sc two places Aivlihisluij) l,\iu'li .-.cnt, in 1H7J, ;i priest, whose
home was lo he in I->arr'e, aiul who woiihl oliii iate at I^reiitwood and Helle
i^w.ut on ailern.itc Suiuiays. I'"allicr I-miis (lila;., a iiaiive of l'"i'ance, has
ever since iill"(l the position -vilh seH-diiu ins; zeal, (h-volion and pietv.
I>an"ie is thus saved the necessitx ol an oidinaiA cuiMte, who was r;'ino\e(l
wiicn Sta\iier was erected into a seiKirate parish ; and the two oiitlvinj.,'
distfic Is on tlie iMrtii .md sou.h are tlius more IVchjiu'iiiIn and rc-j;iihirly
attended.

'I'm: \\\\< isii 1)1 Almsiox.

Tliis parisli, up lo tlie year 1S83, was known as the jiansh of North
.Vdjahi, w'hcre-the jiriest resided ; hut tiiis jiein^ a pui<l\- countrx plan-, it
was tliou,!L,Oit desiral)le to buiUl a preshyterx in the tiien j^rowini; town of
AlHston, which was acc(.)rdin-;ly done, and hom that date it has hi en
known as that ot" Alhston. At present wrilini; there are two (.•luncht-s in t)ie
jui'ischction of the p-astor — St. Paul's of Alliston and tlir Immaculate
C'onci ption in North Adjala, four miles distant.

St. Mary's ol the Immaculati' C'cmception was built in iS=,3, under the;
auspices of the Pastor of South .\djala of that date, the \\v\ . I'ather
Kattii^an.

.\ prelimin.iry meeting was held on th'' e\e of St. Patiick's l)ay, 1854,
at the residence of Mr. Ilu^h Ferfjjusoii, and a committee or«,'anizcd for the
eri'ction of the church. The work was under way when leather Kattiijan
was removed in .\ugust, 1855. lie was sutceeded 1)\ p'ather Pourret,
under whose pastorate the church was iv.mpli'ted, arul the !'i.-..t Mass said
in It by him on the J^th of November, 1835. it is situated on two acres of
land donated by Mr. I'erguson, in whose luuse a station used to be held
and INIass celebrated every three months previous to its erection, .\fter the
openini;; of the church it was attended ever\ third -Sunchiy from South
Adjala until 1863, when North Adjala was formed into a distinct pirish,
with the Kev. Patrick Conway as pastor. During his incumbency of a year
and a half a brick presby.tery was built, b'ather Rev succeeded, to the
charge of the parish in July, 1866, and remained until the summer of 187^,
when the present pastor, the Rev. H. J. (iibney, was appointed. While
here Father Key built an addition to the chunh, and erected a belfrv, in

I'lic I'lirmh ill' liirrhiii.

349

which lui placrd ;i very line hell, wiiose tones could he heard lor miles as it
nui,L; out the. an.^clus or summoned the people- to praver.

in 1S75 l'"ather (dhney, looking to the future, look steps; not onl\ to
huild a second church, hut to transfe-- the parochial head(|arters iVoni the
nirai district wIkiv tiny had heeii so far located to Alliston. On thr jSth
ol May, iSjf), the corner stone of the new church was laid with iniposin"
ceiemony hv Archhishop L\nch, and an elo(|uent sermon pnached l.v the
l)resent Archhishop, then Hishop of London. It was dedicated to St. I'aul
on New ^'eal■'s Day, the I'east of the Circumcision, 1S77, l.\ ihe late Dr.
Crinnoii, I iishop of I lamilton.

riie church is a ^othic structure, ninety feet hy fori), and has a line
spire one hundred and thirty feet hij^h. The erection of this church has
lieeii the means of increasing the Catholic population of .\lliston, who
numbered hut live families at the date of commenciirt^s hut which, in iS()i,
amounted to sixty.

I p ti) the year iSSj the pastoral resid(Mice was heside the church in
North Adjala, when it was transferred to Alliston, wlu-re a handsome
presli\ terv was <'recled.

The old frami' c hurch of North .\djala, hein^j deslroved l.\ lire in
I'ehruary, iMiS^, was re-placid the followiii;^' summer hy a neat hrick one;
and was blessed by llishop O'Mahony on the 1 jth of December of the
same \ear.

'J~l

le l\.e\

J. (iibney was born at 'i'oronto on the loili of Au.niisl,
1S46. He was educatt-d at St. Michael's Colle-e, Toronto, from whidi
place, alter completiii.L; his studies in 1869, he proceeded fur his theolo,-\ to
the C.rand Seminirv, Montreal. I le was or<lained priest bv Archbishop
Lynch on Ai.-ust _'3th, i.S;,.. Adjala was his fust jiarish, wh(>re still, in
the early prime ol life, he commands the respect of all who know him, and
the adection of his people, whom he has faiihbillv .served for the i)ast

cif,Miteen xcars.

Till. 1'akisi, 01 Hkkciiin.

