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M©§T BiEVoaiTCDMF (BMEiDS.^IHL.Boin1,

TIRST ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE.

from ih,' Original Forlra.it by Stuart

-PuliliahBdly P, 0 ' Shsa, TsTewYork..

LIVES

Deceased Bishops

Crfjwlk Cjptrtjj

IN THE UNITED STATES,

WITH AN APPENDIX AND AN ANALYTICAL INDEX.

By RICHARD H. CLARKE, A.M.

Like stars, to their appointed heights they climb. — Shelley.

VOL. I.

NEW YORK:
P. O'SHEA, 27 BARCLAY STREET.
1872.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by
R. H. CLARKE, A.M.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

v.l

C55

TO

ut* *$ul'j gntktt,
PIUS IX.,

WHO DEFINED THE DOGMA OF
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER;
WHO CONVENED THE (ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
OF THE VATICAN, AND DEFINED THE DOGMA OF
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY;
WHOSE PROLONGED PONTIFICATE HAS BEEN
A TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION
FROM CROSS TO CROSS, AND FROM CROWN TO CROWN;
WHOM HISTORY WILL CALL PIUS THE GREAT;
THESE VOLUMES ARE REVERENTLY DEDICATED BY HIS
DEVOTED SON IN CHRIST,

2lI)£ &ntf)0r.

THANKS

The Author return's sincere thanks for materials furnished
and for courtesies and favors extended to him, during the pre
paration of this work, by the following gentlemen : —
Most Rev. Archbishop McCloskey, New York.
" " Spalding, Baltimore.
" Alemany, San Francisco.
" " Purcell, Cincinnati.

Right Rev. Bishop Elder, Natchez.
McFarland, Hartford.
" " Williams, Boston.
" " Feehan, Nashville.
" " Bayley, Newark.
" Dr. O'Connor, Baltimore.
" Seton, New Jersey.
Very Rev. John McCaffrey, Emmittsburg,
Md.
" M. F. Grignon, Mississippi.
" A. M. Paresce, Maryland.
" A. D. Pellicer, Alabama.
Chas. I. White, District of
Columbia.
" P. J. Ryan, St. Louis.
" Ferd. Coosemans, S.J., Mis
souri.
" Isaac T. Hecker, New York. .
Rev. Wm. F. Clarke, S.J., Baltimore.
" George F. Haskins, Boston.
" Francis McNeirny, New York.

Rev. Jos. M. Finotti, Mass.
" F. X. De Neckere, S.J., Penn.
" E. I. Young, California.
" Thad. Anwander, Maryland,
" Wm. Beacham, New York.
" John Breen, New York.
" E. P. Walters, Indiana.
John G. Shea, Esq., New York.
Raphael Semmes, Esq., Mobile.
G. A. Finotti, Esq., Boston.
Jas. A. McMaster, Esq., New York.
Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, New York.
Hon. B. J. Webb, Kentucky.
" James Campbell, Philadelphia.
John Carroll Brent, Esq., Washington,
D. C.
Edward C. Donnelly, Esq., New York.
D. Lamson, Esq., New York.
Edward Ives, Esq. , New Jersey.
Patrick O'Shea, Esq., New York.
Lawrence Kehoe, Esq., New York.

PREFACE

THE Church ol America is said even now to be in her infancy.
So much is to be done. So vast is the field. So rapid her
present growth. Yet she possesses an antiquity of her own,
traces her history back eight hundred years, and links her
origin and traditions with the Ages of Faith. In the tenth cen
tury Christianity was planted on our Continent by Northmen.
and in the twelfth a devoted Catholic Bishop and zealous mis
sionaries blessed the soil of our own country by their ministry
and by their lives.
A long period of undisturbed paganism followed. But in the
fifteenth century the genius of Columbus, stimulated and en
lightened by his Catholic devotion and faith, presented a new
world to Christendom, and the cross of salvation gleamed upon
both continents of our hemisphere.
Within the same generation that witnessed the splendid suc
cess of Columbus, the Church, wafting her graces on the wings
of discovery, despatched a Catholic Prelate and missionaries to
evangelize the dusky children of the everglades, and build up
the diocese of Florida. They came, and heroically gave their
lives for the flock they loved only in Christ. During the Colo
nial period our churches, whether in Maryland and Pennsylvania,
or in Louisiana and Florida, or through the Valley of the Mis
sissippi, were attached to the jurisdictions of the parent nations.
The venerable succession of Archbishops of Baltimore ex
tends back to the infancy of the Republic. The Archbishops
of New Orleans trace back their line to the Spanish Bishops of
the last century. In 1808 the Sees of New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, and Bardstown (now Louisville) were created,
and since that auspicious era the episcopal sees of the United
States have multiplied like the mustard-seed of the Gospel. In

viii Preface.
1846 Oregon, and in 1847 St. Louis, were raised to Archiepis
copal Sees. In 1850 New Orleans, New York, and Cincinnati
were also erected into metropolitans. The same was done for San
Francisco in 1853. The primacy of honor among Bishops and
Archbishops was conferred upon the Archbishops of Baltimore.
The growth of the Catholic Church in our midst has propor
tionately far outstripped that of the Republic. In a period of
ninety-five years, the United States have increased from thir
teen States to thirty-seven States and eleven Territories ; while
the Church, during a period of eighty-one years, has increased
from one bishopric to fifty-four bishoprics, six vicariates apos
tolic, and four abbeys with mitred abbots. The population»of
the country has increased from 2,803,000 to about 40,000,000,
an increase of about 1,433 Per centum ; while the Catholic pop
ulation has increased from 25,000 to about 5,500,000, an increase
of 22,000 per centum. The increase in our Catholic population
has resulted from foreign immigration, the natural growth of
our native population, conversions from the sects, and acces
sions from the Indian tribes. The salvation of the Indians has
ever been one of the dearest aims of the Catholic Church. The
Church is conservative and productive. Had her efforts not
been defeated by the non-Catholic and inhuman policy pursued
towards the Indians, they too would have been prepared for an
enlightened civilization on earth, and for the enjoyment of the
beatific vision in heaven.
But the Church in the United States had to provide spiritually
for this vast and rapid growth of her children. The zeal with
which she has addressed herself to this gigantic work of labor,
fecundity, and grace, and her success, could have proceeded
alone from God. Our clergy have been increased from twenty-
one priests in 1790, to about four thousand eight hundred, dis
pensing the blessings of faith and religion to five and a half
millions of Catholics, worshipping at four thousand two hundred
and fifty churches and seventeen hundred chapels and stations.
The incense of prayer and benediction ascends, also, from
thousands of institutions dedicated to religion, education, and
charity, and dispensing inestimable blessings upon the land.

Preface. ix
To Rome, the Capital of the Christian World, Eternal City,
destined in our hopes and prayers and faith to be restored to us
again as the free and undesecrated Mistress and Ruler of
Churches, and to the Sovereign Pontiffs therein, Vicars of
Christ on Earth, we turn with love and gratitude for the care,
solicitude, and support bestowed upon our Churches, and for
the exemplary Prelates bestowed upon them by the Chief
Bishop of the Church. To our venerable Hierarchy, Bishops
and priests, and to the religious orders, both male and female,
we render thanks for their labors, their sacrifices, their suffer
ings, and their suffrages.
To our Prelates, especially, is due under God the splendid
result we have but faintly mentioned. They were the founders
of our Churches, the pioneers of the faith, and the chief pastors
of our flocks. In poverty and suffering they commenced the
work, and spent themselves for others. A diocese just erected
upon the frontiers, in the midst of a new and swarming popula
tion, to anticipate and save the coming faithful, the hope of a
future flock, an outpost upon the borders of Christianity and
civilization — such was the frequent work and vigilant foresight
of the Propaganda and of the Councils of Baltimore. Such the
charge confided to a newly consecrated Bishop. To the re
ligious enterprise and untiring providence of the Catholic
Church, in her prompt and vigorous measures for the extension
of the faith in this country, may well be applied the striking-
lines of Milton : — "Zeal and duty are not slow;
But on occasion's forelock watchful wait." Paradise Regained.
To assume the task of creating, as it were, building up, and
governing the infant Churches thus confided to their care, was
the work that was faithfully and zealously performed by our
Bishops. It was no uncommon thing for a Bishop to be sent
to a diocese where there was scarcely a shrine or a priest ;
where he not only had no friends or organized flock to receive
him, but where he had not even an acquaintance ; where he
would not meet a face that he had ever seen before. In some

x Preface.
instances he had to enter a diocese rent with disunion or schism
among the people. In others he was compelled to reside out
of the episcopal city by reason of disaffection prevailing within.
In other cases such was their poverty, that they had not the
necessary means to procure an episcopal outfit, to provide a
pectoral cross and crozier, or to pay their traveling expenses to
their dioceses. In many cases the humble log cabins of the
West were their episcopal palaces and cathedrals ; and fre
quently church, episcopal residence, parish school, and theo
logical seminary were all under the same contracted roof. In
the midst of such difficulties we behold examples of humility,
patience, cheerfulness, zeal, charity, love, poverty and untir
ing labor. A study of such examples, and of lives so good,
so heroic, has led us to undertake the work now presented to
the public, in order to repeat and continue their holy in
fluences, to preserve the memory of such deeds, to render a
tribute to those honored names, and to rescue, as far as we
could, our Catholic traditions from oblivion or total loss. We
applied to ourself, and yielded to, the spirit of the poet's ap
peal : — " Spread out Earth's holiest records here,
Of days and deeds to reverence dear;
A zeal like this what pious legends tell ? "
We are conscious of a double imperfection in our work :
first, that which proceeds from our own unworthiness and short
comings, by reason of which we submit our task with unfeigned
diffidence and humility to the generous reader ; secondly, that
which proceeds from the insufficiency of the materials at our
service — an imperfection which we should be glad to have
remedied by the kind assistance of such as possess additional
materials, and are willing to give us the use of them.
We also submit our labor to the Holy Father, the Universal
Bishop, with most sincere protestations of reverence, obedience,
and love.
The Author.
New York City,
Feast of the Assumption B. V. M., 1871.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

A.D.* FACE
1121. Eric, Bishop of Garda, First American Bishop  13
1526. Right Rev. Juan Juarez, Bishop of Rio de las Palmas, Florida. . 21
1790. Most Rev. John Carroll, First Archbishop of Baltimore  32
1793. Most Rev. Luis Penalver y Cardenas, First Bishop of New Or
leans, afterwards Archbishop of Guatemala and of Havana. . . 114
1800. Most Rev. Leonard Neale, Second Archbishop of Baltimore. ... 116
1802. Right Rev. Francis Porro, Second Bishop of New Orleans  139
1808. Right Rev. Luke Concanen, First Bishop of New York  140
1810. Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, First Bishop of Bardstown
and of Louisville  144
1810. Most Rev. Louis de Cheverus, First Bishop of Boston, after
wards Bishop of Montauban, and Cardinal Archbishop of
Bordeaux, France  164
1810. Right Rev. Michael Egan, First Bishop of Philadelphia  185
1 8 14. Right Rev. John Connelly, Second Bishop of New York  192
18 1 5. Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, Third Bishop of New Or
leans, afterwards Archbishop of Besancon, France  205
1817. Most Rev. Ambrose Mardchal, Third Archbishop of Baltimore.. 239
1819. Right Rev. John Baptist David, Coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown. 256
1820. Right Rev. Patrick Kelly, First Bishop of Richmond, afterwards
Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Ireland  268
1820. Right Rev. John England, First Bishop of Charleston  271
1820. Right Rev. Henry Conwell, Second Bishop of Philadelphia  310
1822. Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, First Bishop of Cincinnati  328
1824. Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, Coadjutor Bishop of New Orleans,
and First Bishop of St. Louis  353
1825. Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, Second Bishop of Boston. 374
* The dates given in the Table of Contents refer to the years in which the Bishops were consecrated.

xii Contents.
A. D PAGE
1826. Right Rev. John Dubois, Third Bishop of New York  414
1826. Right Rev. Michael Portier, First Bishop of Mobile  438
1828. Most Rev. James Whitfield, Fourth Archbishop of Baltimore. . . 456
1830. Most Rev Francis Patrick Kenrick, Third Bishop of Philadel
phia, and Sixth Archbishop of Baltimore  473
1830. Right Rev. Leo Raymond de Neckere, Fourth Bishop of New
Orleans  518
1834. Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, Fifth Archbishop of Baltimore. . . . 525

THE LIVES

IN THE UNITED STATES.

ERIC, BISHOP OF GARDA,
First American Bishop, A.D. 1121.*
The star that appeared in the East and moved
towards the West, standing over Bethlehem, was more
than the sign of a Savior's birth : it was at once em
blem and prophecy of the rise and progress of Christi
anity. From the rejection of Our Lord by the Jews,
the course of that benign faith was from the East, where
it arose, to the West. The journeys of St. Peter and
St. Paul, from Jerusalem to Rome, were the begin
nings of the fulfilment. The wonderful achievements of
the Church in overcoming heathenism and barbarism,
and in reducing the continent of Europe under the
sweet yoke of her Divine Lord, constitute an unparal
leled conquest in the annals of our race — proof of her
* Authorities : Antiquitates Americana ; Wheaton's Northmen; North Ameri
can Review ; History of the Catholic Missions, by John G. Shea ; The Catholic
Church in the United States, by De Courcy and Shea; living's Columbus, Vol. III.
Appendix — Title, Voyages of the Scandinavians ; Lecture on the History of America
before Columbus, by Bishop Lynch, of Charleston, &c, &c.

14 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
divine origin and commission. The contest she carried
on for centuries with the powers of darkness resulted
in her triumph only after the most sublime efforts of
heavenly grace and human genius, the heroic labors
of armies of Christian missionaries, and the flowing
of copious streams of the blood of martyrs. Inch by
inch was the ground contested, from the Orient to the
Emerald of the Sea. Westward was the triumphant
march of the cross. The long centuries that intervened,
from the rise of Christianity to its complete establish
ment in Europe, and its advent to the Western hemi
sphere, were ages of heroic and gigantic labors, of
brilliant and glorious successes. It is not so much a
matter of wonder that the delay was so long, but rather
that the effort was so soon made, and that there should
have beamed on this new world, at so early a period,
the resplendent light of the Christian Faith. The ad
vance of Christianity to our shores was not even known,
at the time, to involve the discovery of a new world ;
thus the subsequent discovery of Columbus electrified
mankind. Indeed, if we may judge from a human point
of view, the missionaries of the Catholic Church rushed
impetuously to this vast field, yet unprepared, before the
fulness of time had been accomplished. Our soil was
blessed by Christianity, by its missions, prayers, and
sacrifices, as early as the tenth century — a flash of light
and glory most effulgent, but transient — a ray of hope
for a future Christendom !
From Ireland, the western terminus of Christian na
tions, colonization and the Faith extended northward to
Iceland. The Icelanders, —
" Far in the Northern Land,
By the wild Baltic's strand," —

Eric, Bishop of Gar da. 15
hardy explorers and marauders of the northern seas,
pushed their adventures beyond the Eastern to the
Western hemisphere. It was thus, by bold advances,
the Northmen not only swept the seas, but also planted
colonies on the Southern coast of North America as
early as the tenth century.
"Joining the corsair's crew,
O'er the dark sea I flew
With the marauders.
Wild was the life we led ;
Many the souls that sped,
Many the hearts that bled,
By our stern orders."
Iceland had not yet been converted to Christianity,
and the first colonists were pagans. In the mean time
Christianity advanced from Ireland into Iceland, and it
was not long after it gained a foothold there that
Catholic missionaries went out to convert their country
men in Greenland. Some of the colonists who went
from Iceland to Greenland pagans, returned Christians.
Prominent among these was Ar6 Marson, a pagan Ice
lander, driven by the storms of the Northern ocean into
the colony in the year 983. He received there the re
generating waters of baptism. Lief, son of Eric the
Red, the founder of Greenland, returning to Europe
soon afterwards, visited the mother-country, when Olaus,
Norway's sainted King, became the instrument of his
conversion to Christianity.
Lief returned to Greenland in the year 1000, accom
panied by Catholic missionaries, who must have been
imbued in an eminent degree with the true apostolic
spirit, for it was not long before most of the Northmen
in America were Christians. The churches and con-

1 6 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
vents of Greenland began to compare in piety and learn
ing with those of the mother-country. But already had
wind and wave driven some of these hardy explorers
to the southern coast of what are now Canada and
New England; and they, returning afterwards to ex
plore the country thus seen, coasted along Labrador and
Nova Scotia, and, adventuring still farther, sailed into
Narragansett Bay. The country was festooned with
vines teeming with wild grapes, and received from
these first of European visitors the name of Vinland.
A settlement was formed, and fostered under Thor-
wald, Thorstein, and Thorfin successively. The mission
ary was never behind the adventurer and explorer ; and
Greenland sent her priests to convert the pagan North
men of Vinland, their own countrymen. Thus, among
the colonists of the same country, Druids and Christians,
the altars of Thor and Woden arose alongside of
Christian shrines, in which the Immaculate Lamb was
immolated, a willing victim for the souls of men. It was
during these north-western explorations that congratula
tions were exchanged between Icelanders, Greenlanders,
and Vinlanders, over the almost simultaneous conver
sion of the mother-country and her colonies.
The most active and zealous of the Norse missionaries
was the celebrated Eric, the first of Catholic priests who
placed his foot on our soil, the first bishop that exercised
jurisdiction over any part of America. He had already
spent several years in the arduous missions of Green
land. When his countrymen, under Thorwald, Thor
stein, and Thorfin, who were said to have been of Irish
origin, began to colonize the newly-discovered country
of Vinland, the ardent spirit of Eric carried him among
ihe first to those new fields of apostolic labor. Here,

Eric, Bishop of Garda. 17
for several years, he toiled and served with holy zeal and
with great success. So great was the progress of the
faith in Greenland, and of the mission in Vinland, that, in
1 1 20, Eric returned to Norway, and induced the ecclesi
astical authorities to found a bishopric in the new colony,
and to provide for an organization of the rising Church.
It was thus through the bishops of Scandinavia the new
see of Garda, the chief seat of the Norse settlements in
America, was founded. Justly appreciating the pre-emi
nent services of Eric in that field, they elected him, as the
most worthy incumbent for the new episcopate, the first
Bishop of America. He received episcopal consecration
at Lund, in Denmark, from the hands of Archbishop Ad-
zar, in 1121.
Thus created Bishop of Garda, in Greenland, the
whole of the Norse colonies in America were within his
jurisdiction, including the Vinland of our own country.
Ever intent on the spread of religion and the organization
of the Church of Vinland, as well as the conversion of
the savages of the South, he lost no time in visiting the
new colony on the shores of Narragansett Bay, accom
panied by a band of zealous missionaries who had vol
unteered for that service, and by a colony of settlers.
He became at once devoted to his flock, and anxious to
make every sacrifice for it. His love increased with his
labors and successes, and he resolved never to be sepa
rated from his Vinland Church. Greenland, where re
ligion was already well established and flourishing, could
easily be provided with priests and bishop ; but the in
fant Church of Vinland was more needy, more remote,
and more uncertain in its future. How could he abandon
so tender a plant, which he had himself set in a generous
soil ? Laying aside the mitre and crosier, he assumed
2

1 8 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the black cassock and the cross of the humble missionary,
and resigned his bishopric ; beautiful example of heroic
devotion — historic proof of the equal vigor and perfec
tion of the Church in all times — ever One, Holy, Catho
lic, and Apostolic ; knowing no infancy or growth within
herself ; ever ancient and ever new ; and needing no de
velopment of time to produce heroes and martyrs in her
newest acquisitions !
This devoted missionary now labored in the ranks
with the companions whom he brought out with him, and
dedicated the remainder of his life to the work of heaven
on earth. It was not only the Scandinavian colonies on
the banks of the Narragansett Bay to whom he devoted
himself, but the Indians also shared his generous exer
tions. It is no small satisfaction to the Catholic of America to
see his Church trace back her history to the middle ages,
and find the title of her first bishop in the ages of faith :
ages more happy than our own, when, among Christians,
altar had not been raised up against altar ; when the seam
less garment of Christ had not been torn in pieces ; when
there was but one fold and one shepherd. There, too, in
the first advent of the faith to our shores, we may point to
our first of bishops as our first of martyrs ; for though the
silence of ages has concealed the fate of Bishop Eric and
his companions, there is every reason to believe that,
following their zeal and charity amid the dangers of sav
age war, shipwreck, and famine, they welcomed death
in the glorious pursuit.
The location of Vinland, the field of Bishop Eric's la
bors and death, has been fixed by modern researches at
or near the present city of Newport ; for here have been
found, and still exist, Scandinavian ruins bearing unmis-

Eric, Bishop of Garda. 19
takable resemblance to the relics of the Northmen in
Greenland and Iceland, and wholly unlike any known
remains of Indian workmanship. In the Memoirs of the
Royal Society of Antiquarians we find the following pas
sage on this subject: — " The ancient tholus in Newport,
the erection of which appears to be coeval with the time
of Bishop Eric, belonged to a Scandinavian church or
monastery, where, in alternation with Latin masses, the
old Danish tongue was heard seven hundred years ago."
The Northmen and their missions passed away. A
delicate thread of light, far back in remote ages, tbus
connects the Church of the present with the venerable
past. Centuries of religious night settled upon our con
tinent, and its existence, scarcely known, had passed
away from the traditions of men.
" I was a Viking old I
My deeds, though manifold,
No Skald in song has told,
No Saga taught thee !" *
The Providence of God, however, was then working
out designs of mercy in our regard, and calling into ex
istence and guiding the agencies for a future and distant
advance of Christianity from the Eastern to the Western
Hemisphere, — a glorious advance ! springing wholly from
Catholic and religious motives ; a consecration of will and
purpose accepted by Heaven, and destined to restore to
the Church in America much of what she had lost in
Europe. The ancient episcopal city of Garda was swept away
* The poet Longfellow, in his Skeleton in Armour, from which the above poetical
quotations are taken, suggested by Scandinavian relics found near Newport, Rhode
Island, has celebrated some of the exploits of the Northmen on the high seas and on
our continent.

20 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
by the elements. The shifting of the Gulf Stream, with
its genial breezes, has left that bleak coast of Greenland
desolate. But the site of Garda has been identified by
modern scientific researches, and the relics of the North
men discovered imbedded in the sand. But let us pre
serve the precious tradition, and allot a place in our annals
for the story of the first of American Bishops. Shall the
title of the first American see pass away into perpetual
oblivion ? Or may we be permitted to suggest, with
reverence, that the title of Bishop of Garda be revived in
our venerable Hierarchy, and bestowed upon one of the
Vicars Apostolic or Bishops in partibus hereafter to be
created in the growth of our Church ?

Right Rev. Juan fuarez, O. S.F. 2 1

RIGHT REV. JUAN JUAREZ, O.S.F.,
First Bishop of Florida, A.D. 1526.*
Our Western Hemisphere, under the benign Provi
dence of God, was awakened from the long night of reli
gious darkness which followed the transient colonies of
the Catholic Northmen from Europe in the tenth, eleventh,
and twelfth centuries, by an enterprise as truly Catholic
and religious, and by a hero as devout a son of the
Church, as the history of the world presents to our ad
miration. There is nothing in the visits of the Northmen
to the shores of New England, nor in the brief colony
they planted on the shores of Narragansett Bay, — events
which had faded from the records of the race in the fif
teenth century, — that can deprive Columbus of the glory
of having discovered America, or diminish his prestige ;
much less detract from the noble and truly Catholic mo
tives which impelled his great soul to the magnificent
work of opening a new world to the apostleship of
Christendom, to the spiritual conquest of Rome, to the
promises and hopes of Heaven. From the beginning to
the end of voyages, conducted under Catholic auspices,
the missionary accompanied the mariner ; the cross went
side by side with the royal banner. Catholic Europe
soon blazed with zeal for the conversion of a new world
to the faith. The rude warfare and fierce passions of

* Authorities : Herrera's Hist. Gen. de las Indias ; Torquemada's Monarquia
Indiana ; Bancroft's History of the U. S. ; History of the Catholic Missions, by
J. G. .Shea ; Narration of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, translated by Bucking
ham Smith.

22 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ambitious and covetous warriors and adventurers, let
loose upon a naked and barbarous race, in a country of
boundless extent and fabled treasures, were checked by
the presence of the men of God, and by the restraining
and ameliorating influences of the sacraments of the
Catholic Church. That Church herself, by Pope Paul
III., raised her voice in behalf of the aborigines, protest
ing against the cruelties inflicted upon them, and against
their reduction to slavery ; and declared them to be ra
tional beings, entitled to liberty, and " capable of the
Christian faith."* The solicitude of that Church for the
Indians, her. love for their souls, her charity, zeal, and
tenderness towards them, were all beautifully illustrated
for sixty years in the life and character, the labors and
virtues of Las Casas, the illustrious Catholic Bishop of
Chiapa. Had the Indians been left to the guidance of
the missionaries ; had peace among themselves been
maintained by the power of the whites ; had not the voice
of discord been raised among Christians, a conquest for
Heaven, instead of a slaughter of three centuries, and a
home for the white man built over the graves of the In
dians, would have been among the fruits of the splendid
enterprise and Catholic zeal of Columbus. The Chris
tian Republic of Paraguay; the edifying commonwealth
of Huronia, on the northern lakes, under Brebeuf; the
Catholic flock of Rale in Maine ; the flourishing missions
along the valley of the Mississippi and in both Califor-
nias, and numerous instances among the Indians of sin
cere conversion to the faith, of perfect reform of life, and
even of heroic martyrdom, are some among the many
* Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul III., a.d. 1527 ; which see in Torquemada's Mo-
narquia Indiana, and Clavigero's History of Mexico, and a translation of it in
McGee's Catholic History of America.

Right Rev. Juan Juarez, O.S.F. 23
proofs presented by our Catholic history to demonstrate
the practicability of redeeming the race from barbarism,
and of gaining them permanently to Christianity and civ
ilization. A religion whose priests stopped at no per
sonal sacrifice in order to do good, and who laid down
their lives for the conversion of the pagans, could not,
and did not of itself, fail to gain those children of the
Western forests and prairies to the Church of God.
Well may we point with pride to that glorious band of
missionaries, confessors, and martyrs who illustrate the
Catholic history of our country. Amongst them was the
subject of this memoir, Juan Juarez, Bishop of Rio de las
Palmas, in Florida, the pioneer Bishop of the United
States, and a joyous martyr for the cause of God.
Bishop Juarez was a native of Valentia, Spain ; he was
educated there, joined the Franciscans, and attached him
self to the reformed branch of that order in the province
of St. Gabriel. After Cort6s had completed the conquest
of Mexico, he began to give his special attention to the
religious interests and welfare of the empire he had
added to the dominions of Spain. He applied for mis
sionaries for the Mexican Church, and his petition, sec
onded by the Pope and the King of Spain, was, after
some delay, granted. Quinones, General of the Fran
ciscans, selected twelve of his Order to become the twelve
apostles of Mexico, in 1524, at the head of whom was
the venerable Father Martin of Valentia. Six of these
missionaries were selected as " learned preachers," of
which number was Father Juan Juarez, and he was named
the fourth of the companions of Father Martin. They
sailed from San Lucar, January 24, 1524, and arrived at
Vera Cruz on the 13th of May. Cortes, who had invited
them over, received them with profound honor and dis-

24 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
tinguished veneration. The following account of this
event is from a note in Mr. Buckingham Smith's Trans
lation of Cabeza de Vaca's Relation : —
" The respectful reception given by Cortes to these
holy men at their entrance of the capital, earned their
honest encomiums. Surrounded by his cavaliers, while
he spread his rich mantle for the chief friar to walk upon,
on bended knees he kissed the hands of the passing
brothers. The humble bearing and poor covering of the
mendicants were in strange contrast to the gallant de
portment and gay attire of the knights ; and when the
Indians saw this obeisance, they thought a race had ar
rived superior to their turbulent conquerors. There
were not wanting, then, those to tell Cortis that he had
brought into the country an element of his ruin, and they
forgot not to remind him of the occasion afterward.
Torquemada considers the act to have been the greatest
of his achievements in that he conquered himself; but ad
mits that his downfall came in the course of the struggles
made necessary for preserving the rights and liberty of
the natives, which followed upon his own misconduct."
The Franciscans established four convents of their
order in Mexico, and in the first chapter held by the fa
thers after their settlement, Father Juarez was elected
warden of the Convent of Huexotzinco or Gaxalcingo, now
Huegocongo. He was afterwards appointed visitor of
the province. He was a devoted friend of the Indians,
who, under the mild influence of the Franciscans, lived
in peace and harmony with the Spaniards, against whose
authority they did not rebel. The convent under Father
Juarez became the centre of Christian faith and reform.
The Christian natives in goodly numbers flocked to this
shrine for instruction and the sacraments. The large

Right Rev. Juan Juarez, O.S.F. 25
house of the convent was crowded with children and
neophytes, many of whom edified even their holy pas
tors by their piety and faith. Idolatry disappeared from
their midst, and they heroically assisted in destroying
the temples of the former idolatrous worship.
Father Juarez obtained from the King of Spain the pro
tection of the crown for the Indians, and a decree pro
hibiting their enslavement, and requiring the Spaniards
to treat them humanely. His name was held in grateful
remembrance and benediction among the Indians long
after his death ; and they treasured " the memorials of
his great religion and piety."* In order more effectually
to promote their welfare by interesting the Government
in their favor, he visited Spain, carrying six of the na
tives with him, three of whom were of high rank, and
three of lower grade. The king was much pleased and
interested in these his new subjects ; he ordered them to
be dressed according to their ranks. But the climate of
Spain did not agree with them, and he humanely sent
them back to Mexico. The king also gave Father Ju
arez a considerable donation for the purchase of the
vestments and church service necessary for the Mission.
Among the Spanish explorers and adventurers of that
age was Pamphilo de Narvaez, who, in 1527, undertook
and commanded an expedition for the conquest of
Florida, in hopes of repeating the success and renown of
Cortes. Influenced by the spirit of the times, he and his
companions dreamed of vast conquests and boundless
wealth, and felt sure of securing for Spain a country rival
ling Mexico in population and resources, and for them
selves fame and fortune. Spain, too, had heroes of
higher and purer aims, who coveted conquests and trea-
* Torquemada.

