*L 
 
 Jr 
 
 
 e-0
 
 Cjje Jfirst Catjjolk Cjwrrlj in 
 
 [DEDICATED SEPTEMBER 29, 1803.]
 
 SKETCHES 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHUKCH 
 
 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JAMES FITTON. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PATRICK 3D O UST A. H O K . 
 
 1872.
 
 BX 
 F55 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 
 
 BY PATRICK DONAHOE, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
 19 Spring Lane.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE object contemplated in this small volume 
 of Sketches, was, to give as succinct an account 
 as possible of the introduction of our Holy Reli- 
 gion, and the foundation of its early churches, to 
 assist, at least partially, the future historian, who 
 will write of the several Dioceses, of which there 
 are already five, where a few years ago there was 
 but one, embracing the six New England States. 
 
 To the honor and glory of God, and to the 
 spiritual advantage of thousands, as already seen, 
 has been the erection of these Dioceses, in which 
 so many churches, academies, convents, schools, 
 confraternities, and other religious, literary, and 
 benevolent Institutions have been introduced. 
 
 The Editor acknowledges his indebtedness to 
 
 3
 
 4 PREFACE. 
 
 the " Journal " of Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick, to 
 Dr. J. G. Shea's "History of Catholic Missions," 
 to the " Catholic Observer," and " Boston Pilot," 
 wherein several interesting events here mentioned 
 have appeared, or been alluded to, as well as to 
 those gentlemen who assigned dates to facts here- 
 in published. 
 
 The parents of the Editor were of the congre- 
 gation of one hundred, who assembled for divine 
 worship, at the close of the last century, in the 
 small rented building originally occupied by the 
 Huguenots on School Street. Baptized by the 
 venerated Reverend Dr. Matignon, confirmed by 
 Right Rev. Dr. De Cheverus, and admitted to 
 Holy Orders by the illustrious Right Rev. Bishop 
 Fenwick, are events mentioned, as far as they 
 may have weight, in authenticity of what has 
 been here compiled, as his name or pretensions, 
 otherwise, he allows to be of no consideration.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 FAGS 
 
 THE DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION OF AMERICA. . . 7 
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 34 
 
 BRIEF VIEW OF THE MISSIONARY L,\BORS OF THE 
 
 EARLY JESUIT FATHERS 63 
 
 INTRODUCTION AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN 
 
 BOSTON. . 74 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON So 
 
 CONSECRATION OF RIGHT REV. JOHN DE CHEVERUS. no 
 CONSECRATION OF RIGHT REV. BENEDICT J. FENWICK. 121 
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD 188 
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON 239 
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND 259 
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD 286 
 
 CONCLUSION 333
 
 SKETCHES, 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 
 OF AMERICA. 
 
 THE continent of America includes an extent of 
 territory equal to one half of the continents of Eu- 
 rope, Asia, and Africa, and constitutes about three 
 tenths of the dry land on the surface of the globe. It 
 is bounded east and west by the great Atlantic and 
 Pacific Oceans. On the west, the Pacific separates it 
 from Asia, and at Behring's Straits, in the north, the 
 two continents come almost in contact. On the north 
 is the Arctic Ocean, divided by huge frozen islands 
 into bays and inlets. On the east, the Atlantic sep- 
 arates it from Europe and Africa. On the south, it 
 presents a storm-beaten cape to the expanse of the 
 Southern or Antarctic Ocean. 
 
 When, in the designs of Divine Providence, the 
 time had arrived for opening a communication be- 
 tween the two worlds, a man appeared, who was 
 born for the achievement of discoveries of incalcu- 
 lable importance to mankind, as implied by the name 
 recorded at his baptism : Christopher Columbus the 
 
 7 
 
 \
 
 8 
 
 Christbearing Dove. He was born at Cogoleto, in 
 the republic of Genoa, in 1446. His father's name 
 was Domingo Colombo, a citizen of the same 
 republic. 
 
 Having cultivated the sciences at a tender age, and 
 made such rapid progress in the Latin language and 
 the rudiments of the mathematics, Christopher was 
 soon enabled to understand the cosmographic writers, 
 of the reading of which he was particularly fond. 
 
 At the age of fourteen, he returned from the Uni- 
 versity of Pavia to his native country. He learned 
 navigation, and pursued it three and twenty years 
 successively, with such zeal and perseverance, that 
 he remained at sea for a long time, in order to gratify 
 his unbounded and praiseworthy curiosity. He made 
 voyages on the seas frequented by Europeans, full of 
 desire to sail farther than other navigators had ven- 
 tured. He sailed through the Northern Ocean, a 
 hundred leagues beyond Iceland, the Ultima Thule, 
 or the boundary of what had been thought navigable 
 up to that day. At every place where he landed he 
 endeavored to open a trade with the natives, in order 
 to obtain information of these countries. He com- 
 pared the knowledge he acquired in this way with 
 the accounts then in existence relative to those re- 
 gions, and enriched them with his own observations. 
 In this judicious practice, he was aided by his knowl- 
 edge of the sciences auxiliary to navigation, the 
 use of sound astronomy, extensive geographic learn- 
 ing, and an able hand in delineating maps, and in 
 making spheres and other instruments. 

 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 9 
 
 The western world still unknown, the intercourse 
 between Europe and India was carried on through 
 the Red Sea. The spirit of maritime discovery re- 
 ceived its first impulse from the kings of Castile. 
 These monarchs, in following up their conquests and 
 settlements in the Canary Islands, led the way to 
 further navigations into the Atlantic, in search of new 
 islands in the west. Hence, also, arose the traffic 
 with the African coast, and the splendor and wealth 
 of the city of Seville ; and hence the extraordinary 
 zeal for nautical adventure along the coast of Andalu- 
 sia. The Portuguese, emulous of the glory of their 
 neighbors, entered into the same career, and pursued 
 it with such vigor and perseverance as to outstrip 
 their precursors, by improving naval science and ex- 
 tending their commerce in a surprising manner. 
 Their ships sailed along the western coast of Africa, 
 and at length reached the Cape of Good Hope. 
 Curiosity received a new stimulus from these discov- 
 eries ; the boundless ocean of the west offered a wide 
 field for speculation ; the time had arrived for the 
 achievement of the grand enterprise, the knowl- 
 edge of a New World. 
 
 On Friday, August 3, 1492, when the Catholic 
 religion alone flourished throughout the world ; when 
 nought was known or heard of Episcopalians, Uni- 
 tarians, Calvinists, Baptists, Methodists, Shakers, 
 Quakers, Spiritists, or other modern sectaries ; under 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic, encouraged by 
 Fray Juan Perez, Guardian of the Convent of La 
 Rabida, at the little seaport town of Palos, in Anda-
 
 IO SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 lusia, the scene was interesting to behold! where 
 faith was kneeling to ask protection ; where confi- 
 dence was drawing new strength from devotion to 
 God and Mary ; where the adventurers, their com- 
 mander at their head, were preparihg, by Confession 
 and Holy Communion, to enter, like Christian men, 
 upon the perilous undertaking. 
 
 The mass over, out from the church, grave, reso- 
 lute, and calm, walked the Admiral at the head of his 
 crew. A few moments were allowed for farewells. 
 Then the brief orders were given, and the sailors, to 
 the number of one hundred and twenty, entering the 
 boats, rowed out to their respective vessels, the lar- 
 gest of which was named Santa Maria, the second 
 the Pinta, and the third Nina. 
 
 Then the report of the culverin sounded from the 
 bows, and the standard of Castile swung out to the 
 breeze from the peak of the SANTA MARIA ; and 
 the crew cheered, and the crowd on shore responded, 
 as the Admiral stepped on board. A few moments 
 more and the anchors were weighed, the yards were 
 trimmed, the sails filled, and the flotilla stood out to 
 .sea. 
 
 Christopher Columbus thus committed himself to 
 an ocean, whose bounds were unknown, and steered 
 his course directly to the west. Every schoolboy is 
 familiar with the scenes and incidents that daily and 
 nightly took place on the decks of the little vessels, 
 in which the heroic Admiral and his men sailed the 
 trackless sea. Matin and vesper song alternated with 
 the murmur of the wind and the sea, and when the
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. II 
 
 Atlantic tempests threatened to sink the frail crafts, 
 the terror-stricken crew would beseech the Star of 
 the seas to shine out upon the storm-riven ocean and 
 guide them safely, for compass failed, and no sun, or 
 moon, or stars illumined their darkened path. 
 
 On the morning of the 9th of October they breathed 
 a fresh and odoriferous air, such as is felt at Seville 
 in April. Every moment exhibited fresh marks of 
 the neighborhood of land ; and the soundings, the 
 clouds, the varying winds, and other infallible appear- 
 ances revived their drooping spirits. On the evening 
 of the nth they were all transported with joy, when 
 they discovered a green rush, a kind of fish that is 
 usually found among the rocks ; a small plank, a 
 cane, a stick artificially worked, a grassy turf, which 
 appeared to have been wafted from the shore, and 
 a thorn-bush, bearing red berries. When the night 
 approached^ and Columbus was persuaded that they 
 were near land, he assembled the crew, and reminded 
 them of the unspeakable obligations they were under 
 to Almighty God, who had granted them such favor- 
 able weather, and who, notwithstanding their mur- 
 murs and despondency, had not deserted them till 
 He had conducted them to the great object of their 
 adventurous voyage. About ten o'clock at night, as 
 he was making observations with his usual attention, 
 on the quarter-deck, he saw a light, somewhat like a 
 torch, carried from one place to another. At first he 
 called Pedro Gutierrez, a royal page, and afterwards 
 the superintendent, Rodrigo Sanchez, who saw it 
 likewise. It was remarked that this light rose, sunk,
 
 12 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 vanished, and instantly appeared again ; it was con- 
 cluded, therefore,' that it was carried by hand. 
 
 Near two o'clock in the morning land was descried 
 by the Pinta, at about two leagues distance. The 
 captain of the Pinta communicated the joyful news 
 by the discharge of guns. The ships came together, 
 and as soon as it was broad daylight, a flat and pleas- 
 ant island appeared in view, full of limpid rivulets, 
 and abundance of green bushes. This was one of 
 the Bahama Islands. The crews were filled with the 
 liveliest transports of joy ; the Admiral lifted up his 
 heart and eyes to heaven, and poured forth ejacula- 
 tions of thanks and praise to God. The whole crew 
 joined in the Te Deum Laudamus, which he in- 
 toned ; and as soon as they had paid their early vows 
 to the Divine Author of all blessings, they gave them- 
 selves up to joy and congratulations. 
 
 In the mean time, as soon as the vessels had reached 
 the wished-for shore, they landed, fell on the ground, 
 kissed it, bedewed it with tears of joy, and repeated 
 their thanks to the Blessed and Adorable Trinity, the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Columbus 
 then rose from his knees, and with a loud voice, pro- 
 nounced the word Salvador, as the name of the 
 island, and as a testimony that he dedicated the first 
 of his discoveries to our Adorable Saviour. 
 
 Having passed three days at St. Salvador, he shaped 
 his course to another island, which seemed to be 
 larger, and about ten leagues to the west. He there 
 cast anchor, and took possession of it, by the name 
 of Santa Maria de la Conception.
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 13 
 
 Thus did the great Columbus, the Christbearing 
 Dove, the pious and devoted son of the Church, 
 consecrate to Jesus and Mary the consummation of 
 all his toils, the first of his discoveries in the New 
 World. The prayer of Columbus on reaching San 
 Salvador, preserved by Washington Irving, evinces 
 the humble and reverent spirit in which the great 
 event was, as all things should be, consecrated to God. 
 
 u Domine Deus, Eeterne et omnipotens, sacro tuo 
 verbo coclum et terram et mare creasti ; benedicatur 
 et glorificetur Nomen tuum, laudetur tua majestas 
 qua? dignita est per humilem servum tuum ut ejus 
 sacrum Nomen agnoscatur et pra?dicetur in hac altera 
 mundi parte." 
 
 " O Lord, eternal and omnipotent God, Thou hast, 
 by Thy holy word, created the heavens, the earth, 
 and the sea ; blessed and glorified be Thy Name ; 
 praised be Thy Majesty, who hast deigned that, by 
 means of Thy unworthy servant, Thy sacred Name 
 should be acknowledged and made known in this 
 new quarter of the globe." Irving: Columbus, 
 i. 156. 
 
 Upon the return of Columbus, March 15, 1493, 
 after .the accomplishment of the grand momentous 
 enterprise, several of the European nations fitted out 
 small fleets to sail to the continent of North America, 
 and as early as 1517 the English, French, Spanish, 
 and Portuguese had so far made their discoveries in 
 the New World useful, that they had established a
 
 14 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 successful fishery at Newfoundland, in which they 
 had fifty-seven vessels engaged.* 
 
 In the latter part of 1523, Francis I., of France, a 
 monarch deeply captivated with the love of glory, 
 fitted out a squadron of four ships, the command of 
 which he gave to Giovanni Verazzani, a Florentine 
 navigator of great skill and celebrity. Soon after the 
 vessels had sailed, three of them were so damaged in 
 a storm that they were compelled to return ; but 
 Verazzani proceeded in a single vessel, with a deter- 
 mination to make new discoveries. Sailing from 
 Madeira in a westerly direction, he reached the coast 
 of America, probably in the latitude of Wilmington, 
 North Carolina. 
 
 After exploring the coast for some distance, north 
 and south, without being able to find a harbor, he 
 was obliged to send a boat on shore to open an inter- 
 course with the natives. The savages at first fled, 
 but soon recovering their confidence, they entered 
 into an amicable traffic with the strangers. 
 
 At one place, by the desire of Verazzani, a young 
 sailor had undertaken to swim to land, and accost 
 the natives ; but when he saw the crowds which 
 thronged the beach, he repented of his purpose, and, 
 although within a few yards of the landing-place, his 
 courage failed, and he attempted to turn back. At 
 this moment the water only reached his waist ; but 
 
 * For the early exploration of the southern portion of 
 America, and the missionaries in Mexico, Florida, Texas, 
 and California, see J. G. Shea's History of Spanish Mis- 
 sions, from 1529 to 1854.
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 15 
 
 overcome with terror and exhaustion, he had scarcely 
 strength to cast his presents and trinkets upon the 
 beach, when a wave threw him senseless on the 
 shore. The savages ran immediately to his assist- 
 ance, took him up in their arms, and carried him a 
 short distance from the sea. Great was his terror, 
 when, upon coming to his senses, he found himself 
 in their power. Stretching his hands towards the 
 ship, he uttered piercing cries ; to which the natives 
 replied by loud yells, intending, as he afterwards 
 found, to reassure him. They then carried him to 
 the foot of a hill, stripped him, turned his face to the 
 sun, and kindled a large fire near him. 
 
 He was now fully impressed with the horrible 
 thought that they were about to sacrifice him to the 
 sun. His companions on board, unable to render 
 him any assistance, were of the same opinion ; they 
 thought, to use Verazzani's own words, " that the 
 natives were going to roast and eat him." Their 
 fears, however, were soon turned to gratitude and 
 astonishment ; the savages dried his clothes, warmed 
 him, and showed him every mark of kindness, caress- 
 ing and patting his white skin with apparent sur- 
 prise. They then dressed him, conducted him to the 
 beach, tenderly embraced him, and, pointing to the 
 vessel, removed to a little distance, to show that he 
 vvas at liberty to return to his friends. 
 
 Proceeding north, Verazzani landed, probably near, 
 what is now the city of New York. Continuing his 
 journey, he entered, it is supposed, the haven of 
 Newport, Rhode Island, where he found the natives
 
 l6 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 liberal, friendly, and confiding, and the country the 
 richest he had yet seen. 
 
 Verazzani proceeded still further north, and ex- 
 plored the coast as far as Newfoundland ; but he 
 found the natives of the northern regions hostile and 
 jealous, and unwilling to traffic except for weapons 
 of war. He gave to the whole region the name of 
 La Nouvelle France, and took possession of it in the 
 name of his sovereign. 
 
 The celebrated Jacques Carder succeeded Veraz- 
 zani. He explored the north-east coast carefully, and, 
 passing through the Strait of Belle Isle, traversed the 
 great Gulf of the St. Lawrence, and subsequently 
 went to Gaspe Bay, where he erected a cross thirty 
 feet high, with a shield bearing the three fleurs-de-lis 
 of France, thus taking possession in the name of 
 Francis the First. 
 
 In his second voyage he entered the great river of 
 Canada, which he named the St. Lawrence, because 
 he began to explore it on the festival of that martyr. 
 Continuing his voyage, he moored his vessels safely 
 in the river of St. Charles, which he named " Port de 
 Ste. Croix," or Port of the Holy Cross. He here 
 received a visit from the chief, " The Lord of Can- 
 ada," who lived at Stadacona, attended by five hun- 
 dred warriors, who came to welcome the strangers. 
 
 Having heard that there existed, far up the river; 
 a large settlement called Hochelaga, he determined 
 to advance in quest of it. Previously to his setting 
 out he caused his men to let ofF twelve cannons, 
 charged with balls, into the wood near them. " At
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 17 
 
 whose noise," says Hakluyt, an old historian, " they 
 were greatly astonished and amazed, for they thought 
 that heaven had fallen upon them, and put themselves 
 to flight, howling, crying, and shrieking." 
 
 Leaving his vessels, he proceeded in two boats and 
 the pinnace as far as Lake St. Peter, where, on ac- 
 count of the shallowness of the water, he was obliged 
 to leave the pinnace, and proceed in the boats. Here 
 they met with five hunters, " who," says Cartier, 
 " freely and familiarly came to our boats without any 
 fear, as if we had even been brought up together." 
 Everywhere he seems to have been received with 
 kindness, for the chief of the district of the Hochelai, 
 now the Richelieu, paid him a visit, and presented 
 him with one of his own children, about seven years 
 of age, whom he afterwards visited while Cartier 
 was wintering at St. Croix. 
 
 Delighted with his journey, Cartier proceeded, and 
 soon came to Hochelaga, which he found to be a for- 
 tified town, on a beautiful island, under the shade of 
 a mountain. On his landing, he was met by more 
 than a thousand of the natives, who received him 
 with every demonstration of joy and hospitality. He 
 was delighted with the view from the mountain, 
 which he named Mount Royal, which time has 
 changed to Montreal. 
 
 The inhabitants were of the Huron tribe, and seem 
 to have regarded Cartier as one of a superior order, 
 as they brought to him their sick, decrepit, and aged, 
 with an evident expectation that he would heal them. 
 Touched by this display of confiding simplicity, he 
 
 2
 
 l8 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 did all he could to soothe their minds. The French 
 historians relate that he made the sign of the Cross 
 upon the sick, distributed Agnus Dei's amongst them, 
 recited with a loud voice the sufferings and death of 
 the Saviour, and prayed fervently with them. 
 
 On his return to his boats, he was accompanied by 
 a great number of the inhabitants to the landing-place 
 below St. Mary's current. They even carried on 
 their shoulders some of his men who were fatigued. 
 They appeared to be grieved at the shortness of their 
 stay, and followed their course along the banks of the 
 river with signs of kindly farewell. 
 
 Cartier, having returned to France, made no sub- 
 sequent voyage. He died soon after his return home, 
 having sacrificed health and fortune in the cause of 
 discovery. He evidently was a man firm in the faith, 
 a devoted Catholic, and piously disposed, as we learn 
 from the festivals and saints' names he gave to his 
 discoveries, wherever made. 
 
 Sieur de Champlain, the distinguished naval offi- 
 cer, who was the destined founder of the principal 
 French settlement in the north, was, in 1603, the 
 worthy successor of Cartier. His Catholic, Christian 
 character is learned from those memorable words 
 which history records : " The salvation of a single 
 soul is worth more than the conquest of an empire, 
 and kings should seek to extend their dominions in 
 countries where idolatry reigns, only to cause their 
 submission to Jesus Christ." * He undertook his 
 
 * The first words of the Sieur de Champlain's voyages.
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 19 
 
 toils and labors with patience, in order " to plant in 
 this country the standard of the Cross, and to teach 
 the knowledge of God, and the glory of His holy 
 Name, desiring to increase charity for his unfortunate 
 creatures." * 
 
 Thinking that he would " commit a great fault if 
 he employed no means of bringing the savages to the 
 knowledge of God," he earnestly " sought out some 
 good Religious who would have zeal and affection 
 for God's glory." Such as these are always discov- 
 erable by those who are really in want of them, and 
 Champlain soon found them, men " who were 
 borne away by holy affection, who burned to make 
 this voyage, if so, by God's grace, they might gain 
 some fruit, and might plant in these lands the stan- 
 dard of Jesus Christ, with fixed resolution to live, 
 and, if need were, to die, for His sacred Name." f 
 So, when the ship is ready, we naturally expect the 
 next record, that " each of us examined himself, and 
 purged himself of his sins, by penitence and confes- 
 sion, so best to say adieu to France, and to place 
 himself in a state of grace, that each might be con- 
 scientiously free to give himself up into the keeping 
 of God, and to the billows of a vast and perilous 
 sea." J 
 
 When the voyage was thus undertaken, what won- 
 
 * "Planter en ce pays 1'estendart de la Croix et leur en- 
 seigner la cognoissance de Dieu et gloire de Son Sainct 
 Norn, estant nostre desir d'augmenter la charite envers ses 
 miserables creatures." Voyagesetdecouverturesdepuis 1615. 
 
 t Voyages depuis 1615, p. 3. J Ibid. p. 8.
 
 2O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 der that we find, along the first discovered coasts, 
 names so purely Catholic : St. Mary's Bay, St. Mary's 
 Isle, St. Mary's River ; that Montreal is called Vitte 
 Marie; that the first grant of land from the Due de 
 Ventadour to the Jesuit fathers is the seigneurie of 
 Our Lady of Angels ; and that then, by Mary's 
 Lake, and missions of Assumption and Annuncia- 
 tion, we sweep away westward to the mysterious 
 river of the Conception? 
 
 Thus were Catholics the first discoverers of Amer- 
 ica, the first to announce the glad tidings of salvation 
 to the red men of the wilderness. 
 
 We do not wish to draw any invidious distinction, 
 but we do wish the truth of impartial history to be 
 known. With rare exceptions, all the writers of our 
 so-called American histories have ignored many im- 
 portant facts, and the readers of these histories would 
 conclude that America had been explored, built up, 
 and developed by Protestants, and that our free insti- 
 tutions are due, solely and entirely, to Protestant 
 minds and Protestant love of liberty ! whereas, who 
 but our Catholic ancestors were the first to enthrone 
 liberty on the European continent? Who formed 
 the republics of Venice and Genoa, of Switzerland 
 and San Marino, long before the religious persuasions 
 of those who revile and misrepresent our creed had 
 either a name or existence? And were they not the 
 first who, in this western hemisphere, formed a con- 
 stitution in the colony of Maryland, in 1632, which 
 proclaimed that she alone was the beacon rock of 
 civil and religious freedom ? Let the friends of civil
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 21 
 
 and religious liberty read the oath of the governor of 
 this colony. Here it is ; and it is the best legacy 
 which can be bequeathed to generations yet unborn : 
 u I will not, by myself or another, directly or indi- 
 rectly, trouble, molest, or discountenance any person 
 professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect 
 of religion ; I will make no difference of persons in 
 conferring offices, favors, or rewards for or in re- 
 spect of religion, but merely as they should be found 
 faithful and well deserving, and endowed with moral 
 virtues and abilities. My aim shall be public unity ; 
 and if any person or officer shall molest any person 
 professing to believe in Jesus Christ, on account of 
 his religion, I will protect the person molested, and 
 punish the offender." 
 
 And regarding the form of our government, and its 
 free institutions, let it not be forgotten that the Mag- 
 na Carta, that embraces all the essential principles 
 of American liberty, chief among which are the 
 right of trial by jury, and the writ of habeas corpus, 
 and, in fact, our bill of rights, were planned and 
 drawn up by the Catholic barons of England, and 
 enforced, centuries before modern isms had an ex- 
 istence. 
 
 CATHOLICISM IN ACCORDANCE WITH POPULAR IN- 
 STITUTIONS. 
 
 In connection with this brief sketch of the discov- 
 ery and exploration of America, we would add a 
 few words on Catholicism and its polity, spoken as 
 long ago as 1832, by that illustrious scholar and di-
 
 22 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 vine, Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D. D., on 
 those words of our Saviour, " Render to Csesar the 
 things that are Caasar's, and to God the things that 
 are God's." (Matt. xxii. 21.) 
 
 In a countiy like this, observes the great divine, 
 enjoying free and popular institutions, wherein the 
 most elevated man is but the chief servant of the 
 people, it might seem superfluous to urge the former 
 part of this divine precept. Here no Caesar sways 
 the imperial sceptre, or exacts from subject millions 
 subsidies to sustain his power, and increase the pomp 
 of majesty. But though the words of the Redeemer 
 regard Caesarean authority, they imply a maxim of 
 order applicable to society under every form, namely, 
 that the established government should be respected 
 and supported. They contain no peculiar sanction 
 of imperial domination ; they warrant no abuse of 
 power ; but merely declare that our duties towards 
 the civil authorities may be discharged without 
 offence to God, or interference with religious obliga- 
 tions. St. Augustin* beautifully observes that the 
 Church, or City of God, is composed of men of all 
 nations, with perfect independence of the various 
 forms of civil polity. To these she is indifferent ; 
 and with wise condescension, she respects and sanc- 
 tions the national usages and institutions, however 
 diversified, wheresoever they come not into collision 
 with the divine doctrines of her Founder, or the gen- 
 eral interests of piety. Thus she adapts her children 
 
 * City of God, lib. xvii.
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 23 
 
 to every state of society, and enables them to coalesce 
 with men of every character, uniting and cementing 
 all hearts in all things whereby social order and hap- 
 piness are promoted. Others may investigate ab- 
 stract questions in regard to the excellence of partic- 
 ular systems of civil polity, the immediate origin of 
 power, and the limits wherein it is circumscribed. 
 She attends to practical lessons, applicable to estab- 
 lished order, and teaches the exercise of those virtues 
 which, under every form of government, are calcu- 
 lated to render men good and happy. Whether pop- 
 ular choice confer a presidential chair, or ambition 
 grasp a crown, or victory brandish the sword of 
 power, she regards the vicissitudes of human things 
 as subordinate to Divine Providence, and considers 
 every just exercise of established authority as sanc- 
 tioned by Him from whom all power emanates. 
 " For there is no power but from God, and those that 
 are, are ordained of God." (Rom. xiii.) 
 
 It has been alleged, that the Church is essentially 
 allied to monarchical governments, and that her own 
 constitution is an absolute monarchy. Others have 
 maintained that she is, at best, a monarchy tempered 
 with aristocracy ; while some have discovered her 
 principles to be highly democratic. The Church is 
 evidently distinct in her constitution from every form 
 of civil polity, and yet bearing characters similar to 
 each, and combining all their perfections. She is a 
 kingdom, though not of this world, and meek and 
 lowly is her sovereign. The vicegerent of Christ, 
 however high his prerogatives, lords it not over our
 
 24 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 faith, and can do nothing against the truth, but for 
 the truth. The power which the Lord has given 
 him is for edification, not for destruction. " The 
 kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they that 
 have power over them are called beneficent ; but you 
 not so," said our Saviour to his apostles. " But he 
 who is the greatest among you, let him be as the 
 least ; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth." 
 (Luke xxii. 25, 26.) 
 
 The dignitaries of the Catholic Church are not 
 those whom descent from renowned ancestors has 
 ennobled, without personal merit ; but they are the 
 children alike of the mechanic or of the prince, 
 whom virtue has exalted. Their lineage is derived 
 from the Apostles, by the divine rite of ordination. 
 Their honors impose on them the duty of rivalling 
 their virtues ; and they are charged to communicate 
 their powers to those only whom merit shall have 
 distinguished. The Church may be styled a Repub- 
 lic, as St. Augustin observes,* for the obvious reason 
 that she is intended for the true happiness of the 
 people ; but we must never forget that Christ is her 
 founder and her ruler, and that the powers of her 
 ministers are derived from Him who alone could 
 communicate them. " We are of God." " We are 
 ambassadors for Christ, God, as it were, exhorting 
 by us." " Let a man so look upon us as the ministers 
 
 * " Vera autem justitia non est, nisi in ea republica, cujus 
 conditor rectorque Christus est: si etiam ipsam rempubli- 
 cam placet dicere, quoniam earn rem populi esse, negare 
 non possumus." Aug. 1. ii. de Civ. Dei, c. 21.
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 25 
 
 of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of 
 God." (i John iv. 6 ; 2 Cor. v. 20 ; i Cor. iv. i.) 
 
 The congeniality of the constitution of the Church 
 with free institutions, and the consequent aptitude of 
 her members for the rational exercise of the rights of 
 free citizens, may be easily discovered on compar- 
 ison. The principle of equality is justly regarded as 
 the basis of republican institutions. Every man who 
 has breathed the vital air in this happy government, 
 is equal, in the eyes of the law, and entitled to the 
 privileges of citizenship. The child of the cottager 
 and the king were equally recognized as creatures of 
 the same God, formed to His image and likeness, 
 and when born anew to the baptismal font, were en- 
 titled to the same Christian privileges. The facti- 
 tious distinctions whereby society marks her mem- 
 bers, from the peasant to the sovereign, though re- 
 spected by the Church, which always regards order, 
 give no prerogatives to the great of this world, in the 
 solemn rites of religion. All hear the same Gospel, 
 all kneel before the same altar ; and all participate 
 of the same sacraments. The lowliest amongst the 
 faithful, in the extremity of life, summons the min- 
 ister of God to his bed of sorrow, to dispense to him 
 the sanctifying mysteries ; and the summons is obeyed 
 equally as if the lord of vast dominions had sought 
 the succors of religion. Every office and dignity of 
 the Church is accessible to all her children, without 
 any distinction but that which arises from merit. 
 The youth who, in the humblest walks of society, 
 toiled for a scanty subsistence, and who was indebted
 
 20 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 for his education to the bounty of some friend to tal- 
 ent and virtue, may in mature age rise to the altar of 
 the living God, or even sit among the princes of his 
 people ; nay, he may rise to the pinnacle of Church 
 authority, and govern an empire far greater than ever 
 owned the power of the Caesars. Virtue, not birth, 
 is with us the true title to distinction. Let republics 
 boast of greater equality than this. 
 
 The elective system is another feature in popular 
 institutions. It is, however, even in several States of 
 the Union, circumscribed by conditions required in 
 the voters ; and it is, in many instances, confined to 
 the representatives and chief officers of the people, 
 whilst a far greater number of inferior offices are 
 created by appointment. The Church, from her 
 foundation, under the absolute sway of the Caesars, 
 cherished the principle of election. St. Chrysostom 
 justly remarks, that the Prince of the Apostles 
 doubtless possessed the power of filling up the va- 
 cancy in the apostolic college, by appointing one to 
 occupy the place of Judas ; but that through a spirit 
 of condescension and conciliation, he allowed the as- 
 sembled multitude interference in the appointment. 
 In the same spirit, so worthy of the meekness of their 
 Master, the twelve bade the multitude to look among 
 them for seven men of good reputation, w r hom the 
 Apostles might appoint to the office of Deacons. 
 The power and right strictly belonged to the apostolic 
 college, and not to the laity, because the Apostles 
 alone had been sent by Him to whom all power was 
 given in heaven and on earth. It was discretionary
 
 THE DISCOVERV OF AMERICA. 27 
 
 with them to make the appointment without the in- 
 terference of others, and to judge of the qualifications 
 of those who might be presented; but it was in no 
 way derogatory from their high authority to receive 
 the testimony of the faithful with regard to the 
 merits of the candidate, particularly whilst the purest 
 zeal for the interests of religion was common to the 
 great body of believers. Their example was imitated 
 by their successors in the Christian Prelacy, and to 
 this day the solemn ceremonial of ordination points 
 out the wise motives that determined her earliest pas- 
 tors to adopt a system so conciliatory. 
 
 The elective form is preserved in regard to the dig- 
 nity of Bishop in many portions of the Church, 
 wherein the clergy elect the prelate that is to govern 
 them, or the Bishops of the province make the choice, 
 dependent on the sanction of the Roman Pontiff", 
 The highest ecclesiastical dignitary is chosen by the 
 votes of two thirds of the College of Cardinals, most 
 solemnly sworn to regard only the general good of 
 Christendom in the choice of its chief ruler. The 
 many precautions that are taken to guard their integ- 
 rity against bias, or intrigue, or any species of undue 
 influence, and the happy results of the election, which, 
 in a few weeks, generally gives a Pontiff of exalted 
 merit to the Christian world, prove the freedom and 
 wisdom of the system. Elections, therefore, are co- 
 eval with the Church, and are congenial to her spirit 
 of conciliation. 
 
 Deliberative assemblies, which are so characteristic 
 of popular institutions, are particularly congenial to
 
 28 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Christianity, and as ancient as the Church herself. 
 When doubts arose among some of the first profes- 
 sors of the faith, in regard to the necessity of exacting 
 the observance of the Jewish ceremonies from con- 
 verted Gentiles, the dispute was decided in a solemn 
 assembly convened for the purpose. " The Apostles 
 and ancients came together to consider of this mat- 
 ter." (Acts xv. 6.) The advocates of both opinions 
 were heard, ere Peter arose to terminate the discus- 
 sion, and James concurred in judgment ; when a 
 decree was drawn up in the name of the Apostles 
 and ancients, and by the authority of the Holy Ghost, 
 determining the controversy. Subsequent ages were 
 not inattentive to the precedent. Each Bishop reg- 
 ulated the chief affairs of his diocese in the assembly, 
 and with counsel of his brethren, the clergy, over 
 whom he presided. The Bishops of each province 
 semi-annually assembled to deliberate in common on 
 the means of promoting truth and piety throughout 
 the flocks committed to their charge ; and when the 
 doctrines of faith were assailed, or other general in- 
 terests of the Christian world were at stake, the rep- 
 resentatives of the whole Church were congregated 
 to testify the faith, and legislate for the general good 
 of Christendom. The tyranny of the Caesars, and 
 the fury of their persecution, could not entirely pre- 
 vent assemblies so congenial to Christianity, and 
 when Rome saw her Constantine raise the victorious 
 banner of the cross, Nice soon beheld the most sub- 
 lime spectacle the world had witnessed, the assembly 
 of three hundred and eight Pontiffs, venerable for
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 29 
 
 their learning, sanctity, and sufferings, all concurring 
 in proclaiming the faith of the universe, the Divinity 
 of the Saviour of mankind. 
 
 In these assemblies, the most perfect freedom of 
 discussion is admitted, and moderation and conde- 
 scension mark the decisions, which generally are 
 made with unanimous suffrage. No doctrine is de- 
 lined, unless, on examining the Scriptures, and con- 
 sulting the monuments of the faith of preceding ages, 
 it is clearly ascertained to belong to the original de- 
 posit of Revelation. No law is enacted, except such 
 as the majority deem expedient for the purity of 
 Christian morals, and the advancement of piety. In 
 them we have the freedom and moderation, without 
 the instability, of popular institutions. Hence, though 
 the government of the Church may appear absolute 
 and arbitrary to one who regards the high powers 
 of her functionaries, it will be found to be moderate 
 and just, since the canons, or laws of those assem- 
 blies, direct and restrict each Bishop in the exercise 
 of his authority, so that he is scarcely more than the 
 executive of their decrees. 
 
 In the Religious Orders, which the Church regards 
 as states of perfection, we discover the same equality, 
 the same elective system, the same deliberative bod- 
 ies, and even the popular and democratic principle 
 of rotation in office. The young Noble who figured 
 in the courts of Princes, and the Monarch himself 
 who directed the destinies of nations, are, after their 
 entrance within the gates of the cloister, undistin- 
 guished from the peasant and the mechanic. Their
 
 30 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 former dress and decorations are exchanged for the 
 simple habit worn by every member of the Institute. 
 Their titles are forgotten, and the affectionate appel- 
 lation of brother is alike addressed to the peasant 
 and the noble. An Aloysius of Gonzaga, and a 
 Francis Borgia, are distinguished in religion, not by 
 the titles and honors of the Princedom or Dukedom 
 which they once bore, but by the heroism of their 
 virtue. No one is incorporated in the Order, or ad- 
 mitted to the solemn profession, unless a majority of 
 the actual members approve his merit. None are 
 elevated to the most responsible offices, unless by the 
 suffrages of a like majority. The son of a cottager 
 may be chosen to govern a body wherein courtiers 
 are enrolled, if learning and virtue ennoble him. 
 The powers of the Superiors are confined within the 
 limits of the rule and constitutions. In many impor- 
 tant affairs they need the consent of the Chapter or 
 Council of the Order, wherein the majority of votes 
 prevail. A term is likewise fixed to the duration of 
 their authority. Many centuries before the Amer- 
 ican Constitution was framed, the humble Francis of 
 Assisium formed the rule, that the General of the 
 Order should be chosen for the term of four years ; 
 and other founders of religious Institutes have added, 
 that after their re-election for a second term, they 
 should not be capable of being chosen a third time, 
 unless all danger and appearance of perpetuity was 
 removed by the intervention of another superior 
 between the second and third terms of service. 
 Compare these provisions with those of the Constitu-
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 31 
 
 tion of the Union, and say with candor whether it 
 might not be conceived that its framers, those States- 
 men of their day, had borrowed largely from our 
 Religious Institutions? 
 
 In thus exhibiting the accordance of the Constitu- 
 tion of the Church and of her Institutes with that 
 system of civil polity for which we entertain a predi- 
 lection, it is not with the view to demonstrate that 
 she is a democracy. The will of the people is the 
 immediate source and supreme law of democratic 
 institutions ; the will of Christ our Lord is the source 
 and rule of all Church power. The truths of reli- 
 gion must emanate from the unerring wisdom of the 
 Deity : the grace whereby the souls of men are sanc- 
 tified must be a communication of divine sanctity and 
 justice. Scripture is positive on this point. " How 
 can they preach, unless they be sent?" (Rom. x. 15.) 
 " Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, 
 but he that is called by God." (Heb. v. 4.) Never- 
 theless, the power thus divinely conferred is not di- 
 rected to the aggrandizement of the individuals who 
 are clothed with it, but to the welfare of the whole 
 Christian Commonwealth. We possess the most 
 striking advantages of the democratic system, with- 
 out the defects that are insepai'able from every system 
 of human polity. The divine Constitution of the 
 Catholic Church exhibits the infinite wisdom of her 
 Founder, combining, in an admirable' manner, the 
 excellences of each system, and excluding their im- 
 perfections. We have in it Monarchy without des- 
 potism, Aristocracy without hereditary entailment,
 
 32 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Democracy without fluctuation. Our Sovereign Pon- 
 tiff is but the servant of the servants of God ; our 
 Bishops and Priests are the fond fathers of their 
 flock ; the faithful at large are the mystical members 
 of Christ our Lord. In the variety of grades there 
 is nothing to flatter human pride, or debase a single 
 member of this great family. All are children of the 
 same God, aspirants to the same bliss, and responsi- 
 ble at the same tribunal. In the similarity of features 
 which the whole system exhibits, when compared 
 with each form of civil government, we have incen- 
 tives to the discharge of our social duties in eveiy 
 state of society. 
 
 The Catholic Church is everywhere the friend of 
 human happiness. With the various forms of civil 
 polity it is not her province to interfere. To none of 
 them is she allied, to none is she hostile. Oppres- 
 sion, tyranny, injustice, and disorder of every species, 
 are by her condemned ; but yet she mingles not in 
 the strife when an indignant nation struggles to wrest 
 from the tyrant's grasp the sceptre of iron wherewith 
 he rules them. All the calamities of licentiousness 
 and anarchy present themselves to her mind when 
 she sees subjects maddened by oppression into revolt ; 
 and whilst she hears the crash of falling thrones, her 
 heart bleeds, not so much through sympathy for the 
 misfortunes of the great, as in anticipation of the 
 evils which the licentious may perpetrate in the 
 abused name of Liberty. 
 
 The sceptre of the Caesars, which the early Chris- 
 tians were taught to respect, has long since been
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 33 
 
 broken ; the fragments of the vast Empire have been 
 divided among Barbarian conquerors. Dynasty after 
 dynasty has passed away. Republics have risen, 
 flourished, decayed, and perished : but the Church 
 still remains, the imperishable monument of the wis- 
 dom and power of her Divine Founder. The gates 
 of Hell have not prevailed against her. 
 3
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 CATHOLIC France, the eldest daughter of the 
 Church, zealous for the growth of the religion, 
 which through so many changes her devoted hie- 
 rarchy had so tenderly preserved, claims, and with 
 justice, the honor of the permanent foundations of 
 Catholicity on the soil of what we at present know 
 as New England. The sons of this truly Catholic 
 Power had, long before the settlements of Port Royal 
 and Quebec, sailed along the rocky coast of its north- 
 ern boundary ; and the many islands and headlands, 
 graced by the names of the sainted personages of 
 history, bear testimony to the sterling worth and true 
 piety of the commanders of the several expeditions, 
 the Cartiers, the Champlains, and others. 
 
 In 1604, Pierre de Guasts, Sieur de Montz, laid the 
 foundation of French power by beginning a settle- 
 ment on St. Croix Island, a delightful spot at the 
 mouth of the river of Holy Cross. Here Rev. Nicho- 
 las d'Aubri erected a small chapel, the ruins of which 
 could have been seen till within a short time since, 
 and from its rustic altar proclaimed the solemn truths 
 of religion to the infant congregation of aborigines 
 and colonists. The year following, Port Royal, now 
 
 34
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 35 
 
 Annapolis, was settled, and Rev. Jesse Fleche minis- 
 tered to the spiritual wants of the settlers. 
 
 In 1611, Father Peter Biard, a native of Grenoble, 
 and Father Enemond Masse, two members of the 
 Society of Jesus, whom the bigotry of the Huguenot 
 ship-owners and the secret hostility of Jean de Bien- 
 court, Sieur de Potrincourt, the new Seigneur of 
 Port Royal, had long detained in the ports of France, 
 arrived. Their object was to evangelize the native 
 tribes, and they devoted themselves to their mission- 
 ary labors with great success, converting among others 
 the almost centenary chieftain Memberton, and many 
 of his people. The colonists, however, many being 
 poor, were in great distress, and for a time the Jesuits 
 might be seen laboring for the general good of all, 
 becoming carpenters, fishermen, and everything, in a 
 word, that charity could suggest or devotedness in- 
 spire, which endeavor on their part, however, instead 
 of melting seemed to harden the hearts of the bigoted 
 even more and more against them, so much so that at 
 length, from the brutality of Biencourt and a young 
 and headstrong son of Potrincourt, they resolved to 
 leave Port Royal and retm - n to France, which attempt 
 their oppressors equally prevented, and they were 
 compelled to remain. 
 
 The report of their suffering and persecution reach- 
 ing France, their friends sent out other Fathers, with 
 emigrants, and all necessary supplies, to commence a 
 settlement elsewhere. Mount Desert, at the mouth 
 of Penobscot, was selected, and hither the Sieur de 
 la Saussage, the commandant, having taken Fathers
 
 36 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Biard and Masse on board, steered in the month of 
 March, 1613. Landing on the eastern shore of the 
 Island, they planted a cross, and traced out a fort on 
 the west side of the " Pool," a part of the sound 
 which runs into the centre of the Island.* Religious 
 in its design, the settlement bore the name of the 
 " Holy Saviour." Here the Fathers daily offered the 
 holy Sacrifice at the foot of the cross, expecting soon 
 to see a rustic chapel rise on their Island. On a cer- 
 tain day Father Biard, accompanied by one of the 
 officers, proceeded to the mainland to visit the natives. 
 The wailing of distress in the distance soon satis- 
 fied them that an Indian village was not far off. In 
 a short time they entered it ; and imagine their sur- 
 prise when seeing a poor Indian holding a dying 
 child in his arms, surrounded by the tribe ranged in a 
 double row ! The scene touched the tender chord 
 of pity in the heart of the good missionary ; hastily 
 drawing near, he took the infant and baptized it. 
 The healing water of the sacrament restored, not only 
 spiritual, but bodily health ; the child recovered, and 
 the natives looked upon the new comers as envoys of 
 heaven. 
 
 While the natives were thus being won over to the 
 truth, and the mission seemed destined to effect im- 
 measurable good, it pleased the Almighty to allow it 
 to be arrested in a moment, and all its hopes to be 
 dashed to the ground. A fleet of fishing smacks 
 from Virginia, escorted by one Argal, already noted 
 for his lawless acts, and known at a later date as the 
 
 * Williamson's History of Maine, i. 206, 76.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. T>7 
 
 tyrant and scourge of Virginia, reached the coast of 
 Maine. Hearing of the French settlement, Argal 
 resolved to destroy it, and sailing up, opened a brisk 
 fire on the unprepared French, few of whom were in 
 their vessel. De Saussage made what resistance he 
 could, but was soon compelled to surrender, with all 
 his party. In this skirmish, a lay-brother, named 
 Gilbert du Thet, was mortally wounded, and expired 
 soon after his removal to the shore, rejoicing with his 
 latest breath at his happiness in being permitted to 
 shed his blood for the faith. He was buried at the 
 foot of the mission cross, and the missionaries were 
 compelled to bid a last farewell to the spot whence 
 they had hoped to spread civilization and Christianity 
 throughout the land of the Abenakis. Two of them, 
 Fathers Biard and Masse, were carried off to Virginia 
 as prisoners ; the other two, Fathers Lalement and 
 Quentin, were allowed to leave for the nearest French 
 port. 
 
 Such was the close of this celebrated mission, de- 
 stroyed by violence and injustice. Argal's atrocity 
 did not end here ; seizing de Saussage's commission, 
 he treated him and his comrades as pirates, and 
 almost succeeded in having them hanged in Virginia 
 as such. The bloody penal laws of England, which 
 darken with their awful atrocity so many a page of 
 the colonial statute-book of Virginia, were also held 
 in terror over the heads of the Fathers. But God 
 was still with His own, and after being taken back to 
 Acadia in a new plundering expedition, they owed 
 their lives only to a storm which drove them to the
 
 38 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Catholic Azores. Here the captain was in their 
 power ; but disdaining to repay evil by evil, they for- 
 bore to disclose their character and sufferings to the 
 authorities af the Island, and allowed him to depart 
 in peace. They subsequently reached England, and 
 after a little delay, proceeded to France : one to die 
 soon after in the midst of his labors, the other to 
 return to America, to toil for years before receiving 
 the reward of the just.* 
 
 Although the Virginians destroyed Port Royal, the 
 French soon returned to the coast of what is now the 
 State of Maine, and in 1619 two associations were 
 formed at Bordeaux, one for trading purpose on the 
 Acadian coast, the other for the fisheries. Not to be 
 deprived of religious succor on that lonely shore, the 
 members of these associations applied to the Recol- 
 lects of the Province of Aquitaine for three Fathers 
 
 * Peter Biard, a native of Grenoble, was a Jesuit of learn- 
 ing and ability. After his American mission, he was for a 
 time professor of theology at Lyons, and afterwards a chap- 
 lain in the French army, -in which post he died at Avignon, 
 November 17, 1622. See Louvenay, Historia Societatis 
 Jesu, 324. 
 
 Enemond Masse was born in 1574, and entered the Society 
 of Jesus at the age of twenty-two. When chosen for the 
 Acadian mission, he was Socius of the Provincial, Father 
 Coton. His misfortunes in Maine did not quench his apos- 
 tolic spirit. He was one of the first Jesuits sent to Quebec 
 in 1625, and though again taken by the English in 1629. he 
 again returned in 1633, and labored chiefly among the Mon- 
 tagnas and the French till his death, which took place May 
 12, 1646. Shea's Hist. Cath. Missions, 134. Bressani, Re- 
 lation Abreg6e, 174.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 39 
 
 and a lay-brother, whom they promised to support 
 as long as their companies lasted. Several Fathers 
 came and established a central mission on the River 
 St. John, whence they extended their labors to Mis- 
 cou, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence, on the one 
 hand, and the Periobscot, apparently, on the other. 
 Their labors were not fruitless, the Indian, no less 
 than the French trader and fisherman, reaped the 
 advantages ; and in the discharge of their duties they 
 shrank from neither peril nor hai'dship. One of 
 them, Father Sebastian, was, above all, noted for his 
 intrepidity, and he penetrated to Quebec overland, 
 and wintered with the Recollects there. In 1623, 
 however, setting out from Miscou for the mission on 
 the St. John's, he sank beneath his labors, and per- 
 ished from hunger and misery, closing a three years' 
 apostolate by a death which, though unseen by men, 
 yet perhaps before God, from its peculiarity, was as 
 precious as the martyrdom of a Breboeuf or a Cha- 
 banel. The next year his surviving companions, 
 Father Jacques de la Foyer, Louis Fontinier, and 
 Jacques Cardon, in consequence of orders from their 
 Provincial, left the mission, and penetrated by the 
 Riviere du Loup to Quebec.* 
 
 The English swept over Acadia, and the French 
 settlements fell into their hands ; but the conquerors 
 did not secure possession. As early as 1630, Charles 
 St. Etienne de la Tour was on the Acadian coast, 
 and extended his stations to the Penobscot. Three 
 Recollect missionaries attended him, and soon restored 
 
 * Champlain's Voyages, p. 282. Charlevoix, it. p. 195.
 
 40 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 their missions in Maine. Champlain tells us, in 1632, 
 that they were still there ; and as the French, in that 
 year, seized the last English post on the Penobscot 
 and at Machias, the mission probably lasted for some 
 years, but of which we have no details.* 
 
 The commander De Razillai, who owned this part 
 of Acadia, died in 1635, and his portion passed to 
 d'Aulney de Charnisy, who made Biguyduce his post. 
 More devoted to the religious wants of the French on 
 the coast of Maine than La Tour, who was a Protes- 
 tant, he established a Capuchin mission on the Ken- 
 nebec in 1643. To the old fort on the Penobscot, 
 near to the present town of Castine, the Superior 
 often sent his missionaries. The good Fathers, wher- 
 ever stationed, whether on the coast, keeping alive 
 by daily exhortation the faith of their countrymen, or 
 in the interior, warning the traders of the severe jus- 
 tice of God when directed towards the unjust buyer 
 and seller, forgot not in the " all for all " in the Scrip- 
 ture, the no less important monition of St. Paul, to 
 beware of the danger of a " reprobate and castaway," 
 while engaged in preaching and laboring for others. 
 
 Missionaries had thus labored for years, when Cath- 
 olicity was now to take a firm hold in the land, not in 
 the stranger from afar, but in the children of the soil, 
 the red men of the forest. 
 
 The Jesuit Fathers had not abandoned the mission 
 ground where Du Thet lay, at the foot of the broken 
 
 * Charlevoix, i. 436. Rel. 1646-7. Hildreth's United 
 States, i. 299. Williamson's Maine, i. 71, 322.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 4! 
 
 cross ; their eyes were often turned longingly towards 
 it. In 1642 they had gathered, at St. Joseph's, on the 
 St. Lawrence, a number of Algonquins and Montag- 
 nais, won from their nomadic life to Christianity and 
 civilization. This settlement was the charitable work 
 of the pious Knight Noel Brulart de Sillery, and 
 under the name of this valiant chevalier, its events 
 have passed into history. 
 
 Like all the mission settlements, its early annals 
 show examples of high and heroic sanctity. Among 
 the Christian warriors of Sillery, none is more illus- 
 trious than Charles Meiaskwat. When the Abenakis 
 of Maine and Algonquins of Canada were on friendly 
 terms with each other, word reached his ears that 
 some of his Algonquin brethren had revived old 
 animosities, and delighted in torturing the Abenakis 
 who had fallen into their hands. In company with 
 Nicolet, the great explorer of the west, this true child 
 of faith set out to rescue them. Nicolet perished in 
 a rapid, but the generous Charles, nowise discour- 
 aged, pressed on, met the torturers and their victims, 
 and after administering a justly merited rebuke to the 
 heartless wretches, provided for the wounded in the 
 Convent of the hospital nuns of Sillery. There cared 
 for with a tenderness which the good Sisters knew 
 well how to bestow, these poor Indians soon became 
 convalescent, and with strength came the desire to 
 return to their homes. Charles accompanied them, 
 and before arrival at the mission ground of the Abena- 
 kis, the story of his devotedness and affection had 
 been noised through the tribe. His reception was
 
 42 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 coi'dial, for gi'atitude lingers long and prompts to good 
 in the savage breast. The occasion was profited by, 
 for our hero at once acted the catechist towards these 
 long neglected children of Maine, and with signal 
 success. Returning to Sillery, Charles was accom- 
 panied by a sagamore, or chief, who remained at St. 
 Joseph's, and was soon followed by others. 
 
 Ere long an embassy came, in the name of the 
 Abenakis, to invite the black-gown to come and reside 
 in their midst. As soon as the fearful Iroquois war, 
 which desolated Canada, lulled, so as to enable the 
 missionaries to attempt a new mission, Father Gabriel 
 Druilletes was sent, in 1646, to found the mission of 
 the Assumption. He set out on the 29th of August, 
 with a party of Indians, and after a painful and labo- 
 rious journey through the wilderness, reached the 
 village of the Abenakis in safety. His uncomplaining 
 endurance had won all hearts, and he found a rude 
 chapel raised for his use about three miles above the 
 present town of Augusta. This became the centre 
 of his labors, and in a few months he had acquired 
 their dialect so far as to be able to converse in it. 
 His people were docile and attentive ; they were soon 
 won to the faith, and numbers implored baptism ; but 
 this he prudently deferred. He came to prepare the 
 ground, to learn their dispositions, leaving the super- 
 structure to be raised by others, requiring, however, 
 their immediate renunciation of their superstitions, 
 their quarrels, and intemperance. 
 
 The English at Augusta, and the French to the 
 eastward, warmly encoui'aged the good work, as did
 
 THE, CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 43 
 
 also the Capuchin Superior, Father Ignatius, who 
 extended to him the most cordial greeting. His stay, 
 however, was limited, as, in accordance with the 
 orders of his Superior, he was to return to head- 
 quarters, where he was to hand in his report. The 
 grief of the Abenakis, at hearing of his departure, was 
 intense, till alleviated with the promise of his speedy 
 return. 
 
 About the time of which we write, the New Eng- 
 land Colonies had made proposals of amity and 
 alliance with Canada, and the Governor of the latter 
 chose Father Druilletes to proceed to Boston to dis- 
 cuss the matter with the General Count.* 
 
 Before entering on his embassy, we shall glance at 
 the early history of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay 
 Colonies. The French had, as we have seen, ex- 
 plored all the coast, but made no attempt to settle 
 west of the Kennebec ; yet, in 1617, a French vessel 
 was wrecked near Cape Cod, and all who reached 
 the shore were massacred by the Indians, except 
 three, who were sent from one Sachem to another 
 in triumph. Two soon sank victims to disease and 
 violence. The third, supposed to have been a priest, 
 lived longer, and endeavored to convert the Indians 
 and win them from vice ; but their obdurate hearts 
 were proof to all his appeals, and he frequently held 
 up to them the terrors of eternity and the wrath of 
 an offended God. Soon after his death, a pestilence 
 
 * Convers Francis's Life of Eliot, p. 219, and authority 
 there cited. Hildreth's History of United States. Win- 
 throp's New England, pp. 59-67, Boston edition, 1853.
 
 44 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 swept over the land, which they looked upon as the 
 result of his prayers, and as their tribes were reduced 
 to a mere handful, they repented of their obduracy, 
 and resolved to listen to the white men who should 
 tell them of the Great Spirit. Thus was the field 
 prepared for the future labors of Eliot.* 
 
 In 1620, the May Flower bore to the rocky shore, 
 which had already received the name of Plymouth, 
 the gloomy Sepai'atists, men of iron will, intolerant, 
 tyrannical, and self-righteous. Discarding the forms 
 and creed of the Church of England, they assumed 
 the divine right of forming a new church ; in this 
 they enrolled the more mature as members, and ad- 
 mitted others only on their giving such proofs of per- 
 sonal religion and due submission as pleased them. 
 Such is church membership. But these zealots not 
 only thus narrowed down the number of those who 
 were to share in the benefits of the church of their 
 own creation, but enriched church membership with 
 the exclusive privilege of an elective franchise. None 
 but a church member could vote, much less be elected 
 to office. Massachusetts, soon after founded, followed 
 the example thus set. No Protestant even, who dif- 
 fered from their views, was permitted to stay within 
 their territory ; Roger Williams, the Baptist, was 
 driven out ; Gorton, another Baptist, dragged into 
 their territories and flogged ; Mrs. Hutchinson, ex- 
 iled ; and the Quakei's hanged. As might be sup- 
 posed, Catholicity was unknown, except as an object 
 
 * Hildreth, i. 222.
 
 THK CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 45 
 
 of horror and dread. In 1631, Sir Christopher Gar- 
 diner, on mere suspicion of being a probable "Pa- 
 pist " (for such in those days was the common term 
 for Catholics), was summarily seized and sent out of 
 the colony without the least form of trial.* 
 
 Three years after, led by Williams, so often held 
 up as the father of toleration in America, they de- 
 clared the Cross a " relic of antichrist ! a Popish sym- 
 bol savoring of superstition, and not to be counte- 
 nanced by Christian men," and, accordingly, in the 
 height of their zeal they actually cut the cross out 
 of the English flag, refusing to march or live under 
 anything that bore the " sign of the Son of Man." 
 
 In 1646 D'Aulney visited Boston with some troops, 
 to get aid, if possible, in his war with De la Tour, 
 and exceedingly alarmed the Protestant town. That 
 same year, as we have seen, Father Druilletes reached 
 the English settlement at Augusta. This increased 
 the alarm : in their fervid imaginations New England 
 was already in the hands of Catholicity. They re- 
 solved to check its inroads : in 1647, while the simple- 
 minded Druilletes was still laboring to regenerate the 
 red man, of whose salvation these self-righteous men 
 
 * In the same year Mr. Phillips, the minister at Water- 
 town, and Mr. Brown, one of his elders, expressed the opin- 
 ion that the Church of Rome was a true Church of Christ. 
 So terrible did this doctrine appear to the Puritans, and so 
 important to the State, that the General Court, or Legisla- 
 ture of Massachusetts, took the matter in hand, and wrote 
 a letter denouncing such an opinion. General Laws and 
 Liberties of Massachusetts Colony, p. 67.
 
 46 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 scarcely thought, the General Court of Massachusetts 
 met, and took the matter into consideration. They 
 resolved to pass an act forbidding Jesuits to enter 
 their domains. The preamble is curious, as showing 
 the degree of enlightenment then prevalent in New 
 England. " The Court taking into consideration the 
 great wars, combustions and divisions which are this 
 day in Europe, and that the same are observed to be 
 raised and fomented chiefly by the secret undermin- 
 ings and solicitations of those of the Jesuitical order, 
 men brought up and devoted to the religions and the 
 Court of Rome, which hath occasioned divers states 
 to expel them their territories, for prevention whereof 
 among ourselves ; " &c., to enact that all Jesuits should 
 be forbidden to enter their jurisdiction, be banished 
 if they did, and be put to death if they returned. 
 With a degree of humanity, quite remarkable in men 
 who thus charge on others their own seditious prin- 
 ciples, they kindly added, that if a poor Jesuit should 
 be shipwrecked on their shore they would not hang 
 him.* 
 
 Such was the province to which, in 1650, the Rev. 
 Jesuit Priest, Father Druilletes, was sent as envoy. 
 
 FATHER DRUILLETES IN BOSTON AND AT PLYM- 
 OUTH IN 1650. 
 
 The United Colonies of New England having made 
 proposals for a kind of alliance, Father Druilletes 
 
 * General Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts Colony, 
 p. 67.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 47 
 
 was chosen, in the summer of 1650, to repair to Bos- 
 ton, to confer with the Commissioners. With full 
 letters as plenipotentiary, he set out from Quebec on 
 the ist of September, with a companion, John Guerin, 
 and several Indians, and after losing their way and 
 suffering greatly, reached Norridgewock. On the 
 28th of September he arrived at Augusta, then called 
 Coussinoe, where Noel, the Indian chief who accom- 
 panied him, addressed Winslow, the commandant of 
 the post, in Indian style, giving him presents, and 
 committing the Father to his care. 
 