About forty years .v^o the Kev. h'ather I'roulx, who resided in Oshawa,
attended to the spiritual wants of the Catholics of lirechin. This ^ood
told, encountered severe trials in the |ierformanc<' of his

priest,

as we are

®-

350

The Dennery of linrr'u'.

sacerdotal duties, but so hurninjj; was his zeal for the salvation of souls that
nothiiiii; could deter him from doinj^^ the work of his ministry. There heinj^^
no cliurch in the place at this time the devoted missionary was obli,<,'ed to
ofler the sacrifice of the Mass mi prixate residences wherever it was most
convenient for the people. This was the order of thiuf^s until the new mission
of Brock* was formed. Father Walsh, its first pastor, like his predecessor,
laboured hard, late and early, for the iieo})le over whom he had charge,
oflerin.;- the Holy Sacrihce for them in their humble homes, preaching to
them the word ol (iod. and i)ringing consolation and happiness in their
hour of (hstress.

From fJrock was formed the parish of Mara, to which l^^rechin was
attached. In 1884 Brechin was separated from its parent stock and erected
into a distinct mission, with Ivither Davis as pastor. It was Father
Campbell who, while in charge of Mara, built the parish church of
Brechin, leather Key came next, and it was during his time that the
mission of Brechin was .separated from Uptergrove, when, in 1884, the late
.\rchbishop Lynch ajipointed Rev. Father Davis as the pastor of Brechin.
Father Davis laboured here for nearly four years, during which time the
presbytery and Separat-- school were built. In November, 1887, he was
replaced by blather McMahon who is still the parish priest, and under
whcse charge considerable improvements ha\'e been made since he took the
management of the mission.

The Rev. B. McMahon was ordained priest in All Hallows ColleL^e.
Dubbn, m June, 1878, and has manifested in his labors the spirit of his
Alma .Mater. Mis fi -st appointment was assistant to Dean Mulligan of St.
Catharines, and his next appointment to the parish of SmithviUe, whence he
came to Brechin.

.\s in every other Catholic mission so in Brechin, there are members

who leave l)ehind them monuments of their mi

Batrick I'olev, who died on the bth of .\uLaist, 188

nerosity. The name of James

throughout this mission. Beinti'

), is a household word

an ardent enthusiast for Catholic edu-

cation he built the Separate school known as the " b'oley Institute," at
the cost of foui- thousand dollars, and gave it over to the parish ; and still
more, wkshing that it would never fail, and in order that it midit be a

* \ ill. p. .511.

-«

I'hc Piiriuli of CnlUnqwooil.

861

self-supporting institution, he endowed it witli the lar<(e sum of ten
thousand dollars, the interest of which is only to he drawn, and the principal
to remam intact for all time to come.

Tni' I'arish of Coi.i.ixowoon.

The Catholic history of this town, one of the ports on (leor-ian P,av
dates back only to the year 1886, when, on its separation from Stayner 'it
was formed mto a distinct parish, wkMi the \i^x. Edward J. Kiernan as 'its
pastor. Prior to this time it was connected with Barrie and afterwards with
Stayner. \Vhen Collingwood was erected into a jiarish, Mr. Thomas J.
Lono immediately gave land for a church and parochial residence, upon
which his brother, Mr. John J. Long, built a handsome presbytery at his
own expense. They then deeded all to thv. episcopal corporation.

As early as 1859 a small frame church was built in the western -suburb
which was <|uite ample for the few Catholics of the place. Th,s uuh an
addition which was made by b-ather Jamot, .served the congregation until
1888, when the present pastor undertook the heavy ta.^k of erectin-.' a hand-
-^ome brick ciuirch on the land given by .Mr. Lon-. Tin- corner .ston< w;,s
laid on the .4th of May, 1888, by I^ishop Duwiing of I lam, lion, and an
eloi|uent sermon was delivered by the \'erv K% v. leather AbCann On
December the iGth, in the .same year, it was .solenmlv blessed, under the title
ot .St. .Mary's, l,y the then Dean of Barrie, now Bishop O'Connor of P,-ter-
borough. The writer of this sketch preached m the morning, ;,nd I.;,th,.r
Moyna, parish pn,-st of Stayner, in the evening deliu-ri'd an elo,,uent
dLscourse upon tlu' growth of the church, .so aptlv illu.strated in the very
town of Collmgwootl, where, from the private residence of Mr. I'atton one
of the early .settlers, they moved intc the little chapel which had te'nder
memories for .so man) , and thenc- to their present jilace of uorship, which
refiected such credit upon priest and people.

Father Kiernan,

before having charge of this mission, bad

188.2 pastor of Stayner. He is a native of 1

heeii h'om

cla

ssical education. Upon coming to t

rclaiK'.. wliere he leceiwd

Ins

of St. Sulpice in Montreal, and was ordained
by his Grace Archbishop Lynch.

lis countr\he went to the Sei

ninarv

prii-st on March Kjth, 1878,

M-

«-

-«

352 The Itcdncrii of Jhirric.

Thk Pakish of Fi,os.