26 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
sures of more inestimable price, and who, despising the
wild notions of their countrymen in search of fountains of
perpetual youth, advanced with courage and self-sacrifice
greater than theirs, in order to bless with celestial gifts a
perishing race, and to open to them the gushing foun
tains of eternal life. These were chiefly the religious
orders of the Church, a precious inheritance from the
middle ages, but composed of men animated with the
same spirit and faith, wearing the same dress and speak
ing the same language in all ages and climes. Scarcely
had Pamphilo raised his standard when the sons of St.
Francis, pressing forward for the conversion of the natives
of the new realm, unfurled the banner of the cross. Chief
among these was Father Juan Juarez, already celebrated
as an apostle of Mexico. He was accompanied by four
other Franciscans, the Cantador Alfonso Enriquez,
Father Asturiano, the lay brother Juan de Palos, and a
fourth, whose name is not mentioned in the narra
tives of the day. Other priests are said to have accom
panied the expedition.
The king was so sure of the success of the enterprise,
that he proposed to have an Episcopal See erected for
the new country, the royal grant of which to Narvaez
extended from Rio de las Palmas, ninety miles north of
Panuco, to the Atlantic or cape of Florida. Father Jua
rez was accordingly nominated and appointed by the
Holy See first Bishop of Rio de las Palmas. The injunc
tions of the king to Bishop Juarez expressed a noble
solicitude for the protection of the Indians, and required
that the law providing that, in case of conflict, a sum
mons to surrender or disperse should first be made
before a resort to force by the Spaniards, should be en
forced ; instructions gladly accepted by the bishop, and

Right Rev. Juan Juarez, O.S.F. 27
probably first suggested by that tried friend of the Indians.
In his ardent zeal for the salvation of his new flock, and
perhaps with the design of escaping the honor while
seeking the labor, he did not wait for the bulls of appoint
ment and investiture, but hastened to embark at once in
Narvaez' fleet for America. He secured, however, a pro
vision for the erection of a church and mission-house.
The Florida fleet sailed from San Lucar, June 17, 1527,
suffered long delays and severe hardships and losses at
San Domingo, Cuba, and at sea, and arrived off the
coast of Florida on Holy Thursday, April 14, 1528. They
landed April 16, and performed the usual ceremony of
taking possession of the country in the name of the
King of Spain, while the prayers, the benedictions, and
holy sacrifice offered by the fathers consecrated it to God.
Bishop Juarez, throughout the expedition, bore the title
of the commissary, a title indicative of the office he held
in his own order ; and during those severe struggles
which form the history of the adventure, was a faithful
and discreet friend and counsellor of the governor. He
accompanied Narvaez with a few others on a preliminary
expedition into the country, spending the night in camp
and returning to the coast on the following day. He
soon formed some idea of the religion of the natives from
discovering several cases containing the bodies of their
dead, which were wrapped in painted deer-skins, and to
which a superstitious homage was paid by the living.
He represented the matter to the governor, who, at his
request, caused all the cases to be burned, as an expres
sion of horror at their idolatry. Narvaez was greatly
perplexed in adopting a line of action ; if he left his ves
sels on the coast, without a harbor, and advanced into
the country, the loss of his ships would cut off all means

28 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of escape in case of disaster in the inland march ; if he
remained near the shore, the glorious conquests that
allured him to the interior would be lost: he summoned
a council, composed of Bishop Juarez the commissary,
and five others, and requested their advice. Various
plans were presented, principal among which were
those of Cabeza de Vaca, the treasurer, and of Bishop
Juarez. The former proposed to re-embark and seek
a harbor with the vessels; the latter earnestly op
posed a re-embarkation, after the many disasters and
losses of men and vessels they had sustained since
their departure from Spain, regarding it as braving
Providence ; and recommended a march along the coast
in search of a harbor for the ships, while the vessels
should' take a like direction off the coast, until a har
bor should be found by this joint movement. A ma
jority of the council sided with the bishop; but Narvaez
would not follow this advice, and decided to abandon the
proposal of settling a colony at that spot, and sent the
ships and colonists in search of another settlement, while
he and his main body advanced into the interior. Had
he followed the wise counsels of the bishop, he might
have been spared the disaster sustained during the in
land march in the loss of his ships and colonists, and the
means of escape from the country at the final disaster
would have been preserved. Having given his orders
for a muster of the force, it was found to consist of three
hundred persons, including the governor, the bishop and
three otherxlergymen, the brother Juan de Palos, and the
officers, making forty mounted men. On the third day
Bishop Juarez with others again entreated the governor
to seek first a harbor for his vessels from the dangers of
the sea, but the latter rejected the advice in his ardor to

Right Rev. Juan Juarez, O.S.F. 29
advance, and ordered that no further mention be made
of the sea. The advancing column marched through the
country_in quest of fabled and imaginary realms of wealth
and grandeur ; their fifteen days' rations were soon con
sumed ; the reticence of the Indians was only broken to
deceive them by accounts of rich and populous regions
beyond their own domains ; they suffered greatly for want
of food, finding nothing to eat but palmitos or the dwarf
fan-palm, for a considerable time before finding fields of
maize, and these were scarce and far apart. The silent
distrust of the Indians broke out in open hostilities. They
discharged their weapons on the adventurers from am
bushes, and the first victim was the friend and companion
of Bishop Juarez, the Mexican prince Don Pedro, Lord
of Tescuco, who, with another converted Mexican prince,
had accompanied the bishop on the expedition. Some
times the Indians extended to them a treacherous hos
pitality, and fell upon them at night with murderous fury.
Hunger, sickness, the fatigues of the journey through
dense and tangled forests, and over numerous streams
and bays, loaded down with armor and the property of
the expedition, and even plots amongst some of their
own number, constituted the varied and sad experience
of the company. Their ranks were decimated by disease,
and the survivors were like living skeletons. To the
bright visions of conquest and treasure, with which they
commenced the march, succeeded the only thought of
escape from the country. Coming upon the upper waters
of Pensacola Bay, they constructed five open boats as
best they could, and reached the Gulf of Mexico in the
neighborhood of Mobile Bay. But here perplexity
and disasters awaited them. Narvaez in his troubles
freely consulted Bishop Juarez, in whom he found a wise

30 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and candid counsellor. But what could be done in such
disasters and destitution ? Death from starvation awaited
them on shore, and storms and shipwreck threatened
them at sea. They preferred the latter risk, with a faint
hope of making their escape. They embarked in their
frail open boats, and passed for some distance down the
coast, in the midst of incessant storms. The bishop with
his companions, numbering forty-nine persons, embarked
in an open boat, so loaded that "not over a span of the
gunwales remained above water." In all their efforts to
put out to sea they were driven back by storms. The
boat containing the bishop and his companions was upset
at "the confluence of the rivers," and he and his crew
were only saved by the prompt assistance of Narvaez.
Every boat was wrecked, and most of the survivors
drowned. Narvaez, having saved the lives of the bishop
and his companions, was swallowed up some days after,
with his crew, in the gulf. Those who escaped were des
titute of clothing and of food, and even in this extremity
were attacked by the Indians. Bishop Juarez, Father
Asturiano, Brother Juan de Palos, and about forty others
from the same boat and that of Cabeza de Vaca, includ
ing that officer himself, were cast upon an island, which
they called Malhado, now Dauphin Island. Four only
of the entire expedition under Narvaez reached Mexico
by land, after incredible hardships and sufferings. A
likeness of Bishop Juarez, from the original portrait of
him preserved in the convent of Tlaltelalco, in Mexico, is
given in the translation of the relation of Cabeza de Vaca
by the late Buckingham Smith, recently published.
The fate of Juarez and his companions must have been
appalling. Left upon a desolate shore, naked and hun
gry, and with no means of relief; even in such distress

Right Rev. Juan Juarez, O.S.F. 31
they were hunted down by the hostile natives. Those
whom the storms of the sea or the savage weapon
did not destroy, made their escape to the forests and
marshes, only to encounter the more cruel death of hun
ger. Thus ended this ill-fated effort to found a colony in
Florida, and to establish the first bishopric within the
limits of our Republic. Thus Bishop Juarez, on the
coast of Louisiana, like Bishop Eric on the coast of New
England, encountered a martyr's death, in the heroic
effort to bestow eternal life on the heathens. It is be
lieved that he perished of hunger, a death the most ex
cruciating; but death rendered" glorious in the attempt to
replenish others with the bread of life.
Well has an ancient chronicler* of this glorious event
exclaimed with admiration, that God, accepting his noble
intention and holy zeal for souls, has surely rewarded
his hunger unto death with the plenitude of heavenly
gifts ; and expressed with David the pious belief, that as
God has promised a reward in Heaven to such as give
their lives for Him, so also those who suffer and die
of hunger for His sake, He will satiate with celestial
feasts and seraphic delights.
E sur ient es implevit Bonis.
* Torquemada.

32 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.

MOST REV. JOHN CARROLL, D.D.,
First Archbishop of Baltimore. A.D. 1790.*
Archbishop Carroll, in an historical point of view,
occupies the most prominent place, both in time and in
importance, in the history of the American Catholic
Hierarchy, of which he was the founder. Illustrious for
the exalted position he occupied, and for the great vir
tues of his life, his purity of character, his labors and
services to religion, his memory is cherished with un
diminished veneration by the whole Catholic Church
of the United States. As a patriot he was surpassed by
none of the great and good men of his day in love of
country and devotion to well-regulated liberty. As a
citizen his public virtues were formed in the same politi
cal school with those of Washington. That his talents,
capacity for affairs, calm dignity, sincere piety and zeal
for the salvation of men, eminently fitted him for his high
position, is not only evinced by the voice of his col
leagues in the sacred ministry, whose choice he was for the
episcopal office, but also by the testimony of history. It
was a beneficent Providence which, at such a crisis in
the history of the infant Church of America, bestowed
upon it such a man as its first ruler and chief pastor ;
* Authorities: Memoirs of the Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll, by B. U.
Campbell ; A Brief Account of the Establishment of the Episcopacy in the United
States, by the Same ; Biography of Archbishop Carroll, by John Carroll Brent ;
Pastoral Letters ; Rev. Dr. White's Life of Mother Seton ; Appendix to Darras>
General History of the Catholic Church, by Rev. C. I. White, D.D. ; Memoir,
Letters and Journal of Mrs. Seton, by Right Rev. Robert Seton, D.D., etc., etc.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. t>2>
'a ruler who governed as a Father ; a pastor who became
the Patriarch of religion in his country.
John Carroll was the third son of Daniel Carroll and
Eleanor Darnall, and was born at Upper Marlboro',
Prince George's County, Maryland, January 8, 1735.
His father emigrated from Ireland while yet. a youth
with his father, the grandfather of the Archbishop, in
the reign of James II. The Archbishop's grandfather
was secretary to Lord Powis, a leading minister in the
cabinet of that unfortunate king. It is related that Mr.
Carroll remarked one day to his lordship that he was
happy to find that public affairs and his majesty's ser
vice were proceeding so prosperously ; to which Lord
Powis replied : " You are quite in the wrong ; affairs are
going on very badly ; the king is very ill advised ;" and,
after pausing a few moments, his lordship thus addressed
his secretary : " Young man, I have a regard for you,
and would be glad to do you a service. Take my ad
vice — great changes are at hand — go out to Maryland. I
will speak to Lord Baltimore in your favor." Mr. Car
roll followed the advice of his noble friend ; obtained
government employment in Maryland, with liberal grants
of land, engaged also in commercial pursuits at Upper
Marlboro', and left his family quite independent. He
died in 1765.
Eleanor Darnall, the mother of the Archbishop, was
a native of Maryland, and a daughter of Henry Darnall,
a wealthy Catholic gentleman of the province, and a
large landed proprietor, whose family seat was at
" Woodyard," in Prince George's County. She was
educated with great care in a select school at Paris, and
was greatly admired for her amiability, her profound
piety, her varied and elegant accomplishments. The
3

34 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
virtues of the mother were deeply impressed upon the
character of the son," and gave a charm to his long and
useful life.
These pious parents, like all others at that time in
Maryland, encountered great obstacles in the proper
education of their son. Catholics, whom persecution
had driven from England and Ireland, encountered, after
the Puritan revolution in 1689, even in Catholic Mary
land, founded by themselves as a refuge, the cruel tyran
ny of persecution for conscience' sake. Catholic school
masters were followed up by the officers of the law, and
Catholic parents were prohibited from educating their
children in the faith of their ancestors. But the learned
and zealous Jesuit missionaries in the province had estab
lished at Bohemia, a remote and secluded spot on the
Eastern Shore, a grammar school, where, without ob
servation or molestation, the Catholic youths of the prov
ince received a preparatory training for the European
colleges. Here the youthful Carroll, with his illustrious
cousin, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and his relative,
Robert Brent, entered on their preparatory studies.
Among the professors and conductors of the school were
Fathers Hudson and Matthias Manners, and the venera-
able Father Ferdinand Farmer.
After a year spent in the classes at Bohemia, these
three young students were sent to Europe, and placed
at the Jesuit College of St. Omer's, in French Flanders.
During the six years of his collegiate life at St. Omer's
John Carroll was distinguished, as he had been at Bo
hemia, for his piety, good example, close application to
study, ready and brilliant talents, and for his gentle and
amiable deportment. The fine influences of his child
hood's home, the exalted examples of the Jesuit Fathers

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 35
of Maryland and St. Omer's, and the pure and grace-
directed aspirations of his own soul, led him at an early
age to dedicate his life to God. It was this inspiring
thought which cast a glow of holiness around him dur
ing these years of study. In 1753 he entered the novi
tiate of the Society of Jesus, and, in 1755 was removed
to Lie"ge, to make his course of philosophy and divinity.
In preparing for the holy priesthood, he exhibited more
than his usual zeal and studious application. In 1759,
being then in his twenty-fifth year, after having spent
eleven years in storing his mind with every species of
sacred and profane learning in those distinguished insti
tutions, he was ordained in the sacred ministry. In
the true spirit of the gospel, he gave up his patri
mony and all his worldly possessions to his brother
and sisters in America, and in poverty took up his
cross to follow Christ. After serving as professor at
St. Omer's and at Liege, where he filled the chair of
philosophy, he was received as a professed Father in the
Society of Jesus, in 1771. In 1772 and part of 1773 he made
the tour of Europe, as tutor to the son of Lord Stour-
ton, an English Catholic nobleman of piety and distinc
tion. Their route led them through fields of cultivation,
industry, peace, and plenty, now changed unhappily into
fields of battle, desolation, blood, and death : to Alsace,
then across the Rhine at Strasburg to Cologne ; then
returning to Manheim, they visited Bavaria and the
Tyrol. They next passed through the city of Trent, en
tered Italy by the river Adage, and visited Venice,
Mantua, Modena, Bologna, and finally Rome. The au
tumn was spent at Naples, the winter and part of the
spring at Rome, and, on the homeward route, they
passed through Florence, Genoa, Tunis, Lyons, and Paris.

J

6 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.

Father Carroll's journal is full of valuable observations on
the countries he traversed, the cities he visited, the man
ners, customs, and condition of the people, as well as on
commerce, manufactures, the fine arts, and religion. Alas !
what terrific revolutions have swept over those fine
countries since then ! What changes a century, nay, a
year has wrought ! Then there were Catholic govern
ments ruling over Catholic peoples ; now, alas ! there
are no Catholic governments, and religion is discarded
by States and ministers, and institutions of learning
seized and their inmates expelled, shrines desecrated,
ministers of religion persecuted, consecrated recluses driv
en from . their homes and altars. The Vicars of Christ
have several times during that century been exiles, wan
derers, and prisoners ; and in our day we behold the
Church despoiled, the Capital of Christendom occupied
by force and given over to licentiousness, and the il
lustrious and saintly successor of St. Peter a prisoner,
nay, worse than a prisoner, in the City of Pontiffs.
In 1773 Father Carroll was appointed prefect at
Bruges, whither the Jesuit Fathers, after their expulsion
from St. Omer's and Watten, and the confiscation of their
property by the orders of the Parliament of Paris, had
removed their college. While he was pursuing a life of
study and religious meditation at Bruges, the Society of
Jesus, to which he was most affectionately attached, was
suppressed by the brief of Pope Clement XIV., dated
July 21, 1773, and published on the 16th of August.
This blow fell upon the community at Bruges in Septem
ber, and plunged in profound grief the members of that
illustrious order, which Father Carroll regarded as "the
first of all ecclesiastical bodies." * In common with his
* Letter to his brother.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. t>7
companions of the Society, he yielded, with humility and
obedience, to the mandate of the supreme head of the
Church. In a letter to his brother, Daniel Carroll, after
expressing his grief at the suppression of his order, he
generously and piously exclaimed : " God's holy will be
done, arid may His holy Name be blessed forever and
t >>
ever !
The Jesuit institutions were given up by most of the
governments of Europe to plunder, desecration, and
every kind of vandalism. Bruges was pillaged by the
Austrian government. Li6ge was deprived of its in
come, and its inmates were expelled from the home
which they had made the seat of learning and religion.
The English Jesuits of Flanders retired to England,
whither Father Carroll accompanied them, acted as the
secretary in their meetings, and, in fact, conducted the
important correspondence with the French government
with regard to the property of the suppressed Society in
France. While thus engaged in England, he received
the appointment of chaplain to Lord Arundel, and took
up his residence at Wardour Castle, one of the most
splendid and noble seats in England. But the charms
of Wardour Castle did not withdraw the attention of this
holy priest from the laborious and self-sacrificing duties
of his sacred calling, which he continued zealously to
perform, whenever an opportunity for doing good was
within his reach. He had for some time cherished the
intention of returning to Maryland, and circumstances of
an exciting and important nature now hastened its exe
cution. The controversy between England and her American
colonies was fast hastening to a crisis. Father Carroll,
though surrounded by English society and its influences,

38 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
at once espoused the cause of his country. Bidding
adieu to his beloved companions of the late Society of
Jesus, and to his noble and generous friends at Wardour
Castle, he sailed from England and reached his native
land June 26, 1774. He at once obeyed the first natural
and dutiful impulse of his heart, by visiting his venerable
and excellent mother and devoted sisters ; with the
former of whom he took up his residence near Rock
Creek, in Montgomery County, Maryland. Here a
room in the family dwelling at first, and subsequently a
wooden chapel erected on the family estate, were the
scenes of this worthy priest's ministry. The chapel
erected by Father Carroll has, within recent years, been
replaced by a neat church, which still bears the venerable
name of " Carroll's Chapel."
The laws of Maryland for a century had been so in
tolerant to Catholics, that, although the discussions and
agitations on the subject of free government preceding
the Revolution had, about the year 1770, produced a
more liberal sentiment in this regard, yet at the time of
Father Carroll's arrival in America there was not a sin
gle public place of Catholic worship in Maryland ; old
St. Peter's, at Baltimore, had been closed before its com
pletion, and so remained for several years. The chapels
on the Jesuit farms, and a few private chapels or orato
ries, were the only places of worship possessed by the
Catholics of the province. The number of Catholic
clergymen in Maryland, at that time, was nineteen, all
ex-Jesuits, whose names, as given by Campbell,* were
as follows : " Rev. George Hunter, an Englishman, Vi
car-General of the Vicar Apostolic (Bishop) of London,
was superior of the clergy in Maryland and Pennsyl-
* Memoirs of the Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 39
vania. He resided near Port Tobacco, in Charles
County, upon a beautiful and productive estate still
known as St. Thomas' Manor. With him resided the
Rev. John Bolton, also a native of England ; Rev. Lewis
Roels, a Belgian, and Revs. Charles Sewall, Benedict
Neale, and Sylvester Boarman, natives of Maryland ;
Revs. John Lucas and Joseph Doyne occupied the an
cient establishment of Inigoe's Manor, on the St. Mary's
River, near the spot chosen by the first settlers of Mary
land for the City of St. Mary's. In Prince George's
County, the Rev. John Ashton was stationed at the
Jesuits' farm called ' White Marsh,' and Rev. Bernard
Diderick ; at Boone's Chapel, Revs. John Boone and
Thomas Diggs, natives of Maryland ; the latter, who
was then advanced in years and infirm, resided with an
aged sister on the family estate, Melwood. Rev. Joseph
Mosely, at Deer's Creek, in Harford County ; Rev.
James Framback, at Fredericktown, and Rev. Peter
Morris resided on Bohemia Manor, in Cecil County, on
the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. In Pennsyl
vania there were then three priests, viz. : Rev. Ferdi
nand Farmer, at Philadelphia ; Rev. Matthias Manners,
at Goshenhoppen, about forty-five miles distant, and
Rev. James Pellentz resided near the stream called Con-
ewago, in Adams County." These reverened gentle
men, having been members of the suppressed Order of
Jesuits, were supported from the revenues of the Jesuit
estates, which, fortunately, could not be confiscated in
America, as they had been even in the Catholic coun
tries of Europe. They had also formed among them
selves a temporary or provisional organization, with a
Superior, who was clothed with the power of appoint
ing the members of the associated clergy to the differ-

40 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ent stations within the provinces of Maryland and Penn
sylvania, in the latter of which provinces a greater share
of religious liberty had always been enjoyed than even
in Maryland since the Protestant ascendency. Father
Carroll always maintained the most affectionate relations
with his brethren ; but he did not enter into this associa
tion of the clergy, because he had selected a particular
missionary field for himself, where much good was to be
done, and where, at the same time, he could remain with
his aged and pious mother, in order to console and bless
with the sacred offices of religion her declining years.
He felt the less reluctance in devoting himself thus to a
particular mission, since he could not have gained the
merit of religious obedience in the association of the
clergy. He relinquished every claim to a share in the
joint revenue of the Maryland clergy, though not in the
enjoyment of easy circumstances himself. His mission
ary labors were chiefly performed at Rock Creek and in
the neighboring country, about ten miles from the pres
ent seat of government at Washington, where there
were many Catholic families. He traveled always on
horseback, making long and frequent journeys to distant
Catholic families and settlements, riding frequently thirty
miles or more on sick calls, and paying monthly visits to
a small congregation of Catholics at Aquia Creek, in Staf
ford County, Virginia, which was fifty or sixty miles dis
tant from Rock Creek.
This settlement of Catholics in Stafford County, Vir
ginia, deserves something more than a passing notice.
Capt. George Brent and others had emigrated from Eng
land to that obscure retreat nearly a century before,
bearing a grant under the royal signet of James II., by
which themselves and their posterity forever should en-

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 41
joy the right freely and without molestation to practise
their religion in Virginia, where the exclusive practice of
the religion of the Church of England was established
by law. Two of Capt. Brent's descendants were mar
ried to Anne and Eleanor Carroll, sisters of Father Car
roll, at the time of the missionary visits of the latter to
Stafford. The document alluded to redeems the soil of
colonial Virginia from the taint of universal intolerance,
and is too interesting to be omitted ; it is as follows : —
" James R.
" Right trusty and wellbeloved, We greet you well, Whereas our trusty
and wellbeloved George Brent, of Woodstock, in our County of Stafford,
in that our Collony of Virginia, Richard Foote and Robert Bristow of
London Merchants & Nicholas Hayward of London Notary Public,
have by their Humble Petition informed us, That they have purchased
of our Right Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Lord Culpeper a certain
tract of Land in our said Collony, between the Rivers of Rappahannock
and Potomack, containing of estimation thirty thousand acres lying in
or near our said County of Stafford, some miles distant from any present
Settlement or Inhabitants & at or about twenty miles from the foot of the
mountains, upon part of which Tract of Land the Pet'rs have projected
and doo speedily designe to build a towne with convenient fortifications,
and doo therefore pray That for the encouragement of Inhabitants to set
tle in the said Towne and plantation wee would be pleased to grant them
the free exercise of their Religion, wee have thought fitt to condescend
to their humble Request, and wee doo accordingly give and grant to the
Pet'rs and to all and every the Inhabitants which now are or hereafter
shall be settled in the said Towne and the Tract of Land belonging to
them as is above mentioned, the free exercise of their Religion without
being persecuted or molested upon any penall laws or other account for
the same, which wee do hereby signifie unto you to the end you may
take care and give such orders as shall be requisite — That they enjoy
the full benefit of these our gracious Intentions to them, Provided they
behave themselves in all civill matters so as becomes peaceable and
Loyall subjects, and for so doing this shall be your warrant, and so we
bid you heartely farewell.

42 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
" Given at our Court at Whitehall the ioth day of Feb'y 1686 /in the
third year of our Reign. /j
"By his Maj'ties Commands,
[Royal Signet.] " Sunderland.
" To our Right Trusty and Wellbeloved Francis Lord Howard of Ef
fingham our Lieutenant & Governor General of our Collony and
Dominions of Virginia in America, and to our chiefe Governor or
Governors there for the time being."
This Catholic settlement is supposed to be near the
spot where Father Altham first announced the gospel to
the Indians on the Potomac in 1634. From 1687 to the
time of Father Carroll's visits, the Woodstock or Aquia
Creek Catholics had rigidly and zealously adhered to their
religion in the midst of difficulties and perils, from which
the patent of James II. did not protect them. They were
occasionally visited by the Rev. Father Hunter and other
priests from Maryland, who were obliged to disguise
their priestly character whenever they crossed the Poto
mac. They and a few other Catholics scattered through
Virginia were also attended from time to time by the
good and indefatigable Father Framback, who had to
exercise the greatest caution to avoid detection and cap
tivity. He slept generally on the saddle beside his
horse, in order to be prepared for a sudden flight ; and
on one occasion he barely escaped with his life, by the
fleetness of his horse in carrying him safely through the
waters of the Potomac, while he was fired upon by his
pursuers before he had reached the Maryland side of the
river. After about eighteen months thus spent in the
active duties of the holy ministry, with great zeal, labor,
and success, the call of his country summoned Father
Carroll to her service, and we shall see him for a time
taking a part in other and more public scenes.
Open war now raged between England and her thir-

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 43
teen Colonies. The hopes of a settlement which many
' of our patriots and statesmen had cherished were grow
ing fainter every day, and the public mind was becoming
more and more familiarized with what at first was a
startling thought, Independence. To guard against in
vasion from the Canadas, and to secure, perhaps, the
active co-operation of the Canadians in the struggle, or
at least to secure their neutrality, became objects of the
greatest importance to the struggling colonies. To gain
these ends, Congress had provided for the establishment
of a printing-press at Montreal, and had sent a person
thither to conduct it ; the object was to explain the aims
and purposes of Congress in the contest, and " to make
frequent publication of such pieces as may be of service
to the cause of the United Colonies." It was also re
solved to send an embassy to Canada for similar objects ;
and accordingly, on February 15, 1776, Congress ap
pointed Dr. Franklin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Car
roll of Carrollton, Commissioners, with instructions to
proceed to Montreal, and use every effort of argument,
persuasion, and promises of mutual protection and de
fence, in order to induce the Canadians either to join the
Colonies in the struggle, or at least to remain neutral.
In the resolution of Congress appointing the Commis
sioners, Mr. Charles Carroll was requested to prevail on
Rev. John Carroll to accompany them to Canada, in
order to facilitate the negotiations by conciliating the
Canadian clergy, who were understood to be indisposed
to advise the Canadians to take any part in the troubles
of the times ; " it being supposed that from his religious
sentiments, character, and knowledge of the French lan
guage, his presence and counsels might be useful in pro
moting the objects of the mission with the Canadians."*
* Sparks.

44 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Mr. Brent, in his biography of the Archbishop, says :
" To the request of Congress Mr. Carroll acceded with
the view, so far as he was to have an agency, to induce
the inhabitants of that country who professed the same
religion with himself to remain neutral, and to refrain
from taking up arms on the side of Great Britain ; further
than this, he deemed it incompatible with his character as
a minister of religion to interfere." All the preparations
for the journey having been completed, Mr. Carroll
joined the Commissioners at Philadelphia, and with great
cheerfulness set out on his mission of peace.
The rapid and luxurious traveling accommodations of
our day are in strange contrast with the hardships, ex
posures, privations, and dangers which attended a trip
from Philadelphia to Montreal in 1 776. The four patriots
proceeded from Philadelphia to New York, and sailed
from the latter place on the 2d of April. After long de
lays, exposures, and unusual difficulties, which, however,
did not dampen the cheerful spirits of the travelers, nor
check the ever-ready and entertaining wit of Dr. Frank
lin, they reached Montreal on the night of the 29th of
April.* While the Commissioners were negotiating with
the authorities, regulating the affairs of the Continental
army then in Canada, and generally carrying out the in
structions of Congress, the Rev. Mr. Carroll was visiting
the Canadian clergy, explaining the nature and princi
ples of the revolutionary struggle, pointing out the iden
tity of destiny and interest which ought to unite Canada
to the English Colonies, and in answering objections, re
moving prejudices of race, and appealing to their love of
liberty. He was treated with respect and listened to
with polite attention. But both the Commissioners and
* See the published Journal of Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 45
Father Carroll received the same answer from the Cana
dians ; — that for themselves they had no cause of com
plaint against the home government of Great Britain,
which had guaranteed to them the free and full exercise
of their religion, liberty, and property, and that in return
the duty of allegiance and fidelity was due from the Ca
nadians to the government.
There were other causes, however, which contributed
greatly to the unsuccessful issue of the mission of the
American Commissioners. The Provincial Congress,
which sat at Boston in 1773, had publicly used the
following unjust and gratuitous language in one of
their addresses : — " The late act, establishing the Ca
tholic religion in Canada, is dangerous in an extreme
degree to the Protestant religion, and to the civil rights
and liberties of America." Several of the other colonies,
including Maryland, had used similar language in com
municating their complaints of grievances to the mother-
country. Still more uncalled-for and unauthorized was
the language of an Address to the People of Great Brit
ain, adopted by Congress October 21, 1774, used in ref
erence to the same act, commonly called the " Quebec
Act," a law which established no State Church, but
simply guaranteed to Catholics in Canada the free exer
cise of their religion and the rights of conscience. The
obnoxious language of Congress was as follows : — "Nor
can we suppress our astonishment that a British Parlia
ment should ever consent to establish in that country a
religion that has deluged your island in blood, and dis
persed impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebel
lion throughout every part of the world." — " That we
think the legislature of Great Britain is not authorized by
the Constitution to establish a religion fraught with such

46 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
sanguinary tenets," etc. Such language, thoughtlessly,
but none the less unfortunately and culpably, used in the
excitement of the struggle, was naturally recalled by the
Canadians on this occasion. It was in vain that the
Commissioners appealed to the language made use of by
the Convention of 1774, in their address to the public, in
which they said : — " As an opposition to the settled plan
of the British administration to enslave America will be
strengthened by a union of all ranks of men within this
province, we do most earnestly recommend that all for
mer differences about religion or politics, and all private
animosities and quarrels of every kind, from henceforth
cease, and be forever buried in oblivion ; and we entreat,
we conjure every man by his duty to God, his country,
and his posterity, cordially to unite in defence of our
common rights and liberties." It was in vain that they
quoted the language of the " Address to the Inhabitants
of the Province of Quebec," now presented by the Com
missioners. This last address, which expressed, doubt
lessly, the more matured and accurate sentiments of
Congress and the country, contained the following far
different language on the subject of the religion of the
Canadians, a subject, however, which all congresses
would do much better by leaving to the Church and the
people : — " We are too well acquainted with the liberal
ity of sentiment distinguishing your nation to imagine
that difference of religion will prejudice you against a
hearty alliance with us. You know that the transcend
ent nature of freedom elevates those who unite in her
cause above all such low-minded infirmities. The Swiss
Cantons furnish a memorable proof of this truth. Their
union is composed of Roman Catholic and Protestant
States, living in the utmost concord and peace with one

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 47
another, and thereby enabled, ever since they vindicated
their freedom, to defy and defeat every tyrant that has
menaced them." The mission was fruitless, except, per
haps, in the lesson it affords, especially worthy of the at
tention of our countrymen both in public and private life,
of the folly and injustice, as well as violation of our fun
damental law, of a majority in a free country assuming
that there is anything national in the religious sentiments
of a majority, however predominating ; or that any citi
zen has a right, in the conduct of affairs purely secu
lar or political, to reflect upon the religious sentiments
of Catholics, who, without respect to numbers, have
equal rights with themselves.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Samuel Chase
remained in Canada to attend to the affairs of the army.
Dr. Franklin's health became so infirm that he was com
pelled to leave the country without delay, and Father
Carroll became his companion on the homeward journey.
From New York Dr. Franklin wrote to his fellow-com
missioners in Canada in relation to the public interests,
and, in allusion to himself and Father Carroll, he added :
"As to myself, I grow daily more feeble, and I should
hardly have got along so far but for Mr. Carroll's
friendly assistance and tender care of me." During their
association together on the Canadian mission, a warm and
intimate friendship sprang up between Dr. Franklin and
Father Carroll, which was cherished through life.
On returning home, Father Carroll found Congress
engaged in the discussion of the all-absorbing question
of Independence. After remaining a few days in Phila
delphia, in the enjoyment of the society of two of his
former friends and associates of the Order of Jesuits,
Fathers Farmer and Molyneux, he returned to his resi-

48 LAves of the Catholic Bishops.
dence at Rock Creek, and resumed there and at Aquia
Creek the duties of the sacred ministry, which he con
tinued to perform uninterruptedly during the entire
Revolutionary War. In the mean time and throughout
the great struggle he ardently sympathized in the cause
of Independence, explaining and defending its principles
in his correspondence with his late brethren in England,
and offering up constant and fervent prayers for its suc
cess. No citizen of the Republic saw with greater joy
the consummation of the glorious result of the contest,
enhanced, as his joy especially was, on the cessation of
fraternal strife and bloodshed, and the return of peace.
The sentiments with which he viewed the controversy
and struggle for Independence are boldly and earnestly
expressed in his correspondence with some of his ex-
Jesuit friends residing in England, with whom he regu
larly corresponded. A few extracts from these interest
ing letters will serve to illustrate the character and views of
Father Carroll as one of the patriots of the Revolution.
In a letter of September 26, 1783, he writes: "You
tell me that you perceived that in my last I was afraid
of entering into politics ; but that you will force me into
the subject. I had no such fears about me. I have the
happiness to live under a government very different
from that I have just been talking of (the Austrian), and
I have never had any cause to fear speaking my senti
ments with the utmost freedom. But when I was writing
to you, I had so many other objects nearer to my heart
to talk of, that I supposed I left them to the public
papers. You have adopted the language of some of
the prints on your side the water, by representing us
under imperious leaders, and the trammels of France ;
but, alas ! our imperious leaders, by whom I suppose

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 49
you mean Congress, were at all times amenable to our
popular assemblies, elected by them every year, often
turned out of their seats, and so little envied, that as
their expenses were often unavoidably greater than their
profits, it had at all times been a difficult matter to get
men disinterested and patriotic enough to accept the
charge ; and as to the trammels of France, we certainly
have never worn her chains, but have treated with her
as equals ; have experienced from her the greatest magna
nimity and moderation, and have repaid it by an honorable
fidelity to our engagements. By both of us proceeding
on these principles the war has been brought to an
issue with which, if you are pleased, all is well, for we
are certainly satisfied."
In another letter to one of his friends in England, who
had indulged in some severe strictures on the leaders
and allies of the American Confederation, Father Car
roll replied : "If your other kind letters never came to
hand, you have only to blame the unsleeping avidity of
your own cruisers, whom I should call pirates were I
inclined to follow your example of abusing the political
measures of our adversaries. For since the object of
the war on your side, the right of Parliamentary taxa
tion,, is now confessedly and by every moderate man on
both continents acknowledged to have been unjust, surely
every measure to attain that object must have likewise
been unjust ; and consequently your cruisers, with all
their commissions, were nothing more than pirates.
Thus much to retaliate for your stroke at our faithless
leaders and faithless allies, after which we will be done
with politics."
Father Carroll, like the rest of our countrymen at that
time, was a great admirer of Lord Chatham, the able and
4

50 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
intrepid defender of the constitutional rights of British
subjects in the colonies ; and when he heard of the rap
id strides to greatness and eminence made by his son,
the younger Pitt, he thus rejoiced at the information, and
at the same time expressed his indignation at the course
pursued by England and her journalists and public writ
ers against America: " I sincerely rejoice that the son
of my favorite, the late Lord Chatham, conducts himself
with such ability and integrity. You did not expect so
much, perhaps, from an American ; and, indeed, we should
be excusable (if not as Christians, at least politically) for
not bearing you much good-will in return for all the lies
and misrepresentations which many of your soured and
indignant countrymen are every day coining about us.
You have certainly cramped our trade by some regula
tions, not merely selfish, but revengeful. Your merchants
will find that without warfare we have immense resources
and the means of redress in our power, as soon as the
establishment of our new federal government will allow
these means to be called forth."
The following passage is extracted from a letter writ
ten from Rock Creek, February 28, 1779, to Father Plow-
den in England, and expresses Father Carroll's views on
the subject of religious liberty : " You inquire how Con
gress intend to treat the Catholics of this country. To
this I must answer you, that Congress have no authority
or jurisdiction relative to the internal government or con
cerns of the particular States of the Union ; these are all
settled by the constitutions and laws of the States them
selves. I am glad, however, to inform you that the full
est and largest system of toleration* is adopted in almost
* This word "toleration " is not used in its strict sense; the writer's real meaning
was liberty.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 51
all the American States : public protection and encour
agement are extended alike to all denominations ; and
Roman Catholics are members of Congress and assem
blies, and hold civil and military posts, as well as others.
For the sake of your and many other families, I am
heartily glad to see the same policy beginning to be
adopted in England and Ireland ; and I cannot help
thinking that you are indebted to America for this piece
of service. I hope it will soon be extended as far with
you as with us."
Father Carroll's powers as a controversialist were sum
moned into service in 1784. The Rev. C. H. Wharton,
his former friend and late fellow-student and fellow-mem
ber of the Society of Jesus in Europe, had apostatized
from the Catholic faith, and terminated his ministry
among the Catholics at Worcester, Massachusetts, by
the publication of "A Letter to the Roman Catholics of
Worcester, from the late Chaplain of that Society, Mr. C.
H. Wharton, stating the motives which induced him to
relinquish their communion and become a member of the
Protestant Church." This document was printed and
published at Philadelphia, was widely circulated, and at
tracted great attention from the public. . Father Carroll had
refrained from noticing many abusive articles which had
been published against his religion in the States, but there
was a dignity and ability about the " Letter" of Mr. Whar
ton, which, when added to the influence his recent connec
tion and membership with the Catholic Church gave his
writings, were calculated to give some power of injury to
his attack, and seemed to Father Carroll to demand some
notice at his hands. His reply, entitled " An Address to
the Roman Catholics of the United States, by a Catholic
clergyman," is an able and triumphant vindication of the