 The commandant, John Winslow, entertained the 
 highest esteem for Druilletes, and promised to treat 
 him as a brother. He kept his word, and there 
 sprung up between the Plymouth Puritan and the 
 French Jesuit such a degree of friendship, that while 
 the former styled the missionary his Xavier, the latter 
 bestowed on his friend the name of Pereira, in remem- 
 brance of Xavier's devoted friend. 
 
 After meeting a deputation of the Sokakis, or Saco 
 Indians, to whom he proposed an alliance, Druilletes 
 and his companion, with Mr. Wilson, proceeded to 
 Merry Meeting Bay, where they embarked on the 
 25th of November. 
 
 Passing Damariscotta, where a Catholic church in 
 later times was to rise, the voyagers at last, on the 
 feast of the Immaculate Conception, reached Boston. 
 
 The principal men of Charlestown immediately 
 waited on him, and Major General Gibbons, being 
 informed of the character in which he came, invited 
 him to his house, and, says the good Father, " gave
 
 48 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 me the key of a room where I might, in all liberty, pray 
 and perform the other exercises of my religion ; and 
 he besought me to take no other lodging while I was 
 in Boston." 
 
 Father Druilletes does not state in his own narra- 
 tive that Guerin attended him, or that he carried his 
 missionary chalice with him ; but as this is by no 
 means improbable, we may infer that the Holy Sac- 
 rifice of the Mass was offered in Boston, in Decem- 
 ber, 1650. 
 
 He began his negotiations with Governor Dudley 
 and the Boston magistrates, but as the Abenakis lay in 
 a territory claimed by Plymouth, they referred him to 
 that colony. The missionary accordingly started on 
 the 2 ist December for Plymouth. On his arrival 
 there he was very courteously received by Governor 
 Bradford, who invited him to dinner, and very consid- 
 erately had a dish of fish prepared, as it was Friday. 
 
 The Plymouth people, more interested in the French 
 trade than others, readily consented to give the aid 
 which the Governor of Canada asked against the Iro- 
 quois as a condition of an alliance. 
 
 Returning to Boston, he stopped on the way at 
 Roxbury, and spent a night with the Protestant min- 
 ister, John Eliot, the celebrated Apostle of the Indians. 
 Here, too, he won esteem, and the New England mis. 
 sionary urged his French fellow-laborer to pass the 
 winter with him. 
 
 At Boston, Druilletes found the officials more in- 
 clined to aid the French, now that the Governor of 
 Plymouth had expressed himself favorable, and having,
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 49 
 
 by conferences and visits, gained all whom he could to 
 vote in his favor at the next meeting of the Commis- 
 sioners, he sailed from Boston on the 3d of January, 
 1651, and putting in to Marblehead on the 9th, left 
 a proxy with Mr. Endicott, to act for him at the 
 meeting. 
 
 By the 8th of February he was again at the Kenne- 
 bec, prepared to resume his missionary labors.* Such 
 was the first visit of a Catholic priest to Massachu- 
 setts. There is not a word in his narrative to show 
 the existence of a single Catholic at Boston, Plymouth, 
 Roxbury, or Marblehead, and indeed the only Catho- 
 lic whom he met in his voyage was a French sailor, 
 whom he found at York, Maine. 
 
 The great mass of his Catechumens on the Kenne- 
 bec, in spite of his long absence, had persevered ; 
 their dying children had been baptized, and buried 
 beneath the cross-surmounted graves. His neophytes 
 had even become catechists, communicating to the 
 less fortunate the knowledge which they had acquired. 
 His labors in this happy tribe were soon repaid with 
 abundant fruits, and he continued his mission till 
 March, 1652, the only interruption being a visit to 
 Quebec and another to Boston, in 1651. The Abena- 
 kis had adopted him as a Chief, and revered him as 
 their best and most devoted Father. 
 
 With his departure, the Abenakis mission ceased for 
 
 * Druilletes, Narr. 1'un Voyage, MSS., privately printed for 
 Mr. Lenox, after Shea's copy. For a translation, see Collec- 
 tions of the New York Historical Society, series ii. vol. III., 
 or the Proceedings of the Mass. Historical Society for 1855. 
 
 4
 
 5O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 a time, and for some years, it would seem, no Catho- 
 lic priest stood in the territories of New England. 
 
 Father Druilletes returned, indeed, in the latter 
 part of 1656 to his former station at Norridgewock ; 
 but in the following spring bade a last farewell to his 
 Abenakis children.* 
 
 Missionaries are said to have resumed his labors 
 there in 1659 ; but this is uncertain, and many of the 
 Catholic Abenakis, despairing of obtaining a resident 
 missionary, emigrated to Canada, and joined the Al- 
 gonquin mission at Sillery. 
 
 Phips's war also induced many to strike towards 
 the St. Lawrence, and in the summer of 1675 a large 
 party of Sokotis proceeded to Three Rivers, and a 
 large party of Abnakis to Sillery, which they reached 
 in the spring of 1676, after undergoing the utmost 
 extremity of famine during the winter. Here the 
 missionary Father James Vaultrer received them 
 with all cordiality, and after providing for their tem- 
 
 * Father Gabriel Druilletes was born in France in 1593, 
 and after entering the Society of Jesus, was sent to Canada 
 in 1643. He was immediately sent to the missions of the 
 wandering Algonquins, and after losing his sight, which 
 was miraculously restored, continued his labors amongst 
 them for nearly forty years. He evangelized the Montag- 
 nais, Algonquins, Knistineaux, Papinachois, and Abenakis, 
 on the St. Lawrence and Kennebec; and proceeding to the 
 west in 1666, labored among the Ottawas and Chippeways 
 at Sault St. Marie for several years. He died at Quebec, 
 April 8, 1681, at the age of eighty-eight. He was highly 
 esteemed for his sanctity; and even miracles were ascribed 
 to him. Shea's History of the Missions, 141.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 5! 
 
 poral wants, began to instruct them in the faith. They 
 showed every disposition that he could desire, and 
 their chieftain, Pirouacci, was a model of fervor and 
 piety. Several were soon baptized, and the Abenakis 
 Christians began to form the majority at Sillery. Old 
 and young attended the missionaries' instructions, and 
 afterwards repeated them to each other in their cabins. 
 The medicine men were unheard of, intoxication un- 
 known, while purity reigned for the first time among 
 them.* 
 
 In 1677 a mission was also established on the Ri- 
 viere du Loup, for the Penobscots and Passamaquod- 
 dies, many of whom were gained to the Faith by the 
 zealous Father Morain.f A few years later, in 1683, 
 we find Father James Bigot and Father H. F. Gassot 
 stationed at Sillery, now almost exclusively an Abena- 
 kis mission, and the centre of Christianity for the tribes 
 of Maine. As this spot, however, was no longer fit for 
 an Indian village, the soil being completely exhausted, 
 Father Bigot resolved to seek a new site, and as a 
 charitable lady, the Marchioness de Bauche, had given 
 means to found another settlement, he purchased a 
 tract on the River Chaudiere, just by its beautiful falls. 
 Many settled here, and in 1685 all that had remained 
 at St. Joseph's or Sillery, proceeded to St. Francis, as 
 the new mission was called, in honor of the holy Bish- 
 op of Geneva, and the cradle of the Algic Church was 
 deserted. The new mission flourished, and, though 
 
 * Rel., p. 107. 
 
 f Charlevoix, ii. 676. New York Colonial Documents, 
 edited by Dr. O'Callaghan, ix. 440.
 
 52 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 it subsequently was transferred to another spot, bears 
 to this day the name of St. Francis. 
 
 Scarcely had the zealous Father Bigot thus estab- 
 lished the Abenakis mission in Canada, than the gov- 
 ernment urged him to renew the work of Druilletes 
 on the Kennebec. With his brother Vincent, he set 
 out for the village of the Abenakis, where, notwith- 
 standing the opposition of a French fishery company, 
 and a war which the Indians were waging on the 
 English, these two missionaries induced no less than 
 six hundred to leave Maine and join the mission at 
 St. Francis.* 
 
 Almost at the same time the Rev. Peter Thury, a 
 secular priest connected with the Seminary of the 
 Foreign missions at Quebec, left his newly-founded 
 mission at Mii-amichi to plant the cross at Panawa- 
 niske, or Indian Old Town, on the Penobscot.f 
 
 Here he was invited by the Baron Vincent St. Cas- 
 tin, who, having built a fort there, and married the 
 daughter of the Sagamore Modockewando, had ac- 
 quired great influence among the Indians. He was 
 a man of deep religious feeling, and offered to sup- 
 port the missionary at his own expense. M. Thury 
 accordingly founded, in 1688, the mission of St. Anne, 
 and as the church he gathered there subsists to this 
 day, it is the oldest Catholic settlement in New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 N. B. Without destroying the thread of our nar- 
 rative, we would here introduce, what is rather 
 
 * New York Colonial Documents, ix. p. 57. 
 f Charlevoix, i. 416.
 
 THE CHURCH IN XEVV ENGLAND. 53 
 
 lengthy for a marginal note, a few simple little traits 
 of the devotion of the Indian Christians to the Blessed 
 Virgin, Mother of our Lord. Asking the family names 
 of the women at baptism, to distinguish in their regis- 
 ters one from another, they often found the greatest diffi- 
 culty in procuring them. " My name is Mary," they 
 would say. "But I want your Indian name your 
 Ahenakis name ; " and the answer would be, " I have 
 no other name ; Abenakis name no good; my name 
 is Mary ! " Almost every woman was a Mary ; if 
 they did not receive that name in baptism, they took 
 it in confirmation, or they would go and ask permis- 
 sion of their pastor to be called henceforward by the 
 beloved name. Or, after Mass, they would linger in 
 the church, even in the depth of winter, to recom- 
 mend, in an especial manner, their resolutions and 
 good thoughts to her. 
 
 An Indian, who desires to reach a point in argu- 
 ment, has a way of going straight at it. Not remark- 
 able for syllogistic abilities, he has a shorter method 
 of reaching correct conclusions. The Mohawk, when 
 the Dutchman sneered at her for honoring Mary, 
 asked to whom he prayed. He said, to Christ, his 
 God. But she, shaking her head gravely, said, " Guess 
 not pray much ; no have no honor for Mother, no 
 have much for Son." 
 
 One of the Kennebec chiefs, of Father Bigot's 
 time, was taunted with the errors of his creed, in 
 his visits to the English settlements, and urged by 
 the people to adopt theirs Protestant Principles. 
 " Which of them? " asked the red man, " for no two
 
 54 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 of you have the same." Of course they must deny 
 the power of the Blessed Virgin ; for they could see 
 the scapular on his swarthy chest, or the beads and 
 medal twisted into his head-dress ; but he fought 
 the usual battle with them, and gave himself as an 
 example to prove his doctrines. " You have known 
 me long enough," he said. " You know that I was 
 as big a drunkard as ever lived. Well, God has had 
 pity on me ; and I can defy any one to reproach me 
 with having tasted wine or brandy for many years. 
 To whom am I obliged for this but to our Lady, to 
 the Mother of Jesus. For to her I had recourse, in 
 my extreme feebleness, for grace to conquer my in- 
 veterate habit of drunkenness ; and by her help I con- 
 quered it. After that, will you tell me that the saints 
 do not hear us ? that it is useless to address ourselves 
 to the Mother of God ? I believe none of your words ; 
 you are deceivers. My own experience convinces me ; 
 and know you this," and the brave, a renowned 
 one, drew himself up, and his dark Indian eye kin- 
 dled, " know this, that I will love and bless the Holy 
 Virgin to the last breath of my life. For I am sure 
 that she is glad now, and that she will recompense 
 me for defending her cause against you." 
 
 The war still continued to desolate the State of 
 Maine. In 1689 the Penobscots, before engaging in 
 battle, the men, women, and children of the tribe 
 together approached the Sacraments, and while the 
 braves were marching against the common enemy, 
 the mothers, and wives and children, kept alive affec- 
 tion, by the daily recitation of the Rosary for their 
 success.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 55 
 
 The English were now, under Sir William Phips, 
 preparing to ravage the Acadian settlements, and M. 
 Thury soon after retired to Port Royal, but fortunate- 
 ly returned to his mission ; for on the 25th May, 
 1690, Phips took Port Royal, and carried off the 
 two clergymen there, the Rev. Louis Petit and the 
 Rev. Claude Frouve. The former was carried to 
 Boston, which the Rev. Mr. Geoffrey, one of his as- 
 sociates, visited in 1687, on his way to France.* 
 
 Between the epochs of the visits of these two priests 
 to Boston, the witch mania had broken out in New 
 England, and an Irish Catholic woman had perished 
 its first victim. Mrs. Glover, for such was her name, 
 was probably one of the unfortunate women whom 
 English barbarity tore from their homes in Ireland, to 
 sell as slaves in America. English she could scarcely 
 speak ; and, on being accused as a witch, by a certain 
 Miss Goodwin, for whom her daughter had worked, 
 she was arrested and put to the usual tests, one of 
 which was the repetition of the Lord's Prayer : she 
 repeated it in Irish, but as it was not understood, they 
 required more. She repeated it next in Latin, but 
 not quite correctly : in English she could not, as she 
 had never learned it. This, however, corroborated the 
 testimony of the girl, her accuser, and the poor Irish 
 woman was hanged, because she could not pray in a 
 language to her foreign and unknown ! and, strangely 
 enough, for not praying in pure Latin ! f 
 
 * Bancroft, iii. 65-6. Chandler's American Criminal 
 Trials, ii. 76. Hildreth's History of the United States, i. 
 t New York Colonial Documents, ix. 567.
 
 56 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 The defeat of Phips, at Quebec, enabled the 
 French to recover the ascendency in Acadia. M. 
 Petit returned to Port Royal, or Annapolis, while the 
 Bigots at Norridgewock, and M. Thury at Old Town, 
 continued their labors among the Indians. 
 
 In 1693 Father Julian Binneteau succeeded Father 
 Bigot on the Kennebec, but retired to St. Francis the 
 next year,* and was succeeded by the celebrated Fr. 
 Sebastian Rale, f M. Thury continued at his mis- 
 sion at Panawaniske, Old Town. He was joined in 
 1696-7 by the Rev. Henry Honore F. Deschambault, 
 whose talents, youth, and vigor rendered him one of 
 the hopes of the mission ; but he expired on the 29th 
 of August, 1698, and was soon followed by M. Thury, 
 who closed his career on the 3d of June, 1699. His 
 death was a severe blow, for he was not only a priest 
 of great zeal and piety, but a man of great ability and 
 
 * Before Father Rale, Father Joseph Aubery and Peter 
 De la Chasse were also there, but we have no means of as- 
 certaining the precise time. Of Father Binneteau, we only 
 know that he was at St. Francis in 1694, and soon after in 
 the west, where, while attached to the Illinois mission, he 
 followed the hunters to the prairies of Missouri, and con- 
 tracted a fatal fever, of which he expired in the arms of Fa- 
 ther Gabriel Marest, as that Father tells us in a letter dated 
 1711. 
 
 t Peter Thury, born at Bayeux, was ordained at Quebec, 
 December 21, 1677. He was sent to Acadia in 1684, and 
 founded a mission at Miramichi in the following year. Tas- 
 chereau : Memoir on the Acadian mission. 
 
 Louis H. F. Deschambault also belonged to the Seminary 
 of Quebec. He was ordained in 1694. Taschereau : O'Cal- 
 laghan's Colonial Documents, ix. 696.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 57 
 
 discretion, well fitted for the trying circumstances in 
 which he lived. He was interred in his chapel, where 
 so recently another missionary of the tribe, Father 
 Kenneth Kennedy, of the Society, had been laid to 
 moulder beside him. 
 
 On the death of this excellent man, the Seminary 
 of Quebec sent the Rev. Mr. Raylot, and subsequent- 
 ly the Rev. Micael A. Gaulin, to Indian Old Town, 
 or Panawaniske, where they remained till 1703, when 
 the mission was transferred to the Jesuits. Father 
 Stephen Lauvergat seems then to have taken up his 
 residence there, and we find him at the spot for sev- 
 eral years. A Recollect, Father Simon, about the 
 same time erected a mission at Medoktek, on the St. 
 John's.* 
 
 The war between the Indians and the New Eng- 
 landers continued, or was revived, after brief inter- 
 vals. In 1700 Massachusetts passed a new act, lev- 
 elled at the missionaries, condemning them to perpetu- 
 al imprisonment, and death if recaptured ; a renewal 
 of the act of 1647, in almost the same terms, and with 
 a preamble equally replete with untruth. Like the 
 New York Act of 1700, it charges the missionaries 
 with having lately come into the province, but, as our 
 readers have seen, CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES PLANTED 
 
 THE CROSS IN MAINE BEFORE THE MAY FLOWER 
 
 SAILED FROM ENGLAND. Even Rhode Island, with 
 all her boasted toleration, now specially excepted Ro- 
 man Catholics.f 
 
 * 12 William III. chap, vii., Old Colony Laws, p. 134. 
 t The Rhode Island Act bears date 1663-4, but the penal
 
 58 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 The Abenaki mission on the Chaudiere, was on the 
 same year removed to its present site, and many In- 
 dians emigrated thither from Maine. 
 
 The New Englanders, inflamed by the law, and en- 
 couraged by a reward offered for the head of Father 
 Rale, sent an expedition under Captain Hilton, against 
 Norridgewock.* The missionary and most of his 
 flock were absent, but returned only to find their 
 church and village in a heap of smoking ruins : Hil- 
 ton had profaned the sanctuary, plundered and fired 
 all. 
 
 The missionary soon after fell on the ice and broke 
 both legs, so that he remained a cripple for life. 
 
 The treaty of Utrecht restored peace in 1713 ; but 
 
 clause was introduced subsequently, probably about 1669. 
 The question has been frequently discussed, and will be found 
 treated at some length in An Appeal from the Judgments 
 of Great Britain respecting the United States, by Robert 
 Walsh, p. 428. Walsh, long consul at Paris, is a Catholic, 
 and was one of the first graduates of Georgetown College. 
 
 * Rev. Sebastian Rale was born in 1658, in Franche 
 Comte, where his family occupied a distinguished position. 
 He came to America, and arrived at Quebec, October 13, 
 1689. He was first stationed at St. Francis, then among the 
 Illinois, but from 1695 to his death, August 23, 1724, was 
 missionary at Norridgewock. He was acquainted with sev- 
 eral languages, and his Abenaki Dictionary, carried off in 
 1722, was published in the Memoirs of the American Acade- 
 my of Arts and Sciences. The original is still preserved as 
 a treasure at Harvard College. 
 
 A monument was erected to his memory by Bishop Fen- 
 wick, in 1833, an account of which will be found under the 
 historical sketch of the PORTLAND DIOCESE.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 59 
 
 as Maine had been yielded up to England, many of 
 the Abenaki's again emigrated to Canada, and founded 
 the mission of Becancour ; but Father Rale remained, 
 rebuilt his church, and when a Protestant clergyman 
 was sent to seduce his flock, the faithful missionary,, 
 by his ability, soon rendered the intruder's efforts of 
 no avail. 
 
 His position, however, became daily more danger- 
 ous. The French government wished all the Indians 
 to emigrate to Cape Breton ; the missionaries urged a 
 convention between the two crowns ; but meanwhile 
 the Indians, roused by repeated injuries, took up arms. 
 In 1722 Father Rale's mission was again attacked 
 and plundered, and his flock reduced to utter want : 
 his life was in constant danger, but withal was cheer- 
 ful and undaunted. Father Loyard, who had suc- 
 ceeded the Recollect Father on the St. John's, was 
 in similar distress, and sailed to France in 1723, to 
 obtain relief. 
 
 While peace was negotiating in 1724, the English 
 resolved to make one more attempt on the life of 
 Father Rale. On the 23d of August, 1724, a force 
 of English and Indians attacked the village during 
 the absence of the braves. At the first report of mus- 
 ketry the heroic missionary rushed from his chapel 
 to offer himself to the enemy, anxious to lay down his 
 life for his flock, to draw on himself the wrath of the 
 enemy, and enable his neophytes to escape. He was 
 the object of the hatred of the foe : no sooner was he 
 seen than every musket was turned upon him, and he 
 fell at the foot of the cross, riddled with the small shot
 
 60 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 of the enemies' firearms. Rushing on him, the in- 
 furiated men then hacked and mangled his palpitat- 
 ing corpse, clove open his head, broke his legs, and 
 in their rage trampled upon him. Proceeding to the 
 church, they rifled the altar, profaned the Adorable 
 Host, and fired the sacred edifice ! 
 
 No missionary occupies a more prominent part in 
 our early history than Sebastian Rale. The reverence 
 of the French and Indians for him is only equalled by 
 the bitter hatred of the English, as seen in their many, 
 and at last successful, attempts on his life. Learned, 
 zealous, and laborious, Father Rale was careless of 
 his own ease and comfort, unweai'ied in toil, eager 
 for martyrdom, and most devoted to the religious pro- 
 gress of his flock.* 
 
 The other missions were undisturbed, and when 
 peace was restored, we find the Abenakis of the Ken- 
 nebec soliciting a successor to their missionary, and 
 a chapel service to replace that carried off to Boston. 
 The King ordered presents to be made to them, " to 
 cover the body of the missionary," that is, to condole 
 with them for their loss ; he also directed their chapel 
 to be suitably furnished. The Superior of the Jesuits 
 at Quebec chose for the dangerous post Father James 
 Sirenne ; who made them a visit in 1729, and took 
 his permanent residence among them in the following 
 year.f He remained here for some years, although 
 we cannot positively state the duration of his mission. 
 
 * E. B. O'Callaghan's Colonial Documents, ix. 1002, 1004. 
 t Williamson's Maine, i. 465, 606; ii. 259, 297.
 
 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 6 1 
 
 Le Bean, a rambling traveller, found him still there 
 in 1731 ; but the tribe was rapidly disappearing: the 
 Sokokis had mostly repaired to Becancour, near Three 
 Rivers, the Wawenocks and Androscoggins had in- 
 deed joined the tribe at Norridgewock, but war and 
 emigration had greatly reduced the village. A mis- 
 sionary is said to have been there in 1774, but it is 
 doubtful. Before the loss of Canada, it had become 
 the abode of merely a few straggling families, and 
 soon after was entirely deserted. The monument of 
 Father Rale is now the only trace of the once cele- 
 brated Indian village. 
 
 At the time of Father Rale's death, Father Lauver- 
 geat was still on the Penobscot, but as he was greatly 
 opposed by the young Cassines, he returned soon af- 
 ter to Medoktek, leaving the Penobscots without a 
 missionary in 1732- 
 
 On the St. John's, the Recollect Father Simon had 
 been succeeded by the Jesuit Father Loyard, who 
 visited France in 1723 to solicit aid for his flock, and 
 remained there till about the period of Father Lauver- 
 geat's mission. 
 
 The war of the Spanish succession, which broke 
 out in i744i desolated what is now Maine, New 
 Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The Catholic mission- 
 aries were again deported, or compelled to seek refuge 
 in the woods ; but acting as mediators, they at last 
 gained the confidence of the English colonists. The 
 peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, enabled them to re- 
 new their labors in peace ; but six years after war 
 again broke out, and gave a death-blow to the Catho- 
 lic establishment in Maine and its borders.
 
 62 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Father Germain, of the Society of Jesus, was the 
 last of the old Jesuit missionaries in Maine. His chief 
 station was the mission of St. Anne, on an island in 
 the St. John's, the old Medoktek, whence he visited 
 the various tribes in Maine, leading a life of laborious 
 usefulness amid the general respect. As the fatal war 
 advanced, he deemed his post unsafe, and retired to 
 Canada. The missions of Maine thus became de- 
 serted, and the fall of Quebec seemed to forebode 
 difficulty and danger to the Abenaki church.
 
 BRIEF VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MISSIONARY LABORS OF THE EARLY 
 JESUIT FATHERS. 
 
 THE members of the Society of Jesus, founded, as 
 we have seen, at Quebec, radiated throughout all 
 New France, carrying the light and warmth of sal- 
 vation to every part of its territory. Checked for a 
 while by the success of the British arms, it was only 
 to commence again with renewed fervor. By 1633 
 no less than fifteen priests of their order were at 
 work in Canada, " and every tradition bears testi- 
 mony to their worth. Away from the amenities of 
 life, away from the opportunities of vainglory, they 
 became dead to the world, and possessed their souls 
 in unutterable peace. The few who lived to grow 
 old, though bowed by the toils of a long mission, still 
 kindled with the fervor of apostolic zeal. The his- 
 tory of their labors is connected with the origin of 
 every celebrated town in the annals of French Amer- 
 ica. Not a cape was turned, nor a river entered, but 
 a Jesuit led the way." * 
 
 They followed the shores of the lakes to the Bay of 
 
 * Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 122. 
 
 63
 
 64 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Saguenay, and pierced into the heart of the Huron 
 forests. St. Mary's rose upon the Niagara River. 
 The Marquis de Gamache gave himself to the Soci- 
 ety, and endowed with his ample fortune the first 
 college at Quebec. From 1641 to 1644 the remoter 
 Huron missionai'ies received no supplies. Their 
 clothes fell to pieces ; they had scarce flour to make 
 bread enough for the Holy Mysteries ; they them- 
 selves pressed the necessary wine from the wild 
 grape that sprang in the woodlands. And yet, be- 
 fore 1647, forty -two members of the order had vis- 
 ited and labored in these lonely wilds, counting their 
 lives as nothing, if only they could win souls for the 
 kingdom of Christ. 
 
 Before 1690 thirteen had baptized the pagan land 
 with their blood. Others had fallen victims to star- 
 vation or exposure. 
 
 Father Anne de Noue*, after years of terrible toil, 
 died, frozen stiff and cold by the wild February 
 blasts, upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. They 
 found him, kneeling upright, with crucifix clasped to 
 his breast, and calm eyes open, and fixed on heaven, 
 on the Feast of the Purification of her whom he 
 loved and served so well (1646). Charles Gamier, 
 pierced by three Iroquois musket balls, when about 
 to die, perceived a poor Christian Indian in the act 
 of expiring. The sight awakened all the priest 
 within him ; he staggered to his feet, only to fall 
 again. But though he could not rise, he could, and 
 did, drag himself along the blood-stained ground, 
 and, as he gave the last absolution, a tomahawk 
 clove his skull, and he died on the eve of the Immac-
 
 LABORS OF THE EARLY JESUIT FATHERS. 65 
 
 ulate Conception, which gracious mystery he had 
 early bound himself by a vow to defend, even unto 
 death (1649). 
 
 Anthony Daniel fell at the Iroquois sacking of St. 
 Joseph's, in 1648. The braves were all absent- at 
 the chase. There were none at home but the old 
 priest, the women, and the children, when the sav- 
 ages burst through the palisades. Swiftly he rushed 
 to the wigwams to baptize the sick ; a crowd of 
 others demand that sacrament ; he had no time for 
 even shortest ceremonies ; he dips his handkerchief 
 in water, and baptizes them by aspersion. Then he 
 gave general absolution to all who sought it, and, 
 entering the chapel, he vested, and stood prepared 
 to meet his death. " The wigwams are set on fire ; 
 the Mohawks approach the chapel, and the conse- 
 crated envoy serenely advances to meet them. As- 
 tonishment seized the barbarians. At length, draw- 
 ing near, they discharged at him a flight of arrows. 
 All gashed and rent by wounds, he still continued to 
 speak to them with surpassing energy, now inspiring 
 fear of the Divine anger, and again, in gentle tones, 
 breathing the affectionate messages of mercy and 
 grace. Such were his actions until he received a 
 death-blow from a halbert. The victim of the hero- 
 ism died, the name of Jesus on his lips. The wil- 
 derness gave him a grave, the Huron nation were his 
 mourners." * It was in the Octave of the Visitation 
 of Mary, Mother of God. 
 
 * Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. iii. 139. 
 
 5
 
 66 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Noel Chabanel receives his death-blow upon the 
 banks of a stream near St. Mary's, from the axe of 
 an apostate Huron, on the 8th of December, the 
 Feast of the Immaculate Conception.* Rene Goupil, 
 so- livid and mashed with club bruises that his fea- 
 tures were undistinguishable, had his thumbs cut oft" 
 while repeating "Jesus, Mary, Joseph." Tied to 
 the ground upon his back, at night the savage boys 
 poured coals upon his breast until his flesh was 
 charred. Six days tormented thus, he and his com- 
 panion, Father Jogues, too weak to escape, were left 
 at liberty. But one day, when they had retired apart 
 to pray, two young men followed and ordered them 
 back. " Dear brother," said the Father, " let us 
 recommend ourselves to our Lord, and to our good 
 Mother, the Blessed Virgin, for these men have some 
 evil design." They walked back, telling the beads 
 of their rosary. They had said four decades, when a 
 tomahawk crashed into the brain of Rene", and he 
 died, uttering the holy name of Jesus, f 
 
 Bressani (1644), captured by the Iroquois, marched, 
 chained, in their procession, whereof the banner was 
 the head of a Huron Catholic, whose heart he saw 
 torn from the body to be eaten in bravado, marched 
 fearlessly in that dread procession ; for " I was filled," 
 he says, " with confidence in the intercession of the 
 Holy Virgin.". Six days they advanced through the 
 forest, he being compelled to act as their slave, fetch- 
 
 * Marie de 1'Incarnation, p. 148. 
 
 t Shea's Narrative of the Captivity of Jogues.
 
 LABORS OF THE EARLY JESUIT FATHERS. 67 
 
 ing the wood and water for the night encampments, 
 cooking for his savage captors, and repaid by blows. 
 He slept, tied to a tree, uncovered, in the night air 
 of the early northern April. Ai'rived at the village, 
 they prepared him for running the gantlet, by split- 
 ting his hand up between the ring and little fingers, 
 and then beat him, as he moved between their bar- 
 barous lines. They forced him then to dance and 
 sing for hours ; they ran splinters into his flesh, and 
 burned him with brands ; they covered sharp points 
 with hot ashes, and compelled him to walk thereon ; 
 they tore out all the nails of his fingers with pincers, 
 or with savage teeth. One night they would tear out 
 a nail, the next, cut off or burn a joint ; and all this, 
 and more, lasted for a month. His wounds at length 
 swarmed with worms, and he could say, with holy 
 Job, xvii. 14, " Unto rottenness, thou art my father ; 
 unto worms, ye are my mother and my sisters." 
 
 Finally, the sentence was passed, that what life 
 lingered in him, it should be burned out at the stake ; 
 and then he says, " I prepared my soul, and com- 
 mended myself unto the Mother of Mercy, who is, in 
 truth, the Mother most amiable, most admirable, 
 most powerful, most clement, and the consoler of the 
 afflicted. She, after God, was the only refuge of me, 
 a poor sinner, abandoned by all creatures, in a strange 
 land." * Then they reversed the death sentence. 
 " For such." he says again, " was the will of God 
 and of the Virgin Mother. To her I owe, not my 
 
 * Bressani, Relation, pp. 116-139.
 
 68 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 life only, but the strength to support my pain." It 
 was the Hollanders of New York who saved him at 
 length, purchasing him from the barbarians for some 
 forty dollars, and he says, " I sang with the Israel- 
 ites" (Ps. cxiii.) "my coming out of Egypt on the 
 i9th of August, in the Octave of the Assumption of 
 the Virgin, whom I consider the bestower of my 
 freedom." 
 
 Well, this at least was enough for one man ! he 
 surely left his mission ! On the contrary, the same 
 year saw him on his way to the Hurons. Four times 
 he made that voyage, and thrice he fell into the same 
 bloody hands, and was covered anew with wounds, 
 yet God and our Lady delivered him out of all. 
 What wonder that those mutilated hands can record 
 among the reverers of Blessed Mary, as the fruits of 
 thirteen years, Twelve Thousand Indians! 
 
 There was yet another of these missionary priests, 
 the last we shall cite, who came in 1625, and won 
 the crimson crown of martyrdom. When he came 
 to the Hurons, he found not a single Christian ; when 
 he left them for eternal glory, they numbered eight 
 thousand. It was the noble Jean de Brebceuf, the 
 heroic, impassioned servant of Mary. It was he 
 who " once, imparadised in a trance, beheld the 
 Mother of Him whose cross he bore, surrounded by 
 a crowd of virgins, in the beatitudes of heaven." * 
 
 This was his vow : " What shall I render to Thee, 
 O my Lord Jesus, for all that I have received from 
 
 * Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 124.
 
 LABORS OF THE EARLY JESUIT FATHERS. 69 
 
 Thee? I will accept Thy chalice; Twill call upon 
 Thy name. And now I vow, in presence of Thine 
 Eternal Father, and of the Holy Ghost, in presence 
 of Thy most holy Mother ; before the angels, the 
 apostles, and the martyrs, my sainted fathers, Igna- 
 tius and Francis Xavier, that if, in Thy meixy, Thou 
 shalt ever offer unto me, Thy unworthy servant, the 
 grace of martyrdom, I will not refuse it. So that if 
 any occasion to die for Thee occur, I promise not to 
 shun it (unless Thy greater glory so demand), and 
 even to receive the mortal blow with joy. Now, 
 from this hour, I offer unto Thee, with all my will, 
 O Thou my Jesus, my body, my blood, my soul, so 
 that, by Thy permission, I may die for Thee, who 
 hast deigned to die for me. So let me live that I 
 may merit such a death ! So, Lord, will I accept 
 Thy chalice, and invoke Thy name, O Jesus, Jesus, 
 Jesus." * 
 
 St. Louis, St. Mary's, and Conception were attacked 
 by a thousand Iroquois in the winter of 1649. Among 
 the prisoners taken was John de Brebceuf, who, when 
 seeing the stake destined for his torture, kissed it 
 with respect. So earnestly did he exhort his com- 
 panions to be firm, that the brutal savages, in anger, 
 cut oft' his lips and tongue. Continuing still his ex- 
 hortation by signs, they gave him the first preference 
 in the torture. " Thou wert wont," they said to him, 
 " to tell others that the more they suffered here, the 
 greater would be their recompense in the new life. 
 
 * Relation de Bressani, p. 260.
 
 7<3 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Now, thank us, for we only brighten thy crown." 
 Then, having made a necklace of red-hot hatchet- 
 heads, they hung it about his neck. In mockery of 
 baptism, they poured boiling water upon his head. 
 They pierced his hands and breast with red-hot 
 irons ; they tore his flesh away in strips ; they cut his 
 scalp into the semblance of a crown, then tore it 
 from his head. He was a strong man, yet he died in 
 three hours, while his comrade, Gabriel Lallemant, 
 young, delicate, and frail, lived seventeen. Yet his 
 first torture was to be stripped, enveloped from 
 head to foot in bark, saturated with rosin, and set 
 on fire.* 
 
 With this brief sketch of the last days of the he- 
 roic martyred Breboeuf, whose memoir will be found 
 more in detail elsewhere, f we will conclude, with 
 the historian of the missions : J " Fain would we 
 pause to follow each in his labors, his trials, and his 
 toils ; recount their dangers from the heathen Huron, 
 the skulking Iroquois, the frozen river, hunger, cold, 
 and accident ; to show Gamier wrestling with the 
 floating ice, through which he sunk, on an errand of 
 mercy ; Chabanel, struggling on for years in a mis- 
 sion from which every fibre of his frame shrunk with 
 loathing ; Chaumonot, compiling his Indian gram- 
 mar, ou the frozen earth ; or the heroic Breboeuf, 
 paralyzed by a fall, with his collar-bone broken, 
 
 * Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 140. 
 
 t Catholic World, August, 1871. 
 
 J Shea, History of Catholic Missions, p. 183.
 
 LABORS OF THE EARLY JESUIT FATHERS. Jl 
 
 creeping on his hands and feet, along the frozen road, 
 and sleeping, unsheltered, on the snow, when the 
 very trees were splitting with cold." 
 
 But we must turn from these advance guards of 
 God's army in North America, to the secular and 
 regular clergy, bishop, and priest who are in the 
 heat of the fight, who live to battle in the day 
 we live. 
 
 Bancroft, the historian, to whose testimony we 
 have more than once referred, after a tribute to the 
 zeal of the missionary, says : " And yet the simplicity 
 and the freedom of life in the wilderness had its 
 charms. The heart of the missionary would swell 
 with delight as, under a serene sky, and with a mild 
 temperature, and breathing a pure air, he moved over 
 waters as transparent as the most liquid fountain. 
 Every encampment offered his attendants the pleas- 
 ures of the chase. Like a patriarch, he dwelt be- 
 neath a tent ; and of the land through which he 
 walked he was its master, in the length of it and in 
 the breadth of it, profiting by its productions without 
 the embarrassment of ownership. How often was 
 the pillow of stones like that where Jacob felt the 
 presence of God ! How often did the aged oak, 
 whereof the centuries were untold, seem like the tree 
 of Mamre, beneath which Abraham broke bread 
 with angels ! Each day gave the pilgrim a new site 
 for his dwelling, which the industry of a few mo- 
 ments could erect, and for which nature supplied a 
 floor of green, inlaid with flowers. On every side
 
 72 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 clustered beauties, which art had not spoiled, and 
 could not imitate." * 
 
 " He has the rough, hearty life of a soldier, and 
 the triumph of the discoverer ; and he has to teach 
 the true God to those who have worshipped demons, f 
 But the priests, in the midst of a more or less perfect 
 civilization, have not this. Their fight is against the 
 vices of civilization, very unpoetic, very unromantic ; 
 against the love of money, the cheatery of trade, the 
 permitted dishonor and dishonesty of the world ; 
 against the influence of the drinking-shop and the 
 low gambling-table ; against the serpent of liberalism 
 and godlessness : against the temptations of impurity 
 and false doctrine ; against the ever-changing phases 
 of sin in individuals ; against dangers which confer 
 no glory, and poverty which is not picturesque. 
 They are in the heart of the army, in the midst of 
 the ranks ; they are the unnoticed fighters, who fall, 
 and are succeeded by others, who fall in turn ; who 
 combat, all their lives, to gain one foot of ground, or, 
 perhaps, only not to lose one foot ; and whose record 
 is only on the page of the book of the Great King 
 on high. 
 
 " For them the steaming walls of the hospital re- 
 place the dark green, arching aisles of the stately, im- 
 memorial wood. For them the rush and roar of the 
 hot and narrow street must be a substitute for the 
 
 * Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 153. 
 t Rev. X. D. Macleod : Devotion to the B. V. Mary in 
 North America, chap. i.
 
 LABORS OF THE EARLY JESUIT FATHERS. 73 
 
 fresh, free leap of the wild and beautiful river. The 
 skulking convict and the drunkard, the brazen harlot 
 and the apostate Catholic, must be their dark-skinned 
 warrior tribe. The idols they must shatter are the 
 human passions ; the temples they must renovate are 
 human hearts."
 
 INTRODUCTION AND PROGRESS OF THE 
 CHURCH IN BOSTON. 
 
 UNDER the strict rule of Puritanism, Catholics were 
 so closely prohibited, that none entered the colony as 
 voluntary immigrants ; some poor natives of Ireland 
 were sold there as slaves ; some, at a later period, 
 came as redemptioners. From a letter addressed by 
 Villebone to the home government, in 1698, it would 
 seem that as these unfortunates occasionally visited 
 the French settlements as sailors or servants, their 
 first question was for a priest, for the French com- 
 mander asked for an Irish priest, to be stationed at 
 St. John's, for the benefit of the Catholics of Boston.* 
 
 This is the last we hear of these poor children of 
 the Faith, till, in 1756, Colonel Winslow and Captain 
 Mallay of New England, by order of government, 
 carried off fifteen thousand Acadians, or French 
 inhabitants of Nova Scotia, after taking them by 
 surprise, burning their village and farm-houses, and 
 plundering them of everything. Most of these people 
 were landed at various points on the coast in a state 
 of utter destitution. Many of them were left in 
 Massachusetts, and at other points of New England. 
 Men reduced from a state of ease and competence, 
 
 * Paris Doc. (Boston), iii. 371. 
 
 74
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 75 
 
 they. disdained to become menials, and claimed their 
 rights as prisoners of war, but were quartered on the 
 towns as paupers. The law prevented any priest 
 from entering the colony, and so their prayer for one 
 to bend over their dying kindred, was rejected with 
 scorn by men who boasted of a purer faith ! and who, 
 year after year, tell us in their histories that the " Neu- 
 trals," as they were called, were " still ignorant, big- 
 oted Catholics, broken-spirited, poor, and ignorant." * 
 
 Of these many died of misery, leaving their chil- 
 dren to be brought up by men who spoke in a foreign 
 language, and professed a foreign creed ; others re- 
 turned to Nova Scotia, or reached Canada, or Mada- 
 waska, where they founded a settlement, which still 
 subsists ; others sailed to France, the West Indies, 
 or Louisiana, founding in the latter colony a new 
 Acadia.f 
 
 Long justified by the oppressors, this act was first 
 held up to odium by a woman, and now that our 
 poet Longfellow has embalmed the sufferings of these 
 poor Catholics in undying verse, even historians must 
 blush to record the deeds of a Winslow. 
 
 A few Catholics may have gathered at Boston, or 
 been scattered through the country, but under the 
 penal laws, deprived of all religious instruction, their 
 
 * This is the language of Williamson's History of Maine, 
 published (credat Judzeus Apella) in the year of grace 1835. 
 
 t Garneau's Canada. Some facts may be found in Mrs. 
 Williamson's Neutral French, preface and appendix; the 
 more curious from the queer bigotry of the amiable writer. 
 See, also, Walsh's Appeal from the Judgment of Great 
 Britain, p. 437.
 
 76 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 children grew up Protestants. Among these we must 
 number General Sullivan, whose name is blended 
 with so many hard-fought battles of our Revolution, 
 but whose Catholic parents seem never to have taught 
 him to lisp the name of Mary. 
 
 With the Revolution, however, a change came. 
 Washington, the long-to-be-remembered Father of 
 his country, unused to the bigotry of the north, had 
 scarcely appeared in the camp at Boston, when he 
 found preparations on foot for burning the Pope in 
 effigy. His order shows at once his mode of viewing 
 the matter : 
 
 "November 5th. As the Commandei'-in-chief has 
 been apprised of a design formed for the observance 
 of that ridiculous and childish custom of burning the 
 effigy of the Pope, he cannot help expressing his sur- 
 prise that there should be officers and soldiers in this 
 army so void of common sense as not to see the im- 
 propriety of such a step at this juncture ; at a time 
 when we are soliciting, and have really obtained, 
 the friendship and alliance of the people of Canada, 
 whom we ought to consider as brethren embarked in 
 the same cause, the defence of the liberty of Amer- 
 ica. At this juncture, and under such circumstances, 
 to be insulting their religion, is so monstrous as not to 
 be suffered or excused ; indeed, instead of offering 
 the most remote insult, it is our duty to address pub- 
 lic thanks to these our brethren, as to them we are 
 indebted for every late happy success over the com- 
 mon enemy in Canada." * 
 
 * Washington's Writings, iii. 144. See U. S. Catholic 
 Magazine, viii. 85.
 
 PROGRESS OK THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 77 
 
 Thus discouraged, the silly custom was suppressed 
 in the camp, but still held undisputed sway in the 
 towns and cities. 
 
 Washington wrote, about this time, to the Catholic 
 Indian tribes in Maine, inviting the Penobscots, Pas- 
 samaquoddies, and St. John's, to join the cause of 
 freedom. Delegates of those tribes at once set out to 
 confer with the Massachusetts council, which met 
 them at Watertown. Ambrose Var, the chief of the 
 Indians from the St. John's, was the spokesman ; he 
 was a Catholic a man of deep religious feeling. 
 " We are thankful to the Almighty to see the coun- 
 cil," is his salute. 
 
 Convinced by the arguments adduced by the dele- 
 gates of Massachusetts to show the justice of their 
 cause, these Indians promised to adhere to the Amer- 
 icans in the coming struggle, and aid them to the best 
 of their power. They made but one request : " We 
 want a black-gown, or French priest. Jesus we pray 
 to, and we will not hear any prayer that comes from 
 Old England." 
 
 The General Court of Massachusetts expressed its 
 satisfaction at their respect for religion, and declared 
 themselves ready to get a French priest ; but truly 
 added that they did not know where to find one. 
 The Penobscots followed the example of the Pas- 
 samaquoddies and other eastern tribes ; they, too, 
 joined the Americans, but a priest should accompany 
 them, was their request ; and they, too, obtained the 
 promise of one from the very body which had made 
 the missionaries' life treason, and scarce fifty years
 
 78 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 before tracked one to death like a wild beast of the 
 forest. 
 
 The Indians joined the American cause sincerely. 
 How important their accession was, we may judge 
 from the words of the historian Williamson.* 
 
 Numbers of the Abenakis joined the American 
 army, and Orono, the Penobscot chief, bore a com- 
 mission, which he ennobled by his virtues and bra- 
 very. They had long been without a priest, but their 
 church still remained, to maintain their faith. This, 
 at length, fell a sacrifice to the English, who destroyed 
 it during the war. But the Penobscots never wavered 
 in their faith. In all his changes, from the forest and 
 wigwam to the camp and the city, from the society 
 of the Catholic children of the forest to that of the 
 more polished Congregationalist of New England, 
 Orono was ever faithful to his religion. When urged 
 to frequent Protestant place's of worship, as he had 
 no longer any of his own, he exclaimed, " We know 
 our religion and love it ; we know nothing of yours." 
 
 Soon, too, the alliance with France brought whole 
 Catholic fleets and armies across the Atlantic. Count 
 d'Estaing entered the harbor of Boston on the 25th 
 of August, 1778, and remained till November. Dur- 
 ing this interval many of the Boston people witnessed 
 divine service performed for the fleet, and were favor- 
 ably impressed with the piety and respect of the 
 officers and crew. 
 
 When the fleet arrived at Newport, Rhode Island 
 
 * See authorities in Shea's History of the Catholic Mis- 
 sions, 155.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 79 
 
 hastened to wipe off her statute book the clause 
 excluding Catholics.* 
 
 At Boston, too, either on the occasion of the fes- 
 tival of All-Souls, or on the death of some officer, a 
 funeral procession traversed the streets with a crucifix 
 at its head, and priests solemnly chanting, while the 
 selectmen of Boston joined in the ceremony, giving 
 this public mark of respect for the faith of their 
 allies.f 
 
 * Williamson's History of Maine. 
 t U. S. Catholic Magazine, viii. 246.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FIRST CATHOLIC 
 CHURCH IN BOSTON. 
 
 WHEN the Revolutionary War had been brought 
 to its happy termination, and the United States of 
 America had gained their independence, there were 
 in Boston a few Frenchmen and Spaniards, and 
 about thirty Irishmen, among whom a clergyman, 
 who had been chaplain of the French navy, resolved 
 to settle. His name was Claude Florent Bouchard de 
 la Porterie ; but his stay, however, was limited, as in 
 1790 he left for the West Indies. He was succeeded 
 by Rev. Louis Rousselet, another clergyman, origi- 
 nally from France, who also, soon after the arrival 
 of an English speaking successor, set out for the 
 same destination. This was Rev. John Thayer, who 
 was born in Boston, and belonged, through his father 
 Cornelius, to one of the oldest and most wide-spread 
 families in Massachusetts.* 
 
 * See Family Memorial, by Ezra Thayer. He speaks of 
 the illustrious convert on page 125. 
 
 80
 
 PROG HESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 8 1 
 
 Like many others of his family, he studied for 
 the church, and became a Congregational minister. 
 From the position of his family he was soon made 
 chaplain to the Governor, but had not been two 
 years in the ministry when God called on him to 
 leave his country and home. By the signal mercy 
 of Heaven he was to be led to a distant land, to bow 
 in humble and sincere faith to the Church of God, 
 which his ill-starred ancestors had forsaken to grope 
 in the maze of man-made creeds. 
 
 " I felt a secret inclination to travel," he says, in 
 an account which he published after his conversion. 
 " I nourished the desire and formed a resolution of 
 passing into Europe, to learn the languages which 
 are most in use, and to acquire a knowledge of the 
 constitution of states, of the manners, distorts, laws, 
 and governments of the principal nations, in order 
 to acquire, by this political knowledge, a greater 
 consequence in my own country, and thus become 
 more useful to it. Such were my human views, 
 without the least suspicion of the secret designs of 
 Providence, which was preparing for me more pre- 
 cious advantages." 
 
 He sailed for France in 1781. Shortly after his 
 arrival he was taken sick, and so strongly was he 
 attached to his sect, that he gave orders that no 
 priest should be admitted into his room. After his 
 recovery he passed over to England, where he spent 
 three months. He was there asked to preach, and 
 accepted the invitation ; but his doctrine was found 
 not to be conformable to that of the country where 
 6
 
 82 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 he was. He justified himself, by stating that he 
 had drawn it from the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 Mr. Thayer had nourished a bitter prejudice 
 against Catholicity, and the nations who professed 
 it ; hence the Italians were to him objects of a holy 
 horror, his prepossessed mind viewing them in the 
 most odious light, as the most superstitious of men. 
 However, he must see Rome, that great metropolis of 
 the arts ; he must visit the tombs of Virgil and Dante ; 
 he must drink at that living fountain of letters and 
 science. In his passage from Marseilles to Rome, 
 he was obliged to remain several days in a small 
 harbor, called Port Creole. The Marquis d'El- 
 moro, mayor of the place, received him with frater- 
 nal affection and kindness, though a perfect stran- 
 ger. His house, his table, his library, all were at 
 his service. At his departure he made him promise 
 to keep a continued correspondence with him. Mr. 
 Thayer, in the account of his conversion, to which we 
 have alluded, and from which we glean these facts, 
 tells us that he afterwards met with many Italians 
 whose kindness and cordiality towards a stranger 
 and a Protestant, dispelled the bitterness of his 
 early prejudice, and prepared his soul to receive the 
 light. As soon as he entered Rome, his first desire 
 was to visit the principal monuments of antiquity 
 which are attractive to strangers. The Rotunda or 
 Pantheon, a temple formerly consecrated to the 
 worship of all the heathen deities, and now dedi- 
 cated to the ONE GOD, under the invocation of the 
 Virgin Mother and ALL the Saints, was in an espe-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 83 
 
 cial manner the object of his admiration. While 
 he regretted that the superstitions of Catholics 
 should have entered it, the sublime thought of ele- 
 vating the Crucified over the idols of the nations, 
 and establishing the empire of God on the ruins of 
 the kingdom of the " strong one armed," seemed to 
 him to be truly heavenly, and in the fervor of his 
 heart he prayed for the benighted men who knew 
 not the true gospel of Christ, and remained plunged 
 in the darkness of former errors. 
 
 He had of the Jesuits the opinion entertained by 
 many Protestants, deeming them men of deep cun- 
 ning, political craft, and subtle reasoning. He had 
 never seen a member of the Society of Jesus, and 
 knew the Jesuits but from the calumnies of their 
 enemies. While visiting some of the public monu- 
 ments, he met two ecclesiastics whose simplicity and 
 conversational charms pleased him exceedingly, and 
 great was his astonishment when they told him they 
 were Jesuits. The Catholic religion was soon intro- 
 duced as the subject of their conversation by Mr. 
 Thayer himself, who wished to acquire some knowl- 
 edge of it, as he would have desired to learn what 
 were the tenets of Mahometanism, had he been in 
 Constantinople. The examination of the dogmas 
 of the Catholic Church was long and serious ; con- 
 sidering, on the one hand, that unerring sameness 
 through ages of the Church of Rome, on the other, 
 the wavering instability of all the Protestant sects, 
 he became convinced that Protestantism was not the 
 religion of Jesus Christ.
 
 84 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 One obstacle still remained. A deeply rooted 
 prejudice caused him, until by ocular demonstra- 
 tion it was removed, to disbelieve in miraculous 
 events since the days of the apostles. During his 
 stay in Rome, the venerable Benedict Labre died in 
 the odor of sanctity ; poor and despised during his 
 life, this pious servant of God was glorified after 
 his death. Many miracles, well attested by an entire 
 population, were wrought through his intercession, 
 to several of which Mr. Thayer was himself a wit- 
 ness. Convinced of the truth, he still hesitated, 
 for he must renounce all the ambitious projects of a 
 bright earthly career, dissolve all connection with 
 parents and friends, who would despise the super- 
 stitious papist, forget the past, and begin a new life, 
 unlearn all he had been taught, and subject his rea- 
 son to authority. Faith, however, prevailed, and on 
 the twenty-fifth of May, 1783, he abjured Protestant- 
 ism publicly, and before a large assembly of former 
 friends, whom he had invited to the solemn cer- 
 emony. 
 
 He subsequently concluded to embrace the eccle- 
 siastical state, being fully persuaded that he was 
 called to it by the Almighty, for His greater glory, 
 and the salvation of his own soul, as well as of those 
 of his own countrymen. He returned to France, 
 and entered that eminent school of learning and 
 piety, St. Sulpice of Paris, that has given to the 
 Church so many pious priests and pontiffs. After 
 due preparation, he was ordained to the priest- 
 hood, and returned to America, where he was ap-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 85 
 
 pointed, by the Rev. Dr. Carroll, to the mission 
 of Boston. 
 
 At that time Boston contained only 18,038 souls ; 
 and the Catholic portion of this population did not 
 exceed one hundred. They were in the habit of 
 assembling in the little church on School Street, 
 formerly occupied by a congregation of Huguenots, 
 which, since the death of their minister, Mr. Mer- 
 cier, had dwindled away to nothing. 
 
 In order not to be disturbed or molested, under 
 any pretence, in the exercise of his ministry, he 
 obtained a lease of the building from the Perkins 
 family, to whom the property belonged. Here he 
 continued to collect his little flock, who were over- 
 joyed to have among them a pastor speaking their 
 own language, who in his native city had witnessed 
 their growth, while yet he knew them not, and 
 whom their religious adversaries respected for his 
 independent profession of a faith odious to many. 
 His reception by his former friends and acquain- 
 tances, and by Protestants in general, was equally 
 flattering and kind, and led him to form the most 
 favorable anticipation of a successful ministry. The 
 following letter, written to a friend a few months 
 after his arrival in Boston, will show how cordially 
 he was greeted by all classes of citizens : 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND : I reached Boston on the 
 4th of January last, and have everywhere been 
 received with the most flattering attention. My 
 own relatives expressed the greatest joy at my
 
 86 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 return. The Governor of the State, whose chaplain 
 I formerly was, has promised to do all in his power 
 to forward my views, and favor the work for which 
 I have been sent to Boston. I have received noth- 
 ing but kindness and attention from the ministers of 
 the town. Many of them have visited me, and 
 evinced a degree of cordiality which I had little 
 reason to expect. The officers of the custom-house 
 have also carried their politeness so far as to be 
 unwilling to take anything for the many large boxes 
 which I had procured from France and England, 
 having looked upon their contents as things de- 
 signed for sacred purposes. 
 
 " On the first Sunday after my arrival, I an- 
 nounced the word of God, and all flocked in crowds 
 to hear me. A great degree of curiosity is mani- 
 fested to become acquainted with our belief, and the 
 free toleration allowed here has enabled me to enter 
 into a full exposition of it. But I was not long in a 
 condition to satisfy the curiosity and eagerness of 
 the people of Boston. I had been only a fortnight 
 in the town, when it pleased Almighty God to afflict 
 me with a sickness that kept me confined to my bed 
 for a month. The danger appeared to me so seri- 
 ous on one occasion, that I requested the Holy 
 Viaticum of a French clergyman with whom I am 
 associated in the work of the Lord and of His 
 Church. My health was restored by degrees ; and 
 as soon as I had recovered sufficient strength, I 
 availed myself of the privilege allowed me to cele- 
 brate Mass in my chamber. When my health was
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 87 
 
 sufficiently restored, I resumed my functions of 
 preaching, confessing and visiting the few sheep 
 that compose our little flock. 
 
 " On every occasion the Protestants evince the 
 same eagerness to come and hear me ; but they con- 
 tent themselves with that. The indifference and 
 philosophy which prevail here as much as any- 
 where else, are an obstacle to the fruit of preaching, 
 which it is exceedingly difficult to remove, an 
 obstacle, however, which does not in the least dis- 
 courage me. I have had the pleasure of receiving 
 a few recantations, and our dear neophytes afford 
 me great consolation by the sanctity of their life. 
 About one hundred Catholics, consisting of French, 
 Irishmen, and Americans, are what constitute at 
 present our Church. About a dozen of them can 
 attend Mass daily. I am engaged in instructing a 
 few Protestants, whom I hope to restore shortly to 
 our common Mother. I recommend our mission 
 most earnestly to your prayers. We are in want of 
 laborers for the cultivation of the immense field 
 which has been so long abandoned in these United 
 States. 
 
 (Signed.) THAYER. 
 
 " BOSTON, July i7th, 1790." 
 
 Our apostolic missionary had now labored ten 
 months, when, in the ardor of his zeal for the con- 
 version of his countrymen, he was prompted to 
 publish in one of the public papers the following 
 advertisement :
 
 88 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 "Mr. Thayer, Catholic Priest of Boston, fully 
 persuaded that he has found the inestimable treas- 
 ure of the Gospel, is greatly desirous of imparting 
 it to his dear countrymen. For this purpose, he 
 offers to preach on the evenings of the week-days in 
 any of .the neighboring towns. If any persons desire 
 to hear the exposition of the Catholic faith, of 
 which the majority of Americans have so mistaken 
 an idea, and will furnish any place for the accom- 
 modation of hearers, Mr. Thayer will be ever ready 
 to attend them. He will also undertake to answer 
 ihe objections any gentleman would wish to make, 
 either publicly or privately, to the doctrine he 
 preaches." 
 
 Shortly after the above advertisement, a Mr. 
 George Leslie, a Congregationalist minister, look- 
 ing upon it as a challenge, declared that he would 
 take up the gauntlet, which he attempted, but soon 
 courage failed him, and he was silent. 
 
 In the month of January, 1791, Mr. Thayer 
 opened a series of controversial lectures in his little 
 church on School Street, to which he invited all 
 who loved the truth, and sincerely desired salvation, 
 that they might hear about those great and impor- 
 tant things which hitherto had been concealed from 
 them. " It is no vain presumption in my own 
 learning or abilities that prompts me to this step," 
 says Mr. Thayer, " my only motive is the glory of 
 God in the salvation of souls. My entire trust is in 
 the strength of my Redeemer and the goodness 
 of my cause." These controversial lectures were
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 89 
 
 continued twice every week, and the church was 
 crowded by those who, through curiosity or a 
 desire for information, came to hear the exposition 
 of Catholic doctrines. The little flock now began 
 to gain some consideration, and the name of Cath- 
 olic was no longer synonymous with ignorance, as it 
 had been in past days. 
 
 In the meanwhile the enemies of the Church sent 
 forth every now and then some new pamphlet or 
 tract to revile her doctrines, and every attack was 
 repelled by Mr. Thayer alone and single-handed ; 
 and as he never suffered any argument to go by un- 
 answered, he effected much good, among those 
 particularly who were anxious to know the truth. 
 The ministers, however, for the most part, finding 
 they could not meet successfully the arguments of 
 the priest, sought by ridicule and misrepresentation 
 to prevent if possible the people from embracing the 
 Catholic faith, or even from examining and investi- 
 gating its true principles ; and in every instance 
 where any conversion should take place under the 
 preaching of Rev. Mr. Thayer, to use every effort 
 to deter others from following their example, by 
 arming their own relatives against them, by depriv- 
 ing them of the society and assistance of their 
 friends, and striving even to deprive them of the 
 means of obtaining a decent maintenance so long as 
 they should persevere. Discouraging as it was un- 
 der such circumstances to abjure heresy and join 
 the Church, yet many were daily added to the fold.
 
 90 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ADDITIONAL LABORERS. THE ARRIVAL OF 
 REV. DRS. MATIGNON AND CIQUARD. 
 