As we journey north of Barrie and enter upon several of the missions
in this district, most notably Penetan^uishene, Ste. Croix and Flos, we feel
that : " Where'er we tread 'tis haunted, hoh ground." Here were enacted
the tragic scenes recorded in the first chapter of this work ; here was the
cradle of that civilization whose glory perished in its infancy, but wliose
hallowed memories it has been our endeavour to transmit as a legacy to the
faithful children of this diocese. Mere, within the limits of this ver\- parish
of Mos, once stood the Huron village of St. A'ary's, where flowed the blood
and burned the bones of the saintly martyrs, Brebeuf and Lalema.it. It is
not our task now to repeat the harrowing tale, but to write of a lu w and
better order of things — an order less exciting in events, but nuuli more
hopeful and, we trust, more lasting in its results.

This part of the County of Simcoe, embracing the townships of Flos
ami Aledonte, and portions of Oro and Vespra, contains at present about
one thousand Catholics. Like many other of our ccnmtry missions, its
origin dates to the earl) part of this century, when numbers of Irish immi-
grants took up land In-re on account of tht: timber with wliich the district was
so rich. The first priest who attended these jiioneers was a I'^ather ( )' Keegan.
Then followed in order the jiriests of Penetanguishene, until the a])point-
ment of I'athc'r Jamot to Barrie, to which place I'los was assigned. In
1H63 blither (iribbin had sjieciai charge of this mission, with his home
in Barrie; and two )ears after he took up his residence here, when
it was erected into a separate parish. The Rev. .\. P. Mullen succeeded
him in a short time, and remained until 1H75, when he retired to the Hou.sc
of Providence, Toronto, and died some years after. A number followed,
amongst whom was the late blither John Skelh', who died Mav ()tli, 1H85,
while in charge of this mission, haxing been ordained onl\' a few xcars.
l'"rom the 28th of .\pr'!, 1H84, he ha(. as assistant b^illu'r M. [.(iearin, who
succeeded him as parish priest.

The earl\- life of this zealous jjriest was sj)ent in TlK)rold, where, under
Father Harold, he studied classics. In due time he proceeded to the
(irand Seminar\- of Montreal for theology, and was ordained March 25th,

1884.

Before the first church was built (1857) by i'"ather McNulty Mass used
to be .said in a log house belonging to Mr. McAvoy in the township of

The I'lirixli nf Marti,

868

Medonte. There are three churches attached to the mission : the parish
church, St. Patrick's, in the township of Flos; Our Lady of Purity in Vigo,
which was built by Father Mullen in 1871 ; and St. Louis' in Medonte.'
This last is the third which has been erected upon this site, following the
usual order— the Hrst being a log building, which made way for a framiTone,
and this, l)eing destroyed b) Hre, was replaced by the present brick-
structure. The corner .stone of a new church was laid by his Orace Arch
bishop Waksh, in iHyi, to replace St. i^alrick's, wliich had' served its faithful
worshippers for so many years.

Thic Parish uI' Maka.

On the east side of Lake Simcoe lies a fine stretch of rolling land
where, m early days, a nund)er of Scotch and Irish Catholics .settled and
formed the northern part of the Brock mission. It was Hrst constituted a
parish in iM^fi, with the Rev. J. Synnot as jja.stor, who is named in the
"Canadian Almanac" as having charge of Orillia, Medonte and North Mara.
Little interest can be taken by the general reader in the sketch of a parish
like Mara, (ieneration of faithful worshijipers succeeds generation— their
numbers vary and their pastors change— but the humble frame chapel, whose
tin spire glistens from the distant hills on the opposite shore of the little
lake, stands just as it stood when, in 1^57, it rose from amidst the swarthv
pines of the forest ; and the jiriest offers there the same .sacrilice, and the-
people break the same heavenly bread in hope and faith and love.' Rather
let us .sketch the unvarnished tale of its simple history than touch the c! <M-d
of religious sentiment.

To Father Synnot succeeded the Rev. Jo.seph Michel, who built the
presbytery at Fptergrove. Several priests followed, until Ivither iicy took
charge in 1873, and remained for eleven years. The Rev. Philibert Jvey was
a native of the proNince of Burgundy in France, and received his education,
partially at Privas, France, and partially at St. Michael's College, TcMonto!
lie was the Hrst candidate whom Bishop Lynch ordained priest. The
ceremou) took place m Barrie on the Hth of Januar)-, i860, where for some
time he remained as curate. Besides Mara the other principal mission of
which he had charge during his career of twenty-one years was North Adjala.
In 1886 ill health oblig(-d him to resign Mara, when he was then -riven th<"

35 i

The Dcdiirn/ of Biirr'ir.

easier duties of the chaplaincy at the Penetanguishene Reformatory. Here
he died Octol)er 26th, 1887.