52 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Catholic Church and her doctrines, and one of the best con
tributions to our American Catholic literature ; especially
when we consider the disadvantages the writer labored un
der for want of the books necessary iii such a controversy.
A single extract, touching the subject of the preceding
letters, will be introduced here. After alluding to the
pleasure he took in defending his religion, he says :
" Even this prospect should not have induced me to en
gage in the controversy, if I could fear that it would dis
turb the harmony now subsisting amongst all Christians
in this country, so blessed with civil and religious liberty ;
which if we have the wisdom and temper to preserve,
America may come to exhibit a proof to the world, that
general and equal toleration, by giving a free circulation
to fair argument, is the most effective method to bring
all denominations of Christians to an unity of faith." *
As a champion of the rights of conscience, Father Car
roll occupies an eminent position in the annals of our
country. Shortly after the Constitution went into opera
tion, a writer in the Gazette of the United States, ait New
York, favored the bestowal of certain extraordinary
privileges on Protestantism as a national religion. Father
Carroll, over the signature of " Pacificus," replied in the
same journal, in a letter which stands forth as an able and
eloquent vindication of religious liberty and equality un
der the Constitution. In it Father Carroll says :—
" The writer may not have been fully sensible of the
tendency of his publication, because he speaks of pre
serving universal toleration. Perhaps he is one of those
who think it consistent with justice to exclude certarp
citizens from the honors and emoluments of society,
* See copious extracts in Campbell's Life of Archbishop Carroll, Catholic Magazine,
1844, p. 663.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 53
merely on account of their religious opinions, provided
they be not restrained by racks and forfeitures from the
exercise of that worship which their consciences approve.
If such be his views, in vain, then, have Americans associ
ated into one great national union, under the express con
dition of not being shackled by religious tests ; and under
a firm persuasion that they were to retain, when asso
ciated, every natural right not expressly surrendered.
" Is it pretended that they who are the objects of an
intended exclusion from certain offices of honor and ad
vantage, have forfeited, by any act of treason against the
United States, the common rights of nature, or the stip
ulated rights of the political society of which they form a
part? This the author has not presumed to assert.
Their blood flowed as freely (in proportion to their num
bers) to cement the fabric of Independence as that
of any of their fellow-citizens. They concurred with,
perhaps, greater unanimity than any other body of men
in recommending and promoting that government from
whose influence America anticipates all the blessings of
justice, peace, plenty, good order, and civil and religious
liberty. What character shall we then give to a sugges
tion of policy calculated for the express purpose of divest
ing of rights legally acquired, those citizens who are not
only unoffending, but whose conduct has been highly
meritorious ?
"These observations refer to the general tendency of
the publication, which I now proceed to consider more
particularly. Is it true (as the author states) that our
forefathers abandoned their native homes, renounced its
honors and comforts, and buried themselves in the im
mense forests of this new world, for the sake of that
religion which he recommends as preferable to any

54 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
other ? Was not the religion which the emigrants to
the four Southern States brought with them to America,
the pre-eminent and favored religion of the country
which they left ? Did the Roman Catholics who first
came to Maryland leave their native soil foi? the sake of
preserving the Protestant Church ? Was this the mo
tive of the peaceful Quakers in the settlement of Penn
sylvania ? Did the first inhabitants of the Jerseys and
New York quit Europe for fear of being compelled to
renounce their Protestant tenets ? Can it be even truly
affirmed that this motive operated* on all, or a majority
of those who began to settle and improve the four
Eastern States ? Or even if they really were influenced
by a desire of preserving their religion, what will ensue
from the facts but that one denomination of Protestants
sought a retreat from the persecution of another ? Will
history justify the assertion, that they left their native
homes for the sake of the Protestant religion, under
standing it in a comprehensive sense as distinguished
from every other ?
"This leading fact being so much misstated, no won
der that the author should go on bewildering himself
more and more. He asserts that the religion which he
recommends laid the foundations of this great and new
empire, and therefore contends that it is entitled to pre
eminence and distinguished favor. Might I not say with
equal truth, that the religion which he recommends ex
erted her powers to crush this empire in its birth, and is
still laboring to prevent its growth ? For can we so
soon forget, or now help seeing, that the bitterest
enemies of our national prosperity profess the same re
ligion which prevails generally in the United States?
What inference will a philosophic mind draw from this

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 55
view, but that religion is out of the question— that it is
ridiculous to say the Protestant religion is the import
ant bulwark of our Constitution— -that the establishment
of the American empire was not the work of this or that
religion, but arose from a generous exertion of all her
citizens to redress their wrongs, to assert their rights,.
and lay its foundations, on the soundest principles of jus
tice and equal liberty ? " *
Familiar as these sentiments are to us now, they were
then the result of research and reflection on the part of
Dr. Carroll, were by him first applied to the condition
of Catholics in this country and their relations to the
Government and the sects, and by him first announced
and addressed to the Protestant mind of America.
Hence they possess a value far beyond their present
appreciation, because they are the historical record of
that early contest for equal rights to Catholics, and have
ever since guided and directed public thought and sen
timent, and are daily appealed to by Catholics, in this
great and all-important question. Thus Father Carroll
was the first champion of truths which form the founda
tion of a permanent and constitutional claim on the part
of all citizens to civil and religious liberty in America.
But this part of our record would be incomplete with
out an exposition of the decided and enthusiastic support
to our Government and Constitution displayed by the Cath
olics of the revolutionary era after the, achievement of In
dependence, and particularly, by the subject of this me
moir ; one of the prominent features of which, was the con
gratulatory address of the Catholics of the United States
to General Washington on his accession to the Presidency.
It is inserted here, as well as the first President's reply : —
* For this article .entire, see Mr. Brent's Biography of Archiishop Carroll.

56 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
"Address of the Roman Catholics of America to
George Washington.
"Sir:— We have been long impatient to testify our
joy and unbounded confidence on your being called by
a unanimous vote to the first station of a country, in
which that unanimity could not have been obtained with
out the previous merit of unexampled services, of emi
nent wisdom, and unblemished virtue. Our congratula
tions have not reached you sooner, because our scattered
situation prevented the communication and collecting
of those sentiments which warmed every breast. But
delay has furnished us with the opportunity, not only of
presaging the happiness to be expected under your ad
ministration, but of bearing testimony to that which we
experience. It is your peculiar talent, in war and in
peace, to afford security to those who commit their pro
tection into your hands. In war you shield them from
the ravages of armed hostility; in peace you establish
public tranquillity by the justice and moderation not
less than by the vigor of your government. By exam
ple as well as by vigilance, you extend the influence of
laws on the manners of our fellow-citizens. You en
courage respect for religion, and inculcate, by words
and actions, that principle on which the welfare of na
tions so much depends — that a superintending Provi
dence governs the events of the world, and watches
over the conduct of men. Your exalted maxims and
unwearied attention to the moral and physical improve
ment of your country have produced already the hap
piest effects. Under your administration, America is ani
mated with zeal for the attainment and encouragement
of useful literature; she improves agriculture, extends
her commerce, and acquires with foreign nations a dig-

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 57
nity unknown to her before. From these happy events,
in which none can feel a warmer interest than ourselves,
we derive additional pleasure by recollecting that you,
Sir, have been the principal instrument to effect so rapid
a change in our political situation. This prospect of
national prosperity is peculiarly pleasing to us on another
account ; because, whilst our country preserves her free
dom and independence, we shall have a well-founded
title to claim from her justice the equal rights of citizen
ship, as the price of our blood spilt under your eyes,
and of our common exertions for her defence under
your auspicious conduct — rights rendered more dear to
us by the remembrance of former hardships. When we
pray for the preservation of them where they have been
granted, and expect the full extension of them from the
justice of those States which restrict them, — when we
solicit the protection of Heaven over our common coun
try, we neither omit, nor can omit, recommending your
preservation to the singular care of Divine Providence,
because we conceive that no human means are so availa
ble to promote the welfare of the United States as the
prolongation of your health and life, in which are in
cluded the energy of your example, the wisdom of your
counsels, and the persuasive eloquence of your virtues.
" In behalf of the Roman Catholic Clergy,
"J. Carroll.
" In behalf of the Roman Catholic laity,
" Charles Carroll of Carrollton,
Daniel Carroll,
Thomas Fitzsimmons,
Dominick Lynch."

5 8 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
"The Answer to the Roman Catholics in the United
States of America.
"Gentlemen : — While I now receive with much satis
faction your congratulations on my being called by. a
unanimous vote to the first station of my country, I can
not but duly notice your politeness in offering an apology
for the unavoidable delay. As that delay has given you
an opportunity of realizing, instead of anticipating, the
benefits of the General Government, you will do me the
justice to believe, that your testimony of the increase
of the public prosperity enhances the pleasure which I
would otherwise have experienced from your affectionate
address. " I feel that my conduct, in war and peace, has met
with more general approbation than could reasonably
have been expected ; and I find myself disposed to con
sider that fortunate circumstance, in a great degree, re
sulting from the able support and extraordinary candor
of my fellow-citizens of all denominations.
" The prospect of national prosperity now before us
is truly animating, and ought to excite the exertions of
all good men to establish and secure the happiness of
their country in the permanent duration of its freedom
and independence. America, under the smiles of a Divine
Providence, the protection of a good government, and
the cultivation of manners, morals, and piety, cannot fail
of attaining an uncommon degree of eminence in litera
ture, commerce, agriculture, improvements at home and
respectability abroad.
" As mankind become more liberal, they will be more
apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as
worthy members of the community, are equally entitled
to the protection of civil government. I hope ever to see

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D, 59
America among the foremost nations in examples of jus
tice and liberality ; and I presume that your fellow-citi
zens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in
the accomplishment of their revolution and the estab
lishment of their government, or the important assistance
which they received from a nation in which the Roman
Catholic faith is professed.
" I thank you, gentlemen, for your kind concern for
me. While my life and health shall continue, in what
ever situation I may be, it shall be my constant endeavor
to justify the favorable sentiments which you are pleased
to express of my conduct ; and may the members of your
society in America, animated alone by the pure spirit of
Christianity, and still conducting themselves as the faith
ful subjects of our free Government, enjoy every temporal
and spiritual felicity. " G. Washington."
Before the separation of the United States from Great
Britain, the Catholic clergy of Maryland and Pennsyl
vania were subject to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the
Vicar Apostolic (Bishop) of London, who was repre
sented in the provinces by his Vicar General, the Rev.
Mr. Lewis, Superior of the late Society of Jesus at the
time of its suppression. In 1783, the Rev. Father Car
roll and several others of the clergy addressed a letter to
the Rev. Mr. Lewis, reciting that, whereas America was
no longer under the temporal authority of Great Britain,
they deemed it also proper and expedient that the Cath
olic Church in America should no longer be under the
ecclesiastical authority of the Bishop of London, and re
questing that the clergy should be called together for
consultation on this important subject. The Rev. Su-

60 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
perior acquiesced in these views and suggestions, and
several meetings of the clergy were held for this purpose
at White Marsh, which resulted in the adoption of a pro
visional "form of government " for the Catholic clergy of
the States, adopted October n, 1784. They had, pre
vious to the adoption of this form of government, sent an
address or petition to the Holy See, dated November 6,
1783, requesting the appointment of a superior holding
immediately from Rome, to be clothed with the necessary
powers for the present emergency of the American
Church, such as conferring confirmation, blessing oils,
etc., etc. They did not ask the appointment of an Amer
ican Bishop, which, they expressly stated, was, in their
judgment, inexpedient and unneccessary at that time.
But while these proceedings were taking place in Mary
land, the Holy See was at the same time entertaining
more enlarged views for the American Church, and the
matter of the appointment of a Bishop for the United
States was entertained both at Rome and Paris. Ac
cordingly we find that Cardinal Doria, the Papal Nuncio
at Paris, addressed a note on this subject to Dr. Frank
lin, who was then American Minister to the court of
France, which he was requested to lay before Congress.
The interesting documents relating to this subject are as
follows : —
" The Nuncio- Apostolic has the honor to transmit to
Mr. Franklin the subjoined note. He requests him to
cause it to be presented to the Congress of the United
States of North America, and to support it with his influ
ence. "July 28, 1783.
" Note. — Previous to the revolution which has just
been completed in the United States of North America,

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 61
the Catholics and missionaries of those provinces de
pended, in spiritual matter's, on the Vicar- Apostolic resid
ing in London. It is now evident that this arrangement
can be no longer maintained ; but, as it is necessary that
the Catholic Christians of the United States should have
an ecclesiastic to govern them in matters pertaining to
religion, the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, existing
at Rome, for the establishment and preservation of mis
sions, have come to the determination to propose to Con
gress to establish in one of the cities of the United States
of North America one of their Catholic brethren with the
authority and power of Vicar- Apostolic, and the dignity
of Bishop, or simply with the rank of Apostolical Prefect.
The institution of a Bishop Vicar- Apostolic appears the
most suitable, insomuch as the Catholics of the United
States may have within their reach the reception of con
firmation and orders in their own country. And as it
may sometimes happen, that among the members of the
Catholic body in the United States no one may be found
qualified to undertake the charge of the spiritual govern
ment, either as Bishop or Vicar-Apostolic, it may be
necessary, under such circumstances, that Congress
should consent to have one selected from some foreign
nation on close terms of friendship with the United
States." It seems, too, that Father Carroll not only entertained
the same prudent view, from motives- of expediency, hut
also expressed his sentiments on this subject to Cardinal
Antonelli, in a letter written by him to Rome, February 27,
1785, in which he says : " Your Eminence may rest as
sured that the clergy and faithful in this country would
endure every suffering rather than reject the divine au
thority of the Holy See ; but at the same time they re-

62 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
quest that no pretext be given to the adversaries of our
holy religion to censure us, as if depending more than is
necessary upon a foreign power; and that the mode of
appointing the ecclesiastical superior be such as to ac
cord with the spiritual jurisdiction of the Holy See, and
to remove all occasion of imputing to the Catholic body
any opposition to their civil government."
Dr. Franklin caused the matter to be laid before Con
gress, as he was requested, which body very properly
intimated that they had no answer to make t>n the mat
ter, which pertained exclusively to the governments and
people of the individual States of the Union. It was
quite unnecessary for the Holy See to ask the consent
of Congress to the proposed establishment of a Catholic
Bishop in the United States, since under the Constitu
tion, then as now, all religions were equally free to or
ganize church governments according to their respective
ecclesiastical constitutions. But the Holy See was
prompted in this action by the most exalted Christian
delicacy towards a young nation just emancipated from a
foreign yoke, more especially as it was considered not
improbable that the person who might be selected for
the American episcopate might be a subject of some for
eign government, even though it was at the same time
clearly intimated that, in such a case, the choice would
be made from France, our revolutionary friend and ally.
So considerate was the Holy See of the sentiments and
national jealousies of the new-born Republic, that it pro
posed, in case a bishop should be appointed for the
United States, that he should receive consecration in
some other country than England ; it was Dr. Franklin
who first suggested that the consecration might even
more conveniently be performed in Canada, then as now

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 63
a British province. It seems, too, that Father Carroll,
in a letter to Cardinal Antonelli in 1785, entered into
this view, and suggested that while the appointment be
made in a manner in perfect accord with the spirit
ual jurisdiction of the Holy See, it might still be made
in such a manner as to give no pretext to the enemies
of the Church to censure the proceeding.
On the list sent to the Nuncio at Paris for transmis
sion to Rome, containing the names of the clergy from
whom the choice might be made for this new and impor
tant office, Father Carroll managed to have his own
name placed last, in order that it might not be conspic
uous for selection. Dr. Franklin, to whom the Nuncio
showed the list, and whom he consulted on the subject,
saw the name of Dr. Carroll, with whose high merits
and superior qualifications he was so well acquainted,
and he at once recommended his appointment above all
others. When the petition of the American clergy was
received by Father Thorpe, at Rome, requesting that a
bishop should not at that time be appointed, he pru
dently decided not to present it ; but their request was
probably known otherwise at Rome, for the Holy See
acted in accordance with this view, and determined to
appoint for the present simply a superior or arch-priest,
clothed with the necessary powers, and Dr. Carroll was
selected for this appointment. Towards the close of the
year 1 784, the Rev. Mr. Carroll, who had continued to
that time in the discharge of his duties as a missionary
priest at Rock Creek, received the documents appointing
him Superior of the clergy of the United States, and
granting him the necessary powers suggested by the
clergy. His appointment was hailed with great joy by
both the clergy and laity. The ulterior purpose of the

64 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Holy See to erect a bishopric in the United States was,
however, clearly foreshadowed in the correspondence
and documents touching the subject.
The following interesting memorandum on the same
subject is from Dr. Franklin's Memoirs : —
" 1784, July 1 st. The Pope'siNuncio called, and ac
quainted me that the Pope had, on my recommendation,
appointed Mr. John Carroll Superior of the Catholic
clergy in America, with many of the powers of a bishop,
and that probably he would be made a bishop in parti
bus before the end of the year. ' He asked which would
be most convenient for him — to come to France, or go to
St. Domingo for ordination* by another bishop, which
was necessary. I mentioned Quebec as more conve
nient than either. He asked whether, as that was an
English province, our Government might not take offence
at his going thither. I thought not, unless the ordina
tion by that bishop should give him some authority over
our bishop. He said, not in the least; that when our
bishop was once ordained, he would be independent of
the other, and even of the Pope, which I did not clearly
understand^! He said the congregation de Propaganda
Fide had agreed to receive and maintain two young
Americans in the languages and sciences at Rome. He
had formerly told me that more would be educated gratis
in France. He added, they had written from America
there were twenty priests, but that they are not suffi
cient, as the new settlements near the Mississippi had
need of some.
" The Nuncio said we should find that the Catholics
were not so intolerant as they had been represented ;
* Consecration.
\ The language of the Nuncio was here clearly misunderstood by Dr. Franklin

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 65
that the Inquisition in Rome had not now so much pow
er as that in Spain, and that in Spain it was used chiefly
as a prison of state ; that the Congregation would have
undertaken the education of more American youths, and
may hereafter, but that at present they are over-bur
dened, having some from all parts of the world."
One of the earliest duties that engaged the attention
of Dr. Carroll, after his appointment to the post of Su
perior of the American clergy, was to visit the principal
cities within his spiritual jurisdiction, in order to minis
ter to their religious wants, under the new powers
granted to him by the Holy See ; to investigate the con
dition and prospects of the Catholic body in those
places, to ascertain their requirements, and to provide
for their necessities, as far as possible. His first visita
tion was commenced September 22, 1785, and extended
through Maryland, Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, and New
York. His ripe judgment^ profound wisdom, and ar
dent zeal for the interests of religion, were eminently
displayed in this his first great official undertaking as the
head of the. American Church. The number of Catho
lics in Marylaad about this time, as estimated by him,
was about sixteen thousand ; in Pennsylvania, seven
thousand, and in the other States above named about
two thousand. The number of the clergy in Maryland
was nineteen, and in Pennsylvania five ; but these were
soon increased by recruits from Europe, enabling Father
Carroll to send pastors to Boston, New York, Charles
ton, Kentucky, and other places. A report on the con
dition of Catholicity in the United States, written by
Bishop Carroll, shortly after his consecration, is full of
valuable and interesting details, and is an invaluable con
tribution to the ecclesiastical history of the country.
5

66 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
His estimate did not include the descendants of the old
French settlers in the Valley of the Mississippi and on
the Northern lakes.
The intimation made by the Nuncio to Dr. Franklin,
in 1784, that the appointment of a Superior would be
followed by the creation of a bishopric in the course of
the year, was not so soon realized. The efficient and
untiring services of Dr. Carroll, as Superior, supplied at
once the most pressing needs of the American Church,
and seemed to meet the immediate emergencies. But as
the development of the Church took place, and her vast
and extending fields of missionary labor were laid open
under the energetic administration of the new Superior,
it became more evident every day that his powers were
too restricted and his resources too limited. With the
means at his command, Dr. Carroll did much for the
Church and missions of that early day, and caused the
benefits of that partial organization to be felt throughout
the country. The awakening power of his zeal was felt
in regions far beyond those he had been able to visit in
person. For over five years he exerted all the powers
and means placed in his hands to promote the cause of
religion, continuing during the same period to perform
active missionary duties himself. The experience of
these years convinced him and the clergy of the country
of the inadequacy of the arrangement, and of the insuf
ficiency of the powers confided to the Superior, or Vi
car-General. The clergy of the States, having become convinced of
the necessity for the erection of a bishopric in the United
States, petitioned to the Holy See for that favor. Rome
had heretofore been in advance of the American clergy
themselves on this important subject, as has already

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 67
been related, and was now quite willing and ready to do
all that they asked, and even more. The Holy See au
thorized the clergy themselves to determine the location
of the new see, and even to designate from their own
number the person most worthy and acceptable to be
clothed with the episcopal dignity and power. The
prominent position already occupied by Dr. Carroll
caused the eyes of the Catholic community to rest upon
him as the probable choice of the clergy. He felt the
greatest solicitude for the proper and judicious exercise
of the elective power thus so graciously bestowed upon
the American clergy, and seems to have entertained an
humble and sincere apprehension, lest, as was the gen
eral expectation, the choice might fall upon himself. In a
letter written by him early in 1 789, he used the following
language on this subject : " In the middle of last month
I received a letter from Cardinal Antonelli, dated in July
last, in which he informs me that his Holiness has grant
ed our request for an ordinary bishop, whose 'see is to
be fixed by ourselves, and the choice made by the
officiating priests. We are going to take the affair up
immediately, and God will, I hope, direct us to make a
good choice. This trust is my consolation. Otherwise
I should be full of apprehension to see the choice fall
where it might be fatal." An assembly was accordingly
held by the clergy in May, 1 789, and after selecting Bal
timore as the most proper location of the new see, the
almost unanimous voice of his brethren in the sacred
ministry, as was already anticipated, called Dr. Carroll
to the high and responsible office, which he so well
merited and so much dreaded.
Dr. Carroll united in the selection of Baltimore as the
episcopal city, " this. being," as he has himself written,

68 Lives of the. Catholic Bishops.
" the principal town of ¦ Maryland, and , that State being
the oldest aiuf still the. most numerous, residence of. -true
religion, in; America." , .Dr. Carroll in the same letter,
which was addressed to > his friend, .Father Blowden, in
England,, says.: " So far all was. right. We then proceed
ed to the election, the event of which was such as de
prives rne of all expectation; of rest or pleasure* hencefor
ward, and fills me with terror with respect to eternity.
I am so stunned with - the issue of this business,.' that I
truly hate the hearing or mention of it, and therefore will
say only, that since my brethren- — whom in this case I
consider as the interpreters of the Divine will— say I must
obey, I. will even do it; but by obeying shall sacrifice
.henceforward every moment of .peace and satisfaction."
And again : "My own knowledge of myself informs me,
better than a thousand voices to the contrary, that I am
entirely unfit for a station in which I can have no hopes
of rendering service, but, through His. help and ^continual
direction who Jias called me to it,. when I .was doing all
in my power to prevent it." The recommendations of
the assembled clergy were fully ? approved at Rome,
where the choice of Dr. Carroll was. hailed with great
and universal satisfaction and joy. > The Holy See issued
the Papal Bull of November 6, 1789, decreeing in accord
ance with those recommendations, and Cardinal Anto
nelli, in his letter of November 14, 1 789; transmitting the
Papal 1 Bull to Dr. Carroll, conveys at the same time
" the most flattering itestimonials of the high esteem in
which he was held, and of the joy which his election had
awakened in the capital of the Christian world." * In the
same letter, Cardinal Antonelli addressed to Bishop Car
roll the? following language :; "It is a splendid and glori-
* Rev. Dr.1 White's Appendix to Darras'- History of the Church.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 69
ous- office, to offer to God, as it were, the first fruits of
that portion of the1 Lord's vineyard. Enjoy, therefore, so
great a blessing, not only for the salvation of yourself
but for that of others, and for the increase of the Catho
lic faith, which we trust will become more and more
widely established in that' distant region."
The Papal Bull appointing Baltiinore as the episcopal
city, and Dr. Carroll as the first Bishop of the United
States, . gives a full account of these interesting and im
portant events, and discloses the generous sentiments of
the Holy See towards the young Church of America and
towards the* new-bom "Republic. The following extract
from it will be perused with interest : after the preamble,
the holy Pope, Pius VI., proceeds: —
" Wherefore, it having' reached our ears that in the
flourishing Commonwealth of the ' thirteen American
States, many faithful Christians; united in communion
with the chair of Peter, in which the centre of Catholic
unity is fixed, and governed in their spiritual concerns by
their own priests having care of souls, earnestly desire
that a Bishop may be appointed over them, to exercise
the functions of the Episcopal order, to feed them more
largely with the food of salutary doctrine, and to guard
more carefully that portion of the Catholic flock : We
willingly embraced this opportunity, which the grace of
Almighty God has offered us, to provide those distant
regions with the comfort and ministry of a Catholic
Bishop. And that this maybe effected more successfully
and. according to the rules of the sacred canons, we com
missioned our venerable brethren the Cardinals of the
holy Roman Church, directors of the Congregation de
Propaganda Fide, to manage this business with the great
est care, and to make a report -to* us. It Was therefore ap-

7Q Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
pointed by their decree, approved by us, and published
the 1 2th day of July the last year, that the priests, who
lawfully exercise the sacred ministry and have care of
souls in the United States of America, should be em
powered to advise together and to determine, first, in
what town the Episcopal See ought to be erected ; and
next, who of the aforesaid priests appeared the most
worthy and proper to be promoted to this important
charge, whom we for this time only, and by special
grace, permitted the said priests to elect and to present
to this Apostolic See. In obedience to this decree, the
aforesaid priests, exercising the care of souls in the
United States of America, unanimously agreed that a
Bishop, with ordinary jurisdiction, ought to be established
in the town of Baltimore ; because this town, situated in
Maryland, which province the greater part of the priests
and of the faithful inhabit, appeared the most conven
iently placed for intercourse with the other States, and
because from this province the Catholic religion and
faith had been propagated into the others. And at the
same time appointed for the election, they being assem
bled together, the sacrifice of holy mass having being
celebrated, and the grace and assistance of the Holy
Ghost being implored, the votes of all present were
taken, and of twenty-six priests who were assembled,
twenty-four gave their votes for our beloved son John
Carroll, whom they judged the most proper to support
the burden of Episcopacy ; and sent an authentic instru
ment of the whole transaction to the aforesaid Congre
gation of Cardinals. Now, all things being maturely
weighed and considered in this Congregation, it was
easily agreed, that the interests and increase of the Cath
olic religion would be greatly promoted if an Episco-

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 71
pal See were erected at Baltimore, and the said John
Carroll was appointed the bishop of it. We, therefore,
to whom this opinion has been reported by our beloved
son, Cardinal Antonelli, prefect of the Congregation,
having nothing more at heart than to insure success to
whatever tends to the propagation of true religion and
the honor and increase of the Catholic Church, by the
plenitude of our apostolic power, and by the tenor of
these presents, do establish and erect the aforesaid town
of Baltimore into an Episcopal See forever, for one bish
op to be chosen by us in all future vacancies ; and we
therefore, by the apostolical authority aforesaid, do allow,
grant, and permit to the bishop of said city, and to
his successors in all future times, to exercise episcopal
power and jurisdiction, and to hold and enjoy all and
every right and privilege of order and jurisdiction and of
every other episcopal function which bishops constituted
in other places are empowered to hold and enjoy in their
respective churches, cities, and dioceses by right or cus
tom, or other means, by general privileges, graces, in-
dults, and episcopal dispensations, honors, immunities,
graces, and favors which other Cathedral Churches, by
right or custom, or in any sort, have, hold, and enjoy.
We, moreover, decree and declare the said episcopal
see thus created to be subject or suffragan to no me
tropolitan right or jurisdiction, but to be forever subject
immediately to us and to our successors, the Roman
Pontiffs, and to this Apostolical See. We declare by our
apostolical authority all the faithful of it living in Cath
olic communion, as well ecclesiastics as seculars, and all
the clergy and people dwelling in the aforesaid United
States of America, though hitherto they may have been
subject to other bishops of other dioceses, to be hence-

'j 2 Lives of the Catholic Bishops^-
forward subject to the Bishop of Baltimore in all future
times; and to this Bishop and to his successors, we
impart power to curb and check, without appeal, all per
sons who may contradict or oppose their orders, to visit
personally or by deputies all Catholic churches, to re
move abuses, to correct the manners of the faithful, and
to perform all things which other bishops in their re
spective dioceses are accustomed to do and perform,
saving in all things our own authority, and that of this
Apostolical See: And wherever by special grant, and
for the time only, we haveallowed the- priests exercising
the care of souls in the United States of America to
elect a person to be appointed bishop by us, and almost
all their votes having been given to our beloved son
John Carroll, priest: We, being otherwise certified of
his faith, prudence, piety, and zeal, forasmuch as by
our mandate he has; during the late years, directed the
spiritual government of souls, do therefore, by the plen
itude of our authority, declare, decree, appoint, and
constitute the said John Carroll Bishop and Pastor of
the said Church of Baltimore, granting to him the fac
ulty of receiving the rite of consecration from any, Cath
olic bishop holding communion with the Apostolical
See, assisted by two ecclesiastics vested with some
dignity, in case that two bishops cannot be had; first-
having taken the usual oath, according to the Roman
Pontifical."* Two curious and interesting circumstances may here
be mentioned in connection with the founding of the
Catholic Hierarchy in the United States. Baltimore was
not at first thought of or designed at Rome for the
* Brief Account op the Establishment of the Episcopacy in the United Stater, by
B. U. Campbell. The Catholic Church in the United States, by De Courcy and Shea.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. ji,
episcopal city of our country, but that distinction was in
the' first instance considered with reference to the city of
Philadelphia. The reason for this is, no doubt, to be
found in the fact that Philadelphia was at that time the
seat of the American Government, and was thus natu
rally the first place that occurred to the ecclesiastical
authorities at Rome as the most suitable place for the
seat of episcopal power and dignity. But still more
singular than this, a comparatively obscure and incon
siderable place farther west was even more seriously
thought of at Rome and Paris, at the same time that
Baltimore was selected, as the seat of another American
bishopric ; this was Gallipolis, in Scioto County, Ohio.
The reasons for this proceeding are probably to be
found in the circumstance that, a little before this time,
a considerable colony of French Catholics, about seven
thousand strong, had emigrated from France and settled
on a large tract of land purchased for them on the Scioto
River by a French Land Company, and had called their
settlement Gallipolis. This project went so far even as
the nomination of a bishop, and the Abbe* Boisnantier, a
canon of St. Denys in Paris, was appointed Bishop of
Gallipolis. It is quite probable that the proposed bish
opric in Ohio was intended to have been created in addi
tion to that then about to be erected at Baltimore. The
abandonment of the design is probably attributable to the
failure of the Scioto colony, the title of whose lands
proved invalid, and who, finding themselves defrauded,
returned for the most part to their native country. In
1793; when Bishop Carroll sent as missionaries to the
West Fathers Badin and Barrieres, those zealous
priests found at Gallipolis but a remnant of the former
colony ; but the remaining members of the little settle-

74 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ment, who had long been without a priest, received the
good missionaries with great joy. The two Fathers
remained with them three days, celebrated high mass
in the garrison, heard confessions, and baptized forty
children.* The bishop elect sailed for England, where he pos
sessed many friends, and where his merits and his per
son were already well known, to receive episcopal con
secration, in the summer of 1790. The ceremony of
consecration was performed by the Right Rev. Charles
Warmsley, Bishop of Rama, in partibus, and Vicar-
Apostolic of London, in the elegant chapel of Lulworth
Castle, at the request of its pious and excellent proprie
tor, Thomas Weld, Esq., August 15, 1790, the feast of
the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary ; and, in
commemoration of this fact, the new Bishop selected that
as the patronal feast of his diocese. No expense was
spared by the noble owner of Lulworth Castle to invest
this venerable and august ceremony with every splendor.
The two prelates and their respective attendant priests
and acolytes, clad in the most costly and glittering vest
ments, the enchanting music of the choir, the multitude
of glowing wax lights, and the beautiful ornaments
of the altar, all contributed to complete the grandeur
and effect of the solemn occasion. The consecration
sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Plowden, the
friend and former associate of Dr. Carroll, from whose
discourse the following extract, relating to the establish
ment of the American Church, will prove interesting : —
" Never, perhaps, was this truth (that the formation
of the kingdom of Christ is the ultimate object of the
* Catholic Magazine, 1845, p. 407; Archbishop Spalding's Sketches of Kentucky,
p. 62.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 75
whole dispensation of Providence in the government of
this world) more sensibly evinced, than in the late violent
convulsions by which the hand of the Almighty has dis
membered the great British Empire in the Western
world, the destinies of which, we trust, are founded in
His tenderest mercies. For, although this great event
may appear to us to have been the work — the sport of
human passions, yet the earliest and most precious fruit
of it has been the extension of the kingdom of Christ,
the propagation of the Catholic religion, which, hereto
fore fettered by restraining laws, is now enlarged from
bondage, and is left at liberty to exert the full energy of
divine truth. Already is Catholicity extended to the ut
most boundaries of the immense continent of America ;
thousands are there earnestly demanding Catholic in
structors, and all, penetrated with reverence for the Apos
tolic See of St. Peter, have concurred to demand from
his successor a Catholic prelate, whose knowledge and
whose zeal may establish the faith of Peter upon the
ruins of those errors which the first inhabitants carried
forth with them from this country. But if Britain in
fected them with error, we have the consolation to know
that their Catholicity is also derived immediately from
us ; and as we in former ages received the faith from
the great St. Gregory and our apostle, St. Austin, so
now, at the interval of twelve hundred years, our venera
ble prelate, the heir of the virtues and labors of our
apostle, will this day, by commission from the successor
of St. Gregory, consecrate the first father and bishop of
the new Church, destined, as we confide, to inherit those
benedictions which the first called have ungratefully re
jected. Glorious is this day, my brethren, for the
Church of God, which sees new nations crowding into