 The French Revolution had no*w broken out, and 
 thousands of the best clergy of France were exiled 
 from their native land. Four eminent priests, vic- 
 tims of the same persecution, landed together in 
 Baltimore on the 24th of June, 1792. Rev. Francis 
 Matignon, Regius Professor of Divinity in the Col- 
 lege of Navarre ; Rev. Ambrose Marechal, Rev. 
 Gabriel Richard, and Rev. Francis Ciquard, Di- 
 rector of the Seminary of Bourges. 
 
 Rejoiced at this accession to his clergy, Bishop 
 Carroll resolved to send two of them to New Eng- 
 land ; one to Boston, and the other to the State of 
 Maine. Dr. Matignon was sent to Boston, and 
 begun by devoting himself to the study of English, 
 entering on the duties of the ministry on the 2oth of 
 August, 1792. 
 
 Dr. Matignon was born in Paris on the loth of 
 November, 1753. Devoted to letters and to religion 
 from his earliest youth, his progress in learning 
 was rapid and his piety truly remarkable. He 
 attracted the notice of the learned faculty as he 
 passed through the several grades of classical and 
 theological studies, in the last of which he was un- 
 der the guidance of St. Sulpice. Having taken the 
 degree of Bachelor of Divinity, he was ordained 
 priest on Saturday, September 10, 1778, the very 
 day of the month and week which forty years after 
 was to be his last.
 
 REV. DR. MATIGXOX.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 9! 
 
 His talents and his piety had recommended him 
 to the notice of Cardinal De Brienne,- who obtained 
 for him from the king, Louis XVI., the grant of 
 an annuity, which was sufficient for all his wants, 
 established him in independence, and took away all 
 anxiety for the future. But the ways of Providence 
 are inscrutable to the wisest and best of the children 
 of men. The revolution which dethroned his be- 
 loved monarch, and stained the altar of his God 
 with the blood of holy men, drove Dr. Matignon an 
 exile from his native shore. He fled to England, 
 where he remained a few months, and then returned 
 to France, to prepare for a voyage to the United 
 States. 
 
 The talents of Dr. Matignon, says a writer who 
 knew him well, were of the highest order. In him 
 were united a sound understanding, a rich and vigo- 
 rous imagination, and logical precision of thought. 
 His learning was extensive, critical, and profound, 
 and all his productions were deeply cast, symmetri- 
 cally formed, and deeply colored. The early fathers 
 of the Church, and the great divines of every age, 
 were his familiar friends. His divinity was not 
 merely speculative, nor merely practical ; it was the 
 blended influence of thought, feeling, and action. 
 The wise bowed to his superior knowledge, and the 
 humble caught the spirit of his devotion. In man- 
 ner he was an accomplished gentleman, professing 
 that kindness of heart and delicacy of feeling which 
 made him study the wants and anticipate the wishes 
 of all he knew. Born and educated in the bosom
 
 92 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 of refinement, he had associated with chevalier and 
 nobles, had been the friend of cardinals, prelates, 
 and premiers. Amenity and urbanity has at all 
 times been a distinguishing characteristic of the 
 French people, and the clergy of France has at all 
 times been the flower and pride of the nation. And 
 their scrupulous fidelity to the social observances, 
 and to those duties which man owes to his fellow- 
 man, was but a natural consequence of their fidelity 
 to their duties towards their God and their faith ; 
 fidelity that made them suffer cheerfully everything 
 for Christ, the loss of their wealth, of their good 
 name, even of their life ; and in the days of the 
 monster persecution of infidel philosophy, of one 
 hundred and forty bishops of France, but four were 
 found wanting in integrity and good faith. 
 
 When Dr. Matignon came to Boston new trials 
 awaited him. He found the people of New Eng- 
 land more than suspicious about the great designs 
 he had in view. Absurd and foolish legends of the 
 Pope and Popery had been handed down from 
 father to son since the first colonization of New 
 England, and a prejudice of undefined and unde- 
 finable dislike, if not hatred, to everything con- 
 nected with Rome, reigned supreme in the minds 
 of the Puritan community. It required a thorough 
 acquaintance with the world to know precisely how 
 to meet these sentiments of a whole people. Vio- 
 lence and indisci'etion would have destroyed all 
 hopes of success ; ignorance would have exposed 
 the cause to sarcasm and contempt ; and enthusi-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTOX. 93 
 
 asm too manifest would have produced a reaction 
 that would have ruined the infant establishment. 
 Dr. Matignon was exactly fitted to encounter all 
 these difficulties ; and he saw them, and knew the 
 extent of his task. With meekness and humility he 
 disarmed the proud ; with prudence, learning, and 
 wisdom he met the captious and slanderous ; and 
 so gentle and so just was his course, that even the 
 censorious forgot to watch him, and the malicious 
 were too cunning to attack one armed so strong in 
 his poverty. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Thayer rejoiced at the acquisition of a 
 co-operator of such merit, and already began to 
 anticipate from his superior learning and piety the 
 most favorable results to the rising Church in Bos- 
 ton. He received him in his humble mansion as an 
 angel from heaven sent expressly to promote the 
 great cause of the Redeemer by extending His 
 Church in this new section. 
 
 The destination of Rev. Mr. Ciquard was differ- 
 ent ; his mission was to the Indians of Maine. The 
 Kennebec tribe had dwindled away by emigration, 
 disease, and war ; but the Penobscots, Passamaquod- 
 dies. and the Indians of St. John were still numerous. 
 Although destitute of missionaries, since the with- 
 drawal of their last spiritual guide, Father Ger- 
 main, they liad still clung to their faith, and on 
 joining the Americans in the revolution, solicited a 
 priest. Hearing that there was a black-gown at 
 Boston, they wrote to Father Thayer, through their 
 agent, Mr. Allen ; and this letter, shown to Bishop
 
 94 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Carroll on his visit, first informed him of the exist- 
 ence of those of his children in Maine. Soon after 
 his return to Baltimore, he received a crucifix from 
 them, a relic of one of their former missionaries, 
 and another letter imploring a priest. 
 
 The reply of the Bishop was as follows : 
 
 " BRETHREN AND BELOVED CHILDREN IN JE- 
 SUS CHRIST : I received with the greatest plea- 
 sure the testimony of your attachment to your 
 holy religion, and I venerate it, the sacred crucifix 
 sent by you as expressive of your faith. 
 
 " Brethren and Children : I embrace you with 
 the affection of a father, and am exceedingly desir- 
 ous to procure for you a worthy teacher and min- 
 ister of God's holy sanctuary, who may administer 
 to your young people, to your sons and daughters, 
 the sacrament of baptism, and instruct them and 
 you in the law of God and the exercise of a Chris- 
 tian life, may reconcile you to your Lord and 
 Maker, after all your transgressions, and may per- 
 form for your women after child-bearing the rites 
 ordained by the Church of Christ. 
 
 " Brethren and Beloved Children : As soon as I 
 received your request, and was informed of your 
 necessity, I sent for one or two virtuous and worthy 
 priests to go and remain with you, that you may 
 never more be reduced to the same distressful situ- 
 ation in which you have lived so long ; but as they 
 are far distant, I am afraid they will not be with you 
 before the putting out of the leaves again. This
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 95 
 
 should have been done much sooner if I had been 
 informed of your situation. You may depend upon 
 it that you shall always be in my heart, and in my 
 mind ; and if it please God to give me the time, I 
 shall certainly visit you myself. 
 
 " Brethren and beloved Children : I trust in that 
 good God who made us all, and in His blessed Son 
 Jesus Christ, who redeemed us, that all the Indians, 
 northward and eastward, will be made partakers of 
 the blessing which my desire is to procure for you ; 
 and I rejoice very much that you and they wish to 
 be united to your brethren, the Americans. You 
 have done very well not to receive amongst you 
 those ministers who go without being called or sent 
 by that authority which Jesus Christ has established 
 for the government of His Church. Those whom 
 I shall send you will be such good and virtuous 
 priests as instructed your fathers in the law of God, 
 and taught them to regard this life only as a prepa- 
 ration for, and a passage to a better life in heaven. 
 
 " In token of my fatherly love and sincere affec- 
 tion, I send back to you after embracing it, the holy 
 crucifix which I received with your letter, and I 
 enclose it in a picture from our Holy Father, the 
 Pope, the head on earth, under Christ, of our divine 
 religion ; and this my answer is accompanied like- 
 wise with nine medals representing our divine Lord 
 Jesus Christ and His most Holy Mother. I desire 
 that these may be received by the Chiefs of the 
 River St. John, Passamaquoddy, and Micmacs, who 
 signed the address to me. They came from and
 
 96 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 received the blessing of our same Holy Father, the 
 Vicar of Jesus Christ in the government of His 
 Church. 
 
 " That the blessing of God may come down upon 
 you, your women and children, and remain forever, 
 is the earnest prayer of your father, friend, and ser- 
 vant in Christ. 
 
 " ^ JOHN, Bishop of Baltimore.* 
 
 "BALTIMORE, Sept. 6,. 1781." 
 
 Thus the descendants of the flock of the Jesuits, 
 Recollects, and missionary priests of Quebec, passed 
 under the spiritual care of the Bishop of Baltimore. 
 The Rev. Mr. Ciquard was selected to be their 
 spiritual guide, and proceeded to Old Town, on the 
 Penobscot, and soon after his arrival restored the 
 mission founded by Mr. Thury, and labored here 
 with zeal and success for many years. During his 
 stay he instituted very wise rules for the direction 
 of the Indians, and had much to struggle with in 
 order to bring them to anything like regularity. 
 Wishing, however, to join his fellow Sulpitians at 
 Montreal, he passed to the English side, and became 
 pastor of the Indians on the St. John's River. This 
 was a severe blow to Bishop Carroll, as it left an 
 interesting portion of his flock without a spiritual 
 father. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Thayer, upon the arrival of Rev. Dr. 
 
 * Brent, Biographical Sketch of the Most Rev. John 
 Carroll, page 150.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 97 
 
 Matignon, was now at liberty to give greater scope 
 to his zeal by taking a wider range and extending 
 his visits to other parts of New England. His 
 excursions, thei'efore, were more frequent, and he 
 was able to tarry longer in particular places where 
 his services were more required. In this way he 
 continued to labor, announcing the Gospel in every 
 large town and village, and gaining many souls to 
 God by reclaiming them from heresy, until the year 
 1799, when the Bishop of Baltimore, anxious to 
 provide for the spiritual necessities of all confided 
 to his pastoral care, withdrew him from the New 
 England mission, and sent him" to labor on that of 
 Kentucky, a State of which the vast extent and 
 increasing population seemed to require one of his 
 activity and great zeal. 
 
 What we learn subsequently of Rev. Father 
 Thayer, is, that while laboring on the mission of 
 Kentucky, and meditating the advantages of a truly 
 Christian education, he conceived the design of estab- 
 lishing in his native city an institution similar to 
 many he had seen abroad in France and Italy, a 
 convent school for young Catholic females. He there- 
 fore, after a few years, left Kentucky, and with the 
 approbation of the Bishop went to Europe, with 
 the view of raising, by eleemosynary contributions, 
 sufficient funds for its establishment. The plan 
 was ridiculed by some, laughed at by others, while 
 even the most friendly to the undertaking thought it 
 never could succeed. Father Thayer, however, 
 persevered in his pious project, and had already
 
 98 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 collected between eight and ten thousand dollars, 
 when Almighty God called him to Himself, to 
 reward him for his zeal and missionary labors. He 
 died in Limerick, Ireland, beloved and respected by 
 all who knew him, leaving his funds and the com- 
 pletion of his design to the great and good Dr. 
 Matignon. The funds were wisely and prudently 
 managed by him till the sum had nearly or quite 
 doubled itself. At the death of Dr. Matignon, 
 Right Rev. John de Cheverus became sole trustee, 
 and immediately prepared to carry the intentions of 
 his predecessor into effect as far as he could. A 
 lot of land adjoining the church of Holy Cross was 
 purchased, upon which buildings were erected, and 
 on the i6th of June, 1820, at the invitation of the 
 Bishop, two professed nuns and two sisters of the 
 Ursuline Order arrived and took possession of their 
 convent. In a short time a school was opened, of 
 which the advantages were soon felt by the whole 
 community, and which diffused among the pupils a 
 degree of piety and intelligence highly creditable to 
 the establishment. 
 
 Should any be inquisitive enough to ask what 
 became of this first Young Ladies Catholic School 
 establishment? and the sisters, what became of 
 them ? the history of " Mount Benedict," Charles- 
 town, August n, 1834, will answer the questien, and 
 tell the event till the end of time.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 99 
 
 THE ARRIVAL IN BOSTON OF REV. JOHN DE 
 CHEVERUS. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Matignon was not, however, left long 
 alone. Among the French clergy whom he had left 
 in England was one in whom he had great confi- 
 dence. This was Rev. John de Cheverus, a native 
 of Mayenne, and rector there when the revolution 
 broke out. He wrote to him in 1795, urging him to 
 come to a field so destitute of evangelical laboi'ers, 
 and adducing every motive which he thought could 
 influence his friend. Rev. J. de Cheverus yielded, 
 and having fortunately found a vessel sailing for 
 Boston, embarked, and reached here on the third of 
 October, 1796, to the great joy and consolation of 
 Dr. Matignon. 
 
 " This great and good man," says the writer of 
 his memoir, " was born at Mayenne, in the province 
 of the same name, on the 28th of January, 1768. 
 His family was highly respectable. At an early 
 age he entered the ecclesiastical state. The canons 
 requiring the candidate for the priesthood to be in his 
 twenty-fifth year, and J. de Cheverus not yet being 
 twenty-three, a dispensation was obtained from the 
 Holy See, and he was ordained priest December 
 1 8, 1790? at the last public ordination in Paris 
 before the i evolution. He was shortly appointed 
 curate to his native parish and vicar-general 
 of the diocese. And now broke out fierce and 
 bloody that frightful revolution that surpassed in 
 atrocities all that history has recorded. The perse-
 
 IOO SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 cution of the clergy and the faithful marked every 
 step of its progress, for the disciples of Voltaire 
 and Diderot sought far less the overthrow of the 
 ancient monarchy than the destruction of the ancient 
 religion of France. An impious oath was proposed 
 to the bishops and priests, which, if they would not 
 take, they were cast into prison, and the prison was 
 the high road to death. J. de Cheverus having 
 refused to take the oath, and being threatened with 
 assassination, acceded to the request of his flock, 
 retired from the city, and was concealed for a time 
 among his friends. In the summer of 1792, he was 
 seized and confined in the convent of the Cordeliers, 
 with the Bishop of Dol, and several other clergy- 
 men. In this place they were confined for a fort- 
 night, momentarily expecting to hear the doors 
 grate upon their hinges and to see the murderer 
 with his dagger at their breast. The place was 
 destitute of furniture or provisions, and their distress 
 was great until partially relieved by a few coura- 
 geous friends to humanity and religion. Delivered 
 from prison, J. de Cheverus repaired to Paris, and 
 was concealed in that city on the second and third 
 of September, during the memorable days of the 
 massacre of the clergy. Four days after this bloody 
 scene he left Paris, disguised in a military dress, 
 having a passport bearing the name of his brother, 
 whom, though much younger, he greatly resembled, 
 and followed to England that noble band of exiled 
 confessors who held their faith dearer than all 
 things earthly. He now applied himself with great
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. IOI 
 
 
 
 assiduity to the study of the English language, and 
 made such progress that at the end of three months 
 he was able to give lessons in French and mathe- 
 matics at a boarding-school, where he became a 
 teacher in 1793. Finding in the neighborhood a 
 few Catholic families, who had no pastor nor place 
 of worship, he applied to Right Rev. Dr. Douglass, 
 bishop of the London district, and obtained permis- 
 sion to officiate for them. A house was procured, 
 and part of it converted into a chapel, while the 
 other part he appropriated for his own use as a 
 dwelling-house ; and from this arrangement he was 
 enabled to invite a few clergymen to reside with 
 him. J. de Cheverus had always cherished strong 
 hopes of soon returning to France ; but the hour of 
 return was not at hand. In 1795 he was invited by 
 Dr. Matignon, with whom he had been slightly 
 acquainted in Paris, to join him in Boston. Having 
 informed his ordinary, the Bishop of Mans, of his 
 intention of crossing the Atlantic, he received an 
 affectionate letter from the aged prelate, then an 
 exile as well as himself, praising his zeal, yet 
 urging him to wait and hope for better days ; but 
 nothing would alter his determination, and he 
 arrived in Boston, October 3d, 1796." 
 
 Immediately after his arrival at Boston, Rev. J. 
 de Cheverus wrote to Bishop Carroll, and was ap- 
 pointed to the Indian mission. He accepted it 
 cheerfully. " Send me where you think I am most 
 needed," he wrote, " without making yourself anx- 
 ious about the means of supporting me. I am
 
 IO3 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 willing to work with my hands, if need be. and I 
 believe I have strength enough to do it." He 
 reached Pleasant Point on the 3Oth of July, 1797, 
 and immediately took up his abode in the little 
 house erected for him. " My house," he writes 
 gayly, " (and with pride I say it, for it is a long 
 time since I was in a house of my own), my house 
 is about ten feet square and eight feet high, and the 
 church as large again, but not a great deal higher. 
 In both no other material than bark and a few logs 
 of wood and sticks set up crossways to support the 
 bark ; no windows, of course the only opening is 
 the door. This makes the church dark, and I can 
 hardly read at the altar. The only piece of furni- 
 ture in the house is a large table made of rough 
 boards. The altar-piece is made of two pieces of 
 broadcloth the one of scarlet and the other of 
 dark blue." 
 
 Such was the state of this mission, and such the 
 residence of the future Cardinal. 
 
 The Indians had received him with great joy, and 
 with volleys of musketry. He addressed them on 
 his ai'rival, and the next day offered up a solemn 
 Mass for the dead, the Indians to his surprise chant- 
 ing the Latin responses quite accurately. "What 
 courage and patience," he exclaims, " in the first 
 missionaries ! " 
 
 Guided by the letters of Mr. Ciquard, whose 
 experience had rendered his advice most precious, 
 J. de Cheverus laid down rules for his flock, and 
 set to work to repair the evil done by long privation
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 103 
 
 of pastors. In the following year he ascended the 
 St. Croix with some of the Indians, and reached 
 Old Town, on the Penobscot, in June, 1798. 
 
 Here, beside the ruins of their old church, he 
 found a new one of bark, with the cross of the 
 former above the door, and the bell hung to a post 
 hard by, still regularly sounding the Angelus. The 
 vestments and church plate had been all carried to 
 Canada, and the only ornaments of the church were 
 a crucifix and a couple of statues. 
 
 At this place he remained some time confessing, 
 teaching, baptizing, and endeavoring above all to 
 restore their piety and love of religion. 
 
 Mr. Allen, who had been interpreter of these In- 
 dians, was still their firm friend, and obtained of 
 the General Court of Massachusetts, in 1797 or 1798, 
 a grant of two hundred dollars a year to a missionary, 
 who would reside alternately at Penobscot and Pas- 
 samaquody. 
 
 Having thus placed these missions in a fair way of 
 prosperity, Rev. J. de Cheverus proceeded to Dama- 
 rascotta Bridge or Newcastle. Here seven Catholic 
 families from Ireland had settled, and invited the 
 missionary to visit them. He said Mass and preached 
 in a barn of the Hon. Matthew Cottrill, encouraged 
 the people to persevere in their religion and raise a 
 church as soon as possible, promising his best en- 
 deavors to get them a resident clergyman. They 
 were not remiss ; the next year a store was bought 
 and fitted up as a chapel. 
 
 Returning to Boston, he devoted himself to his
 
 IO4 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 labors there, and was rejoiced the next year to wel- 
 come the Rev. James Romagne, a townsman of his 
 own, appointed by Bishop Carroll to the Indian 
 missions. 
 
 Of this clergyman we can only say that his long 
 apostolate among these tribes endeared him alike to 
 all, to Catholic and Protestant, white and red man. 
 He restored piety and religion, corrected abuses, 
 encouraged industry, and trained all to God during 
 the eighteen years he remained among them. Worn 
 down at last by frequent infirmities, he left his mis- 
 sion and returned to France in 1818. Arrived at 
 his native country, and his health having been so 
 far restored as to resume spiritual duties, he was 
 appointed cure of Sace, which office he held till 
 his death, November 19, 1836. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Matignon, a name ever dear to religion 
 and learning, was truly a great man, content with 
 doing good ; but at this time he required the best 
 assistance, and it was fortunate for the cause that 
 such a coadjutor as Rev. J. de Cheverus should 
 have been found. Their tasks, their pursuits, their 
 dispositions were kindred, and they became insep- 
 arable. Their many virtues and social qualities 
 were the admiration even of their adversaries, and 
 a zealous Protestant clergyman, anxious to save from 
 the superstitions of Popery men so amiable and so 
 good, called on them, to strive to convince them of 
 their errors. After an 'interval of some length, he 
 returned to his friends, who were waiting to hear 
 the success of his mission, exclaiming, " These
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 105 
 
 men are so learned there is no doing anything with 
 them in argument ; so pure and evangelical in their 
 lives there is no reproaching them ; and I fear it 
 will give us much trouble to check their influence." 
 Thus did they by degrees win the hearts and gain 
 the affections of all ; prejudice was disarmed ; many 
 began to inquire into the truth, and the flock was 
 constantly increasing in numbers. 
 
 A comparative view of the state of the Church 
 during the first ten years of its existence in Boston, 
 viz., from the year 1790 to the year 1800, will enable 
 us to form an accurate judgment of the progress of 
 Catholicity at this early period. 
 
 Years. Baptisms. Marriages. Deaths. 
 
 1790, 30 i 4 
 
 '79 1 * 23 3 4 
 
 1792, 15 4 2 
 
 1793, 28 12 II 
 
 1794, 42 5 18 
 
 i795 40 5 9 
 
 1796, 47 ii 6 
 
 1797, 60 ii 10 
 
 1798, 59 26 34 
 
 1799, 77 18 S 
 
 In this table, which estimates the baptisms and 
 marriages performed, and deaths that occurred, 
 were in Boston only, no notice being taken of the 
 baptisms, marriages, or deaths in remote or even in 
 adjacent places. As new churches arose, new reg-
 
 [O6 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 isters were kept in each Church. Rev. J. de Chev- 
 erus was in the habit of visiting annually those 
 Catholics who were scattered in the various towns of 
 Massachusetts, and indeed even some of the neighbor- 
 ing States, in which they were constantly increasing, 
 such as Salem, Newburyport, Portsmouth, Dama- 
 riscotta, Bristol, Waldboro', Plymouth, et cetera. 
 He gave also, as we have seen, particular attention 
 to Penobscot and Passamaquoddy, those Indian set- 
 tlements, entirely Catholic, which derive their name 
 from the tribes that had founded them. In all these, 
 and in many other places which he visited annually 
 or oftener, he never failed to preach, baptize, and 
 administer the other sacraments, to the great delight 
 of his hearers, both Catholics and Protestants, to the 
 great increase of the faith and the edification and 
 improvement of all. 
 
 ERECTION OF THE FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 IN BOSTON. 
 
 Hitherto the Catholics had always assembled for 
 divine worship in the small house on School Street. 
 But the lease they had taken had now nearly ex- 
 pired ; it was. all-important, therefore, for them to 
 seek some other place. As their numbers were now 
 greatly augmented, they preferred to purchase at 
 once a lot of land, and proceed to erect, with as 
 little delay as possible, a church which should be at 
 once decent and capacious. With this resolution 
 and determination to accomplish the great object so
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. lOf 
 
 near and dear to their hearts, they assembled on 
 Sunday, the 3ist of March, 1799, at their usual 
 place of worship, and appointed, to carry their 
 object into effect, a committee composed of the fol- 
 lowing gentlemen : 
 
 The Hon. Don Juan Stoughton, Consul of His 
 Catholic Majesty ; John Magner, Patrick Campbell, 
 Michael Burns, Owen Callaghan, John Duggan, 
 Edmund Connor 1 . 
 
 On the following Sunday, April 7, in conformity 
 with a report of the same committee, it was unani- 
 mously resolved to open a subscription for the pur- 
 chase of a lot of land ; Rev. Drs. Matignon and 
 Cheverus being treasurers. On the same day the 
 books were opened for subscriptions, with a pre- 
 amble, to the effect that the subscribers bound 
 themselves to pay one half of the promised sum 
 immediately, and the rest in six months. Within a 
 very few days two hundred and twelve persons had 
 signed the promise, of whom, two subscribed, each, 
 $250 ; one, $333 ; one, $200 ; eight, $100 ; one, 
 $60 ; seven, $50 ; two, $40 ; one, 35 ; two, $30 ; 
 two, $26; two, $25; nineteen, $20; one, $15; 
 fifty-one, $10; and others from $8 down to $i. 
 The whole amount was $3,202, a large sum for 
 so poor a community. 
 
 This was the excellent beginning, which evinced 
 the great zeal and exemplary piety of these first 
 members of the Church, and their determined reso- 
 lution to accomplish the great object that was so 
 near and dear to their hearts. The very poorest
 
 IO8 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 among them came forward with a generosity truly 
 characteristic of the best ages of Christianity, and 
 laid at the feet of their pastors all they possessed 
 in the world, and pledged themselves moreover to 
 contribute the half of their earnings, in monthly 
 payments, till the church should be completed. 
 
 In the mean time, another subscription was 
 opened, and many among the Protestant commu- 
 nity generously contributed to the new church. At 
 the head of these donors was the name of the ven- 
 erable John Adams, at that time President of the 
 United States. Dr. Matignon solicited also the aid 
 of his Catholic friends at the South, and his appeal 
 was kindly responded to. 
 
 The amount of sums collected was as follows : 
 
 From members of the Congregation, .$10,771 69 
 
 Other Catholics, 15948 83 
 
 Protestants, 3?433 
 
 The plan of the church was generously furnished 
 by James Bulfinch, Esq., who kindly offered at the 
 same time to superintend gratis the execution of it, 
 for which he received the thanks of the congrega- 
 tion, together with an elegant silver urn, valued at 
 about two hundred dollars, which was unanimously 
 voted him by the congregation. 
 
 The church measured eighty feet in length and 
 sixty feet in width. It was of the Ionic order, and 
 fronted on Franklin Square. It had two spacious 
 galleries, and another for the organ choir. The
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN BOSTON. 109 
 
 basement story was nine feet in the clear, of equal 
 length and breadth with the church. The basement 
 was of stone and the superstructure of brick. The 
 entire cost of the building was twenty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 It was dedicated by Most Rev. Bishop Carroll, 
 September 29, 1803, with great solemnity, and 
 called the Church of the Holy Cross. An altar- 
 piece, representing the Crucifixion, painted by Mr. 
 Sargent, was placed over the high altar. Thus by 
 the prudence, zeal, and indefatigable exertions of 
 Dr. Matignon, and his worthy colleague, Dr. de 
 Cheverus, with the cooperation of the congregation 
 of the Holy Cross, was this great undertaking hap- 
 pily achieved.
 
 CONSECRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 RIGHT REVEREND JOHN DE CHEVERUS, 
 FIRST BISHOP OF BOSTON, NOVEMBER i, 1810. 
 
 IN the year 1808 Boston was erected into an Epis- 
 copal See by Pius VII. ; but in consequence of the 
 troubled state of affairs in Europe at that period, the 
 Bulls did not reach America until 1810. By those 
 it soon appeared that Rev. John de Cheverus was 
 appointed, by His Holiness, First Bishop. This ap- 
 pointment had been effected at the solicitation of 
 Rev. Dr. Matignon, with the concurrence and appro- 
 bation of Most Rev. Dr. Carroll. Shortly after the 
 arrival of the credentials from Rome, Dr. De Chev- 
 erus was consecrated Bishop by the Most Rev. Dr. 
 Carroll, in the church of St. Peter's, Baltimore, on 
 the feast of All-Saints, November i, 1810. The 
 ceremony was performed with great pomp and solem- 
 nity, amidst an immense concourse of people, who 
 had assembled from all parts to witness the imposing 
 scene. 
 
 From the address, published at the request of the 
 Right Rev. Bishops, after alluding to the sublime 
 dignity and sacred responsibility connected with the 
 
 no
 
 RG- REV. BISHOP CHEVERUS.
 
 CONSECRATION OF FIRST BISHOP OF BOSTON. Ill 
 
 office of Bishops, as successors of the Apostles, the 
 Orator, Rev. Dr. Harold of Philadelphia, speaks in 
 language so appropriate to priests and pastors in 
 general, as well as to Prelates, that we take the 
 liberty to transcribe his concluding remarks. 
 
 " To this place of pastoral eminence, of distin- 
 guished honor, and most awful responsibility, you, 
 very reverend Father, have been selected by your 
 superiors, and separated by the Spirit of God, for the 
 highest work of the ministry. To your guidance is 
 committed a portion of that flock which Christ pur- 
 chased on Calvary ; and never was the commission 
 given at a period more eventful, and in circumstances 
 more truly interesting. By your testimony to the 
 faith of the Catholic Church, they are henceforward 
 to abide ; from you, they are to receive the food of 
 wholesome doctrine, the saving evidence of a blame- 
 less example. The duty you are called to is arduous, 
 but the remuneration you are promised is splendid ; 
 your path is strewed with difficulties-, your office is 
 beset with perils, but at the finishing of your course, 
 the Prince of Pastors has pledged His eternal truth, 
 that He will reward your faithful services with a 
 diadem of unfading glory. 
 
 " When we consider the inestimable worth of the 
 human soul, the glorious purpose for which it was 
 called into existence, the nameless variety of causes 
 which threaten to defeat that end, we cannot feel sur- 
 prised at the exalted qualifications required in him to 
 whom the guardianship of that soul is committed. 
 We cannot affect astonishment when we learn that
 
 112 SKETCHES, ETC. * 
 
 the good shepherd is one who despises every danger, 
 who braves every difficulty, who suppresses every 
 feeling, who stands prepared to devote life itself for 
 the safety of his flock. 
 
 " The virtues that, in common men, might fairly 
 challenge our applause and justify our hopes, move 
 far below the perfection required in a Bishop his 
 worth must be commensurate with his dignity his 
 life must be heavenly as his office his heart must 
 answer this solemn appeal which Christ three times 
 repeated to the first of His Apostles, ' Simon, son of 
 John, lovest thou Me more than these?' And as he 
 values the imperishable crown which awaits him, he 
 will give evidence of that superior love required by 
 Christ, not in vain, empty, inoperative professions of 
 attachment, but in real, living, indubitable proofs of 
 love ; in imparting safety and support to that cher- 
 ished flock, which our adored Redeemer prized above 
 His life. A Bishop must not only feel in his heart 
 that love which is strong as death, but he must aspire 
 to that abundant charity, which alone can smooth the 
 rough road of pastoral care, and lighten the oppres- 
 sive burden of pastoral solicitude. He must seek, 
 with indefatigable perseverance, the salvation of souls, 
 but science must enlighten and discretion must guide 
 the impulse of his zeal. 
 
 " When I speak of the science of a Bishop, I do 
 not mean the chilling noxious vapor of mere human 
 learning, which engenders pride, and points the way 
 to ruin, his must be the science of salvation, the 
 knowledge of God, created, improved, and made
 
 CONSECRATION OF FIRST BISHOP OF BOSTON. 113 
 
 perfect by the Gospel. When I call for discretion 
 as a quality necessary to his office, I do not mean the 
 timid, time-serving thing which the world knows by 
 that name, that worthless prudence which bends the 
 venerable form of Religion to promote the wretched 
 speculations of selfishness ; his must be that discre- 
 tion which originates in the fear of the Lord, and 
 renders all passing things justly subservient to man's 
 more lasting and more glorious destination. 
 
 " Placed on an eminence, ' held up as a spectacle 
 to the world, to angels, and to men,' the conduct of a 
 Bishop can never be a matter of indifference ; his 
 deportment is measured ; his every word is marked ; 
 the eye of a world, that never pardons, is fixed upon 
 him ; to him no middle course is granted ; the opinion 
 of mankind coincides, in this instance, with the spirit 
 of the Gospel ; if he does not build up, he destroys ; 
 if his life breathe not the odor of edification, if his 
 actions do not carry glory to the Father who is in 
 heaven, he dishonors his place, he betrays his trust, 
 he breaks his allegiance to the Prince of Pastors, 
 Christ Jesus our Lord. To the Episcopal office it 
 peculiarly belongs to minister to the spiritual wants 
 of mankind the word of eternal life, and point out to 
 their people the narrow path that leads to blessedness ; 
 hence they are styled in the Gospel, ' the light of the 
 world ; ' but if that light be obscured by passion, or 
 hidden under the mantle of indolence and sloth, what 
 hand will conduct the unhappy flock to safety ? What 
 power can lure them from the wide and perilous road 
 of reprobation and misery? The flock may perish, 
 8
 
 114 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 but the faithless shephe-rd shall perish with them ; the 
 blood by which they were redeemed may be made 
 void, but let it be remembered, ' that blood cries 
 louder than the blood of Abel.' 
 
 " It is, therefore, of indispensable necessity that a 
 Bishop impart to his flock the word of eternal life. 
 But it is yet more important that he support the 
 authority of his instruction by a blameless sanctity 
 of manners, and an unimpeachable integrity of life. 
 The fire of heavenly charity must glow in his words, 
 and be visible in his actions ; for, if the world can 
 contrast the life of a Bishop with his doctrine, from 
 that moment he has lost the power to save. His dis- 
 courses may sparkle with eloquence and abound with 
 erudition, but they will fall from his lips cold, fruit- 
 less, and lifeless. They may amuse the imagination, 
 they cannot reform the heart. Instead of encouraging 
 the growth of virtue, and co-operating with Heaven to 
 save the immortal soul, he kills every feeling of good, 
 he confirms the doubts of the unbelieving, and har- 
 dens the obduracy of the impenitent. Instead of 
 evincing a shepherd's tenderness, in rescuing his 
 hapless flock from danger, his example encourages 
 their disastrous wanderings, and strengthens the chain 
 of moral death by which they are bound. 
 
 " Heaven will shield the Church of America from 
 such a misfortune as this. Her Bishops will labor 
 to deserve the encomium which the martyr Cyprian 
 bestowed on Pope Cornelius : ' Whilst you advance 
 to glory,' said that illustrious man, ' you attract com- 
 panions to your victory, and induce your people to
 
 CONSECRATION OF FIRST BISHOP OF BOSTON. 1 15 
 
 confess their faith by seeing you prepared to confess 
 for all.' 
 
 " Very reverend Fathers ! You have not to resort 
 to antiquity for an example of Episcopal virtue. That 
 bounteous God, whose manifold blessings overspread 
 this land, whose boundless mercies claim our warm- 
 est gratitude, still preserves, for your advantage, a 
 living encouragement to such virtue, and a fair model 
 for your imitation. You will seek both in your vene- 
 rable and most reverend Prelate you will find both 
 in the father of the American Church, and under God 
 the author of its prosperity. In him you will find 
 that meekness which is the best fruit of the Holy 
 Ghost, that humility which, for Christ's sake, makes 
 him the servant of all ; that richly polished character 
 which none but great minds can receive, which noth- 
 ing but virtue can impart. Fathei's ! You are called 
 to a great work ; a treasure of countless value is de- 
 posited in your hands ; even the eternal hope of your 
 people. Your place henceforward is between them 
 and their offended Maker. You are to avert His 
 vengeance, to implore His pardon. You must call 
 down mercy and reconciliation from heaven. The 
 first of your prayers will be for the everlasting salva- 
 tion of mankind, let your second and last invoke 
 blessings on this dear country. May this land, which 
 Providence has prepared for the day of the world's 
 distress, this last refuge for the broken spirit of 
 man, never feel the arm of grinding oppression ; 
 may the foul fiend of intolerance never cast her dark 
 and baleful shade upon it ; may liberty and religion
 
 Il6 . SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 hold it up to the admiration of mankind to the last 
 day of the world. Grant this, Thou God of mercy, 
 through Thy dear Son, and our adored Saviour, 
 Christ Jesus. Amen." 
 
 The new dignity conferred upon Dr. De Cheverus 
 made no alteration, either in his simple mode of life 
 or in his former occupations. Immediately after his 
 consecration, he returned to Boston, where he con- 
 tinued to occupy the same humble dwelling in the 
 rear of the church, and to share, with his esteemed 
 friend, his frugal fare, as well as the minutest duties 
 of the ministry. 
 
 His first, care was to visit his diocese, for the pur- 
 pose of administering the holy sacrament of Confir- 
 mation, which had not been conferred since the visit 
 of Archbishop Carroll in 1803. In the course of his 
 first visitation he confirmed three hundred and forty- 
 eight persons, of whom one hundred and twenty-two 
 belonged to the Indian tribe in Maine. The follow- 
 ing year he repeated his visit, and this he continued 
 to do year after year, everywhere announcing, in his 
 peculiar happy manner, the glad tidings of salvation 
 to his widely-separated flocks, and gathering in at 
 every visit a new and increased harvest of souls. 
 
 A few small churches now began successively to 
 spring up in different places, for the accommodation 
 of the Catholics newly formed into congregations. 
 Salem, New Castle, Whitefield, New Bedford, South 
 Boston, and Claremont saw the cross arise in their 
 midst, and many faithful disciples of the crucified 
 Redeemer flocked around it.
 
 CONSECRATION OF FIRST BISHOP OF BOSTON. 1 17 
 
 Rev. Dr. Matignon, after having edified the church 
 of Boston during twenty-six years, died on the I9th 
 of September, 1818, deeply regretted by the whole 
 diocese. For some time before his death, his health 
 had been greatly impaired by the constant discharge 
 of the duties of the ministry ; yet, such was the ardor 
 of his zeal, he would by no means spare himself on 
 account of its decline, or omit any portion of those 
 which devolved on him to perform, especially during 
 the absence of his Right Rev. friend, in the frequent 
 visitations of the diocese. He died as he had lived, 
 a faithful servant of God, an exemplary pastor, a 
 sincere friend, and a true pattern of a good Christian. 
 His remains lie in the Catholic cemetery at South 
 Boston. The following is the epitaph inscribed, in 
 gilt letters, on a white marble slab affixed to the wall, 
 on the epistle side of the altar : 
 
 Here lie the remains of 
 FRANCIS ANTHONY MATIGNON, D. D., 
 
 and for twenty-six years 
 
 Pastor of the Church of the 
 
 HOLY CROSS 
 
 in this town. 
 Ob. September 19, 
 
 1818. 
 MM. 65. 
 
 " Beloved of God and men, whose memory is in 
 benediction." Eccl. xlv. i.
 
 Il8 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 " The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity 
 was not found in his lips : he walked with me in 
 peace and equity, and turned many away from ini- 
 quity ; for the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, 
 and they shall seek the law at his mouth ; because he 
 is the Angel of the Lord of Hosts." Mai. ii. 6, 7. 
 
 Far from the sepulchre of his fathers repose the 
 ashes of the good and great Dr. Matignon ; but his 
 grave is not as among strangers, for it was, and will 
 be watered by the tears of an affectionate flock, and 
 his memory is cherished by all who value learning, 
 honor genius, or love devotion. The Bishop and 
 congregation, in tears, have erected this monument 
 of their veneration and gratitude. 
 
 R. I. P. 
 
 The following stands on the record of his inter- 
 ment, in the handwriting of Bishop De Cheverus : 
 
 "Sept. 2 1 st. . . . Francis Anthony Matignon, 
 D. D., and for twenty-six years Pastor of this congre- 
 gation Holy Cross. On Saturday the i9th he died 
 as he lived a saint. . . . ^Et. 65." 
 
 The following table will show the increase of 
 Catholics in Boston during the first twenty years of 
 this century : 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1 800 
 1805 
 
 1810 
 1815 
 1820 
 
 Baptisms. 
 
 Marriages. 
 
 Deaths. 
 
 54 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 94 
 
 20 
 
 32 
 
 151 
 
 15 
 
 18 
 
 1 60 
 
 26 
 
 25 
 
 112 
 
 44 
 
 '7
 
 CONSECRATION OF FIRST BISHOP OF BOSTON. 119 
 
 After the death of Dr. Matignon, owing to the 
 small number of priests, Bishop De Cheverus was 
 compelled incessantly to discharge the ordinary func- 
 tions of the missionary priest, in addition to his own 
 arduous duties. Obliged to travel unaccompanied 
 through the different missions, he had to sustain alone 
 the entire burden of the ministry in every town and 
 village through which he passed, preaching, baptiz- 
 ing, and confessing. It became evident to his friends 
 that his health was sinking under these great exertions. 
 
 In 1822, the Baron De Neuville, who had been 
 residing in this country as minister from the Court of 
 St. Cloud, returned to France, and represented the 
 state of the Bishop's health to the king, Louis XVIII. 
 The talents of the prelate, and his attachment to the 
 royal family of France, were well known, and the 
 fact of his health rapidly declining, induced Louis 
 XVIII. to nominate him, by an ordinance dated Jan- 
 uary 15, 1823, to the Bishopric of Montauban. In 
 April following his appointment, he received a letter 
 from the minister of the interior, informing him of 
 this ordinance, and requesting him to return to France. 
 
 The Prince De Croy, Grand Almoner of France, 
 likewise, by the first and second letter, pressed him 
 to return, and many other letters from his own family 
 and from the most distinguished persons of the realm 
 were equally urgent. 
 
 For these and otner reasons, and more particularly 
 as the physicians had declared that his health could 
 not endure another winter in the severe climate of 
 Boston, the Bishop thought he saw the will of Provi-
 
 I2O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 dence, and his choice was made ; but it cost him 
 many pangs. To leave Boston was like rending his 
 heart in twain ; it was a partial death. And, as if he 
 regarded the departure as the day of his death, he 
 wished, before it arrived, according to his own ex- 
 pression, " to execute his will." He gave to the dio- 
 cese the church, the Episcopal residence, and the 
 Ursuline Convent. He left to the bishops who should 
 succeed him his library, which consisted of standard 
 works, and which he parted with most reluctantly. 
 Finally, he distributed all the rest of his possessions 
 among his ecclesiastics, his friends, and the poor ; 
 and as he had come to Boston a poor man, he chose 
 to depart poor, with no other wealth than the same 
 trunk which, twenty-seven years before, he had 
 brought with him. 
 
 He embarked at New York on the ist of October, 
 1823, accompanied by a French ecclesiastic, M. 
 Morainville, who had for a long time .exercised the 
 priestly functions in the United States, and whose im- 
 paired health forced also to return to Europe. 
 
 After a miraculous escape from shipwreck, he 
 arrived in France, and shortly after repaired to his 
 Diocese of Montauban, which he governed only a 
 few years, when, on the death of the venerable Mon- 
 seigneur D'Aviau Du Bois De Sanzi, Archbishop of 
 Bordeaux, he was translated to that Archiepiscopal 
 See, which he governed, respected, beloved, and re- 
 vered by all, until the 2Oth of July, 1836, when he 
 left this world for a better one. Boston, Montauban, 
 and Bordeaux wept over his death, and his name is 
 still in benediction.
 
 RG?/ REV. BISHOP FENWICK.
 
 CONSECRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 RIGHT REV. BENEDICT J. FENWICK, 
 SECOND BISHOP OF BOSTON, NOVEMBER i, 1825. 
 
 AFTER the departure of Bishop Cheverus, the 
 Very Reverend William Taylor, his vicar-general, 
 succeeded to the administration of the diocese during 
 the vacancy, and governed it till the year 1825, when 
 his Holiness, Pope Leo the Twelfth, was pleased to 
 appoint a new Bishop to the See of Boston. This 
 was the Reverend Benedict Joseph Fenwick, who 
 was born on the 3d of September, 1782, at his fa- 
 ther's plantation, on Beaver-dam Manor, in St. 
 Mary's county, Maryland, and was lineally descended 
 from one of the two hundred families that originally 
 came over from England under the charter of Lord 
 Baltimore, and settled in that State. 
 
 He was consecrated at Baltimore by the Most Rev. 
 Archbishop Marechal, in the cathedral of St. Mary's, 
 assisted by the Right Rev. Dr. England, Bishop of 
 Charleston, and the Right Rev. Henry Conwell, 
 Bishop of Philadelphia, on the Festival of All-Saints, 
 November i, 1825, just fifteen years after the conse- 
 cration of his predecessor. Upon his arrival at Bos- 
 
 121
 
 122 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ton, he entered the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, 
 amidst a large concourse of people who had come to 
 witness his inauguration, and was there received by 
 the Very Rev. William Taylor, who welcomed him 
 at his entrance, and exposed to him, in a brief man- 
 ner, the state of the diocese, and especially of the 
 congregation of Boston. He concluded his discourse 
 by giving in his resignation, and making known his 
 determination to leave America, and return to Eu- 
 rope. This he did shortly after. Sailing for France, 
 he fixed himself at Bordeaux, where he was made 
 honorary canon by his friend and benefactor, Arch- 
 bishop De Cheverus. When the Cardinal Arch- 
 bishop, who had been raised to the peerage, went to 
 Paris, to take his seat in the house, Rev. Mr. Taylor 
 accompanied him. He was there taken sick, and 
 died in the Irish College, in August, 1828. 
 
 After the departure of Rev. Fr. Taylor, Bishop 
 Fenwick had many serious difficulties to encounter. 
 He found at his disposal only one clergyman in Bos- 
 ton, Rev. Patrick Byrne ; one at some hundred miles 
 distant, Rev. Denis Ryan, pastor of the congregations 
 at Whitefield and Damariscotta, Me. ; and one at 
 Claremont, N. H., Rev. V. H. Barber. He was far, 
 however, from desponding ; he had put his whole 
 confidence in God, who is the strength of the weak, 
 and who could out of the very stones raise up chil- 
 dren to Levi as well as to Abraham. He had not 
 taken the honor to himself, but through Leo, the 
 Vicar of Jesus Christ, was called of God, as Aaron 
 was ; and he knew that he who had called him could
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 123 
 
 impart to him sufficient strength and grace to accom- 
 plish his end, and could also furnish him, in due 
 time, with all the money requisite for its full accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 THE URSULINE CONVENT. 
 
 His first care was to visit the educational establish- 
 ment of those good sisters, the Ursulines, who, dur- 
 ing the past five years, had devoted themselves untir- 
 ingly to the spiritual welfare of the female portion of 
 his flock. He found their situation exceedingly un- 
 comfortable. Cooped up within four narrow walls, 
 the want of pure air had reduced them all to a sickly 
 and infirm state, and two of the most efficient mem- 
 bers had already died. After viewing the premises, 
 and seeing the impracticability of improving them to 
 any advantage, he resolved at once to remove these 
 good ladies to some situation better adapted to the 
 establishment of an Ursuline Community, and which 
 would afford ample space for the erection of build- 
 ings calculated to embrace the whole scope contem- 
 plated by their institute, as well as for a garden and 
 for spacious and airy walks. He accordingly selected 
 what he deemed a good location in the town of 
 Charlestown, about two miles and a half from the 
 centre of Boston, whither the Ursulines removed on 
 the i;th of July, 1826. 
 
 This new, ornate, and valuable educational estab- 
 lishment, erected at so much labor and cost by the
 
 124 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 good Bishop, is thus described by one who was a 
 witness to its rise and progress, and who lived, alas ! 
 to weep over its destruction by misguided fanatics.* 
 
 " The building is situated on the summit of the 
 mount now called Mount Benedict, and, although 
 considerably elevated above the country immediately 
 surrounding it, the ascent to it is so gradual on the 
 side of Boston that it is scarcely perceptible. The 
 pi-ospect from it on every side, for beauty and extent, 
 is unrivalled in any country. In front, you see Bos- 
 ton, with its beautiful State House and dome towering 
 over all other buildings, and its capacious harbor, 
 with the varied scenery about it ; of vessels perpet- 
 ually entering and departing from it ; of islands cov- 
 ered with rich verdure, and others surmounted with 
 fortifications. Between, lies Charlestown, with the 
 United States Navy Yard, Bunker and Breed's Hills, 
 on the latter of which stands the obelisk to mark the 
 spot where Warren fell. A little to the left may be 
 seen, from the same position, the towns of Chelsea 
 and of Maiden, connected with Charlestown by two 
 bridges over the Mystic River, and the beautiful hills 
 rising in that direction with a gentle slope ; and 
 again, a little to the right, you have, still from the 
 same position, a clear and perfect view of the city of 
 Roxbury, of the town of Brookline, and of the 
 beautiful azure hills which skirt the horizon at a dis- 
 tance, in the direction of Dorchester, and, still nearer 
 
 * For the destruction of this beautiful Educational Estab- 
 lishment by a Mob, see Review of the Incidents, and Rec- 
 ord of the principal Actors. P. Donahoe, 1870.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 125 
 
 to you, of East Cambridge, with Charles River, and 
 the bridges connecting it with Boston. 
 
 " Again, if you look from the rear of the building, 
 your eye will range over Cambridge, Medford, and 
 Maiden, with the verdant fields and highly cultivated 
 country lying between them, adorned with innumera- 
 ble country seats and cottages, gardens, orchards, 
 rich meadows, and all the variety of both town and 
 country, with the Middlesex Canal winding around 
 the different hills, and leaving the Convent lands on 
 its way to mingle its waters with those of Charles 
 River. On this side, the view is again intercepted 
 only by the distant hills, which rise higher and higher 
 as they recede, until they are so blended with the 
 pale blue of the distant clouds as scarcely to be dis- 
 tinguished from them. Nothing can equal the beauty 
 of the setting sun in this quarter. 
 
 " The whole of this interesting spot is laid out 
 with an eye to the object to which it is appropriated. 
 A large garden, tastefully arranged, occupies the rear 
 of the building, while extensive gravel walks, shaded 
 with select forest trees, consisting of the elm, the 
 horse-chestnut, and the sycamore, afford a large and 
 spacious play-ground in front. The parts adjacent to 
 the canal, already mentioned, are appropriated to 
 meadow, or are cultivated for culinary purposes. 
 The south side, which is of steep descent, is distrib- 
 uted into a number of artificial falls, where a vine- 
 yard of the choicest grapes is planted ' en Espalier j 
 affording, at the same time, most delightful walks. 
 In short, every advantage has been taken, under the
 
 126 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 direction of the Bishop, of the situation, naturally 
 beautiful, to make it one of the most lovely and 
 agreeable spots in the vicinity of Boston." 
 
 ENLARGEMENT OF THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 The next important work, on the part of the 
 Bishop, was the enlargement of the Church in Bos- 
 ton, for the accommodation of the congregation, now 
 greatly increased, and which, though not originally 
 designed for the purpose, had become the Cathedral 
 of the Diocese. 
 
 The gable end of the original church was removed, 
 and an addition of seventy-two feet in width, and 
 nearly forty in length, was erected, which, united 
 with the former, made the edifice one hundred and 
 twenty feet in length, by sixty in its narrowest, and 
 seventy-two in its widest part. This arrangement 
 was the more loudly called for, as, besides its other 
 advantages, it afforded ample space in the basement 
 story for large and convenient school-rooms. The 
 work was commenced in the summer of 1827, and 
 completed the year following, and the schools, which 
 had been long a desideratum, were immediately com- 
 menced and superintended by the candidates for the 
 ecclesiastical state. 
 
 It was at these schools that many received their 
 early religious education, and of their number those 
 who, subsequently, became the most zealous de-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 127 
 
 fenders of the faith, and of those who, in after years, 
 pursuing higher studies, devoted their lives to serve 
 the Sanctuaiy. 
 
 In penning these Sketches of the early establish- 
 ment of the Church in New England, as there are 
 now five, where, a quarter of a century ago, there 
 was but one Diocese, we give, for the convenience 
 of future historians, under the head of each, such 
 facts as may be in our possession. 
 
 Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick, upon his return, 
 after his visitation of the Eastern portion of the Dio- 
 cese in 1827, as will be seen under the head of 
 PORTLAND DIOCESE, still had but one priest in the 
 city to assist him, Rev. P. Byrne, with whom he al- 
 ternated in the duties of preaching every Sunday and 
 Holy Day, performing the baptisms, celebrating the 
 marriages, attending constantly at the confessional, 
 visiting the sick, and attending at interments; yet, 
 independently of these laborious duties, he had also 
 taken a class of young theologians, whom he in- 
 structed daily in the science of divinity, hoping that, 
 at a future day, they would be able to take part in 
 the duties of the ministry, and become useful and 
 active laborers in the Lord's vineyard. And in this 
 hope he was not disappointed. These students were 
 to him, to use his own expression, like another self. 
 He lavished on them every care ; his house was their 
 house, his table their table, his time entirely at their 
 disposal, and they lived with him as at their father's
 
 128 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 house, receiving lessons in theology from his own 
 lips, and profiting by his experience ; and his profi- 
 ciency in all the ecclesiastical sciences, and his knowl- 
 edge of the human heart, and his experience, were 
 second to no man's. 
 
 THE FIRST ORDINATION BY BISHOP FENWICK IN 
 BOSTON. 
 
 The Ember Days of December, 1827, saw two of 
 these young Ecclesiastics, who had learned from the 
 wise experience of their spiritual father, and been 
 taught the ecclesiastical sciences in his house, pro- 
 moted to the holy office of the priesthood, Rev. 
 Messrs. Fitton and Wiley. 
 
 In the mean while the members of the Church 
 increasing throughout New England, and the humble 
 circumstances and limited means of many precluding 
 the possibility of their journeying miles distant to 
 receive the. aids of religion, it became necessary for 
 the good Bishop, whose pastoral care extended to all, 
 to select one of his little band of priests to attend the 
 distant calls. The appointment fell to the lot of the 
 author of these sketches, whom we shall henceforth 
 designate as the Missionary. 
 
 His first tour was to the Passamaquoddy tribe of 
 Indians, Maine, where he was taught the importance 
 of that divine admonition of being unsolicitous about 
 " food and raiment ; " an admonition which, till then
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 129 
 
 young and inexperienced, he had read in Scripture, 
 but which he soon understood practically. He then 
 learned that a priest of the church should be com- 
 pletely detached from the things of this world ; that 
 his duties are purely of a spiritual character; that 
 gold and silver, fine clothing and dainty living, are 
 altogether foreign to his calling. He ever after 
 blessed what he called the happy days of his first 
 mission, where he learned the sufficiency of this 
 world's daily comforts in a plentiful meal of fish. 
 
 On this mission, he exercised the twofold office of 
 priest and pedagogue. The object for which he had 
 been specially commissioned was, to fortify the In- 
 dians, and particularly the youthful portion, in the 
 Catholic faith, and frustrate the designs of a certain 
 Puritan or Congregational minister, who, to the nom- 
 inal character of school teacher and preacher of the 
 " Society for Propagating the Gospel among the In- 
 dians of North America," united the office of col- 
 porteur, distributing his Protestant Bibles, and using 
 other no less potent means for gold and silver are 
 powerful auxiliaries, at times, for pliant and rapid 
 conversions to pervert the faith of the youthful 
 Indians. 
 
 In this attempt, however, he was foiled in time by 
 the foresight of the great and good Bishop Fenwick, 
 who loved all his children so well, and who sent the 
 Catholic missionary once more among them. The 
 devoted Indian youth soon rallied around the standard 
 of the cross floating over their school-house, while 
 the pious canticles of faith were again heard as they 
 9
 
 130 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 paddled their canoe on the bosom of the bay, or 
 roamed the forest in pursuit of game. There were 
 at the time, at Pleasant Point, as the village is called, 
 between three and four hundred souls, of whom about 
 sixty attended school. 
 
 For other information of the duties of the mission- 
 ary among the Indians, see PORTLAND DIOCESE. 
 
 ST. MARY'S CHURCH, CHARLESTOWN. 
 
 For the greater convenience of those who, as me- 
 chanics and laborers, were employed at the Navy 
 Yard, Charlestown, and at the glass works, East 
 Cambridge, as well as for their families, and that 
 their children particularly might have the benefit of 
 more frequent instruction, the Bishop, having selected 
 the site, blessed the foundation of the present St. 
 Mary's Church, October 3, 1828. The building, which 
 was subsequently enlarged, during the administration 
 of Very Rev. P. F. Lyndon, was originally eighty by 
 forty-five feet, and the congregation were attended, 
 small as were their number at the time, by the clergy 
 from the Cathedral till the month of July, 1830, when 
 Rev. Patrick Byrne, the only priest found at the 
 arrival of the Bishop in Boston, was appointed pas- 
 tor, and held this responsible station till June, 1843, 
 when -the faithful at New Bedford, soliciting the 
 Bishop for a priest to reside amongst them, he se- 
 lected Father Byrne, who had also the Island of 
 Nantucket, which he attended till his death, Decem-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 13! 
 
 ber 4, 1844. Agreeably with his wishes, while living, 
 his remains were interred at St. Augustine's Cemeteiy, 
 South Boston. 
 
 Reverend Fathers Byrne and Ryan had been among 
 the first priests ordained by Right Rev. Bishop De 
 Cheverus for the Boston diocese, and long and faith- 
 fully did these two good priests, originally from Kil- 
 kenney, Ireland, labor during the infancy of the 
 Church in New England, Father Byrne, in Boston, 
 and Father Denis Ryan, at Whitefield, and the neigh- 
 boring missions of Maine. 
 
 The remains of Father Byrne, accompanied by 
 Rev. Fr. Murphy of Fall River and Rev. Fr. O'Beirne 
 of Taunton, together with numbers of his late parish- 
 ioners, were brought to the Cathedral, where, on the 
 morning of the 6th of December, several private 
 masses having been said, Rev. George Goodwin, his 
 successor at Chai'lestown, offered the Solemn Re- 
 quiem in presence of a large number of the clergy, 
 the Bishop himself pronouncing the funeral oration. 
 The corpse was then borne to its last resting-place 
 on earth, and interred near the Sacristy of the little 
 church of St. Augustine, where he, when living, had, 
 in years gone by, performed the last rites of religion 
 over many of those for whose spiritual welfare and 
 eternal interest he had faithfully labored. 
 
 His funeral was attended by a large number of 
 those who once formed his charge at the Cathedral, 
 Charlestown, and New Bedford, and the clergy, Rev. 
 Messrs. Hardy, Lyndon, Haskins, and Crudden, of 
 the Cathedral ; Rev. Messrs. Flood and O'Reilly, of
 
 132 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 St. Mary's, Endicott Street ; Rev. Mr. T. Lynch, of 
 St. Patrick's, Northampton Street ; Rev. Mr. Fitzsim- 
 mons, of St. Augustine's, South Boston ; Rev. Mr. 
 McMahon, of St. John's, the Free Church ; Rev. N. 
 O'Brien, of St. Nicholas's, East Boston ; Rev. G. 
 Goodwin, celehrant of the Mass ; Rev. P. O'Beirne, 
 of Quincy ; Rev. Ed. Murphy, of Fall River, and 
 Rev. John O'Beirne, of Taunton. 
 
 Rev. George J. Goodwin, successor of Rev. P. 
 Byrne, at Charlestown, was born of Protestant parents, 
 and became a convert to the Church in his sixteenth 
 year, and from that hour determined to consecrate 
 himself to God, and live for the spiritual welfare of 
 others. 
 
 Having completed his classical and philosophical 
 studies, and begun the study of divinity at Montreal, 
 he went to Paris, where, under the direction of those 
 eminent masters of piety and ecclesiastical science, 
 the children of the sainted Olier, he distinguished 
 himself by his talents, while by the purity and amenity 
 of his manners, the ingenuousness and warmth of his 
 heart, he became universally esteemed and beloved. 
 Having completed his course, he was ordained at 
 Paris, and shortly after returned to Boston. In a few 
 months he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's, in 
 Charlestown, in which charge he continued till his 
 death, September 13, 1847. He was remarkable for 
 his zeal, his discretion, and his eminent success in 
 reclaiming the victims of error, and winning the un- 
 believing and indifferent to the love and practice of 
 our holy religion. He was eminently pious, unremit-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 133 
 
 ting, and fervent in his tender devotion to Our Blessed 
 Lady, from the moment of his conversion to his happy 
 and edifying death. 
 
 CHURCH OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S, SOUTH BOSTON. 
 