His successor was the Rev. William Joseph McGinley, who was born
in the County of Donej^^al, Ireland, hut who came to this country in liis early
youth. His classics were completed at Hardstown, Kentucky, and his
theology in I^ower Canada. Archhisho]) L\nch ordained him priest on
September the 8th, 1875. He lield various missions in the Archdiocese,
before being appointed to Mara in 1880, winch lie retained until his death,
Januar\- 7th, 1891.

The present pastor is a venerable priest, blither James Hogan, whose
education in Montreal and Paris ranks him amongst the most learned of
our clerg)'. He was ordained May 17th, 1856, and the earlier years of his
priesthood were connected with .St. .Ann's church in the city of Montreal,
and his latter years with the church of tlie hnmaculate Conception in New
York.

There is a second church, St. Joseph's, in the township of Rama, north
of Mara, which is attended by the pastor once a montli.

The Parish oi' Midi.axi).

The second chapter of the history of this parish dates from very recent
times ; the first belongs to the Jesuit missions amongst the Hurons in the
.seventeenth century, for near Midland stood the b'ort of St. Ignace, which
was erected in 1644. In order to preserve some of the relics of this hen^ic
period the late Father Proulx bought the land surrounding the old l-'ort and
gave it to the Jesuits. There are also traces in a grave}ard at W'aubashene
of many Catholics buried there.

But we treat of modern days, when achenturous white men .sought
these districts for the more worldly motives which the forests of timber
offered, and .settling, formed a congregation at W'aubashene, whose
members are principally b'rench Canadians. Here the late Father
Kennedy, while in charge of Penetanguishene, erected a small church
in 1865. In the following decade the Midland Railway opened up the
country, having its terminus on the (ieorgian Bay, at a point where there
is one of tlie finest harbors upon our lakes. The more than thousand

¥i

The Parish of Orillia. .^jr,,-,

islands which stretch in s(;emin-ly unbroken ch;iiii as far as thf eye ran
reach, give to the water a natural variety of barren mck and wooded green
Here grew up tiie town, and within tlie town, the mission of Midland The
three churches beh_,ngin,- to it St. Margaret's at MicUand, St. Mary's at
Victoria Harbor, and St. John's at Waulja.shene— are the work of l-ather
Laboureau, and were erected by him in 1882. The following year Midland
was separated from its mother cliurch of Penetanguishene, and formed into
a distinct parish, with l%ather Lynett as pastor. His zeal and enenn-
during the eight years in wliich he had charge, were marked by the most
satisfactory improvement of the mission in the material as well as the
spiritual order.

The Rev. John Francis Lynett is the youngest son of one ..f tl,e
pioneers of Catholicity in the County of York, Mr. Nicholas Lynett, and
was born near Richmond Hill the loth of I'ebruary, 1857. His eaily
education was recei\ed in the high .school of his native village. He then
entered the Sulpitian College of Montreal, and Hnished hi.s" preparatory
course at St. Michael's College, Toronto, after which he studied theology
in the Grand Seminary in the former cit\-. Here he received all the orders,
beingrai.sed to the priesthood by Archbishop Fabre, December the 17th, 1881'.
After his ordination he was apjiointed curate at St. Paul's for two vears, at
St. Michael's for a short time, and then placed over the trying mission' of
Midland. Last year (1891) he was transferred to Merritton in the Deanery
of St. Catharines, when the-Rev. Father J. Colin from Montreal was named
his successor.

TifK Parish or Orii.lia.

One of the fairest scenes in our fair Canada is the view from the parish
church of Orillia, where, away on the right, slopes the hill to Lake Simcoe
in the distance, and sinks more quickly in front to Lake Couchichin-^
which is skirted by the fields and forests of Rama and Mara on the opposit'e
shore. How changed from the times when hunter or inissionar\' passed
this way on his route to the waters of the Upper Lakes ; or when', for the
first time within the range of modern tradition. Father Dempsey vi.sited the
place in the autumn of 1833. What it was then it is hard to describe—
forest of moaning pines, foot path of weary scout, and murmuring waters of
lonely lake— all can be better imagined than portrayed. To-day, over-
looking a flourishing town, a neat brick church, with a handsome presbytery

ilfjC.

77(c Ih-iinirji of linrrh'.

on its Ictl, and larllicr up tlic street a lari^c four room Sc|)aratc school, all
the work and dt-votion of oiuMiian, l''atlicr Camphcll, and his faitliful people

of ( )rillia.

■Aricr i '"a I he I' I )eiii()se\ Monsiunoic I 'I'ouK paid .1 \isit to the lew set tie I'S
here in the w inter of I S ^3, and continued 1 hem at \,irious intervals lor a jieriod
of aho'it l\\(i\ears. II is successor, l'"ather ( haresl, called forth-' first time
in 1S37, and returned occasionalK until 1S3J. I'oi' the ne\t three y(!ars
leather McN'ult\- atli-nded the mission as rre(|uentl\ as his scattered posts
of (lul\ would allow; an<l i'"ather John Sxnnot wa.> named liist pastor of
()rillia, with charnc ot Mara as well. The lve\-erend M. (,'o\;u-, came next
hut remained for a short time, and w.is replaced (186,)) l)\- h'athei- Michel. In
iS()() he was succeeded hy the present i)astor, who retained hoth Mara and
Orillia until, in 1^74, the_\- wen> separated, and I'ather Camphcll was
assi'^ned to the latter mission.