76 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
her bosom ; glorious for the prelate elect, who goes forth
to conquer those nations for : Jesus Christ; riot by the
efforts of human power, but in the might of those
weapons which have ever triumphed in this divine War
fare : he is not armed with the strength of this world,
but he is powerful in piety, powerful in zeal, powerful in
evangelical poverty, and firm reliance on the protection
of that God who sends him."*
Bishop Carroll remained in " England sufficiently long
to complete important business arrangements relating to
the establishment of a Sulpitian Seminary at Baltimore,
arid the founding of the Academy at Georgetown, to
both of which allusion will be fnade hereafter. In leav
ing England, where he had at two important periods of
his life received such extraordinary kindness and atten
tion, he felt a profound regret at beiftg separated from
such dear and good friends, especially from the members
of the late Society of Jesus and the noble occupants of
Lulworth Castle. With reference to the latter, the ear
nest emotions of his grateful heart, on the eve of depart
ure, found expression in these words : — " Long shall I
retain the impression made on me at Lulworth, by the
goodness, the charity, the loveliness of every branch of
that most respectable family, and I am sure my heart
will be full of the gratefullest emotions when I shall sail
abreast of the Castle."
It is a singular coincidence that, in going and return
ing, Bishop Carroll met as a fellow-passenger on the
same vessel Dr. Madison, the Protestant Episcopal
Bishop of Virginia, who went at the same time to Eng
land for episcopal institution in his own church. It may
be mentioned, as proof of the remarkable faculty pos-
* Dr. White's Appendix.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. fjj
sessed by Bishop Carroll of winning the esteem and
friendship of all with whom he was brought in contact,
that. Dr. Madison, during the acquaintance thus formed
with him, conceived the highest esteem and attachment
for Bishop Carroll, which continued during his life.
Bishop Carroll arrived at Baltimore December 7, 1790,
and was received on landing by a large concourse of his
Catholic and non- Catholic fellow-citizens, with enthusias
tic demonstrations of joy and veneration. On the fol
lowing Sunday he was formally installed in the episcopal
office, in accordance with the, rites of the Roman Pontifi
cal. His address on this occasion throws so much light
on the admirable character of Bishop Carroll, that some
portions of it should be introduced here. He said : —
" This day, my dear brethren, impresses deeply on my
mind a lively sense of the new relation in which I stand
now before you. You have often heard my voice within
these -walls ; and, often have I used my feeble endeavors
to rouse you from the sleep of sin, and to awake in you
the sentiments of virtue and. practical piety. But when I
thus addressed you, I considered it indeed as my obliga
tion to admonish and instruct you ; but I did not view it
as an indissoluble, obligation. My superintendence over
your spiritual concerns was of such a nature that I could
relinquish it, or be, removed from.it at pleasure.. But
now the hand of Providence (ah, may I hope it is not
an, angry, but a Providence merciful to you and me)— the
hand of Providence has formed an indissoluble tie — has
bound me by an obligation which I can never renounce
— an obligation, of ever attending to your eternal inter
ests ; of watching perpetually over your conduct ; of
stemming, to the utmost of my power, the torrent of vice
and irreligion ; of conducting you in the ways of virtue,

78 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and leading you to the haven of eternal bliss. The
shade of retirement and solitude must no longer be my
hope and prospect of consolation. Often have I flattered
myself that my declining years would be indulged in such
a state of rest from labor and solicitude for others, as
would leave me the best opportunity of attending to the
great concern of my own salvation, and of confining my
self to remember my last years in the bitterness of
compunction. But it has pleased God to order other
wise ; and though my duty commands submission, it
cannot allay my fears — those fears which I feel for you
and for myself. For, my God ! how much reason have I
not to fear for myself, when I view the extent of my du
ties, on the one hand, and on the other, my weakness
and natural inability to fulfil them. In this, my new sta
tion, if my life be not one continued instruction and ex
ample of virtue to the people committed to my charge, it
will become, in the sight of God, a life not only useless,
but even pernicious.
" It is no longer enough for me to be inoffensive in
my conduct and regular in my manners. God now im
poses a severer duty upon me. I shall incur the guilt of
violating my pastoral office, if all my endeavors be not
directed to bring your lives and all your actions to a con
formity with the laws of God ; to exhort, to conjure, to
reprove, to enter into all your sentiments ; to feel all your
infirmities ; to be all things to all, that I may gain all to
Christ ; to be superior to human respects ; to have noth
ing in view but God and your salvation ; to sacrifice to
these health, peace, reputation, and even life itself; to
hate sin, and yet love the sinner ;' to repress the turbu
lent ; to encourage the timid ; to watch over the conduct
of even the ministers of religion ; to be patient and

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 79
meek ; to embrace all kinds of persons ; — these are now
my duties — extensive, pressing, and indispensable duties ;
these are the duties of all my brethren in the episcopacy,
and surely important enough to fill us with terror. But
there are others still more burdensome to be borne by me
in this particular portion of Christ's Church which is com
mitted to my charge, and where everything is to be raised,
as it were, from its foundation ; to establish ecclesiastical
discipline ; to devise means for the religious education of
Catholic youth — that precious portion of pastoral solici
tude ; to provide an establishment for training up minis
ters for the sanctuary and the service of religion, that we
may no longer depend on foreign and uncertain coadju
tors ; not to leave unassisted any of the faithful who are
scattered through this immense continent ; to preserve
their faith untainted amidst the contagion of error sur
rounding them on all sides ; to preserve in their hearts
a warm charity and forbearance toward every other de
nomination of Christians ; and, at the same time, to pre
serve them from that fatal indifference which views all
religions as equally acceptable to God and salutary to
men. Ah ! when I consider these additional duties, my
heart sinks almost under the impression of terror which
comes upon it. In God alone can I find my consolation.
He knows by what steps I have been conducted to this
important station, and how much I have always dreaded
it. He will not abandon me, unless I first draw down His
malediction by my unfaithfulness to my charge. Pray,
dear brethren, pray incessantly that I may not incur so
dreadful a punishment. Alas ! the punishment would fall on
you, and deprive you of some of the means of salvation.
"The fears which trouble me on my own account
would receive some abatement, if I could be assured of

8o Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
your steady adherence to, the duties of your holy reli
gion.' But how can I be assured of this when I recollect
what experience. has, taught me, and that worldly conta
gion, example, influence, and respect, together with im
petuous passions, seek perpetually to plunge you„ into
habits of vice, and afterward; into everlasting misery;
and whentd know that not one soul will perish from
amongst you, of which God will not demand of me, as its
shepherd, a most severe account.. Unhappily at this time
a spirit of infidelity is prevalent, and dares to attempt the
subversion -of even the fences which guard virtue and
purity of body and mind. Licentiousness of discourse
and the . arts of seduction are practised without shame,
and, it would seem, without remorse. Ah ! -will itbe in my
power to oppose these fatal engines of vice and immo
rality ? Dear brethren, allow me to appeal to your, con
sciences ;. question them with candor and truth. Can I
say more to bring. you back to the simplicity of faith, to
the humble docility of a disciple of Jesus, to the fervent
practice of Christian .duties, than, I have said to you
heretofore? But what reformation followed then my
earnest, entreaties and. exhortations ? Was prayer more
used? Were, parents more assiduous in the instruction
of their children? Were their examples more edifying?
Was swearing and blaspheming diminished ? Was drunk
enness suppressed? .Was idleness extirpated? Was
injustice abolished? May I hope that on this occasion
God will shower down more abundant graces ; that your
hearts will be turned from the love of the world to the
love of Him ?, If I could be so happy as to see prevailing
among you. such exercises of piety as evidenced your at
tachment to religion, and your zeal for your salvation,
I shoul I myself be. relieved from much of my solicitude—

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 81
prayer; attendance on holy mass ; frequentation of the holy
sacraments ; humble docility to the advice and admonition
of your pastor. ' Obey,' says St. Paul, ' those who are put
over you, as having to render to God an account for your
souls.'" This admirable discourse, in which we are struck with
the humility and sincerity of the noble and distinguished
preacher, in adverting chiefly to his own conscience,
conduct, and duties, and in expressions of his own un-
worthiness and inadequacy, closed with an earnest ap
peal to his audience to cultivate a true devotion to the
Mother of God, under whose special patronage he had
placed his vast diocese.*
The task imposed upon Bishop Carroll by the Holy See,
in creating him sole Bishop of the United States, would
have been appalling to any one not possessed of that calm
energy and courageous resolution which were so conspicu
ous in the life and character of that illustrious prelate.
It was not so much the numbers of his flock, as their scat
tered condition, the vast empire over which they were dis
persed, the varied circumstances, of States and climates,
the inconveniences and delays of personal or postal com
munications, and the fewness of the laborers to assist him,
that rendered his office and duties so onerous and embar
rassing. His solicitude was greatly increased by the nu
merous applications sent to him from all parts for priests.
He proceeded with vigor and zeal, yet with calm and judi
cious deliberation, to provide as far as possible for the pres
sing wants of the Church, and to overcome the difficulties
of his position. .His embarrassments were greatly relieved
by the advent of pious, learned, and zealous clergymen,
driven to, our shores by. the waves of European revolutions.
f Rev. Dr. White's Appendix.

82 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
As early as 1791, Bishop Carroll had visited a consid
erable portion of his vast diocese, extending his visit to
the eastward as far as Boston. One of the objects of his
visit to Boston was to settle disputes which had unfortu
nately risen between the pastors of that place, and which
greatly disedified both Catholics and Protestants. He
writes of his visit to Boston, in 1791, as follows: — "It is
wonderful to tell what great civilities have been done to
me in this town, where, a few years ago, a Papist priest
was thought to be the greatest monster in creation.
Many here, even of their principal people, have acknowl
edged to me that they would have crossed to the oppo
site side of the street, rather than meet a Roman Catho
lic, some time ago. The horror which was associated
with the idea of papist, is incredible ; and the scandalous
misrepresentations by their ministers increased the horror
every Sunday. If all the Catholics here were united,
their number would be about one hundred and twenty."
His efforts to secure priests from Europe were indefa
tigable ; and while he sincerely lamented the calamities
that afflicted the Church in France, he felt and expressT
ed the most profound gratitude to the exiled French
clergy, who came as missionaries and apostles to our
needy and impoverished Church, as so many spiritual
architects to erect in the new world altars to the living
God, to supply the places of those which had been over
turned in the old world. " It is a melancholy reflection,"
he said, "that we owe so great a blessing to the lament
able catastrophe in France." A few extracts from some
of his letters will give us but a faint idea of the condition
of religion and the mode of conducting the labors of the
ministry in the United States at that time. In a letter to
a friend in Europe, the prelate thus describes a frequent

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 83
expedient to which recourse was had in announcing the gos
pel to the people : — " I am, I own, principally solicitous to
form establishments which will be lasting. To pass through
a village where a Roman Catholic clergyman was never
before seen ; to borrow from the parson the use of his
meeting house or church, in order to preach a sermon ;
to go or send about the village, giving notice at every
house that a priest is to preach at a certain house, and
there to enlarge on the doctrines of our Church ; . this is
a mode adopted by some amongst us for the propagation
of religion. But I would rather see a priest fixed for a
continuance in the same place, with a growing congrega
tion under him, than twenty such itinerant preachers.
The only effect which I have seen from these, is to make
people gaze for a time, and say that the preacher is a
good or bad one ; but as soon as he is gone on his way,
to think no more of him." Another letter conveys some
idea of his labors, and of the humble manner in which
the first Bishop discharged his episcopal and missionary
labors and duties : — " Such has been my continual occu
pation since my return, that I have not yet had leisure to
convoke a diocesan synod. If possible, one must be
held early in November. The business of a coadjutor,
and many regulations to be formed, call loudly for the
holding of such a meeting. My diocese is yet badly reg
ulated, and it cannot be much better till I can command
more time to form regulations. Being all alone, to an
swer all letters, to copy them, to attend to all details,
much of course is neglected or forgotten. If I do not
write you as often or as fully as you have a right to ex
pect, you must not impute the fault to me, but to una
voidable hindrances, I assure you that there are twenty
people in this town (Baltimore) to whom I owe, and

84 Lives of the- Catholic Bishops.
wish to pay, the respect of a civil visit, without having
been able to do so for many months; though I am busy
from five in the morning till between ten and eleven at
night." The most distant and desolate portions of his vast dio
cese received the paternal succor of Bishop Carroll; and
soon after his consecration his zealous and hardy mis
sionaries were gathering together in remote and wild
settlements the Catholics who had found their adven
turous way to the borders of civilization. The Indians
of Maine, the descendants of Father Rale's devoted
flock, became early objects of his solicitude.' Hearing
that the Sovereign Pontiff had appointed a Father over
the American Church, those simple but devout sons of
the Eastern forests made; known their wants and pre
sented their petitions, after the manner of their race, by
a speech accompanied with a symbol (a crucifix), mute
but touching memento of their faith and of their con
stancy. The Bishop, moved by. this beautiful appeal,
embraced the crucifix and returned it to them, accordmg
to the Indian custom, and addressed to them an affecr
tionate pastoral letter, and promised to send them pas
tors as soon as he could procure them from Europe.
He immediately sent to Europe to procure two priests
for this mission, promising that their support should be
no charge upon the Indiansj at least not for several
years, when their increased- numbers would better enable
them to bear, the expense. This beautiful letter of the
prelate to his tawny children of the East is too interesting
to be omitted : —
"Brethren and Beloved Children in Jesus Christ:
" I received with the greatest pleasure the testimony
of your attachment to your holy religion, and I venerated

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 85
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 desirous to procure for you a worthy teacher
and minister of God's ---holy- sanctuary, who may adminis
ter to your young people, to your sons and daughters,
the sacrament of baptism ; may instruct them and you in
the law of God, and the exercises of a Christian life;
may reconcile you to God, your Lord and Maker, after
all your transgressions ; and may perform for your wo
men, after child-bearing, the rites ordained by the Church
of Christ.
" Brethren and Beloved Children :—
" As soon as I received your request, and was in
formed 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 distressed situa
tion, 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 should have
been done much sooner, if I had been informed of your
situation. You may depend upon it, that you shall be
always in my heart and in my mind ;¦ and if it please
God to give me time, I will 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 they and you wish
to be united to your brethren, the Americans. You have
done very well not to receive amongst you those minis-

86 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ters who go without being called, or sent by that au
thority which Jesus Christ has established for the gov
ernment of His Church. Those whom I shall send to
you will be such good and virtuous priests as instructed
your forefathers in the law of God, and taught them to
regard this life only as a preparation for and a passage
to a better life in heaven.
" In token of my fatherly love and sincere affection, I
send back to you, after embracing it, the Holy Crucifix,
which I received with your letter ; and I inclose it in a
picture of Our Holy Father, the Pope, the Head on
Earth, under Christ, of our Divine Religion ; and this my
answer is accompanied likewise with nine medals, repre
senting 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's, Passamaquady, and Mich-
macs, who signed the address to me. They came from,
and have 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 loving Father, friend, and servant in
Jesus Christ,
•_< John, Bishop of Baltimore.
"Baltimore, Sept. 6, 1791."
In the midst of his solicitude for the whole Church of
America, Bishop Carroll never lost sight of the spiritual
welfare of the Indians. Had it been in his power he
would have revived the Indian missions on a scale equal
to the French missions of Canada in the seventeenth and

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 87
eighteenth centuries. He applied to President Washing
ton for governmental assistance in this great work. But
the President under our Constitution had no power to
grant his request. Had Congress at that time adopted
the policy of sending Catholic missionaries amongst the
Indians, how different would have been the fate of our
aborigines ! The Indians of Maine desired union with
us, and other tribes would have done the same. The
French missionaries, a century before, had secured their
alliance with France as well as their conversion to Chris
tianity. American missionaries could have done the
same for us and for the Indians under our republic. Had
this been done, a sad chapter in our history would now
have been one of the brightest pages in our annals.
Bishop Carroll kept his promise to the Indians of
Maine. He sent them first the Rev. Mr. Ciquard. The
saintly Abbg de Matignon, and the great and good Che-
verus, were then stationed at Boston, and had a charge
over and visited these Christian tribes, and subsequently
the Rev. Mr. Romagne' was sent to Maine. All these
zealous missionaries, in the midst of their labors in the
white settlements, were attentive and devoted friends
and pastors to these rude, but earnest children of the
Church. Bishop Carroll was subsequently enabled, by
the arrival of the banished clergy from France, to send
the Rev. Messrs. Levadoux, Richard, and Rivet, to labor
among the French inhabitants and Indian tribes of Mich
igan and the Northwest.
While the clergy of Maryland were temporally pro
vided for from the revenues of the church-property which
they possessed in common in that State, those who were
settled in Pennsylvania and Kentucky were, in many in
stances, subjected to the hardest and most scanty fare, suf-

88 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
fering for the necessaries of life, and most inadequately
clothed and sheltered. Father Phelan, in West Pennsyl
vania, wrote to Bishop Carroll, in 1795, that his food
three times a day consisted of bread and water with a little
burnt grease thrown over it; that he could riot travel for
want of a horse ; that his board, which "the poverty. or
meanness " of his flock rendered them unable or unwill
ing to pay, was due, and that he received the most harsh
treatment from his landlord in consequence thereof; and
that the five months he had spent there were five months
of most rigorous and continual lent. Another priest
near Milltown, Pennsylvania, who was the owner of
large tracts of land, wrote to the bishop to send him as
laborers twenty Connaught men, and informed him that
in winter he was obliged to accommodate himself in one
small store-room together with two families and' the
smaller animals of the farm. Another priest in Ken
tucky writes that his Condition was so intolerable and the
treatment so cruel he received from his landlord and
landlord's wife, the latter of whom was an Indian, that he
compares his home to Bedlam, or a den of wolves ; and
says, "I hope it is a temporal purgatory, and will atone
for some of my sins." * The condition of the Catholic
laity in those then remote arid wild portions of Bishop
Carroll's diocese must have been deplorable indeed, if
we judge from the accounts given of them by their pas
tors, more especially as the sufferings of the latter were
mainly due to the treatment they received from their
own flocks. Such are some of the examples of the
poverty and destitution, both spiritual and material, in
which were plunged some of the communities in his
diocese at the commencement of the episcopate of
*Rev. Dr. White's Appendix.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 89
Bishop Carroll, but in which, before his death, he had
established not only flourishing missions, but even Epis
copal Sees.
Bishop Carroll availed himself of the earliest oppor
tunity afforded him by the numerous and pressing duties,
which on his appointment required immediate and prompt
action on his part, to assemble his clergy in diocesan
synod. In obedience to his call they assembled to the
number of twenty-two, at Baltimore, November 7, 1791.
This auspicious event was announced to the clergy by
the bishop in a circular, in which he said : "The neces
sity of consulting together on< the means of continuing
the episcopacy of the United States, for the decent or
dering of divine worship, and uniformity in the adminis
tration of the sacraments, and. discipline of the diocese
and clergy, and devising means, if possible, for the sup
port of the ministers of religion; these are the princi
pal objects which will engage your attention." Five
sessions of the venerable assembly took place, and were
presided over by Bishop Carroll. The salutary statutes
adopted by this first ecclesiastical synod held in the
United States, related to the administration of the sac
raments, the celebration of divine service, the main
tenance of the clergy, the subdivision of the diocese or
appointment of a coadjutor, and other important sub
jects,- and have, in many respects, by their wisdom and
good results, impressed ¦ themselves permanently upon
the legislation of the American Church. 1 The bishop,
not long after the adjournment of the synod, addressed
to his flock, or rather to the whole Church of the United
States, an admirable pastoral letter, in which he pub
lished several of the more public statutes adopted, and
admonished and appealed to the people on several im-

90 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
portant subjects connected with the interests of religion.
Among the subjects prominently mentioned by him in
this address, may be specified the instruction of youth,
the support of " Georgetown Academy," the providing
of a clergy for the country and an ecclesiastical semi
nary, providing the necessary churches and church-furni
ture, the support of the priesthood, attendance at mass
and the sacraments, morality among the people, prayers
for the departed, the invocation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, under whose special patronage he placed his dio
cese, and the devout celebration of the feast of the As
sumption, for which he had asked particular blessings and
indulgences from the Holy See. The bishop and clergy
assembled in synod petitioned the Holy See, either to
divide the United States into several dioceses, or to
appoint a coadjutor bishop of Baltimore ; for it was
evident to all, that even Bishop Carroll's energy, zeal,
and capacity, while animating him with the will, did not
yet confer upon him the ubiquitous faculty of visiting
and providing for so vast a field. This measure, how
ever, was not accomplished until the year 1800, when it
was determined to give the bishop a coadjutor ; and the
Rev. Leonard Neale was consecrated Bishop of Gortyna
in partibus, and appointed coadjutor of Baltimore.
In 1788, while yet Vicar-General and Superior of the
clergy, Bishop Carroll had commenced the foundation
of Georgetown College. His plan embraced a theolog
ical seminary to conduct the studies of candidates for
the priesthood, and an academy for the education of
youth. The site selected by its founder for this first and
oldest of our colleges could not have been more judi
ciously chosen, either for health, advantages of location,
or beauty and grandeur of scenery. The first house

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 91
was erected in 1789; the institution was opened the fol
lowing year, though the classes of the academy did not
commence till 1791 ; and towards the close of the year,
the Rev. Richard Plunkett was regularly inducted as the
first president of the college. The poverty of the Amer
ican Church, the constant demands upon the bishop's
time, his efforts to erect churches and supply pastors in
all sections of the country, the sparseness of the Catho
lic population, and the difficulty of obtaining suitable
officers and teachers, will convey some idea of the arduous
task undertaken by Bishop Carroll in the establishment
of a college at that early day. After his consecration in
London, in 1790, he obtained liberal donations from his
English friends for the new college ; and he never faltered
in the work, but continued to cherish and sustain it with
paternal care during his life. In his selection of the
three first presidents, Fathers Plunkett, Molyneux, and
Neale, he proved his zeal for its welfare, and his sound
judgment in its management. In 1815 Congress raised
the college to the rank of a university, and, in 185 1, the
medical department was opened, and more recently the
law department. Its subsequent and continued career
of usefulness and honor attest how great is the debt
of gratitude due from the American Church to her first
bishop, for his efforts as the friend of education.
That part of Bishop Carroll's plan, which contem
plated the connection of a theqlogical seminary with
Georgetown College, was subsequently changed, and
found its further development in the establishment of St.
Mary's College in Baltimore. While in London, in
1790, Bishop Carroll received an important communica
tion from the Very Rev. Mr. Emery, Superior-General
of the Sulpitians in France, who had become alarmed

92 Lives of the Catholic Bishops;
for the safety of the religious institutions of his Order in
that country, in consequence of the increasing violence
of the revolution. This communication opened the sub
ject of establishing a seminary of St. Sulpice in America.
Our bishop cordially entered into and encouraged the
proposal of Father Emery ; and the Rev. Charles Nagot,
in behalf of his Superior, visited London, and concluded
an arrangement with the bishop for that purpose. It
was not long before this auspicious movement was car
ried into effect, and the first colony of Sulpitians, com
posed of Rev. Mr. Nagot, as Superior, and the Rev.
Messrs. Gamier, Tessier, Delavau, Levadoux, and five
young seminarians, arrived at Baltimore, July 10, 1791.
They had as companion on their voyage the young
Chateaubriand, who was then in pursuit of a northwest
passage to China, which was one of the visions of his
youth. Bishop Carroll was at Boston at the time of the
arrival of these holy men, whom, however, on his return,
he embraced with every demonstration of joy and pater
nal affection and gratitude. He had, before his departure
on his northern and eastern visitation, rented a house for
their accommodation, and subsequently, at his sugges
tion, the present site was selected and purchased for the
erection of a seminary and college. The theological
seminary and academy had already been opened at
Georgetown, but the union of the two was not of long
continuance at that time, for the seminary was trans
ferred to St. Mary's. The Jesuit Fathers subsequently
established an extensive and flourishing theological de
partment of their own at Georgetown ; and the latter
has been followed up, in very recent times, by the
establishment of the magnificent College of Wood
stock; Harford County, Maryland, under the govern-

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 93
ment of its founder, the Rev. Father Paresce. Founded
in 1792, St. Mary's was raised to the rank of a university
in 1805; by the Legislature of Maryland. The collegiate
department continued its useful career in the education
of youth till 1852, when it was discontinued, and Loyola
College, under the charge of the Jesuits, took its
place in Baltimore. The theological seminary, so long
the nursery of the secular priesthood and missions, still
continues its exalted career. It is thus that the seeds
planted by Bishop Carroll have grown up to be majestic
trees in our day, and have bestowed their abundant
fruits upon several generations.
Dr. Carroll was also one of three commissioners ap
pointed by the State of Maryland to establish the State
institution at Annapolis, St. John's College, from whose
faculty he afterwards received the degree of LL.D. He
also received the degree of D.D. and that of LL.D.
from- other colleges and universities in the United
States.
- Early in his episcopal career, and after he had begun
to issue pastorals or other documents, addressed to
those who recognized his spiritual authority, to which he
subscribed his name and title as, " John, Bishop of Balti
more" a singular manifestation of bigotry was made by
some writer, in one of the public prints, over the inap
propriate signature of " Liberal" in which grave objec
tion was made to his assumption of such a title. The
article, was entitled, "Strictures on an Extraordinary
Signature." But the bishop, by his dignified and
cogent reply, silenced forever the frivolous objection.
On February 3, 1796, the pious and venerable mother
of Bishop Carroll, to whom he was so devoted a son,
and to whom, under God, he was indebted for so much

94 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
that was excellent in his own character, departed this
life in the ninety-third year of her age, in the full enjoy
ment of her intellectual faculties, and abounding in senti
ments the most holy and devout. The son, who in
youth had so dutifully obeyed her, and in manhood had
made so many sacrifices to be near her and minister to
her spiritual wants, was now equally prompt, in the midst
of his exalted duties and ripening honors, to repair to the
death scene of so good a parent, and surround it with
every filial sympathy and every religious consolation.
Bishop Carroll, anxious as he was to provide the means
of Catholic education for young men, and for such also as
aspired to the sacred ministry, was not less solicitous for
Catholic female education, and for the encouragement of
female religious orders. The Carmelites established a
convent in Charles County, Maryland, in 1 790, the year
of his consecration, though they afterwards removed to
Baltimore ; and the Visitation Nuns founded their first
house in Georgetown. The spiritual charge of these he
committed to his saintly coadjutor, who was iri fact their
immediate founder.* The encouragement and firm
establishment of the Sisters of Charity under his foster
ing care and encouragement, constitute one of the
brightest pages in the history of his splendid administra
tion. Mother Seton, from the time of her conversion,
through all her trials and struggles, and her community,
were special objects of his tender and paternal solicitude
and bounty. The holy friendship which subsisted be
tween him and Mother Seton, is among the most beauti
ful passages in the lives of both. He had consoled and
counseled her in her moments of trial, and, in the hands
of Providence, had been one of the instruments of her
* See Life of Archbishop Neale, post.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 95
conversion. This excellent and remarkable lady looked
to him as a father and protector in every trouble. In
one of his letters to her, after laying before her motives
and considerations for confirming her courage and perse
verance, he requested to be remembered by her children
in their " innocent prayers," and concluded his letter thus :
" Whatever I hear, or learn of you, increases my solici
tude, respect, and admiration. But attribute no merit
to yourself on this account. Whatever is estimable in
you, either by nature or grace, is God's gift, and His
property ; and it is beneath the dignity of a Christian,
who has ever meditated on the folly as well as the crimi
nality of pride, to glory in that which belongs not to
him." The institution of Mother Seton was founded
at Emmittsburg under his approbation and encourage
ment, which he never ceased to extend to her and her
sisterhood. He frequently visited St. Joseph's at the
assumption of the habit, renewal of vows, consecration
of the chapel, and on many other interesting, solemn,
and important occasions. Writing from St. Joseph's to
a friend in Europe, Mother Seton says of Archbishop
Carroll : " He is now more my protector than ever,
more truly attached to us, and, finally, takes the supe
rior charge of our house, which at first he had bestowed
upon another."
When called upon to give a final sanction to the per
manent rule adopted for the community of the Sisters of
Charity, Archbishop Carroll commenced his letter in a
strain which throws much light upon his singularly fine
and majestic, yet beautiful and amiable, character. " Shall
I confess," said he, " that I am deeply humiliated by be
ing called upon to give a final sanction to a rule of con
duct and plan of religious government by which it is

96 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
intended to promote and preserve, among many beloved
spouses of Jesus Christ, a spirit of solid and sublime
religious perfection ? When I remember how many
prayers, fastings, watchings, etc., were employed by the
holy founders of religious institutions, to obtain light and
assistance from' the Holy Ghost, to render their constitu
tions and rules adapted to the objects of their pious zeal,
I am so sensible of my unworthiness, that I would cer
tainly decline from the test, if I did not entertain a confi
dence that it may please. God to bestow a blessing upon
the ministerial acts of the ministers of religion whom He
has constituted, to which blessing they are not entitled
if only their private worth were considered. Under this
impression, therefore, ,1 shall and do now give my appro
bation to the constitutions."
An anecdote is related concerning these two remark
able persons, which illustrates the characters of both.
On one occasion, while Mother Seton was conducting
the instruction of her pupils in Christian doctrine, one
of them said, "Mother, I met with a word, benignity, in
my catechism, and I don't know exactly the meaning
of it." "My dearest one," replied the mother with a
smile, " I can give you no better answer to your question
than to say, Look at Archbishop Carroll, and you will
see the meaning of this word on his countenance, as well
as in his manners."
Many as were the consolations of Bishop Carroll in
the course of his administration, his episcopate was far
from exempt from painful incidents and unhappy scandals
in various parts of the Church. His poverty in priests
for the missions, and his poverty in the necessary means
for procuring them from Europe, and in supporting them
and building churches, were the least of his trials. In a

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 97
number of places clergymen of eccentric characters or
insubordinate dispositions were officiating, and others of
still more unfortunate traits came to offer their services
to the new Church of America. Bishop Carroll felt con
strained to employ some who seemed generally accept
able, on account of the great necessities of his flock, and
others intruded upon the regular pastors appointed by
him, and in some instances expelled them from their
charge. In Boston and New York disputes arose be
tween the pastors stationed at the only place of worship
in each of those cities, and their respective abettors,
which proceeded to such length as to require the
bishop's personal intervention, and in the case at Boston
his personal presence. At New Orleans, the interreg
num in episcopal government gave rise to contentions
on the subject of jurisdiction, and to serious and long-
continued scandals, which Bishop Carroll used his best
efforts to remove. He appointed successively Rev.
Messrs. Olivier and Dubourg his Vicars-General in
that city. In Charleston, South Carolina, and in West
moreland County, Pennsylvania, the laity were scandal
ized by the irregular conduct of the pastors officiating
there. In Philadelphia, an intruding minister expelled
the regular pastor of the church, with the assistance of his
supporters ; and even in his own episcopal city of Balti
more, an unworthy priest, without faculties, with the aid
of his adherents, took possession of the German Catho
lic Church, to the exclusion of the better portion of the
congregation. These irregularities were accompanied
with scandals ; resulted in some cases in angry lawsuits ;
and even the bishop, when he went to Philadelphia to
correct the trouble prevailing there, was served with
citations to appear in court. The mild nature of Bishop
7

98 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Carroll was sorely tried by these disturbances ; but he
showed on all of these occasions, that mildness was not
the only trait of character he possessed. Lay trusteeism,
of course, took a part in these unfortunate affairs, aggra
vating, if not originating them in most cases. Bishop
Carroll met this evil with all the vigor and firmness of
his nature, and gave it the first blows, which afterwards
led to its practical reduction to proper subjection, or its
abolition. His pastoral letters, issued on several of these
occasions, are productions of great vigor, power, and
reasoning; and they presented, for the first time, to the
American mind, the application of the ecclesiastical law
to the circumstances of the Church, and to her temporali
ties and organization in this country.
The suppression of the Society of Jesus has already
been mentioned. Dr. Carroll was devotedly attached to
this illustrious Order and to its members. He never lost
hope for its restoration, and at the earliest possible mo
ment took measures for this end. Though suppressed
throughout Europe, Russia was not included in the ap
plication of the decree. The Society continued its ex
istence and labors without interruption in that country.
As soon as Bishop Carroll learned this fact, he and his
coadjutor, Bishop Neale, applied to Father Gruber, the
General, for permission to the members of the late
Society in the United States to affiliate with the Society
in Russia, and renew their vows. Their request was
granted, and Bishop Carroll called the ex-Jesuits to
gether at Baltimore, May 10, 1805, and at this meeting
six members of the old Society were readmitted into
the revived Society, and on June 21 Bishop Carroll ap
pointed Rev. Robert Molyneux Superior of the Jesuits
in America. The Society was soon augmented by arri-

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 99
vals from Europe; and Bishop Carroll transferred
Georgetown College to them, and restored to them their
former missions in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The relations of Archbishop Carroll with General
Washington have been made the subject of frequent
allusion by Catholic authors. While the strongest evi
dence exists to show that Archbishop Carroll was an
ardent admirer, and, so far as was becoming in a clergy
man, a political supporter of Washington, there is noth
ing to show the existence of any intimacy or close per
sonal acquaintance or friendship between them. Their
acquaintance with each other rested upon a better foun
dation than mere social or personal partiality. It was the
result of a mutual respect for public and private virtues
known to each to be possessed by the other : a knowl
edge on the part of both of a devotion to one great
object, the liberty, prosperity, and happiness of a com
mon country ; an union of services, though in different
spheres and necessarily in different degrees, in the attain
ing of our independence. No friendly correspondence
was kept up between them, for the only letter from
Washington to Bishop Carroll, found among the papers
of the latter, was of an official character, and related to
the application made by the Prelate to the President for
public aid to the Indian missions, a request which, under
the Constitution, could only be granted by Congress,
That Washington was well acquainted with, and respect
ed and admired the character and virtues of, Bishop Car
roll, is quite clear from undoubted historical facts ; and the
same has been fully confirmed by the late Mr. Custis, of
Arlington, an adopted son of Washington, and member
of his family. The language of Mr. Custis was : " From
his exalted worth as a minister of God, his stainless

ioo Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
character as a man, and, above, all, his distinguished ser
vices as a patriot of the Revolution, Dr. Carroll stood
high, very high, in the esteem and affections of the Pater
Patriae." * From the same source we learn that, when
ever the citizens of Baltimore extended a public recep
tion or ovation to Washington in his passage through
their city, between Philadelphia and Mount Vernon,
Bishop Carroll usually stood at the head of the citizens
and extended the first welcome to the President and re
ceived the first grasp of his hand; That Bishop Carroll
should have been selected, by the unanimous resolution
of Congress, passed in compliance with the general de
sire of the clergy and laity of all ; denominations, to pro
nounce a panegyric of Washington on the 22d of Feb
ruary, i8oO; the first Washington anniversary after his
death, is evidence of the recognized relations which ex
isted between these two great men. This discourse by
Dr. Carroll was pronounced in St. Peter's Church, Balti
more, andis replete with exalted sentiments of religion
and of public virtue, fervid eloquence, ardent patriotism,
and pure classic taste. Happily this fine production has
been preserved for the good of posterity, and is at once
a monument of the eloquent and accomplished eulogist
and of his incomparable subject.!
An incident in= the life of Bishop i Carroll; connected
with the Napoleon family, ought not to be omitted here.
In 1803 Jerome Bonaparte, a brother of the Emperor
Napoleon I., came to the United States in a French frig
ate ; while at Baltimore he formed the acquaintance of
Miss Patterson/ a Protestant lady of that city, became
* Letter of G. W. P. Custis to Rev. Dr. White, Appendix to Donas' History of
the Church.
\ Mri Brent's Biography of Archbishop Carroll.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 101
interested in her, and finally they became engaged to be
married. After some delay in fulfilling the engagement,
induced by prudential or state considerations, Bishop Car
roll himself performed the marriage ceremony. The
Emperor undertook to annul the marriage for dynastic
reasons, and endeavored to enlist the assistance of Pope
Pius VII. ; but neither imperial entreaties, menaces, nor
commands could prevail on the Vicar - of Christ, who
firmly and nobly persisted in upholding the binding force
of this marriage, and in pronouncing the illegality of any
subsequent one that might be entered into.
After ten or twelve years of untiring effort, Bishop
Carroll had the consolation of seeing the infant Church,
which he had presided over with so much care and abil
ity, advancing rapidly, and yielding a harvest of fruits
acceptable to Heaven. The exiled clergy from France,
and the restored Society of Jesus, supplied pastors for
many destitute missions. The diocese of Baltimore em
braced the entire United States and the territory west
of the Mississippi ; and the vast country then known as
Upper and Lower Louisiana, was, on its cession to the
United States, added to his jurisdiction and care. Besides
these,- he was charged, afterwards, with the care of the
missions in several of the West India Islands. He
seemed, in the midst of his numerous and pressing
duties, to find time for everything. The visitations of
his diocese were accomplished by him then with apparent
ease, though requiring so much time, and accompanied
with so much inconvenience in traveling. The increase
of the Church during his episcopate was wonderful, and,
what is more, was accomplished with resources the most
limited and uncertain. He visited Boston in 1803 ,' at the
solicitation of Rev. Messrs. Matigrioh and Chevterus; arid,