 This, in 1819, was originally erected for a mortuary 
 chapel, and was used as such at interments which 
 were made, by passing over what is now called Dover 
 Bridge, the only carriage way then leading from the 
 city proper to South Boston. The number of Cath- 
 olics spreading over this suburban portion of the city, 
 and the distance being so far from the Cathedral on 
 Franklin Street, the Bishop had the little chapel, 
 in 1833, enlarged for their accommodation, and the 
 cemetery, in 1841, equally enlarged by the additional 
 purchase of the lots adjoining. 
 
 The pastors were Rev. Thos. Lynch, from 1833 * 
 1836; Rev. John Mahony, from 1836 till his death, 
 1839 ; Rev. Michael Lynch, from 1839 to I ^4 5 ^- ev - 
 Terence Fitzsimmons, from 1840 till his appointment 
 to SS. Peter and Paul's new church, in 1844. 
 
 ST. MARY'S CHURCH, ENDICOTT ST., BOSTON. 
 
 Notwithstanding the extensive enlargement of the 
 Cathedral in 1827, such had been the numerical in- 
 crease of the congregation in less than ten years sub-
 
 134 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 sequently, that the Bishop deemed it advisable to 
 erect a second church in the easterly part of the city. 
 After several ineffectual attempts to procure sufficient 
 land and a favorable location, he at length, in 1834, 
 secured four lots, of twenty by eighty-five feet each, 
 on what was called Pond, now Endicott Street, and 
 such was his anxiety to accommodate the many, un- 
 able to find room at the Cathedral, that, superintend- 
 ing the erection of the building himself, amid his 
 many other official duties, he had the basement so far 
 completed as to have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass 
 offered therein at Christmas the year following ; from 
 which time the same was continued weekly till the 
 entire completion of the edifice, at Pentecost, May 
 22, 1836, when the church was dedicated to God, and 
 placed under the special auspice of the Ever Blessed 
 Virgin Mary. 
 
 Up to this time the congregation had been attended 
 by some one of the clergy from the Cathedral. After 
 its dedication, Rev. William Wiley attended the con- 
 gregation to April, 1837. -H e was succeeded by Rev. 
 Messrs. P. O'Beirne, Michael Healy, Thomas J. 
 O'Flaherty, John B. Fitzpatrick, and Patrick Flood, 
 till 1847, wnen it was placed in charge of Rev. Father 
 McElroy, S. J. 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL STATISTICS. 
 
 THE PUPILS AT SUNDAY SCHOOL IN 1829. At 
 an examination of the pupils attending the Sunday
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 135 
 
 school in 1829, there were at the Cathedral three 
 hundred and eighty, at St. Mary's, Charlestown, sev- 
 enty, and at East Cambridge, fifty ; thus making an 
 average attendance of about five hundred. 
 
 The following table shows the census of the Cath- 
 olics of the Diocese ten years after the arrival of 
 Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick, i. e., in 1835 : 
 
 Catholics. Priests. Churches. 
 
 Massachusetts, 28,975 14 8, and 3 building. 
 
 Maine, 3^50 6 6 " 2 " 
 
 New Hampshire, 387 2 2 
 
 Vermont, 5*620 2 i 
 
 Rhode Island, 1,230 I 3 
 
 Connecticut, 7 2 2 2 
 
 Total, 40,082 27 22, and 5 unfinished. 
 
 Table of the census of the Diocese in 1845, twenty 
 years after the arrival of Bishop Fenwick, omitting 
 the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island, erected 
 into a new Diocese in 1844: 
 
 Catholics. Priests. Churches, 
 
 Massachusetts, 52,990 21 22 n 
 
 Maine, 5^45 5 10 7 
 
 New Hampshire, i ,450 22 9 
 
 Vermont, 5s9 IJ 2 3 5
 
 136 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ST. VINCENT'S ORPHAN ASYLUM, BOSTON. 
 
 In the year 1832, Sister Ann Alexis, Sister Blan- 
 dina, and Sister Loyola, young, zealous, and devoted 
 members of the Sisters of Charity, arrived in Boston, 
 and under the patronage of Right Rev. Bishop Fen- 
 wick, opened a free school for girls in Hamilton 
 Street. With the introduction of these ladies to the 
 city dates the origin of the above charitable Institu- 
 tion. The Catholic population of Boston were then 
 few in numbers, and comparatively poor, and the 
 project of even purchasing a dwelling-house for an 
 Orphan Asylum was a great undertaking. 
 
 The first effort made to raise a fund for the purpose 
 was on the 2d of October, 1833, being the festival 
 of the Guardian Angels. A Fair for the benefit of 
 the orphans was opened at Concert Hall, and the 
 proceeds, amounting to about two thousand dollars, 
 were placed at interest, with the intention to acid to 
 them, from time to time, such funds as might be 
 received, anticipating, with God's blessing, that the 
 sum might be so increased as to realize the ardent 
 wishes of the pious originators of the design. 
 
 A second Fair, for the same object, was opened 
 at Horticultural Hall, on School Street, the 2d of 
 September, 1839, which also yielded about two thou- 
 sand dollars ; and from a third Fair, in Amory Hall, 
 on the 2oth of October, 1841, the proceeds amounted 
 to about three thousand dollars. 
 
 The proceeds of these three Fairs were increased
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 137 
 
 by several small legacies, including one thousand 
 dollars from John Mullanphy, of St. Louis, which 
 summed up the amount to nine thousand dollars. 
 Encouraged with this amount, a building on the cor- 
 ner of High and Pearl streets was purchased, Novem- 
 ber 1 6, 1841, for eleven thousand dollars, the Right 
 Rev. Bishop paying for the building in full, having 
 borrowed the balance of the money on his own 
 responsibility. 
 
 It will be thus seen that it required nine years, 
 from the time of the arrival of the Sisters in Boston, 
 to raise funds sufficient to purchase a building and 
 establish an Orphan Asylum, while there are those 
 still living who remember that the result of the Fairs 
 at the time were looked upon as almost marvellous, 
 particularly that at Amory Hall. 
 
 During those nine years, however, the Sisters of 
 Charity were not idle. The schools under their 
 charge flourished and prospered. Many of the most 
 respectable matrons, now in the city, look back upon 
 the years they attended these schools as the happiest 
 of their lives. In their temporary home, the good 
 Sisters also frequently sheltered many a poor, friend- 
 less, and destitute child. The good work they had 
 already accomplished became manifest, and they were 
 not only respected and loved by Catholics, but by the 
 citizens generally of all denominations. 
 
 In the early days of the Sisters in Boston, outward 
 respect was deeply marked and manifested. The 
 Cathedral on Franklin Street was then attended by 
 the Catholics generally throughout the city, and the
 
 138 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 sidewalks in front were well rilled on Sundays about 
 half an hour before services commenced. The Sisters 
 always walked in procession with their little orphans, 
 and Sunday School children following, headed gen- 
 erally by the very respectable person of Mr. Ward, 
 then an aged and well known Catholic citizen. As 
 soon as the procession of little ones reached Franklin 
 Street, Mr. Ward always made the fact known to 
 the assembled Catholics, by saying, " Gentlemen, the 
 Sisters are coming." In a moment every head was 
 uncovered, and the Sisters, with their band of chil- 
 dren, entered the church amid the blessings of the 
 assembled multitude. 
 
 Early in 1845 the building occupied by the Sisters 
 was found insufficient for the purpose, and the Pray 
 estate, so called, a fine commodious and well-built 
 house on Purchase Street, was purchased for the sum 
 of eighteen thousand dollars. 
 
 In the mean time the fourth Fair realized only 
 seven hundred and fifty dollars, in consequence of bad 
 weather during its continuance ; but for the success 
 of the fifth, for which Faneuil Hall was secured in 
 the fall of 1850, extraordinary exertions were made. 
 The result of this Fair was fully up to expectation, 
 the handsome sum of three thousand five hundred 
 dollars having been realized. All the debts were 
 now paid on the building occupied by the Sisters, 
 and the balance left from the proceeds of this Fair 
 was made the nucleus for a New Asylum, their pres- 
 ent residence having become full to overflowing, and 
 altogether inadequate. The want of the New Asylum
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 139 
 
 soon became so manifest, that in November, 1855, 
 about forty-five thousand feet of land was purchased 
 on the corner of Shawmut Avenue and Camden 
 Street, for the sum of twenty-one thousand dollars. 
 Upon this site the building was commenced in the 
 spring of 1857, an< ^ occupied in 1858. Its cost, 
 completed, including land, was eighty-one thousand 
 dollars, and so far as its internal arrangements are 
 concerned, is considered a model of its kind. Dis- 
 tinguished Catholic clergymen and others have pro- 
 nounced it one of the best buildings of the kind in 
 the country, comparing very favorably with similar 
 buildings abroad. It is a noble monument of Cath- 
 olic charity, estimated, at this day, at one hundred 
 and seventy-five thousand dollars. 
 
 During the forty years that the Sisters of Charity 
 have been in Boston, Sister Ann Alexis has stood at 
 the head of the great work, care of the poor and the 
 orphan, for which the Institution of the Sisters is 
 known the world over. No labor has been too great 
 or arduous for her to undertake. Work, work, work, 
 early and late, for the protection of the orphan and 
 the glory of God, has been her occupation from the 
 first day she arrived in the city to the present time. 
 
 Sister Blandina, one of the three Sisters who first 
 came to Boston in 1832, is still at her post, minister- 
 ing to the poor and the orphan with a vigor unabated, 
 and a countenance almost as youthful as remembered 
 long years ago. Sister Loyola has passed to that 
 *' bourn from whence no traveller returns." She is 
 now, we trust, in the enjoyment of that inheritance
 
 140 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 which alone a Sister of Charity hopes for or lives 
 for an eternal crown. 
 
 In connection with this brief history of St. Vin- 
 cent's Orphan Asylum, we may add its incorporation 
 by an act of the Legislature of Massachusetts on the 
 23d of March, 1843. The gentlemen named in the 
 act of incorporation were Thomas Murphy, Lawrence 
 Nichols, Wm. J. McDonnell, Roger Flynn, and Henry 
 B. C. Greene. The Directors since have been Edwin 
 A. Palmer, appointed in 1845, Geo. F. Emery, in 
 1849, John Boman, in 1850, Hugh O'Brien, in 1851, 
 Francis McLaughlin, in 1866, and Hugh Carey, in 
 1869. 
 
 When the present Asylum was commenced, there 
 was only about ten thousand dollars in the treasury ; 
 but after the work was commenced, it went on with- 
 out interruption until its completion, notwithstanding 
 it was during the severe panic of 1857, a vear f 
 commercial failures and disasters. The largest con- 
 tributor to the present building was Andrew Carney, 
 Esq., who gave about twelve thousand dollars ; but 
 one of the most energetic in pushing on the work was 
 the late Daniel Crowley, Esq., who paid the archi- 
 tects' fees, and was otherwise a liberal contributor. 
 Some gentlemen, also interested in the Asylum, but 
 whose names we refrain to make public, as they are 
 yet living, pledged at one time their available per- 
 sonal property, rather than the work should be dis- 
 continued. 
 
 Since the Asylum was opened, between two and 
 three hundred orphans have been yearly accommo-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESK. 14! 
 
 dated ; and among our Protestant fellow-citizens, the 
 late John E. Lodge, Esq., may be mentioned as the 
 most liberal benefactor, making frequent donations 
 of clothing, food, and money. Messrs. Picard and 
 lasigi have also been quite liberal in their donations, 
 Mr. Picard also presenting the splendid painting of 
 the Immaculate Conception, by Murillo, now over 
 the Altar in the Chapel, estimated to be worth twenty 
 thousand dollars, the sum, in fact, offered for it by 
 J. E. Lodge, Esq. The main reliance, however, of 
 the orphans has been the generous support of the 
 Catholics, and with the blessing of God, since the 
 Asylum was first organized, there has always been 
 money enough in the treasury to pay all floating 
 debts, and to provide the necessaries of life for the 
 Sisters and their orphans now a very large family. 
 There is at present a small debt on the Asylum of 
 about five thousand dollars, the result of an additional 
 building called for, the erection of which cost about 
 twelve thousand five hundred dollars, while the prop- 
 erty, as already stated, is estimated to be worth at 
 least one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, 
 a noble monument of charity ! 
 
 ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, NORTHAMPTON ST., BOSTON. 
 
 The faithful of the easterly portion of the city 
 having been provided with church accommodations, 
 there was a similar want felt for those residing at the
 
 142 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 South End, and the adjoining town of Roxbury. 
 The Bishop, solicitous for the spiritual welfare of all, 
 was again in pursuit of a favorable location, and one 
 that might be the most central. He at length, April 
 24, 1835, decided upon the lot on Northampton 
 Street, measuring ninety by sixty feet, which he pur- 
 chased at a valuation which was then considered 
 fair, which now would be regarded as singularly 
 favorable to the purchaser, twenty-five cents the 
 square foot. 
 
 Excavations for the foundation of a church sixty- 
 five by forty-five feet, were commenced in October 
 of the same year, and the building completed De- 
 cember ii, 1836, when it was dedicated to God, un- 
 der the patronage of St. Patrick. Rev. Thomas 
 Lynch was appointed pastor, a sacred trust, which 
 he held most faithfully, and sustained assiduously till 
 the hour of his death, March 27, 1870. 
 
 ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, EAST CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 The crowded state of the church at Charlestown, 
 and the increasing numbers of the faithful at East 
 Cambridge, without mentioning children, whose 
 numbers were sufficient to fill the church, prompted 
 the faithful of East Cambridge to invite the Bishop 
 to look at a lot which they deemed eligible, and upon 
 which, with his approbation, they were decided to 
 build a church for themselves. The site being ap-
 
 RG?" REV. BISHOP FITZPATRICK.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 143 
 
 proved of, the lot was purchased, January 29, 1842. 
 With the opening spring the foundation was laid ; in 
 April, it was blessed ; and in autumn of the same 
 year, October 9, the building was so far advanced as 
 to admit of the holy Sacrifice being offered in the 
 basement. 
 
 The entire church, of blue slate-stone, from the 
 Somerville quarry, was soon completed, and being 
 neatly finished, was blessed, September 3, 1843, and 
 placed in charge of Rev. John B. Fitzpatrick, who 
 had said the first Mass, and who was appointed its 
 first pastor. 
 
 DIOCESAN SYNOD. 
 
 The year 1842 was one of great rejoicing to the 
 Bishop and Clergy of the Boston Diocese. It was 
 the first assembling of all the clergy for an eight 
 days' Spiritual Retreat, conducted by Rev. Father 
 McElroy, S. J., at the conclusion of which, Au- 
 gust 21, the First Synod of the Diocese was held. 
 
 At this Synod, the Divine assistance being im- 
 plored, all was carried out as prescribed by the Ro- 
 man Pontifical. The Right Rev. Bishop celebrated 
 the Mass of the Holy Ghost, at which the clergy 
 assisting received Holy Communion. 
 
 Very Rev. William Tyler, V. G., being Promoter, 
 Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan, Procurator, and Rev. 
 John B. Fitzpatrick, Secretary, the Clergy at the feet 
 of the Bishop, fulfilled the formula, as prescribed in
 
 144 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 the Pontifical. The Sessions were then opened, and 
 all was conducted to the end in the greatest peace 
 and harmony. 
 
 The names of those present were, 
 
 RIGHT REV. J. B. FENWICK. 
 
 Very Rev. William Tyler, Rev. Adolph Williamson, 
 Rev. Richard Hardy, Rev. Patrick Byrne, 
 Rev. James Fitton, Rev. Jas. T. McDermott, 
 
 Rev. John O'Beirne, Rev. Michael Lynch, 
 
 Rev. William Ivers, Rev. John Brady, 
 
 Rev. William Wiley, Rev. P. O'Beirne, 
 Rev. Edward Murphy, Rev. Fr. Roloff, 
 Rev. John B. Daly, Rev. John Corry, 
 
 Rev. Patrick Flood, Rev. James O'Reilly, 
 
 Rev. Thomas O'Sullivan, Rev. John D. Brady, 
 Rev. John Strain, Rev. Jer'h. O'Callaghan, 
 
 Rev. John B. Fitzpatrick, Rev. Patrick Canavan, 
 Rev. Thomas Lynch, Rev. John B. McMahon, 
 Rev. Ter'ce Fitzsimmons, Rev. T. J. O'Flaherty, 
 Rev. Denis Ryan, Rev. James Conway. 
 
 ST. JOHN'S FREE CHURCH, MOON ST., BOSTON. 
 
 Notwithstanding the church accommodations that 
 had been provided within the last few years, there 
 were still those who had not provided themselves 
 with seats, or were indifferent about being seated in 
 any particular church, or felt too poor to subscribe
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 145 
 
 towards the support of any. That none might have 
 excuse for absenting themselves from Mass, or for 
 not duly observing the Lord's day, the Bishop, in the 
 fervor of his zeal and generosity of his heart, pro- 
 jected the erection of what should be known as the 
 FREE CHURCH. In furtherance of this benevolent 
 design, he authorized Rev. John B. McMahon, No- 
 vember 20, 1842, to receive the offerings of those who 
 were able and felt disposed to aid this pious en- 
 terprise. 
 
 The Bishop learning, January 17? J&KJ, that the 
 substantial brick building on Moon Street, measuring 
 sixty by forty-two feet, which had originally been 
 erected for a store-house, could be easily fitted up and 
 serve this admh-able purpose, and that the same 
 could be purchased for eight thousand dollars, au- 
 thorized Rev. Fr. McMahon to secure it. This build- 
 ing was subsequently very neatly fitted up, and with 
 its altar, organ, choir-gallery and settee-framed seats, 
 was opened to all, free of expense, and Reverend 
 Father McMahon appointed pastor. 
 
 SS. PETER'S AND PAUL'S CHURCH, SOUTH BOSTON. 
 
 The connection of South Boston with the city 
 proper by the free bi'idge from Federal Street, the 
 introduction of extensive and heavy mechanical 
 works, and the adding' its thousand acres for private 
 residences, and homes of ready access to the indus- 
 10
 
 146 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 tiious of every class, soon rendered St. Augustine's 
 little church in the cemetery too limited for the many 
 who would attend Mass on Sundays, and partake of 
 the other aids of religion. Another and more spa- 
 cious church was thus called for, and in December, 
 1843, a desirable lot having been secured on Broad 
 Street, the foundation of a spacious stone Gothic 
 structure was immediately commenced, and the 
 building so far advanced that the basement story was 
 prepared for the purpose of divine service as early as 
 February, 1844, and all completed in 1845, when 
 Rev. Terence Fitzsimmons, formerly of St. Augus- 
 tine's, was appointed its pastor. 
 
 TRINITY CHURCH, SUFFOLK STREET, BOSTON. 
 
 For the accommodation of the faithful from Ger- 
 many, among whom were those who were not famil- 
 iar with the English language, but dearly attached to 
 holy religion, and who sought its consolations in a 
 strange land, and having no priest from whom they 
 might hear the holy Gospel explained in mother 
 tongue, the Bishop invited Rev. Father Rafteiner, 
 pastor of the German congregation in New York, to 
 visit Boston from time to time, to preach, and admin- 
 ister the sacraments in the Cathedral, for their spe- 
 cial benefit. 
 
 Their numbers increasing in the city, at East Bos- 
 ton, Roxbury, and adjacent suburban districts, a
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 147 
 
 church lot on Suffolk Street was secured in July, 
 1841, upon which the corner-stone of a substantial 
 edifice, ninety by sixty feet, was laid with due cer- 
 emony June 28, 1842, and the structure so far com- 
 pleted as to admit of the services of religion in the 
 basement, March 3, 1844. While the interior of the 
 main building was being finished, the congregation 
 were attended by Rev. Messrs. Roloff and Plathe, 
 successively. The Church completed, it was sol- 
 emnly dedicated by Right Rev. J. B. Fitzpatrick, 
 October 25, 1846, and Rev. Alexander Martin, O. S. 
 F., was appointed its pastor. 
 
 SS. VINCENT'S CHURCH, PURCHASE ST., BOSTON. 
 
 The earnest call for church accommodations on 
 the part of the Catholics residing in the vicinity of 
 Fort Hill, induced Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, 
 the worthy successor of Bishop Fenwick, to secure, 
 for the sum of thirty thousand dollars, the large 
 granite meeting-house of the " Purchase Street Uni- 
 tarian Society." 
 
 Having been fitted up, it was opened for divine 
 service, May 14, 1848, under the title of St. Vincent's. 
 After a benedictio loci by the Bishop, High Mass 
 was sung by Rev. N. O'Brien, and the choir, com- 
 posed exclusively of boys and girls, sang Dementi's 
 Mass in C, with great correctness and taste. After 
 the Gospel, the Bishop preached on the necessity of
 
 148 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 belief in mysteries in a divine religion. The con- 
 gregation that crowded every nook and corner of the 
 spacious edifice would have been sufficient to fill 
 another church of the same dimensions. 
 
 CHURCH OF EAST BOSTON. 
 
 The history of East Boston, as forming an impor- 
 tant pai't of the city proper, may be said to have be- 
 gun with the formation of the East Boston Company. 
 This company was incorporated by the legislature of 
 Massachusetts on the 25th of March, 1833, and the 
 beginning and growth of the improvements upon the 
 island was, for the first few years, but the history of 
 the operations of the company, as it was the mover 
 in, and was identified with, the commercial and man- 
 ufacturing enterprises which give to East Boston its 
 character and importance. 
 
 The land, comprising six hundred and sixty acres, 
 was originally put* into a common stock, and divided 
 into thirteen hundred and twenty shares, each share 
 representing half an acre. When lands were sold, 
 the proceeds were to be passed to the credit of the 
 company, constituting the fund from which its ex- 
 penses were paid and its dividends were made. It 
 was soon thought best, however, to increase the num- 
 ber of shares, and, by a vote of the stockholders, 
 changes were made from time to time, and at length 
 permanently fixed at twenty thousand.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 149 
 
 One of the first and most important subjects de- 
 manding the attention and action of the company 
 was the location of streets. The narrow and crooked 
 streets of Boston were a continual and sufficient 
 warning to the proprietors to lay out wide and 
 straight streets on the island before houses and stores 
 were built, for in this way only could regularity and 
 convenience be secured ; and we cannot do otherwise 
 than acknowledge, in our day, the wisdom and fore- 
 sight of the projectors of the beautiful avenues that 
 now traverse every portion of the Island ward. 
 
 In the settlement of East Boston, many adopted 
 citizens, and their immediate descendants, held a 
 conspicuous place. They were among the first who, 
 with strong arms and willing hearts, came to level 
 the hills, fill up the low lands, drain the marshes, 
 erect docks, and map the island with its present wide 
 and spacious streets and pleasant squares. The 
 names of Crowlcy, McManus, Cummisky, and others, 
 were among the first of the permanent householders, 
 among the first to build, and the first with whom con- 
 tracts were entered into for the general improvement. 
 
 With the rapid growth of this delightful portion 
 of the city, destined to become the great depot of our 
 commerce, many others, professing the creed of the 
 Catholic Church, with those already mentioned, here 
 sought employment, either as mechanics, tradesmen, 
 or laborers, or, crossing over from the more densely 
 populated parts of Boston, came to purchase lots, or 
 erect private dwellings for themselves. 
 
 The first child, now living, who was born on the
 
 I5O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 island, was Thomas J. Lavery, son of Matthew and 
 Jane Lavery. He was born on the i7th of Novem- 
 ber, 1833, in a house on Saratoga Street, which was 
 then occupied by three families, Mr. Lavery, Mary 
 Trotten, and Mr. McNulty. 
 
 In consequence of the increasing numbers of the 
 faithful, and the inconvenience of leaving their fam- 
 ilies tp attend divine service in the city proper, it was 
 proposed by Mr. Daniel Crowley and others to erect, 
 with the approbation of the Bishop, 'a place of wor- 
 ship for themselves. While deliberating upon the 
 most desirable site for this object, a legally notified 
 meeting of the " Maverick Congregational Society " 
 came together on the 24th of January, 1844, at which 
 a vote was passed to sell their meeting-house and 
 land for the sum of five thousand dollars ; that a 
 committee of three be raised to carry this into effect ; 
 and that the treasurer, Mr. W. R. Lovejoy, be au- 
 thorized to sign a deed of conveyance to such person 
 as the committee should designate. The Catholics, 
 availing themselves of this favorable opportunity, 
 came forward, the first of February, six days after 
 this suggestion, as willing purchasers of the property, 
 and thus secured for themselves and children a place 
 to assemble for public worship. 
 
 The house having undergone some alterations, and 
 an Altar having been erected, it was dedicated to 
 God, under the patronage of St. Nicholas. The first 
 clergyman appointed to the charge of the congrega- 
 tion was Rev. N. J. A. O'Brien, which office he dis- 
 charged till his recall to the Cathedral in March,
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 151 
 
 1847. He was succeeded by Rev. Charles McCal- 
 lion, who, for the better accommodation of the in- 
 creasing numbers, and with the sanction of the suc- 
 cessor to Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick, Bishop Fitz- 
 patrick, enlarged the church some forty feet, and 
 administered to the wants of the congregation till 
 November, 1851. He was succeeded by Rev. Wil- 
 liam Wiley, who held the responsible situation, fulfil- 
 ling every duty with zeal and piety, till removed by 
 death, April 19, 1855. 
 
 To afford to the still increasing number of Cath- 
 olics more ample church room, the necessity of which 
 may be deduced from the fact, that while in 1844 
 the number baptized was fifty-eight, the baptisms for 
 1854, just ten years afterwards, were three hundred 
 and thirty-eight. Father Wiley, a few months pre- 
 vious to his death, projected, with the approbation of 
 the Bishop, the erection of the substantial and impos- 
 ing stone edifice, located on the corner of Maverick 
 and London Streets, on a line with the frame church 
 on the corner of Maverick and Havre Streets, an in- 
 termediate space of thirty-five feet being left between 
 the two upon which the parochial residence stands. 
 
 Encouraged by the anticipated zealous co-operation 
 of the congregation, he laid the foundation and com- 
 pleted the basement walls of this noble structure, 
 which is sixty by one hundred and thirty-two feet in 
 the interior, and for the most part above ground and 
 well lighted. Having contracted for materials, and 
 made other arrangements to further the work, he 
 could do no more. In the fifty-second year of his
 
 152 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 age, and the twenty-eighth of his priesthood, he was 
 prostrated on the bed of suffering, from which he 
 never rose. 
 
 The day of the funeral obsequies of Rev. Fr. 
 Wiley, Rev. F. X. Branagan was sent to attend the 
 immediate spiritual necessities of the congregation, 
 while Rev. J. Fitton, who had just completed the 
 magnificent church at Newport, R. I., was solicited 
 to accept the pastorship of East Boston. Like many 
 incidents that appear striking, when' viewed in the 
 distance, the latter reverend gentleman little thought 
 he had decided upon work for himself when he en- 
 couraged Father Wiley to build a stone, rather than 
 as contemplated, a brick church ; but such was the 
 result. As soon as arrangements could be made by 
 Right Rev. B. O'Reilly, Bishop of the Hartford dio- 
 cese, he came to carry on the work of his departed 
 bosom friend, Rev. Father Wiley. 
 
 We will here give a brief description of the 
 church of " Most Holy Redeemer." The plan of the 
 church is Gothic, of the thirteenth century style, one 
 hundred and ten by sixty-two feet in the interior, with 
 a chancel twenty-eight by twenty-three feet, and sa- 
 cristies on either side. The main walls are covered 
 with a span roof, with ornamental slating. The inte- 
 rior is divided into finely proportioned nave and aisles, 
 and of sufficient height for beauty of effect, voice, 
 ventilation, and all other conveniences. At the south- 
 west corner of the church there is a very substantial, 
 as well as ornate, tower and spire of nearly two hun- 
 dred feet, which forms a conspicuous beacon for the
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 153 
 
 guidance of travellers for miles around. In this is 
 placed a sweet-toned bell of upwards of two thousand 
 pounds. The walls of the building are massive, and 
 of solid masonry, supported by buttresses, and built 
 in the very best manner. The cabinet work and 
 entire of wood finish is all of seasoned chestnut, shel- 
 lacked and varnished, which makes a very durable 
 and rich finish without the expense of paint. The 
 high altar and tabernacle, with its elaborate carving, 
 emblems and ornaments, and the chapel altars of 
 Mary Immaculate, together with that of St. Patrick, 
 and their rich tracery, are beautiful specimens of art, 
 as they are of devotion. 
 
 A very conspicuous feature in this edifice is the 
 style of the windows, which, being lancet, so called, 
 with emblematic designs in the heads, are filled as 
 usual with stained glass and borders, while the lead 
 sash is inserted in skeleton frames, that rise and fall 
 with ordinary weights and pulleys, whereby abundant 
 ventilation is given in summer, and the cold is shut 
 out in winter. 
 
 Every foot of this church is occupied on Sundays 
 and Holy Days by a large congregation, while the 
 former church is equally filled with a congregation 
 of children, gathered together for catechetical and 
 other religious instruction on Sundays, and on week 
 days, to the number of seven hundred girls, who are 
 educated by the Sisters of Notre Dame, besides being 
 used for the devotional exercises of the single and 
 married Ladies' Sodalities, and for Library purposes. 
 
 The organ of the church of " Most Holy Redeemer "
 
 154 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 is an instrument of rare sweetness, purity, and of 
 unequalled magnificence of tone. Externally it is 
 twenty-six feet high, twenty-nine feet wide, and ten 
 and a half feet deep, and of a style corresponding 
 with the architecture of the church. It is of a very 
 novel construction, being built so as to show the nave 
 window of the church between its principal parts. 
 The key-board is extended from the front of the in- 
 strument, and is seen projecting from the front of the 
 gallery, after the style of the choir organs in European 
 cathedrals, the organist facing the altar. 
 
 The basement chapel of this church, with its fold- 
 ing doors, is divided into different compartments 
 while used for catechetical instruction, which at mass 
 and vespers are thrown open, affording a view of the 
 altar to fourteen hundred children and their teachers. 
 
 While speaking of the church of East Boston, 
 though in point of time going beyond our intention 
 in these sketches, we will add, that since the erection 
 of the church of Most Holy Redeemer, such has been 
 the progress of religion that a second church, " Star 
 of the Sea," a frame building of forty-seven by ninety- 
 one feet, erected on the fourth section in 1868, and 
 capable of seating eight hundred, is already filled ; 
 and a third church, the " Assumption of our Lady," 
 on the first section, commenced August 29, 1869, and 
 in the basement of which mass was first offered on 
 the festival of the Nativity of our Lord, the same 
 year, is already crowded with a congregation of thir- 
 teen hundred souls, and where the female children, 
 to the number of three hundred, are daily taught by
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 155 
 
 the Sisters of Notre Dame ; and on the third section, 
 so called, a lot is secured for the fourth church, which 
 will soon be needed for that growing portion of the 
 Island, which church, as already contemplated, is to 
 be under the special patronage of St. Joseph. 
 
 THE CHURCH AT SALEM. 
 
 Salem, the first town next to Plymouth settled in 
 New England, enjoyed formerly great commercial 
 prosperity while in active trade with the East Indies 
 and China. This, her reputation as a great trading 
 mart, introduced citizens from abroad, and among 
 them a few Catholic families. 
 
 From the most reliable information gained, we learn 
 that the holy Sacrifice of the mass, first offered in 
 Salem, was by Rev. Father Thayer, in the Court 
 House, which was loaned him by the citizens, both 
 anxious to see a Catholic priest, and know what the 
 mass really was. This must have been near to the 
 close of the last century. In after years, among other 
 stations attended by Right Rev. Bishop De Cheverus, 
 Salem was visited monthly, and mass celebrated in a 
 house occupied by a Mr. Connolly, on Herbert Street, 
 at which time there were about twenty-five families, 
 three of French, and the rest of Irish nationality. 
 
 .At the close of the war of 1812, a Mr. Newport, 
 liberated from Dartmouth prison, England, returned 
 to his home at Salem, and in the fervor of his zeal
 
 156 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 commenced, in 1815, collecting from house to house, 
 among the little congregation of Catholics, funds for 
 the erection of a small church for their mutual accom- 
 modation. This church, humble in its dimensions, 
 was built about 1817, and though interiorly unfin- 
 ished, was used for the purpose of divine worship 
 till a much later period. When mass was therein 
 offered, in 1821, by Rev. P. McQuade, of Boston, 
 and attended by the writer, the lathing had not re- 
 ceived the first coat of mortar. At the first visit of 
 Bishop Fenwick, in 1826, it was plastered interiorly, 
 but funds were as yet too limited to allow of the first 
 coat of paint exteriorly. Rev. Fr. Mahony, who had 
 been affiliated to the diocese in 1826, was appointed, 
 in 1827, to look after the spiritual wants of the faith- 
 ful here and at Lowell, a duty which he discharged 
 with the utmost fidelity, till the last place mentioned, 
 becoming an extensive manufacturing district, and 
 demanding the special services of a resident clergy- 
 man, Fr. Mahony was settled among them. 
 
 After his departure, Rev. William Wiley, who, 
 since his ordination in 1827, had officiated at the 
 Cathedral, was appointed, in the month of Septem- 
 ber, 1831, to attend the congregation at Salem, in 
 connection with the rising church of Waltham. 
 
 Ever active and full of zeal, he soon completed 
 and beautified the little church of Salem, and had 
 it blessed by the Bishop the first of January, 1832. 
 Rev. Father Convvay, who succeeded Father Wiley, 
 made an addition to the length of the church, and 
 enlarged the interior by the introduction of galleries.
 
 PROGRESS dF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 157 
 
 The congregation was subsequently attended by Rev. 
 Messrs. John D. Brady, Strain, and O'Flaherty : the 
 last Rev. Father departed this life March 29, 1846; 
 since which time other churches, schools, asylums, 
 and religious societies have risen up, the interesting 
 account of which we leave to the future historian, 
 confining ourselves merely, as intended, to the first 
 churches erected. 
 
 CHURCH AT LOWELL. 
 
 Rev. Father Mahony, to whom, in 1827, na ^ been 
 assigned the spiritual charge of the Catholics at 
 Salem, visited Lowell, October 8, of the same year : 
 returning to Boston, he reported to the Bishop that 
 there were twenty-one families and thirty-one unmar- 
 ried men already settled there. These were visited by 
 the Bishop in person, October 28, 1828, when he 
 offered the holy Sacrifice of the mass in a temporary 
 building, which had been ei'ected for the twofold pur- 
 pose, for mass on Sundays and Holy Days, and for a 
 day school, where the children were taught catechism, 
 and the ordinary English branches, by a schoolmaster, 
 whose time and talents had been previously devoted 
 to the same employ in Ireland. 
 
 The water power having been introduced, and the 
 erection of factories commenced, and the numbers 
 of the faithful having increased to about four hundred 
 souls, the church of St. Patrick, a frame building,
 
 158 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 seventy by forty feet, was projected in the month of 
 July, 1830; and such was the harmony and united 
 zeal in the enterprise, that in twelve months from the 
 date at which it was commenced, it was dedicated, 
 at which cheering event, July 3, 1831, thirty-nine were 
 admitted to the sacrament of Confirmation. 
 
 During the above spiritual and temporal advance- 
 ment of Catholicity in Lowell, Rev. Father Mahony 
 was always at his post, superintending the wants of 
 all, whether parents or children, till February, 1836, 
 when he was transferred to the charge of the impor- 
 tant and growing congregation of St. Augustine's, 
 South Boston. 
 
 Rev. James McDermott was appointed successor 
 to Father Mahony, and continued the good work that 
 he had commenced, and the congregation continuing 
 to increase, Rev. James Conway, in December, 1839, 
 was appointed as an assistant. In less than two years, 
 through the' united exertions of these brother clergy- 
 men, the accommodations at St. Patrick's were found 
 inadequate, and a second church needed ; for this a 
 lot was secured in August, 1841, upon which Rev. 
 Father Conway built a brick church, St. Peter's, 
 ninety by sixty feet, which, being finished, was dedi- 
 cated to the honor and glory of God, October 16, 
 1842, and Rev. Father Conway, who superintended 
 the work from the foundation to its completion, was 
 appointed its first pastor.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 159 
 
 CHURCH AT NEW BEDFORD. 
 
 The few sons of faith who formerly, from one cir- 
 cumstance or another, had found employment and 
 a home miles distant from altar or priest, while in 
 health and prosperity could retire to the woods, or 
 some lonely spot, and spend Sundays in prayer, and 
 unite, as best they might in spirit, with those more 
 peculiarly blessed with religious instruction and the 
 holy Sacrifice of mass ; but when the hour of sickness 
 or death approached, they felt most keenly their priva- 
 tion, and the loneliness of their condition in a strange 
 land. Their only redress then was, to wait the re- 
 turning messenger who had gone with all haste, or 
 remain patiently for an answer to their request, for- 
 warded by post, telling their anxiety for the aids of 
 religion before leaving this world. Telegraphs there 
 were none, rail cars and other improved and expedi- 
 tious methods of modern conveyance, none ; the mail 
 stage, if the distance was far, running day and night 
 at the rate of six or seven miles an hour, was the 
 fastest and most reliable mode of travelling. 
 
 Amongst the first of such distant calls received by 
 our young missionary, after his ordination, was one to 
 New Bedford. The call was urgent ; a poor old man, 
 it w&s said, was near his end ; the call came late, the 
 stage coach had left ; the only way, therefore, was a 
 private conveyance ; with this all haste was made 
 that evening and night, but on arriving, at four o'clock 
 in the morning, our missionary found that the soul of
 
 l6o SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 the poor old man had departed ! He had died, it 
 was said, with contrition in his heart, and with his 
 last words lamenting, " O, if I but had the rites of 
 my Church." We merely allude to such events to 
 encourage the grateful acknowledgments of those who 
 now enjoy, too often heedlessly, their many spiritual 
 privileges. 
 
 The earliest information we have of any permanent 
 settlement made by Catholics at New Bedford was 
 in 1820, when, attended occasionally by Rev. Father 
 Larasy, they erected a small frame building, small 
 in reality, as we remember it, located among rocks, 
 and enclosed with a high board fence, and, as it ap- 
 peared to us, the last desirable spot in the town. 
 Father Larasy, who was a priest of the order of St. 
 Augustin, having left Boston for Philadelphia, the few 
 Catholics residing at New Bedford were attended, in 
 1828, and had mass offered for their spiritual benefit 
 once in every two months, by Rev. R. D. Woodley. 
 The congregation having increased to the number of 
 two hundred and forty, were attended, from 1842 to 
 January 1844, by Rev. James O'Reilly. Continuing 
 to increase in numbers, and promising to build a larger 
 and more convenient house for divine worship, and 
 to support a resident pastor, Rev. P. Byrne, formerly 
 of St. Mary's, Charlestown, was sent to them, and 
 was authorized by the Bishop to attend at the same 
 time the few Catholic residents at Nantucket Island.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. l6l 
 
 CHURCH AT TAUNTON. 
 
 As in reminiscence of early days at New Bedford, 
 we have hinted at the propriety, while in life, of be- 
 ing prepared for death, and alluded to the living grati- 
 tude due for present spiritual advantages enjoyed over 
 that of generations passed away, so before entering 
 upon the dry details of the establishment of the Church 
 at Taunton, details similar to those of many other 
 towns, we have to record all we know of the first 
 visit of a clergyman, which was to administer the last 
 Sacraments to a dying Christian. Dry details, we 
 say, for many, perhaps, may so account our labors ; 
 but we know not how to make these sketches other- 
 wise, for to tell of the humble means collected from 
 house to house wherewith to erect churches, of the 
 disappointments experienced where much had been an- 
 ticipated, of the oft-repeated story of priests " always 
 looking for money," and the much to say on the part 
 of those who generally did the least ! to speak of the 
 toil and drudgery, the debts contracted, the interest 
 to meet, and ci'editors to satisfy, as has been the case 
 in many instances for the smallest of the first churches 
 erected, would only add to the aridity of our jour- 
 nal ; we, therefore, content ourselves with giving 
 simply the dates of their origin, the names of the 
 clergy, and the commencement of former labors, that 
 others may have a starting point for the interesting 
 history they will record of the progress of Catholicity 
 since. 
 
 ii
 
 l62 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 At the first visit of the missionary to Taunton, be- 
 sides attending the sick, there were other Sacraments 
 administered. One of the few families of the place 
 had been blessed with an heir to their estate, and their 
 little one was baptized ; in addition to which, there 
 was mass and a marriage and nuptial benediction, 
 which we mention, not only because the Church en- 
 courages the reception of this Sacrament at Holy 
 Mass, but in illustration of the faith and piety of the 
 early Catholic settlers of Taunton, who in this were 
 actuated by the spirit of religion, and obedient to its 
 laws, and left an example to their descendants.* 
 
 The first clergyman appointed to attend the Catho- 
 
 * In connection with the marri.ige alluded to, there was 
 a wedding, which we remember distinctly, as it was the first 
 we had ever attended ; and it was, substantially, satisfactorily, 
 and in every sense what our unsophisticated ancestors under- 
 stood by a wedding, prior to the modern fashionable fly- 
 away kind of weddings, with embossed card compliments 
 
 of Mr. and Mrs. . It was what we conceived to be a 
 
 good old-fashioned wedding, to which friends, relatives, and 
 all well-wishers were invited. As far as we remember, there 
 was a long table, and plates for all. There were meats, 
 roast and boiled, fresh and salt, potatoes in heaps, and cab- 
 bage in abundance, with all else the season afforded ; and 
 not the least conspicuously accompanying this substantial 
 meal, with tea for the ladies, was piled up a pyramid of that 
 of which each might carry a slice to their little ones at home, 
 called in these days ginger-bread, but then " sweet-bread." 
 
 This plain simplicity of a wedding of other days may pro- 
 voke a smile, but nevertheless, though fashions may change, 
 it was then considered satisfactory and highly commenda- 
 ble.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 163 
 
 lies at Taunton, and say mass monthly, was Rev. R. 
 D. Woodley. Hearing of their devotion and mutual 
 edification, the Bishop visited them in the month of 
 June, 1831, when, by invitation, he preached in the 
 Town House, and administered Confirmation to thir- 
 ty-one individuals ; selecting at the same time a lot of 
 land, upon which he encouraged the little congrega- 
 tion to build a church. 
 
 This church, a frame building of fifty -two by thirty- 
 eight feet, at a cost of two thousand dollars, was built 
 by the united efforts of the faithful, under the super- 
 vision of the successor of Father Woodley, Rev. John 
 Corry, and was blessed by the Bishop at his second 
 visit, October 28, 1833, at which time the adult mem- 
 bers of the congregation were estimated at one hun- 
 dred and fifty. Rev. Fr. Corry attended the Catholics 
 here, and at Fall River and Newport, till his services 
 were more particularly needed at Providence, R. I., 
 when, in 1837, ne was succeeded by Rev. William 
 Wiley, who enlarged and beautified the little church, 
 and the congregation were again visited and blessed 
 by the Bishop, December 8, 1838, on which occasion 
 he administered Confirmation to forty-two persons, 
 who had been prepared for the reception of this Sacra- 
 ment. 
 
 CHURCH AT SANDWICH. 
 
 The faithful of this town, who, for the most part, 
 were employed in the large manufactory of glass, by
 
 164 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 which more than one quarter of the population were 
 supported, were visited the early part of 1830 by 
 Rev. William Tyler, who, upon his return to Boston, 
 reported the spiritual destitution and earnest wishes 
 of the community. The Bishop, solicitous for the 
 welfare of every portion of his vast diocese, visited 
 Sandwich in person, in the month of June the same 
 year, and said mass in the house of Mr. Doyle. 
 Learning the number of the faithful, and solicitous 
 especially for those who had families, he encouraged 
 the erection of a small church, where they might as- 
 semble on Sundays, promising them the services of a 
 clergyman, and the privilege of mass, and instruc- 
 tion, as often as possible, with the few he had at his 
 command. The enterprise was entered into with 
 spirit, and the little congregation, small as were their 
 number, contributing generously of their daily earn- 
 ings, had the satisfaction of seeing their little church, 
 under patronage of St. Peter, blessed the following 
 month of September ; from which time they were 
 attended by some one of the clergy in connection with 
 other stations. 
 
 CHURCH AT WALTHAM. 
 
 This was a frame building, of fifty by thirty-five 
 feet, erected in 1830, and although not finished, for 
 want of funds, as the congregation were but few, and 
 their means limited, still it was occupied for divine 
 service on Sundays whenever a clergyman from the
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 165 
 
 Cathedral, or from some neighboring station, could be 
 spared. Our missionary, whose stations at the time 
 dotted the country from Boston to New York State 
 line, gave this place a portion of his attention, and 
 put the church in somewhat better condition for di- 
 vine worship. In 1839, wnen the congregation were 
 estimated at about three hundred souls, Rev. F. Fitz- 
 simmons was authorized by the Bishop to attend their 
 spiritual wants. The congregation increasing in num- 
 bers, he was succeeded by Rev. Michael Lynch, and 
 upon his appointment to another district, Rev. Father 
 Flood became their pastor. It was during his zeal- 
 ous care over the flock that the church, June 4, 1848, 
 was burned to the ground. The firemen of the com- 
 panies of the towns of West Newton, Newton Cen- 
 tre, and of Watertown, worked nobly to save the 
 building, but in vain. The Selectmen of Waltham 
 offered a large reward for the detection of the incen- 
 diary, and the same day proffered the Catholics the 
 free use of the Town Hall for divine worship, as also 
 most generously, and with commendable liberality, 
 the Unitarian Society deputed their minister, Rev. 
 Mr. Hill, and Dr. Mulliken, to offer Father Flood 
 and his parishioners their house of worship for divine 
 service. 
 
 CHURCH AT WATERTOWN. 
 
 Rev. P. Flood, of whom mention is made in con- 
 nection with the Church of Waltham, attended the few
 
 l66 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Catholics, who, in 1846, were living at Watertown, 
 Brighton, and the districts of Newton. Finding that 
 Watertown embraced the largest number of the faith- 
 ful, and that there was apparently a prospect of their 
 increase, Rev. Fr. Flood, in conjunction with the few 
 Catholic citizens of Watertown, petitioned the select- 
 men for the use of the Town Hall till their means 
 would allow them to build a small house for public 
 worship ; this, their petition, through the chairman, 
 
 Mr. H , was positively refused. Far, however, 
 
 from being discouraged at this disappointment on the 
 part of those from whom they anticipated warmer 
 encouragement for keeping the Lord's Day holy, they 
 persevered in their efforts, and independent of those 
 in high authority, for time being, succeeded in ob- 
 taining the use of what was known as the " Whig 
 Reading-room," located on the Square. Here the lit- 
 tle congregation continued to assemble for divine 
 worship till they purchased the meeting-house belong- 
 ing formerly r to the Methodist Society, which, being 
 remodelled, was the first Catholic church in Water- 
 town. 
 
 The congregation continuing to increase, and de- 
 manding still larger accommodations, and co-operat- 
 ing with their zealous pastor, they secured for them- 
 selves the site of the present St. Patrick's church, the 
 corner-stone of which was blessed by the Bishop, 
 attended by Rev. Fr. Flood, the pastor, and Rev. P. 
 O'Beirne, September 27, 1847, and in December fol- 
 lowing, the church being roofed, and though other- 
 wise unfinished, served the congregation for divine
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 167 
 
 service on Sundays ; and by extraordinary and per- 
 severing efforts on the part of pastor and people, it 
 was completed and dedicated to God by the month 
 of June the year following, 1848. 
 
 Such, as in so many instances, we have to record, 
 was the result of faith and perseverance of the few, 
 .and for the most part of limited means, who laid the 
 foundations of our early Churches in New England. 
 
 CHURCH AT FALL RIVER. 
 
 The first church at Fall River, a frame building, 
 sixty by forty feet, was built in 1836, by the united ef- 
 fort of those who were among the first employed in 
 preparing the foundations of those many heavy and 
 substantial manufacturing establishments, which, since 
 their erection, have given employment to thousands. 
 
 Previous to, and while the church was being erected, 
 which was opened for divine service the 2ist of Au- 
 gust, 1837, Rev. John Corry said mass as often as 
 circumstances permitted, and attended the spiritual 
 wants of the faithful till November 22, when the con- 
 gregation had a resident pastor in Rev. Richard Har- 
 dy, till April 6, 1840; he having been transferred to 
 assist the Bishop at the Cathedral, the Rev. Edward 
 Murphy was appointed pastor. For the accommo- 
 dation of the increased number of the faithful, he im- 
 mediately commenced the enlargement of the church ; 
 and such was the confidence in their pastor, and the
 
 l68 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 good will of the congregation in seconding his efforts, 
 that the work was forwarded with such rapidity as to 
 see all completed by the 3Oth of August the same 
 year, blessed and dedicated to God, under the title of 
 St. John Baptist. 
 
 This enlarged church itself becoming in a very few 
 years scaixe sufficient for the convenience of the chil- 
 dren of the congregation, whose spiritual welfare the 
 pastor always looked upon as the first of his obliga- 
 tions, he commenced the present magnificent stone 
 edifice, which he has been spared to see completed, 
 one of the largest, ornate, most substantial and beau- 
 tiful among all the Gothic churches of the diocese. 
 
 CHURCH AT SAXONVILLE. 
 
 The faithful at this village were attended by our 
 missionary as early as 1834, when mass was offered 
 in one of the largest rooms of a private house near 
 to what then was Mr. Knights's carpet factory. In 
 the course of time, the little congregation having been 
 augmented by additional operatives at the woollen 
 factory, the holy Sacrifice, by permission of the au- 
 thorities, was offered in the school-house. With funds 
 contributed on the part of the congregation, the site 
 for a church and cemetery was bought in 1842. The 
 missionary, at the solicitation of his Bishop, having 
 been assigned to the charge of Rhode Island, was suc- 
 ceeded at Worcester by Rev. Adolphus Williamson,
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 169 
 
 whose health becoming impaired, was assisted by 
 Rev. Mathew Gibson, who for a while officiated at 
 Saxonville. 
 
 In the Catholic Observer, of July, 1848, we find 
 that " the church at Saxonville, under the title of St. 
 George, was dedicated to God on the Feast of the 
 Most Holy Trinity. The ceremony of the blessing 
 was performed by the Right Rev. Bishop of the Dio- 
 cese. Rev. Messrs. Williams and O'Brien, of the 
 Cathedral, assisting as Deacons of honor. The mass 
 was sung by Rev. J. Boyce, of Worcester. After the 
 Gospel, Very Rev. Dr. Ryder preached in his most elo- 
 quent strain. At the end of the mass, the Bishop also 
 addressed the congregation, lauding them for what 
 they had already done, and exhorting them to perse- 
 vere in their efforts for the advancement of religion 
 and in their love for the house of God. Rev. George 
 T. Riordan, pastor of Saxonville, has labored with 
 great energy and great success in the noble work of 
 finishing St. George's church, which is a credit alike 
 to his good taste and his zeal." 
 
 CHURCH AT QUINCY. 
 
 An acre of land having been secured in the month 
 of November, 1841, the first church in this town, 
 a neat little edifice, was erected through the united 
 exertions and pious good will of those employed at 
 the quarry, and dedicated to God under the title of St.
 
 I7O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Mary's, September 18, 1842, at which time the faith- 
 ful were attended by Rev. T. Fitzsimmons, of South 
 Boston. 
 
 CHURCHES AT CHELSEA AND LYNN. 
 
 When in 1844 the Catholic residents of East Bos- 
 ton fitted up their church for the purpose of divine 
 worship, the first public building erected on the island, 
 which they had bought of the " Maverick Congrega- 
 tional Society," it was intended, as it afforded ample 
 accommodation, for the benefit of the Catholics of 
 Chelsea, as well as for themselves. The congrega- 
 tion, however, of Chelsea, solicitous, after a while, for 
 more convenient accommodations, especially for their 
 children, Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick commis- 
 sioned Rev. Fr. John O'Brien to look after their spir- 
 itual wants in connection with those living at Lynn, 
 Newburyport, and other eastern sections of the State. 
 Rev. Fr. O'Brien having eventually selected Newbury- 
 port as the head-quarters of his mission, Rev. Charles 
 Smyth was appointed his successor at Chelsea and 
 Lynn, who in 1849 purchased two small houses, the 
 most convenient to be had at the time, one at Lynn 
 and another at Chelsea, which being fitted up served 
 the purpose for divine worship till the present spacious 
 and handsome brick churches were erected, under 
 the supervision of Rev. P. Strain, the present pastor 
 of Lynn, Rev. James McGlew, having been ap- 
 pointed his successor at Chelsea.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 
 
 CHURCH AT MILFORD. 
 
 The following communication appeared in the 
 Observer of August 21, 1847. " ^ n Sunday, the 8th 
 instant, after mass, a meeting, presided over by the 
 Rev. Mr. Gibson, was held at the house of Mr. Dom- 
 inic McDavitt, for the purpose of taking into con- 
 sideration the most effectual means of erecting a 
 church to meet the spiritual wants of the rising con- 
 gregation of this place. A subscription list was 
 opened, and although the greater part of the congre- 
 gation was not present or apprised of it, the sum of 
 three hundred and fifty dollars was collected on the 
 occasion, and the following gentlemen were appointed 
 a committee to collect funds and superintend the build- 
 ing, viz., Messrs. Hugh McGown, Edward McGov- 
 ern, and Dominic McDavitt." 
 
 In the month of April, the year following, Rev. 
 Fr. Boyce, successor of Fr. Gibson, at Worcester, re- 
 ceived permission from the Bishop to commence the 
 church, the foundation for which being prepared, the 
 corner-stone was laid the 29th of the following month 
 of July, on which occasion, in the absence of any 
 more convenient place, the holy Sacrifice of the mass 
 was offered in the engine-house, and the Bishop, at 
 the invitation of the citizens, preached in the after- 
 noon in the Universalist meeting-house. The year 
 following, November 4, 1849, the church was blessed, 
 on which occasion Rev. Fr. Mathew preached on 
 " the holiness of the house of God, and the rever-
 
 172 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ence and respect due to it ; " and, in the afternoon 
 of the same day, administered the temperance pledge 
 to a large number of the congregation, who were 
 thus anxious to encourage each other in the observ- 
 ance of their baptismal engagements. 
 
 Having thus far glanced at the establishment of 
 some of the earliest Churches in Massachusetts, we 
 discontinue our humble sketches, to record the demise 
 of the great, the good, the sainted and untiring 
 laborer in the vineyard of our Lord, Bishop Fenwick. 
 
 OBITUARY NOTICE. 
 
 The Right Reverend BISHOP FENWICK was born 
 in St. Mary's County, Maryland, on the 3d of Sep- 
 tember, 1782, and died August n, 1846. 
 
 In his last illness, which he bore with heroic forti- 
 tude, his faculties did not for a moment desert him. 
 His death was most saintly, and as his dissolution 
 approached, he uttered frequent pious ejaculations, 
 such as these : " Most loving Jesus, have mercy on 
 me ; " "Jesus, zealous lover of souls, have mercy 
 on me." 
 
 On the evening of the day of his death, the re- 
 mains of this holy Bishop, clothed in fall episcopals v 
 were conveyed to Holy Cross Cathedral, where his 
 body lay in state that night and the following day. 
 Immense crowds thronged the church, and a great
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 173 
 
 number of people remained there all night, as if 
 loath to part with their saintly father, who loved 
 them so well, and whose tender love they so warmly 
 reciprocated. 
 
 Amongst the crowd that flocked to Holy Cross 
 were many Protestants, who, by their respectful and 
 subdued demeanor, testified to the high esteem in 
 which this great and good man was held by all 
 classes of citizens. 
 
 The city authorities, with a degree of respectful 
 consideration that cannot be too highly commended, 
 ordered, upon hearing of Bishop Fenwick's illness, 
 that in the streets leading to his house all traffic 
 should be discontinued, and likewise that the bells 
 of public buildings in his neighborhood should not 
 be rung. By the simple force of his blameless life, 
 his manly integrity, and his exalted piety and learn- 
 ing, had he won " golden opinions from all kinds of 
 people," even from those who were from principle, 
 interest, or prejudice most strongly opposed to that 
 Holy Church of which he was such a shining light. 
 
 On the evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday fol- 
 lowing his death, the office of the dead was chanted 
 by the clergy of his diocese. A solemn requiem 
 mass was celebrated on Thursday, at eight o'clock, 
 after which his remains were removed to Worcester, 
 to be interred in a spot chosen by himself, and which 
 was close to the College of Holy Cross. 
 
 From numerous notices of the death of this ven- 
 erable prelate in the Protestant press of the country, 
 we select the following, which may be regarded as
 
 174 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 being perfectly impartial, considering the source 
 from which they are taken. 
 
 " His learning was profound, and his piety unaf- 
 fected, while in social intercourse nothing of scho- 
 lastic reserve or misplaced austerity tinged the amen- 
 ity of his manners and the cordiality of his bearing. 
 Hence he was alike respected and beloved. His loss 
 comes home to the hearts of thousands, who have yet 
 the consolation of feeling, that as he lived a learned, 
 wise, and good man, so his death was worthy of his 
 life." Times. 
 
 " He retained his senses to the last, and died with- 
 out pain. He had many friends, even out of his own 
 denomination, and will be held in long and kindly 
 remembrance for the good he has done in the com- 
 munity." Advertiser. 
 
 " Bishop Fenwick was a learned scholar, as most 
 of his order are. He was a calm, far-seeing, and 
 zealous prelate ; a good Christian, a good citizen, a 
 good man." Courier. 
 
 A correspondent to the Pilot newspaper of the 29th 
 of August, 1846, thus speaks of Bishop Fenwick's 
 funeral obsequies : 
 
 " At least fifty thousand people came to behold, for 
 the last time, the Pontiff of the Church of God, and 
 though many were strangers to our faith, and sym- 
 pathized not with our belief, yet a sacred awe per- 
 vaded .every heart. . . . On Thursday morning, 
 at eight o'clock, began the Holy Sacrifice. Right 
 Reverend Bishop Fitzpatrick officiated, with Rev. Dr. 
 Manahan and Rev. Mr. Lyndon as deacon and sub-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 175 
 
 deacon. . . . Notice had been given by telegraph 
 to the Most Rev. Archbishop and the Right Rev. 
 Bishops of New York and Philadelphia, and to 
 Georgetown College, of Bishop Fenwick's decease. 
 Owing, however, to the derangement of the wires, 
 Dr. Hughes was the only one who received the com- 
 munication in time to come to the funeral. . 
 The whole of the mass was sung in plain chant. 
 After the solemn Introit Requiem, and the plaintive 
 cry for mercy, Kyrie Eleison, the Right Rev. Cel- 
 ebrant, in a voice scarcely audible through his sobs 
 of grief, implored the judgment of mercy and of love 
 for the soul of the departed Pontiff and all responded, 
 4 Amen.' 
 
 "After the Gospel, strengthened by the blessing of 
 the new Bishop of the diocese, the Rev. N. O'Brien, 
 of East Boston, ascended the pulpit. After reading 
 a few verses from the sixth chapter of St. John, he 
 spoke to that sea 'of people of their bereavement and 
 their hopes, of the labors of their deceased prelate, 
 and the success with which God, in his goodness, 
 had crowned them, and concluded by imploring him 
 from his tomb once more to bless his children." 
 
 After the three absolutions were pronounced, the 
 procession formed and set out for the Worcester de- 
 pot. It consisted of Exorcist, Thurifers, Cross- 
 bearer, the clergy walking two and two, the Right 
 Reverend Doctor Hughes, Bishop of New York, and 
 the Right Reverend Celebrant, followed by the 
 hearse, beside which walked the Sisters of Charity 
 and the orphans. The different Catholic societies 
 were well represented.
 
 '176 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Amidst all the grief and anguish, it was indeed a 
 consoling and a glorious sight to see the Cross, the 
 emblem of man's salvation, borne in procession 
 through the streets, and to hear the sublime chant 
 of the Miserere go up to Heaven, and one could 
 almost hope that the prayer for mercy might be 
 fruitful in a rich spiritual harvest, in that city where 
 its notes were probably by many for the first time 
 heard. 
 