The hol\ sacrilice ol the .Mass used to he olhred in the hi)u>e of Mr.
Jiihn Kenn\' on the Coldw.iter K'oad, where the Catholic cemeter\ is now
located. In time a loi;- liuildin^ was ereited iu';ir hv, which served as a
mission chapel until the cliurch of the .\n,i;fls duardian was erected hv
l'"ather Camphcll. It was dedicated hy .\rchhishop i.\nch |ul\ jiSth^iSji.
It has since been frescocnl and jiresents a \er\- neat and devotional interit)r.

There is a succursal chapel at a sm;dl vilhii^e called Warminsttn",
which was built in iSSj, and dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Tlu' \'er\' Kev(M"end Ivennelh .\. Camj)l)ell, to whom the progress and
pr; sent elliciency of this parish are so largely due, is of Scotch descent, and
was horn in the Count}' of Ontario, Canada, N()veml)er ^oth, 18^7. Me
received his classical (.'ducation at St. Mich, uTs Collene, Toronto, and studied
theoloi;v uiuh'r the Sulpitiansat Montreal. ( )n the ii\m\ of September, 1864,
he was raised to the holy priesthood at St. {osejiirs Church, Beaverton,
within a short distance of his boyhood's early home. With the exception of
the Hrst two \-ears, when he was curate at Barrie, his sacerdotal career has

been passed in the |

i)ansn oi

Orilli

Here, with constancx, he cultnated the

vineyard entrusted to him, until cliurch and home and school* ha\-e i;n)wn
up undcT his zealous care, and generations of his |)

eople ha\e learned

th(

■ N'iil. pp,

aiiil z',\ fov ilif state of the Oiillia .Separate .School

Orilija Church and Pastor.

Thr I'lirixfi «/ I'enetiiniiu'mheue.

3fi7

great lessons of pic- , ;ni(l spiritual lifr from the dcvctul fxampk' of tlic
pastor. In tli,. early pari of iHyc Father Camphcll was appointed Areh-
deacon ot the Diocese.

Tin; rxkisii or l'r;\i;TAN(;i' isiir;Ni;.

In iSiS I'eiietanguishene (the place of the rolling' sand) was selected
l>> the nritish authorities as their naval and milit;wv station on the
(ieorgian Hav. lUil its .settlement really took place ten' years after, when
several I'.milies of half-breeds, who spoke l-rencli, and .some Krench
Canadian.,, who had married s.piaws, were l.rouKht here from Drummond
Island at me tnne of its ce.ssion to the I 'nited States. The.se poor .settlers,
who we-e nearly all Catholics, found only two or three traders; hut even in
their s 'I numbers the\' formed a iiermanent colonv upon the land which
was - ..n them bv the l-ngli.sh Crown. A new band entered towards the
year iW4(.; and (rom that time until between, 1860 and iS;,, an almost
uninterrupted stream of innni^Mation continued' to How, , so thai now there
are .sever.d mis.sions where at fn\sl .sc.-'c 'v one was needed. ^

The Hrst priest to visn l'en<;tanj,niishene was Bishop Macdonc'II, who
accompanied by leather Crevier, passed throu<,di this district about the year
1830. Nearly iwo hundred years had pas.sed awav since the feet of them
that preached the ( lospel had trodden that forest soil; and these two
hundred years of spring leaf and summer flower had overgrown the land and
covered up the traces which religion had made in the march of its simple yet
true civilization. The venerable Mon.seigneur Macdonell, in the short stay
which he made here, administered conHrmation, and .s,j encouraged the few
settlers thai we lind them, shortlyafter,erecting a small log church'^on a village
lot given by Peter ( ;irou\. In this they were directed by a Mr. D. Revol, who,
having a little education, u.scd to instruct the peoj^le in Catechism, and so
keep more brightly burning the lamp of faith in tiiis remote but historic
mission. The following year (1831) a priest, Father Caillen, pa.s.sed that
way and attended to the spiritual wants of the people. Shortly after
him Father Dempseycame co reside amongst the .settlers of Penetangui.shene;
but he had all the County of Simcoe north of .\djala, and a part of the'
County of (key, for his field of duty. Bishop C.aulin of Kingston, accom-
panied by a priest, visited the mi.ssion in September, 1835, and, as may be
seen by the parish regi.ster, baptized .several children. ' He promised' the

Ill

808

'I'hf Diuiten/ of Kairie.