102 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
on the 9th of September of that year, consecrated the
Church of the Holy Cross, the first Catholic Church
erected in the city of Boston. He laid the corner-stone
of the present Cathedral of Baltimore July 7, 1806. He
received constantly from the zealous missionaries, whom
he had sent to various and remote sections of the coun
try, the most encouraging accounts. New churches were
erected and Catholic congregations organized in places
where it was scarcely known before that there were
Catholics living. The Augustinians at Philadelphia and
the Dominicans in Ohio founded flourishing and perma
nent institutions, and began to share with the Jesuits of
Georgetown, and with the Sulpitians of Baltimore, the
favor and benedictions of the chief pastor of the country,
while, at the same time, they took part with them in the
great work of preparing priests for the Church. As
early as 1808 Dr. Carroll had the consolation of behold
ing nearly seventy priests and eighty churches in the
country. On a single day, as early as 1808, he ordained
as many as eight priests. Year by year he was sending
devoted men to found new congregations, and the mis
sionaries thus sent by him to many prominent places
were the founders of future bishoprics. It was he that
gave a Cheverus to Boston, a Dubourg to New Orleans,
a Flaget to Kentucky, and a Fenwick to Cincinnati. The
most obscure missions founded by him have since devel
oped into flourishing dioceses. With scarcely as many-
priests as there are now bishops within the same limits,
he still supplied new regions with devoted pastors, and
the devout prayers, joyous hymns, and holy benedictions
of the Church, resounded in places where they were
unknown before. The duty of visiting the most needy
and important places, of conducting a correspondence

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 103
with every portion of the country, as well as with Rome
and other parts, the study of the wants and necessities
of his flock, and the still more difficult study how to sup
ply them, were also amongst his unceasing obligations and
cares. The wisdom with which he selected the proper
man for the proper place, and the promptness with which
he dispatched his varied duties, were matters of wonder
and admiration. Yet with all his efforts, and with the
aid of the zealous priests he received from Europe, such
was the awakening influence of the new life he inspired
into the young Church of America, that the petitions he
received from every quarter, after having supplied so
many places with pastors, were far more numerous than
his colaborers, and he was frequently grieved at his in
ability to supply the demands made upon him. Yet how
vast was the good he accomplished ; a good fruitful in its
immediate results and consoling in the hope it gave of a
more joyous future. It was thus, with steady hand and
nerve, with calm and prudent judgment, and with untir
ing zeal, that this patriarch and architect of our Church
in America proceeded to lay deep and broad the massive
and lasting foundations of the majestic structure which
now challenges our admiration and veneration.
The best evidence of the wonderful progress of the
Church under Bishop Carroll's administration, is to be
found in the multiplication of bishoprics, which now took
place. His reports of the increase and condition of the
missions in America, and the representations of his in
creased labors, an increase far beyond the powers of one
bishop to keep pace with, induced the Holy See to take
this important step. The illustrious and saintly Pius VIL,
though, to use the language of Archbishop Carroll him
self, " in the midst of tribulations most bitter to human

104 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
nature, but equally glorious in his Divine Master," turned
his paternal attention to the wants of our Church, and,
by his brief of April 8, 1808, erected Baltimore into an
Archiepiscopal See, and established four new Episcopal
Sees as suffragans to Baltimore, which were located at
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bardstown in Ken
tucky. Dr. Carroll was deeply impressed with this im
portant occurrence, and resolved to spare no efforts to
cause its influence to be joyously and beneficially felt
throughout the country. The Right Rev. John Chev
erus, of Boston, was appointed Bishop of that See; the
Right Rev. Luke Concanen, of Rome, was appointed
Bishop of New York ; the Right. Rev. John Egan, of
Philadelphia, was appointed Bishop of that See ; and the
Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, of Bardstown, was
appointed Bishop of Bardstown.* The untimely death
of Bishop Concanen, who was on the eve of sailing from
Naples for his See, bearing the Bulls of investiture for
the new bishops, and the pallium for Archbishop Car
roll, delayed the arrival of the documents and the conse
cration of the new bishops until 1810, and left the See of
New York vacant. Archbishop Carroll issued in that
year an interesting pamphlet of " Instructions on the
erection of four new episcopal sees," with an " Historical
Notice," that all might know and appreciate this import
ant event. He proceeded then, with the assistance of
his coadjutor, Bishop Neale, to consecrate the newly
appointed prelates, at Baltimore. He consecrated
Bishop Egan at St. Peter's, on Sunday, October 28 ;
Bishop Cheverus in the same church, November 1, the
feast of All Saints ; Bishop Flaget, at St. Patrick's, No
vember 4 ; on all of which occasions, a grandeur, so-
* See the Lives of these Prelates post.

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 105
lemnity, and beauty, were maintained, which had never
before been witnessed in America. Glorious day this
was for the American Church and its venerable Arch
bishop ! Nothing could have been more eloquent, be
cause so true, than the language with which Bishop
Cheverus saluted the archbishop, from the pulpit of the
Cathedral, at the consecration of Bishop Flaget, as "the
Elias of the new law, the father of the clergy, the con
ductor of the car of Israel in the new world— Pater mi,
Pater mi, currus Israel et auriga ejus ! "
Archbishop Carroll gathered around him the newly
consecrated prelates in council. This venerable assem
bly was simple, but truly august, and most important to
the cause of religion. Rules of discipline were drawn up
for the future government of the Church : throwing
themselves in spirit at the feet of the Chief Bishop and
Vicar of Christ, these pioneer prelates of the new world
addressed to him a letter of submission and petition, ask
ing his sanction and instruction, and his powerful assist
ance in the government of their churches. They also
addressed a brief, but admirable, pastoral letter to the
clergy and laity of the United States ; a document which
presents, in a brief space, all the cardinal rules for the
regulation of a Christian life. Then receiving and im
parting benedictions among themselves, the three new
bishops departed to their respective dioceses, and the
archbishop, remaining to bless and guide his own de
voted flock, never ceased to pour forth fervent prayers
of gratitude to God.
Left now to the government of the Archdiocese of
Baltimore, even yet vast and needy, Archbishop Carroll
devoted all his time, strength, and talents to the cause of
relio-ion. The vacancy which soon occurred in the dio-

¦io6 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
cese of Philadelphia, by the death of Bishop Egan, en
tailed upon him the care to some extent of that diocese.
The multiplication of churches in his diocese, the interests
of religion in the South, the increasing of the number of
the clergy, the fostering care bestowed upon the religious
orders and collegiate and ecclesiastical institutions he
had founded, communications of advice and assistance to
his colleagues in the episcopacy, the conduct of a most
extensive correspondence with America and Europe, and
the immediate details and labors of his own diocese, oc
cupied and fully filled up the remaining years of Arch
bishop Carroll. He could now behold the abundant
fruits of his past labors, while earnestly engaged in new
works and in fostering those already established.
The private life and virtues of Archbishop Carroll
were in keeping with his public acts and services. His
charities to the poor, his love for the orphan, his conso
lation and relief to the afflicted and unfortunate, his kind
ness, benignity, and affability to all who approached him,
were so remarkable, that he was held up as the model of
a Christian gentleman. In social conversation he was
unrivaled ; his compositions are models of classic taste
and elegance ; his sermons were eloquent, chaste, and
effective ; and as an adviser, there were few, if any, to
excel him in prudence, wisdom, and candor ; as a rela
tive and friend, he was most affectionate and considerate.
His letters to his clergy, even when applying the cor
rective powers of his office to some abuse or irregularity,
were full of gentleness and winning counsel. A single
selection from his ordinary letters to friends or relatives,
as the private correspondence of the great and good
always does, will throw a considerable light upon his
genial nature and elevated friendship ; for this purpose,

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 107
the following letter to his nephew, Mr. Daniel Brent,
then employed in the United States Treasury Depart
ment at Philadelphia, is published : —
"Baltimore, Dec. 31, 1793.
Dear Daniel : — I was very sorry that you should pass
through Baltimore during my absence. Philadelphia,
though in other respects restored, perhaps, to its former
condition and gaiety, must, to you and many others, be
destitute of one of its principal recommendations by the
death of your venerable friend, Mr. Fleming. But this
heavy loss will not, I hope, cause you to neglect those
duties which, as he informed me, were urged on you so
often by his friendship as well as his zeal. Often con
sider, dear Daniel, of how little real advantage all other
acquirements will finally be, without the acquirement and
persevering practice of religious virtue. You know Mr.
Keating, and will soon be acquainted with Mr. Neale ;
they will readily endeavor to aid you in your progress
to this desirable term ; and their examples will enforce
their lessons.
*********
" When you answer this letter be so good as to let
me know the general opinion as to the views of the
parties in Congress, if any parties there be ; and like
wise how matters stand between Governor Mifflin and
his friend Dallas, since the publication of the latter.
" When you see Mr. Fitzsimmons, present my best
respects to him and lady, and fervent wishes for every
happiness during the ensuing year. For yourself I pray,
in Lord Chesterfield's often-repeated manner, multos et
felices. " I am, dear Daniel, your most affectionate uncle,
"4« J., Bishop of Baltimore."

to8 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop Carroll wasr throughout life, remarkable
for his personal devotion and piety; virtues which con
tinued as fresh and ardent amidst the cares and anxieties
of business, and amidst the honors and dignities of posi
tion, as when he was a youth under his mother's roof,
or a student of the Jesuits of Maryland,, and St. Omer's.
It was a pious custom among : the old Catholic families
of Maryland, for the head of the household to assemble
the family and servants together in the evening to recite
their night prayers in common. This excellent practice,
acquired by him in his youth from his mother, was con
tinued by Archbishop Carroll during his whole life.
Thus it was observed, that though his residence was
the . resort of the friends and relatives of the venerable
prelate, and of many who came on business or for coun
sel, especially in the evening, he would, at the ap
pointed hour, gracefully retire for a while, and unite
with the colored servants and others of his household
in the customary everiing service. His influence as a
high and dignified ecclesiastic was great ; but the im
proving effect of his private virtues, of his pure and holy
life, his simplicity, gentleness, firmness in rectitude and
good example, and devotion to the cause of religion and
morality, were most powerful in all circles of the com
munity in which he resided. In statue he was below
the medium height, but he was, at the same time, one of
the most dignified and imposing of men. His appear
ance and manners were strikingly appropriate to the
ecclesiastic ; he was exceedingly affable, always accessi
ble, of a genial nature, and sought his only relaxation in
the social converse of a refined Christian community.
He did not confine his social visits to members of his
own Church; but received' and returned visits with a

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 109
large and cultivated circle of acquaintances of the various
religious denominations at Baltimore.
Such were the regularity and frugality of his life, that
he was about eighty years of age before any decided
symptoms of declining health appeared. The approaches
of death were slow and almost imperceptible. Yet he
was ever ready to meet death, and welcomed it with a
calm and hopeful resignation* Exhausted nature finally
succumbed to the common fate of humanity. He was for
some time confined to his house ; then to his chamber,
and finally to his bed ; and during this period practised
every virtue which had adorned his long and glorious
life. His humility and charity to others were conspicu
ous in those last days of his mortal career. With a
mind unclouded and calm, he prepared himself for death,
and assisted others in their preparations for his own last
agony. When one of his priests -quietly entered his
chamber in search of a certain book, which contained the
ceremonies and directions appropriate for the burial of an
archbishop, the expiring prelate at once remarked, " I
know what you want," and told the clergyman that he
would find the book he was looking for in a certain posi
tion on a certain shelf; and there accordingly the book
was found. Among the attendants at his death-bed was
his sister; and it is related that when he perceived his
agony approaching, he thought of her, and inquired if
there was a conveyance ready to carry her and his weep
ing relatives home ; telling them that the scene was
about to close, and requesting them to take rest and
nourishment. To an eminent Protestant clergyman who
was present, and who observed to him that his hopes
were now fixed on another world, he replied, "Sir, my
hopes have always been on the cross of Christ." He

no Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
requested that he might be placed on the floor to die,
deeming this humble position suited to his demerits be
fore God, into whose presence he was about to enter.
To the last he requested his attendants to recite for him
the " Miserere mei, Deus." Finally, bestowing his
benediction upon his friends and relatives present, he
averted his face and calmly expired.
His death occurred on Sunday, December 3, 18 15.
One of his contemporaries has well exclaimed with the
poet : — " He taught us how to live ; and oh ! too high
The price of knowledge ! taught us how to die."
The following notice of Archbishop Carroll's character,
in the American Quarterly Review, is from the pen of a
contemporary, who knew him well: — "We may be per
mitted to pay, ourselves, an humble, direct tribute to the
memory of him whose society we had often the good
fortune to enjoy. No being that it has been our lot to
admire, ever inspired us with so much reverence as
Archbishop Carroll. The configuration of his head, his
whole mien, bespoke the metropolite. We cannot easily
forget the impression which he made, a few years before
his death, upon a distinguished foreigner (of Scotland),
"who conversed with him for an half-hour, immediately
after the celebration of the mass, in his parlor, and had
seen the most imposing hierarchs of Great Britain.
The visitor seemed, on leaving the apartment, to be
strongly moved, and repeatedly exclaimed, ' that, in
deed, is a true Archbishop ! ' The prelate could dis
course with him on all the leading affairs and pregnant
vicissitudes of the world, with equal elegance and facili
ty, in Latin, Italian, or French ; with the most enlight
ened and liberal philosophy ; blending dignity with

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. in
suavity, delicate pleasantry with grave and comprehen
sive remark. Much of his correspondence was con
ducted in those languages ; he wrote them not less
readily and tersely than his own ; and he had few equals
in his critical knowledge and employment of the latter.
He bore his superior faculties and acquirements ; his well-
improved opportunities of information and refinement,
abroad and at home ; his unrivalled personal considera
tion and influence ; his professional rank and daily honors,
we will not say meekly, but so courteously, happily, un
affectedly, that, while his general character restrained,
in others, all propensity to indecorum or presumption,
his presence added to every one's complacency, and
produced an universal sentiment of earnest kindness
towards the truly amiable and truly exalted companion
and instructor. He mingled often with gay society,
relished the festivities of polished life, and the familiar
intercourse of both clergy and laity of the Protestant de
nominations ; and it was this expansion of his sympathies
and social pleasures — as well the breadth of his charity,
the benignity of his nature, and the simplicity of his
spirit and carriage, as his elevated station and the sanc
tity of his way — that drew to his funeral a greater con
course, comprising more real mourners than had ever
been witnessed in Baltimore on any similar occasion ;
filled the streets and windows with sympathizing specta
tors, and produced as vivid a sensation in the whole
body of Catholics throughout the Union, as if each con
gregation or individual had lost the dearest of immediate
pastors or friends. Archbishop Carroll belonged, as has
been said, to the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits ; and
he was ever proud and fond of that relation. Could
Jesuitism have been determined in its proper meaning

112 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
by his disposition, it would have had an acceptation the
very reverse of the common one. He was wholly free
from guile; uniformly frank, generous, and placable; he
reprobated all intolerance ; and when accused, in the
newspapers, of having, in a pastoral letter, ' excluded
from the honorable appellation of Christians, all that
were not within the pale of his Church,' he answered, by
the same channel : ' If such a passage can be pointed
out, he (the bishop) will be the first to condemn it, since,
so far- from embracing this opinion as an article of his
faith,« he holds the doctrine directly contrary to it to
be that of his Church, to which he and all Catholics
are bound to submit, and which Catholics have constant
ly maintained in opposition to the tenets of some pre
tended reformers.'
" The archbishop's patriotism was as decided as his
piety. He ranked and voted with the Federal party —
yet he entertained no predilection for Great Britain or
her government. He loved republicanism, and so far
preferred his own country, that if ever he could be excited
to impatience, or irritated, nothing could have that effect
more certainly than the expression of the slightest pre
ference, by any American friend, of foreign institutions or
measures. He had joined with heart and judgment in
the Revolution ; he retained, without abatement of con
fidence, or fofvor, the cardinal principles and American
sympathies and hopes upon which he then acted. We
have heard from some of the most intelligent and observ
ant of his auditors, when he delivered his masterly fune
ral panegyric ori Washington, in which he recited the
terrors, the encroachments, the distresses, and the glories
of the struggle for Independence, that he appeared to be
laboring under intense emotions corresponding to those

Most Rev. John Carroll, D.D. 113
topics ; to be swayed, like the aged minstrel of the poet,
with contagious influences, by the varied strains which
he uttered. That discourse has been published ; and
also, we believe, some of his tracts. His sermons have
not been printed ; but they were most skilfully tempered,
and classically written."
8

MOST REV. LUIS PENALVER Y CARDENAS,
D.D.
First Bishop of New Orleans, afterwards Archbishop of Guatemala,
A.D. 1793*
It is to be regretted that so little is known of this Pre
late, more especially as the meagre account, that has
been transmitted to us concerning him, is calculated to
give an exalted estimate of his virtues, labors, and abili
ties. Louisiana was from the beginning of American coloni
zation an object of contention between France and Spain.
The gallantry of Iberville decided the contest in favor of
France. But France, by a secret article in the treaty of
Fontainebleau, in 1762, transferred Louisiana to Spain,
under whose dominion it remained till the year 1800,
when Spain retroceded it to France.
The episcopal see of New Orleans was erected under
the Spanish dominion. The missions before this had
been conducted by Spanish and French priests, who were
under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Havana. In
1793, New Orleans was made an independent see by the
Sovereign Pontiff, and Don Luis Penalver y Cardenas,
then a distinguished Spanish divine, was appointed its
first bishop. Archbishop Blanc, one of his successors,
writes of him, that he was " a man of great talents, zeal,
and piety, whose administration was marked by an un-
* Authorities : Archbishop Spalding's Life of Bishop Flaget ; Catholic Alma
nacs, etc.

Most Rev. Luis Penalver y Cardenas, D.D. 1 1 5
common degree of wisdom, and a strict attachment to the
discipline of the Church." The papal bulls appointing
him, an authenticated copy of which is preserved in the
archiepiscopal archives of New Orleans, bear date April
25, 1793. It is stipulated in them that the new Bishop
shall receive from the royal treasury of Spain the annual
sum of four thousand dollars, for his suitable support.
Two canons were to be attached to the cathedral, who
were each to receive from the same source the sum of
six hundred dollars annually.
It was not till the year 1795 that Bishop Penalver y
Cardenas took formal possession of his see. " He im
mediately began," writes Archbishop Spalding, on the
information of Archbishop Blanc, " the visitation of his
diocese, which he prosecuted with vigor and zeal. He
required all priests, who had charge of congregations, to
send him annual reports of the condition, both temporal
and spiritual, of their respective parishes or districts. He
continued to exact this during the six years of his vigi
lant administration. He labored earnestly to eradicate
abuses, and to promote piety."
This excellent Prelate was, in 1802, made Archbishop
of Guatemala, over which diocese he presided until 1806,
when he was transferred to the See of Havana. Of his
services after his departure from New Orleans, and of
his death, no accounts have reached us.

THE MOST REV. LEONARD NEALE, D.D.
Second Archbishop of Baltimore, A.D., 1800.*
The ancestors of Archbishop Neale were among the
earliest settlers of Maryland, Captain James Neale, the
founder of the name in America, having come over with
his family some time prior to the year 1642. Captain
Neale had been a favorite at the court of Charles I., and
his wife, Madam Anna Neale, held an office in the house
hold of the Queen Henrietta Maria. They resided sev
eral years afterwards in Spain, where Captain Neale was
the accredited agent of the King. According to some
accounts, he was an Admiral in the Royal Navy, in which
position he acquired a large fortune from the prize-money
that fell to his share in the capture of Spanish vessels.
Four of the children of Captain and Madam Anna Neale
were born during their sojourn in the Spanish dominions,
and the good mother named one of her daughters Hen
rietta Maria, as a compliment and token of gratitude to
her royal friend, the queen of Charles I. ; the same name
has continued through generations to be a favorite one
in the family of the Neales. Captain Neale was subse
quently Lord Baltimore's negotiator among the burgo
masters of Holland. Upon the immigration of himself and
family Maryland, they were all naturalized by an act
of Assembly, in consequence, no doubt, of the previous
* Authorities : Davis' Day-Star of American Freedom : National Intelligencer,
October I, 1856; Notice of Archbishop Neale, by M. C. Jenkins, in the Catho'.i
Magazine, 1844; Catholic Almanac, 1835; Bozman's History of Maryland ; Life of
Cardinal Cheverus, by Rev. J. Huen Dubourg ; Metropolitan, December, 1855,
and June, 1856, &c.

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 117
residence of the parents, and the birth of the children, in
Spain. Captain Neale purchased a large tract of land
in Charles county, with the Spanish coins which he
brought with him and known as cob dollars, from which
circumstance originated the name of Cob Neck, the place
where he settled. He was a prominent and useful man
in the affairs of the Colony, in its earliest and purest
days of enlightened Catholic legislation ; he became a
member of the Governor's Council in 1643 ; and in 1644
he was summoned, by a special writ of Governor Leon
ard Calvert, to sit in the colonial legislature. Distin
guished as were the ancestors of Archbishop Neale in
those early days, for their many virtues, and especially
for their firm adherence and devotion to the Catholic
faith, they and their descendants continued, with heroic
courage, to preserve their faith intact through the long and
gloomy period of persecution, which followed and contin
ued to rage during the Protestant ascendency in Mary
land. And at that auspicious moment, the dawn of the
American Revolution, when civil and religious liber
ty was restored in Maryland, the Neales were found, as
they had always been, among the sincere and unswerv
ing followers of the faith of their fathers.
Leonard Neale was bom near Port Tobacco, Charles
county, Maryland, October 15, 1746, of parents in the
enjoyment of easy circumstances and high social position.
The death of the father devolved upon the widowed
mother of five sons and one daughter the responsible,
but holy duty, of directing and providing for their educa
tion. But, like most of the Catholic matrons of her day
in Maryland, Mrs. Neale was fully qualified for the task,
beset as it was with many trying difficulties, in conse
quence of the intolerant and narrow-minded policy which

n8 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the colonial government had adopted and continued to
pursue with unrelenting severity towards Catholics. De
prived of the right to give a Catholic education to her
children in their native country, Mrs. Neale, in order to
attain that great object, had already endured a painful
separation from two of her sons and an only daughter,
who were then pursuing their studies in Europe. With
a firmness of purpose, and a fidelity to duty, which reli
gion alone could inspire, as well as bestow the strength
necessary to enable the mother's heart to endure the
separation, she now tore from her side and committed to
the winds and waves of the ocean two of her younger
sons, Charles and Leonard, who were sent to the Col
lege of English Jesuits at St. Omer's in French Flanders ;
Leonard being at the time only twelve years old. These
two were subsequently followed by their youngest brother,
Francis, upon whom this pious and courageous mother
had determined to bestow the same inestimable advan
tages of a collegiate and Catholic education. Gifted
with a quick and capacious mind, the youthful Leonard
was very successful in passing through his academic ca
reer at St. Omer's. Having been inclined from early
youth to embrace a religious life, and having resolved to
dedicate himself in an especial manner to the service of
Almighty God in the holy ministry, in which he was
doubtlessly influenced as well by the pious training
which he had received from his inestimable mother, as
by the remarkable example of his brothers and sister,*
* The oldest brother, William Chandler, after having embraced a religious life, was
ordained a priest and stationed in England, where he finally died in the Manchester
Hospital, insane ; Benedict was also a priest and died in Maryland in 1787, making the
vows of the Society of Jesus on his death-bed ; Charles also died in holy orders, April
28, 1823, at Georgetown ; Anne, the only sister of the Archbishop, was a nun of the
order of Poor Clares at Aire, in Artois ; the youngest child, the Rev. Francis, after a
long life of extraordinary sanctity, died in Maryland in 1837.

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 119
he went from St. Omer's to Bruges, and then to Liege,
where, with equal success and reputation, he made his
course of philosophy and theology, and was ordained a
priest in the Society of Jesus.
During his sojourn in Europe, Mr. Neale often turned
his heart towards his home, and especially towards his
good mother, whom he continued to cheer constantly by
his affectionate and pious letters. One of his letters is
particularly alluded to in Mr. Jenkins' Notice of the
Archbishop, in the following terms : " In a letter to his
mother written from Bruges, in 1770, Leonard speaks
most feelingly and affectionately of his brothers and sister,
then scattered about in Europe. That letter, remarkable
for its filial and fraternal piety, enters into familiar detail
of the health, dispositions, and capacity of all his family,
and announces to his mother the safe arrival of Francis,
his younger brother, at St. Omer's. There was much in
this letter to repay that mother for her noble and Chris
tian sacrifices ; much to console her for the pious direc
tion which her precepts had given to the hearts of her
children. Four of her sons had embraced the priesthood,
a fifth had declared his intention of following their exam
ple ; and her daughter Anne had become a nun of the
Order of St. Clare, at Aire in Artois. What a joyoUs
spectacle was this for the pious matron, whose soul was
wrapt up in the spiritual welfare of her children ! To see
them one after another, like the family of St. Bernard,
embracing a religious life and sacrificing all worldly con
siderations for those sacerdotal dignities, which they
gloried in the more, as they doomed -them to so many
perils and such arduous trials." Taking up the pious
thought thus suggested, it may here be remarked that
this heroic family presents an example eminently charac-

120 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
teristic of truly Catholic countries and ages, and one well
worthy of imitation among Catholics in our own day and
country. It was once the pride and glory of the Catho
lic mother to offer up her children to the special service
of the God of Heaven. It was once the hope, nay the
constant prayer of the Catholic mothers of old, that
at least one of their sons might accept the labors and
perils, together with the honors, of the Christian
priesthood, and if Heaven demanded the sacrifice,
all were freely offered at the altar. It is not sur
prising, that such heroic dispositions in the parent
were frequently rewarded by numerous vocations among
Catholic youth, and the instance before us is doubly
gratifying, as exhibiting the example and the Catholic
heroism of better and more Catholic days and countries
within our own once Catholic Maryland.
Shortly after his elevation to the priesthood the Rev.
Leonard Neale was called upon to suffer, in common
with his fellow-religious of the Society of Jesus, a severe
affliction. Pope Clement XIV., on the sixteenth of Au
gust, 1773, issued the brief by which the Society of Jesus
was suppressed. Like his companions, Father Neale
received this stroke with profound grief, but submitted to
it with humility and obedience. Together with the
illustrious John Carroll and the English Jesuits, he re
tired to England, where he was received with kindness
and consideration. Accepting the care of a small con
gregation, he devoted himself with great zeal and suc
cess to their spiritual service, and for four years edified
all by his sanctity and good example. But this field of
labor was too contracted for the apostolic zeal and bound
less charity of this holy priest. Those divine words,
" Go teach all nations," were ever present to his mind,

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 121
and he longed for an opportunity of preaching the gospel
to aome heathen nation that knew not God, and of suffer
ing something for the cause of Christ. Instead of return
ing to his own native home, where friends and comforts
awaited him, he sacrificed all, and earnestly petitioned
for a foreign mission. His earnest request was granted.
Demarara, a town in British Guiana, in South America,
was assigned him, and in 1779 he set sail from England
and arrived at Demarara the same year. A field full of
labor, hardships, sufferings, and disappointments here
awaited this faithful follower of the cross, who only re
joiced in treading a path beset with thorns, in imitation
of the Savior whom he followed. His biographer in the
Catholic Almanac thus describes Father Neale's South
American mission : — " In this dreary region and unwhole
some climate his daily occupation was to dispel the igno
rance and reform the vices of the inhabitants. The diffi
culties which he here encountered were innumerable, and
more than once did he hazard his life in the performance
of his arduous duties ; but Providence crowned his efforts
with success, and encouraged him to surmount every ob
stacle, by leading hundreds to the sacred font of baptism,
where he had the consolation of enrolling them among
the followers of Jesus Christ. As he passed one morning
among the tents of this uncultivated people, his attention
was arrested by the distressing condition of one of the
chieftain's family, who lay stretched on the bed of death,
without the least hope of recovery. The chief, who
was an enemy of the Christian religion, was deeply
afflicted by the illness of his child, and finding that
every effort to restore him was unavailing, appealed
at length to the charity of Mr. Neale, and assured
him that if the God, whom he worshipped, would

122 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
raise the youth from his state of suffering, not only
he, but all his family, would embrace the faith of Christ.
The child was accordingly baptized, after due prepara
tion, and God in his boundless mercy permitted his
recovery, which was followed by the immediate conver
sion of many."
In his efforts among the heathen natives there were
many things to gratify the heart and encourage the zeal
of Father Neale. But his labors among the settlers were
not so successful. All his endeavors to correct their
vices and improve their morals proved unsuccessful. So
great was their animosity towards the faith, that they
would not allow our missionary to have a church, so that
he was exposed to all the rigors of that inhospitable
climate in the daily discharge of the ordinary duties of
his ministry. In addition to his exposures to the climate,
and the intensity of his labors, his personal privations
and discomforts were so great, that his health began to
fail. These temporal sufferings were welcome to the
holy priest, for he made them the means of his own sanc
tification. But it was the little fruit produced from his
ministry among that unfortunate people that gave him
true sorrow. After four years of zealous and unremitting
effort, he became convinced that it was his duty to seek
another and more promising vineyard for his missionary
labors. " In his letter to the Superior of the Propaganda
at Rome, dated about the close of the year 1782, and
just before his departure from Demarara, he bitterly
laments the blindness and corruption of the inhabitants,
and announces his determination to quit a people among
whom his labors are so fruitless, and where the difficulties
of his mission are almost insuperable." He accordingly
sailed from Demarara in January, 1783, for Maryland.

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 1 23
After a voyage of many perils and exposures, amongst
which was his capture by the British cruisers, he arrived
during the month of April of the same year in Maryland,
where he was cordially welcomed by his friends and re
latives, and by his ex-Jesuit brethren, amongst whom
was the Rev. John Carroll, who announced his arrival in
a letter to Mr. Plowden in Europe. His arrival in Mary
land was just in time to enable him to take part in the
organization in the United States of the American
Church, of which he was destined to become so bright
an ornament. The members of the late Society of Jesus,
of which Father Neale had been a member in Europe,
had been keeping up a sort of union among themselves
in Maryland and Pennsylvania after the suppression of
their Order, for the purpose of more effectually conducting
the Maryland missions, and of managing their temporali
ties, of which they were not despoiled in America as
they had been in Europe. The Rev. Mr. Lewis was at
their head, and was also clothed with regular ecclesiasti
cal authority as the vicar of the Bishop of London. Fa
ther Neale united himself to this association of his late
brethren, and was stationed at St. Thomas' Manor, near
Port Tobacco, in the midst of his relatives and friends.
What might naturally have been a position of ease and
comfort, he made one of labor and privation. Here, as
in England and in Demarara, he led a life of " charac
teristic self-devotion and exemplary piety." In 1783 he
attended the meeting of the clergy of Maryland and
Pennsylvania, which was called at Whitemarsh, Prince
George's county, after the separation of the colonies
from the mother country, and which had for its object
" the preservation and well government of all mat
ters and concerns of the clergy and the service

1 24 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of religion in those countries." In the first and sub
sequent meetings of the clergy the Rev. Mr. Neale
was present in his own behalf, and as the repre
sentative of the Rev. Messrs. Ignatius Matthews,
Lewis Roels, and John Bolton, who were then residing
with him near Port Tobacco. He took an active part
in these important deliberations of the infant American
Church, and signed the articles of government adopt
ed in those meetings.
Though Father Neale's position in Charles county was
one of zealous and laborious service, he yet longed for
some other mission, where he could perform more exten
sive and more valuable services to religion. In 1793
such a vineyard was presented to his zeal and ardent en
thusiasm, and he embraced it with great joy and invinci
ble courage. The city of Philadelphia had been for some
months a prey to the ravages of the yellow fever, which
continued with unabated violence to strike down its
victims in great numbers. In the midst of the appalling
calamity, the Catholics of Philadelphia sustained the
heaviest of afflictions in the loss of their devoted and un
tiring pastors, Fathers Grcesler and Fleming, who, while
engaged in their self-sacrificing ministry to their flock, fell
victims to the plague and their own zeal. Deplorable
was the condition of the Catholics of Philadelphia : dis
ease and death stalked abroad in their midst, and there
was no priest to cheer the last moments of the expiring
victims with the consolations of religion. At this awful
crisis the intrepid and veteran Father Neale stood forth
ready and anxious to accept the call of his superior, and
to fly, like a ministering angel, to the city of the pesti
lence and of death — a favorite field for him. Undaunted
by the enfeebled condition of his own health, Father

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 125
Neale repaired with cheerfulness to the scene of the
plague, and took the place of those noble soldiers of the
cross who had so gloriously fallen at their post. His
heroic devotion to the afflicted flock of Philadelphia has
ever been the theme of praise, and is a beautiful evidence
of the holy character of the true faith. "Amid the scenes
of distress that were here encountered, the pious mis
sionary found an ample scope for the full exercise of his
charity and zeal. During the prevalence of the fever he
toiled with a strength and cheerfulness that could not
have been expected from one so weak and shattered.
He was incessant in his attentions to the welfare of his
neighbor, administering the sacraments, consoling the
sinner, and performing every spiritual and corporal act
of mercy." Father Neale's mission in Philadelphia con
tinued six years. He also held the office of Vicar-Gen
eral to Bishop Carroll. When the yellow fever visited
Philadelphia again, in 1797 and 1798, we find him renew
ing all his exertions in aid of the sick and dying ; though
bending under his infirmities, he displayed an almost su
pernatural vigor, amid the exciting scenes of the desolat
ing scourge. In the midst of his charities the good
missionary was himself stricken down by the plague.
The unalterable patience and admirable resignation to
the will of God, with which he bore his sufferings, made
him an example to all the other sufferers. " The meas
ure of his usefulness was not yet filled up, for it pleased
Almighty God to restore him to health, and spare him
for many higher and more important services to his
Church." As pastor at Philadelphia, his name is indis-
solubly connected with the history of the Church in that
city. Though a greater part of his missionary life there
was one of intense excitement and unremitting labor, in

126 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
consequence of the repeated visitations of the fever, he
still found tirrie to promote the steady growth and per
manency of religion there. The following account of the
interesting tradition, in relation to the first establishment
of a Catholic priest in Philadelphia, is from his pen : —
" The Superior of the Jesuits in Maryland, having been
informed that there were many Catholics in the capital of
Pennsylvania, resolved to endeavor to establish a mission
there. The priest* designed for this had an acquaint
ance in Lancaster of the name of Doyle, whom he visited,
and requested him to furnish the name of some respect
able Catholic in Philadelphia. Being referred to a
wealthy old lady remarkable for her attachment to the
ancient faith, he waited on her in the garb of a Quaker,
and after making inquiries about the various denomina
tions of Christians in the city, asked first if there were
any Catholics, and finally if she was one ; to which she
answered in the affirmative. He informed her that he
was of the same communion. Being informed that the
Catholics had no place of worship, he desired to know if
they would wish to have a church. To which the lady
replied, they would most certainly, but the great diffi
culty would be to find a clergyman ; for although there
were priests in Maryland, it was impossible to procure
one from thence. He then informed the lady that he
was a priest, and of the intention of his visit. Overjoyed
at the sight of a priest after many years' privation of that
consolation, she communicated the intelligence to her
Catholic acquaintance, and invited them to meet him at
her house. A considerable number assembled, the most
of whom were Germans. The priest explained to them
* Father Greaton, who went to Philadelphia in 1730: the house in which he first
performed the sacred offices was on the north-west comer of Front -and Walnut streets.