 On the route of the procession the stores were 
 closed, and business seemed to be entirely suspended. 
 An immense multitude lined the streets, and man- 
 ifested, by every exterior sign of respect and sorrow, 
 the greatest reverence and love for him who had so 
 long labored amongst them. 
 
 On arriving at Worcester, the body was received 
 by Fr. Gibson, the Collegians, the religious societies, 
 and a great concourse of people. 
 
 " The procession," says the writer from whom we 
 have quoted above, " again /ormed, and with the 
 renewed chants of the Church, ascended Mount 
 Saint James. As it entered the college grounds, the 
 litany of the Blessed Virgin was intoned, and sung 
 by the whole people. * Regina Cleri' Queen of 
 the Priesthood, was thrice repeated as it reached the 
 grave, which was then blessed, and dust was com- 
 mitted to dust, ashes to ashes, and the spirit was 
 praying, we trust, for the orphans who remained." 
 
 The following extracts are from Bishop Hughes's 
 eulogy on Bishop Fenwick, delivered at the " Month's 
 mind," in Holy Cross Cathedral, on the nth Sep- 
 tember, 1846.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 177 
 
 " He has departed ; but not until he had surrounded 
 himself with a numerous body of pious and devoted 
 clergy, whose warm affection for him is his brightest 
 monument. He was their father, but also their 
 equal. To them he was an elder brother, their 
 counsellor, their example. And I may appeal to all 
 of them to say if there was ever one instance when, 
 in sorrow and affliction, they had recourse to the 
 kind, enlightened, and discreet tenderness of their 
 Bishop, without being met, on his part, in the spirit 
 of Christian holiness and brotherly love. 
 
 " His sickness was another labor. It was painful 
 and distressing. It was announced to him before- 
 hand that he could not survive ; and he, the man who 
 for forty years had known no glory but that of his 
 Master, and given himself to no work but that of 
 God ; that man, notwithstanding his humility, if 
 that humility would permit, could look back 
 through all his course in life, and say, with the Apos- 
 tle, ' I have fought the good fight, I have kept the 
 faith.' 
 
 u In a word, from the moment when first he con- 
 secrated himself to God, to the latest breath in his 
 life, we find in him but one continuous act, the 
 making himself a victim in the cause of the Lord. 
 
 " Such was the life of Bishop Fenwick. And if, 
 as I have said, a pure, and high, and holy motive, 
 combined with constant labor and the endurance of 
 all suffering, constitute greatness, then was he great 
 indeed. Even in his humility he was great. His 
 memory, as a Prince of the Church, is great. The 
 12
 
 178 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 influence of his example is great. And not only was 
 he great in life, but he is, and will forever be great, 
 because there is a continuity in the works of God, 
 and goodness and greatness will last throughout eter- 
 nity. We can little conceive the true measure of 
 such greatness, unless we can lift ourselves above the 
 low standard of life, and the grovelling propensities 
 which beset us in the world, and seek to attain the 
 high and pure atmosphere of heaven. 
 
 " He sleeps beneath the monument he himself had 
 raised, though he dreamed not it would be for him. 
 Every day a shadow from its top is cast by the sun 
 of heaven upon the bed of his slumber, and every 
 day the pupils whom he taught, and whom he loved, 
 breathe over his 1'emains a prayer. When they kneel 
 before their God, they offer a petition for the repose 
 of his spirit, believing and knowing that he is praying 
 for and watching over them, and all of us. 
 
 " His brows are now encircled by the crown of 
 glory which Christ, the chief of Bishops, has pre- 
 pared for those who with Him are to reign forever 
 and ever. Let us, my beloved brethren, endeavor so 
 to live that we may make our calling and election 
 sure, that we may join with him who has gone be- 
 fore, in eternal praise before the throne of God." 
 
 Dr. Brownson, in his Review for October, 1846, as 
 seen in the following extract, has given a very just 
 sketch of this eminent prelate. 
 
 " Few who had the honor of personally knowing 
 the late eminent Bishop of Boston but looked upon 
 him as a great and good man, and upon themselves
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 179 
 
 as highly privileged in being permitted to love and 
 revere him. Especially was this the case with those 
 who were in the habit of daily intercourse with him, 
 who sat familiarly at his table, and shared his inti- 
 macy. To them he was a pleasant companion, a faith- 
 ful and affectionate friend, a wise and prudent coun- 
 sellor, a watchful and loving father. They have no 
 words to say how much they loved and venerated him, 
 or to express how deeply they feel their bereavement. 
 They never met, and they have no hope of meeting, 
 his equal in another ; and their grief would be more 
 than they could bear, did they not find consolation in 
 reflecting that it has been theirs to know familiarly 
 one who gave them, by his virtues, a higher concep- 
 tion of the capacities of our common nature, and of 
 the power and riches of divine grace ; that they have 
 felt the influence, efljoyed the friendship, and received 
 the paternal counsels and blessing of one whose labors 
 and example were a precious gift from Heaven to the 
 community in which he lived ; and that he is removed 
 from them only to enter upon the rewards of his 
 fidelity and life of self-sacrifice, and to be able to 
 serve more effectually the children he so tenderly 
 loved, by his more intimate union with the common 
 Father of us all. 
 
 " Of Bishop Fenwick as an intellectual man and a 
 scholar, we are not well qualified to speak. He was 
 averse, to all display, and was always so modest and 
 unassuming that you were perpetually in danger of 
 underrating him. Yet one was always sure to fintl 
 his natural ability and his learning equal to the occa-
 
 l8o SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 sion, whatever it might be. His mind was evidently 
 of a practical, rather than of a speculative cast. He 
 had no special fondness for metaphysical studies and 
 scholastic subtilties, but he was always at home in 
 any speculative question which came up, and familiar 
 with all the nice and subtile distinctions it might in- 
 volve. His memory was remarkably tenacious, and 
 was rarely at fault. He seemed to have read every- 
 thing, and to have retained all he read. He spoke 
 several languages with ease and fluenc}', was an emi- 
 nent classical scholar, and apparently familiar with 
 the whole range of modern literature and science. 
 No matter what the subject, however obscure or re- 
 mote from his professional studies, on which you 
 sought information, he could either give it, or direct 
 you at once to the source whence you could obtain 
 it. That he was a sound divine, well read in dog- 
 matic and moral theology, we suppose there can be 
 no question ; but his favorite studies seemed to us to 
 be history and geography, in both of which, whether 
 general or particular, he excelled. 
 
 " Humility was, perhaps, the most striking trait in 
 his character. It gave to his whole character that 
 placid beauty, and that inexpressible charm, which 
 made his society so delightful, and which so endeared 
 him to our hearts. He rarely spoke of himself, and 
 when he did, it was always evident that his mind was 
 not preoccupied with himself. He spoke of the trans- 
 actions in which he had taken part, nay, in which he 
 had been the sole actor, as if he had had no connec- 
 tion with them. He held no prominent place in his
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. iSl 
 
 own eyes. He was not merely indifferent to praise, 
 but seemed to have risen to that sublime degree of 
 humility which takes pleasure in being contemned. 
 He was happy in opportunities to humble himself 
 deeper before God. Through grace his spirit had 
 become as sweet, as gentle, as docile as that of the 
 little child, of whom our Saviour said, " Of such is 
 the kingdom of heaven." He had long ceased to 
 live for himself, and he was incapable of thinking 
 how this or that would or would not affect his own 
 reputation. He chose always the lowest seat, and 
 was anxious only to draw out and encourage others. 
 He made himself nothing for Christ's sake, and was 
 free and strong for whatever there was for him to do. 
 It was a lesson and a blessing to contemplate one so 
 truly eminent for his abilities and acquirements, able 
 to rank with the greatest men and most learned schol- 
 ars of the age-, making himself of no account, com- 
 pletely annihilating himself for the love of God and 
 the good of souls, and emulous only of serving the 
 lowest, and assisting those who were most in need of 
 being assisted. It abashed one's pride, made him 
 ashamed of arrogating anything to himself, and feel 
 that nothing is truly estimable, save so far as conse- 
 crated to the greater glory of God. 
 
 " It is hardly necessary to speak of this good father's 
 tender solicitude for the flock committed to his charge. 
 Every member was dear to him, and he took a lively 
 interest in each one's concerns, temporal as well as 
 spiritual. They were all his children, and no father's 
 heart ever warmed with more generous affection, or
 
 l82 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 overflowed with more tender solicitude. He lived 
 only to serve them, and he brought all his energies to 
 bear in devising ways and means to benefit them, 
 both here and hereafter. Their joy was his joy, their 
 sorrow was his sorrow. Especially was he the father 
 of the poor. He gave everything he had, even the 
 very considerable estate he had inherited, and, if all 
 were not amply provided for, it was only because his 
 purse was not so large as his heart. He carried his 
 kindness and paternal love even to those who did not 
 always make a suitable return, and possessed, pre- 
 eminently, the power of rendering good for evil. No 
 ingratitude ever discouraged him, no unworthy recip- 
 ients of his bounty ever induced him to abandon or 
 reproach them. If, as rarely happened, some rude or 
 violent member of his flock forgot what was due to 
 their father, he felt no resentment, but melted in com- 
 passion for the offender. All who had any real or 
 fancied grievances were permitted to tell their story 
 in their own way, were listened to with patience, and 
 dismissed with gentleness and the paternal blessing. 
 Yet his remarkable patience and gentleness, so ob- 
 vious to all who were in the way of observing his 
 intercourse with all sorts of people, were the work 
 of grace ; for we are inclined to think he was, natural- 
 ly, somewhat impatient and irascible. This trait in 
 his character was, therefore, all the more beautiful, 
 for it proved the victory of grace over nature. The 
 victory was complete : if nature showed sometimes 
 a disposition to rebel, she was instantly suppressed, 
 and nothing was seen but the meekness, gentleness, 
 and forbearance of divine grace.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 183 
 
 " His consideration for the feelings of others was 
 another beautiful trait in his character. He could not 
 bear to give the least pain to another, and he studied 
 to hide his excessive tenderness under an affectation 
 of harshness and severity, which, however, only made 
 it the more apparent. He delighted to have his chil- 
 dren, especially his clergy, around him, and was never 
 happier than when they shared freely his boundless 
 hospitality. Nothing could be more delightful than 
 to mark his kindness to them, and their love and ven- 
 eration for him. Nothing was constrained, nothing 
 was cold or distant. It was truly the reunion of the 
 father and his children. No one was overlooked, no 
 one was unwelcome ; and we have often admired the 
 unaffected, and apparently unconscious, consideration 
 shown to the feelings of each one present. If one 
 had been longer absent than usual, without any suf- 
 ficient reason, or seemed to show that he doubted 
 whether he was perfectly welcome or not, the con- 
 versation was always sure to take such a turn, and 
 without any one's being able to perceive when or 
 how, as to make him certain that his absence had 
 been regretted, and that, if anything had occurred to 
 wound his sensibility, it was unintended, and would 
 be atoned for at any sacrifice. All this was done so 
 naturally, so spontaneously, so unconsciously, so from 
 the heart, that none but a very nice and practised 
 observer could detect or suspect it. He ever studied 
 to make others happy, and his joy was always to see 
 himself surrounded by glad hearts and smiling faces. 
 He had his trials, and trials of no ordinary severity ;
 
 184 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 he had met with many things, in the administration 
 of his diocese, to grieve his paternal heart ; but he 
 never permitted his own afflictions to cloud his brow, 
 or that of another. With him all was smooth and 
 sunny, and you imagined that he was free from all 
 solicitude, and that no care ever oppressed him. This 
 trait in his character was strikingly displayed all 
 through his long and painful illness. 
 
 " Of his truly edifying death we cannot speak in 
 detail. It was what was to have been expected from 
 his life. He retained his faculties and his recollection 
 to the last moment. He knew the change that was 
 taking place, but it did not take him by surprise. 
 All his life had been but a preparation for it, yet he 
 made all the acts and preparations the time and the 
 occasion required. His last words were, ^In te, 
 Domine, speravi ; non confundar in ceternam? As 
 he repeated the words, half formed, the agony seized 
 him ; he stretched forth his hands as if for absolution 
 and the last indulgence, which were given ; some one 
 thought they heard him respond, ' Amen ; ' the agony 
 was over, the spirit was emancipated, and its joy was 
 reflected on that countenance which had been so dear 
 to us all. 
 
 " We have nothing more to add. His monument 
 is in the grateful recollections of his people, whom 
 he fed with the bread of life, and governed with 
 equal affection and wisdom for over twenty years. 
 Everywhere in his diocese we may read the proofs 
 of his paternal solicitude, his wisdom and energy, his 
 devotion to the people of his charge, and of his hav-
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 185 
 
 ing lived and labored with no thought hut for the 
 greater glory of God and the advancement of the 
 Church. He has stamped his character on his dio- 
 cese, and his influence will continue to be felt till that 
 day comes when the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat, and the heavens and the earth be dissolved." 
 
 CHURCHES AND CLERGY IN THE BOSTON DIOCESE, 
 1846. 
 
 The zeal, fervor, labor, and perseverance of the 
 illustrious Bishop Fenwick, cannot be more clearly 
 seen than by the following statistics of the churches 
 and clergy, twenty-one years from the day of his in- 
 stallation, when there were but three clergymen and 
 seven small churches or chapels throughout the New 
 England States. 
 
 Boston, Cathedral, Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick 
 
 and Coadjutor, Right 
 Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, 
 Rev. Messrs. P. F. Lyn- 
 don, Ambrose Manahan, 
 D. D., and John J. Wil- 
 liams. 
 
 Boston, St. Mary's, Rev. Messrs. P. Flood and 
 
 James O'Reilly. 
 
 Boston, St. Patrick's, Rev. Thomas Lynch. 
 
 Boston, SS. Peter and Paul, Rev. Terence Fitzsimmons. 
 
 Boston, St. John Baptist, Rev. George F. Haskins. 
 
 Boston, Holy Trinity, Rev. Alexander Martin, O. 
 
 S. F.
 
 1 86 
 
 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Boston, St. Nicholas, Rev. 
 So. Boston, St. Augustine, 
 
 East Cambridge, St. John's, Rev. 
 
 Roxbury, St. Joseph's, Rev. 
 
 Charlestown, St. Mary's, Rev. 
 
 Quincy, St. Mary's, Rev. 
 
 Waltham and Mission, Rev. 
 
 Salem, St. Mary's, Rev. 
 
 Lowell. St. Patrick's, Rev. 
 
 Lowell, St. Peter's, Rev. 
 Fall River, St. John Baptist, Rev. 
 
 Taunton, St. Mary's, Rev. 
 
 New Bedford, ) 
 
 Y St. Peter's, Rev. 
 bandwich, ) 
 
 Chicopee, ) Rev. 
 
 Northampton, > St. Matthew's, 
 Pittsfield, ) 
 
 Springfield, Saxonville, Rev. 
 
 Worcester, St. John Evangelist, Rev. 
 
 Dover, N. H., > 
 
 ' } St. Aloysms', Rev. 
 Newburyport, ) 
 
 Burlington, Vt, St. Peter's, Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan. 
 Middlebury, Vt., ^ 
 
 Castleton, Vt., Rev. John B. Daley, O. S. F. 
 
 Claremont, N. H., ) 
 Portland, Me., St. Dominick's, Rev. 
 Whitefield, Me., St. Denis, Rev. 
 New Castle, " 
 Augusta, 
 Bangor, 
 
 Old Town, " f 
 
 Benedicta and Houlton, Rev. 
 
 Eastport, Machias, ^ 
 
 Calais, Pleasant > Rev. John Boyce. 
 
 Point, ) 
 
 Nicholas O'Brien. 
 Vacant. 
 
 Manasses Dougherty. 
 
 P. O'Beirne. 
 
 Messrs. George J. Good- 
 win and M. McGrath. 
 
 Bernard Carraher. 
 
 James Strain. 
 
 James Conway. 
 
 James McDermott. 
 
 Peter Crudden. 
 
 Edward Murphy. 
 
 Robert Wilson, D. D. 
 
 Thomas McNulty. 
 
 Messrs. John D. Brady 
 and Bernard O'Cav- 
 anagh. 
 
 Timothy Reirdon. 
 
 M. W. Gibson and M. 
 McEvoy. 
 
 Patrick Canavan. 
 
 "' u I St. Patrick's, 
 
 St. Michael's, Rev. 
 
 James McGuire. 
 Patrick Carraher. 
 
 Thomas O'Sullivan. 
 William Moran.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE. 187 
 
 In the above enumeration, it will be observed, are 
 omitted the churches and clergy of Connecticut and 
 Rhode Island, those States that were formerly under 
 the spiritual jurisdiction of Bishop Fenwick, and 
 which, in 1844, were erected into a new Diocese, 
 and placed under the government of Right Rev. 
 Bishop Tyler. 
 
 BOSTON DIOCESE, 1872. 
 
 The following, from the Catholic Directory of 
 1872, shows the increase of Catholicity in what is 
 now the Boston Diocese, Right Rev. John Joseph 
 Williams, D. D. : - 
 
 Churches, 96 
 
 Churches building, 6 
 
 Chapels and Stations, 26 
 
 Priests, 157 
 
 Clerical Students, 75 
 
 College, i 
 
 Female Academies, 3 
 
 Free Schools, 12 
 
 Hospitals, 3 
 
 Orphan Asylums, 6 
 
 Number of Orphans, 565 
 
 Catholic population, about 300,000.
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 
 
 COMPRISING THE STATES OF CONNECTICUT AND 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 THIS Diocese was established in the year 1844. 
 Right Rev. WILLIAM TYLER, D. D., its first Bishop, 
 was consecrated March 17, 1844. 
 
 The following is an estimate, made at that time, 
 of the number of Catholics : 
 
 Members. Priests. Churches. 
 
 In Connecticut, . . . 4?Si7 3 4 
 
 " Rhode Island, . . 5,180 3 4 
 
 Total, . . . 9,997 6 
 
 The first Mass offered in Connecticut, as far as 
 ascertained, was by the Reverend Chaplain of the 
 French troops who came to aid America in the war 
 of independence. This was on an extensive plain, at 
 the left of the road to Wethersfield, about one mile 
 south of the court-house, the place being pointed out, 
 in 1830, by one who had been present on the occasion, 
 and remembered all the circumstances. 
 
 The first public sermon, in English, at the invita- 
 tion of Rev. Dr. Strong, a Congregationalist clergy- 
 man, was delivered by Rev. Dr. Matignon, of Bos- 
 
 1 88
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 189 
 
 ton, about the year 1813, who, in those days, when 
 " travelling on the Sabbath" was by law prohibited, 
 arrived at Hartford, on his way to New York, late 
 of a Saturday evening ; stage-coaches then ' being 
 the only public inland conveyance between these two 
 important cities, now, by the agency of steam, 
 brought within a few hours of each other. For this 
 courteous and friendly attention to a stranger, and he 
 a Catholic priest, the reverend doctor was waited 
 upon at an early hour, Monday morning, and gravely 
 censured by the deacons for having allowed his pul- 
 pit to be so disgraced by a "popish priest." The 
 reply was characteristic of the man, who knew some- 
 what of human nature : " Well, gentlemen," said he, 
 " do your best, and do your worst ; make the most 
 of it : I have the ladies on my side ! " Curiosity had 
 been gratified, and the outspoken, liberal minister 
 knew it. 
 
 The excavation for the canal at Windsor Locks, a 
 few miles north of Hartford, may be looked upon as 
 the first gathering, in any considerable numbers, of 
 the sons of faith in the *' land of steady habits." 
 One of the hard-toiling, adopted citizens, a native of 
 Ireland, employed at Windsor, fell sick, and was 
 visited by Very Rev. Fr. Power, of New York, in 
 the month of August, 1827. In October, of the 
 same year, he made a second visit, and offered the 
 holy Sacrifice of the Mass in a dilapidated building 
 which stood near where the railroad bridge now 
 crosses the river. 
 
 Learning, thus, of there being sons of the faith in
 
 190 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 this distant part of the diocese, Bishop Fenvvick, 
 unable, at the time, to give them his personal atten- 
 tion, authorized Rev. R. D. Woodley, a young cler- 
 gyman whom he had lately admitted into the diocese, 
 to visit Connecticut, which he did in November, 
 1828. The year following, Rev. B. O'Cavanagh, 
 having been ordained, was commissioned to look 
 after the spiritual wants of the faithful. 
 
 The forming of what may be considered the first 
 permanent congregation in the State was at Hartford, 
 in the upper room of house number 204 Main Street, 
 which room was used also as an office for the Cath- 
 olic Press, one of the earliest weekly publications 
 in defence of truth issued in New England. The 
 family of Taylor, citizens of Hartford, were the 
 prime movers in this enterprise. Mr. Francis Tay- 
 lor, in his visit to Montreal, Canada, prompted by 
 what he there heard and saw, religion exemplified, 
 the church doors always open, and the happy, cheer- 
 fully devout, passing in and out, at all times, was 
 led to examine the divine truths of Catholicity ; the 
 result of which was, by Heaven's grace, his con- 
 version. Returning home, to impart to those he 
 dearly loved the happiness which glowed in his own 
 bosom, he encouraged them to read the books of de- 
 votion, and works of unanswerable arguments, and 
 the plainest evidences of the true religion, which he 
 had brought with him, and the happy result was, 
 that his aged mother, sister, and three brothers, in 
 course of time, followed his example. These, with 
 the few Irish, French, and German Catholics then
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 19! 
 
 living in the neighborhood of the city, came together 
 on Sundays for prayer, pious reading, and mutual 
 edification. 
 
 Firm in faith, and relying on the divine promise to 
 those who were united in His name, though small 
 their number, they drew up a respectful petition to 
 their Right Rev. Father in Boston, and proposed, 
 with his permission, the erection of a small building 
 for public worship. With that paternal love and 
 solicitude which carried him to every portion of his 
 vast diocese, wherever the voice of the least of his 
 flock was heard, the good and ever-devoted Bishop 
 visited Hartford, and offered the holy Sacrifice of the 
 Mass in the room mentioned above, July 12, 1829. 
 The Sunday following, the few little ones were 
 brought together, and the first Sunday school instruc- 
 tions given ; and here parents and children continued 
 to assemble weekly till June 17, 1830, when, to their 
 inexpressible joy and delight, they secured for them- 
 selves larger and more commodious accommodations. 
 The Protestant Episcopalians, having projected the 
 erection of a new and more substantial edifice for 
 themselves, sold to the little congregation of Cath- 
 olics their frame building, which was subsequently 
 removed to a lot on Talcot Street. The following 
 notice of the joyful event appeared in the Catholic 
 Press at the time. 
 
 "On Thursday, the iyth inst., we witnessed, with 
 mingled emotions of pleasure and delight, the dedi- 
 cation of the Catholic church in this city. This 
 neat and handsome edifice formerly belonged, under
 
 192 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 the name of Christ Church, to our respected fellow- 
 citizens of the Episcopal order. Having lately un- 
 dergone considerable repairs, it was dedicated to the 
 immediate service of One God in three Persons, un- 
 der the title of ' The Church of the Holy and Undi- 
 vided Trinity.' The Catholics of Hartford and its 
 immediate vicinity may well rejoice in having a 
 place now to offer up sacrifice and prayer, and to 
 worship their Eternal Creator in spirit and truth, 
 according to the dictates of their conscience. Who 
 could have believed, two years ago, that in a section 
 of country where our holy religion was scarcely 
 known, there would be this day a 'chosen and sanc- 
 tified place' to present the pure, clean, and holy obla- 
 tion, which, according to the prophetic Malechias, 
 was to be offered up from ' the rising of the sun to 
 the going down thereof?' After the ceremony of 
 dedication, the Catholic pastor commenced a solemn 
 High Mass, which, making due allowance for unac- 
 quaintance with Catholic worship, the singers being 
 mostly converts, was satisfactorily taken up and 
 pleasingly executed by the newly-organized choir. 
 After the Gospel, Rt. Rev. Dr. Fenwick ascended 
 the pulpit, and very appropriately selected for his 
 text the sixteenth verse of the seventh chapter of 
 Paralipomenon, ' I have chosen and sanctified this 
 place, that my name may be there forever, and my 
 eyes and my heart may remain there perpetually.' 
 The Rt. Rev. Prelate entered into an historical detail 
 of the mode whereby man should offer up acceptable 
 sacrifice of praise to the eternal Author of truth.
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 193 
 
 He appealed to the sacred volume, and lucidly 
 proved therefrom that this sacrifice could only be 
 pleasing to the great Creator when performed ac- 
 cording to the manner by Him prescribed and desig- 
 nated. He afterwards alluded, in couched and 
 courteous language, to the unacquaintance of a large 
 portion of our respected fellow-citizens with Cath- 
 olic rites and ceremonies. He lamented the misrep- 
 resentation of Catholic tenets, and assured those 
 present who were not Catholics, that an impartial 
 investigation of our holy doctrines would lead to a 
 very different conclusion from those generally drawn 
 by the enemies of the Church. In conclusion, he 
 pathetically observed that if what was given, though 
 but a cup of cold water, to relieve the corporal 
 necessities of a suffering fellow-creature, would not 
 lose its reward, how great the reward of those who 
 have it in their power to contribute to the spiritual 
 necessities of thousands yet unborn ! To us, the 
 dedication of Trinity Church appeared truly sublime 
 and strikingly significant. May such scenes increase 
 and multiply." 
 
 The Catholic Press, from which the above extract 
 is taken, was, after the fourth volume, transferred to 
 the city of Philadelphia, and appeared under the 
 name of the Catholic Herald. It was published 
 weekly, in the room mentioned, 204 Main Street, 
 which, as we have seen, served as chapel, office, and 
 Sunday school, till transferred to the basement of the 
 newly-dedicated church, which had been fitted up 
 and made to serve the purpose of pi'inting office.
 
 194 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Sunday and day school, as well as quarters for the 
 teacher, printer, and a corner for the Missionary, 
 who, by the by, when suffering from rheumatism in 
 after years, raised his voice strenuously against 
 church basements, which, among other base evils, he 
 pronounced the smallest economy ever projected, 
 especially for sleeping apartments. 
 
 From this basement office, while the Press was in 
 being, were issued many useful works, such as book's 
 of devotion, pamphlets on religious subjects, and 
 other publications called for at the time. Among 
 those who became converts to the faith, this served 
 as sanctum, where their writings were edited, to 
 encourage others to partake of their spiritual conso- 
 lation. Among these publications, was the " Con- 
 necticut Convert," by Joseph Brigden, who, from the 
 day of his reception into the Church, during the many 
 years he subsequently lived, and his life, as school 
 'teacher and catechist, was ever active, allowed no 
 day to pass without spending at least an hour in 
 presence of his Adorable Redeemer in the Blessed 
 Sacrament of the Eucharist. And so of many oth- 
 ers ; gratitude for the inestimable gift of faith was 
 evinced by piety of life, and love for the spiritual 
 welfare of their neighbor. 
 
 Through the infinite goodness and mercy of divine 
 Providence, from the establishment of the Church in 
 Connecticut till 1836, upwards of eighty adults 
 and many of them, with their families, men and 
 women, from the various societies of Protestantism 
 had the happiness of being admitted to the sweet
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 195 
 
 consolations of the One, True, Holy, Catholic and 
 Apostolic Church. 
 
 PRUDENCE IN DELAY. In receiving those who, 
 from the varied ranks of Protestantism, sought ad- 
 mission into the Church, our Missionary always 
 thought it best, where circumstances permitted, to 
 subject them to a long delay. He felt the necessity 
 of that true Catholic spirit that loves God above all 
 things, and holds His precepts dearer than anything' 
 earthly, and is willing and determined to sacrifice 
 everything rather than displease Him. 
 
 On the other hand, he was well aware of the diffi- 
 culty of divesting one's self in a moment of the ideas 
 and associations of early days. He knew how hard 
 it is to begin a new career, and, breaking with all 
 the past, enter life anew. Hence it was only after 
 they had been fully instructed, not only in what is 
 absolutely necessary to their salvation, but also in the 
 practices of piety, and those other devotions of the 
 Church which distinguish the thorough Catholic, that 
 converts were admitted to the Sacraments of Baptism, 
 the Holy Eucharist, and Confirmation. 
 
 Thus the grain of mustard-seed had found con- 
 genial soil in the very land of Puritanism, and spread 
 most wonderfully in an incredibly short period of 
 time. Among the citizens of Connecticut converted 
 to the faith, are the names of probably a larger num- 
 ber of those who were formerly preachers and pro- 
 moters of Protestantism, than in any other State of 
 tlue Union. The Reverend Messrs. Barbers were of 
 this State ; so was Rev. Calvin White, of Waterbury,
 
 196 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 and others, whose names are omitted, as they are 
 still living, and among' the most devoted of the Cath- 
 olic priesthood of the nation. 
 
 NEW HAVEN. 
 
 From Hartford, the Missionary extended his jour- 
 neys to wherever a child of the faith was to be 
 found. Consequently every county was traversed 
 repeatedly, and stations established at Middletown, 
 New Haven, Bridgeport, New London, Norwich, 
 Stonington, TarirFville, Thompsonville, Waterbury, 
 and Westerly, in Connecticut, and at Saxonville, 
 Springfield, Amherst, Barre, Blackstone, Chic- 
 opee, Barrington, Northampton, Ware, Warren. 
 Webster, Westfield, and Worcester, in Massachusetts, 
 where, at present, there are large and most respecta- 
 ble congregations, and at several of these, two or 
 more congregations, with their schools, academies, 
 asylums, and other flourishing institutions. In a let- 
 ter written by one of the earliest Catholic residents 
 of New Haven, communicating to a friend his joy at 
 the spread of Holy Church, the writer says, " When 
 we heard that a church had been purchased at Hart- 
 ford, and was aboutjo have a priest, we were de- 
 lighted. This appointment gave us an opportunity 
 of having mass at New Haven about once in three 
 months, and happy we then were for so great a priv- 
 ilege. Hearing, for the first time, that the priest was
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 197 
 
 about to visit us, we were at a loss to know where 
 we could find a place for offering the Holy Sacrifice. 
 After many efforts to secure a respectable and suit- 
 able place, we were in the end necessitated to take 
 up with an old barn, which we swept and fitted up the 
 best we could. By the next visit of His Reverence, 
 we rented a room from a German, he not knowing 
 for what purpose we intended it. We next needed a 
 few benches ; but the joiner, hearing what we wanted 
 them for, refused positively to make them, saying 
 that ' they his fellow-townsmen were determined 
 to put down that religion, at least in Connecticut, 
 whether or no.' We succeeded, at length, in finding 
 one who made us a few, not suspecting the place for 
 which they were intended ; but as soon as he found 
 out. declared ' he would not have made them for fifty 
 dollars apiece if he had known it in time.' 
 
 " Whenever we expected the priest, we all came 
 together to receive him. One Saturday, in partic- 
 ular, it was the Eye of Christmas, and anticipating 
 midnight mass, we wei'e all at our accustomed place 
 of meeting, awaiting his arrival ; but he did not 
 come. We were certain he would not disappoint us, 
 whilst, at the same time, we could not account for 
 his delay. At length we concluded to go and see if 
 we might meet him. We did so, and met him on 
 the road, about four miles outside of New Haven. 
 The sleighing from Hartford had been good part of 
 the way, and then failed, till nothing remained but 
 bare ground, and his horse gave out the distance 
 from Hartford to this city is about thirty-four miles ;
 
 190 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 but the good priest, not wishing to disappoint us, de- 
 termined to walk the rest of the way. When we met 
 him, he had his valise, containing his vestments. &c., 
 on his shoulders. The walking being rough and 
 frozen, his shoes were nearly worn out, and when he 
 arrived that night he was scarcely able to preach, 
 though he did so at the end of mass ; after which we 
 secured a conveyance to leave him where he had left 
 his horse, for he had to return and say another mass 
 at Hartford the same day. 
 
 " There is another little incident that occurs to my 
 mind in connection with the early establishment of 
 our religion at this place. As our numbers began 
 somewhat to increase, I called upon a certain gentle- 
 man who owned an old building that we thought 
 might be fitted up for church purposes, but neither 
 for love nor money would he listen to our proposition, 
 declaring that he would not encourage Catholicity in 
 any way. We felt disappointed, and my reply to 
 him was, ' Sir, I hope that you and I may live to see 
 Catholic churches in this city with spires as high as 
 any of yours.' He doubted it ; but, thank God, it has 
 come to pass ; and he has lived to see our splendid 
 churches all well filled, and even crowded, every Sun- 
 day." 
 
 While these reminiscences of one of the pioneer 
 Catholics of New Haven are so interesting, and he 
 finds such deep sense of gratitude for being permitted 
 to live to praise God for His infinite mercies, in the 
 increase of Holy Church, there are others still living, 
 equally grateful, who remember the tedious journeys,
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 199 
 
 made often in the depth of winter, sixty and eighty 
 miles, in pursuit of the priest, to attend their dying 
 father, mother, or friend. 
 
 In consequence of the many stations to be visited, 
 and distant calls to be attended, Bishop Fenwick ad- 
 mitted, in 1832, Rev. James McDermott to Holy Or- 
 ders, and sent him to aid the missionary. The Rev. 
 Mr. McDermott, after having been partially initiated 
 at Hartford into the practical duties of mission life, 
 was commissioned to attend New Haven, Bridgeport, 
 Derby, Norwalk, and other stations in the western 
 part of the State. Having attended these for a time, 
 he at length found means, May 14, 1833, to purchase 
 the lot on Davenport Avenue, where a frame building, 
 sixty by thirty-five feet, exclusive of sacristy, was built. 
 
 The day assigned for its dedication was the festival 
 of the Ascension, May S, 1834. The Bishop said 
 mass at an early hour, gave communion to four or 
 five persons, and was told there were fifteen prepared 
 for Confirmation. At ten o'clock, the hour appointed 
 for dedication, the church was crowded to excess ; 
 the Bishop, accompanied by Rev. Mr. McDermott 
 and the Missionary, having made a circuit around 
 the church, as prescribed by the Ritual, and ad- 
 vanced in the interior towards the Altar, the choir- 
 gallery gave way, and fell with all its incumbents upon 
 the mass of people below. The scene of confusion 
 that ensued can be better fancied than described. One 
 lad fourteen years of age was killed instantly, and 
 several others seriously wounded, of whom one died 
 in the course of the day.
 
 2OO SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 The cause of this disaster (and we particularly 
 allude to the sorrowful event, that others may take 
 warning from it) was ascribed to the carpenter, who 
 had deviated from the original plan and specification, 
 which called for two columns. He deeming these un- 
 necessary, had attempted to support the gallery by 
 trussing it, a plan under certain circumstances good 
 enough in itself, provided the space is not too wide, 
 the main timber large enough, and not cut half away. 
 
 The debris of the gallery having been removed, 
 and the blood-stained floor scoured, the church was 
 blessed the Sunday following. The number of Catho- 
 lics then residing in New Haven and its immediate 
 vicinity, were about two hundred souls. Two years 
 subsequently, when the census was taken, there were 
 at New Haven, of adults, three hundred ; at the town 
 of Derby, twenty-five, at Bridgeport, one hundred, at 
 Norwalk, twenty-five, and at Waterbury, thirty. 
 
 Rev. Fr. McDermott having been transferred to 
 Lowell, Mass., in June, 1837, his place was filled by 
 Rev. Fr. Wiley, till the appointment of Rev. James 
 Smyth, September 5, 1837, w ^o, in connection with 
 his charge over the congregation at New Haven, at- 
 tended Bridgeport, Derby, and all other stations of 
 his predecessor, till 1848, when he was succeeded by 
 Rev. Philip O'Reilly, during whose residence the 
 church at New Haven accidentally took fire, and was 
 consumed. 
 
 To accommodate the faithful, previous to rebuild- 
 ing a new church, the house originally occupied by 
 the Congregational Society on Church Street was pur-
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. . 2OI 
 
 chased by the Bishop, and Rev. Edward J. O'Brien 
 appointed pastor. The increased numbers and wants 
 of the Catholics demanding still other accommoda- 
 tions, the Church of St. Patrick, a substantial brown- 
 stone edifice of sixty by one hundred and twenty 
 feet, was erected, and in 1852 placed under the im- 
 mediate charge of Rev. Matthew Hart, during whose 
 pastoral care, as we learn, the congregation has in- 
 creased to five thousand souls, with a Sunday school 
 of one thousand little ones, besides the parish of St. 
 Francis, so called, of Fair Haven, composed of fif- 
 teen hundred souls, which was set off from St. Pat- 
 rick's in 1867, and for whom a church has been built 
 of sixty by one hundred feet. 
 
 CHURCH AT NORWICH. 
 
 With the opening of the Worcester and Norwich 
 Railroad, the missionary found the same opportunity 
 of affording the consolations of religion to its toiling 
 workmen and their families, without, however, the 
 same arduous duties and frequent hurried calls that 
 attended the opening of the Western Road, where 
 the many rock sections, so called, and the essential 
 use of blasting powder, rendered casualties more fre- 
 quent. The services of religion on the Norwich road 
 were generally held in shanties or in groves, and but 
 few permanent stations were established. The town 
 of Webster, through which it passed, had been pre-
 
 2O2 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 viously attended from Hartford, as had been other 
 places equally so on this route. 
 
 The city of Norwich and flourishing manufacturing 
 village of Greenville, where a few Catholics had found 
 employment, and settled with their families, suggested 
 the propriety of selecting the site for a church the 
 most convenient for all ; hence the missionary secured 
 a lot midway between both places, and had the foun- 
 dation laid early in the year 1844, and the building so 
 far completed as to offer on its altar the holy Sacri- 
 fice of the mass on the joyful festival of Christmas 
 the same year. The number composing the congre- 
 gation at the time were about two hundred and fifty; 
 they have since increased, and are estimated at the 
 present day to be, within the circuit of four miles, be- 
 tween five and six thousand, for whose additional 
 accommodation, the present zealous and devoted pas- 
 tor, Rev. Fr. Mullen, has secured a most desirable 
 lot on one of the finest streets on the Plains, so called, 
 upon which he contemplates the erection of a spacious 
 and beautiful church edifice, worthy the place and the 
 cause. 
 
 CHURCH AT STONINGTON. 
 
 From Norwich the missionary tour generally ex- 
 tended to Stonington, where the holy Sacrifice, as 
 usual, was offered in the largest room of some private 
 dwelling. The principal members of the Church then 
 residing at Stonington were the families of McCarthy,
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 203 
 
 Sullivan, Gilmore, Carr, and Kirby, the last named 
 gentleman, brother of Rev. Dr. Kirby, President of 
 the Irish College in Rome, sustained his family by 
 teaching a select number of young Protestant gentle- 
 men the classics and higher branches of mathematics. 
 Mass was often said in the private parlor of his house 
 for his convert wife and family of little ones. 
 
 The present church at Stonington, St. Mary's, a 
 building of sixty by forty feet, was erected in 1845, 
 through the exertions of Rev. Fr. Duffy. 
 
 CHURCH AT WESTERLY. 
 
 This town was visited occasionally while the Provi- 
 dence and Stonington Railroad was under construc- 
 tion ; subsequent to which, however, not a solitary 
 Catholic family was known to have remained in the 
 place, though at present they have a church and resi- 
 dent pastor, Rev. P. Sherry, and his assistant, Rev. J. 
 Reynolds, who attend also Stonington and Mystic. 
 
 Westerly is well i-emembered from the fact of the 
 first mass there offered having been under an aged 
 oak, as well as from the first ride ever enjoyed on a 
 hand-car, a truck used by the workmen on the rail- 
 road, being of a Sunday evening. 
 
 A family residing a few miles distant, strangers in 
 the woods, had, not knowing the deleterious effects 
 of certain roots and brush-wood, been preparing 
 dinner in a good old-fashioned sized chimney-place,
 
 204 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 using as fuel wood found in the neighborhood, when, 
 to their surprise, they were blinded, neither mother 
 nor little ones able to see one another ! " The sick 
 call" was rather amusing than alarming. They had 
 inhaled the fumes of dogwood ! 
 
 CHURCH AT NEW LONDON. 
 
 Leaving Stonington, New London was the next 
 station. The faithful here, though few, had received 
 occasional visits from the Missionary, both while at 
 Hartford, as early as 1831, and after his removal to 
 Worcester. To be hooted, and occasionally stoned, 
 by urchins who had imbibed the prejudice of their 
 parents, was not an uncommon occurrence in former 
 days. But deep-rooted as was the prejudice of the 
 majority of the people, there were not a few found 
 better informed at New London, who were inclined 
 to liberality and tolerance, and who allowed the use 
 of the Court House for occasional preaching. 
 
 The members of the Church, after a while, becom- 
 ing too numerous to find accommodations as usual in 
 any private house, it was decided to erect a small 
 church ; for which purpose, a vacant lot, located be- 
 tween two very respectable frame buildings, on Jay 
 Street, was purchased in January, 1843. Although 
 it was anticipated at the time that this edifice would 
 prove too limited for increasing numbers, yet it was 
 considered that the fact of the proprietors of the
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 205 
 
 houses right and left being good Protestant fellow- 
 citizens, would be the best insurance against casual- 
 ties that otherwise might happen. The foundation 
 of this little church was soon laid, and the building 
 so far completed as to be ready for divine service in 
 the month of April. 
 
 Ten years subsequently this cradle church becom- 
 ing entirely too small for the increasing numbers of 
 the faithful, another and more commodious building 
 was erected on Truman Street ; and even this, in 
 time, being found inadequate, another lot was pur- 
 chased in 1869, on Huntington Street, where is 
 erected a magnificent Gothic church, surpassing, 
 both in size and beauty, any other edifice in the city. 
 Thus the few Catholics, who in 1831 were so happy 
 at being present at the holy Sacrifice of the mass, as 
 the Missionary could be occasionally with them, and 
 found ample accommodations in the room of a private 
 dwelling, have augmented to three thousand, while 
 the children of sufficient age to attend catechism num- 
 ber five hundred. 
 
 CHURCH AT MIDDLETOWN. 
 
 This town and Chatham, now Portland, on the 
 east side of the Connecticut River, were, as early as 
 1830, stations, attended by the Missionary from Hart- 
 ford, when mass was said, and the Sacraments ad- 
 ministered in private houses. The extensive work at 
 the brown stone quarries of Portland gave employment
 
 2O6 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 to several laborers, the majority of whom, with their 
 families, were members of the Church, who, after their 
 week's toil, had occasionally the privilege of mass on 
 Sundays, or before their day's work on other occasions. 
 Residing on both the east and west side of the 
 river, when their numbers had increased to two 
 hundred souls, an acre of land, to serve the purpose 
 of a church and cemetery, was secured at Middle- 
 town, November 18, 1841, and on this a brick edifice, 
 measuring sixty-five by forty feet, was erected in 
 1843. 
 
 CHURCH AT BRIDGEPORT. 
 
 The earliest date we have of mass being o ered in the 
 room of a private house in this town was 1830, when 
 the Missionary had, as far as remembered, a congre- 
 gation of married and single, together with children, 
 about seventeen souls. Tradition, however, says, that 
 previous to this date a dying Christian had been at- 
 tended, and received the aids of religion by some one 
 of the good Catholic clergy from New York State ; 
 which is not improbable, since we have learned that as 
 early as 1827, Very Rev. Fr. Power was on a similar 
 mission of love to Windsor, near to the heart of the 
 State. 
 
 As already mentioned, this portion of the State for- 
 merly attended by our Missionary, whose parish, as 
 he was wont to call it, extended from Boston to New 
 York, was, in 1832, placed in charge of Rev. Fr.
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 2Oj 
 
 McDermott, which he visited from time to time, till, 
 being transferred to Lowell in 1837, he was suc- 
 ceeded by Rev. James Smyth, who, in 1841, when 
 the congregation numbered two hundred and fifty, 
 selected an eligible site for a church, which was sub- 
 sequently built of brick, measuring sixty by forty 
 feet, with a choir gallery and convenient sacristy, 
 which he had dedicated under the title of St. James 
 the Apostle, July 24, 1843. Rev. Michael Lynch was 
 appointed in charge of this congregation, in connec- 
 tion with the missions of Derby and Norwalk, Nov- 
 ember following. 
 
 Of the growth and spread of Catholicity, and the 
 splendid churches since erected in the thriving and 
 pleasant towns of Bridgeport, Derby, Birmingham, 
 Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, Norfolk, Wenstead, 
 and Stamford, in Connecticut, where there are now 
 churches and devoted pastors, we will not speak, as 
 we leave these to the future historian of the diocese, 
 it being our aim to confine ourselves merely to early 
 events ; events which, though at this day may appeal- 
 small, were viewed as grand efforts by the pioneers 
 of Catholicity of other days. 
 
 CHURCH AT NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 The first Catholic church erected in the State of 
 Rhode Island was at Newport. " The discovery of 
 America," writes J. G. Shea, LL. D., in his interest-
 
 2O8 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ing history of the Catholic Missions among the In- 
 dians of the United States, " like every other event 
 in the history of the world, had, in the designs of 
 God, the great object of the salvation of mankind. 
 In that event, more clearly, perhaps, than is often 
 given to us here below, we can see and adore that 
 Providence which thus gave to millions long sundered 
 from the rest of men by pathless ocean, the light of 
 the gospel and the proffered boon of redemption." 
 
 The legend of St. Brendan's western voyage, which 
 was widely diffused in the middle ages, versions of 
 which abound in Irish, Dutch, German, Italian, Span- 
 ish, Portuguese, and in all parts of the Continent, is 
 most interesting, to say the least ; and with the inde- 
 fatigable labor and researches of such scholars as 
 Professor Rafu, of Copenhagen, more convincing evi- 
 dences of anti-Columbian voyages to America may 
 be discovered than are as yet generally acknowledged. 
 
 41 Kerry was the native home of St. Brendan, who 
 lived in the fifth century ; and as he stood," writes 
 M. F. Cusack, the authoress of Ireland's History 
 Illustrated, " on its bold and beautiful shores, his 
 naturally contemplative mind was led to inquire 
 what boundaries chained that vast ocean, whose 
 grand waters rolled in mighty waves beneath his 
 feet. His thoughtful piety suggested that where there 
 might be a country there might be life, human 
 life and human souls dying day by day, and hour by 
 hour, and knowing of no other existence than that 
 which at best is full of sadness and decay. 
 
 " Traditions of a far away land had long existed
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 2CK) 
 
 on the western coast of ancient Erinn. The brave 
 Tuatha de Dananns were singularly expert in naval 
 affairs, and their descendants were by no means un- 
 willing to impart information to the saint. 
 
 " He at length decided to set out on the important 
 expedition. St. Brendan's Hill still bears his name ; 
 and from the bay, at the foot of this lofty eminence, 
 he sailed for the ' far west.' Directing his course 
 towards the south-west with a few faithful companions 
 in a well-provisioned bark, he came, after some rough 
 and dangerous navigation, to calm seas, where, with- 
 out aid of oar or sail, he was borne along for many 
 weeks. It is probable that he had entered the great 
 Gulf Stream, which brought his vessel ashore some- 
 where on the Virginian coasts. He landed with his 
 companions, and penetrated into the interior, until he 
 came to a large river flowing from east to west, sup- 
 posed to be that now known as the Ohio. Here, 
 according to the legend, he was accosted by a man 
 of venerable bearing, who told him that he had gone 
 far enough ; that further discoveries were reserved for 
 other men, who would, in due time, come and Chris- 
 tianize that pleasant land. 
 
 " After an absence of seven years, the saint re- 
 turned once more to Ireland, and lived, not only to 
 tell of the marvels he had seen, but even to found a 
 college of three thousand monks at Clonfert." 
 
 Whatever credence may be attached to the fore- 
 going, it is certain that the Irish and Norwegians, 
 in the ninth century, were a naval and commercial 
 people, and their fleets scoured the Atlantic and North 
 Seas. 14
 
 210 'SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Of the voyages of that period, the historians of 
 Iceland preserve us details, which the almost entire 
 destruction of Irish manuscripts has buried in obliv- 
 ion. " According to these," writes the author of the 
 Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi, J. G. 
 Shea, .already quoted, " the Lash first discovered 
 Iceland, and established Christianity there, then 
 planted a colony on the southern coast of North 
 America, at a part called, in Iceland annals, Hvit- 
 ramannaland, that is, Whiteman's land, or Irland it 
 mikla, Greater Ireland. This colony subsisted as 
 late as the year 1000, and we know that the colonists 
 were not insensible to the great work of evangelizing 
 the heathen, from the fact that a pagan Icelander, 
 Are Marson, who was driven there in 983, was bap- 
 tized in the colony. 
 
 " Soon after the settlement of Greenland by Eric 
 the Red, his son Leif Visited Norway, and was in- 
 duced by St. Olaus, then king of that country, to 
 embrace the true faith. Returning to Greenland in 
 1000, Leif bore with him priests to convert the col- 
 onists, and in a short time most of the Northmen in 
 America embraced Christianity. Churches and con- 
 vents arose in different parts, rivalling those of Ice- 
 land in piety and learning. 
 
 " Before this Biarni, son of Heriulf, sailing from 
 Iceland to Greenland, was driven on the American 
 coast, and in the very year of the introduction of 
 Christianity into Greenland he sailed again to explore 
 the countries which he had seen, and naming Labra- 
 dor, Helluland, Nova Scotia, Markland, proceeded to
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTI^DRD. 211 
 
 Narragansett Bay, where, from one of his company 
 finding wild grapes, he called the country Vinland. 
 
 " Thorwald, Thorstein, and subsequently Thorfinn, 
 of Irish origin, visited this place, and a settlement 
 was gradually formed. As yet all were not Chris- 
 tians ; some still adored Thor and Woden, and mis- 
 sionaries left Greenland to establish religion in Vin- 
 land. Of these missionaries, the most celebrated was 
 Eric, who arrived in Greenland, and after laboring a 
 few years proceeded to Vinland. Spending some years 
 here, he returned to Iceland in 1120, and sailed to 
 Europe to induce the establishment of a bishopric, 
 and a proper organization of the Church. Deeming 
 Eric the most suitable person, the Scandinavian bish- 
 ops selected him to found the first American See, and 
 the missionary was consecrated at Lund, in Denmark, 
 by Archbishop Adzer, in 1121. 
 
 " After his consecration, Eric returned to America, 
 but still attached to his mission, led a body of clergy 
 and colonists to Vinland : here he found so ample a 
 field for his labor, that he resigned his bishopric and 
 never returned to Greenland. 
 
 " Of the future career of this zealous and self-deny- 
 ing missionary we know no more, the researches of 
 northern antiquarians not having as yet drawn from 
 the dust of centuries any further details. 
 
 " He was not, however, the only missionary ; for 
 we find that about this time John, an Irish or Saxon 
 monk, sailed from Iceland to that country, but was 
 there slain by the heathens whom he had endeavored 
 to convert.
 
 212 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 " As to the position of Vinland, there can be little 
 doubt ; a careful study of the narratives of the early 
 voyagers, narratives stamped with the imprint of 
 truth, leaves no doubt that they turned Cape Cod, 
 and entered the waters of Narragansett Bay. To 
 corroborate this, a ruin exists at Newport, evidently 
 of Runic or Scandinavian origin. It was found at 
 the settlement of the country, and is clearly no Indian 
 work, while its resemblance to acknowledged Scan- 
 dinavian works in Greenland and Iceland, places the 
 question beyond a doubt." So far the researches of 
 the historian, J. G. Shea, Esq. 
 
 " The ancient tholus in Newport, the erection of 
 which," say the Royal Society of Antiquarians, 
 " appears to be coeval with the time of Bishop 
 Eric, belonged to a Scandinavian church or monas- 
 tery, where, in alternation with Latin masses, the old 
 Danish tongue was heard seven hundred years ago." 
 
 A cloud hangs over the fate of the colonists of 
 Vinland and Greenland, who sank at last under war 
 or pestilence. 
 
 Apart from what has been said of the discoveries 
 of the Irish and Norwegians in Iceland, Greenland, 
 Vinland, and other parts of America, the next ac- 
 quaintance we have, coming down to a more recent 
 date, of the presence of the Catholic clergy, and of 
 the holy Sacrifice of the mass being offered at New- 
 port, was during the war for American independence, 
 when France, with her thousand troops, her ships 
 and frigates, military stores, wealth, and other sub- 
 stantial sinews of war, came to our aid when battling
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 213 
 
 for Freedom's cause. At that time the State House, 
 a building still maintaining its excellent proportions 
 and worthy of note, was used as a hospital, and as 
 a chapel, where the consolations of religion were 
 administered to the sick, the wounded, and dying sol- 
 dier. In the south room is pointed out the spot 
 where the altar was erected, and holy Sacrifice of- 
 fered by the chaplains who accompanied Count D'Es- 
 taing and his gallant band to the American shore in 
 1778. One who still lived in 1840, and delighted to 
 recount former events, remembered well the inter- 
 ment of the lamented Chevalier De Ternay, was in 
 the room where he departed, followed his remains to 
 the grave, and looked upon the priests who performed 
 the funeral service. 
 
 From the pages of the first Baptismal Register of 
 the Cathedral of Holy Cross in Boston, there are the 
 names of two admitted to the Sacrament of Baptism 
 at Newport by Rev. John Thayer, one in i79 r a d 
 the second in 1798, and one by Bishop Carroll, who, 
 upon his return to Baltimore, after having been at the 
 dedication of the church at Boston, in September, 
 1803, put into Newport, in consequence, probably, 
 of a heavy storm, and baptized a little one born about 
 that time ; from which we are at liberty to conjecture 
 that there were a few Catholics residing at Newport 
 after the departure of the French fleet. 
 
 From the same Register we learn that occasional 
 visits were made by Rev. Drs. Matignon and Chev- 
 erus to the town of Bristol as early as 181 1 and 1812, 
 where the children of certain French-Americans were
 
 214 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 baptized, at which time, no doubt, the few Catholic 
 residents had mass, and received the other consola- 
 tions of their religion. 
 
 Coming down to a later date, what remains fresh in 
 our memory is, that Rev. Patrick Byrne, of Boston, 
 in the month of February, 1827, visited the Catholics 
 employed at Fort Adams, and those laboring in the 
 coal mines on the north part of the island, and re- 
 ported, upon his return, that he had administered 
 holy communion to over one hundred and fifty men. 
 Encouraged by this report, Right Rev. Bishop Fen- 
 wick authorized Rev. Robert D. Woodley, whom he 
 had appointed to the charge of Providence, Paw- 
 tucket, and Taunton, to attend Newport, which he 
 did, and in the month of April, 1828, purchased a 
 small building, which had been used previously for 
 school purposes, on Barney Street. This he fitted up, 
 had an altar erected in it, and small as it was, it had 
 the honor of being the first Catholic Church blessed 
 in Rhode Island. 
 
 In the month of October, the same year, the Bishop 
 visited Newport in person, said mass, preached, and 
 administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to eleven 
 persons in the same little church, and encouraged the 
 purchase of additional land for the convenience of 
 the congregation at a future day. 
 
 The successor to Father Woodley, 1830, was Rev. 
 John Corry, who in time finding that the faithful 
 had so far increased as to warrant the undertaking, 
 erected on Mount Vernon Street a frame building 
 sufficient to accommodate between seven and eight
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 215 
 
 hundred, which was blessed, and known as St. 
 Joseph's, August 20, 1837, at which visit the Bishop 
 confirmed others prepared for the Sacrament. The 
 successors to Father Corry were, in 1837 an( ^ I ^3^^ 
 Rev. C. Lee, and in 1839 to 1842, Rev. Jas. O'Reilly, 
 who was transferred to New Bedford, as, in the ab- 
 sence of employment for either mechanics or laboi"- 
 ers, the congregation had become very small ; and 
 ten dollars per month, all that the clergyman acknowl- 
 edged to have received, was hardly sufficient for his 
 support and contingent expenses. 
 
 At the arrival of Right Rev. Dr. Tyler at Provi- 
 dence, in 1844, our missionary was permitted to look 
 after the spiritual needs of the faithful at Woonsocket, 
 Pawtucket, and Newport, till other laborers being 
 admitted into the diocese, Newport was selected as 
 his residence. 
 
 THE BROWN-STONE GOTHIC CHURCH AT NEWPORT. 
 
 The frame building erected on Mount Vernon 
 Street was considered far from being safe. The 
 builder, whoever he may have been, was evidently 
 a stranger to chui'ch architecture, particularly on the 
 seaboai'd, for though the materials used in its con- 
 struction were of the best, the saw and chisel had 
 left the building in a very shaky condition. 
 
 Mrs. Goodly Harper, and her devoted daughter, 
 Miss Emily, of Baltimore, the worthy relatives of the 
 first Bishop of America, and of Charles Carroll, of
 
 2l6 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Carrollton, who resided at Newport during the sum- 
 mer months, encouraged the erection of a more sub- 
 stantial edifice, and one that would be a credit to the 
 religion they dearly loved. With their substantial 
 aid, and the lot on Spring Street, which their dona- 
 tion of four thousand dollars secured, and subsequent 
 annual assistance, together with the generous aid of 
 the congregation, according to their means, the pres- 
 ent truly grand church of " Our Lady of the Isle " 
 was erected. 
 
 The subjoined, which was engraved on the plate 
 and written on the parchment, deposited in the corner- 
 stone, tells its history. 
 
 Engraven on the plate was : 
 
 " To THE GREATER HONOR AND GLORY OF AL- 
 MIGHTY GOD, and under the patronage of the Ever 
 Blessed Virgin, conceived without sin, this corner- 
 stone of the church, of the HOLY NAME OF MARY, 
 was laid June xiv., A. D. MDCCCXLIX." 
 
 On the parchment was written : 
 
 " To THE HONOR AND GLORY OF GOD : This 
 church was commenced August 7, 1848, in the two 
 hundred and ninth year of the settlement of New- 
 port, when the members of the Catholic Church num- 
 bered five hundred and eighty-six souls, out of the 
 whole population of about nine thousand. 
 
 " The trenches having been dug by voluntary and 
 cheerful hands, the first stone was laid August i5th,
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 21 7 
 
 and the foundation walls were commenced the day 
 following. 
 
 " This corner-stone was laid, June 14, 1849, under 
 the pontificate of His Holiness Pius IX., an exile at 
 Gaeta, with the approbation of Right Rev. William 
 Tyler, Bishop of the Diocese of Hartford, which em- 
 braces the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 
 in the seventy-fourth year of American Independence, 
 during the administration of Zachary Taylor, Presi- 
 dent of the United States, Henry B. Anthony being 
 Governor of the State of Rhode Island, and Rev. 
 James Fitton, Pastor of the Catholic congregation at 
 Newport. At an eventful period, when the Continent 
 of Europe is being revolutionized by wars and the 
 overthrow of thrones, when many, notwithstanding 
 earth is but a pilgrimage in which men, in conse- 
 quence of original sin, have been condemned to eat 
 their bread in the sweat of their brow, are, after six 
 thousand years that it has produced its thorns and 
 thistles, attempting, they say, to ameliorate the con- 
 dition of society, and under the name of Socialism, 
 Fraternity, &c., about to render earthly home an 
 Eden ! Time will tell the result, and some future 
 generation, who will read this, will, it is to be hoped, 
 profit by the admonition." 
 
 As it was among the first of the churches planned 
 by that prince of church aixhitects, soon after his 
 arrival in America, P. C. Keely, Esq., we will give a 
 brief description of it, allowing due honor to the 
 mechanics who did their part so faithfully. The ex-
 
 2l8 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 terior walls and interior carved columns, each a shaft 
 of solid stone, and the tower, were built by Messrs. 
 Meginn and Ponsonby ; the stuccoing and beautiful 
 interior ornamental finish was completed by P. Foley, 
 and the slating by Messrs. Dugans, all true sons of 
 the Church. The carpentering was by J. B. Weeden, 
 the carving by Messrs. Smith and Crane, the stained 
 glass by G. Morgan, and the polycrome painting by 
 T. Coggeshall. 
 