people :i priest ; and arcnnlinifly Fatlier I'loiilx, two montlis after, became
resident pastor. At this time, in and around I'enetanj4iiislieiie,aswell as upon
the neif,'hl)orinf,' ishmdsinthe (leorgian I^ay, lived hi r«<e numbers of Indians,
who were {gathered afterwards upon Maniloulin Island. To liic care of
these poor souls the zealeus blither I'roulx devoted liis time and cnerj^ies,
and followed them to their new home. I'rom the Island he used to eome
to attend to the Indians \vh(< ri-mained in iIk' \illaf,'e and its vicinity — which
is done to the present day by the Jesuit b'athers, who have char^'e of the
Indian missions in this northern country; and the names of Fathers
Durancpict, Point, llannipaux, Nadeau are housenold words for j^enerations
amonj^'st these tawny children of the forest. After l'"ather I'roulx the Kev.
Amable Charest was appointed parish priest in 1837, and remained till
February, 1H54. He was succeeded by Father Claude Ternet in June,
1854— the interval beinf,' supplied by the Kev. N. Fremiot, S. )., who is
placed amonf^'st the list of Jesuits on the Manitoulin Island for that year.
In the mean time the mission was divided, and Father Ternet's ministra-
tions were coniined to the townships of Tiny and Tay, and portions of Flos
and Medonte, with the churches of Penetanguishene and Ste. Croix. The
ea.stern part of the mission was attended by Father .Synnot. In October,
1857, leather Lebaudy was appointed pastor, and was succeeded in i860 by
Father J. P. Kennedy, who, in addition to being parish priest, was chaplain
to the Provincial Reformatory for boys, then established at Penetanguisiiene
by the Government of Canada. In the following year the mission was
again divided, and Ste. Croix erected into a parish, with the Rev. Louis
Gibra as pastor. In this year (1S61) also a new church was built
beside the old one, and was blessed by the present Archbishop of Toronto,
then Father Walsh, blither Kenned v labored faithfully in his arduous
mission until June 25th, 1873, when lit lost his life in an heroic act of
generosity. He and a boy were oiU uu the Georgian Bay attending some of
the parishioners, and the hu' 'hne over, I'.ither Kennedy, in his attempt

brief interval, during which Father
r, Father Laboureau, vv is appointed,
ihe Reformatory was detached from
. ii..^ lain, the Rev. James Gibbons, a native
of Hamilton, li was edr> ated at St. Michael's College, Toronto, and at
Ciiicoutimi in the I'rovin • of Quebec, and aft-r his ordination as priest in
1883 was adopted by vrchbishop Lynch. Tl second change in the parish

to rescue him, wa
Proulx had cha
Since his entr^
the parish, an'

a resui

-9

■„T r T J

Till' i'tirixh of Stii finer.

8S9

was tlu> S(!p.'irati()n of Midland district, and the (erection of tlif latter place
into a distinct mission, thus leaving,' Port Severn and Wyevale as the only
chapels attached to Penetanmiishene.

l"'ather Lahoureau's j^reatest work — which is not }(l comi)leted — was
undertaken in lS^i4. As r(iu'lan;;uishene was llic point around which
centred the traditions of the Huron missions, and as this was the first parish
re-estal)lish(;tl in the old I luron country, thus forminf^' the connecting; link
between the dead past and the living present, it was proposed to erect a
Memorial Church as a fitting moiuunenl to the inarlvrs who perished in this
part of Canada. The corner stone of the new church was laid by Arch-
bishop Lynch in presence of the Luutenant-Ciovernor of Ontario, the
Honorable John Beverley Robinson, and a larj^'e concourse of people, on
September the 6th, 1886. The work, still unlinished, procuresses with that
steady pace which warrants hopes of a successful termination. Standiiif^ in
a prominent position it will readily attract the attention of travellers, and
tell the story of devoted heroism, which ou^lit to be the pride and boast of
every Canadian. The style of the building; is modern romanesc|ue.

The Reverend Theophilus P'rancis Laboureau, who, with prudent
energy, is carrying on this work, more provincial than parochial in its
interest, is a native of the Diocese of Dijon in the old province of Burgundv,
1'" ranee, where he was born, 1837. I lis studies wine pro.secuted in the
Little Seminary of Plombieres, which he (piitted to enter the (irand Seminary
of Dijon. I'pon coming to this country in 1858 he went to Montreal,
where he completed his sacerdotal educ.ition, and was ordained priest
January the 14th, i86b. The greater part o{ iiis life has since been passed
in the once arduous but now easier parish of I'enetanguishene, where he
has ever worked with j)iety, zeal and success, and where he is doing so
much to perpetuat<? the names of his saintly countrvmen who perislu-cl in
this neighborhood two hundred years before.

Till-: I'akisii 01 Sr\VNi:K.

On the 15th of June, 187 1, the Reverend M. McC. O'Reillvwas installed
pastor of Stayner, which was detached from Harrie and erected into a
separate parish. At that time it included the towjis of Stayner and
Collingwood and the townships of Nottawasaga and vSunnidale.

«-

860

The Deanert) of Bariic.