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 127
the object of his visit, and a subscription was immediately
commenced to procure the means to purchase ground
and build a church. With the money raised they pur
chased the house and lot belonging to the lady, who also
acted very generously in promoting the pious under
taking." Notwithstanding the extended labors of his mission in
Philadelphia, which were rendered unusually arduous by
the continued and repeated visitations of the fever, Mr.
Neale found time to undertake the realization of a great
and holy design, which he had long before formed and
ardently cherished ; this was the establishment in the
United States of a religious community for pious females,
devoted to the service of God and the education of the
youth of their own sex. There seems indeed to have
been something providential in the circumstances which
brought together in the same city the projector and
father, and the foundress and first mother, of the Visita
tion Nuns in America. Among the penitents of Father
Neale in Philadelphia was a lady of great zeal and piety,
and of remarkable amiability and cheerfulness of disposi
tion, and whose mind and soul were enriched with every
faculty and grace which could mark her out to the ob
servant eye of Mr. Neale as the future head of the reli
gious order which he had so long desired to found.
This lady was Miss Alice Lalor. She was born in 1 766,
in Queen's county, Ireland, but was reared in Kilkenny,
whither her pious and worthy parents had removed
shortly after her birth. Here she enjoyed the advantage
of the spiritual guidance of the saintly Father Carroll.
So ardent was her piety and so devout and exemplary
her life, that not only her confessor, but her bishop, the
Rt. Rev. Dr. Lanigan, were charmed with her example

128 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and conceived the highest estimate of her virtues. She
ardently longed to dedicate herself to Almighty God,
and disclosed her aspirations only to her bishop and con
fessor. Finding insuperable difficulties in her embracing,
at that time, a cloistered life, she desired at least to
honor God by making in the world a vow of perpetual
chastity. After long and successful trials of her con
stancy and piety, the bishop permitted her to make this
vow. Bishop Lanigan was himself meditating the estab
lishment of a religious community in Kilkenny, and de
signed Miss Lalor for one of its future members. But in
1797 her parents emigrated from Ireland and settled in
America, and she felt it to be her duty to submit to their
desire that she would accompany them ; but she pro
mised the bishop to return in two years, in order to ac
complish their cherished plan. On arriving at Philadel
phia she became acquainted with the Rev. Leonard
Neale, whom she took for her confessor, and to whom
she confided all the secrets of her soul, and especially
her promise to return to Ireland and enter a religious
order. Feeling convinced that it was the design of Pro
vidence that she should not abandon America for Ire
land, Father Neale, who as her confessor was invested
with authority in the case, released her from her promise
to return to Kilkenny in two years, in order that she
might become his co-operator in the foundation of a reli
gious order in the United States. Well practised, as
was this extraordinary woman in the virtue of obedi
ence, she yielded to the counsel of her confessor, as the
representative of God himself, and followed his direc
tions. There were two other ladies among Father
Neale's penitents, to whom he communicated his plans,
and whose souls were ripe and ardent to aid in their ac-

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 1 29
complishment. INot having determined, upon the parti
cular institute he would adopt for his sisters, Father
Neale commenced simply with a female school, to be
conducted by these three ladies. But the plague over
took this good work in its infancy : Miss Lalor's parents,
with thousands of others, fled from the city ; as she pre
ferred to remain at her post of duty in the midst of pesti
lence and death, they could not induce her to accompany
them. Her two companions, however, fell victims to the
fever, and Miss Lalor was left alone ; she did not, how
ever, for an instant abandon her hopes of some day con
secrating herself to God by a life of seclusion and prayer.
In 1 798 the Rev. Leonard Neale was summoned by
Bishop Carroll from Philadelphia to Georgetown, to
succeed the Rev. Dr. Dubourg in. the presidency of the
college, and in the following year he repaired to George
town to enter upon the duties of his new position. Un
der the able and enlightened administration of Dr. Du
bourg this institution had greatly increased in favor with
the Catholics of the United States, and had acquired
great reputation among all classes as one of the best
classical schools in the country. To the duties of presi
dent, father Neale added those of tutor, which he con
tinued several years to discharge. , He was the first
president who, in compliance with a previous resolution
of the directors, took up his residence. in the institution.
But heretofore, Georgetown had been nothing more in
fact than an academy ; it was under Mr. Neale's adminis
tration that it was raised to the grade and usefulness of
a college. The board of directors met on. the twenty-
seventh of July, 1 801, and passed the following resolu
tion : " That the first day of October next be the day
appointed for those of the students who shall be judged
9

130 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
qualified to commence their course of philosophy, where
of due notice shall be given by the president jointly with
the prefect of studies to the parties concerned ; and that
the President be requested to carry the present resolu
tion into effect." Thus, under the energetic and wise
administration of Mr. Neale, this venerable and invalu
able institution took its position among the colleges of
the country. As President of Georgetown College,
Father Neale left a high reputation behind him, and his
many virtues will long be remembered. The following
remark of a Catholic * writer will prove how the memory
of his virtues has remained amongst those who knew
him well :— " It would seem, from the affectionate manner
in which the old Catholics of Maryland remember Father
Neale, who was for several years president of the col
lege, that he died but yesterday. His labors were not
in vain."
His arduous and extended duties as the only Bishop in
the United States, had as early as the year 1791 induced
Bishop Carroll to apply to Rome for a division of the
country into two bishoprics, or the appointment of a
coadjutor Bishop to the see of Baltimore. The latter
plan was finally adopted and carried into effect. No one
was better acquainted with the profound learning, the
ardent zeal, and eminent qualifications of Father Neale
than Bishop Carroll. He had consequently nominated
Mr. Neale without his knowledge, as the coadjutor,
with the right of succession to the see of Baltimore.
While that humble priest was in the discharge of his du
ties as President of Georgetown College, he was sur
prised by the arrival of the papal bulls appointing him
Bishop of Gortyna in partibus and coadjutor to the
* The Metropolitan.

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 131
Bishop of1 Baltimore, cum jure successionis. Gladly
would he have shrunk from this appointment, but as a
follower of Loyola he had been well trained to the virtue
of obedience — Rome now spoke and he obeyed. He
was consecrated by Bishop Carroll in the course of the
year 1800. His biographer in the Catholic Almanac
thus speaks of the manner in which he accepted and
bore the high and unexpected dignity in the Church,
which had just been conferred upon him : — " As the hu
mility of Mr. Neale had prompted him to shun the honors
and dignities to which his merit and virtue were en
titled, they effected no other change in him than that of
a still greater fidelity to God. His mind was neither
elated by prosperity nor depressed by adversity ; and
the peaceful spirit which accompanied him on all occa
sions, seemed to extend its influence over all who ap
proached." In this spirit he continued as before to dis
charge his duties at Georgetown College, where he held
the office of President till 1806, when he resigned it into
the hands of the Rev. Mr. Molyneux.
During the period that Mr. Neale presided over the
college, he did not cease to think of his long proposed
and cherished institution, nor relax his exertions for its
early establishment. At Georgetown were settled a few
religious of the Order of St. Clare, or Poor Clares, who,
for their support, were compelled to teach a school,
which was situated on Lafayette street. By the advice
of Bishop Neale, Miss Lalor repaired to Georgetown,
accompanied by another lady of Philadelphia, who took
up their residence with the Poor Clares, in order that in
retirement and prayer they might be enabled to discover
the particular religious order for which they had received
vocations. Shortly afterwards, Miss Lalor and her com-

132 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
panion opened a separate school, and they were soon
joined by another lady from Philadelphia, whose acces
sion was >of very material service to them, as she brought
with her a small fortune.: This was chiefly expended in
the purchase of a frame dwelling and lot, embraced
within the present enclosure of the Sisters of the Visita
tion. Not dong after his appointment to the coadjutor-
ship, Bishop Neale, after much reflection and constant
prayer, determined to prescribe for them the institute of
the Nuns of the Visitation, as founded by St. Francis de
Sales, with the co-operation of Ste. Jane Frances de
Chantal and other sisters, and Avhose first efforts at An-
necy, as has been well observed, were, strikingly similar
to the first commencement of the Visitation at George
town. Encouraged in his efforts by the desire of the
Catholics ' of the District of Columbia to have a school
established therej for the education of their children in
religion and in learning, and by the gradual increase of
the community, the good bishop drew up a form of rules
for the sisters, whom, however, he did ¦¦ not as yet permit
to enter even into simple vows. He permitted them,
however, to observe enclosure as far as the circumstan
ces of their position would render it practicable. The
members of this interesting little community were known
among the people of Georgetown and vicinity as the
"Pious Ladies," a name strongly indicative of the edi
fying and holy lives they led.
Having, as we have stated, determined to adopt for
the new community the institute of the Sisters of the Vi
sitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bishop Neale ap
plied to tho sisters of that Order in Europe for a small
colony of nuns to aid in the commencement of this new
foundation, but his request failed in consequence of the

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 133
poverty of the Georgetown ladies, who. could not defray
the necessary expenses of transporting the sisters from
Europe. 'This and many other difficulties attending the
introduction of the Visitation Order into the United States
at that time, caused many of their friends to believe that
it would become necessary for the " Pious Ladies " to
unite themselves to the Carmelite Convent near Port
Tobacco. Bishop Carroll himself advised them to take
that step. But Bishop Neale, being convinced of the
superior and peculiar fitness of the Visitation Nuns for a
country whose inhabitants were mostly Protestants, was
not so easily deterred from his favorite plan. So firm
was he in his purpose; that he declined the offer of a rich
lady, who proposed to go herself to Ireland for sisters,
provided the Bishop would adopt the Ursulines instead
of the Visitation Sisters. Fortunately, Miss Lalor and
her companions had accidentally discovered, among the
books of the Poor Clares, a complete copy of the consti
tution and rules of the Visitation Nuns, and they con
tinued to live according to its rules and recommenda
tions, as far as their circumstances would permit. In
1805 the Poor Clares lost their abbess ; her successor,,
Madame de la Rochefoucault, sold their convent property
to Bishop Neale, by deed bearing date on the 29th of
June of that year, and the community of St. Clare re
turned to Europe^ Bishop Neale immediately installed
his sisters in the new establishment he had purchased
for them, and by deed bearing date on the 9th of June,
1 8o8v confirmed by a second deed bearing date on the
9th of June, 1812, conveyed the property to Alice Lalor,
Maria McDermott, and Mary Neale. In 18 13 their num
bers had reached thirteen, and the good Bishop then per
mitted them to enter into simple vows, which they were

134 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
to renew annually. Miss Lalor, who, like Bishop Neale,
had been so long and perseveringly laboring in this good
and holy work, and whose efforts were now about to be
crowned with success, was with great propriety selected
as the superior of the new institution. She was emi
nently qualified for the task of leading and directing
others in that life of holiness and self-sacrifice, which had
been her chief aim and study for many years. It was
also the greatest solicitude of Bishop Neale to conduct
his spiritual daughters to the practice of Christian perfec
tion, and to the full realization of the high and sacred
vocation which they had embraced. This he did not
only by his fervid and inspiring exhortations and instruc
tions, but still more by his pure and saintly example. In
the many trials and difficulties which the sisters encoun
tered, in their efforts to introduce into the United States
the institute of the Visitation, they ever found in their
holy father and spiritual director a source of consolation
and encouragement, and his humble, patient, and firm
example always inspired them with fresh vigor and per
severance. By the death of Archbishop Carroll, on the 3d of
December, 181 5, the succession to the archbishopric of
Baltimore devolved upon Bishop Neale, who, at the age of
almost seventy, was called upon to assume the arduous
and awful duties of that high office. In the following year
he received the pallium from Pope Pius VII. Enfeebled by
old age, disease, and the labors of an active life of mis
sionary service, Archbishop Neale felt that the duties,
labors, and responsibilities of his position were far be
yond his strength. He entered, however, upon his
office, with the energy which belonged to his character,
and the courage of a veteran soldier. Residing mostly

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 135
at Georgetown, near his beloved Sisterhood of the Visi
tation, he appeared in Baltimore on all solemn and im
portant occasions, and whenever his duties or the inter
ests of the archdiocese required his presence there. On
these occasions he devoted himself, with remarkable
promptness and energy, for one of his age and infirmities,
to the business of the vast diocese committed to his gov
ernment. The Catholic Almanac thus describes his
mode of life after his accession to the see of Baltimore :• — ¦
" Though the highest dignitary in the Church of the
United States, he lived in the silence of retirement, which
charity only, or the duties of his station, could induce
him to interrupt. He was never unoccupied. If the
duties of the ministry left him a leisure moment, he had
recourse to prayer, which, even in his intercourse with
others, he did not entirely abandon. His attention
always fixed on God imparted to his words a spirit of
piety which was a source of edification to all. Whatever
related to the interests of religion was a matter of deep
concern for Archbishop Neale, who, like the illustrious
founder of his Order, proposed to himself the glory of
God as the principal end of all his actions."
One of the first acts of Archbishop Neale, upon his
accession to the see of Baltimore, was to petition the
Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VIL, for the power to establish
a monastery of the Visitation Order at Georgetown,
clothed with all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the
religious houses of that institute in Europe. Pius VII.
cordially approved the motives and objects of this peti
tion, and readily granted the request. Thus Archbishop
Neale had the happiness of seeing his favorite work of
benevolence and religion crowned with success, and the
Order of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as

136 Lives of the Catholic Bishops*.
founded by St. Francis de Sales and Ste. Jane Frances
de Chantal, was regularly established in the United
States. He also displayed his paternal care and good
ness for his spiritual daughters by appointing as their
spiritual director the Abbe' Cloriviere, a holy priest' dis
tinguished for his energy, his prudence, and his ardent
zeal and piety. His efforts and success in founding and
fostering the Order of the Visitation Nuns in the United
States, are the crowning glory of Archbishop Neale's
life, and entitle him to the gratitude of his : country.
Since his death, that excellent and devout community
have continued to flourish and expand, and have now in
several of our principal cities convents of their order,
conducted by four hundred sisters, who- are daily devot
ing their talents, labors, and pious examples to the edu
cation and edification of the rising generation, who will
carry with them into society those elegant accomplish
ments and Christian virtues so becoming to the female
character. " Such was the origin of the Visitation Nuns
in the United States, nor is it without striking points of
resemblance to its foundation in Europe. The energy
and perseverance of Bishop Neale recall the pious
efforts of St. Francis de Sales for the same holy en
terprise. In both cases a bishop gave the first impulse :
in both hemispheres an isolated lady lays the first foun
dation, undeterred by any obstacles ; and if in Europe
the Visitation soon opened its convents in twenty dif
ferent spots in France, so in America the mother-house
at Georgetown soon had branches on every side."*
The death of the saintly Father Nagot at St Mary's
College, in 18 16, 'made a deep impression on Archbishop
Neale.' The holy Prelate had for a long time felt the
* The Catholic Church in the United States, by De Courcy and Shea.

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, D.D. 137
heavy hand of time and the inroads of disease upon his
constitution. His own humility, still more, induced him
to believe that he was unequal to the task of governing
the vast diocese of Baltimore. Under these circumstan
ces he looked around for some person who would be a
suitable one to be associated with him in his office.
The eminent qualifications and exalted virtues of Bishop
Cheverus, of Boston, at once induced him to select that
Prelate, and Archbishop Neale accordingly applied to
Rome to have Bishop Cheverus associated with him in
the archiepiscopal office, with the right of succession.
The Sovereign Pontiff readily consented to make the
change, but suggested the necessity of finding a suitable
person to succeed Bishop Cheverus in the see of Boston.
Archbishop Neale then requested Bishop Cheverus to
visit him, in order to confer on subjects of grave impor
tance to the American Church. On visiting the arch
bishop, the Bishop of Boston was greatly surprised and
deeply afflicted at the nature of the correspondence with
Rome. So urgent and cogent were the reasons assign
ed by Bishop Cheverus against the proposed change,
that Archbishop Neale was constrained to acquiesce.
But being anxious to secure the assistance of Bishop
Cheverus, the Archbishop proposed that the former
should remain Bishop of Boston and visit Baltimore from
time to time, in order to give the Archbishop the benefit
of his advice, aid, and consolation, and in the event of his
death, to succeed him in the see of Baltimore. But
Bishop Cheverus saw in this plan insuperable difficulties,
and proposed in lieu thereof that Archbishop Neale
should have a coadjutor bishop appointed, with the right
of succession, and proposed the names of several Jesuits
for the place, besides that of the Rev. Ambrose Mare-

138 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
chal, of the Order of St. Sulpice. The Archbishop,
after much consideration and prayer, decided upon Mr.
Marshal, and he applied to the Holy See to appoint
him his coadjutor and successor. This arrangement was
approved by the Holy See, and a papal brief of July 24,
181 7, appointed Mr. Marshal coadjutor, with the right
of succession to Archbishop Neale, with the title of
Bishop of Stauropolis in partibus infidelium. But be
fore the arrival of this brief the saintly and venerable
Archbishop Neale had sunk under the weight of his
years and infirmities, at his residence attached to the
Convent at Georgetown, June 15, 181 7. His remains
were deposited in the convent chapel, under the altar,
where they still rest, surrounded by the precious remains
of those of his spiritual daughters who have followed him
to heaven, and an object of veneration to those who re
main to speak his many virtues and praise his good
deeds. " Thus in death was he placed where his affec
tions were strongest in life, and thus in the last honors
to his mortal remains was presented the parallel to the
last sad tribute to St. Francis of Sales. The body of
Archbishop Neale sleeps under the convent he founded
in America ; that of St. Francis under the church of the
convent which he founded in Europe. Annecy has her
saint, so may we hope Georgetown has hers."*
* Notice by M. C. Jenkins.

RIGHT REV. FRANCIS PORRO, D.D.
Second Bishop of New Orleans, A.D. 1802.*
The only information we have of Bishop Porro is
given by Archbishop Spalding, in his Life of Bishop
Flaget, in the following words : " Soon after the resig
nation of the first Bishop of New Orleans, a second was
appointed, and consecrated at Rome, in 1802. He
never, however, reached his see, having died in the
Eternal City on the eve of his contemplated departure.
We are not even acquainted with his name ; but it is
known that he was a Franciscan, of the Convent of the
Holy Apostles, at Rome. When Bishop Portier was
there, in 1829, he saw, among the portraits of the de
ceased members of the convent, that of the second Bishop
of New Orleans, whose memory was revered by his
brethren. From this fact it would appear that Dr.
Dubourg was really only the third bishop of that city."
So little was known of Bishop Porro, that it was only
in recent years that his name was brought to light, and
placed in our Catholic almanacs ; a service for which we
are indebted to Mr. John Gilmary Shea.
* Authorities : Archbishop Spalding's Life of Bishop Flaget; Catholic Alma
nacs, etc.

v RIGHT REV. LUKE CONCANEN, D.D.
First Bishop of New York, A.D. 1808.*
In 1808, Pope Pius VIL, yielding to the increasing
wants of the American Church, erected Baltimore into
an archiepiscopal see, with four suffragan sees, of which
the new See of New York was one. The Rev. Luke
Concanen of Rome was appointed first Bishop of New
York. He was a native of Ireland, where he was reared and
educated, and at an early age was sent to receive the
white habit of St. Dominic at Lorraine, in the Convent
of the Holy Cross, belonging to the Irish Dominicans.
After completing his novitiate at Lorraine, he went to
St. Mary's, in "the Minerva at Rome," where he com
pleted his regular collegiate course of theology with
great distinction. At this early period of his life he was
appointed to a professorship in the Dominican Convent
of St. Clement's, at Rome, which, together with St.
Sixtus, at Rome, the convent at Lorraine, and another at
Lisbon, was kept up by the Church in order to preserve
the Order of English and Irish Dominicans, after the sup
pression of the convents in Great Britain, and during
the days of persecution succeeding the so-called Reforma
tion. His career in Rome was one of great brilliancy
and usefulness, amidst the host of learned and distin-
* Authorities : De Courcy & Shea's Catholic Church in the United States;
Bishop Bay ley's Catholic Church in New York; Bishop Spalding, Sketches of Ken
tucky, etc.

Right Rev.- Luke Concanen, D.D. 141
guished divines there assembled from all parts of the
Christian world. He occupied for several years the
office of Theologus Casanatensis, a chair founded at the
Minerva in connection with the celebrated library there,
instituted and endowed by the munificence of the illus-
tirous Cardinal Casanate. In this institution, a learned
member of the Order of Preachers was selected from
each of the great provinces of the Order in. Europe, viz. :
France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, and the
Low Countries, or Poland. The condition annexed by
the Cardinal for these appointments, that the incumbent
should have acquired a doctorship by teaching the theo
logical course of St. Thomas Aquinas, was fulfilled in an
eminent degree by Dr. Concanen, who was selected to
represent his Order and country in the Minerva. He
was also elected prior of the Convent of St. Clement's
at Rome, and was first appointed the agent at Rome of
the late Dr. Troy, Archbishop of Dublin, and afterwards
of all the bishops of Ireland. Such was his eminence at
Rome, that he enjoyed the personal friendship of the
Holy Father, who appointed him to the vacant Irish
bishopric of ' Kilmacduagh, which Dr. Cancanen was
obliged to decline in consequence of his delicate health.
And such was the esteem in which he was held at the
Propaganda, that his influence or counsels went far in
determining, the ecclesiastical appointments for his na
tive country. He was also deeply interested in the mis
sions of America, and had suggested the foundation of,
and had largely contributed in sustaining the Dominican
Convent of St. Rose, in Kentuckyrof which he remained
a liberal benefactor during his life. He acquired a high
reputation as a pulpit orator, and, what is very rare
among foreigners, was an eloquent and popular preacher

142 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
in the Italian language. Though his health was some
what impaired by sickness, he was at the time of his
appointment to New York actively engaged in discharg
ing his general duties in the ministry and as a preacher,
and at the same time filled the offices of Librarian and
Professor in the Minerva, Secretary of the Dominican
Province of Great Britain, and agent of the Irish Bishops,
Prior of St. Clement's, and several minor offices con
nected with the Propaganda and other institutions at
Rome. After an active and distinguished residence of
forty years in that city, he accepted the arduous and un
inviting bishopric of New York, in preference to the
appointment tendered him previously in his native
country. It was hoped by himself and his friends that
the milder and drier climate of New York would better
suit his health than the damp atmosphere of Ireland.
He was consecrated at Rome, April 24, 1808, by Car
dinal Antonelli, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of
the Propaganda. The venerable Bishop, now almost
seventy years old, commenced immediately his prepara
tions for joining his flock, whom he loved, though
he had never seen ; little knowing how poor and unpro
vided his new diocese was, and not anticipating the se
vere trials which his generous efforts might bring upon
him. He provided himself with sacred vessels, vest
ments, and many other valuable presents for the new
diocese. He was also commissioned by the Holy See to
carry the Pallium to Archbishop Carroll. He went first
to Leghorn, in hopes of securing a passage for the
United States, but being disappointed there, he returned
to Rome. The disturbed condition of Italy at that time
rendered his departure both difficult and dangerous ; for
Napoleon was then upsetting the established order of

Right Rev. Luke Concanen, D.D. 143
things in that as well as in other countries. At length
hearing of a vessel being about to leave Naples for
America, he repaired to that city and secured and paid
for his passage. But the government, informed of his
arrival and intention, arrested him as a prisoner, and or
dered him, under the severest penalties, not to embark
in any vessel. Their pretext for so doing was, that Dr.
Concanen was a British subject. The confinement, hard
ships, and disappointments to which this good Bishop
was subjected in his efforts to go to his flock, and dedi
cate the remainder of his days to them and to God,
caused him to fall seriously ill. In a few days he de
parted this life, at the great Convent of St. Dominic, at
Naples, June 19, 1810. So sudden was his death, that
suspicions were entertained that he had been poisoned,
either by the unscrupulous officials or emissaries of the
government, or by persons who had designs upon the
gold vessels and other valuables destined for the diocese
of New York. His funeral obsequies were performed in
the same convent by his brethren, amongst whom he was
honored and admired exceedingly during his life, and by
whom he has been ever since venerated and affection
ately remembered.
By his will, made, as is supposed, before his consecra
tion, he bequeathed his valuable library, and a large
legacy in money, to the Dominican Convent of St. Rose,
in Kentucky. The Holy Pontiff, Pius VIL, himself a
prisoner of Napoleon, was deeply affected by the death
of his friend, as well as by the bereavement which the
young diocese of New York, recently created by him
self, sustained in the loss of its first Bishop.

RIGHT REV. BENEDICT JOSEPH FLAGET, D.D.
First Bishop of Bardstown and of Louisville, A.D. 1810.*
Of that noble army of Catholic missionaries whom
the troubles of Europe, towards the close of the last cen
tury, exiled from their country, to go forth and subdue
other nations to the sweet yoke of the Cross, there were
few more zealous or more distinguished than the subject
of this memoir, Benedict Joseph Flaget, the first
bishop of Louisville. He was born November 7, 1763,
in the town of Contournat, in the commune of St. Julien,
not far from Billom in Auvergne, France. His parents
pursued the honest calling of cultivators of the soil, and
were highly respected for their unpretending worth, for
their sincerity, and earnest piety. Their youngest son
was called Benedict, because some one at his birth ex
claimed that "he was a son of benediction." His eldest
brother was parish priest at Billom, and died at the age
of eighty-four ; his other brother was a notary public, and
died in his eighty-eighth year, possessed of great wealth,
accumulated by his own industry. The father having
died before the birth of the youngest child, and the
mother two years after that event, Benedict was reared
and educated by a pious and devoted aunt, who was to
him all a mother could be, and towards whom he cher
ished through life a most lively gratitude. He made his
?Authorities: Sketches of the Life, Times, and Character of the Rt. Rev. Benedict
Joseph Flaget, First Bishop of Louisville, by M. J. Spalding, D.D., Bishop of
Louisville ; Sketches of Kentucky, by the Same, &c, &c.

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 145
classical studies at the College of Billom, where he en
tered at a tender age, and it is said that, when a mere
child, he had a foresight into his future mission, often ex
claiming that " he would go far, very far from home, and
that they would see him no more." Feeling from his
earliest youth an inward call to the sacred ministry, at
the age of seventeen he entered, with this view, the Uni
versity of Clermont, where he made his course of philo
sophy and attended the class of theology for two years,
during which time he lived with two young men of
wealth, whose tutor he became in consideration of their
defraying his expenses. During this period he also re
ceived the sacrament of confirmation from the hands of
Mgr. de Bonald, Bishop of Clermont, taking the name
of Joseph. On the 1st of November, 1783, he joined the
congregation of Sulpicians, and entered the Seminary at
Clermont to pursue his ecclesiastical studies. Having in
two years completed the course of studies adopted at
Clermont, and being still under the canonical age for re
ceiving holy orders, he was sent to Issy, near Paris, to
prepare for his ordination, where, at the end of three
years, he was elevated to the priesthood. The Rev. Ga
briel Richard, afterwards well known as a zealous mis
sionary in America, was at this time superior at Issy.
After his ordination the Abb6 Flaget was made Professor
of Dogmatic Theology in the Seminary at Nantes, and
after two years was appointed Professor of Moral Theol
ogy. He had occupied the latter chair only a few
months when the terrors of the French Revolution broke
out, and, like most of the clergy, he was compelled, in
1 79 1, to seek safety in the bosom of his own family at
Billom. Living in the midst of desecrated altars, pillaged con-
10

146 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
vents, and the massacre of priests, the good Abb6, in his
retirement at Billom, earnestly prayed for light and grace
to discover the proper course for him to pursue under
those trying circumstances. America at this time ap
peared to him in the attitude of a suppliant, imploring
Europe for laborers to work in the vineyard of our Lord.
Having consulted M. Emery, his superior, and made a
spiritual retreat, he resolved to obey that call, and in
January, 1792, sailed from Bordeaux in company with
Rev. Messrs. Chicoisneau, David, and Badin. They ar
rived at Philadelphia on the 26th, and at Baltimore on
the 29th of March, and were welcomed at the latter place
by Bishop Carroll with the utmost cordiality and joy.
Tendering his services in the most unreserved manner to
the Bishop, he was appointed to the distant mission of
Vincennes, whither he departed after a stay of two
months in Baltimore, his conveyance being a wagon
then starting for the West. Bearing letters of introduc
tion from Bishop Carroll to General Wayne, he was re
ceived and entertained by that gallant soldier with the
greatest friendship and consideration. Detained at Pitts
burg for nearly six months by the low state of the Ohio
river, he spent that time in the most active and zealous
missionary labors. During the raging of the small-pox
there, he utterly lost sight of himself in his devoted atten
tion to the afflicted and diseased. At Pittsburg four
soldiers were condemned to death for desertion ; two
of them were Catholics, one a Protestant, and the
other a French infidel. The AbbS Flaget converted the
Protestant, brought the two Catholics back into the
Church, and then prepared them for death, which they
met heroically. But the Frenchman was so hardened
that he could not be moved, and so poignant was his

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 147
grief at the thought of so unholy a death to be endured
by one of his countrymen, that General Wayne pardoned
the Frenchman through consideration for the good Abbe\
Taking his departure from Pittsburg in November in a
flat-boat, he stopped at Cincinnati, then only a fort, and
at Louisville, then containing only three or four small
cabins, meeting at the latter place his old friend and su
perior of Issy, Mr. Richard, and Mr. Levadoux. At
Louisville his host was an old Frenchman, living on a
farm of one hundred acres, in the centre of the present
city, who was so charmed with the society of M. Flaget,
that he offered to leave him all he possessed if he would
only live with him. The good priest, of course, declined
this offer, answering that he must go forward on his
Master's business. General Wayne having commended
M. Flaget to the kind offices of Colonel George Rogers
Clark, then in command of the garrison of Corn Island,
near the Falls of the Ohio, Col. Clark welcomed the
missionary most cordially, and, having fitted up and
armed a bateau, escorted him in person to Vincennes,
where they arrived December 21, 1792. On his arrival
he found both church and people in a most neglected
and unhappy condition. Though settled originally by
French Catholics, Vincennes had been so long without
the aid of priests, sacrifice, and sacraments, that religion
became almost wholly extinguished, and the whites
themselves had begun to adopt the wandering and
savage life of the Indians. There were only twelve
communicants at the Christmas succeeding his arrival.
It is difficult at this day to realize the hardships and
dangers encountered in that rude country by this holy
missionary priest, yet more wonderful than these were
the zeal and perseverance with which he overcame all

148 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
things, He labored incessantly, and with great success,
for the regeneration of both the whites and the red men,
and tendered his services to Bishop Carroll to go as a
missionary among the warlike and savage tribes roving
over the boundless prairies of the West. The following
language, written from Vincennes, will convey some idea
of the Abbe' Flaget's goodness and apostolic zeal : " He
had stripped himself of all the linen he had brought with
him to Vincennes in favor of the sick and indigent. The
tender care with which he visited the sick will never be
forgotten, and the impression it made upon the popula
tion will last as long as there shall be an old man left to
relate to his children's children the history of old times."
After about two years and a half of the most zealous and
untiring missionary labors, he was recalled from Vincen
nes by his superiors in April, 1795, when, after passing
down the Mississippi to New Orleans, he took passage
in the first vessel bound northward, and arrived at Balti
more in the autumn of that year.
Upon his return to Maryland, the Abbe* Flaget was
stationed at Georgetown College, where he remained
three years in the discharge of the duties of chief dis
ciplinarian and teacher of French and geography. While
at the college he formed the acquaintance of General
Washington, then President of the United States. He
went with the faculty of the college to pay his respects
to the father of his country, who promptly and cordially
returned the visit at the college. The Abbl Flaget was
an ardent admirer of that illustrious man, and fifty years
after Washington's death he used to refer to him in
language of unbounded praise. In November, 1 798, he
went to Havana, Cuba, to aid the Rev. Messrs. Dubourg
and Brabant in the proposed erection in that island of a