 The edifice is of the second period of Gothic archi- 
 tecture. It has a clerestory, and comprises a well- 
 defined chancel, a nave and aisles, a tower, porch, 
 and sacristy. It is from out to out of walls, north 
 and south, sixty feet ; from east to west, one hundred 
 feet; with a chancel of twenty-four by thirty feet. 
 The aisle walls are twenty-four feet, the clerestory 
 walls forty-eight feet, and from the floor to the ridge- 
 moulding seventy feet. The chancel walls are thirty- 
 three feet, and to the peak of roof is forty-eight feet. 
 To the cornice of tower, where the spire springs, is 
 about sixty-five feet. 
 
 It is built of sized brown-stone, with window and 
 door jambs, table mouldings, sills, corbel tables, gable 
 offsets, &c., neatly cut. 
 
 The front, which is to the west, is supported by 
 massive buttresses, placed diagonally at the corners 
 of the edifice, with deep bases, drip-stones, and off- 
 sets. The tower, which is at the north-west corner, 
 is supported by still more massive buttresses, with 
 bases of bold projection, and is lighted by six richly 
 wrought windows in the first and second stones, while
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 2Ip 
 
 the upper, which is really ornate in its character, is 
 pierced on every side by belfry windows, whose open- 
 ings are filled with louver-boarding. High over the 
 doorway is seen conspicuously the monogram of the 
 Blessed Mother, and under whose fostering care the 
 first stone of the building was laid. At the angles of 
 the tower, upon which rests the spire, stand the four 
 Evangelists, beautifully carved, who, as when first 
 commissioned, appear to be announcing the glad 
 tidings of salvation to the four quarters of the world. 
 The spire, " pointing in silence heavenward," sur- 
 mounted with its finial and cross, the emblem of 
 man's salvation, present a graceful and characteristic 
 feature in the outline of the edifice. 
 
 The nave and aisle walls are supported by buttresses 
 divided into two or more stages, with offsets, and fin- 
 ished with corbel table. The east and west view are 
 in fine perspective, in consequence of the buttress 
 quoin being carried up the gable and corbelled to 
 support the coping which at the gable ends is stopped 
 by large bold gable offsets, which impart variety to 
 the outline of the building. 
 
 The door of the west entrance, the tower and south 
 porch doors, are set in deeply splayed jambs and grace- 
 ful mouldings. The large west window, divided bv 
 mullions into three, the clerestory and aisles into two, 
 and the grand chancel window into five compart- 
 ments, are all filled, as are the circular and quaterfoils 
 in the gables and east end of aisles, with stained glass 
 of varied designs, and present the most beautiful con- 
 trast in massive flame-like tracery.
 
 22O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 The south porch, with its high-pitched roof, is an 
 ornamental as well as useful appendage to the church, 
 as it is here, agreeably with the rubrics, that the re- 
 ligious ceremonies of Baptism, the office in Holy 
 Week, &c., are commenced, and where the benatura, 
 or holy-water font, is usually placed in the first com- 
 partment from the west end. The plan is square, the 
 interior is lighted by small windows, the walls are 
 of stone, while the roof shows the framework of 
 the timbers, and the high-pointed gable, on which is 
 engraven, on a prominent star, Sancta Maria, ora 
 pro nobis, is. surmounted by a floriated stone cross. 
 
 The Sacristy is built on the south side of the chan- 
 cel, and is covered with a sloping roof, which falls 
 just below the circular window at the east end of the 
 aisle. It is lighted by small coupled lancet windows, 
 widely splayed in the interior, and is connected by a 
 side doorway through the wall of the chancel which 
 opens to the rear of the Altar. 
 
 The church was dedicated under the patronage of 
 the Holy Name of Mary, Our Lady of the Isle, 1853. 
 
 CHURCH AT WOONSOCKET, R. I. 
 
 In this flourishing manufacturing village, on Black- 
 stone River, near the line of Massachusetts, Catholics 
 sought employment as early as 1834, and were occa- 
 sionally visited by our Missionary from Worcester. 
 Their number of about thirty having increased in time
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 221 
 
 to upwards of two hundred, a small church of forty 
 by sixty feet was, in 1843, projected for their accom- 
 modation. In a few years after the departure of our 
 Missionary to Newport, Rev. Charles O'Reilly, in 
 consequence of the demand for church room, enlarged 
 the little building to eighty by one hundred and twen- 
 ty feet ; since which time a new, spacious, and beau- 
 tiful church edifice has been erected of seventy by 
 one hundred and sixty-four feet. 
 
 The healthful increase of the congregation, from 
 1845 to 1865, may be estimated by the baptisms con- 
 ferred, which averaging one hundred and fifty each 
 year, gives an increase of two thousand from births 
 alone. The zeal and devotedness of both pastor and 
 people to-day cannot be more clearly illustrated than 
 the fact that they have a Catholic day school of four 
 hundred and fifty pupils. 
 
 CHURCH AT PROVIDENCE AND PAWTUCKET. 
 
 As early as 1813, the small colony of Catholics at 
 Providence, who were attended by Rev. Dr. Matignon, 
 and occasionally by Right Rev. Bishop Cheverus, 
 from Boston, had mass in a small wooden building, 
 then standing on the north side of Sheldon Street, 
 about one hundred feet east of Benefit Street. This 
 building, which had previously been used for school 
 purposes, was, subsequent to its removal to another 
 lot, blown down in "the great gale" of 1815. The
 
 222 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 names of the principal members, or those who then 
 had families, as we learn from the children baptized, 
 as found on the Baptismal Register of the Church at 
 Boston, were : Francis McGill, Charles Delahunty, 
 Luke Higgins, William Jordan, William Rumford, 
 and John Condon. 
 
 In 1828, Rev. R. D. Woodley, who labored in the 
 Boston diocese between two and three years, was com- 
 missioned by Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick to look 
 after the immediate spiritual wants of the Catholics 
 of Rhode Island and the neighboring State of Con- 
 necticut. From his report we learn that he adminis- 
 tered, while on the mission, the Sacrament of Baptism, 
 and of course performed his other ministerial duties 
 in the following places. That at Providence, he bap- 
 tized adults and children, eighty-two ; at Pavvtucket, 
 eleven ; Woonsocket, three ; Newport, sixty-eight ; 
 Hartford, twenty-five ; New Haven, two ; and at New 
 London, two. 
 
 Learning the spiritual destitution of the faithful dis- 
 persed over this portion of his diocese, the Bishop 
 visited Providence, April 14, 1828, and offered the 
 holy Sacrifice of the mass, and preached in Mechan- 
 ic's Hall, and administered the Sacrament of Confirma- 
 tion to five persons. The day following he waited 
 upon David Wilkinson, Esq., of Pawtucket, and ac- 
 knowledged his indebtedness for his Christian-like 
 spirit and generous good feeling in presenting the 
 Catholics a desirable lot whereon to build a church 
 for their special accommodation. Upon this lot, 
 which was one hundred and twenty-five feet square,
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 223 
 
 the church was erected the year following, and the 
 holy Sacrifice of the mass was first offered in it by 
 Rev. Fr. Wooclley. 
 
 Providence having thus received occasional clerical 
 visits, as circumstances permitted, Rev. John Cony, 
 a few months previously ordained, succeeded Father 
 Woodley, November 30, 1830, and in connection with 
 this city, attended Taunton and Newport. The wants 
 of the faithful in these two latter places demanding 
 more particularly the special attention of Father Cor- 
 ry, Providence and Pawtucket were attended during 
 1833 and 1834 by Rev. Father Conelly, and in 1835 
 by Rev. Fathers Lee and McNamee. 
 
 CHURCH OF SS. PETER AND PAUL. 
 
 A site for the church in Providence, on High Street, 
 measuring fifty by two hundred and ten feet, was se- 
 cured February 15, 1832, for fifteen hundred dollars ; 
 but the edifice, for want of funds, was not commenced 
 till three years later ; the faithful, in the meanwhile, 
 through the kindly spirit and generous good feeling 
 of their fellow-citizens, were allowed the privilege 
 of the Town Hall for Sunday services. It was here in 
 1836, when the Bishop came to see and encourage 
 the erection of the church, the foundation of which 
 had been already laid by Rev. Fr. Lee, measuring 
 eighty by forty-four feet, that he offered the holy Sac- 
 rifice, and preached to a delighted congregation, com-
 
 224 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 posed of all the Catholics who then resided in the 
 city, and for miles around, who were assembled on 
 that occasion, and were estimated as numbering near 
 a thousand souls. 
 
 Many were the difficulties that arose, from one cause 
 or another, from the time the foundation was laid till 
 the church was completed, and principally for the 
 want of funds ; the mechanics threatening from time 
 to time to lay an attachment on the building, to secure 
 their wages ; on all which occasions, the Bishop, poor 
 as he himself was, had to come to the rescue. Rev. 
 Fr. Lee having been relieved the latter part of May, 
 1837, Rev. Fr. Corry took charge of the congregation 
 in the month of August and encouraged the comple- 
 tion of the church, so far, that the holy Sacrifice of the 
 mass, to the delight of the congregation, was therein 
 offered the second Sunday of Advent the same year ; 
 and the year following, November 4, 1838, it was 
 dedicated to God under the title of SS. Peter and 
 Paul, though it was then not entirely finished, there 
 being not even a sacristy or vestry, so that the Bishop 
 had to be vested in the porch. This, however, he 
 considered of small inconvenience compared to a much 
 greater, a debt yet standing of five thousand dollars. 
 
 Among the generous donors to this first Catholic 
 church in Providence, Messrs. Philip Allen & Son 
 presented a fine-toned Spanish bell, weighing about 
 one thousand pounds. In 1841 a sweet-toned organ 
 was placed in the church, and as far as we learn, the 
 whole expense of the lot, church, organ, and church 
 furniture, amounted to about twelve thousand dollars.
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 225 
 
 The following notice appeared in the public press 
 of the day : " The church covers an area ninety-eight 
 feet by forty-four. It is thirty-four feet high, having 
 a fine basement story, in which are two good school- 
 rooms. The walls of the house are built of slate- 
 stone, covered with cement. It is a castellated Gothic 
 structure, with a tower of fine proportions and finish." 
 
 The census taken in December, 1839, gave the 
 adult population as ten hundred and eighty-seven. 
 Children of four years of age and under, two hundred 
 and seventeen ; between four and ten years, two hun- 
 dred and seventy-three ; between ten and seventeen 
 years, one hundred and nineteen. Total Catholic 
 population, sixteen hundred and ninety-six. 
 
 The following table shows the baptisms and mar- 
 riages performed during the first ten years, from the 
 opening of the church of SS. Peter and Paul : 
 
 Years. Baptisms. Marriages. 
 
 1837 to l8 3 8 l6 4 4 1 
 
 1838 to 1839 163 55 
 
 1839 to 1840 204 50 
 
 1840 to 1841 190 43 
 
 1841 to 1842 198 60 
 
 1842 to 1843 174 52 
 
 1843 to 1844 240 53 
 
 1844 to 1845 281 78 
 
 1845 to 1846 312 82 
 
 1846 to 1847 333 8 1 
 
 While the Baptismal and Marriage Registers of this 
 '5
 
 226 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 one church alone show the healthful increase of Catho- 
 licity for the first ten years from the estahlishment of 
 the church in this city, the Registers of other churches, 
 since erected, are equally satisfactory, as we learn 
 that the baptisms administered in Providence during 
 the year 1870 amount to thirteen hundred and thirty- 
 eight, and the marriages to two hundred and ninety- 
 nine ; and that during the same year, 1870, the baptisms 
 administered in all the churches of the State amount 
 to two thousand seven hundred and twenty-three, and 
 the marriages to six hundred and twenty-one. 
 
 CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK. 
 
 In consequence of the spread of Catholicity in the 
 city, and the Church of SS. Peter and Paul being 
 insufficient for their accommodation, the Catholics at 
 the North End, so called, invited the Bishop to visit 
 them, and view the site which the}- thought desirable 
 for another church, for themselves and families. With 
 this invitation the Bishop complied, and the eligible 
 location on Smith's Hill having been approved of, 
 Rev. Mr. Fenelly, the pastor at Pawtucket, was au- 
 thorized to superintend the undertaking, April 19, 
 1841. The excavation was forthwith commenced, and 
 the foundation walls were blessed by the Bishop, agree- 
 ably with the Ceremonial, the I3th of July following. 
 
 Rev. Fr. Fenelly receiving permission, August the 
 24th, to visit Europe, Rev. Denis Ryan, who for near
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 227 
 
 a quarter of a century had labored in the State of 
 Maine, had temporary charge of the enterprise till 
 the appointment of Rev. William Wiley as pastor of 
 the congregation, January II, 1842. 
 
 The church completed, and its altar and decora- 
 tions finished under the immediate supervision of 
 Father Wiley, whose taste, love and zeal for every- 
 thing pertaining to the greater honor and glory of 
 God and appropriateness in His holy sanctuary, it 
 was difficult for any one to surpass. The day selected 
 for its dedication was the first Sunday of the follow- 
 ing month of July. Pontifical Mass was celebrated 
 by Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick, assisted by Rev. Fr. 
 Donohue, of Philadelphia, as Deacon, and Rev. Fr. 
 Fitzpatrick, of Boston, as Sub-Deacon. Right Rev. 
 Bishop Hughes, of New York, preached on the 
 occasion, while the music was by the choir of the 
 Cathedral, Boston. There were likewise present in 
 the sanctuary, besides the pastor, Rev. W. Wiley, 
 Rev. Fr. Corry, of SS. Peter and Paul, and Rev. 
 Ed. Murphy, of Fall River. 
 
 This edifice, the style of which is Gothic, and 
 the material blue slate stone, was dedicated to God 
 under the title of St. Patrick, and was at the time 
 for it has since been enlarged by the addition of side 
 galleries seventy-five feet in length by fifty-five in 
 breadth, exclusive of tower, which was twelve feet 
 square, and sixty-two feet high, in which was hung a 
 sweet-toned bell of two thousand pounds, the offer- 
 ing, in part, of P. Allen, Esq., a generous Protestant 
 gcMitleman, who, of his own free will, contributed
 
 228 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 three hundred dollars towards it. The church, inde- 
 pendent of the choir gallery, was fitted up to accom- 
 modate eight hundred sittings, and with its vest- 
 ments, sacred vessels, and all requisites for divine 
 service, cost eighteen thousand two hundred and 
 seventy dollars. 
 
 The Bishop visited Providence again October 23, 
 and administered the Sacrament of Confirmation in 
 this church to one hundred and twenty-eight persons ; 
 at SS. Peter and Paul, to two hundred and thirty ; 
 and in the afternoon of the same day, at Pawtucket, 
 to one hundred and five. 
 
 The number of Catholics in Providence, eight years 
 subsequently, who availed themselves of the spiritual 
 advantages of the Jubilee, that is, in 1850, was about 
 eight thousand. Over five thousand approached the 
 Altar at the Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul, 
 and two thousand six hundred at St. Patrick's. 
 There were then, in both churches, religious Confra- 
 ternities, schools, and temperance societies. 
 
 Having thus sketched the early establishment and 
 rapid progress of the churches in Providence, we will 
 retrace our steps a few years, that we may as if 
 living and sharing in the work of the day look 
 upon the extension of the first church of eighty by 
 forty-four feet, to its present roomy dimensions. 
 
 Rev. Fr. Corry, who in 1841, in consequence of 
 
 ill health, petitioned the Bishop to be relieved of his 
 
 charge over the congregation, was, in October, 1843, 
 
 'succeeded by our Missionary. The church at the 
 
 time had been placed under an interdict, the result
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 229 
 
 of lay interference with affairs beyond their control ; 
 electing, irrespective of authority, and assuming re- 
 sponsibilities, without so much as the formula of 
 invitation ! In a word, there was a self-constituted 
 committee of thirteen, who, after the departure of 
 Fr. Corry, had taken possession of the keys, books, 
 and church property in general, and who, unconscious 
 of the danger, had inaugurated what was known at 
 the day as Trusteeism. 
 
 Mass having been said, the congregation were ad- 
 dressed on the propriety of obedience to authority ; 
 on the sad consequence of lay interference with 
 clerical affairs that did not concern them ; that the 
 cause of strife and contention that had been, and 
 which probably would be till the end of time, was 
 the result of man's neglecting his own, to attend to 
 his neighbor's business. 
 
 At the close of the familiar address, which all 
 seemed to understand, the question was put whether 
 the congregation were prepared to receive the Mis- 
 sionary, who, in obedience to authority, stood before 
 them ; and if so, whether it was their wishes that the 
 keys, the account-books, and all else belonging to the 
 Church, should be produced and placed in the sanc- 
 tuary before them ; and if so, to manifest their pleas- 
 ure by rising. The appeal was sufficient. The self- 
 elected committee saw the propriety of obedience. 
 All was restored, and a blessing imparted, for each to 
 retire quietly, and take their dinner in peace and 
 comfort. 
 
 Encouraging the education of youth, and establish-
 
 230 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ing schools, as had been done at Boston, Hartford, 
 and Worcester, was one of the first movements the 
 Missionary made. This was done wherever suffi- 
 cient numbers could be assembled for the purpose, 
 not only for acquiring knowledge, whereby they 
 might become more useful and better citizens, but for 
 the practical and every day acquaintance with their 
 religion, its duties and obligations, the knowledge of 
 salvation, and the end of their creation, which he 
 always contended could not be sufficiently taught in 
 a few short hours, and with little ones distracting 
 each other, on any one day of the week, however 
 well disposed, zealous, or industrious any Sunday 
 school teacher might possibly be. 
 
 Catholic schools for boys and girls having been 
 thus advocated, in no former place where the same 
 had been introduced were parents to be found more 
 willing to second these efforts than in Providence. 
 This has been ever found one of the first grand se- 
 crets for establishing and maintaining mutual good 
 will between pastor and people. Catholic parents 
 love their children, and are generally aware of their 
 responsibility. Whoever, therefore, would labor with 
 profit for the salvation of souls, let little ones, partic- 
 ularly, be esteemed and cared for. In heaven, it is 
 said, we know our own ; and if parents so toil for 
 the support of their children in this life, one of the 
 greatest inducements, as faith teaches, must be to 
 have them so educated in the science of sanctity that 
 hereafter there may be no separation.
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 23! 
 
 CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL, CROMPTON. 
 
 Apart from Pawtucket, the largest number of the 
 faithful living in any town contiguous to the city, and 
 who were considered as belonging to the charge of 
 the pastor of SS. Peter and Paul, were at Crompton. 
 
 This place having been attended monthly, and the 
 hard-working and industrious operatives in the fac- 
 tory, among whom were those having families of 
 little ones, being anxious to have a place where they 
 might assemble on Sundays, and willing to contribute 
 according to their means, an acre of land was se- 
 cured, September 23, 1844. -^ sm all church, a 
 frame building, was immediately erected, and, as the 
 location selected was on the hillside of the village, 
 overlooking the country for miles distant, was styled 
 the " Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel." 
 
 The congregation of Crompton and its neighbor- 
 hood was confided to the special care of Rev. James 
 Gibson, who attended it occasionally, as his duties at 
 other stations permitted, till August, 1851, when, 
 assuming its sole charge, he added seven and three 
 quarters acres to the original purchase, thus making 
 eight acres and three quarters of land, all enclosed 
 within a substantial stone wall. Besides which, for 
 the better accommodation of the congregation, he 
 has added twenty by fifty-eight feet to the church, 
 making it one hundred and eight by fifty feet, inde- 
 pendent of Sanctuary and Sacristy, twenty by twenty- 
 one, and a tower, twelve by twelve square and forty-
 
 232 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 five feet high, with a sweet-toned bell, of over four- 
 teen hundred pounds' weight. 
 
 He has also built a pastoral residence of thirty by 
 twenty-eight feet, tastefully and conveniently ar- 
 ranged, and a school-house eighteen by forty feet, 
 wherein to gather and superintend the little ones of 
 his spiritual charge. 
 
 Untiring in his efforts for the convenience and good 
 of all, he has latterly secured, on what is known as 
 Birch Hill, a very fine building, over thirty-one by 
 forty-five feet, erected originally for the purpose of a 
 select high school, which he has converted into a neat 
 little church, with its porch, of eight by ten, and its 
 sacristy, twelve by fifteen feet. 
 
 ENLARGEMENT OF THE CHURCH OF SS. PETER 
 AND PAUL. 
 
 Right Rev. Bishop Tyler, soon after his consecra- 
 tion in March, coming to take charge of his diocese, 
 which embraced the States of Rhode Island and Con- 
 necticut, selected, as it appeared to him best, at the 
 time, the city of Providence, as the most convenient 
 point for his residence. As our Missionary, upon his 
 arrival, finding that, from some cause or other, win- 
 dows had been originally put in but on one side of 
 the church, thus leaving a smothered, fainting, suffo- 
 cating crowd to the sweltering heat of summer, had 
 soon called upon masons and carpenters to remedy
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 233 
 
 the evil, so good Bishop Tyler, having selected the 
 same church for his Cathedral, and finding it so very 
 limited, intimated to the congregation the propriety 
 of enlarging it. To this they cheerfully assented, 
 and, after the example of Bishop Fenwick, who, 
 upon his arrival at Boston, found the church of Holy 
 Cross too small for the accommodation of the faith- 
 ful, and having land that he could use for the pur- 
 pose, by removing the house occupied by his Right 
 Reverend predecessor, added forty feet to the length 
 by seventy feet in width, at the Sanctuary end, so 
 Bishop Tyler, similarly circumstanced, enlarged his 
 church, giving it the form of a T> and making it 
 more than double its original dimensions, and thus 
 affording ample room for the congregation, previous 
 to the demand for other churches that have since 
 been erected. 
 
 Another passing illustration of small beginnings. 
 The Missionary, at his coming to Providence, had no 
 place outside of the church sanctuary for chair or 
 table ; nor had Bishop Tyler, upon his arrival, any- 
 thing better for his accommodation than a small, one- 
 story, wooden building, with its kitchen, dormitory, 
 and room for all work. This, though large enough 
 for the Missionary, who built it for himself, and 
 whose work lay principally in the church basement, 
 was rather diminutive for an Episcopal residence ; 
 but, notwithstanding, it had to serve the purpose till 
 larger accommodations could be secured. 
 
 During his brief pontificate, from his consecration 
 in 1844 till his death in 1849, Right Rev. Bishop
 
 234 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Tyler was indefatigable in the discharge of the many 
 arduous duties which fell to his lot as first Bishop 
 of so extensive a diocese, provided in the beginning, 
 as it was, with but six priests to assist him, two in 
 Providence, one at Pawtucket, one at Hartford, one 
 at New Haven, and one at Bridgeport. 
 
 DEATH OF THE FIRST BISHOP OF HARTFORD. 
 
 Right Rev. William Tyler, first Bishop of Hart- 
 ford, died the iSth of June, 1849, at n ^ s Episcopal 
 residence in Providence, in the forty-fifth year of 
 his age. 
 
 Bishop Tyler was born of Protestant parents, in 
 the town of Derby, Vt., but had the happiness of 
 being brought, by divine grace, to the knowledge and 
 profession of the true faith at the early age of six- 
 teen. His father and mother, and all the other mem- 
 bers of his family, were received into the bosom of 
 the Church about the same time. From the moment 
 of his conversion to the true faith, Bishop Tyler was 
 distinguished by his modest virtues, and by the emi- 
 nent sanctity of his life. 
 
 He pursued his course of classical studies at Clare- 
 mont, N. H., under the direction of his reverend 
 cousin, Father V. H. Barber, who had been also 
 converted from Protestantism, and was formerly a 
 minister, with a comfortable maintenance. He was 
 now a priest ; but, unwilling to tax the little congre-
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 235 
 
 gation he had gathered around him, who, for the 
 most part, had once been Protestants like himself, he 
 earned a partial support by teaching the classics and 
 higher branches of education. 
 
 Whilst Bishop Tyler was yet a student in the acad- 
 emy of Claremont, his rare virtues and the solid 
 qualities of his mind and judgment attracted the at- 
 tention of Bishop Fenwick, and, as he exhibited sat- 
 isfactory signs of a vocation to the ecclesiastical state, 
 he was taken by this eminent prelate into his own 
 house in Boston, and under his immediate guidance 
 commenced and completed his course of theological 
 studies. 
 
 In the year 1828 he was elevated to the priesthood. 
 From that moment forward it may be said with 
 truth that " he had been delivered, through the grace 
 of God, unto the work which he accomplished." 
 His life as a priest was a model for ecclesiastics. 
 Not an hour was given to idleness, vain amusements, 
 or visits. He was well ordered in the distribution of 
 his time, and every portion of it well spent. Zeal 
 for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, true 
 humility, total indifference to popular favor or ap- 
 plause, and a perfect spirit of poverty, were his 
 peculiar virtues, and his whole life was spent in the 
 practise of them. His aversion to honors and dis- 
 tinction of every kind was so great, that he could 
 hardly be induced to accept the episcopacy to which 
 he was appointed. Nothing but his great deference 
 for the will of Bishop Fenwick, whom he revered as 
 a father, and a formal decision of Father Dziera-
 
 236 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 zinski, under whose direction he made a spiritual 
 retreat at the time, could have extorted his consent. 
 
 He was consecrated by Bishop Fenwick, in the 
 Cathedral at Baltimore, on the lyth of March, 1844. 
 His career as Bishop, like his priesthood, was humble 
 and unassuming, but laborious and fruitful. His nat- 
 ural constitution was not strong, and for two years 
 before his death his medical adviser endeavored to 
 dissuade him from taking part in the active labors of 
 the ministry ; but he persevered to the end, taking 
 always upon himself the larger portion of the work 
 in the confessional and the pulpit, and sparing the 
 young clergymen who were his assistants. He ever 
 continued to attend the sick until within the last year 
 of his life. 
 
 He was thus proceeding in the discharge of his 
 Episcopal duties with unremitting assiduity, and with 
 a success proportioned to his zeal, when it pleased 
 the Lord of the Vineyard to call him from his labors, 
 and invite him to sweet repose. Although enfeebled, 
 and almost exhausted in strength, he attended, with 
 great edification to his colleagues, the council held at 
 Baltimore in 1849, and applied for a Coadjutor. 
 
 On his way homeward, he contracted the disease 
 rheumatic fever which terminated his life. The 
 morning after his arrival at Providence, which was 
 Pentecost Sunday, he endeavored once more to offer 
 up the august sacrifice of the altar ; but when he 
 arrived in the sanctuary, he found his strength of 
 body unequal to the pious desire of his heart, and 
 being unable to celebrate Mass, he assisted at the
 
 DIOCESE OF HARTFORD. 237 
 
 holy mysteries, seated in a chair near the altar. Im- 
 mediately afterwards he was obliged to seek repose 
 on the bed, from which he was to rise no more. He 
 was attended in his last hours by his friend, the Right 
 Rev. Bishop of Boston, Bishop Fitzpatrick, from 
 whom he received the last sacraments of the Church. 
 
 During the last two days of his life the disease 
 settled upon the brain of the pious sufferer, and de- 
 prived him of his reason. In the moments of delir- 
 ium, his only care and his only complaint was, that 
 he should be prevented from working for the souls 
 intrusted to his charge, and he frequently implored 
 permission to return to the labors of his office, from 
 which he imagined that he was withdrawn. 
 
 But the Divine Master was satisfied with the labors 
 already performed. Twenty years, of which every 
 day and every hour had been devoted to the great 
 and only work of the Bishop and the Priest the 
 sanctification of souls gave sufficient evidence of 
 the purity of his faith, the fervor of his love. For 
 him the heat and burden of the day were over. He 
 died June iStli, and was buried on the 2Oth of the 
 same month, 1849, ' m tne basement of SS. Peter 
 and Paul's Church, which he had selected as his 
 Cathedral. Bishop Fitzpatrick, of Boston, officiated 
 pontifically, attended by a large concourse of the 
 clergy of his own and the neighboring dioceses. 
 
 With this brief obituary notice of the sainted 
 Bishop Tyler, we pass to the third Diocese established 
 in New England, that of Burlington, leaving to others
 
 238 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 the pleasing labor of recounting the rapid spread of 
 Catholicity throughout the Hartford Diocese, which, 
 commencing, in 1844, with its six priests, eight 
 churches, and nine thousand nine hundred and ninety- 
 seven souls, now numbers its one hundred churches, 
 besides sixty-four chapels and stations ; its ninety-five 
 priests, and seventy clerical students ; its ten male 
 and female academies ; its forty-four parochial free 
 schools ; its orphan asylums ; and its two hundred 
 thousand Catholic population, all within a quarter 
 of a century ! 
 
 While these Sketches are passing through the 
 press, Providence, we learn, has been erected into a 
 Diocese.
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON, 
 COMPRISING THE STATE OF VERMONT. 
 
 THIS Diocese was established in 1853. Right Rev. 
 L. DE GOESBRIAND, D. D., its first Bishop, was con- 
 secrated October 30, 1853. 
 
 Jacques Cartier, a French navigator, who had been 
 intrusted, as we have already seen, by Francis the 
 First, with the command of an expedition to explore 
 the western hemisphere, was, probably, the first 
 European whose eye ever rested on the mountains 
 of Vermont. On the second day of October, 1535, 
 he arrived with a few volunteers at an Indian settle- 
 ment called Hochelaga, which was afterwards called 
 Mount Royal, whence the present name Montreal. 
 Donnacona, an Algonkin Chief, conducted him to the 
 summit of Mount Royal, which towered above the 
 settlement, and showed him, " in that bright October 
 sun," the country for many miles south and east, and 
 told him of great rivers and inland seas, and of 
 smaller rivers and lakes penetrating a beautiful terri- 
 tory belonging to the warlike Iroquois. These In- 
 dians had settlements in the interior of the State 
 now called Vermont, but whose earlier name was 
 Iroquoisia. 
 
 239
 
 240 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Many years afterward, Samuel de Champlain, ac- 
 companied by several friendly Hurons, proceeded to 
 the locality described by Carrier, and on the Fourth 
 day of July, 1609, entered the lake which, to this day, 
 is known by his name. 
 
 For more than a century Lake Champlain was 
 claimed by the French. French names were given 
 to its rivers and islands, which they still retain. 
 French seigniories covering the borders of the lake, 
 and occupying eligible spots on both shores, were 
 actually mapped out, granted, and named after their 
 respective French proprietors.* 
 
 The Isle La Motte, in the County of Grand Isle, 
 has the honor of being the first point within the 
 limits of Vermont where a civilized establishment 
 and occupancy were commenced. In 1664, M. De 
 Tracy, then Governor of La Nouvelle France, or 
 Canada, entered upon the work of erecting a line of 
 fortifications from the mouth of the Richelieu (Sorel) 
 River into Lake Champlain. The first year he con- 
 structed three forts upon the river; and the next 
 spring 1665 he ordered Capt. De La Motte to 
 proceed up Lake Champlain, and erect another for- 
 tress upon an island, which he had designated. It 
 was completed that same year, and named after the 
 mother of the Blessed Virgin, Fort St. Ann. The 
 name of the island upon which the fort was erected 
 took the name of the builder, and has been known 
 ever since as the Isle La Motte. 
 
 * G. F. Houghton, Esq. Vermont Gazetteer. Franklin 
 Co., vol. ii. p. 89.
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 24! 
 
 This fortress, the remains of which are still to be 
 seen, was not only built, but occupied, doubtless, for 
 a long period of years by the French as a garrison ; 
 and the island itself was occupied by them for near a 
 century. 
 
 We have not at hand the names of those Reverend 
 Fathers, who, as chaplains, officiated at those gar- 
 risons of other days, or spent their lives among the 
 aborigines of the forest. They, however, toiled not 
 for worldly renown ; they served not a Master subject 
 to death ; they have gone to their rest. It is gratify- 
 ing, notwithstanding, to remark, that the holy Sacri- 
 fice of mass they offered is still perpetuated ; that the 
 Isle La Motte has, at this day, her consecrated altar 
 and devout worshippers of French and Irish ances- 
 try, and descendants of those who fought and bled for 
 the liberty, peace, and plenty we enjoy. 
 
 MISSIONS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. 
 
 From the Baptismal Register of the Church in 
 Boston, we learn that in 1815 Rev. Dr. Matignon 
 visited Burlington, and that all who were apprised 
 of his visit assembled from the neighboring districts, 
 being mostly French Canadians, to whom he admin- 
 istered the consolations of religion, and baptized thir- 
 teen of their children, from the age of twelve months 
 and upwards. 
 
 Subsequent to this visit of Rev. Dr. Matignon, 
 16
 
 242 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Burlington, and the northern towns of Vermont, 
 received occasional visits from Very Rev. Father 
 Mignault, the beloved patriarch of Chambly, Can- 
 ada, who, for years previous to his death, generously 
 fulfilled the office of Vicar General to the Bishop of 
 Boston. The good priest of Plattsburgh also, by 
 permission of the Bishop of New York, was ever 
 ready to attend sick calls on the Vermont side of 
 Lake Champlain. 
 
 In the spring of 1821, at the earnest solicitation of 
 Messrs. White and Nichols, of Vergennes, converts 
 to the faith, and a few other devout souls, Right Rev. 
 Dr. De Cheverus commissioned Rev. Paul McQuade 
 to attend the Catholic residents of this part of the 
 State. Having selected Vergennes as the centre of 
 his mission, he visited Burlington, Middlebury, and 
 other neighboring towns, and returned to Boston in 
 the fall of the same year. A private room in the 
 house of Mr. White, on the border of Otter Creek, 
 twelve by fourteen feet, was then amply sufficient for 
 altar, priest, and congregation. 
 
 The next account we have of any clerical visit 
 throughout the State was in 1829. The end accom- 
 plished, for which the Missionary had been sent to 
 the Passamaquoddy tribe of Indians in Maine, that 
 is, next to the immediate object had in view, which 
 was affording spiritual advice and encouragement to 
 those devoted Christians of the forest, the reading a 
 valedictory to a certain Puritan minister, who, unin- 
 vited, had taken up his residence m the neighborhood, 
 and, in the character of school teacher, was attempt-
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTOX. 243 
 
 ing proselytism among the Indian youth ; this end 
 accomplished, his next commission was to look after 
 the spiritual wants of the faithful spread over the 
 State of Vermont. Several months were spent on 
 this tour, administering the sacraments, hearing con- 
 fessions, and wherever favorable opportunity pre- 
 sented, and one or more Catholic families could be 
 found, offering the holy Sacrifice of mass, and preach- 
 ing, not only to those of the household of faith, but 
 those who were not thus peculiarly blessed, at one 
 time in the village school-house, at another in the 
 Town House, and occasionally, where liberality per- 
 mitted, in the meeting-house, and not unfrequently 
 where a Catholic had never been seen, much less a 
 living Catholic priest ! 
 
 The method pursued on such occasions, and that 
 which seldom failed to secure attention and favorable 
 hearing, was to invite the minister, elder, or deacon, 
 if either was present, or if absent, some one of the 
 audience, to select a portion of the Scripture that 
 might be deemed advisable to hear expounded in a 
 Catholic sense, or any other doctrinal subject that 
 might be thought instructive or interesting. The 
 kindliest feeling and attention was generally evinced, 
 and stranger as the Missionary was, would be invited 
 by some one of the audience to lunch with him before 
 the evening discourse. On such occasions, a slice of 
 pie and cheese and a mug of cider, and sociable con- 
 versation, made up the repast, for there was guileless 
 honesty in those days, and the criminality of a mug 
 of cider had not amounted to a penal offence. Ex-
 
 244 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ceptions there were, it is true, but the " Green Moun- 
 tain Boys " ever seemed, from some cause or other, 
 more open-hearted, courteous and obliging, more like 
 the descendants of patriarchal society, than citizens 
 of certain other States. 
 
 As far as learned, there were then residing at Pitts- 
 ford about sixty Catholics, at Middlebury, thirty- 
 seven, at Castleton, thirty, Poultney, twenty-one, at 
 Wallingford, fourteen, at Tinmouth, fifteen, at Dor- 
 set, eleven, at Bennington, forty-eight, at Windsor 
 and Shrewsbury, very few, as in the last place men- 
 tioned there was but one baptism. 
 
 BURLINGTON. 
 
 Learning the spiritual destitution of the faithful 
 thus dispersed over the State, Bishop Fenwick, in 
 the absence of so much as a priest to accompany 
 him, made, in 1830, a tour of the northern part of 
 the State ; on which occasion he offered the holy 
 Sacrifice of the mass at the private residence of Mr. 
 Nichols, of Vergennes, where, having instructed, he 
 administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to six 
 persons. Continuing his journey, he said mass and 
 preached at Burlington, both in French and English, 
 in the hall of Mr. Howard's Hotel, where he likewise 
 confirmed those whom he instructed, six in number ; 
 at which visit, finding several English-speaking as 
 well as French Canadian Catholics, he encouraged 
 the erection of a church.
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 245 
 
 Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan, a venerable clergyman, 
 formerly of the city of Cork, Ireland, having been 
 affiliated to the diocese, was appointed, soon after the 
 Bishop's tour, to attend the spiritual wants of the 
 faithful dispersed throughout the State, and to erect 
 the much needed church at Burlington ; this he in time 
 accomplished, on land, a portion of five acres, which 
 had been presented the Catholics for their sole use 
 by one of Burlington's noble-hearted citizens, though 
 not a member of the Church at the time, Colonel 
 Hyde, but for which generous deed he subsequently 
 received the gift of holy faith, so true the remark, 
 that love for God and charity towards our neighbor 
 receives its hundred-fold reward. 
 
 The church erected was a neat little structure, with 
 its tower and cross, measuring fifty by thirty-six feet, 
 which was blessed by the Bishop, assisted by Very 
 Rev. Fr. Mignault, of Chambly, and the pastor, 
 September 9, 1832. The choir on the occasion, com- 
 posed of French Canadians, performed their part 
 passably well, all things considered, while the Bishop 
 administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to twen- 
 ty-seven persons. On the same day there were twen- 
 ty-five children baptized, who were mostly of Cana- 
 dian parentage, and belonged to the city or adjacent 
 towns. 
 
 While Rev. Fr. O'Callaghan was visiting other 
 parts of the State, the English-speaking portion of 
 the congregation of Burlington Were attended by Rev. 
 John Brady and such other clergymen as the Bishop 
 had at command, while Rev. Fr. Petithomme offi-
 
 246 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ciated for the French Canadians from May 21, 1834, 
 till his appointment to the Indian mission of Maine, 
 October 12, 1835. 
 
 The above little church was, from some cause or 
 other, never satisfactorily explained, consumed by 
 fire in the month of May, 1838. Soon, however, a 
 new, more ornate, and spacious brick edifice was 
 erected in another part of the city, which, under the 
 title of St. Peter's, was dedicated to God, October 3, 
 1841. At its dedication, Bishop Fenwick was assisted 
 by the venerable Bishop Janson, of Nancy, France, 
 who was at the time giving missions, or spiritual 
 retreats, in Canada, and who, in the benevolence of 
 his great and generous heart, came, accompanied by 
 Rev. M. L'Abbe and Rev. M. St. Germain, of St. 
 Lawrence, to prepare the Canadian portion of the 
 congregation for the reception of the sacraments on 
 the joyful occasion. 
 
 Rev. Fr. O'Callaghan having had the entire charge 
 of the rising congregations throughout the State till 
 1834, he was relieved in part by the appointment 
 of Rev. J. A. Walsh to its southern portion, where 
 he labored till 1835. He was succeeded, in 1837, by 
 Rev. John B. Daley, who, in 1839, superintended the 
 erection of the neat brick church, measuring sixty by 
 forty feet, in Middlebury, which, with other stations, 
 he attended till the consecration of Right Rev. Dr. 
 Goesbriand.
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 247 
 
 ST. ALBANS. 
 
 Leaving Burlington, Bishop Fenwick, accompanied 
 by Rev. George Goodwin, repaired to St. Albans, 
 and, at a temporary altar improvised for the occasion 
 in the Town House, offered the holy Sacrifice of 
 mass, and preached in French and English, as the 
 audience, as at Burlington, were of different nation- 
 alities. 
 
 In the second volume of Vermont Gazetteer by Miss 
 Hemenway, page 338, et seq., there is the following 
 very interesting paper by Mrs. B. H. Smalley, which, 
 though in its dates and details extend beyond what is 
 contemplated in our early sketches of the Church, is 
 so very interesting that we copy the article entire : 
 
 When Rev. J. O'Callaghan came as Missionary to 
 Vermont, and established his residence at Burlington, 
 he found a few families of Irish and Canadian Cath- 
 olics in St. Albans and vicinity, to whom he minis- 
 tered at stated intervals until Rev. William Ivers 
 undertook the charge some time in 1841. .At this 
 period the numbers of those professing the faith had 
 increased to such an extent, through immigration 
 from Ireland and Canada, that the congregation as- 
 sembling at St. Albans, and gathered partly from the 
 neighboring towns, amounted to one thousand ; while 
 there were several other congregations, more or less 
 numerous, in different parts of Franklin County, for 
 whose wants the most diligent ministrations of one 
 Missionary were scarcely adequate. In 1842 an effort
 
 248 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 was made, under the suggestion of Fr. Ivers, to pur- 
 chase land and build a church in some central loca- 
 tion in or near the village of St. Albans, for the ac- 
 commodation of the rapidly increasing congregation. 
 The means of the people were found to be wholly 
 inadequate, however, to the accomplishment of the 
 undertaking, and it was abandoned. Not long after 
 Rev. Fr. Ivers left, and the mission was again de- 
 pendent upon the occasional visits of Rev. Fr. O'Cal- 
 laghan, whose faithful services in Vermont have 
 caused his memory to be held in veneration by every 
 Catholic within her borders. 
 
 In July, 1846, Mr. William H. Hoyt and his family 
 embraced the Catholic faith. He had been for some 
 years the Protestant Episcopal clergyman of St. Al- 
 bans, and was very much respected and beloved. 
 
 In June, 1847, R CV - George A. Hamilton came to 
 St. Albans, and remained in charge of the Catholic 
 congregation until January, 1850, when he was re- 
 moved to Milford, Mass., and subsequently to Charles- 
 town, where he has since erected, on the summit of 
 Bunker Hill, one of the finest church edifices in New 
 England. During the period of his residence at St. 
 Albans his flock was largely increased by the immi- 
 gration of many from other parts of the State and 
 from foreign lands, and by the conversion of a num- 
 ber of Protestants to the Catholic faith, among whom 
 may be mentioned the late G. G. Smith and his fam- 
 ily ; Hon. L. B. Hunt, with his wife, and, at a later 
 period, his second wife, with her daughter ; B. H. 
 Smalley, Esq., a well-known lawyer of Franklin
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 249 
 
 County, with his sister, Miss Laura P. Smalley, and 
 his whole family, as well as his mother-in-law, Mrs. 
 Cynthia Penniman, widow of the late Dr. Jabez 
 Penniman, of Colchester, and whose first husband 
 was E. Marvin, son of Dr. Ebenezer Marvin, of 
 Franklin. 
 
 In May, 1848, Rev. Henry Lennon, but just or- 
 dained to the priesthood, came to St. Albans, and 
 remained a few months, assisting Father Hamilton. 
 The climate of Vermont proving prejudicial to his 
 health, he returned to Boston, and was soon after 
 stationed at Newburyport, Mass., where his labors 
 proved eminently successful. He was a young cler- 
 gyman of extraordinary acquirements and eloquence. 
 
 In 1848, a lot of land, with a dwelling-house, barn, 
 and orchard upon it, was procured for the Catholics 
 of St. Albans, as a site for the church edifice which 
 they had in contemplation to erect. The dwelling- 
 house stood where the church is now located. It 
 was removed to the present location of the priest's 
 residence, and fitted up to serve as a temporary 
 church while the new one was in the course of erec- 
 tion, and afterwai'ds changed to a dwelling-house 
 again ; after which time it was occupied as the res- 
 idence of the priest, until the present building was 
 erected in its stead. The corner-stone of the pro- 
 posed new church was laid in August, 1849, by 
 Bishop McClosky, then of Albany, N. Y., now 
 Archbishop of New York. 
 
 When, in January, 1850, Rev. Fr. Hamilton left 
 Vermont, he was succeeded by Rev. T. Shahan, who
 
 250 SKETCHES, ETC, 
 
 had been admitted to the priesthood but a short time 
 previously, and who left in August of the same year, 
 Rev. E. McGowan taking his place at St. Albans. 
 
 Since the erection of Vermont into a See, Bishop 
 De Goesbriand has seen the church edifice of St. 
 Albans completed and dedicated to God, and placed 
 under the auspices of Mary Immaculate. 
 
 The amiable writer to whom we are indebted for 
 the above particulars of the establishment of the 
 church at St. Albans, herself, by the grace of God, a 
 convert to Catholicity, concludes her interesting re- 
 port by observing that a large proportion of the con- 
 gregation which assemble in this place is composed 
 of young people, descendants of Catholics from 
 abroad, who were born and brought up on the soil, 
 and who will compare very favorably with any class 
 descended from Americans for native intelligence, 
 education, industry, morality, and piety, while in 
 physical power and endurance they are greatly su- 
 perior. The bitter prejudices, created and fostered 
 by the rancorous partisans of the most un-American. 
 of all our parties, which styled itself, par excellence, 
 the American party, have been proved to be cruelly 
 unjust, and the experience of the country during the 
 past war has abundantly demonstrated that the for- 
 eign Catholic population, and their descendants, so 
 far from forming a dangerous element in our society, 
 are, in fact, among its best and most reliable safe- 
 guards. Instructed by a clergy who abstain from all 
 interference in political matters, except to admonish 
 their people diligently of their duty to be subject to
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 251 
 
 their rulers in all obedience ; taught by the bitter 
 experiences of oppression abroad the value of free 
 and liberal institutions here, and unbiassed by the 
 temptations of ambition, which, unfortunately, lure 
 too many of our fellow-citizens from the paths of 
 rectitude and duty, in quest of office, they are not 
 to be outdone by any class in the practice of the 
 social and domestic virtues, or in the exercise of true 
 patriotism. 
 
 This persuasion, the Catholic, writes Thomp- 
 son, in his turn, a candid Protestant author of Ver- 
 mont, with the exception of a few native con- 
 verts, owes its astonishing increase to the annual 
 immigration that crosses the Atlantic from the mother 
 country. When they first arrive, they are exposed to 
 that prejudice and obloquy which invariably attend a 
 stranger in a foreign land ; but the good sense and 
 discrimination of the Americans soon discover them 
 to be a sober, industrious, and hard-laboring people, 
 who, having passed through the ordeal of persecution 
 at home, come prepared to appreciate and sustain 
 the free laws and institutions of our republic. The 
 greatest part of them have embarked upon the cur- 
 rent of temperance, and are most faithful observers 
 of the pledge. Many of them have purchased farms 
 in different parts of the State, where they are doing 
 well, are accumulating property, and making an im- 
 portant addition to the population and strength of the 
 country. 
 
 Before leaving the pleasant and flourishing village 
 of St. Albans, we must invite the reader, says the
 
 252 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Gazetteer, to look into its cemetery. There, not far 
 from the entrance, stand three headstones in a line, 
 large and white, with a garland and cross upon the 
 marble, the graves of three sisters, whose mem- 
 ories have been embalmed in that interesting volume 
 of Mrs. Smalley, " The Young Converts, or the 
 Three Sisters." 
 
 Debbie, Helen, and Anna Barlow were the daugh- 
 ters of Hon. Bradley Barlow, a man of wealth and 
 influence in the county. Debbie reads a book that 
 leads to the investigation of the grave claims of 
 Catholic theology, becomes the earnest young con- 
 vert, whom nothing can turn back, goes straight for- 
 ward on ; beautiful Helen follows her serene, perse- 
 vering steps, and Anna follows Helen. The three 
 are as sisters on the forehead of the morning. As 
 the earliest sister-cluster of flowers of the Catholic 
 faith in Vermont, these young lives have an interest, 
 religious and historical, as one by one they transmute 
 and pass away, as seen on the pages of the pleasing 
 book referred to above. 
 
 A little farther on is the grave of the Smith sisters. 
 Mr. G. G. Smith and wife, and five children, were 
 received into the Catholic Church about 1848. They 
 had previously buried their three eldest children 
 while very young, and soon after they laid one of the 
 remaining five here. Mr. Smith died next, leaving 
 his wife, two sons, and two daughters, Frances and 
 Sarah. Sarah first began to show symptoms of de- 
 cline. The gentle Frances, says her biographer, as 
 she had done all her sweet life, followed Sarah,
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 253 
 
 Sarah keeping about the same distance in advance ; 
 but as she entered every lane that leads down the 
 dark valley, she looked back for Frances, and Fran- 
 ces desired to overtake Sarah. It seemed they could 
 not be separated, and both so desired to go together 
 to God. It is said they asked it, in their communions 
 and their prayers, if such was pleasing to their heav- 
 enly Father. It was a sight that interested all around 
 '-two lovely village girls, who had grown up in their 
 midst into young womanhood, fading, as a double 
 rainbow in a summer sky. A few weeks before they 
 died, a young lady friend, soon to be married, brought 
 in her trousseau, to let these sisters see it. They had 
 been her young friends and schoolmates. These dear 
 sisters looked at the rich dress stuffs, the beautiful 
 lace work, the lovely flowers. They pronounced 
 everything pretty, very pretty, beautiful. It was 
 sweet to see what an artless interest they took in it 
 all. But when they had examined and innocently 
 enjoyed all, said Frances, turning, with a bright 
 smile, to Sarah, " But, Sada, we wouldn't exchange 
 with her for the world; would we?" " O, no," 
 said Sarah, the same bright look communicated to 
 her face. It was thought Frances might yet live 
 some days when Sarah was taken in her agony. 
 Frances, who at once desired to be brought to her 
 room, sat supported by her bedside, and encouraged 
 her. Such was her love. She was jealous for her 
 sister, lest she should, in the greatness of her suffer- 
 ings, by but one moment's impatience dim the 
 brightness of her sacrifice. It was a tender dying
 
 254 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 bed, upon which one sister lay in the last struggle, 
 and by which another sat, that light in her eyes, and 
 whiteness in her face she was sure to go soon. 
 
 Sarah died about midnight. Frances was carried 
 back to her room, and died at ten o'clock the next 
 morning. It was talked, among the Catholics, that 
 Sarah, upon first entering the spirit world, had be- 
 sought this favor. They were buried in one grave, 
 and one coffin. Robed in blue silk, they lay within 
 each other's arms, in the double casket, the hair of 
 Frances, rich and sun-htied, gathered back from her 
 gleaming white forehead, scarcely more serene than 
 in life. Sarah, who had had more changes and 
 beauty, nestled with her face towards her sister, now 
 very still and white. It was, perhaps, the most in- 
 teresting picture of death the village had ever wit- 
 nessed two young sisters, between the ages of 
 nineteen and twenty-two. Both had, in dying, re- 
 ceived the sacraments of their religion. The Bishop 
 of the diocese, who was present at their funeral, 
 spoke of these young women as having given all 
 their talents alwavs to the Church, by their voices 
 having assisted in the choir, and Frances as organist. 
 They died in the summer of 1866. 
 
 MISSIONS CONNECTED WITH ST. ALBANS. When 
 Rev. Fr. Ivers had charge at St. Albans, there were, 
 according to his report, at Berkshire and vicinity, 
 about one hundred members of the Church ; at Troy 
 and neighborhood, about the same number ; and at 
 St. Johnsbury, Peacham, and Danville, about eighty.
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 255 
 
 CHURCH AT MIDDLEBURY. 
 
 Soon after the appointment of Rev. Fr. O'Calla- 
 ghan to look after the spiritual interests of the faithful 
 throughout the State, he visited Middlebury, and had 
 divine service in some one of the most convenient 
 houses of the infant congregation. These his visits 
 were made as often as circumstances permitted, till 
 the arrival of Rev. James Walsh, in 1834, a * which 
 time the State was divided into two distinct missions. 
 John B. Daly, in 1837, having been appointed suc- 
 cessor to Fr. Walsh, and the congregation at Middle- 
 bury having so far increased in numbers as to war- 
 rant the undertaking, erected, in 1839, a neat brick 
 church edifice, measuring sixty by forty feet, in which 
 he continued to officiate till, in 1853, the State was 
 erected into an Episcopal See. 
 
 CHURCH AT CASTLETON. 
 
 Few were the churches in Vermont previous to the 
 consecration of Right Rev. Bishop Goesbriand. At 
 Castleton, a private dwelling of eighteen by thirty 
 feet, with a small lot of land connected with it, had 
 been secured as early as 1837, which served as a 
 temporary chapel for the infant congregation at the 
 time. 
 
 Rev. Father Daly, in the report of his missions,
 
 256 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 states that at Brandon, Pittsford, Shrewsbury, Rut- 
 land, and Wallingford, there were about four hundred 
 Catholics ; and about an equal number scattered be- 
 tween Woodstock, Plymouth, Windsor, and Rock- 
 ingham, and at Bennington one hundred and fifty. 
 
 CHURCH AT SWANTON. 
 
 Apart from the traditional story of a church having 
 been erected, over a century ago, at the former Indian 
 village on the Highgate bank of the Missisquoi 
 River, on land now improved by A. H. Brooks, 
 where relics of a religious character have been from 
 time to time turned up by the plough, some of which 
 we have seen, and in connection with the probable 
 site of the church, the foundations of which were 
 formerly more distinct than at present, a few stones 
 of which we gather, as a pious memento, the Sac- 
 rifice of Mass offered at a later period by Rev. Father 
 McGillon, of Plattsburgh, was at the house of Mr. 
 James McNally, in the village of Swanton. 
 
 Encouraged by this visit of a clergyman among 
 them, the faithful, small as were their numbers, con- 
 cluded to build a church, where they might assemble 
 on Sundays for prayer and mutual edification, and in 
 the fond hope that at some future day their Bishop 
 would be enabled to provide them, at least occasion- 
 ally, with the services of a clergyman. Messrs. 
 James and Henry McNally, Charles O'Kane, Fred-
 
 DIOCESE OF BURLINGTON. 257 
 
 erick Arnault, James Birney, and a few others, were 
 the prime movers in this enterprise. Mr. James 
 McNally gave land for the purpose, and a portion of 
 the materials, while the rest contributed equally, 
 according to their means, and in a few months, to 
 their delight, a neat little brick edifice of thirty by 
 forty feet was erected. Here, in 1836, Rev. Fr. 
 O'Callaghan offered the holy Sacrifice of Mass, which 
 he, as circumstances permitted, continued to do till 
 the appointment of other clergymen. Here, Rev. 
 Messrs. Le Claire, Waters, Ivers, and Hamilton offi- 
 ciated ; and the last-mentioned Reverend Father, 
 seeing the church eventually finished and beautified, 
 dedicated it to God, and assigned to it the name of 
 the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 This building, to the deep regret of the congrega- 
 tion, was, on the Eve of Christmas, 1858, accidentally 
 burned down from an overheated stove, unattended, 
 in the vestry. The pastor, however, Rev. J. L. Cam, 
 who had charge of the congregation at the time, 
 numbering five hundred souls, soon commenced an- 
 other, the present beautifully-proportioned Gothic 
 structure, which is also of brick, seventy-two by forty 
 feet, which, since its completion, and contracts set- 
 tled, has been consecrated, and, like the first little 
 edifice, bears the title of the Nativity of the Blessed 
 Virgin. 
 
 While small was thus the grain of mustard-seed 
 scattered over the soil of Vermont but a few years 
 ago, consoling must it be, as well as cheering to the 
 
 '7
 
 258 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 heart of its first Bishop, and to every fond lover of 
 Holy Church, to contemplate the spread of Cath- 
 olicity, as seen in the subjoined brief summary of the 
 present state of the Diocese, eighteen years from its 
 establishment, in which there are, besides its splendid 
 Gothic Cathedral at Burlington, near fifty churches, 
 twenty-eight priests, and ten clerical students ; its 
 orphan asylum, and many little ones so maternally 
 cared for ; its academies, its select schools, its free 
 schools, and its thirty-four thousand Catholic pop- 
 ulation ! 
 
 While it is our province to sketch the early state 
 of events, cheering will be the labor of the ecclesias- 
 tical historian who, fifty years hence, will be called 
 upon to write the progress of Catholicity in the Dio- 
 cese of Burlington, the State of Vermont.
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND, 
 
 EMBRACING THE STATES OF MAINE AND NEW 
 HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 THIS Diocese was established in 1855. Right Rev. 
 Dr. D. W. BACON, its first Bishop, was consecrated 
 the 22d of April, the same year. 
 
 Having already spoken of the early Missionaries 
 and their apostolic labors among the aborigines of 
 Maine, we will here introduce an account of the first 
 visit made to this part of his diocese, by the successor 
 of Bishop De Cheverus, Right Rev. Dr. Fen wick ; 
 and as amidst his manifold and arduous labors he 
 found time to minute in his journal, day by day, from 
 the time he came to Boston until the fourth day before 
 his death, such incidents as he deemed worthy of 
 note, and as the reader cannot be otherwise than 
 interested in all that relates to the religious improve- 
 ments of those children of the forest, who are so fast 
 disappearing from among us, we will quote the Bish- 
 op's manuscript for July, 1827, nearly word for word. 
 
 " I had scarcely landed," says the Bishop, at his 
 arrival at Eastport, " when I saw a number of Indians, 
 of both sexes of the Passamaquoddy tribe, who had 
 just left their canoes, and were going up to one of the 
 
 259
 
 26O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 stores to trade. A perfect stranger in the town, I 
 accosted one of the Indians, and requested him to 
 show me the way. He paid no attention to my re- 
 quest, and proceeded on. I then addressed myself to 
 another, whom I perceived just crossing the street. 
 He stopped for a while, looked steadfastly at me, then 
 shook his head and left me. I soon recollected that 
 I had seen at Boston, the year before, an Indian of 
 the tribe, whose name was Saco-Bason James Vin- 
 cent. I made up to a group of Indians, and inquired 
 whether he had come to town. One of them an- 
 swered in broken English, and informed me he had, 
 and would go and look for him. He returned soon 
 after with Saco-Bason, who immediately recognized 
 me. The news of my arrival soon spread through 
 the town. I informed Saco-Bason that my intention 
 was to repair to Pleasant Point, their village, without 
 delay, and wished him to acquaint his brethren with 
 it. He promised me to notify them, and stated that 
 he would himself shortly return home, and in the 
 afternoon come again with several canoes to conduct 
 me to it. He then led me to the house of Mr. Jere- 
 miah Kelly, a respectable Catholic of Eastport, where 
 I found Rev. Mr. Ffrench, whom I had sent to this 
 town the preceding year. After making some in- 
 quiry into the state of religion at Eastport and the 
 adjoining country, I requested him to accompany me 
 to Pleasant Point, whither it was my intention to pro- 
 ceed immediately, in order to assist me in preparing 
 the Indians and their children for the Sacrament of 
 Confirmation, and of the Holy Eucharist. In the
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 261 
 
 afternoon, as it had been arranged, the Indians, who 
 were to conduct me to their village, arrived, in four 
 bark canoes, with the Lieutenant Governor at their 
 head. They were dressed in full costume of their 
 nation, and in the gayest apparel. On entering the 
 parlor, each of them alternately advanced and kissed 
 my hand respectfully, and after a short conversation 
 invited me to their canoes. The afternoon was pleas- 
 ant, and we set out. The distance from Eastport to 
 Pleasant Point does not exceed six or seven miles. 
 On reaching the wharf, I was invited to take my seat 
 in the middle of a large and beautiful canoe, which 
 was paddled by Saco-Bason in front and another 
 Indian in the rear. Rev. Mr. Ffrench, with two 
 Indians, occupied another canoe. Our baggage was 
 conveyed in the two remaining ones, which followed 
 behind. We had scarcely put off from shore, when 
 each of the Indians struck fire and lighted his pipe ; 
 a matter, it would seem, quite indispensable with 
 them, for so great is their attachment to the pipe, 
 that they would sooner, on some occasions, as they 
 acknowledged to me, go without their dinner. When 
 we had reached a point of land from which their 
 village could be seen, a salute was fired with their 
 carabines, which was answered from the village by a 
 discharge as well of carabines as of a six-pounder, 
 which they had mounted for the purpose of economy. 
 A flag, bearing a red cross, on a white ground, was 
 also hoisted. This firing continued without intermis- 
 sion until the canoes reached the shore. On arriving, 
 the whole population flocked to the landing, with the
 
 262 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Governor, a venerable old man, at their head, to 
 welcome me. He addressed me in tolerable good 
 French, which he must have learnt in Canada, and 
 expressed the liveliest joy at seeing once more a 
 Bishop before he died. He knelt down, and received 
 my blessing, which I also gave to all the others who 
 had equally placed themselves on their knees to re- 
 ceive it. 
 