The Hrst occasion of a priest coining to this neigh l)orhood was when
Father Proulx, accompanied by an Indian chief, crossed the Nottawasaga
River on a raft and opened an Indian mission liere, where no white man
liad yet settled. But Father Charest of Penetanguisliene had formal
charge of this district, and paid his first visit in iSjg. After this he
came once a year for four years, and then twice, to attend to the
spiritual wants of the few faithful scattered through this wild forest of pine.
I'luler his supervision a log chapel was built on the fourth line of Nottawa-
saga in 1S48 cm a farm belonging to Matthew Dowling, in whose barn the
holy sacrifice used sometimes to be offered. In the few years following,
besides I'ather Charest, missionaries visited Stayner from Toronto, amongst
whom are mentioned Fathers O'Dwyer, McNulty, Flannery, Synnot
and Archbishop Walsh in the earliest days of his priesthood. Occasionally
the priests of Adjala attended the mission ; it was a i)astor of Adjala,
Father Fitzpatrick, who was the first to say Mass in Sunnidale at the
residence of Ilerljert Cain, and in Nottawasaga at John Bertles' lumber
shanty, near Duntroon, January, 1839.

When, in 1855, a mis..ion was established at Barrie, Stayner became a
portion of it, and was regularly attended every third Sunday. Things then
advanced steadily until the number of Catholic settlers was such that a
resident priest at Staxner became a necessity. As soon as Father O'KeilK-
took up his home in this mission he started a church. The corner stone
was laid by Archbishop Lynch in June, 1872 ; and it was oi)ened for divine
.service New Year's Day, 1873, by Archbishop Walsh (then Bisho}, of
London). It is a neat brick structure one hundred feet bv Hfts'.

The .separation of the new jiarish of Collingwood from Stayner has
already been mentioned in our sketch. When Father bLdward Kiernan took
Collingwood tl.e Rev. Michael Moyna was appointed to Stayner, and is the
pastor at the present time. Father Mov n-i was born September 24th, 1853,
in the County of Moi.aghan, behind, where also h.' made his primary studies.'
Upon coming to this country he taugh* school for some time; but resigned
for the })urpose of advancing to the holy priesthood, lie then entered St.
Michaf:!'s College, Toronto, for the study of philosophy, upon the completion
of wlv.ch Archbishop Lynch sent him for theology to C.enoa in Italy. Here
he spent some years in the Collegio P-rignole, where he was ordained priest

/\ .

«-

'I'liv I'arixli of Ste. Croix.

yoi

July jjtli, USS4, by thu Arc:hl)islu)i) <.f (iL-noa. Prior to bfin^ stationed at
Stayner he was assistant to Tiistiop O'Mahony in St. Paul's, Toronto.

'l^ii-: Pakish (II S 1 1;. Ckoix.

We iiave led you, |)atieiu reader, l.y many a weary })ath wlien- earnest,
devoted priests spent and are spendint^r their energies in uninteresting routine'
upon religion's material and immaterial temples; we iia\e moved in a vast
circle of persons, places and events ; we now arrive at the same point from
whieh we started. Here in this, the last parish which it is our duty to
sketch, were the inissionaiy labors of the brave Breheuf. Little remains for
us to write, as the history of Ste. Croix is a simple tale of early .settlers clinging
to the faith amidst the hardships of forest life, and of a later generation
forming a parish with two churches, and a convent of Sisters who haNe
charge of the Separate school.

This mission, until i»5o, formed part of Penetanguishene ; but it was
eleven years after this date that a pastor was permanently appointed. In
the interval P^ather Ternet resided for a short time at Lafontaine, where he
built a log church. When, in 1861, Father Gibra took charge he labored
most zealously for the spiritual and material welfare of his flock: he
extended the little church, built a vestry, which he occupied as his house,
and erected a second cha})el at St. Patrick's, abort seven miles from'
Lafontaine. Frequently in those early days this good priest was obliged to
walk this uistauce to say a .second Mass for this portion of his .congregation.
Father Gibra being transferred (1871) to his present position at Ba'l-rie, J^iev.
Joseph Michel was made pastor of Ste. Croix. Me built a presbytery, and
replaced the old church In a handsome brick on<-, which w;-s conipleted in
1877. A new frame chapel at St. Patrick's, a convent at Lafontaine, and
the establishment of an efficient Separate school are the other works of the
zealous Father Michel's administration. After laboring for thirteen vears
his health failed ; but an assistant, leather (dbbons, was sent, who remained
two years, when Father Michel resumed his full charge. It wa.s too late;
nature gave way; but, like the faithful .servant that he was, he worked till
near the last. On the 13th of May, 1889, h^' Passed awav, beloved and
mourned by the people he had served so long and well, lie was a native
of France, where he received his eariy training. Cominj< to this country at
the request of Bishoji de Charbonnel, he was sent t-. the Sulpitian Seminarv

i—

/\ .

;{62

Tlie Pariah „f St. Croi.c.

at Baltimore for the study of tlieology, upon the completion of which he was
ordained pri«st at London, Ontario, by Bishop Pinsonneault in 1857. His
sacerdotal life was spent in various missions of the archdiocese of Toronto
where his works remain, a monument to his apostolic zeal and devotion.'
Not long after his death the Rcy. Joseph E. Beaudoin of Montieal succeeded
him, and is the present pastor of Ste. C'roix.