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 149
college of the Sulpician Order, a project, however, which
was defeated by unforeseen difficulties. A severe attack
of illness prevented his return to the United States with
his companions, and he remained some time in Cuba,
discharging the duties of tutor to the son of Don Nicholas
Calvo, a wealthy Spanish resident. During his stay in
Cuba he became acquainted with Louis Philippe and
his two brothers, and was selected by the citizens of Ha
vana to present to the exiled princes a large sum of
money, which had been subscribed for their relief. In
the fall of 1 801 he returned to the United States, accom
panied by the young Calvo and twenty-two other Cuban
youths, to be entered as students at St. Mary's College,
Baltimore. During the following eight years of his life
he remained at St. Mary's College in the modest per
formance of his duties in the institution, in prayer and
study, and in the exercise of the holy ministry. The
performance of every duty of Christian charity and the
most zealous and untiring attendance on the sick and
the afflicted, permitted not the sacrifice of a moment of
his time. It was during this period, about the year
1804, when the Trappists arrived in Baltimore, that he
petitioned Father Urban Guillet, the superior, for admis
sion into that rigid Order, but some delay having occurred
in the execution of this purpose, it was finally defeated
by the development of another destiny for which Provi
dence reserved him.
The Catholics of the United States had so vastly in
creased in numbers, and the extent of ecclesiastical juris
diction of the country was so far beyond the power of a
single bishop to wield, that Bishop Carroll, in 1807,
petitioned Rome for the erection of four new sees, to be
located at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bards-

150 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
town, Kentucky. The Rev. Mr. Badin having suggested
to Bishop Carroll the name of M. Flaget, who had
already labored so zealously and successfully in the
Western missions, as a suitable candidate for the new
see of Bardstown, the Bishop at once adopted the sug
gestion, and on the 17th of June, 1807, wrote to the
Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda, recommending in
the most complimentary terms that the appointment
should be made accordingly. The Holy See ratified
this nomination, and appointed M. Flaget to the see of
Bardstown, whose jurisdiction extended over the vast
diocese bounded on the north by the lakes, on the south
by the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude, and extending
from the Atlantic States on the east, to the Mississippi
River on the west. The arrival of the Papal Bulls in
September, 1808, was the first information the Bishop
elect had of his appointment ; he received the news with
the utmost surprise and consternation. Having made an
ineffectual effort with Archbishop Carroll to be released
from this appointment, which his humility and diffidence
in himself alone caused him to shun, he went to Europe
for the same purpose, but with no better success. He
was accompanied from Europe by Rev. M. Brut^, M,
Chabrat, subdeacon, and Messrs. Deydier, Derigaud,
Romeuf, and a young deacon, who afterwards joined the
Jesuits at Georgetown. On the 4th of November, 1810,
Bishop Flaget was consecrated in the Metropolitan
Church at Baltimore, by Archbishop Carroll, assisted by
the Right Rev. Drs. Cheverus and Egan, bishops of the
new sees of Boston and Philadelphia. So truly apos
tolical was the poverty in which M. Flaget had lived,
that at his elevation he had not the means necessary to
convey him to his diocese. In his own distress he nobly

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 151
refused the offer of a subscription for his relief among
his future flock, who were mostly poor settlers in the
West, saying that he would rather walk to Kentucky than
commence his episcopal career by thus taxing his people.
Some generous friends in Baltimore having raised the
requisite sum for his travelling expenses, the Bishop and
his suite departed for the West, May n, 181 1, and arrived
at Louisville on the 4th of June. The arrival of a Bishop
in the West was an event which the people had never
realized, and they accordingly turned out with great
enthusiasm to give the new Prelate a welcome which
was truly magnificent. He arrived at Bardstown on the
9th of June. On entering his episcopal city, Bishop
Flaget devoted himself, to use his own language, "to all
the guardian angels who reside therein, and I prayed to
God, with all my heart, to make me die a thousand
deaths should I not become an instrument of His glory
in this new diocese." Arriving at St. Stephen's, the resi
dence of Father Badin, the ceremony of installation was
performed with all the usual rites of the Roman Pontifical.
The clerical force of the diocese, at the time of Bishop
Flaget's arrival, consisted of three missionary priests,
Fathers Nerinckx, Badin, and O'Flynn, and four Domini
cans, established at their convent at St. Rose. On the
Christmas following his arrival, the Bishop had the satis
faction of adding to their number by elevating to the
priesthood the Rev. Mr. Chabrat, who was the first
priest ordained in the West. In the entire State of Ken
tucky, at that time, there were not more than one thou
sand Catholic families, numbering in the aggregate
about six thousand souls. There were thirty congrega
tions, ten churches, or rather chapels, and six more in
course of erection. The Bishop took up his residence

152 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
with Father Badin, at St. Stephen's, now Loretto, and
his episcopal palace was a log cabin, sixteen feet square.
It was with a sad and heavy heart that the first Bishop
of the West entered upon that vast field of labor and so
licitude ; yet he was at every moment sustained by a
firm and exhaustless reliance and trust in God. He at
once addressed himself to the work of arranging and
establishing the discipline of his diocese. He was at the
beginning of his episcopal career much embarrassed by
the contemplated departure for Europe of so invaluable
an assistant as Father Nerinckx, by the want of a church
and residence for himself, by the difficulties which arose
in relation to the settlement of the question of church
property in Kentucky, and the general pressing demand
for churches and priests to meet the necessities of re
ligion. But the energy and zeal of Bishop Flaget made
him fully equal to the task which the Holy See had im
posed upon him. The Seminary under the charge of
Father David, at St. Stephen's, became an object of his
greatest care and solicitude, since it was from that source
that he looked for the supply of priests to administer to
his people. In 181 1 the Seminary was removed to a
plantation granted for the purpose by a zealous Catholic,
Mr. Thomas Howard, and so great was the ardor of the
young seminarians, that they made the bricks, cut the
timber, and prepared the other materials with their own
hands, for the erection of the Seminary building. The
Bishop himself became the most laborious missionary in
the West, being constantly engaged in the confessional,
in administering the sacraments, visiting the sick, and
supplying the places of his priests whenever they were
absent or unable to attend to the labors of their missions.
The dignity of his office never for an instant withdrew

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 153
his attention from the humblest and smallest services to
his neighbor and the cause of religion, provided they
contributed to the sanctification of souls or the glory of
God. The episcopal visitations which he so frequently
made throughout his diocese were, in fact, laborious mis
sionary journeys, always full of consolation to his scat
tered flock, as well as to himself, in the consciousness of
having served others. He visited all the congregations
in Kentucky twice before the year 1815. In 181 2 he
was summoned to attend the First Provincial Council of
the American Church. Before starting for Baltimore he
convened his clergy to confer with him on the religious
interests and wants of his diocese ; he also ordered public
prayers to be said on the occurrence of the war, which
had just broken out between this country and Great
Britain, to propitiate God's mercy and to secure a speedy
and honorable peace ; and on the 9th of September he
started for the East on horseback, accompanied by the
Rev. Mr. Chabrat for a portion of the way, and by Fa
ther Badin for the whole journey. Performing, as was
his custom whenever traveling, arduous missionary la
bors on the route, he arrived at Emmitsburg on the last
day of October. For some reason not stated in the
Bishop's journal, the proposed council was not held. In
the spring of 1813 he returned to resume at once the la
bors of his office with his usual zeal and activity.
In 18 1 2 the Catholics of Vincennes, with whom General
Harrison, then Governor of the Northwestern Terrjtory,
cordially united by signing his name to the petition, sent
their petition to Bishop Flaget for a permanent pastor.
The scarcity of priests would not permit the gratification
of their desires at that time; but in 18 14 the bishop
visited in person the scene of his first mission in America,

154 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and was received by the people with great respect and
unaffected joy. He administered the sacrament of con
firmation, and after a stay of two weeks at Vincennes,
which he employed in preaching, instructing the young,
and reforming abuses, he returned to his see, his whole
journey being one continual triumphal march, such was
the desire of all the people to honor so pure and holy a
servant of God. The Bishop, during this missionary trip,
administered the sacrament of confirmation to one thou
sand two hundred and seventy-five persons, from which
fact alone some idea may be formed of the amount of his
labors and of the abundance of fruits he gathered from
them. In 1815 the Bishop lost the invaluable services .
of that holy and zealous missionary, the Rev. Charles
Nerinckx, who then left for Europe, and during his ab
sence the Bishop took upon himself the additional duty
of attending to most of the missions thus deprived of
their pastor. About this time he conducted a public dis
cussion with a sectarian preacher on the principal doc
trines of the Church, in which he displayed great learning
and cogency of reasoning, together with the most beauti
ful exercise of Christian charity and forbearance ; and he
received by unanimous acclaim the palm of victory from
an audience composed almost entirely of Protestants.
In 1815 the question of translating Bishop Flaget from
the see of Bardstown to the new see which it was then
in contemplation to erect at St. Louis was mooted. Car
dinal Litta, Prefect of the Propaganda, in his letter to
Archbishop Carroll, of the 23d of December, 1815, thus
writes of Bishop Flaget : "But as in Upper Louisiana,
the Right Rev. Dr. Flaget, Bishop of Bardstown, is in
great fame of sanctity, and as he is most suited for the
conversion of the savages who live in the middle of the

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 155
province of Louisiana, it has seemed very expedient to
the Right Rev. Dr. Dubourg that he should be transfer
red to a new see to be erected therein." But Dr. Du
bourg, who had been appointed Bishop of New Orleans,
finding it not convenient or agreeable then to reside in
New Orleans, he selected St. Louis for his episcopal city,
and the project of erecting a see at the latter place was
consequently abandoned. Bishop Dubourg was now
about to return from France, accompanied by a con
siderable number of ecclesiastics, whom he had enlisted
in Europe for the missions of Louisiana. In the spirit of
true Catholic zeal and charity, as well as of sincere per
sonal friendship for Bishop Dubourg, Bishop Flaget,
accompanied by Rev. Messrs. Andreis and Rosati, a lay
brother and a guide, made a journey in October, 18 17,
on horseback to St. Louis, and in a country which could
not present anything better than buffalo-skins for beds
to these distinguished visitors, succeeded in raising the
sum of three thousand dollars, to defray the traveling and
equipment expenses of Dr. Dubourg and suite. In De
cember of the same year, Bishop Flaget made another
journey to St. Louis, to assist at the installation of
Bishop Dubourg in his episcopal see. During these
journeys Bishop Flaget, as he did on all other occasions,
lost no opportunity of conveying the consolations of re
ligion to the people living in the cities, towns, and ham
lets on the route. Having obtained from Bishop Du
bourg two missionaries for Indiana and Michigan, Bishop
Flaget was more at leisure to give his attention to the
distant French and Indian missions lying about the great
lakes. He accordingly lost no time in making a visit to
those remote regions. The following extract from the
Annals of the Propagation of the Faith for September,

156 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
1850, contains a succinct account of this journey of the
Bishop to Detroit, one of the most truly apostolic jour
neys ever performed on this continent : " Following the
traces of this journey of seven hundred leagues, one
would say that wherever Bishop Flaget pitched his tent
he there laid the foundations of a new church, and that
each one of his principal halts was destined to become a
bishopric. There is Vincennes, in Indiana; there is
Detroit, in Michigan ; there is Cincinnati, the principal
city of Ohio ; there are' Erie and Buffalo, on the borders
of the lakes ; there is Pittsburg, which he evangelized in
returning to Louisville, after thirteen months' absence —
after having given missions wherever on his route there
was a colony of whites, a plantation of slaves, or a village
of Indians." In Detroit the Bishop was very kindly re
ceived and entertained by General Cass, then Governor,
to whose noble hospitality often since have pious Catho
lic missionary priests paid the tribute of their grateful re
membrance. The extent of his diocese, and his frequent absences
on long and distant journeys, rendered the assistance of a
coadjutor Bishop indispensable. Having applied to Rome
for this favor, on the 25th of November, 18 17, the Bulls
arrived, appointing Father David Bishop of Mauricastro
in Partibus and coadjutor to the Bishop of Bardstown.
His church at Bardstown being now completed, Bishop
Flaget and his coadjutor removed from the Seminary of
St. Thomas to Bardstown August 7, 18 19; on the 8th the
new cathedral was consecrated, and one week later, on
the Feast of the Assumption, Bishop David was conse
crated by Bishop Flaget. On the 21st of September, St.
Thomas' Seminary was removed to Bardstown, and the
Bishop once more enjoyed the happiness of living in the

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 157
midst of his beloved seminarians, always taking a pecu
liar pleasure in their society, and making it his custom to
be surrounded by them, all dressed in surplices, when
ever he celebrated high mass on Sundays or holidays.
On the 13th of January, 1822, he consecrated at St.
Rose, Dr. Fenwick, the new Bishop of Cincinnati. Epis
copal visitations to Vincennes in 1819, and again in 1823,
and to Tennessee in 182 1, full of edifying and interesting
incidents, were the principal occurrences of those years.
During this period he was also engaged in lengthy and
highly important correspondence with the American
Bishops, and with Rome, on the subject of creating new
episcopal sees, and touching the general interests of re
ligion in America. The plan of erecting an Archiepisco
pal see in the west was originated in the correspondence
held about this time between Bishops Flaget and Du
bourg. Having under his spiritual jurisdiction so large
a portion of the territory of the United States, no bishop
in the American Hierarchy wielded more influence or was
more active in the general affairs of the Church in this
country. Though constantly pressed with the vast
amount of labor which claimed his attention in his own
diocese, he always found time to take a leading part in
religious matters beyond its limits. He also had a cor
respondence with Rome in relation to the Hogan difficul
ties in Philadelphia, and was consulted by the Propagan
da in regard to the controversy for some time existing
between the Sulpicians of Canada and the Bishop of
Quebec. The Jubilee of 1825, '26, and '27, presented an occa
sion which called forth the full exertion of Bishop Flaget's
apostolic zeal. It was the first celebration of the jubilee
in the West. Besides the regular exercises of religion in

158 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the churches, which were arranged by the Bishop upon
a most imposing and edifying plan, this holy season
was particularly distinguished by learned and eloquent
expositions and defences of the doctrines and practices
of the Church, one of the most remarkable and fruitful
oral discussions ever conducted in this country. It was
in those discussions that the Most Rev. Francis Patrick
Kenrick, then a priest, opened his bright career as an
illustrious champion of the faith. The religious fruits of
the jubilee were exceedingly great. Among many other
gratifying results, there were one thousand two hundred
and sixteen persons confirmed, arid the number of com
municants was innumerable. In January, 1828, the
Bishop repaired, by invitation, to Baltimore, to conse
crate Archbishop Whitfield, whose consecration was per
formed on the day of Pentecost, in the cathedral. In
June, 1829, he made his fifth visitation of Indiana, no less
laborious and edifying than previous ones ; and in Septem
ber of the same year he went to Baltimore to attend the
First Provincial Council. At the Council, on being intro
duced for the first time to the late illustrious Bishop of
Charleston, Dr. England, Bishop Flaget exclaimed, " Al
low me to kiss the hand that has written so many fine
things ! " Bishop England promptly replied, " Permit me
to kiss the hands which have done so much good." On
the 6th of June, 1830, at Bardstown, Bishop Flaget conse
crated Dr. Kenrick as coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia,
assisted by Bishops David, England, and Fenwick. Feel
ing his health declining, and never having overcome the
scruples which his diffidence in himself constantly caused
him to experience, he sent his resignation to Rome, which,
based as it was on the plea of his declining health, was
accepted, and Bishop David appointed his successor ;

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 159
but so great was the opposition to these transactions,
coming from both the clergy and laity of the West, that
he was compelled to submit to a reversal of all that had
been done, and was again left Bishop of Bardstown, but
now without a coadjutor, which condition of things con
tinued more than a year. In the awful and destructive
visitation of the cholera which devastated the West in
1833, Bishop Flaget displayed the most heroic zeal and
charity, administering like an angel of love to the af
flicted of all classes, forgetting himself until he had
almost fallen a victim to the pestilence, and ready to
meet death in such a cause with a smile of welcome.
On the 13th of October, 1833, he consecrated the Right
Rev. Dr. Purcell as Bishop of Cincinnati, and having re
ceived on the 29th of June, 1834, the Bulls appointing
Dr. Chabrat his second coadjutor, he consecrated that
Prelate on the 20th of July, assisted by Bishop David and
Rev. Dr. Miles. Having repaired to St. Louis to conse
crate the new cathedral, Bishop Flaget, on the 28th of
October, consecrated therein the Right Rev. Dr. Brute\
who had just been appointed Bishop of Vincennes.
During these years of arduous labor and incessant tra
veling throughout his vast diocese, many great and good
works were accomplished in particular localities, but ex
erting a happy influence over the entire diocese. In the
language of his biographer: "Thus we have seen four
colleges, two of which yet remain ; three religious sister
hoods, conducting a large female orphan asylum ; an in
firmary, and eleven flourishing academies for girls ; a
brotherhood, and two religious orders of men, devoting
themselves to education and the missions ; all growing
up and prospering under the encouraging auspices of
Bishop Flaget."

160 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
It is required by the Church of all bishops who are
consecrated to preside over dioceses beyond the limits
of Europe, to make a solemn engagement at their con
secration, to repair to Rome, either in person or by suit
able proxy, once in every ten years, in order to render
to the Sovereign Pontiff an account of their administra
tions. Bishop Flaget had long desired to make in per
son this pilgrimage to the Eternal City, as well to
comply with his obligation of rendering fealty to the
successor of St. Peter, as to visit en route his native
France, and to commune with his relatives and friends.
The constant labors and engrossing cares of his diocese
had, however, compelled him to remain at home and
send a representative to Rome. Feeling justified now
in leaving for a time the entire administration of his
diocese in the hands of his zealous and able coadjutor,
Dr. Chabrat, he concluded to visit Rome in person. He
departed for Europe in the spring of 1835. Before go
ing to Rome he spent one year in France, whither the
fame of his sanctity and zeal had preceded him, and
caused him to be received and venerated as a saint. He,
however, in the midst of honors and ovations, never lost
sight of the interests of his diocese and the cause of re
ligion, for which objects he labored constantly during the
four years he spent in Europe. He arrived at Rome in
the fall of 1836, and was at once received by the Holy
Father with every mark of respect and admiration.
During his stay in the city, the cardinals and other dis
tinguished personages there emulated each other in ren
dering every attention and kindness to the good mis
sionary Bishop. The Pope made him handsome presents
for his diocese, and would not consent to his leaving
Rome before the opening of spring. Leaving Rome in

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 161
the spring of 1837; he visited many of the Countries of
Europe, in which he had business to transact ; but having
been specially commissioned by the Pope to travel
through France in aid of the Society for the Propagation
of the Faith, he speedily returned to that country, where he
labored with wonderful and happy success for that great
and holy cause, visiting forty-six dioceses in France and
Sardinia. The following notice of his labors in this be
half is from the pen of the illustrious Cardinal Wiseman,
in 1839:* "In France the saintly American Bishop
Flaget has been visiting several dioceses to preach in
favor of the CEuvre de la Propagation • and, though his
tour has been limited, we have it on authority that it will
have had the effect of raising the funds of that beautiful
institution from seven hundred thousand to upwards of a
million of francs. We have also reason to know that he is
bent upon having such a system as we have suggested,
of movable missionaries, established in America, as the
only means of propagating the Catholic religion on a
great scale."
In the language of his biographer :-" In France it was
even said and believed that extraordinary, if not mira
culous, cures had been effected by his prayers, and am
ple statements to this effect, with certificates append
ed, were drawn up and circulated." In July, 1839,
Bishop Flaget, in company with Bishop Purcell and Rev.
Mr. McGill, now Bishop of Richmond, embarked at
Havre for America, and arrived at New York on the
2 1st of August. Reaching Bardstown in September,
the venerable Bishop was received by his flock with
every demonstration of joy and filial affection. The first
congratulations and thanksgivings being over, the zeal-
* Essays on Various Subjects, vol. ii., p. 95.
II

1 62 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ous Bishop first visited all his religious establishments,
and then made the visitation of his entire diocese, which
occupied two years. On the 12th of July, 1841, he had
the misfortune of losing his devoted friend and faithful
adviser, Bishop David, who died as he had lived, in great
sanctity. In 1841 the episcopal chair of the diocese was
removed from Bardstown to Louisville, where the bishop
was heartily welcomed by the citizens of all religions.
In 1842, a body of Sisters of Charity of the Good Shep
herd arrived from France, and on the 4th of September,
1843, were installed in the new and extensive establish
ment erected for them by Bishop Flaget, entirely at his
own expense. Bishop Chabrat's health having become
extremely feeble, he was compelled to return to Europe,
and was finally, in 1847, released from the office of coad
jutor, and Bishop Flaget was again left without an assis
tant. In the year 1848, the Jesuit Fathers took charge
of St. Joseph's College and the free school, and in the
same year a colony of forty monks of La Trappe arrived
in the diocese and took possession of their new estab
lishment at Gethsemane, about fourteen miles from
Bardstown. In 1848 a new coadjutor, Dr. Spalding, the
present Archbishop of Baltimore, was appointed. The
long and fatiguing ceremony of consecrating the new
Bishop was performed by Bishop Flaget on the 10th of
September, but the exertion was too great for his ex
treme age and infirm health ; he sank down exhausted
by the labors of the day, and was never afterwards able
to discharge the public duties of his episcopacy. On
the 15th of August, 1849, the corner-stone of the new
cathedral at Louisville was solemnly laid in the presence
of an immense multitude, but the venerable bishop could
only behold the spectacle and bestow his blessing upon

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, D.D. 163
the assembled faithful from the balcony of his residence.
After the consecration of Bishop Spalding, Bishop Fla
get lingered in infirm health for two years, spending his
time chiefly in prayer and pious reading. For six months
before his death he was deprived of the inestimable priv
ilege and happiness of offering up the holy sacrifice of
the Lamb of God. His sufferings were very great dur
ing the last year or more of his earthly existence, but he
received and patiently bore those sufferings as actual
blessings from the hands of his heavenly Father, who
thus permitted him to suffer for Christ. On the nth of
February, 1850, in the eighty-seventh year of his age,
he calmly expired, surrounded by his clergy, full of
sanctity, faith, and hope, and overflowing with that heroic-
charity which had given an angelic character to his long
and saintly career. His entire life was one of goodness.
Of him it may be truly said, that he had no ends to as
pire to besides the honor and glory of his Creator.

HIS EMINENCE JOHN LOUIS DE CHEVERUS,
First Bishop of Boston, afterwards Bishop of Montauban, and Cardinal
Archbishop of Bordeaux, A.D. 1810.*
John Louis Ann Magdalen Lefebvre de Cheverus
was born at Mayenne, in Lower Maine, France, January
28, in the year 1768. His father, John Vincent Marie
Lefebvre de Cheverus, was the civil judge ; his uncle,
Louis Rene' de Cheverus, was the curate, and another uncle
was the mayor, of Mayenne ; thus uniting in one family
the judical, ecclesiastical, and municipal authority of the
place. His mother, Ann Lemarchand des Noyers, pos
sessed eminent prudence, judgment, and piety. She
took upon herself the early education of her son, and in
stilled into his tender heart the most devout sentiments
of religion and morality. She constantly repeated to him
the sublime lesson of that model of mothers, Blanche of
Castile, to that model of sons, St. Louis, King of France:
' My son, God is my witness how much I love you ; but
rather would I see you dead before me, than that you
should commit a single mortal sin." Remaining under
the paternal roof, he attended every day the classes at
the College of Mayenne, where he was equally dis
tinguished among his companions for his piety, amiability,
frankness, and application to study. In time of recrea
tion he was "the merriest lad at school," and in time of
* Authorities: Life of Cardinal de Cheverus, by the Rev. J. Huen Dubourg,
translated from the French, by R. M. Walsh ; The U. S. Catholic Magazine of 1845,
&c, &c.

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 165
study he was the best student. At the age of eleven
years he made his first communion in the most edifying
and devout manner, and at that early age he formed, and
at once disclosed to his mother, his resolution of dedi
cating himself to Almighty God in the holy ministry of
the Church. This Christian mother cheerfully made
the sacrifice, and offered her dearest treasure to the
service of religion. At the age of twelve years he re
ceived the tonsure at Mayenne from the hands of the
Bishop of Dol, and continued in his daily life to set the
example of a truly Christian life for all the population
of his native city. Many distinguished persons who
visited Mayenne were attracted by the beautiful charac
ter and promising talents of the youthful Abbe\ and made
brilliant offers to M. de Cheverus for the future advance
ment of his son. He soon received the position of the
Priory of Torbechet, with a revenue of eight hundred
livres, which enabled him to prosecute his studies in re
tirement and ease. This appointment was to the Abbe
de Cheverus the cause of an unjust and vexatious law
suit of several years' continuance, which there was a per
fect certainty of his finally gaining, but which he settled
himself by voluntarily relinquishing his rights, against
the advice and remonstrances of his friends. When
asked why he abandoned a case which he was so certain
of gaining, his answer was at once beautiful and heroic :
"because," said he,, "by winning it I should have ruined
the adverse party." Having in the year 1781 finished
his preparatory studies with great praise, he was con
ducted by his father to Paris, and entered at the College
of Louis le Grand. The loose doctrines and morals of
the Revolution had by this time greatly impaired the re
ligious discipline of this institution, but the Abbe de Che-

1 66 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
verus persevered, in the midst of dangers and tempta
tions, to approach the holy communion every week, and
to lead that same modest, studious, and devout life which
had been the charm of his example at Mayenne. He
gave an evidence of his proficiency in his studies by
publicly defending, on the 21st of July, in the year 1786,
a thesis in the college with universal applause. About
this time, standing an examination for a vacancy in the
Seminary of St. Magloire, in Paris, under the direction of
the Fathers of the Oratory, he gained the first rank, and
thenceforth devoted himself exclusively to sacred studies,
frequently shedding tears of rapture over the sacred pa
ges. By the rules of the Seminary he was obliged to
attend the lectures at the Sorbonne, where, amid general
inattention, disorder, and frivolity, the good Abb6 prose
cuted his studies with unabated zeal and industry. He
was made a deacon in October, 1790, and the Bishop of
Mans, seeing so near at hand the troubles of the Revolu
tion, procured from Rome a dispensation on account of
his want of the required age, and M. de Cheverus was
ordained December 8, 1790, in the twenty-third year
of his age, this being the last ordination at Paris preced
ing the Revolution. To accept holy orders in those times
was to court persecution, confiscation, imprisonment, and
martyrdom from the fierce tyrants who were rising up
in France to destroy both Church and State, and deluge
the fairest of lands in the blood of the noblest and most
virtuous of her citizens.
Undaunted by the calamities that were hastening
upon his country and his religion, the young priest re
paired at once to his native city, and assumed the public
exercise of the holy ministry as assistant to his uncle.
the venerable Curate de Cheverus, and at the same time

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 167
received from the Bishop of Mans the honor of being a
canon of his cathedral. He was soon called upon to
take the oath of the Revolution, which he firmly resisted,
and, resigning his place, exercised the holy ministry in
private. Restricted by the municipal authorities in the
performance of his sacred duties to the celebration of
Mass, his father's house was at once his prison and his
chapel. On the death of his venerable- uncle in January,
1792, he was appointed his successor as Curate of
Mayenne, and cheerfully accepted a place so full of
danger. Notwithstanding his youth, he was the adviser
and the father of both the clergy and the faithful in those
days of terror. Driven from Mayenne by the revolu
tionary party, kept under strict surveillance at Laval,
imprisoned in the convent of the Cordeliers, and being in
constant danger of death, he finally made his escape
from prison in June, 1792. Passing through perils the
most appalling and scenes the most bloody, being in
the very midst of the massacres of the 2d and 3d of Sep
tember at Paris, "happening at the moment to be near
the convent where the victims were sacrificed," with his
pursuers constantly at his back, he succeeded with great
difficulty in flying in disguise from Paris, arrived at Calais
September 11, 1792, and safely reached England, then
the hospitable asylum of the French exiles. The English
government nobly tendered to the AbbS de Cheverus a
participation in the generous provision it had made for the
refugees ; but he, though a stranger in a foreign land,
with scanty means and ignorant of the language, with
his usual spirit of exalted charity, thanked the govern
ment, and asked that his share might be given to others
of his exiled countrymen who needed it more than him
self. He immediately commenced the study of the

1 68 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
English language, and in January, 1793, became teacher
of French and mathematics in a boarding-school, of which
the principal was a Protestant minister. His pure life
soon gained for him universal esteem among the Protest
ants with whom he was thrown. Zeal soon prompted
him to collect together a congregation of Catholics, with
the approbation of the Bishop of London, and in one
year after his arrival he was preaching in English. He
also received and accepted the invitation of an English
nobleman to become tutor to his son, but did not permit
this to interfere for an instant with his ministerial duties.
He was appointed by his old friend, the Bishop of Dol,
then an exile like himself, his grand vicar, and was only
prevented by the entreaties of the Bishop of London
from accompanying the Bishop in his attempt to return
to France; an attempt which resulted in the destruc
tion by shipwreck of the Bishop and all his companions.
The Catholics of England were well supplied with
clergy, and the AbbS de Cheverus therefore longed
for some other field of labor, where he might render
greater services to religion: He had scarcely de
clined the proffered presidency of a new college at
Cayenne, when, in 1795, he received a letter from his
old friend and countryman, the Abb6 Matignon, then
officiating at Boston, entreating him in the name of re
ligion to come to Boston, and share his labors in that new
and fruitful vineyard, than which his zeal could neither
desire nor find a field more boundless or more needy,
embracing, as it did, all New England and the Indian
tribes of Penobscot and Passamaquoddy. Recognizing
this as a call from above, after the most mature reflection
and consultation, he resolved to obey. He made over
his patrimony to his brother and sisters in France, and

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 169
embarking for America, amid the tears and entreaties of
the friends whom he had so edified in England, " on the
3d of April, 1796, he arrived safely at Boston, where he
was received by M. Matignon as an angel sent from
heaven to his aid."
The prejudices against our holy religion which M.
Matignon and M. de Cheverus encountered at Boston
were almost incredible, especially when recorded of a
people so enlightened and educated as the Bostonians
were reputed to be. These pious missionaries com
menced preaching rather by example than by word of
mouth. The holy, pure, and truly evangelical lives
they led attracted universal attention and admiration.
The Bostonians were astonished to see in these two
strangers such profound learning united to such humility
and simplicity, such exalted virtue united to such dignity
and gracefulness of manners, such charity, gentleness,
and kindness towards every one, united to such zeal for
a religion which they had. been taught to regard as the
opprobrium of mankind. They were charmed, too, to see
such refined, elevated, and affectionate friendship and
intimacy, which never once degenerated into familiarity.
In the persons of her ministers, Catholicity became re
spected and honored where before it had only been a
reproach. Never did virtue and learning gain a more
decided victory over prejudice and bigotry. The virtues
of the pastors produced a corresponding effect on their
congregation, whose exemplary deportment and good
citizenship were acknowledged by all. Prejudice being
now sufficiently allayed, the Abb<3 de Cheverus began to
preach in public. His eloquence, which was remarkable
for its earnestness, simplicity, and vigor, attracted Pro
testants in crowds to hear him, who never went away

170 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
offended, but always edified. Hearing of his extraor
dinary merits, Archbishop Carroll tendered to M. de
Cheverus the pastorship of St. Mary's Church in Phila
delphia, which his friendship for the venerable M. Ma
tignon, and his love for his New England flock, would
not permit him to accept. He soon afterwards paid his
first visit to the Indian tribes of Maine, the Penobscots
and Passamaquoddies, to whose spiritual wants he was
ever attentive, and continued ever after to visit them
every year. The sweetness of his disposition made no
less an impression upon the rude sons of the forest than
upon the cultivated Bostonians. Upon his return from
his first Indian tour he found the city of Boston afflicted by
that dreadful scourge, the yellow fever. He immediately
became the servant and the nurse of the afflicted — day
and night he was to be found at the bedside of his pros
trate and suffering fellow-creatures, without distinction
of rank or creed. His conduct on this and other similar
occasions completely won the hearts of the people. So
great was the regard entertained for him, that when
President John Adams visited Boston, and was honored
by a public banquet, the two highest seats at table were
assigned to the President and the Abbe' de Cheverus.
And when the Legislature of Massachusetts were pre
paring the formula of an oath to be taken by all the citi
zens of the State before voting at the elections, fearing
lest it might contain something in conflict with the con
sciences of Catholic citizens, they submitted it for revision
and amendment to the Abbe de Cheverus, who then
prepared his own formula, and submitted it in person to
the Legislature, who at once enacted it into a law.
Afterwards, when opening a subscription list for a new
church, which he proposed to erect in Boston, President

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 171
Adams headed the list with his name, and nearly every
Protestant citizen subscribed liberally to the same
object. With such liberal and generous friends of all
denominations as he found on all sides ready to assist
him, he found no difficulty in accomplishing the erection
of his church, the first Catholic temple erected in the
city of Boston, which was consecrated by Archbishop
Carroll, September 29, 1803, under the title of the
Church of the Holy Cross. While engaged in the erec
tion of his church the news of the restoration of the
clergy in France was brought to Boston, together with
the most urgent appeals and tender entreaties of his
friends and relatives at home that he would return to his
native country ; but he sacrificed family, friends, and for
tune for his dear New England flock, whose fate he re
solved to share. After the opening of the Church of the
Holy Cross, all denominations flocked in crowds to listen
to his eloquent and impressive sermons. Under his in
structions numerous converts joined the Church, many
of them belonging to the most distinguished and influen
tial New England families. He was at all times accessi
ble to persons seeking either alms, advice, or consolation.
Points of conscience were frequently submitted to him
for decision by the heads of Protestant families, and so
generally was his counsel sought, that a Protestant
writer has, said that "he received as many confessions
out of the confessional as in it, because every one knew
that his heart was a safe repository of all disquietudes
and all secrets, and that his wisdom always indicated the
path of prudence and the road of duty." He very fre
quently made long journeys to carry the consolations of
religion or perform acts of charity. About this time he
received a letter from two young Irish Catholics confined