 " From the landing we proceeded to the church, 
 where, after offering up a prayer, I expressed to them 
 my happiness at being among them for the purpose 
 of affording them the benefits of their religion. I 
 then caused all the children above eight years of age, 
 as well as those among the adults, who had not yet 
 been confirmed, to be paraded before me, and in- 
 quiry to be made how many among them were suffi- 
 ciently instructed to be admitted to the Sacrament of 
 Confirmation. I had already been apprised that Rev. 
 Mr. Ffrench had made frequent visits during the last 
 two months, and had during that time taken pains to 
 instruct them. I accordingly directed him to assist 
 me in hearing the confessions of all those whom ne 
 should deem sufficiently instructed, and in otherwise 
 preparing them for confirmation, which I intended to 
 confer the following day. 
 
 " Sunday, July I5th, I said mass in the Indian 
 church at eight o'clock ; all the Passamaquoddy's 
 were present. At eleven o'clock a solemn procession 
 was formed to the church, which was composed of 
 the whole tribe. As soon as it began to move, pre- 
 ceded by the cross bearer, the Indians who followed
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 263 
 
 in it intoned a hymn in their own language, which 
 was sung with enthusiasm by all the others. When 
 it had arrived at the church, Rev. Mr. Ffrench began 
 the Asperges. Mass was afterwards sang according 
 to the notes of M. Dumont in his Missa-regia, with 
 a precision which would have done honor to many 
 of the choirs of Europe. 
 
 " A number of Protestants from Eastport and the 
 adjacent country were present, attracted by the arrival 
 of the Bishop. They conducted themselves with 
 great propriety in the church ; indeed, the behavior 
 of the Indians themselves in the house of God was 
 well calculated to inspire respect, as they never looked 
 either to the right or to the left while there, and dur- 
 ing the whole time of the celebration of the divine 
 mysteries they appeared absorbed in the contempla- 
 tion of what passed before them at the altar. At the 
 end of mass I delivered a discourse to the Protestants 
 present, in which I expounded the principal mysteries 
 of our holy religion, and pointed out its superior 
 excellence over other religions. The leading points 
 of my discourse I caused to be interpreted to the 
 Indians who did not understand English. I after- 
 wards addressed myself particularly to the young 
 Indians and those adults who were about to be con- 
 firmed, and endeavored to impress upon them the 
 dispositions essentially requisite to receive Confirma- 
 tion worthily ; and at length proceeded to administer 
 this sacrament to all those who were sufficiently in- 
 structed and prepared to receive it ; several of them 
 had already been admitted to holy communion at the
 
 264 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 eaiiy mass in the morning. After the solemn bene- 
 diction, which I gave them at the conclusion, we left 
 the church in the same order in which we had come, 
 and returned to the village. In the afternoon, at four 
 o'clock, Vespers were sung, in which the Indians 
 acquitted themselves fully as well as in the forenoon, 
 thanks to the good Missionary, their former pastor, 
 who had so well instructed them. After vespers they 
 recited their ordinary prayefs for the evening, and 
 then retired quietly to their cabins. 
 
 "July 1 6th. I again said mass at eight o'clock, 
 after which we repaired, in procession, to the bury- 
 ing-ground, where I performed the usual service on 
 the graves of those who had departed this life since 
 the last visit of a priest. 
 
 "July 1 7th. I said mass at seven o'clock; all the 
 Indians assisted at it. I again gave confirmation to 
 those who had hitherto not been able to prepare for 
 it, and among others to the son of an Indian named 
 Stanislaus. So great was the desire of this good 
 Indian to have his son confirmed, although confined 
 to his bed at home by a violent fever, he, with the aid 
 of some of his friends, conveyed the bed, with the 
 youth sixteen years lying thereon, to the church in 
 the midst of the ceremony. His ardent zeal edified 
 me ; but I was fearful that such an exertion, with the 
 exposure, might prove finally prejudicial to the youth. 
 He had, however, received the last sacraments the 
 morning before, and was well disposed. I confirmed 
 him with the others, to the very great joy of his 
 father. After breakfast, which consisted of the or-
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 265 
 
 dinary diet of the Indians, I took the census of the 
 tribe, and found that the entire population amounted 
 to four hundred and fifty souls. About fifteen or 
 twenty individuals were said to be absent at the time. 
 
 " In the afternoon I visited again the Indians in 
 their cabins, and spent a little longer time with them, 
 especially with the old and infirm. I went also to 
 see the sick youth whom I had confirmed in the 
 morning, and whom I found extremely low, his fever 
 having considerably increased. I conversed a short 
 time with him, and found him in the happiest dis- 
 positions. As he had received all the sacraments, I 
 had nothing more to do than exhort him to submit 
 with patience to the will of God. 
 
 "July 1 8th. I said mass at six o'clock. The whole 
 tribe attended as on Sunday. Those Indians who 
 composed the choir sang during the whole time of 
 the celebration a number of hymns in their tongue. 
 I addressed them in a short discourse, through their 
 interpreter, to remain faithful to their duties to God, 
 their neighbors, and to themselves, and especially to 
 remain constantly attached to their holy religion, and 
 live in union and charity with one another. I in- 
 formed them that it was my intention to leave them 
 to-day, in order to go to their brethren, the Penob- 
 scots, for whom I felt the same solicitude, and re- 
 quested them to offer up their prayers to God for the 
 success of my voyage." 
 
 At Old Town, the residence of the Penobscot tribe, 
 the Bishop said mass, preached, and confirmed those
 
 266 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 who had been prepared by Rev. Father Barber, S. J., 
 who was then with them. 
 
 The Bishop, after his first visit to these devoted 
 children of the forest, became most anxious to procure 
 a Missionary who would reside among them, and as 
 English was not needed, he appealed to the Associa- 
 tion for the Propagation of the Faith.* 
 
 While awaiting an answer to his earnest petition, 
 the author of these Sketches, having been ordained, 
 was sent among them, and he would add one or two 
 instances of his reminiscences in illustration of the 
 religious habits, as well as of the faith and piety, of 
 these devoted Christians. 
 
 As winter approaches, it is customary with the In- 
 dians, before entering the forest in pursuit of game, 
 to provide themselves with calendars, or a species 
 of almanac, which have been previously prepared, 
 wherein the days of the week, the Sundays, and what- 
 ever festivals are likelv to occur before their return 
 in the spring, are noted. A pin-mark denotes the day 
 and date of their departure from the village, and this 
 being moved forward daily, they know, in the depth 
 of the forest, each day of the week and month, and 
 whatever festival of obligation may occur, as well as 
 those who hear it announced from the sanctuary 
 every Sunday. As Saturday, or the vigil of any fes- 
 tival of obligation approaches, they prepare their 
 encampment, provide fuel, and make all other neces- 
 sary arrangements preparatory for sanctifying the 
 
 * See his interesting letter, Annales, v. 447-480.
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 267 
 
 approaching great day, which our Lord and His 
 Church command to be kept holy. To fell a tree 
 or chop wood, to hunt or use the rifle, should a 
 moose, bear, or deer pass their camp on such days, 
 would be considered derogatory to their Christian 
 duty, a burden on their conscience, and be recalled 
 on the next occasion of confession. At a given sig- 
 nal, all who are of the party in the forest assemble 
 for prayer, at which they sing in unison the Kyrie, 
 Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus, of the Missa- 
 regia, hymns, and so forth. Upon their return home 
 in the spring of the year, they all, with true Christian 
 piety, approach the sacraments of Penance and the 
 Eucharist, seeking forgiveness for any faults com- 
 mitted during their absence, and the divine assistance 
 to persevere in their good resolutions. 
 
 Among other edifying traits that might be men- 
 tioned, illustrating the practical idea they have of sin 
 in general, which they understand, as taught in their 
 catechism, to be any violation or transgression of the 
 law of God, in thought, word, or deed, we will men- 
 tion one, simple, as perhaps it may be considered by 
 some. 
 
 Two women, towards the close of the week, were 
 doing up their family washing at a little brook which 
 runs through the village. Something rather tart, in- 
 cidentally said by one, roused so far the feelings of 
 the other, that, on the spur of the moment, in retalia- 
 tion, she gave her a dash of the towel just at hand ! 
 Reflection on the impropriety of what they had done, 
 as not unfrequently happens, came afterwards. The
 
 268 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 next day being Sunday, and obligated to hear mass, 
 apprehensive that others, and perhaps children, had 
 seen or heard of their unchristian-like behavior, 
 neither one nor the other would enter the church, 
 the house of God, but, prompted alike by remorse 
 of conscience, they prostrated themselves at the door, 
 imploring the prayers of those who entered, that God 
 would pardon any scandal or bad example given. 
 
 Parents thus solicitous for their own salvation, 
 must needs be blessed in their children ; and so, in- 
 deed, are those devoted Christians of the forest. Not 
 only are children taught their morning, as well as 
 evening prayers, but every other Christian duty, and 
 evince their gratitude for all favors received from the 
 Giver of all. Often is a little one seen coming out 
 of the wigwam, with a crust of bread in his hand, 
 but never is he seen to take the first morsel, nor to 
 dip his tiny birch bowl into the spring, without hav- 
 ing first made the sign of the cross, and asked God's 
 blessing. Such, we have witnessed, is their Chris- 
 tian teaching, faith, and morals. 
 
 In his appeal to the " Association for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Faith," the efforts of the Bishop were 
 crowned with success. Before his next visit, the 
 Penobscots had a resident missionary, and showed 
 how much good they had gained by his presence. A 
 beautiful church, with its towering steeple, and a 
 neat parsonage, had replaced Father Romagne's hut. 
 The cabins of the Indians, in many instances, too, 
 were replaced by neatly-painted cottages, and an air 
 of comfort pervaded all the settlement. After ad-
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 269 
 
 ministering Confirmation, the Bishop dedicated the 
 church in honor of St. Ann, the patroness of the 
 tribe. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the missionaries, Rev. Messrs. 
 Edmund Demilier and Petithomme, rinding but one 
 Penobscot able to speak French, they commenced 
 the study of the native language, Demilier at the 
 villages, Petithomme in their winter camp. They 
 continued their mission with great profit, and, early 
 in 1834, the Bishop, in possession of a manuscript 
 prayer-book of Fr. Romagne, had it printed, and 
 thus facilitated the labors of the missionary school. 
 
 Rev. Fr. Petithomme, receiving subsequently an- 
 other destination, Fr. Demilier was left alone. His 
 study of the language was most successful. He was 
 soon able to confess his penitents in Abnaki, and 
 when the Bishop next visited the mission, he could 
 not withhold the expression of his astonishment at 
 the facility with which the Father preached in his 
 newly-acquired language. Turning his knowledge 
 to account, Father Demilier drew up a new prayer- 
 book, and translated also the Quebec catechism. 
 
 Notwithstanding the insignificance of his mission 
 in numbers, Fr. Demilier devoted himself to it with- 
 out a murmur till his death, on the 23d of July, 1843, 
 when his flock lost a kind and self-sacrificing pastor. 
 
 In connection with what has been said of the Ab- 
 naki, their conversion, faith, and piety, and the devo- 
 tedness of those self-sacrificing missionaries who 
 have lived or died among them, we will add a short 
 account of the monument erected to that illustrious 
 martyred priest, Father Rale.
 
 270 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 MEMORIAL OF REV. FATHER RALE. 
 
 Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick purchased the site of 
 the ancient village where once stood the church of 
 this illustrious martyred priest. The following com- 
 munication, written about the time the monument was 
 erected, August 23, 1833, will explain the event: 
 
 " The ancient village of Naurantsonak, now 
 called Norridgewock, that is, the place where the 
 Indian village of this name formerly stood, is situated 
 on the Kennebec River, five miles above the present 
 village of Norridgewock. The site of the monument 
 is on the edge of the town of Madison, a little above, 
 and nearly opposite the place where Sandy River 
 empties into the Kennebec, and immediately adjoin- 
 ing Norridgewock. This ancient Indian village was 
 situated on a beautiful plain, surrounded by high 
 hills, extending a quarter of a mile on the eastern 
 bank of the river, and as far as the bend. The 
 cabins of the Indians were constructed in parallel 
 lines along the plain running north and south, leav- 
 ing a common road on the bank of the river the 
 whole length of the village, and having besides a 
 street two hundred feet in width, running between 
 the rows of cabins, in the same direction. The 
 church was erected towards the southern extremity, 
 with the principal entrance on the street, and the 
 altar to the east. The residence of Father Rale ad- 
 joined the sacristy, which stood also to the east. It
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 271 
 
 was here this great and good man lived, surrounded 
 by his flock, all of whom he had converted to the 
 faith from among the Abnaki tribes during the thirty 
 odd years which he had spent among them. 
 
 " The lot of land purchased by the Bishop for the 
 monument includes the whole space formerly occu- 
 pied by the church, with the sacristy, and the res- 
 idence of Father Rale. It consists of an acre of 
 ground, with an outlet, of sufficient width for a car- 
 riage, to the main county road. The situation is 
 extremely beautiful, having a delightful prospect, as 
 well of the river as of the surrounding country. 
 
 " The Bishop was accompanied to the spot on the 
 morning of the twenty-third, by the Rev. Messrs. 
 Ffrench, of Portland, and Conway, of Indian Old 
 Town, who came, accompanied with eighteen In- 
 dians, to assist at the ceremony on this memorable 
 day, the anniversary of the massacre of Father Rale 
 and his neophytes. The object of the Bishop was 
 to have a Solemn Mass celebrated on the spot, and a 
 funeral service performed for the benefit of the In- 
 dians who were slain on this day in the year seven- 
 teen hundred and twenty-four. 
 
 " The morning opened beautifully. The Bishop 
 repaired to the spot at nine o'clock. Already an im- 
 mense multitude had assembled from the adjacent 
 country. In an hour after, there could not be less 
 than five thousand persons present. The roads in 
 every direction were still crowded with men, women, 
 and children, all flocking to the same spot. At half 
 past ten o'clock the service began. Rev. Fr. Ffrench
 
 272 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 was appointed to celebrate Mass, the Indians to per- 
 form the duty of the Choir, and the Bishop was the 
 orator on the occasion. At this time the curiosity 
 of the multitude assembled was intense. Some as- 
 cended the trees that surrounded the Altar, while 
 others pressed forward, regardless of every barrier 
 that was raised before them. Others, mounted upon 
 wagons and vehicles of every name, drove their 
 horses into the ranks, which were instantly filled by 
 the people who had been displaced, in spite of every 
 remonstrance of the proprietors. Others, again, un- 
 able to see over the immense concourse that stood in 
 their way, which now formed one dense, consolidated 
 mass, as closely wedged as ever bricks were in a 
 brickkiln, endeavored to climb upon the backs of 
 those outside, that thus they might at least be enabled 
 to see something of what was passing at the Altar. 
 In spite of every annoyance thus occasioned by the 
 extreme anxiety of the people to see, Rev. Fr. Ffrench 
 still proceeded with the celebration of the Mass. 
 The Bishop remained during all this time in the 
 wicker sacristy which had been constructed immedi- 
 ately adjoining the Altar", waiting for the end of the 
 Gospel, that he might address the multitude. In the 
 mean time one of the trees, into which too many had 
 climbed, gave way, when half a dozen individuals, 
 who had ventured too high, were precipitated into 
 the thickest of the throng ! Happily no lives were 
 lost, nor was the least injury sustained by any from 
 the falling of the tree. A little confusion, however, 
 as may be conjectured, was produced by the accident,
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 273 
 
 and a degree of anxiety felt for the fate of others who 
 were similarly situated. The greatest annoyance of 
 any that was experienced occurred on the sides and 
 rear of the Altar. Here the Reverend officiating 
 clergyman had much to do to keep the crowd from 
 pressing too near him on his right and left, and to 
 prevent their pulling the boards asunder immediately 
 in front, in the hope of obtaining a better view. His 
 voice was continually heard, reproving and remon- 
 strating, but all in vain. The crowd became at every 
 instant more and more dense, from the continued 
 fresh arrival of others from the country, who also 
 endeavored to press through the ranks, in order to 
 satisfy their curiosity. 
 
 " About this time several of the respectable inhabi- 
 tants of the town, seeing the impossibility of main- 
 taining anything like order so long as the Mass was 
 continued, from the curiosity which it excited, to- 
 gether with the singing of the Indians, came forward 
 and requested the Bishop to advance into the centre 
 of the throng, and address the multitude. The 
 Bishop immediately assented to the proposal, and 
 accordingly presented himself before the people. As 
 soon as it was ascertained that the time for the dis- 
 course had arrived, each one gave away, as far as he 
 could, that the Bishop might pass to the place as- 
 signed. Here four chairs were placed, and across 
 these two wide boards were laid, so as to form a kind 
 of platform from which to address the multitude. 
 
 " The Bishop, as soon as he had ascended this 
 quasi pulpit, requested those who were near him to 
 18
 
 274 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 seat themselves upon the grass, that those who were 
 in the distance might have a better opportunity both 
 of seeing and hearing. This request was immedi- 
 ately complied with. He then called for a pole, 
 which he observed at some distance on the ground, 
 which was no sooner handed to him than, with this 
 supporting himself, he commenced his discourse, in 
 a slow and perfectly composed manner, taking for 
 his text those words of Ecclesiastes, ' The memory 
 of him shall not depart away, and his name shall be 
 in request from generation to generation. Nations 
 shall declare his wisdom, and the Church shall show 
 forth his praise.' His address lasted about an hour, 
 during which the greatest attention was paid by 
 those who were within the reach of his voice. Some 
 who were in the distance manifested their feelings at 
 not being able to get within hearing, while others, in 
 the hope that the voice of the speaker would at last 
 reach them, kept them in a degree of order to the 
 very end. 
 
 "As soon as the Bishop had concluded his dis- 
 course, the workmen were directed to proceed with 
 the erection of the monument. The base, composed 
 of huge blocks of granite, had been already con- 
 structed, so that nothing more was to be done than to 
 raise the shaft, which consisted of one prodigious 
 block, of the same material, and to place it upon its 
 base. This was accomplished in about two hours, 
 and without the least accident, notwithstanding the 
 immense crowd who pressed around during its 
 erection.
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 275 
 
 " This beautiful monument was erected over the 
 very grave in which Father Rale was interred, and 
 on the very spot where the Altar formerly stood at 
 which he had so often celebrated the adorable Sacri- 
 fice of the Mass. In the form of an obelisk, it rose 
 twenty feet from the ground, surmounted with a 
 beautiful cross of the best wrought iron, three feet in 
 height, and to be seen a great distance." 
 
 CHURCH AT EASTPORT. 
 
 The Bishop, upon his arrival at Eastport, after 
 having visited the Indians of Passamaquoddy and 
 Penobscot, offered the holy Sacrifice of Mass at the 
 private residence of Mr. Kelly, July 20, 1827. In 
 the evening of the same day, by special invitation, 
 he preached in the meeting-house, much to the in- 
 terest of the audience, principally Protestants, and 
 delight of the Catholics, to eighteen of whom he had 
 that day administered Confirmation. 
 
 The church at Eastport, measuring thirty-two by 
 forty feet, was erected by Rev. Fr. Ffrench, in the 
 year 1828, but in the absence of funds, was not com- 
 pleted till some time later. It was subsequently en- 
 larged, during the pastorship of Rev. Mr. Kiernan, 
 and was dedicated and placed under the patronage 
 of St. Joseph at the visit of the Bishop in July, 1835, 
 at which time he administered the Sacrament of Con- 
 firmation to fifty-seven children and adults.
 
 276 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Rev. J. B. McMahon, who, in 1841, had charge, 
 and attended the spiritual wants of the Catholics at 
 Eastport and neighboring missions, states in his re- 
 port that at Eastport there were three hundred and 
 twenty-two souls ; Lubec and its environs, two hun- 
 dred and ninety-five ; East Machias, sixty-three ; 
 West Machias, one hundred and thirty-nine ; Colum- 
 bia, thirty-five ; Prescott, sixty ; and at Calais, seventy- 
 seven souls. 
 
 The CHURCHES at NEWCASTLE or DAMARISCOTTA, 
 and WHITEFIELD, were built somewhere in the years 
 of 1818 and 1820, and are stations particularly men- 
 tioned in the mission days of Right Rev. Dr. De Chev- 
 erus. The Rev. Denis Ryan, who seems to have been 
 the first priest appointed, apart from the occasional 
 visits of Father Romagne, was ordained in Boston, 
 May 21, 1817. 
 
 CHURCH AT PORTLAND. 
 
 In the first tour made to the eastern portion of his 
 vast diocese, during the summer of 1827, Right Rev. 
 Bishop Fenwick offered the holy Sacrifice of the 
 Mass in this city, August 9, in the upper room of a 
 house adjoining the Museum, where the faithful, to 
 the number of one hundred and twenty-five souls, 
 were accustomed to assemble on Sundays for prayer, 
 pious reading, and mutual edification. Edified and 
 encouraged by the lively faith and fervent zeal of this 
 infant congregation, which reminded him so much
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 277 
 
 of the first Christian assembly in the upper room at 
 Jerusalem, he remained here several days, saying 
 mass, preaching, hearing confessions, and instructing 
 those who had never received the Sacrament of Con- 
 firmation, to whom, thirteen in number, he subse- 
 quently administered it. 
 
 Rev. Father Ffrench having been appointed, in 
 connection with other stations attended by him, to 
 look after the spiritual welfare of these devoted 
 Christians of Portland, commenced "questing" for 
 the purpose of building a church, and receiving 
 every encouragement from the Catholics of the place, 
 according to their means, as well as from their fellow- 
 citizens, though not members of the Church, and 
 from Catholics abroad, he began the Church of St. 
 Dominic, a stone building measuring forty by forty- 
 five feet, which was dedicated August n, 1833, at 
 which time the congregation had increased to the 
 number of two hundred and sixty members. The 
 holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered by Rev. Fr. 
 McNamee, and the dedication performed by the 
 Bishop, who preached on the occasion, selecting for 
 his text, " I have chosen and have sanctified this 
 place, that my name may be there forever, and my 
 eyes and my heart may remain there perpetually." 
 
 The morning services over, Rev. Fr. Ffrench con- 
 ducted the Bishop and clergy, and particular friends 
 whom he had invited, to a bower in the garden, 
 where dinner was served up, his house being too 
 small to accommodate all invited guests. 
 
 In consequence of the small number of priests at
 
 278 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 the Bishop's disposal, and Rev. Fr. Ffrench having 
 left for Europe, Portland had a succession of pastors 
 to attend the spiritual wants of the faithful, among 
 whom, in the year 1848, was Rev. Fr. Maguire, 
 who, to accommodate the increased numbers of the 
 congregation, was authorized, by the successor of 
 Bishop Fenwick, Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, to 
 enlarge the church, which he did by the addition of 
 forty feet. 
 
 Previous to his leaving for Europe, Rev. Fr. 
 Ffrench acknowledged his grateful thanks to the gen- 
 erous benefactors of Boston, from whom he had 
 received two thousand nine hundred and twenty-six 
 dollars, which he distributed towards building the 
 church at Dover, eight hundred dollars, Portland, one 
 thousand two hundred and seventeen, Eastport, five 
 hundred and nine, and for land at Saco, four hundred. 
 
 CHURCH AT BANGOR. 
 
 The Catholic residents at Bangor and its neighbor- 
 hood, who, in 1833, were attended by Rev. James 
 Conway, and who at the time numbered one hundred 
 and forty, were accustomed to assemble for divine 
 worship in a hired hall. A lot having at length been 
 secured, the Church of St. Michael, Archangel, was 
 commenced, under the pastorship of Rev. Edward 
 Lynch, in the year 1837, and was dedicated Novem- 
 ber 10, 1839.
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 279 
 
 The report of Rev. Thomas O'Sullivan, who was 
 pastor of the congregation in 1842, gives the census 
 of the Catholics at Bangor as one hundred and thirty- 
 five families, at Ellsworth, thirty, at Bucksport, ten, 
 and as scattered, or living in other places, twenty. 
 
 CHURCH AT AUGUSTA, HALLOWELL, AND GAR- 
 DINER. 
 
 The faithful residing in these towns were, as early 
 as 1836, attended by Rev. Fr. Curtin. Two years 
 later, under the superintendence of Rev. Fr. Ryan, a 
 very respectable building, with its tower, bell, and 
 clock, was erected at Gardiner, and by the Bishop 
 blessed, August 4, 1838, who, at the same time, ad- 
 ministered the Sacrament of Confirmation to eigh- 
 teen persons. In 1841, Augusta and Gardiner were 
 attended by Rev. John O'Beirne. 
 
 CHURCH AT AUGUSTA. 
 
 We learn from the Catholic Observer of July, 1847, 
 that Rev. P. Caraher has erected a beautiful church 
 in Augusta, Me. The building, which measures up- 
 wards of sixty feet in length, is of a simple, yet chaste 
 and classic style of architecture, and does much honor 
 to both pastor and people ; that the Governor of the
 
 280 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 State, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the 
 House, and many members of the legislature sub- 
 scribed liberally towards its erection. 
 
 CHURCH AT WHITEFIELD. 
 
 The small frame building, which years previously 
 had been erected for the purpose of divine service, 
 becoming too small for the increased numbers of the 
 faithful, a new brick structure, measuring eighty by 
 fifty feet, was erected by the venerated pastor, Rev. 
 Fr. Ryan, on an elevated site in the centre of the 
 town, and dedicated to God, under the invocation of 
 St. Denis, August 12, 1838, on which joyful occasion 
 the Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirma- 
 tion to eighty persons. 
 
 BENEDICTA. HOULTON. 
 
 The churches of St. Mary and St. Benedict were 
 erected about the same time, 1835, and were attended 
 successively by Rev. Messrs. Tyler, Conway, and 
 Dougherty.
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 28l 
 
 CHURCH OF CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 The first church in this State was erected by Rev. 
 Virgil Horace Barber, at Claremont, in 1823, and so 
 constructed as to serve the twofold purpose, for divine 
 service and a study hall above, where were taught the 
 higher branches of education. 
 
 Rev. Fr. Barber had been a minister of the Protes- 
 tant Episcopal Church, but, by the grace of God, he, 
 with his wife, son, and daughters, were, in 1816, con- 
 verted to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic 
 Church. 
 
 Subsequent to their conversion, this devoted couple, 
 actuated by the purest religious motives, and under 
 the impression that they might, for the greater glory 
 of God and welfare of their neighbors, do a large 
 amount of good individually, if at liberty, in imita- 
 tion of those of whom we read in the early ages of 
 Christianity, after due reflection and mutual consent, 
 separated, the father to prepare for Holy Orders, 
 which he received at the hands of Bishop De Chev- 
 erus, December i, 1822, the mother and daughters to 
 seek in retirement all the spiritual delights of reli- 
 gion ; while Samuel, their son, evincing a disposition 
 for religious life, entered Georgetown College, where, 
 having completed his studies, he was ordained, and 
 after years of usefulness, died a holy priest in the 
 Society of Jesus. The mother, Mrs. B., having edi- 
 fied the Community by her exemplary piety, was 
 elected Superior of the religious Order of the Visita-
 
 282 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 tion, into which Society one of the daughters equally 
 entered ; while the others became members of the 
 Ursuline Community, and were among those who 
 had to fly for their lives at the midnight hour, Au- 
 gust n, 1834, when the infuriated mob destroyed 
 their peaceful home at Mount Benedict, Charlestown, 
 Mass. 
 
 The father of Rev. V. H. Barber, Daniel, had also 
 been for many years a Protestant Episcopal minister ; 
 he too, with his aged wife, daughter, Rachel, and 
 second son, Israel, were, upon their conversion, re- 
 ceived into the Church. 
 
 The sister of Rev. Daniel, Mrs. Tyler, and her 
 family, were equally favored about the same time, and 
 to their conversion the Diocese of Hartford became 
 indebted for its first Bishop, Right Rev. William 
 Tyler, and the Sisters of Charity at Emmettsburg for 
 an accession to their numbers in the daughters, who 
 felt called to forsake all else and devote their lives to 
 the care of the poor, the sick, widows, and orphans. 
 
 Besides these, there were several other devout con- 
 verts, who swelled the congregation of the unpretend- 
 ing little church at Claremont ; among them, Misses 
 Chase and Alden, who subsequently entered the quiet 
 home with the Misses Barber already mentioned ; and 
 one other name we will add, that of Captain Bela 
 Chase and family, whose conversion was prompted 
 by that clause of New Hampshire legislative exclu- 
 siveness that forbade a Catholic holding any office, 
 however menial, in the State. Their commendable 
 curiosity to learn the faith and principles of a Church
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 283 
 
 so looked down upon, of a people so despised, led 
 them to look into the approved and authenticated 
 works that teach the true doctrines of Catholicity, 
 and the result was, their discovery of what they were 
 to believe and what to practise, with infallible certi- 
 tude, to save their souls. 
 
 The conversion of Rev. Fr. Barber, we may add, 
 was not without producing the happiest results other- 
 wise, as it led the way to the conversion of Rev. Dr. 
 Keeley, an Episcopal clergyman, and rector of St. 
 George's Chapel, New York, and of George Iron- 
 side, a member also of the Episcopal Church, of 
 Rev. Calvin White, of Connecticut, and others. 
 
 At the first visit of Bishop Fenwick to Claremont, 
 in 1826, he administered the Sacrament of Confirma- 
 tion to twenty-one individuals, mostly converts, at 
 which time the little church was crowded to excess, 
 the greater part present on the occasion being Protes- 
 tants from the church on the opposite side of the 
 village, of which Rev. Daniel Barber had formerly 
 been pastor, and by whom he had been deeply be- 
 loved, and to whom, in his valedictory at parting, he 
 said, " I now retire to the shades of poverty ; may 
 the faults which I have committed while among you 
 be written on the sands of the sea-shore, that the next 
 returning wave may wash them into oblivion."
 
 284 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 CHURCH AT DOVER. 
 
 The Right Rev. Bishop having learned the anxiety 
 of the faithful, who were for the most part operatives 
 in the factories at Dover, to share the advantages of 
 their religion, commissioned Rev. Father Mahony, 
 January 15, 1827, who had been lately affiliated to 
 the diocese, to visit them, which he did, heard the 
 confessions of all who were prepared, said mass, and 
 preached in the Court House to a very respectful 
 audience, composed for the most part of Protestants. 
 
 Towards the close of the same year, December 
 19, the Bishop visited Dover in person, said mass 
 at the house of .Mr. Byrne, and administered Con- 
 firmation to two individuals. Learning that there 
 were between forty and fifty adult Catholics living 
 there, he encouraged the purchase of a lot whereon 
 they might build a small church. This intimation 
 of the Bishop, small as were their numbers, was so 
 cheerfully complied with, that at his next visit, Sep- 
 tember 25, 1830, they had a very neat church erected, 
 measuring fifty by thirty-six feet, which he dedicated 
 to God under the title of St. Aloysius. 
 
 A convenient house was also built for the pastor, 
 and occupied by those Reverend Fathers whom the 
 Bishop endeavored to supply, till the ordination of 
 Rev. Path. Canavan, in 1832. He was appointed 
 pastor of Dover, July 25, 1834, and in the summer 
 of 1849 made an addition of thirty feet to the church, 
 and toiled on indefatigably for those intrusted to his
 
 DIOCESE OF PORTLAND. 285 
 
 care till declining health called for a successor. Rev. 
 Fr. Canavan died in Boston, April 26, 1870. R. I. P. 
 
 In connection with the introduction of Catholicity, 
 into what is now the State of Maine, by those pioneer 
 Missionaries of the sixteenth century, as seen in the 
 early pages of these Sketches, cheering is the progress 
 that it has made, and is making, since having been 
 erected into a Diocese, in 1855, and confided to the 
 watchful care of its devoted Bishop, Right Rev. Dr. 
 D. VV. Bacon, and his Reverend co-operators, a faith- 
 ful and zealous clergy. 
 
 In addition to its former solitary church, Portland, 
 at this day, has its Cathedral of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception, with its Calvary and St. Aloysius Chapels, 
 its Academy and parochial schools with their thou- 
 sand pupils, while Bangor has its spacious church, its 
 boarding and day schools, and, without particular- 
 izing, throughout the State its twenty odd other 
 churches and schools connected, where called for ; 
 and in New Hampshire, its twenty and more addi- 
 tional churches, with its flourishing Academy, its 
 boarding and free schools, and its Asylum at. Man- 
 chester ! Cheering, indeed, and every way encour- 
 aging is the extension of the Holy Church in the 
 Diocese of Portland. Laus Deo.
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 COMPRISING THE COUNTIES OF BERKSHIRE, FRANK- 
 LIN, HAMPSHIRE, HAMPDEN, AND WORCESTER, 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 THIS Diocese was established in 1870. Right Rev. 
 P. T. O'REILLY, D. D., its first Bishop, was conse- 
 crated September 25, 1870. 
 
 CHURCH AT WORCESTER. 
 
 New Haven and adjacent towns having been con- 
 fided to the care of Rev. James McDermott, and 
 Hartford blessed with a devoted pastor in Rev. John 
 Brady, our Missionary was allowed leisure to look 
 after the spiritual interests of the faithful dispersed 
 over the easterly part of Connecticut, and of those in 
 the central and western portions of the State of 
 Massachusetts ; hence he selected, in 1837, Worces- 
 ter as his headquarters. 
 
 The village, as it was then called, had a population 
 of seven thousand inhabitants, of whom four families, 
 eighteen unmarried men and a single lady, were mem- 
 bers of the Catholic Church, who had received the 
 
 286
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 287 
 
 consolations of religion from time to time, as it had 
 been found convenient to visit them. 
 
 The first mass offered at Worcester was in the 
 room of a private house, occupied by a worthy 
 mechanic, by name of McKillup, on Front Street, 
 as was the custom over the entire mission, wherever 
 a Catholic family was found to reside. The first dis- 
 course in public, in the absence of better accommo- 
 dations, was delivered in the dining hall of a tavern, 
 then located near the Common. Quite a respectable 
 audience were present, composed for the most part of 
 those to whom the doctrines of the Church were a 
 novelty, but who, to their honor be it said, notwith- 
 standing the place, evinced as much decorum as if it 
 had been a consecrated house of prayer. The Bap- 
 tismal Register, previous to 1834, records the names, 
 in different parts of the county, of thirty-five children 
 and three adults, converts to the faith, who had re- 
 ceived the Sacrament. 
 
 The great Western Railroad, then comparatively 
 an infant enterprise, had been commenced, and its 
 industrious mechanics and laborers, with their wives 
 and little ones, leaving Boston in the distance, and 
 moving onward farther and farther from the Church 
 and the consolations of their religion, as well as being 
 liable to the many casualties incident to the excava- 
 tion of banks and blasting of rocks, suggested the 
 propriety of erecting a small church at Worcester. 
 The project was looked upon at the time as rather 
 quixotic; but the Missionary, who received from his 
 venerated and beloved Bishop permission to do as to
 
 288 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 him seemed best, fancied he saw, with one point of 
 the dividers on the village as the centre, and the other 
 encircling the many mechanical and other perspective 
 privileges in its surroundings, a population of thou- 
 sands in the future, commenced, July 7, '834, a small 
 frame building, sixty-two by thirty-two feet, on land 
 then mapped out for building purposes, and which, 
 in honor of the enterprise, was named Temple Street. 
 
 The first year saw the foundation laid, the follow- 
 ing saw the building up and roofed, and within two 
 years completed and paid for. In 1841, August 22d, 
 it was dedicated to God under the title of His Divine 
 Son, Christ's Church, at which time the congregation 
 had so far increased, that one hundred and eighteen 
 children and adults, many of whom were converts to 
 the faith, received the Sacrament of Confirmation. 
 
 In the meanwhile several stations, from Suffolk 
 County, Mass., to the border lines of New York and 
 New Hampshire, and to New London, Conn., were to 
 be attended, and Rev. A. Williamson was appointed 
 pastor ; but his health declining, and having left for 
 Baltimore, where he subsequently died, Rev. M. Gib- 
 son was appointed to the charge at Worcester, April 
 2, 1845. During his administration a more extensive 
 church edifice was projected, there being, as esti- 
 mated, seven hundred English-speaking and six hun- 
 dred French Canadians demanding church accom- 
 modations. This edifice, a substantial brick structure, 
 was, June 24, 1846, dedicated to God under the title 
 of St. John the Evangelist, by Right Rev. J. B. 
 Fitzpatrick, in presence of Right Rev. Bishop Fen-
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 289 
 
 wick and the Rev. Professors of the College of Holy 
 Cross. 
 
 Rev. Father J. Boyce, who succeeded Father Gib- 
 son, March 20, 1848, converted the former church 
 building into spacious school-rooms, ample ground 
 having been originally secured for church, school, 
 and parochial purposes. 
 
 COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS. 
 
 Contemporary with the erection of the church at 
 Worcester, our Missionary purchased between fifty 
 and sixty acres of land on the hill-side, rising on the 
 south part of the town, known by the name of Bog- 
 achoag, which years previous, when it formed a part 
 of the principal settlement of the Indians, was called 
 Packachoag. He here erected buildings for educa- 
 tional purposes, known as St. James's Seminary, 
 which was generously patronized by students from 
 several States of the Union. 
 
 The location having proved so very healthful, and 
 in every way so well adapted for the purpose in- 
 tended, apprehensive that at death the Institution 
 might be blotted out, it was, in 1842, deeded to Right 
 Rev. Bishop Fenwick, with the express understand- 
 ing, that it should* be maintained for educational pur- 
 poses. The offering accepted, the annexed notice, 
 which appeared in the public press of the day, tells 
 the result, and the interest manifested on the occasion. 
 '9
 
 290 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 " Grand Celebration of ike Laying of the Corner- 
 stone of the College of Holy Cross, in Worcester, 
 Mass. 
 
 "On Wednesday morning, the 2ist of June, the 
 festival of St. Aloysitis, 1843, the new College was 
 commenced by laying the corner-stone. Right Rev. 
 Bishop Fenwick, Rev. C. Constantine Pise, D. D., 
 accompanied by Rev. Mr. McCloskey, of St. Joseph's 
 Church, New York, Very Rev. W. Tyler, of the 
 Diocese of Boston, Rev. Messrs. Hardy and RolofF, 
 of the Cathedral, Rev. Mr. Flood, of St. Mary's, 
 Boston, Rev. Mr. Goodwin, of Charlestown, Rev. Mr. 
 Lynch, of Roxbury, Rev. Mr. Fitzpatrick, of East 
 Cambridge, Rev. Mr. Conway, of Lowell, Rev. Mr. 
 Strain, of Waltham, and Rev. Mr. Wiley, of Provi- 
 dence, all departed in a special train of cars for 
 Worcester, accompanied by a large concourse of the 
 citizens of Boston, and several distinguished strangers. 
 
 " On the arrival at the railroad station in Worces- 
 ter, a band of music was in attendance, together with 
 the Catholic Temperance Society, the Young Men's 
 and Young Ladies' Societies attached to the Sunday 
 school, with their appropriate banners, and a crowd 
 of the inhabitants, who all enthusiastically greeted 
 the Right Rev. Prelate and his Rev. associates. The 
 day was beautiful, the sky clear, the atmosphere re- 
 freshing and invigorating, and the sun shed his noon- 
 day lustre over every hill and valley for miles around. 
 
 " The order of the procession formed, all moved in
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 29! 
 
 the direction of the College site, distant about two 
 miles. The band played Adeste fidelis and Hail 
 Columbia, and the star-spangled banner of America 
 could be seen in the distance waving triumphantly on 
 the Alpine like heights of the romantic site, and the 
 roaring noise of the cannon was heard through the 
 town and adjacent country for almost an hour, during 
 the progress of the procession. The procession was 
 nearly one mile in length, and the ladies of Worcester 
 graced the moving throng with their lovely presence. 
 On arriving near the brow of the College ground, 
 the superintendent had already constructed arbors and 
 shady groves for the accommodation of the visitors and 
 youth now assembling. In the residence attached to 
 the former Seminary, the Right Rev. Bishop and 
 clergy arrayed themselves in surplices, the Bishop 
 wearing his mitre and crosier. Here the most im- 
 posing and sublime part of the procession was formed, 
 and as the glorious banner of the effulgent cross ap- 
 peared in front of the ecclesiastical body, and as the 
 sacred notes of a solemn chant echoed along the 
 breeze of the emerald-like valley, amid the sound of 
 artillery, and beneath the stars and stripes of our 
 beloved country, I felt proud of the magnificent 
 scene, and I felt proud of the worthy occasion of 
 laying the first corner-stone of the first Catholic Col- 
 lege in New England. 
 
 " After laying of the corner-stone, and depositing 
 several coins and newspapers of the day, together 
 with a record of the names of the officers of the 
 State, the procession moved around the foundation
 
 292 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 walls of " The College of the Holy Cross," and the 
 Bishop blessed them in the usual manner. After the 
 Vent Creator, Rev. Dr. C. C. Pise, of New York, 
 ascended the platform erected for the occasion, and 
 beautifully decorated with evergreen boughs. At this 
 moment thousands of spectators gathered around the 
 orator's stand, and covered the neighboring heights, 
 in vehicles and on foot, in order to hear the Rev. 
 Orator pour forth his lofty strains of eloquence." 
 
 ''Address by the Rev. C. Constantine Pise, D. D. 
 
 " The object for which we have convened, on the 
 present memorable occasion, is of such a nature, that 
 it cannot but excite profound attention in the public 
 mind. It is a great national and religious object, 
 the effects of which are to be experienced, far and 
 wide, not merely by the present generation, but, like- 
 wise, by posterity. The ceremony of laying the cor- 
 ner-stone of a new College must be regarded as 
 peculiarly solemn and sacred : perhaps, after that of 
 an edifice dedicated exclusively and immediately to 
 the services of divine worship, the most solemn and 
 sacred that can be imagined. I know of no building 
 more deserving of veneration from the good citizen 
 and genuine patriot after a Church than a Semi- 
 nary of Education. A Church is consecrated to the 
 tenets and rites of religion ; a College to the arts and 
 sciences, to literatui'e and the muses. The latter may 
 be considered the offspring of the former. For they 
 guide and direct to the knowledge of Truth, which
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 293 
 
 can be attained only by patient research and laborious 
 industry, which require the aid of the sciences and 
 letters. The prosperity and glory of a nation may, 
 therefore, be estimated in proportion to the increase 
 of such edifices as the one of which the corner-stone 
 is, this day, placed on this beautiful and romantic 
 spot : the natural retreat, it would seem, of the Vir- 
 tues, and the congenial haunt of the Muses, which 
 flourish and rejoice most in the shades and solitudes 
 of the country. 
 
 u In any part of the civilized world, such a cere- 
 mony would not fail to command attention, but no- 
 where as much as in our own republic. Young 
 though still she be, her happy soil is already dotted 
 and variegated with houses of education ; and the 
 genius of Liberty never more triumphantly exults, in 
 the midst of the glorious institutions of this favored 
 land, than at beholding seminaries of this character 
 springing up, and promising to spread abroad the 
 blessings of knowledge and intellectual cultivation, 
 without regard to differences of religious opinions, 
 and without any distinction of creeds or forms. Yes, 
 this is the boast, and may this ever be the glory, of 
 our republic ; in fact, it must be, as long as the re- 
 public subsists. For. the moment any attempt were 
 made to give the preference of one mode of worship 
 over another, that moment the brightest prerogative 
 of our constitution is extinguished, the happiest 
 boon bequeathed to us by the Fathers of our Country 
 is destroyed: I mean the most unrestrained and 
 universal freedom of conscience.
 
 294 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 " This being the case, I feel convinced that the 
 ancient and venerable State of Massachusetts al- 
 ways famed for patriotic virtues and enlightened, 
 views will greet the erection on her soil of another 
 seminary of learning, no matter under what religious 
 influence it may arise. She will perfectly understand, 
 that where there is right education there is no danger 
 to be apprehended ; but, on the contrary, the sound- 
 est principles of liberty, the sublimest precepts of 
 Christianity, the purest maxims of morality and na- 
 tional fraternization, will be taught and inculcated. 
 And if the spirit that presides over and pervades the 
 whole be Catholic in name, it will be truly so in 
 effect : worthy, indeed, of its appellation, embracing 
 all our fellow-citizens, and all our institutions, with 
 the same impartial affection and heart-felt interest, 
 laboring in the common cause of disseminating knowl- 
 edge among all classes, and deserving well of our be- 
 loved country, which we prove to be the more dear 
 to us, the more idefatigable we are found in adminis- 
 tering our aid to the promotion of the general good. 
 
 " The fact of a Catholic College, under the man- 
 agement of the Jesuits, about being established in this 
 place, has, no doubt, already spread throughout the 
 length and breadth of this State ; and I feel confident 
 that intense curiosity, as to its character and destina- 
 tion, must have been excited in the minds of thou- 
 sands. Not having enjoyed the opportunity of mak- 
 ing themselves acquainted with the spirit of our 
 Church, and the Institute of the Society of Jesus, 
 it is possible that certain misgivings, not to say mis-
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 295 
 
 apprehensions, may be entertained regarding the one 
 and the other. And it is incumbent on me to impart 
 correct information on both, to all those whom I now 
 have the honor of addressing. 
 
 " The Catholic Church has always cherished with- 
 in her bosom a sacred and undying solicitude for the 
 education of the people. To many, who have not 
 paid sufficient attention to the history of past times, 
 this proposition may appear extraordinary. But it is, 
 nevertheless, a fact, to which the whole world, in all 
 preceding centuries, will bear witness. The germ of 
 knowledge was implanted in the dogmas of Chris- 
 tianity, and it expanded and flourished in the same 
 proportion as they were developed and extended 
 among men. Wherever, in ancient days, a temple 
 consecrated to religion was constructed, hard by there 
 was always sure to spring up, as a necessary appen- 
 dage, some school of learning, some seminary, within 
 the walls of which the study of letters was pursued 
 with unremitting attention, science, both sacred and 
 profane, was fostered with untiring diligence and en- 
 thusiastic care. Universities were founded and en- 
 dowed, under the shadow of whose walls the inspired 
 volume was transcribed by the skilful craft of the 
 monastic inmates, and the classic authors, whose ele- 
 gant productions we now enjoy wei'e rescued from 
 destruction, and preserved for the benefit and delight 
 of succeeding generations. 
 
 " It was the Church that stood between the deluge 
 of barbarism that inundated Europe and the venerable 
 monuments of ancient literature. She sustained them
 
 296 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 with the power of her arm, whilst, in dread confusion 
 around, all other monuments of architecture, .taste, 
 and glory lay crumbled on the earth, cloven down by 
 the irresistible and unsparing stroke of Vandalism. 
 In the midst of the desolation which swept over the 
 civilized world, she supported, firm on the basis 
 round which everything else was convulsed, the 
 HOLY CROSS ; and under its heavenly protection, 
 sheltered and sustained the asylum of the arts and 
 sciences, which, otherwise, must have been con- 
 founded with the general wreck, leaving hardly a 
 melancholy vestige behind. 
 
 " The history of the revival of letters, under the 
 pontificate of Leo X., is familiar to every reader, and 
 has been encircled with a never dying halo by the 
 genius of Roscoe. From the testimony recorded in 
 its annals results the glorious evidence, that it was 
 the light of the Church breaking in on the deep and 
 dreary clouds of ignorance that hung over Europe, 
 which dispersed the intellectual night, and revealed 
 anew to the admiration of the world all the treasures, 
 and gems, and ornaments of mind, talent, and learn- 
 ing which had long lain buried under the rubbish of 
 years. The sovereign Pontiff was the first to give an 
 impulse to the magnificent project. Catholic Rome 
 became the metropolis of letters. The Muses, so 
 long banished from the earth, returned to their an- 
 cient seat at the invitation of Religion. Once more 
 were the groves of Egeria made vocal with their 
 classic lays, while the voice of Eloquence resounded 
 again through the long-deserted Forum. Thus may
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 297 
 
 it be said that Liberty was restored to the earth by 
 the Church. For Liberty is the sister of letters, and 
 Religion is the parent of both. Inspired by this con- 
 viction, the fancy of Pope could not but break forth 
 into these well-known lines : 
 
 '' ' But see each muse in Leo's golden days, 
 
 Starts from her trance and trims her withered bays; 
 Rome's ancient genius o'er its ruins spread, 
 Shakes off the dust, and rears his reverend head.' 
 
 " The idea that Catholic education is adapted only 
 to certain quarters of the world, and not to others, is 
 incorrect and unfounded. For it adapts itself, with 
 singular felicity, to all governments ; it flourishes in 
 every hemisphere. Like Christianity, it is intended 
 for every people and for every clime. To every le- 
 gitimate form of civilized government Christianity is 
 congenial. Its universal and beneficent character is 
 not affected by the people among whom it resides ; 
 on the contrary, it tends to refine the ferocious, en- 
 lighten the ignorant, and impart order and inspire 
 virtue among the heterogeneous constituents of human 
 'society. The same may be affirmed of Catholic edu- 
 cation. In monarchical governments, it tends to reg- 
 ulate and define the relations between the throne and 
 the subject ; in a republic, it fosters liberty, and re- 
 strains licentiousness. It inculcates the necessity of 
 virtue, morality, and charity towards all mankind. 
 It breathes an inextinguishable spirit of patriotism 
 into the ingenuous bosom, and bids the American 
 youth remember and be grateful for the inestimable
 
 290 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 privileges he is destined to enjoy under the freest and 
 happiest government on earth ; privileges which he 
 would not sacrifice to any foreign authority ; a gov- 
 ernment, in defence of which he would regard it the 
 noblest act to die, if necessary, at the cannon's mouth. 
 
 " Thus far I have spoken of this College as Cath- 
 olic ; but, as it is to be intrusted to the care of the 
 Jesuits, it is requisite that something touching that 
 renowned order, especially as relating to education, 
 should now be added. The founder of this extraor- 
 dinary society, which has filled the whole earth with 
 its fame, was, as you well know, Ignatius of Loyola. 
 ' His object was,' in the language of one of his own 
 members, and an eloquent historian, Orlandinus, ' to 
 leave nothing untried by which to promote the greater 
 glory of God, and the salvation of souls, having be- 
 fore his eyes no prospect of earthly rewards.' Deni- 
 que nihil intentatum relinquant, quod vel ad maxi- 
 mum Divini nominis gloriam, vel ad animorum 
 salutem senserint expedire, nullis ante oculos prce- 
 positis prcemiis* 
 
 " One of the principal ends of this society was to 
 devote its members to the education of youth, to 
 establish schools in all parts of the world, the gates 
 of which should be thrown open, as far as practi- 
 cable, gratuitously, to the children of the poor as well 
 as of the wealthy ; for the purpose of imbuing the 
 tender minds of youth with a relish for the cultiva- 
 tion of the liberal arts, and the practice of Christian 
 virtues. Proprium item, toto terrarum orbe, expo- 
 
 * Hist. Soc., lib. ii. 25.
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 299 
 
 sita gratis habere gymnasia ad instituendam* non 
 modo liberalibus disciplinis, verumetiam christianis 
 moribus juventutcm.* 
 
 " We behold here the disinterested motives by 
 which, from its earliest institution, the Society of 
 Jesus has ever been actuated. It originated in the 
 desire and intention of diffusing knowledge and virtue 
 through all classes of society. It is established on a 
 basis of sublime Christian chanty. And, whether we 
 contemplate the unwearied perseverance and zeal of 
 its members in the great cause of education, in all its 
 branches and varieties, or in the laborious but trium- 
 phant missions among uncivilized and unexplored 
 nations, it is impossible not to acknowledge that the 
 original object of its founder has been carried out 
 to an extent which commands the admiration, not 
 only of Catholic, but likewise of Protestant authors. 
 ' The Founder of this Society,' writes Mr. Carne, 
 ' was a man of no ordinary mind and character. He 
 has been represented, by his enemies, as an impostor 
 and fanatic, before his conversion. It is not too much 
 to say, that Loyola was not a fanatic, and far less an 
 impostor. His mind was too powerful to condescend 
 to the former ; and who that reads his Spiritual Exer- 
 cises will venture to say he was the latter? It was 
 his passionate desire that Christ might be preached to 
 the utmost ends of the world, and that all nations 
 might know the Lord and call him blessed. His was 
 not the ambition of worldly honor and glory. It 
 aimed at a loftier flight. The enthusiasm of Loyola 
 
 * Hist. Soc., lib. i.
 
 3<X> SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 was in admirable keeping, and did not war with his 
 cold and clear intellect. His was not a fiery zeal. 
 There was a spiritual composure in his actions, nor 
 do we find wild imaginings and extravagant fancies, 
 either of heart or mind, in his maturer years. There 
 was evidently in him a singleness of disposition, that 
 does not warrant the idea that this Society was insti- 
 tuted for those worldly objects which have formed the 
 burden of the accusations against him.* 
 
 " This elegant writer, although, by no means partial 
 to the Church, of which the Jesuits have ever been, 
 and still are, the most able vindicators, and the noblest 
 apostles, still could not restrain the almost involuntary 
 emotion of admiration which was awakened in his 
 breast, at the consideration of the labors of this won- 
 derful Societ}'. ' Are not theirs,' he cries out, ' the 
 greatest number of martyrs in the cause of Christ 
 among the heathen. Is not the most brilliant, the 
 most varied, the most extensive talent to be found 
 among the Sons of Loyola ? Even their most bitter 
 enemies, who abused the Jesuits as a body, were 
 often found to praise them individually. Pascal wrote 
 against them, Voltaire and D'Alembert accused them 
 of crimes, but Cardinal Fleury confessed their value, 
 Bossuet praised them, and Lord Bacon applied to 
 them these words : " tails cum sis utinam noster 
 esses." Leibnitz indignantly defended them, Montes- 
 quieu, BufTon, and Haller honored their labors, and 
 witnessed to their virtues.' 
 
 * Lives of Eminent Catholic Missionaries, by Rob. 
 Carne, Esq., London, &c.
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 30! 
 
 " As a proof of the zeal which the Society dis- 
 played in the cause of Education, we find, that in 
 less than half a century upwards of fifty Colleges 
 were established in the various capitals of Europe, 
 in China, and in Brazil. Of these the principal were 
 those of Rome, Palermo, Paris, Louvain, Naples, 
 Oporto, Cordova, &c. 
 
 " In the United States, the Jesuits have several 
 flourishing and celebrated institutions, particularly 
 the Universities of Georgetown and St. Louis. The 
 former was founded by the immortal John Carroll, 
 afterwards Archbishop of Baltimore, more than sixty 
 years ago, and has stood before the country pre-emi- 
 nent for the learning of its professors, distinguished 
 for the advantages of location, and honored for the 
 numberless illustrious personages educated within its 
 halls. Among whom it can point, with proud com- 
 placency and merited exultation, to such names as 
 Judge Gaston, of North Carolina, and the venerable 
 Bishop of Boston, under whose patronage, and by 
 whose liberality, this edifice is to be erected. That 
 University, situated within sight of the Capitol at 
 Washington, under the eyes of Senators and Judges, 
 and Members of Congress from all the States of the 
 Union, has not only been able to stand their closest 
 scrutiny, but has won them general admiration. The 
 spirit that animates the whole body is of the loftiest, 
 and, at the same time, gentlest character. It has 
 thus nothing but the love of letters, of virtue, of reli- 
 gion, of patriotism. And I think I may venture to 
 assert, that in no other such Seminary in the Union
 
 3O2 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 have there been exhibited more frequent or more un- 
 equivocal demonstrations of love of the Republic, 
 and enthusiasm for its institutions, than under the 
 turrets of Georgetown College. In confirmation of 
 this, I appeal to the annual celebrations of Washing- 
 ton's Birthday and the Fourth of July, on which na- 
 tional festivals addresses are delivered by some of the 
 young alumni, which would do honor to the youth of 
 Rome or Sparta. Many of these addresses have been 
 published, and thus have given evidence of the adap- 
 tation of the educational system of Ignatius to the 
 genius of republicanism as well as the ancient gov- 
 ernments of Europe. 
 
 " The same profound attachment to the institutions 
 of our beloved country, the same genuine tokens of 
 patriotic conviction, characterize the inmates of the 
 University of St. Louis. This now most flourishing 
 Seminary of learning may be regarded as the daughter 
 of that of Georgetown. It sprang out of its bosom, 
 and was originally composed of its members. It will 
 not, therefore, surprise us if it has inherited its spirit. 
 Witness the following passage, extracted from an ora- 
 tion delivered on the Fourth of July, by the President, 
 the Rev. J. Vandevelde : ' Our country has incontes- 
 table claims upon every one of her citizens. What- 
 ever profession we may have embraced, whatever 
 station we may hold in society, we owe ourselves to 
 our country. We are bound to watch over her safety 
 and prosperity to fly to her aid when she is exposed 
 to danger, and to promote her internal peace and 
 happiness by contributing to establish concord and 
 harmony among all our fellow-citizens.'
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 303 
 
 " I make this extract, in order to satisfy those 
 amongst my audience, who have not had the proper 
 opportunity of informing themselves on the subject 
 to which their attention is now directed. Jesuitism 
 is a word which has been strangely distorted from its 
 proper signification. I know it. I am convinced of 
 it. For, having had the honor of receiving my edu- 
 cation under the shadow of Georgetown College, I 
 can speak from a long and thorough acquaintance. 
 And I cannot conceal that the affection I formed in 
 my childhood for that my venerable alma mater, has 
 only strengthened and become more deeply rooted at 
 the present period of my existence. And I am proud 
 to exclaim with St. Francis Xavier, ' If I forget thee, 
 O Society of Jesus, may my right hand forget its 
 cunning! ' 
 
 " I have before me another testimony in favor of the 
 character of Jesuit education, which must be con- 
 sidered as valuable as it is impartial. It is taken from 
 the ' Daily People's Organ,' edited at St. Louis, by 
 one not belonging to the Catholic Church. ' Since 
 the Jesuits,' he writes, ' first established their excel- 
 lent university in this city, they have been under the 
 observing eye of New England Protestants of several 
 different denominations, and during these years have 
 discovered little that allowed even of exceptions, 
 cavil, or doubt. Instead of being opposed to civil 
 liberty, their scholars have been so well taught its 
 true, generic, and philosophic principles, as to have 
 been able to deliver orations at the court-house of the 
 county of surpassing eloquence. Instead of being
 
 304 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 enemies to unlimited freedom of conscience, they are 
 distinguished over all clergymen in the State for their 
 systematic observance of the rule never to introduce 
 in their intercourse with society any subject whatever 
 that is calculated to wound the feelings of the hum- 
 blest person present.' 
 
 " The College, of which the corner-stone has just 
 been placed by the Right Rev. Prelate, will rear up 
 its walls for the grand and noble purposes of educa- 
 tion : and education proper to the soil and constitution 
 of the State in which it is situated. This is another 
 munificent deed among the many which have already 
 rendered dear his name to the Catholic Church of 
 America. Trained up himself under the instruction 
 of the Jesuits, he knows that he could not perform 
 an act more advantageous to his diocese, or more ser- 
 viceable to his country, than to place this new College 
 under their jurisdiction. Sprung from an American 
 ancestry in Maryland, which traces back to the days 
 of Lord Baltimore, and never having breathed the 
 atmosphere of Europe, he feels himself, by nature as 
 well as by preference, eminently devoted to the inter- 
 ests and happiness of our native land. And he may 
 rest consoled, and amply remunerated, in the reflec- 
 tion, that his efforts to extend abroad the blessings of 
 Education will be duly appreciated by our Church, 
 and justly applauded by our common countrv. 
 