«-

■HBHB

■ii— ■

■•■■■■

mmmm

«■«

«-

/;/ Memoriam.

aoH

jlH prmariam.

In our sketch of St. Paul's Parish mention is made of Bishop O'Ma-
hony's serious ilhiess, which, since that portion of our work was written,
terminated in the death of tlie venerable prehite on the morning of Septem-
ber the «th, uSgj. Although the sad event did not come as a surprise,
nevertheless it gave a shock to all who knew his Lordship, f..r it removed
from the higher ranks of the clergy a man of great ability and distinguished
attainments; it stopped the beating of a noble and generous heart; and
brought rest to one who in health knew no rest in the exercise of his priestly
functions.

Timothy O'Mahony was born m th.- [.arish of Kilmuiray, County cf
Cork, on November ist, 1825; and was therefore at the time of his death in
the sixty-seventh year of his age. After jnirsuing his early studies at Cork,
he proceeded at the age of sixteen to K'ome, where, upon "the completion of
his ecclesiastical education, he was ordained priest in 184(1. Returning to
Ireland he first served in some of the rural parishes of his native diocvsc
and was then attached to St. Finbar's Church in the cil\ of Cork, where his
piety and zeal produced the most edifying results. Since his elevation to
the purple in 1871 his career maybe brieHy summed upas the life of a
devoted missionary in Australia and self-sacrificing p:istor in Canada.

The funeral took place on September the loth, wlien, besides Arch-
bishops Walsh and Cleary, and Bishops Dowling, Richard A. O'Connor
and Denis O'Connor, a large number of priests assisted at the solemn burial

«-

864

In Memoiiain.

service. The Mass was sung by Archbishop Cleary, tht! life-lung friend of
the deceased ; and his (irace the Archbishop of Toronto preached the
sermon. He paid a fitting tribute to the virtues and good works of the dead
prelate; to his personal qualities of mind and heart ; and to his taste and
culture, which expressed themselves in the very temple which had risen
under his inHuence, until it stood the pride and glorv of the people and the
greatest architectural monument of the city of 'i'oronto.

Mass being finished and the touching absolutions being administered
by the prelates present, the bod\' was carried in procession and deposited
in a vault at the south-west corner of St. I'aul's. Here he rests on the
sunny side of the church he loved so well, and which cost him his life;
while it rises above him to perpetuate his name, to plead the cause of his
pious zeal, and to ask the prayers of his faithful people.

II.

Our task, we thought, was done; but jusl as we were hnishing our
memorial paragraph of Bishop O'Mahony there came a message of sorrow
from Penetanguishene thai a leading member of the Committee to whom
the preparation of this book was entrusted, Dr. O'Sullivan, had died of
typhoid fever on September the 13th, 1892. It would therefore ill become
us to clo.se our work without a slight tribute to him who had taken a
deep interest in it from the very beginning. His experience first gave it
practical form, his pen aff rded us one of our most interesting chapters, his
advice guided us in our general plan, and the results of his study and
research are to be found in almost every page. In noticing his death one
of the city papers justly remarked : " He was one of the first stars in the
iiterary firmament of the country. A man of ripe scholarship, temperate
judgment and studious accuracy in discussion, his views always carried
weight wherever delivered. His loss will be all the more keenly felt by
reason of the fact that he had only reached that stage of manhood which
discloses the future as a certainty rather than a promise."

■At the time of his death Denis .'\mbrose O'Sullivan was in his forty-
fifth year, being born in the County of Northumberland, Ontario, on the
2ist of February, 1848. .\fter receiving his early education at St. Michael's
College, he entered Toronto University, where he graduated in 1872 with
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his study of law, or following

-»

i^WPW^^J^—W W— II

mmmmmmmmmmmm

«i-

/m Memoriavi.

865

shortly upon his admission to the Bar, he took the course for the LL B in
the University of Toronto, in which he distinguished himself with high
honors. The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the
Universities of Laval (Quebec) and Ottawa. He devoted his leisure
hours to literature, which he preferred to the more arduous duties of his
profession, in which he held a high position as Queen's Counsel. His
principal works are " Government in Canada," " Manual on Conveyancing "
and " How to Draw a Simple Will." His articles on the "Church in
Canada," written first for " The American Catholic Quarterly," have been
collected into one volume, wherein he treats many^interesting historical
questions from a legal point of view. He was prominent in public life as a
member of the Senate of the University of Toronto, of the General Hospital
Board, of the House of Industry and of the Board of the Public Library, of
which last body he was chairman at the time of his death.

Ii him, as Archbishop Walsh remarked at his funeral, the Church lost
a dutiful and devoted son, the Bar an able and brilliant member, the city a
useful and upright citizen, and the family— their loss is irreparable.

"N.iught liin iivail tlicin now but prajor.

Mi.iiren; /^I'liii//,:'