 " The Rev. Gentleman, to whose superintendence 
 and charge the College is intrusted, derives his origin 
 from the State of the ' Old Dominion.' The free 
 mountains of Virginia have given him birth, and his
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 305 
 
 soul is as free as his native hills. Whilst he prides 
 himself in the name of a Jesuit, he glories in the title 
 and privileges of an American. To no one, in my 
 opinion, could the interests of this embryo establish- 
 ment with greater advantage be committed. He 
 brings with him no ordinary experience. During 
 several years he presided, as Rector, over George- 
 town College ; and occupied, moreover, for a time 
 the highest post to which any member of the Society 
 can be elevated in Maryland. 
 
 " Under such auspices we cannot but augur well 
 for the future prosperity of this Institution. The 
 youth who will here be formed to letters, will, also, 
 be moulded into true Christians and sincere repub- 
 licans. They will be taught first the necessity of 
 religion, the practice of virtue, the maxims of char- 
 ity ; afterwards, an entire devotion to the glorious 
 institutions of our country. They will be instructed 
 to recognize no temporal power over this free land in 
 any foreign authority, whether secular or ecclesiastic. 
 They will be taught that even the sovereign Pontiff, 
 whose spiritual jurisdiction, as Catholics, we admit 
 and revere, possesses and claims no right to exercise 
 any sway over us as citizens of this great republic. 
 That they must be ready to defend the prerogatives 
 and liberties of their country against any aggressor, 
 no matter who he may be. And while we constitute 
 but one Church, in dogmatical tenets, we are bound 
 to embrace all other communions in the universal 
 national tenet of equal liberty. They will be taught, 
 within thesewalls, to give to God the things that are 
 20
 
 306 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 God's, and to Csesar the things that are Caesar's. 
 And the eternal truth of this maxim will be deeply 
 inculcated : that he who is not faithful to his country, 
 will not be true to his God. 
 
 " I rejoice in the occasion which has assembled us 
 here to-day. It has afforded me a favorable oppor- 
 tunity of bringing before an enlightened and numer- 
 ous audience topics which may be new to many, but 
 must be interesting to all. This is a bright day for 
 the diocese of Massachusetts. It will be long remem- 
 bered and commemorated. In future }'ears, when 
 the walls of the College shall have grown sombre 
 with age, it will afford matter of exultation to some 
 youthful orator, when he will refer to the peculiar 
 period and circumstances which mark and charac- 
 terize this ceremony. ' Only a few days elapsed,' he 
 will be able to say, ' between two ever memorable 
 events : the first and more important, the celebration 
 of the Bunker Hill Monument, the second, the laying 
 the corner-stone of the first Jesuit College in the 
 State of Massachusetts.' The one, the mighty obe- 
 lisk of Liberty, which is destined to endure, more im- 
 perishable than bronze, throughout all time ; the other, 
 a noble temple of the arts and sciences, of virtue and 
 patriotism, which will, we trust, send out into the 
 ranks of life Christians, scholars, freemen, worthy 
 the shrine at which they were reared, and the repub- 
 lic to which they belong. 
 
 " All hail, then, to this beautiful spot, around 
 which are blended the quiet shades of the country, 
 and the busy population of the town ! Upon this
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. - 307 
 
 chosen earth, the spires of a new college will peer 
 on the traveller's gaze, as with the speed of the wind 
 he is hurried, by the vehement power of steam, along 
 those mighty railroads, which, passing through this 
 town, join together, and, as it were, annihilate, dis- 
 tances the most remote. May the eternal eye of 
 Providence watch over its fortunes. Under His om- 
 nipotent protection it is commenced : ' Unless the 
 Lord build the house, in -vain do they labor 'who 
 build it? May the hopes of the Right Rev. Prelate, 
 under whose generous auspices it is to be completed, 
 be fully and happily realized. May it be an enduring 
 monument of his zeal and disinterestedness, as well 
 as a signal ornament to the beauteous and thriving 
 town of Worcester. In a word, my fervent aspira- 
 tion, in concluding, is, QUOD FELIX, FAUSTUM, FOR- 
 
 TUNATUMQJJE, ET NOSTRIS, ET POSTERIS, SIT." 
 
 " At two o'clock P. M. the Bishop and clergy, to- 
 gether with several distinguished strangers from Bos- 
 ton and Worcester, sat down to a collation prepared 
 for the occasion by the worthy and zealous pastor of 
 the Church in Worcester. It was truly a feast in the 
 evergreen bower. At the conclusion, three enthu- 
 siastic cheers were given for the Bishop and Orator 
 of the day." 
 
 The College completed, and students assembled, 
 the beneficial result of the enterprise was soon ac- 
 knowledged, as will be seen in the following article, 
 which appeared in the public press of 1847 :
 
 308 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 " The College of Holy Cross has been in operation 
 about three years, and now numbers one hundred and 
 thirty students, and has progressed in prosperity be- 
 yond the expectations of its most ardent friends. It 
 is designed for Catholics only, and is calculated for a 
 thorough mercantile, classical, or theological educa- 
 tion ; each of these may be had separately, or any 
 two or more combined, according to the wishes of the 
 parent or abilities and vocation of the pupil. Each 
 department is under the superintendence of a Prefect 
 of superior education and great experience, scholars 
 themselves inferior to none in this country, and what 
 is of greater importance, they are divines, indefati- 
 gable sons of Saint Ignatius Loyola. 
 
 " The course of studies and discipline followed in 
 this institution is based upon a system which has been 
 in successful operation for three hundred years, and 
 has proved the most effectual, moral, and intellectual 
 plan of education ever devised by man. The devoted 
 Fathers of the Society of Jesus are celebrated the 
 world over for their learning, wisdom, and piety ; it 
 is one of the principal objects of their vocation to 
 educate the young, and by their long experience and 
 eminent abilities they are most happily fitted for the 
 task. 
 
 " Since the first opening of the College, the pupils 
 have rapidly advanced in the various studies to which 
 they have been devoted ; some are fitting for the 
 counting-house, others for more learned occupations, 
 and again others for the holy ministry ; everything 
 relating to the temporal as well as spiritual welfare
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 309 
 
 of the students receive the strictest attention. At all 
 hours, night and day, the vigilant eye of the Prefect 
 is upon them, and his ears open to detect any im- 
 proper discourse or behavior, as also to guard them 
 against imprudence and accidents ; he is their spir- 
 itual guide, their master in studies, and their com- 
 panion in recreation, everything being admirably 
 calculated to gain the respect of the students, and 
 secure their happiness. 
 
 " Quarterly reports of the conduct and studies of 
 each scholar are sent to the parents or guardians, and 
 vearly exhibitions given, at which appropriate pre- 
 miums are awarded to the most deserving. 
 
 " This College is quite unlike most of our modern 
 educational establishments, got up for private interest, 
 or for promoting selfish notions of Christianity ; its 
 professors have no family cares or expenses, they 
 have no anxiety about this world's goods, for they 
 have embraced the state of voluntary poverty, there- 
 fore all their time and care is spent upon the youth 
 intrusted to their direction. 
 
 " What parent is there who will not rejoice that 
 there is such an institution in this diocese, and that 
 can, for a small pension, place his son in charge of 
 these devoted teachers, whose only ambition is to 
 promote the greater glory of God, the good of others, 
 and their own salvation? 
 
 " To witness the serious devotion of these young 
 men and boys at their religious service, to hear the 
 solemn chant of their sweet voices, to see them at 
 their sports of fishing and bathing in summer, or
 
 3IO SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 skating in winter, their cheerful and healthy aspect, 
 and their habits of easy and respectful submission to 
 their superiors, one cannot but feel that true piety is 
 the foundation, and parental care with filial obedience 
 the superstructure of this institution." 
 
 MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 While the railroad was in progress, our Mission- 
 ary, at that time still guardian of the interests of the 
 Seminary, in which were students from Texas to 
 Maine, had frequently to offer the holy Sacrifice in 
 shanties, where the largest number of workmen could 
 be accommodated, or in the absence of such, under 
 some wide-spreading tree of the forest. 
 
 The most numerous congregation of resident Cath- 
 olics in any one town east of Worcester, attended at 
 the time, were at Waltham, where there were about 
 three hundred. Saxonville, the next important sta- 
 tion, where several were employed in the factories, 
 had mass once every two or three months, the liber- 
 ality of the citizens allowing the use of the school- 
 house on such occasions till land was secured for a 
 church and cemetery. Westboro', Grafton, and Mill- 
 bury were the next principal stations, where, however, 
 there were very few resident members of the Church, 
 save those employed at Millbury. The rest, with their 
 families, were employed either as farm laborers or 
 brogan makers, to whom for the pegging of five
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 3! I 
 
 pairs, considered enough for a day's work, one dollar 
 was paid, the- average income for house rent, fuel, 
 clothing, support of wife, and, generally speaking, a 
 goodly number of healthful little ones, who, by the 
 by, with simplicity of early diet and regimen have, 
 with time, advanced to manhood, and are now com- 
 bined with the thousands of boot and shoe manufac- 
 turers who make up the flourishing congregations of 
 Milford, Marlboro', Hopkinton, Natick, and neigh- 
 boring towns. 
 
 Accompanying the building of the railroad from 
 Worcester west, stations were held at Spencer, 
 Brookfield, Warren, Palmer, and so onwards wher- 
 ever laborers and their families had taken up their 
 residence for the time being. Clappville, where a 
 few Catholics were employed in the mills, whether 
 of cotton or woollen, Ware, Barre, Templeton, 
 Thorndike, Springfield, Chicopee, Hadley, Thomp- 
 sonville, Westfield, Northampton, Amherst, Barring- 
 ton, and other towns east and west of the Connecti- 
 cut River, had been frequently visited by the Mission- 
 ary, both previous to leaving Hartford, and after 
 having selected Worcester as his headquarters, as in 
 most of those places, where there are now churches 
 and large congregations, Catholics had already found 
 employment, and had settled with their families, and 
 needed the Sacraments and holy Mass, and their 
 little ones, particularly, catechetical instruction. 
 
 After the example of the primitive Christians, the 
 few who were found at these several stations met 
 together for divine worship and reception of the
 
 312 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 sacraments in private houses, as their numbers were 
 yet too few and their means too limited to contem- 
 plate the erection of churches ; since which days, 
 however, of simplicity and fervor, and with increased 
 numbers, many are the churches that have been 
 erected, and among them are many beautiful, exten- 
 sive, and even magnificent, the spacious, ornate, 
 and Gothic stone edifice at Pittsfield, by Rev. Fr. 
 Edward Purcell ; that at Ghicopee, by Rev. Fr. W. 
 A. Blenkinsop ; and without attempting an enumera- 
 tion, the Church of St. Michael, at Springfield, which 
 was erected by the devoted zeal and indefatigable 
 energy of the lamented Fr. Gallaher, seconded by a 
 united congregation, by whom he was beloved, and 
 which, at this day, is the Cathedral of the Diocese. 
 
 CHURCH AT SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 The present large and influential body of Catholics 
 at Springfield were represented, in 1830, by three 
 families and a few unmarried men, who were visited 
 by the Missionary, in connection with the few living 
 at Thompsonville, Westfield, Chicopee, and other 
 river towns, once every two or three months, as cir- 
 cumstances permitted, when Mass was offered, and 
 the Holy Sacraments administered, in whatever house 
 was found to be the most convenient. 
 
 Springfield, which had always been one of the 
 most flourishing towns in Massachusetts, where the
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 313 
 
 Armory of the United States has been established as 
 early as 1795, and where many elegant private resi- 
 dences, as well as public buildings, highly creditable 
 to the tastes of its inhabitants, had been erected, like 
 Worcester, with the construction of the Western 
 Railroad, received a powerful impetus, and from its 
 delightful, pleasing, and village-like character became 
 in a few years the mart of commerce, assuming the 
 business-like proportions of a city. 
 
 The faithful, whose numbers increased with the 
 prosperity of the place, and whose spiritual wants 
 had been hitherto attended from Hartford, the 
 cradle-Church of the Connecticut valley, concluded, 
 with the approbation of the Bishop, to provide them- 
 selves with a more convenient place to assemble for 
 divine worship than they had previously had in pri- 
 vate houses. Fortunately, about the time when their 
 numbers had so far increased as to warrant the un- 
 dertaking, the Baptist society proposed the sale of 
 their frame building, which was in excellent repair, 
 measuring seventy by forty -five feet. The Bishop, 
 upon invitation, visiting Springfield October 15, 1846, 
 approved the purchase, and selected a site to which 
 the building might be removed, appointing Rev. 
 George T. Riordan to superintend the alterations 
 necessary for the purpose of Catholic worship, and 
 act as pastor to the congregation. 
 
 Lieutenant Scammon, of the U. S. army, a convert 
 to Catholicity, with several of his brother officers, who, 
 while students at West Point, were taught to accept 
 of no mathematical problem that admitted not of
 
 314 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 demonstration, with judgment matured, and in man- 
 hood, sought for the evidence and divine proofs of 
 Christianity. Perceiving that " prayer and searching 
 the Scriptures," as counselled by ministers of the day, 
 led invariably to sectarianism and diversity of opin- 
 ion, and having learned that there was but <k one 
 church, one faith, one baptism," they were prompted, 
 in connection with prayer and reading the Scripture, 
 to trace the history of the Christian religion to its 
 fountain source, and, discovering that the Catholic 
 Church of to-day taught the same doctrine as in the 
 apostolic age, and had every demonstrative evidence 
 of its divine authenticity, they joyfully embraced it. 
 About the time of which we write, there were be- 
 tween forty and fifty gallant officers of the arm}' and 
 navy, many among them converts to the Church, 
 who were united in the Sodality of the " Sacred 
 Heart," of which General Rosecrans was Promoter. 
 
 The sanctuary-of the late purchased church edi- 
 fice, with its altar and tabernacle arranged with taste 
 and beauty, after the design of Lieutenant Scammon, 
 having been completed, the church was dedicated to 
 God by Rt. Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, under the pat- 
 ronage of St. Benedict, February 14, 1847. Rev. Fr. 
 Ryder, President of Holy Cross College, preached 
 on the occasion to a large audience, drawn together 
 either from curiosity to witness what they had never 
 had the opportunity of looking upon before, or to 
 give grateful thanks to God for the blessings of a 
 house of worship they could count their own, and 
 where they might assemble, after their weekly toil, to
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 315 
 
 hear the word of God, and bow in adoration at the 
 mystic sacrifice of Calvary, the Holy Mass. 
 
 The following, which appeared in the public 
 press, tells the joy evinced on the occasion: 
 
 " SPRINGFIELD, February 15, 1847. 
 
 " Last Sunday was a proud day for the Catholics 
 of Springfield. Though numbering about four hun- 
 dred, hitherto we had no home for the worship of 
 our faith. At one time in an humble cabin, at an- 
 other in the common town-hall, we assisted at the 
 holy mysteries, praying for the day when our means 
 would enable us to raise aloft the banner of the cross, 
 and under our own roof to sing the praises of God. 
 Like the Israelites of old, we wept in the land of 
 exile, and sighed for the termination of our bondage. 
 And now that day has come, and for the first time a 
 permanent altar has been erected in our midst, and 
 we raise our eyes with gratitude and love to behold 
 the cross, the emblem of our redemption. 
 
 " The church where now we worship, originally a 
 Protestant meeting-house, was yesterday solemnly 
 dedicated to Almighty God, under the invocation 
 of the blessed Mother of God, and St. Benedict, by 
 the Rt. Rev. Bishop of the diocese. . . . Our 
 Protestant neighbors never before had seen a Catholic 
 dedication. They mingled with us, and by their 
 respectful demeanor, showed that they partook of 
 our joy. Rt. Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick officiated, 
 assisted by Rev. Fr. Riordan, our estimable Pastor, 
 and Rev. Messrs. Brady, of Cabotville, and O'Brien
 
 316 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 and Williams, of Boston. The solemn chant of the 
 Miserere, the invocation of the blessed Saints of God, 
 the presence of the Pontiff, the solemn benediction, 
 not only of the place, but of the assembled people, 
 have made here a deep and vivid impression. And 
 this feeling of respect for our faith, of awe and love 
 for sacred mysteries, was increased by the eloquent 
 discourse of Very Rev. Dr. Ryder, President of the 
 College of Holy Cross. The learned divine chose 
 for the subject of his sermon the Sacrifice of the 
 Mass, proving from the Scriptures the necessity of a 
 sacrifice in worship, as ordered by Almighty God ; 
 showing also, from moral and theological reasons, 
 that the whole ceremony of the Christian religion 
 demands a sacrifice, and that the prophecies can be 
 verified only by admitting in the Mass a true, though 
 unbloody sacrifice, wherein Jesus Christ, God and 
 man, offers himself anew to the Father, a victim of 
 propitiation for the sins of men. 
 
 " The singing was conducted by Rev. Mr. O'Brien, 
 assisted by Rev. Messrs. Riordan and Williams, and 
 a young gentleman of the College of the Holy Cross, 
 named Crowley. It would be difficult to find a bet- 
 ter choir." 
 
 CHURCH AT CHICOPEE. 
 
 The early Church history of this, like that of many 
 towns and villages of New England, commences 
 with the toil and untiring industry of Ireland's exiled
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 317 
 
 sons, who were employed at the excavations of ca- 
 nals, and other important labors that have since 
 brought wealth and prosperity to thousands. The 
 few Catholics who were employed in the construction 
 of the canal, of what is now the flourishing manufac- 
 turing town of Chicopee, were attended by our Mis- 
 sionary as early as 1830. The boarding-house, a 
 temporary building, which stood near to the river 
 bank, where the dam is now constructed, the only 
 building in the place, save the grist-mill and home of 
 the miller, served for chapel, and all other purposes. 
 The Cabot Manufacturing Company being incorpo- 
 rated in 1832, an impetus was given to the erection 
 of mills, and dwellings for the operatives, and soon 
 a beautiful, flourishing town arose, giving employment 
 to its thousands of mechanics and mill operatives. 
 
 The faithful, who in 1830 numbered thirty souls, 
 having in ten years increased to two hundred and 
 fifty, a church was projected for their accommoda- 
 tion. Rev. John D. Brady, who then attended this 
 station, in connection with Pittsfiekl and other towns 
 west of the Connecticut River, encouraged by the 
 promised assistance of this noble little band, com- 
 menced in 1841 the erection of what subsequently 
 was St. Matthew's Church, which was blessed by the 
 Bishop, September 29, 1843. Rev. B. O'Cavanagh 
 was appointed as an assistant to Rev. Fr. Brady in 
 1845, and these gentlemen continued to attend alter- 
 nately Chicopee and other stations till 1848, when 
 Rev. Fr. Strain was appointed to the pastoral cure 
 of the risinjr congregation.
 
 318 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 CHURCH AT NORTHAMPTON. 
 
 The earliest reminiscence we have of the rites of 
 religion being performed in the western part of the 
 State of Massachusetts, was within the prison walls 
 of Northampton, where two young men therein con- 
 fined were doomed to execution. Among the papers 
 of Cardinal Cheverus, writes his biographer, Rev. 
 J. Huen Dubourg, there are letters in which these 
 young men say, " We adore, in the judgment of men 
 liable to be deceived, the decrees of Providence. If 
 we are not guilty of the crime imputed to us, we have 
 committed other sins, and to expiate them, we accept 
 death with resignation. We are solicitous only about 
 our salvation ; it is in your hands ; come to our as- 
 sistance." It being then the custom to conduct con- 
 victs to church to hear a funeral discourse immedi- 
 ately before their execution, a second letter was 
 addressed to M. Cheverus, praying him to deliver 
 this discourse. " It will be a painful task for you," 
 said they to him, " after the fatigue of a long journey, 
 and especially after the sad impression made on your 
 heart by the sight of two young men about to die, in 
 the bloom of youth ; but you will not refuse us this 
 favor, and reduce us to the necessity of listening, just 
 before we die, to the voice of one who is not a Cath- 
 olic." However painful this twofold duty might be 
 to the feeling heart of M. Cheverus, he did not hesi- 
 tate to undertake it, and promptly acceded to their 
 request. Hatred to the Catholic religion was carried
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 319 
 
 to such an extreme in Northampton, that it was with 
 the greatest difficulty he could find lodgings, no one 
 being willing to receive him. He passed many days 
 in the prison with the condemned : he compassion- 
 ated their condition, and persuaded them to look on 
 death in the light of the gospel, as an entrance upon 
 a better life, and the gate of true happiness. These 
 instructions, and the sacraments which he adminis- 
 tered to them, inspired them with such holy disposi- 
 tions of soul, that the last moments of life lost, in 
 their view, all the terrors with which they affright 
 unassisted nature ; and they looked on the approach 
 of death not only without distress, but with calmness, 
 serenity, and celestial joy. M. Cheverus alone was 
 overcome with grief, his heart overpressed with pity ; 
 and those whom he had come to console became 
 themselves his comforters. " O father," said they to 
 him, " moderate your grief, or it will make you ill." 
 At length the fatal day arrived ; and, as this day 
 seemed to these men so full of faith, like the dawn 
 of a festal day, the}' wished, at the time of their exe- 
 cution, to appear clean and decent, and asked for a 
 razor, to shave themselves. It was, at first, refused 
 them ; but, upon M. Cheverus's pledging his word 
 that they should not attempt their lives, their request 
 was granted. At the hour appointed, M. Cheverus 
 went with them, and all the funeral train, to the 
 church. There the Protestant ministers wished to 
 pronounce the usual discourse ; but M. Cheverus 
 opposed this with force and energy. " The will of 
 the dying," he said to them, " is sacred ; and they
 
 320 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 have desired to have no one but myself, and I alone 
 will speak to them." He immediately ascended the 
 pulpit, and, casting his eyes upon the immense 
 crowd that surrounded him, and beholding a great 
 multitude of women, who had come from every 
 direction to be present at the execution, he felt him- 
 self animated with holy indignation against the curi- 
 osity which had attracted to that mournful scene such 
 a crowd of spectators. " Orators," cried he, in a 
 loud and stern voice, " are usually flattered by having 
 a numerous audience, but I am ashamed of the one 
 now before me. . . . Are there, then, men to 
 whom the death of their fellow-beings is a spectacle 
 of pleasure, an object of curiosity ! . . But 
 you, especially, O women ! what has induced you to 
 come to this place? Is it to wipe away the cold 
 damps of death that trickle down the faces of these 
 unfortunate men? Is it to experience the painful 
 emotions which this scene ought to inspire in every 
 feeling heart? No, it is not for this. It is, then, to 
 behold their anguish, and to look upon it with tear- 
 less, eager, and longing eyes. Ah ! I blush for you ; 
 your eyes are full of murder. . . . You boast of 
 possessing sensibility, and you say it is the highest 
 virtue in woman ; but if the sufferings of others afford 
 you pleasure, and the death of a man is an inviting 
 entertainment for your curiosity, I can no longer be- 
 lieve in your virtue. You forget your sex ; you are 
 a dishonor and reproach to it." The execution took 
 place immediately after the discourse, but not a 
 woman dared to appear at it ; all retired from the
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 32! 
 
 church ashamed of themselves, and blushing for the 
 inhuman curiosity that had brought them there. 
 
 The audience, being much interested in the dis- 
 course of M. Cheverus, wished to hear him again ; 
 and he yielded to their wishes. He preached several 
 times in public ; he conversed with them in private, 
 and took advantage of every opportunity to remove 
 their prejudices against the Catholic religion, and to 
 show them how reasonable were its doctrines, and 
 how holy, pure, and lovely was its morality. Many 
 among them, struck by the touching spectacle pre- 
 sented by the holy resignation of the two young 
 Irishmen, when about to be executed, and thinking 
 it incredible that guilty men should possess such a 
 modest and calm assurance in the presence of death, 
 begged M. Cheverus to tell them, as in confession he 
 had acquired a more perfect knowledge of the facts, 
 whether these two young men were really innocent. 
 M. Cheverus promised to give, in his next discourse, 
 the only reply it was possible for him to make to this 
 question ; and, in fact, happy in the opportunity of 
 speaking in defence of Catholic truth before a large 
 concourse of hearers whom curiosity had collected, 
 he developed, with force and clearness, the doctrine 
 of the Church respecting confession ; spoke of its 
 divine institution, its important advantages, and the 
 inviolable secrecy imposed upon the confessor, which 
 he cannot break, even to save a kingdom. The 
 Protestants were so much pleased with this discourse 
 of M. Cheverus, and with the interesting character 
 of his private conversation, that they wished him to 
 21
 
 ^22 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 remain with them ; and he found almost as much 
 difficulty in parting from them, as he had in procuring 
 a shelter on his first arrival. 
 
 We have taken the liberty to transcribe this inci- 
 dent in the mission life of Cardinal de Cheverus, in 
 corroboration of the fact that the life of many an 
 innocent man has been sacrificed upon mere circum- 
 stantial evidence ; that many a good and honest man 
 has been condemned upon mere surmise of igno- 
 rance, prejudice, or malevolence. We knew in boy- 
 hood days, and in our childish heart sympathized 
 with, the widowed mother of one of these young 
 men, whom we often saw kneeling at the foot of the 
 cross, in the Cathedral of Franklin Street, where she 
 often went to pour forth the sorrows of her heart, 
 and seek consolation in her declining years. She 
 has long since left this world, to meet in heaven, we 
 trust, her dearly-loved boy, the support of her de- 
 clining years. Long years after the above sad event, 
 while a Missionary in the same part of the State 
 where the execution took place, we heard, " as mur- 
 der will out," of a certain native-born, who, when 
 dying, confessed that he was the murderer of the 
 " mail carrier," for whose death the two young Irish- 
 men were executed at Northampton. We called 
 upon the jailer, an aged man at the time, to learn 
 whether he had heard of the circumstance, and his 
 reply was, quite unconcernedly, " Yes, he had heard 
 something about it." 
 
 And this reminds us of another event, which 
 shows how very cautious we should be in speaking
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 323 
 
 or judging of what we consider the faults of others, 
 and especially in condemning others on mere hear- 
 say or circumstantial evidence. Four laborers were 
 employed ditching the swamp meadow of a Prot- 
 estant minister. After their day's labor and supper 
 were over, one of the four, examining the roll of bills 
 he had saved, eighty dollars, the result of his 
 hard toil for months on the Western Railroad, where 
 the four had last worked, and finding all safe, put the 
 amount, nicely rolled up, into his watch-pocket. All 
 retired, at bed time, to sleep in the same room. To 
 their alarm, next morning the money was missing. 
 The minister, much disturbed in mind that he should 
 have harbored thieves in his house, had the four 
 arraigned for examination, and the theft, upon mere 
 surmise, was fastened upon one of the four, and he 
 consequently was condemned. We visited him in 
 his prison cell, and he declared his innocence. We 
 saw him on his dying bed, and he still protested his 
 innocence. Time passed on, and what was our sur- 
 prise to learn, twelve months after the death of the 
 one suspected and condemned, that the money 
 counted on the table, in the face of all in the room, 
 was purloined that night by one who knew the 
 chamber well where the laborers slept, and who, in 
 the dead of night, had been the thief! a young 
 man of eighteen, the son of the minister. 
 
 Let us be slow to hear, and slow to speak of each 
 other's faults, lest, erring in judgment, we falsely sus- 
 pect, rashly judge, and unjustly condemn our inno- 
 cent brother. 
 
 The lot upon which the church at Northampton
 
 324 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 was erected by Rev. John D. Brady, in 1844, had 
 been secured by the Missionary as early as 1834, at 
 which time the faithful were so very few, that they 
 were accustomed to assemble for divine worship in 
 the private house of a very worthy Catholic family 
 by the name of Foley, at a place called Straw Hol- 
 low, now Leeds, a small manufacturing village, mid- 
 way between Northampton and Williamsburg. The 
 congregation now at Northampton, with its sur- 
 roundings, Hatfield, Hadley, and Florence, numbers 
 about one thousand souls. The present zealous pas- 
 tor of Northampton, Rev. P. V. Moyce, with the 
 assistance of his devoted people, has erected two 
 very neat and commodious churches, one at Hayden- 
 ville, another at Easthampton, and a third at Am- 
 herst, where the Missionary, in his day, had three 
 families only to attend. 
 
 Such has been the cheering increase of the true 
 faith in the Connecticut Valley ! If we were not 
 confined, as we are in these Sketches, to speak only 
 of the early establishment of the Church, we might 
 add some description of the many beautiful and com- 
 modious edifices, with their crowded congregations, 
 that have since been erected, and we might speak of 
 the thousands who are now enjoying the blessings of 
 religion, from Saybrook, at the mouth of the river, 
 to the border line of New Hampshire and Vermont ; 
 of such are the churches at Portland, Windsor, Thomp- 
 sonville, Deerfield, Enfield, Hadley, Holyoke, Long- 
 meadow, Mittineague, and others ; but these we leave 
 to the future historian, while we confine ourselves to 
 the small beginnings of other days.
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 325 
 
 CHURCHES WEST OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER. 
 
 The excavation of the Westfield Canal, which 
 was made between 1828 and 1830, added materially 
 to the population of the town. A number of me- 
 chanics and laborers having been employed upon the 
 above work, a majority of whom being Catholics, 
 were attended by our Missionary. There being nei- 
 ther house nor shanty capacious enough to accommo- 
 date the congregation, the holy Sacrifice of Mass was 
 offered on a temporary altar, erected under the shade 
 of the trees, the nearest residence serving the purpose 
 of confessional. The canal completed, there re- 
 mained but few Catholics in the village, and these 
 were attended from time to time, when Mass was 
 offered and the sacraments administered at the private 
 residence of some one of the early settlers. Acces- 
 sions in time being made to the few, who found 
 ample accommodations for divine worship in the 
 room of a private house as mentioned, when attended 
 by Rev. W. Blenkinsop, pastor of Chicopee, in 
 1854, it was suggested that they should build a small 
 church for themselves, where they, and such as had 
 families, might assemble on Sundays for mutual edi- 
 fication and prayer, even in the absence of a clergy- 
 man. To which suggestion Messrs. P. O'Keefe, 
 J. Phillips, P. Reilly, C. Donevan, W. Sullivan, and 
 others cheerfully corresponded, and a frame building 
 was commenced, and so far completed as to serve 
 the purpose of divine worship the year following.
 
 326 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Rev. Fr. Gallaher, of Springfield, the distance 
 between the two places being more direct, succeeded 
 Father Blenkinsop, visited Westfield monthly, and 
 encouraged the interior finish of the church. The 
 first reverend gentleman appointed as resident pastor 
 was Rev. M. X. Carroll, in 1862. He was suc- 
 ceeded, in 1868, by Rev. D. Miglionico, who en- 
 larged the church, introduced a sweet-toned organ, 
 and otherwise beautified the building, and added a 
 very convenient and comfortable parochial residence. 
 
 From Westfield to the State line there were very 
 few Catholics previous to the construction of the 
 railroad, though Mass had been said by our Mission- 
 ary as far west as Great Barrington, and the villages 
 of Berkshire County, as early as 1832. 
 
 The only church, previous to 1855, claimed by the 
 Catholics, as a place of worship, between Westfield 
 and the State line, and that a veiy small frame build- 
 ing, was at Pittsfield, which was built in 1845 by 
 Rev. J. D. Brady, of Chicopee, but since which time, 
 however, Catholicity has spread over mountains and 
 valleys most wonderfully, as will be seen by the sub- 
 joined condensed report of Rev. Frs. P. Cuddihy and 
 E. H. Purcell, who have been specially blessed in 
 their untiring efforts for the greater glory of God 
 and spiritual welfare of those intrusted to their care. 
 
 The church at Pittsfield, in 1853, about the time 
 these Reverend Fathers entered upon their labors, 
 appeared to be large enough for some years to come ; 
 but soon an emigration set in, and so much so that 
 Rev. Fr. Cuddihy was obliged, the second year of his
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 327 
 
 pastorship, to enlarge the church. About the same 
 time the Catholics of North Adams purchased the 
 church formerly belonging to the Methodist society 
 for their special use. The next Church or congrega- 
 tion was formed at Great Barrington, about the year 
 1855. The church at North Lee was built in 1856. 
 The church at Hinsdale was built in 1859, and that 
 at Stockbridge the same year. The church at Mill 
 River was built in 1866, and the new church at Pitts- 
 field, a splendid stone edifice, was erected by Rev. 
 Fr. Purcell in 1867. The church at North Adams 
 another beautiful church was built in 1868, and 
 the church at Williamstown was purchased in 1869. 
 The church at Cheshire was built in 1869, and the 
 church at South Adams was purchased and dedicated 
 in 1870, and the church at West Stockbridge was 
 completed in 1871 ; all which gives us a partial view 
 how our holy religion has flourished during the past 
 twenty years, there being now, as we perceive, 
 twelve churches, where a few years ago there was 
 but one. 
 
 The towns north and south of Worcester, in their 
 growth and temporal prosperity, have been also 
 blessed spiritually. In the Observer, of March 15, 
 1848, we learn that "the Catholics of Fitchburg, 
 under the guidance of Rev. M. Gibson, have bought 
 a lot of land, whereon they intend to erect a church. 
 The lot, which is one hundred and fifty feet square, 
 commands a view of the whole town. Their means 
 not permitting them as yet to erect a brick building, 
 they have determined for the present to put up a
 
 328 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 frame church. Mr. Cahill, with his usual generosity, 
 has kindly given for that purpose ten thousand feet 
 of lumber. Messrs. Crocker and Mansur, both Prot- 
 estants, have also contributed veiy liberally to the 
 good work." We learn from the same paper that 
 " the corner-stone of the new church, under the invo- 
 cation of St. Bernard, was laid the 8th of October, 
 1848 ; on which occasion a choir from Boston sang 
 one of Dementi's Masses, and the sermon, appropri- 
 ate to the occasion, was preached by Rev. N. J. 
 O'Brien." 
 
 Uxbridge, Blackstone, Waterford, Woonsocket, 
 and other manufacturing towns were attended from 
 Worcester, both previous to and after the construction 
 of the railroad to Providence. This latter enterprise 
 gave an impetus to mechanism in many a village, 
 and Catholics found employment, and were very gen- 
 erally esteemed, not precisely because they were 
 attached to their religion, and were up long before 
 bell hours when they had opportunities for mass or 
 confession, but because they were always at their 
 post, and prompt in the discharge of their several 
 avocations. 
 
 Among the female operatives, in particular, it might 
 happen, if a day's rest was thought needful, or a little 
 recreation necessary, there was aunt Mahitable not 
 far off, or cousin Matilda, to be visited, and the loom 
 was left idle ; while the Catholic girl, far from home, 
 had none to associate with save those who, like her- 
 self, were at their daily toil from Monday morning 
 till Saturday night. The proprietors of the factories,
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRING FIELD. 329 
 
 as a matter of course, knew and felt where their in- 
 terest lay ; and the result is seen in the crowded con- 
 gregations of the Blackstone Valley. 
 
 Prejudice there was, and deep, before this was 
 accomplished. To illustrate : An additional canal 
 was to be opened at a certain facto ry village where a 
 Catholic had never been seen, and the agent, in pur* 
 suit of laborers, introduced two hardy sons of old 
 Ireland, who took their meals at the ordinary board- 
 ing-house table, but when night came, not a place 
 was there for them to sleep ; and the reason assigned 
 by the landlady was, when questioned by the agent, 
 who knew that there were ample accommodations, 
 that they were filthy. They travelled two miles 
 after their day's labor, that night, to find a lodging- 
 place. Prejudice alone was the cause. They were 
 Irishmen and Catholics ; and that was sufficient for 
 the landlady and her Protestant fellow-boarders, who, 
 as it was learned, threatened to leave if Irishmen 
 were admitted. But now to the sequel. Two years 
 from that day the factory was completed, and in full 
 operation, and the Missionary, learning that a few 
 Catholics were there employed, deemed it advisable 
 to stay over night, and give them Mass the next 
 morning. So he commenced, as usual, hearing con- 
 fessions, after the bell had rung, and the day's work 
 over, and continued his labor till the last penitent 
 was heard, when, thinking it was time for supper, he 
 was quite surprised by the good Catholic house- 
 keeper's saying, if he intended having Mass before it 
 was time for the boys and girls to go to work, that
 
 33 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 he had better wait a little longer, as it was midnight 
 past twelve o'clock ! Such has been the spread 
 of Catholicity in many a factory village. 
 
 CHURCHES AT MILLBURY AND GRAFTON. 
 
 The churches in these towns were commenced by 
 Rev. M. W. Gibson, in July, 1850, and dedicated 
 the following year. He was succeeded by Rev. Frs. 
 L'Eveque, E. J. Sheriden, and J. J. Power, who 
 enlarged both churches considerably. The successor 
 to the last named Reverend gentleman was Rev. M. 
 J. Doherty, who, in addition to the erection of a 
 very convenient and comfortable parochial residence, 
 beautified the above churches interiorly, and encour- 
 aged the formation of several religious associations 
 and confraternities to the greater glory of God and 
 to the spiritual welfare of the congregations. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PAUL, BLACKSTONE. 
 
 Years previous to the erection of the church in 
 this town, the faithful assembled, as often as the Mis- 
 sionary found time to visit them, in some one of their 
 private houses, or came together when Mass was 
 offered, at the residence of Mr. McCabe, of the ad- 
 joining factory village of Waterford, till the church 
 was erected in the neighboring town of Woonsocket.
 
 DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD. 33! 
 
 Their numbers at length warranting the undertak- 
 ing, they requested the Bishop's permission to build 
 a church ; which, being obtained, a public meeting 
 was held, and a generous subscription on the part of 
 all told their unanimity of feeling in the enterprise. 
 Mr. Welcome Farnum, a resident of the place, 
 though not a member of the Church, generously con- 
 tributed not only an ample lot for the contemplated 
 new church, but liberal funds towards its erection. 
 
 The church was commenced in the autumn of 
 1850, and dedicated by Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpat- 
 rick, in 1852. It is a plain Gothic edifice of stone, 
 and, though it lacks the ornament of many other 
 churches, there is perhaps no church in New England 
 capable of seating so many, or that was built at so 
 small a cost. 
 
 Rev. Charles O'Reilly, who was appointed to the 
 spiritual charge of the congregation, held the respon- 
 sible trust till removed by death, in September, 1857. 
 He was succeeded by Rev. E. J. Sheriden, who ful- 
 filled all the duties of a zealous, devoted pastor till 
 transferred to the charge of St. Vincent's Church 
 congregation at Boston, in 1867. Rev. T. H. Bannon 
 was then appointed; but in the summer of 1870, in 
 consequence of ill health, resigned his charge, and, 
 in a few months after died in Boston, of consumption. 
 In the month of October, 1870, Rev. W. A. Power 
 was installed pastor of the congregation, which ap- 
 pointment was one of the early blessings conferred 
 on the faithful of Blackstone by Right Rev. Dr. 
 O'Reilly, the newly-appointed Bishop of the diocese.
 
 332 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 Such is an authentic, though brief account of the 
 introduction of Catholicity into what is now the Dio- 
 cese of Springfield, Mass., with its sixty odd churches, 
 convent schools, and hospital. Though we have 
 mentioned a few of the churches erected since the 
 death of the illustrious Bishop Fenwick, we leave to 
 the future historian the pleasing labor of writing the 
 history of the numerous churches erected during the 
 administration of his worthy successors, the late 
 deeply lamented Bishop Fitzpatrick, and the present 
 apostolic laborer of the Boston Diocese, Right Rev. 
 Dr. J.J.Williams. 
 
 In concluding these brief Sketches of the introduc- 
 tion and progress of the Church in New England, it 
 is cheering to note, that where but fifty years ago 
 there was but one Bishop and three Priests, there are 
 now six Bishops, over four hundred Priests, upwards 
 of three hundred and fifty churches, with a Catholic 
 population of near a million souls ! Magna est ver- 
 itas, et prevalebit. Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra 
 nos? "If God be for us, who is against us?" 
 (Rom. viii. 31.)
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 CLAIMS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 "He that hcareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth 
 you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him 
 that sent me. Hear the Church, and if a man hear not the 
 Church, let him be held as a Heathen and a Publican. He 
 that believeth shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be 
 condemned." 
 
 THESE are texts from the Sacred Volume, and are 
 to be found in the Protestant as well as Catholic edi- 
 tions of that Book of books. If the Bible be the 
 word of God, then it is certain that our blessed Lord 
 established a Church, and commanded all men to 
 unite themselves with it under penalty of eternal loss. 
 As guardians and teachers of this Church, He ap- 
 pointed certain men invested with peculiar powers, 
 and made their office perpetual. Lo, I am ivith you 
 all days, even to the consummation of time. To 
 these men He gave a solemn commission to teach. 
 Go teach all nations. Proclaim to all men the words 
 of instruction and the precepts that I have given you. 
 The Father sent me with authority to teach you, and 
 to present to you the conditions of your eternal salva- 
 tion. As the Father hath sent me, so I send you. 
 Go, therefore, to all nations and tribes of the earth 
 
 333
 
 334 SKETCHES. ETC. 
 
 and teach them, and enjoin upon them to d*o and ob- 
 serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you. 
 If they listen to you and believe, they shall be saved ; 
 if they do not believe, they shall be condemned. Go 
 and preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand. Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear 
 your words, going forth out of that house or city, 
 shake off the dust from your feet. It shall be 
 more tolerable for the land of Sodom, on the judg- 
 ment-day, than for that house or city. 
 
 What do we learn from all this, but that religion, 
 true religion, is not a matter to be trifled with ; that 
 it is an affair of awful moment the search for truth ; 
 that the present happiness and eternal destiny of men 
 are at stake upon the issue. But what was true reli- 
 gion in the days of our Lord and His apostles must 
 be true religion now, for truth is like God, the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and forever. Truth, then, as re- 
 vealed by Christ, and enjoined upon His apostles, the 
 full belief, public profession, and faithful practice of 
 which were the conditions of salvation, must have 
 always existed, and must still exist, entire and uncor- 
 rupted. It is of infinite importance then to us, as 
 immortal beings, to examine diligently and see that 
 we possess it. It is the pearl of great price spoken 
 of in the gospel, to obtain which a man would do 
 well to sell all his possessions and purchase it. 
 
 But how are we to make this search ? Where shall 
 we seek it? The world is full of sects, each claiming 
 for itself the high prerogative of truth, each claiming 
 to have emanated from God, each to hold the doctrine
 
 CONCLUSION. 335 
 
 of the Son of God! Must we examine them all? 
 Must we investigate the claims of each ? Must we 
 search all relig-ions? It were a task beyand the pow- 
 ers of the human intellect. No. We are not bound 
 to examine all. But we are bound to examine the 
 claims of one. That one is the religion of Catholics. 
 There are* reasons, in our search after truth, for in- 
 vestigating the claims of the Catholic Church, that do 
 not hold with regard to the numerous sects around 
 us. She alone retains the name of Catholic, a title 
 always accorded to the Church of Christ, and by 
 which it was always distinguished from rebellious 
 sects. She alone hath converted the nations of the 
 earth, and thereby fulfilled the commission of Christ 
 Go teach all nations. She alone hath proved the 
 validity of her claims by an uninterrupted succession 
 of pastors, from the days of Christ to the present. 
 She alone hath demonstrated her divine origin and 
 guidance by a constant series of miracles. She is the 
 oldest of all Churches, for she is the first of all. She 
 existed in all her vigor and beauty and full develop- 
 ment long before any of the sects were born. Full 
 of years, she is nevertheless still vigorous and beauti- 
 ful as when she started into life. She has existed in 
 every age, she still exists in every clime. From the 
 rising of the sun to the going down of the same the 
 incense ascends from her altars, and the clean obla- 
 tion is made in her sanctuaries. Thrones have 
 crumbled, dynasties have ceased, busy cities have 
 become deserts and deserts busy cities, old worlds 
 have been forsaken and new worlds peopled, many
 
 336 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 nations have apostatized from the truth, and many 
 more have been converted and embraced the truth, 
 but the Catholic Church hath stood, like the rock of 
 ages, unchanged, unchangeable, and indefectible. 
 
 These are some among the many reasons why a 
 sincere inquirer after truth is bound to investigate the 
 claims of the Catholic Church. These are some of 
 the reasons which will render men inexcusable before 
 God, should they unhappily live and die without the 
 fold. O, that men would but feel the importance and 
 appreciate the grandeur of this search after true Wis- 
 dom, " whose ways are beautiful ways, and all whose 
 paths are peaceable," " who, in her right hand, 
 offers length of days," eternity ; " and in her left, 
 riches and honors," celestial treasures, an immortal 
 crown. 
 
 The increase of Catholicity in the United States 
 will be seen in the following table, wherein is given 
 the number of bishops, churches, literary institutions, 
 &c., at the opening of the present century, and in 
 any one of the ten years since, say from 1840 to 
 1850:
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 337 
 
 hq 
 
 O 
 
 M 
 
 (73 
 
 
 
 HjJ 
 
 w 
 
 > 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 3 
 so 
 
 re* 
 ore 
 
 TO 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 tations 
 
 hurche 
 
 TO' 
 
 f, 
 
 VI 
 
 en 
 en 
 
 O 
 en 
 
 s 
 
 o 
 
 [> 
 
 
 
 
 en 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 o 
 
 " 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 JO 
 
 
 
 
 
 T^H 
 
 
 CL 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 K> 
 
 
 g 
 
 . 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 JJ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ta 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 en 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 TO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 en 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 ON 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 to 
 
 H 
 
 to 
 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 to 
 
 
 HI 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 
 oo 
 
 _^ 
 
 K. 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 oo 
 
 r^ 
 
 
 M 
 
 La 
 
 Ol 
 
 CO 
 
 tH 
 
 
 HH 
 
 fe 
 
 -<r 
 
 VO 
 
 OO 
 
 CO 
 
 
 to 
 
 <r 
 
 
 ON 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 Ol 
 
 Ol 
 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 vo 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 1 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 00 
 
 M 
 
 
 ON 
 
 IH 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Ol 
 
 Ol 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 p^ 
 
 tH 
 
 w 
 
 *^J 
 
 
 4i- 
 
 to 
 
 
 HI 
 
 
 
 VO 
 
 M 
 
 -<r 
 
 o 
 
 M 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 ON 
 
 
 
 
 
 _^ 
 
 01 
 
 La 
 
 
 
 
 oo 
 
 J^v 
 
 M 
 
 IH 
 
 ^J- 
 
 ON 
 
 ON 
 
 M 
 
 
 ^| 
 
 
 CO 
 
 M 
 
 co 
 
 Ol 
 
 O 
 
 HI 
 
 00 
 
 
 ON 
 
 OJ 
 
 
 
 
 _^ 
 
 ON 
 
 ON 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 CO 
 
 4-* 
 
 HI 
 
 IH 
 
 ON 
 
 
 HH 
 
 M 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 oo 
 
 HI 
 
 VO 
 
 
 w 
 
 *^T 
 
 *-J 
 
 IH 
 
 i-i 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 01 
 
 ON 
 
 ON 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 ON 
 Oo 
 
 HI 
 
 to 
 
 VO 
 to 
 
 Ol 
 
 00 
 Oo 
 
 to 
 
 Ol 
 
 M 
 
 to 
 
 H 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 Ol 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^, 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 GO 
 
 ON 
 Oo 
 
 HI 
 
 to 
 
 0^ 
 
 J 
 
 00 
 
 to 
 
 Ol 
 
 IH 
 
 to 
 
 IH 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 Ol 
 
 co 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 OO 
 
 ON 
 
 H 
 
 to 
 
 *^J 
 
 
 OO 
 
 to 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 00 
 
 4* 
 
 to 
 
 *<r 
 
 to 
 
 
 ON 
 
 h-l 
 
 Oo 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ol 
 
 VO 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 oo 
 
 <r 
 
 M 
 
 to 
 
 ^^J 
 
 Q 
 
 VO 
 
 to 
 
 
 to 
 
 4 
 
 4^ 
 
 4^ 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 -<r 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 Ol 
 
 vo 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 h-t 
 
 to 
 
 ON 
 
 o\ 
 
 Q 
 
 to 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 ON 
 
 La 
 
 Ol 
 
 o 
 
 ON 
 
 o 
 
 0\ 
 
 
 
 VO 
 
 VO 
 
 HI 
 
 to 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 to 
 
 
 to 
 
 s> 
 
 
 ^J 
 
 vo 
 
 Ol 
 
 Oo 
 
 
 
 
 -<r o 
 
 22
 
 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ANECDOTES. 
 
 Strange were the ideas that many non-Catholics 
 formerly had of a Catholic priest ! They viewed 
 him as something singular and unearthly, wholly dif- 
 ferent from any other mortal. He was generally 
 called, however young in years, " the old priest," or 
 " the paddy priest." Others again, after having satis- 
 fied their curiosity upon seeing him, were heard to 
 remark, " that he was no great show after all ! " 
 Scarcely need be mentioned the annoyance that had 
 to be contended with in by-gone days. We will, by 
 way of amusement, mention one or two instances, 
 which, however, by those whose constitutional gravity 
 may deem out of place in a work like this, may pass 
 over in silence. 
 
 On a certain occasion the Missionary happened to 
 be the only gentleman passenger in the stage-coach, 
 the rest being ladies, among whom was one, evidently 
 " Miss Somebody," a Sabbath school teacher, prob- 
 ably, or the maiden aunt of a minister, for to talk 
 religion seemed her hobby. Having learned from the 
 coach-driver, at one of the way stations, the vocation 
 of the taciturn gentleman passenger, she promised 
 her travelling companions, it is presumed, in the ardor 
 of her zeal, a display of her controversial powers, for 
 scarcely had the gentleman returned to his seat, and 
 the coach got fairly under way, than every eye was 
 fixed on the discovered " popish priest," and the lady
 
 CONCLUSION. 339 
 
 commenced : " Pray, sir, do you think man can for- 
 give sins?" "Most assuredly I do, madam," replied 
 the priest, " most assuredly I do, and ladies too, I 
 trust." This was more than anticipated, and the 
 good-natured smile among her companions seemed 
 to intimate, take care ; you may have awaked the 
 wrong passenger ! However, not to be silenced in 
 this summary way, " Pray, sir," resumed the lady, 
 " please explain ; I don't understand you ; how can 
 man forgive sins?" "Why, madam," replied the 
 priest, " suppose a neighbor had calumniated you, or 
 unkindly censured your motives, and upon reflection 
 had repented of what she had done, and came im- 
 ploring forgiveness, could you not, and would you 
 not forgive her? Assuredly you would. Yes, you 
 would pardon her sin ; and if ladies have such power, 
 why not gentlemen ? " 
 
 This good-natured reply was thought quite suffi- 
 cient under the circumstances, for had religious dis- 
 cussion commenced, the poor horses themselves would 
 have tired, in all probability, long before it had ended. 
 From tea-party theologians and dyspeptic religionists, 
 O, deliver us ! 
 
 EARLY IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 Travelling at another time in the coach, one of the 
 passengers, a gentleman who had lived long enough 
 to discover that it was not all gold that glittered, per- 
 ceiving, towards evening, a new moon, " There," said
 
 34-O SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 he, " there is a new moon ; now, when I was young, I 
 was told if, when I saw a new moon over my right 
 shoulder, and I had a penny in my pocket, it would 
 be a lucky month for me. Now," continued the 
 old gentleman, " I have outlived that foolish notion, 
 and I know it is all superstition, prejudice, and not a 
 word of truth in it ; but positively, I acknowledge 
 it, even to this day, whenever I see a new moon, I 
 always think of my pocket." 
 
 BETTER INFORMED THAN THE PREACHER. 
 
 Stopping at a certain town in L County, our 
 
 Missionary was invited to preach to an audience com- 
 posed of the representatives of the varied shades of 
 Protestantism. Agreeably with custom, he invited 
 any one present, if so disposed, to select a text or 
 subject for discourse. None having been proposed, 
 the Missionary went on to illustrate from Scripture, 
 history, and tradition, a succinct account of certain 
 doctrines and teachings of the Church, particularly 
 on the necessity of heart-felt sorrow for sins com- 
 mitted, without which there was no power on earth 
 able to forgive them. Respectful was the attention 
 of all present, and by no one more so than a vener- 
 able, and to all appearance, worthy gentleman of 
 threescore and ten, who, at the conclusion, rose up 
 to say, that all they had listened to " was mere gam- 
 mon ; that he had read, and he kneiv the Catholic 
 religion better than that."
 
 CONCLUSION. 341 
 
 SMALL BEGINNING HAPPY RESULT. 
 
 In the town of P , in the heart of a neighbor- 
 ing State, there formerly lived a solitary Irish Cath- 
 olic, who, prompted to walk in the footsteps of others, 
 did a thriving business. He was a pedler of small 
 wares. He was conscientious, loved his religion, and 
 was, we trust, or tried to be, an honest pedler: be 
 that as it may, in his rambles from house to house he 
 at length found a young woman of marriageable age, 
 apparently to his liking, and whom he proposed 
 should be his wife, provided she would be of his 
 religion, " as fish and flesh should never be allowed 
 on his table on days forbidden by the Church, much 
 less would he be married like a heathen." 
 
 To the country town of his intended, most press- 
 ingly invited, the Missionary must go and preach, 
 and a " blind set they must be," intimated our ped- 
 ler, if, after hearing the plain truth, they were neither 
 convinced nor converted ! Away then goes the priest 
 in the pedler's wagon, and at the district school- 
 house the crowd are gathered, as they had heard 
 of his coming, both to see, and hear, and judge for 
 themselves. The evening passed away quite pleas- 
 antly, so much so, that an invitation was extended to 
 hear the preacher the following evening, in the ad- 
 joining school-house. The invitation accepted and 
 the audience assembled, strange to say, there is no en- 
 trance ! The door is locked, and no one knows what 
 has become of the key ! Prejudice and bigotry, how-
 
 342 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 ever, at length yield to. curiosity, and the key is 
 found ! At this there is a rush for the seats, and, by 
 certain outsiders, a rush for sticks and stones ; and 
 then came the contest between might and right. A 
 few stones were thrown, and some drumming on the 
 clapboards. Upon this the Missionary stepped out, 
 and politely invited all to walk in and listen, and 
 then, if necessary, demonstrate. The deliberate good 
 sense of the turbulent triumphed over prejudice. 
 " Hear him ; let us hear what he has to say, and 
 what he can prove." Order established, there was 
 pretty good attention to the end ; and, while the ma- 
 jority came through curiosity to see and hear for 
 themselves what they had never looked upon before, 
 " a popish priest," there were those who really ap- 
 preciated the truth, and were prompted to inquire 
 further ; and of this apparently mixed crowd, five 
 were subsequently, after due instruction and proba- 
 tion, admitted to the Sacrament of Baptism. At this 
 day, within a radius of ten miles of this very town, 
 where a priest was such an object of curiosity, there 
 are six thousand Catholics. 
 
 TRUTH TRIUMPHANT. 
 
 We will mention another little incident which 
 occurred at a certain sea-port town, where, at this 
 day, there are upwards of two thousand Catholics. 
 
 The Missionary was called to administer the rites
 
 CONCLUSION. 343 
 
 of religion to a dying Christian. The call being 
 fifty miles, distant, he carried, as usual, his valise, 
 which contained the vestments and all else requisite 
 to offer the holy Sacrifice of Mass. There were in 
 this town a few Catholic, hard-working sons of the 
 Emerald Isle, who no sooner heard of the priest's 
 arrival, than they came, as usual, to bid him a thou- 
 sand welcomes. Learning that he was to remain 
 over night, they rejoicingly carried his valise to a 
 house in another part of the town, near to where 
 they lived, that they might have Mass before going 
 to their day's work the following morning. With 
 the arrival of the stage-coach there came, the same 
 evening, a schooner from New York, with a lady 
 passenger on board, who, when about to disembark 
 the following morning, found, to her great disap- 
 pointment, that her trunk and wearables were miss- 
 ing. The police were soon on the alert, and Irish- 
 men were reported to have been seen the evening 
 previous, hurrying through the street with one trunk, 
 for certain, if not two. They were soon ferreted out, 
 and the Missionary had just finished Mass, as the 
 force entered, to seize the surmised thieves, trunk and 
 all. The little valise was scrutinized and examined 
 thoroughly, but however turned or twisted, it would 
 not swell into anything like a decent-sized travelling 
 trunk, anyway ! There was mystery, however, some- 
 where. The officers were puzzled, and left for con- 
 sultation. To be outwitted by " a popish priest, and 
 ignorant Irishmen," was too bad. By and by others 
 came, and lest there might be some legerdemain or
 
 344 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 trickery in transforming the trunk into a valise, every- 
 thing had to be opened out and displayed, that they 
 might testify, as one of the officials remarked, " that 
 there were no female wearables about it." 
 
 The place where this little incident happened was 
 found to be rather hard soil, and the hatred of 
 Catholicity intense. It was therefore deemed advis- 
 able to visit it, from time to time, which was done ; 
 and through notoriety, which little annoyances like 
 the above, and occasionally stonings and hootings by 
 unruly urchins for being a popish priest, Catholicity 
 gained ground. A vacant lot of land, located be- 
 tween two fine frame buildings, was very quietly 
 purchased, and, to the alarm of the neighbors, who 
 could not conveniently burn it down, without consid- 
 erable inconvenience to themselves, a Church and 
 Cross arose in their very midst. 
 
 We relate little anecdotes like these to show the 
 feeling formerly created by bigoted preachers and 
 prejudiced writers upon the minds of otherwise ear- 
 nest, sincere, and benevolent souls. 
 
 FAITH IN THE PREACHERS. 
 
 Catholics have been often credited, and as often 
 smiled at, for " pinning their faith to the priest's 
 sleeve." The following little incident will show that 
 credulity of certain non-Catholics are not always 
 faultless. The old adage, " that they who live in
 
 CONCLUSION. 345 
 
 glass houses should be careful how they throw 
 stones," is worth remembering. 
 
 At the interment of a young man at C , 
 
 where the cemetery was a very dry, sandy soil, as 
 the corpse was laid beside the grave for the funeral 
 service, probably from its weight, or .friends standing 
 around, a small portion of sand caved in, and it was 
 thought well to remove it before lowering the coffin 
 to its destined resting-place, a very simple occur- 
 rence, and not uncommon under similar circum- 
 stances. What was the surprise of the Missionary 
 to learn, in less than forty-eight hours after the occur- 
 rence, that a certain travelling preacher regaled his 
 hearers, at an evening lecture, with what he knew 
 for truth, " as he was passing through the village at 
 the time it happened," to wit, " that several poor, 
 superstitious, benighted Irishmen were burying one 
 
 of their countrymen who had died at C , and 
 
 so heavily had they loaded the coffin "with candles 
 and specie, quarters and halves, to get his soul 
 through purgatory, that the coffin burst, and all 
 present saw it ! " 
 
 By no means is it surprising that many otherwise 
 well-meaning, simple-minded souls should be preju- 
 diced against Catholics, their practices and religion, 
 when thus hoodwinked by those whom they pay so 
 well to pray and to preach the word. 
 
 At the next interment in the same place the cal- 
 umny was alluded to, and those present who were 
 not Catholics requested to observe everything well ; 
 that if any one felt curious to know the name of the
 
 346 SKETCHES, ETC. 
 
 detractor, he might hear it privately, after the service. 
 One gentleman remained to learn the name of the 
 preacher ; and when informed, replied, " I know 
 him. It sounds just like him, the old ." 
 
 Answer a fool, it is said, according to his folly. 
 That was a droll incident where the priest, while 
 travelling, reading his Breviary, was accosted, when 
 through, by an itinerant preacher, who, peering over 
 his shoulder, and guessing whom he addressed, said, 
 "Sir, do you understand what you were reading?" 
 The priest, looking up with the air and tone of one 
 apparently deaf, re-echoed, " Sir ! " " Do you under- 
 stand," repeated the minister, in a clear, ringing 
 voice, " do you understand, sir, what you have been 
 reading?" "Sir," again replied the priest, putting 
 his hand to his ear, as though still not understanding 
 the impertinent question. The inquisitive divine, 
 concluding he was trying to talk with the deafest 
 man ever met in all his travels, had no more to say.
 
 Date Due 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S. 
 
 CAT. NO. 24 161