172 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
in Northampton prison, who had been condemned to
death without just cause, as was almost universally be
lieved, imploring'him to come to them- and prepare them
for their sad and cruel fate. He hastened to their spirit
ual relief, and inspired them with the most heroic senti
ments and- dispositions, which they persevered in to the
last fatal moment of their execution. 1 According to cus
tom, the prisoners were carried to the nearest church to
hear a sermon preached immediately before their execu
tion ; , several Protestant ministers presented themselves
to preach the sermon, but the Abbe de Cheverus claimed
the right to perform that duty as the choice of the prison
ers themselves, and, after much difficulty was allowed to
ascend the. pulpit. His sermon struck all present with
astonishment, awe, and admiration. At their solicitation
he preached several sermons to the people of Northamp
ton, and so charmed were they with his fervid and
earnest eloquence, his elevation of character and sanc
tity, that they who when he came to Northampton would
scarcely ;give him ' a shelter,- now wished and entreated
him to remain with them altogether, and it was with diffi
culty that he could get away. He was next solicited to
visit a distinguished and remarkable Protestant lady of
Philadelphia, Mrs. Seton, who desired his aid in her
troubles of conscience. Delicacy towards the clergy of
Philadelphia caused, him to suggest a correspondence
rather than a visit in person to that city. He was thus
instrumental with other eminent divines in . her conver
sion. He was afterwards one of her best friends and
counsellors in the great work of founding the community
of Sisters of Charity. Several churches were soon es
tablished in New England by his zealous efforts. During
all these varied and arduous labors he never once re-

His Eminence John Louis de Chevertis. 173
laxed his habits of study, prayer, self-mortification, and
the ordinary duties of his ministry. -He was one of the
most prominent promoters of arts, sciences, and literature
in Boston, a member of all the learned societies in the
city, and, with Mr. Shaw, one of the principal benefac
tors and founders of the Athenaeum.
At the instance of Bishop Carroll, four new episcopal
sees were now about to be erected in the United States,
one of .which was to be at Boston, and the Abb6 de
Cheverus was nominated by Bishop Carroll for this new
see. Nothing but obedience to Rome could induce this
truly humble and pious priest to submit to his elevation.
He was consecrated by Archbishop Carroll, in the Cathe
dral at Baltimore, November 1, 18 10. Returning to
Boston, clothed with ecclesiastical power and dignity,
no difference was discoverable in his humble mode of
life, or in his simple, modest, and generous bearing to his
old friends. To the good Abbe Matignon in particular
his conduct was most noble and honorable, regarding
him always as his superior in wisdom and merit, and as
his father. He continued as before to catechise, confess,
visit the sick, the poor, and the afflicted, and to spend
three months everyyear in the forest with his dear Indians.
He several times preached by invitation in the churches
of other denominations, in imitation of St. Paul's preach
ing in the synagogues, choosing generally on such occa
sions for his subjects the real presence, confession, the
invocation of saints, the veneration of sacred relics and
pictures, and particularly the infallibility of the Church.
He also sustained several public controversies with Prot
estant ministers, in which his superior learning, powers
of mind, and his courteous and amiable temper, always
gave him great advantage. So much was he beloved

174 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
that it was quite a custom for mothers to name their in
fants John, in his honor, and on one occasion, when ad
ministering the sacrament of baptism, having inquired
the name of the child, and being answered "John Che
verus Bishop," "poor child," he replied, "God preserve
you from ever becoming such."
Bishop de Cheverus frequently administered to the
wants of the diocese of New York, then without a Bishop,
in consequence of the untimely death of Dr. Concanen,
the Bishop elect, and sometimes he went to Canada to
perform some extraordinary service for religion. He
honored, cherished, and encouraged the religious orders
which had been introduced into the country, particularly
the Fathers of the Society of Jesus and of St. Sulpice,
with whom he always cultivated the most affectionate re
lations. His devotion and spiritual loyalty to the venera
ble exiled Pontiff, Pius VIL, were eminently Catholic, and
he was always an ardent and zealous supporter of the
Holy See. Upon the fall of Napoleon and the return
of Pius VII. to the Eternal City, Bishop de Cheverus
caused the Te Deum to be sung in honor of the event,
and on the same occasion preached a sermon of surpass
ing brilliancy and power. At night, when the entire city
of Boston was illuminated, the illumination of the Cathe
dral, and particularly the cross, attracted great attention
and admiration, being more brilliantly illuminated than
any other building in the city.
The death of the venerable and illustrious Archbishop
Carroll, on the 3d of December, 18 15, having devolved
the entire duties of the archdiocese upon Archbishop
Neale, then very aged and infirm, Bishop de Cheverus
was solicited to become his coadjutor and successor ; but
desiring to spend the remainder of his days with his be-

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 175
loved flock at Boston, he succeeded, after much solici
tude and many entreaties, in causing the Rev. Mr. Mare-
chal to be selected for that high position instead of
himself. Relieved from the anxiety which the desire of
Archbishop Neale to select him as his coadjutor and suc
cessor had caused him, he now devoted himself uninter
ruptedly to the diocese of Boston. He collected around
him a number of young men, candidates for the sacred
ministry, whom he took under his own roof and be
came the director of their theological studies and their
teacher. He also about this time undertook the accom
plishment of his long-cherished design of establishing at
Boston a suitable institution for the education of Catholic
young ladies. Such was the origin of the Ursuline Con
vent at Boston. On the morning after the arrival of the
Sisters the Boston papers indulged in some unfriendly
remarks in regard to the new institution ; the Bishop re
plied the following morning in explanation and defence,
and thus silenced all further opposition. What must
have been the sorrow and mortification of this good Pre
late, when afterwards, in a distant land, he received the
sad tidings of the burning of the convent at midnight by
a Boston mob, without an effort being made by the city
to protect or defend it, and without the slightest punish
ment being inflicted on the incendiaries, who were ac
quitted by the tribunals of justice in Massachusetts,
whose Legislature afterwards refused to grant a pitiful
indemnity to the innocent and defenceless female suf
ferers !
The failing health of his excellent and venerable friend,
the Abbe Matignon, had for some time cast a gloom over
the very existence of the Bishop. At length, on the
1 8th of September, 18 18, the good Abbe was no more.

176 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
His death plunged the Bishop, and I may say all New
England, in profound grief. The highest honors that
friendship, love, and religion could yield were paid to
the deceased. His remains were borne in procession
through the streets of Boston, followed by the Bishop
wearing his mitre, the clergy/and the whole congregation.
The people of Boston paid the greatest respect on this
occasion to the deceased, and to the procession and
ceremonies thus performed in his honor. Still more, the
journals of the city next day thanked the Bishop for the
compliment he paid to the inhabitants by thus relying
on their appreciation of the virtues of the deceased
priest, and on their enlightened and just respect for the
religious views and rights of Roman Catholic citizens.
Such was Boston forty years ago !
Bishop de Cheverus never ceased to lament the death
of his dear friend, the Abbe Matignon. Yet he con
tinued to be ever cheerful and indefatigable in the dis
charge of his arduous and greatly increasing duties,
performing his accustomed works of charity and love
equally under the burning sun of summer and amid the
snows and storms / of winter, always remembering his
children in the forest. After several years thus spent,
the Bishop's health began to fail under repeated attacks
of asthma, and his physicians informed him that if he re
mained in that latitude he could not expect to live much
longer. For three years he meditated on retiring to the
bosom of his family at Mayenne, and leaving in his place
some one more robust than himself to undergo the labors
of his diocese, but he found his affections too closely en
twined around his church in New England to come, of
his own accord, to such a resolution. Finally in 1823 he
received a letter from the Grand AlmOner of France,

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 177
conveying to him the desire of the King, Louis XVIII.,
for him to return to France and become the Bishop of the
vacant see of Montauban. This letter plunged him in
profound grief. France and America had each upon his
heart the most tender claims. After many days spent in
tears, prayer, and consultation with his friends, he came
to the generous resolution of clinging to his infant church
of Boston, at the risk of displeasing friends, family, and
king. His letter to the Grand Almoner begged and sup
plicated for permission to remain at Boston, and was ac
companied by a similar one from his congregation, and
this latter was signed by over two hundred of the prin
cipal Protestant inhabitants of Boston. The King of
France being willing to listen to no refusal, the Grand
Almoner, in a second letter, insisted upon the Bishop's
return to France in compliance with the royal wishes.
It is difficult to conceive of grief more intense than that
which now bowed down the heart of the good Bishop.
He wrote to a friend about this time, " My heart is torn
in pieces." But there was no way of escaping with pro
priety this separation from his church and his people, his
physicians having now added their voice to the over
whelming considerations which were pressed upon him
from France in addition to the king's desire, stating to
him that another winter spent in Boston would be his
last on earth. The entire American Church joined their
lament to that of Boston at hearing the sad news of the
intended departure of Bishop de Cheverus from the
country, and sent to Rome a petition that he might re
main. The Bishop commenced his preparations for de
parture by giving away all that he possessed, distributing
it among the clergy, the poor, and his friends, and re
solved to leave Boston in poverty, as he had entered it.
12

178 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
His heroic conduct seemed to inspire others. The most
generous offers now poured in upon him from all sides.
Among many others, a worthy man, a grocer, who by a
long life of toil and economy had collected together
about six thousand francs, brought it all and laid it at
the feet of the Bishop, whose refusal to receive it, though
full of gentleness and gratitude, brought only tears from
the good man's eyes. The principal people of Boston,
both Catholics and Protestants, raised a handsome sum
by subscription to defray his expenses. Adieus and tes
timonials came to him from all parts of the country.
The Archbishop of Baltimore in his letter exclaimed:
"Oh! my God, what will become of the Church of
America ? Although placed at a great distance from me,
you were, next to God, my firmest support. Will it be
possible for me to govern my province after your de
parture ? " The Protestant journals of Boston teemed
with sentiments of sorrow and eulogies on the Bishop,
of which we can give but a single specimen: "This
worthy prelate has passed nearly thirty years among us,
and during that whole period has inspired all classes
with the utmost confidence and respect. The amenity
of his manners as a man of the world, his talents, his
goodness as a Bishop, his pure and apostolic life, have
been the constant theme of eulogium ; we deplore his
loss as a public calamity." On departing from Boston
he was escorted by over three hundred vehicles, which
accompanied him many miles on the road to New York,
from which latter place he embarked for Europe October
1, 1823, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Morainville, then
returning home for his health. During the voyage he
was not idle, preaching and saying public prayers for his
fellow-passengers, whom he always addressed as "my

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 1 79
beloved brethren," and upon whom he made a profound
impression, as he did upon all who were ever in his
presence. The voyage was prosperous till towards its
close, when a violent storm in the British Channel over
took the vessel, which struck upon a rock and stranded,
the passengers giving themselves up for lost, and pre
paring for death. Yet not one of them perished ; their
rescue was universally conceded to have been miracu
lous. The scene is described as truly beautiful, when
Bishop de Cheverus, regardless of himself, was seen
bearing in his arms his swooning companions to the
land. Such was the return of this holy man to the
shores of his native France.
His journey to Paris was one continued triumph ; not
the triumph of a blood-stained conqueror, but a triumph
in honor of virtue in the person of one who practised it.
Having made his homage to the king, he hurried to his
native city of Mayenne, to spend some time with his
family. He was suddenly summoned by the Grand
Almoner to Paris, in consequence of a letter from Rome,
stating that so urgent a letter had been received from
the Bishops of the American Church against the removal
of the Bishop de Cheverus to France, that great difficulty
was experienced in permitting the change. But matters
had now gone so far, and the application for his transla
tion to Montauban so ardently pressed, that the wishes
of France at length prevailed over those of America.
Having taken possession of the see of Montauban, he
seemed from that moment to live only for his diocese.
His reputation as a preacher, and as a holy and learned
Prelate, spread over all France, and his name was on
every lip. On one occasion, when about to leave a place
in his diocese where he had been administering con-

i8o ¦:¦ Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
firmation, his' carriage was surrounded by the inhabitants,
and detained more than an kour, until all could receive
his blessing. In the winter of 1826 the suburbs of Mon -
tauban were submerged by a freshet, and the cabins of
the poor completely inundated. The Bishop rushed to
the rescue of these poor people, and took over three
hundredof them into his episcopal palace as his brothers
and equals. During the jubilee, which occurred about
this time, Bishop de Cheverus placed no bounds upon
his zeal, and it is almost incredible what wonders he
achieved for religion.
But the diocese of Montauban was destined for afflic
tion, as had been that of Boston. M. d'Aviau du Bois
de Sanzai, the saintly Archbishop of Bordeaux, died
July 1 1, 1826, and by one universal acclaim, Bishop de
Cheverus was. pointed to as the most suitable person to
succeed the holy Prelate, and on the 30th of the same
month he was accordingly appointed. On arriving at
Paris, he was appointed a Peer of France. Having spent
some weeks in retirement, at Mayenne, he received the
pallium in November from the hands of the Bishop of
Mans, and arrived at Bordeaux the 3d of December.
His administration of the, archdiocese of Bordeaux was
energetic, exemplary, and successful in the extreme. He
kept always before his eyes the virtues of his holy pre
decessor. The establishment of an institution for the
support of aged and infirm priests, the preparation and
promulgation of a new and improved ritual for the gov
ernment of his clergy, the securing of able and efficient
pastors for every parish in his diocese, the providing of
ample means for the education of youth,. the formation of
a religious .circulating library, the founding of religious
institutions, such, as the House of Retreat and Mercy,

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 181
the Hospitals, &c, were some of the objects that engaged
his attention in addition to the usual duties and la
bors of his office. Besides all this, he had to visit Paris
annually to attend the sessions of the Chamber of Peers,
but this never prevented him from attending to the calls
of religion while in Paris. He preached the annual ser
mon before the Polytechnic School on Good Friday with
extraordinary effect, and on one day he prdnounced no
less than seventeen different discourses. Charles X. often
consulted him, and particularly in relation to the growing
complaints and discontents among the French. On one
occasion the king inquired of him concerning the liberty
enjoyed in the United States : " There," said the Arch
bishop, referring to this country, " I could have estab
lished missions in every church, founded seminaries in
every quarter, and confided them to the care of Jesuits,
without any one thinking or saying aught against my
proceedings ; all opposition to them would have been re
garded as an act of despotism and a violation of right."
— " That people at least understand liberty," replied the
king; " when will it be understood among us ? " It was
about this time and during these conversations that the
king first thought of applying to Rome for a Cardinal's
hat for Archbishop de Cheverus. He was also offered
by the king the office of Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs,
which he declined to receive. In November, 1828, he
was appointed a Counsellor of State, and in 1830 a Com
mander of the Order of the Holy Ghost, one of the
highest titles within the gift of the kings of France.
These and all other honors were rather shunned than
sought for by the Archbishop, were always, when he
could not avoid them, received with humility and diffi
dence, and were never permitted to attach his heart to
the ephemeral honors of this world.

182 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
The revolution of 1830 came upon France, and the
crown passed from the head of Charles X. to that of
Louis Philippe. In the midst of the public tumult and
excitement which accompanied this great change in the
condition of France, the eminent wisdom and profound
sagacity of Archbishop de Cheverus became powerf 1
auxiliaries of public order. While all the rest of France
was in a ferment of excitement and disorder, the diocese
of Bordeaux was quiet and orderly. The Archbishop
did not conceal his attachment to the person and govern
ment of Charles X., but his country was yet the same be
loved France to him, and he threw the whole influence
of his character and example in aid of the efforts of the
de facto government to restore and preserve order.
Without becoming a partisan, he did his duty to his coun
try. He did justice to all parties. Charity to all men
was the great precept and practice of his life. It was not
surprising then that all united in honoring and revering
so just a man. Innocence never appealed to him for
protection in vain; the poor and afflicted found in him a
friend ever ready to relieve and console; the orphan
found in him a father, the widow a guardian, and the
most bitter enemies became to each other the warmest
friends under the mild and persuasive influence of his me
diation. When the cholera broke out in France, he
opened a hospital for the diseased in his episcopal palace,
over the door of which he placed these words : " House
of Succor ; " how worthy, how noble an inscription for
the palace of a Christian Bishop !
The king now applied to Rome for the elevation of
the Archbishop to the dignity of the Cardinalate. All ex
postulation on his part was vain ; all France called for
his elevation, and to insure the acquiescence of Rome,

His Eminence John Louis de Cheverus. 183
the government bestowed upon him the revenues neces
sary to support the dignity of the office. In urging his
request with the Pope, the king dwelt upon the Arch
bishop's "virtues, which, for a long time, had marked
him out for the veneration of the faithful ; the high quali
ties of which he had given such striking evidences in the
churches of France, after having edified a portion of the
new world ; the wisdom and ability with which he had
fulfilled his ministerial duties ; and his ardent and enlight
ened zeal for religion." The language of the Sovereign
Pontiff was: "It is due to the merit and virtues of the
Archbishop, and the zeal he has displayed in the dioceses
of Boston, Montauban, and Bordeaux." He was accor
dingly proclaimed a Cardinal February 1, 1836, and early
in March he repaired to Paris to receive the red hat from
the hands of the king, according to the custom in such
cases. On the 9th of March the Cardinal elect and suite,
the charg^ d'affaires of the Holy See, the legate, and the
introducer of ambassadors, were borne in the royal
equipages to the palace. The king was first addressed
in Latin as usual by the legate, then Mass was celebrated
in the royal chapel, and the king, kneeling in the sanc
tuary, placed the red hat upon the head of the Cardinal,
who wras also kneeling, and who, after all had retired,
put on the red cassock and other insignia of the Car
dinalate, and proceeded to the presence of the king, to
whom he delivered an address of thanks. From his
elevation to the end of his life he gave himself entirely to
the service of his fellow-men, his country, his Church,
and his God. The virtues which had illustrated his
whole life on earth seemed now to borrow a celestial
hue as life waned and heaven approached. The princi
pal monument of this period of his life is the code of

184 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ecclesiastical laws which he prepared for the clergy, and
which remains still in force.
A stroke of apoplexy, which he sustained in 1834, had
for two years greatly impaired his health, but had not
diminished the activity of his habits nor his zeal in the
service of religion. On Sunday, July 7, 1836, he officiated
at the altar in several churches of his episcopal city with
such incessant labor and fatigue, that in the evening he
sank down with utter prostration,; and on the 14th he
sustained another stroke of apoplexy. On the 19th three
Masses had been said in his chamber, and during the
fourth1 Mass, at the moment of the elevation, he breathed
his last, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. His death
plunged France in profound grief, in which America
joined with the most heartfelt and sincere sympathy. The
high honors paid at Bordeaux to the mortal remains of
the late Cardinal, though solemn and imposing to an ex
traordinary degree, were but the just tribute due to his
exalted worth.

RIGHT REV. MICHAEL EGAN, D.D.
First Bishop of Philadelphia, A.D. 1810.*
Michael Egan, a young Franciscan priest of the
Strict Observance, came to this country from Ireland in
1802. He was born, educated, and ordained a priest of
his Order in Ireland, but the particulars of his early life
have not been recorded. On his arrival, in 1802, he
joined the Rev. Father de Barth in the mission at Lan
caster, Pennsylvania, where these two devoted missiona
ries, poor in worldly goods, but rich in the gifts of Hea
ven, labored zealously for the salvation of souls. Father
Egan Was devoted to his Order, and in his life and con
duct strictly carried out the rules of St. Francis. He
was authorized by an apostolic rescript of September 29;
1804, to found a province of the Franciscan Order in
the United States, but the means of carrying this good
purpose into effect were not then at hand, and the pro
ject did not succeed. He was subsequently appointed
pastor of St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, where his
zeal and labors won the admiration and confidence of
Archbishop Carroll.
The religious tolerance of William Penn, himself edu
cated in the Calvinistic college of Saumur, in France,
had from the earliest settlement of Pennsylvania opened
the door to the missionary visits of the Maryland Jesu
its. As early as 1686, Penn himself informs us that an
aged priest was ministering among the Catholic settlers
* De Courcy and Shea's Catholic Church in the United States ; Campbell's Life
and Times of Archbishop Carroll ; &c, &c.

1 86 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of the province. Under James Logan, in 1708, com
plaints were sent from England that he suffered "public
mass in a scandalous manner ; " and at another time, that
he " suffered the scandal of mass to be publicly cele
brated." The first Catholic chapel was a wooden building
on the northwest corner of Front and Walnut streets,
in which divine worship was offered in 1686, and the
second was built in 1736, on the corner of Chestnut and
Second streets, alluded to by Watson in his Annals of
Philadelphia, as having been built " for a papal chapel,
and that the people opposed its being so used in so pub
lic a place." There was also, in 1729, a Catholic
chapel at a short distance from Philadelphia, on the road
from Nicetown to Frankfort, on the estate of Miss Eliza-.
beth McGawley, a young Irish lady, who had settled
there with her tenants. In 1733 Father Greaton erected
the little chapel of St. Joseph, in Fourth street, which
in the following year was denounced by Governor Gor
don in a report to the Council as a Roman Mass-house
for the public celebration of Mass, contrary to the statute
of William III. We are thus left without reason to
doubt, that, notwithstanding the " toleration " of the
Catholic worship in the earliest period of colonial Penn
sylvania, the intolerance of the people and the subse
quent legislation of England placed some restrictions
upon the religious liberty of Catholics, though it would
not seem that they were actually persecuted. The
tombstone of the Rev. John Michael Brown, the priest
attending the mission at Miss McGawley's, who died
and was buried there in 1790, remained unmolested and
respected ; for tomb and temple remained sacred and
inviolate until our own day, when the tomb of Father
Brown was broken and scattered, and the temples that

Right Rev. Michael Egan, D.D. 187
succeeded the modest chapels of colonial Pennsylvania
were fired by Philadelphia anti-Catholic rioters in 1844.
The Pennsylvania mission was sanctified by the noble
labors of Fathers Greaton, Farmer, Schneider, Wapeler,
and other devoted missionaries, men of the purest and
brightest apostolic virtues. When Father Carroll, in
his capacity as superior of the clergy in the United
States, visited Philadelphia in 1784, he found the Catho
lic congregations devoted and edifying, and the churches
too small for the numerous and increasing congrega
tions. The period of the American Revolution was a
favorable one for Catholicity in Philadelphia. Our na
tional allies were Catholics, and the representatives of
France and Spain, and the staff of the French army and
fleet mingled socially with our people, and at the same
time were in the habit of attending the celebration of
Mass in the Catholic chapels or churches. The chap
lains of the French army officiated in our churches, at
which the members of our Continental Congress several
times attended in compliment to the French officers.
The eminent services to the cause of Independence ren
dered by such Catholic citizens as Barry, Moylan, and
Fitzsimmons increased the favor with which Catholics
were regarded, and the ranks of our army were supplied
with a full share of Catholic soldiers, a Pennsylvania
regiment receiving the name of the Irish Brigade. "At
the close of the war a solemn Te Deum was chanted in
St. Joseph's Church, at the request of the Marquis de la
Luzerne, Minister Plenipotentiary from the Court of
France. He invited to it the Congress pf the United
States, the Assembly and the State Council of Pennsyl
vania, as well as the principal generals and distinguished
citizens. Washington was present, as well as Lafayette,

1 88 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and the Abb6 Bandale, Chaplain of the Embassy of His
most Christian Majesty, addressed an eloquent discourse
to the crowded audience."*
When the important question of creating a bishopric
for the United States was first agitated, attention was
directed to Philadelphia as the city likely to be favored
with the dignity, and Father Carroll, in a letter dated
July 22, 1788, to some citizens of Philadelphia, said: " I
have every reason to believe that a Bishop will be grants
ed to us in a few months, and it is more than probable
that Philadelphia will be the Episcopal See." But the
assembled clergy gave the preference to Baltimore, and
Bishop Carroll governed the Church of Pennsylvania by a
Vicar General. Father Francis Anthony Fleming was the
first to occupy this post; and was succeeded by Father,
afterwards Archbishop, Leonard Neale. In 1790 the Rev.
Dr. Matthew Carr, a hermit of St. Augustine, arrived in
Philadelphia and built St. Augustine's Church, which
was opened to divine worship and solemnly dedicated in
1 800. The Augustinians have for eighty years continued
the work begun by him, and extended its sphere of use
fulness. The monastery and college of Villanova owe
their foundation and management to them. Early in the
present century Father De Barth founded the mission of
Lancaster, in which he was soon afterwards joined by
the Rev. Michael Egan.
The church in Philadelphia, whose history is interest
ing in connection with the events of the Revolution., the
presence of our generous Catholic allies, and the respect
shown for it by Congress, was destined from an early pe
riod to suffer from dissension and schism amongst its own
members. The trustees of the German Church of the
* De Courcy and Shea's Catholic Church in the United States.

Right Rev. Michael Egan, D.D. 189
Holy Trinity, claiming the right of patronage, had foment
ed a-schism, with the encouragement of two priests whom
Bishop Carroll had been obliged to interdict. After five
years' struggle with the Bishop, the trustees submitted
to his authority in 1802. These troubles, however, did
not cease with Bishop Carroll, but fresh ones were re
served for several of the Bishops of Philadelphia.
The rapid growth of the Church in the United States
compelled Bishop Carroll to apply to the Holy See for
the erection of four new bishoprics, to be erected at
Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Bardstown. The
diocese of. Philadelphia embraced the States of Pennsyl
vania and Delaware and the western half of New Jersey.
It contained at the time of its establishment on this large
scale probably fourteen priests, of whom nearly all were
" Religious," the Jesuits having one-half and the Augus-
tinians a quarter of the whole number. The political
troubles of Europe delayed final action on these measures
until April 8, 1809, when Pius VIL, by his brief of that
date, decreed in accordance with the Bishop's recom
mendation, and appointed the Rev. Michael Egan Bishop
of Philadelphia. The subsequent imprisonment of the
Pope by Napoleon, the refusal of the Pope to act in
such matters until his liberty should be restored, and the
imprisonment and death of Bishop Concanen, the bearer
of the bulls, delayed the arrival of the bulls of institution
until September, 18 10.
Bishop Egan was consecrated at old St. Peter's
Cathedral, Baltimore, by Archbishop Carroll, October
28, 1 8 10. The consecrating Prelate was assisted by his
coadjutor, Bishop Neale, and the Rev. William Vincent
Harold, of the Order of St. Dominic, preached the ser
mon. The archives at Baltimore show that Bishop

190 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Egan was nominated and recommended for the See of
Philadelphia by Archbishop Carroll,, who, while he
apprehended that he was probably wanting in firm
ness and inexperienced in affairs, was " a truly pious and
learned religious, remarkable for his great humility," and
the Archbishop gave his name the preference over all
others. In a letter of June 17, 1807, he said of the
future Bishop, " He is a man of about fifty, who seems en
dowed with all the qualities to discharge with perfection
the functions of the episcopacy, except that he lacks
robust health, greater experience, and a greater degree
of firmness in his disposition. He is a learned, modest,
humble priest, who maintains the spirit of his Order in
his whole conduct."
The zeal and devotion with which Bishop Egan gov
erned his diocese were such as might be expected
from his previous life of labor, holiness, and religious
fervor. Archbishop Carroll had already experienced
some of the effects of insubordination in Philadelphia,
and knew how trying and embarrassing, even to the
most vigorous and firm, such troubles in the Church
prove themselves to be. The milder nature of Bishop
Egan had still more serious troubles to contend with.
St. Mary's Church, his cathedral, was erected in 1763,
by Father Robert Harding, upon land granted to him on
the condition of his erecting a chapel thereon. The
church property was successively transferred by will from
Father Harding to the Rev. John Lewis, from the latter
to Father Molyneux, next to Father Francis Neale, and
finally, by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania.
passed September 13, 1788, to a body of trustees in
corporated to administer the finances of the church.
When, in 1810, it became necessary to enlarge the
church, conflicts arose between the trustees and the

Right Rev. Michael Egan, D.D. 191
Bishop. The former went so far as to claim a voice in
the selection of their pastors. The controversy was
rendered doubly disedifying to Catholics, and embarrass
ing to the Bishop, by the part taken against the Bishop by
the Rev. Messrs. Harold, uncle and nephew, who openly
became the leaders of the malcontents in their revolt
against him, and actually went so far as to circulate
anonymous printed appeals to his disparagement.
This unhappy schism is said to have shortened the life of
Bishop Egan. It became the scourge of the diocese
under his two successors.
One of Bishop Egan's principal efforts in behalf of his
diocese was for the introduction of the Sisters of Charity.
He had visited the Sisterhood at Emmitsburg in 18 10,
in company with Bishop Cheverus, of Boston, and was
deeply impressed with the piety and devotion of that
saintly community. He now desired to introduce some
of the Sisters into Philadelphia, to take charge of the
orphan asylum. This asylum had its origin in a pious
association, formed in 1797, to take care of orphans who
had lost their parents by the yellow fever. These were
gathered together in a house near the Church of the
Holy Trinity, and confided to the charge of a pious
lady. This noble work had been specially fostered and
sustained by the Rev. Mr. Hurley, of St. Augustine's,
and by the aid of a generous layman, Mr. Cornelius
Thiers. In 18 14 the Sisters came; it was the first
colony sent out from the rising institution at Emmitsburg.
But the good Bishop did not live to welcome them to his
episcopal city.
Enfeebled by the trials of his position, his health,
never very robust, gradually gave way, and he expired
July 22, 1 8 14, an exemplary minister of religion, a de
voted Bishop, and saintly man of God.

RIGHT REV. JOHN CONNELLY, D.D.
Second Bishop of New York, A. D. 1814.*
Bishop Connelly was born at Drogheda, Ireland, in
1750. After receiving all the education which Catholics
could then obtain in his native country, he went to Bel
gium, and completed his studies there. At an early age
he embraced the ecclesiastical state and joined the Order
of St. Dominic. From Belgium he proceeded to Rome,
being then quite young, and entered the Dominican Con
vent of St. Clement's. In this and other convents of
his Order he spent the greater portion of his life, dis
charging the duties of various offices with energy, and
filling several professor's chairs with distinguished ability.
He too, like his predecessor Dr. Concanen, was agent
at Rome for the Bishops of Ireland, and after the death
of Dr. Concanen, was elected Prior of St. Clement's.
His great learning gained him the admiration, while his
mildness and gentleness of heart won the affections of
all. His pupils long cherished his memory. Many of
them became distinguished in the church. The Cardinal
Bishop of Albano selected him, on account of his learn
ing, to examine the candidates for the holy ministry.
His capacity for business is recorded in the fact that
while he was Prior of St. Clement's, at Rome, that city
being in possession of the French troops, and all the
religious houses being reduced to great straits, he con
ducted the affairs of his convent with such prudent care
* Authorities: Bishop Bayley's Catholic Church in N. Y.; De Courcy and Shea's
Catholic Church in the U. S.; Catholic Miscellanies, Vols. 3 and 4 ; etc., etc.

Right Rev. John Connelly, D.D. 193
and exactness that he brought it safely and successfully
through that trying ordeal.
On the return of Pius VII. to Rome in 18 14, one of
his earliest acts was to appoint a successor to Bishop
Concanen, and the choice fell upon his successor in the
Priory of St. Clement's, Dr. John Connelly. The latter,
then about seventy years old, did not shrink from a task
which would have startled even a younger man than
himself. He was appointed Bishop of New York in the
autumn of 18 14, and was consecrated at Rome Novem
ber 6, in that year. Having completed his preparations,
he departed from the quiet and happy cloisters of St.
Clement's, and abandoned the congenial pursuits of a
lifetime in the Eternal City for the arduous field to
which he was called in the New World. He visited his
native country on the way, and exchanged a final fare
well with all his kindred; for it is said that "he resolved
on no consideration to have about or near him a single
relative" in the administration of his diocese. Another
object which he had in view in visiting Ireland was to
obtain priests for his flock, and he succeeded in obtain
ing from Kilkenny College the Rev. Michael O'Gorman,
whom he ordained and brought with him to New York,
where his labors and services proved so valuable to re
ligion. His voyage from Dublin to New York was a
protracted one, lasting sixty-seven days, the weather
proving stormy and the passage painful and dangerous.
A rumor prevailed at New York that he had been lost
at sea, and the young diocese, so recently bereaved by
the loss of its first Bishop, was now alarmed for the
safety of his successor. The venerable Prelate was
spared to his flock, and lived to labor yet several years
for the American Church.
13

194 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
The diocese of New York, when Bishop Connelly
took charge of it, embraced the entire State of New
York and part of New Jersey, covering the territories
of what are now six dioceses. The Catholic population,
scattered over this extensive country, was estimated at
thirteen thousand, and was attended by only four priests,
three of whom were Jesuits, and one a secular. The
diocese possessed three churches, two at New York and
one '"at Albany. Of the Jesuit Fathers, two, Fathers
Kohlman and Fenwick, were not long afterwards called
to other duties by their superiors ; and Mr. Carbery, the
only secular priest, repaired to Norfolk, Virginia; so
that the aged and venerable Father Malou alone re
mained of the former priests of the diocese. The Bishop
sent Father O'Gorman to Albany, and remaining at New
York himself, he was both Bishop and priest; perform
ing at his advanced age the active and laborious duties
of a missionary. He was untiring in his ministry at the
altar, in the confessional, and at the bed of sickness and
death. His residence and mode of living were simple,
even humble ; and his zeal for the conversion of sinners
and unbelievers and for the salvation of souls was unre
mitting. His people at that day were not of the wealthy
or fashionable circles of New York ; they were chiefly
emigrants from his own country, or the children of emi
grants, and were earnestly and honestly engaged in
struggling towards that position of prosperity, influence,
and usefulness, which they and their descendants are
now enjoying. The Bishop's labors, therefore, were un
observed and unappreciated by the mass of the city's
population ; but they were not only observed and re
corded in heaven, but there were those on earth who
saw and admired. There are now living eye-witnesses

Right Rev. John Connelly, D.D. 195
of his saintly life, his labors far beyond his years and
strength, and of his sacrifices and trials. Fortunately,
one of these has given us a description of this venera
ble Prelate, as he appeared officiating amongst his own
people, on the occasion of his consecrating the cemetery
of St. Patrick's Cathedral, in August, 1824; the acquisi
tion and dedication of which to the burial of the dead
had been one of the great efforts of the Bishop's epis
copate, and one which he lived to see crowned with suc
cess. " At half-past ten o'clock," says the writer alluded
to,* "the Right Rev. Bishop Connelly, attended by the
Rev. Mr. O'Gorman and the Rev. Mr. Shanahan,
proceeded to consecrate the charitable spot. A great
concourse of people had assembled to witness its per
formance, and all was solemn and serious and impres
sive. Never did hearts appear to be in holier unison
than those congregated so specially on this occasion.
The souls of the living seemed in brotherhood with the
dead, and to be sanctified into a silence as profound as
it was appropriate. It was a solemn scene: — the living
were preparing an earthly tenement for the dead. The
good and the devout were directing their every thought
to the moment when death, with its congelating touch,
should fasten forever the flowing current of life, — to that
seriously awful moment when the human soul, divesting
itself of the thraldom of this sinful world, would plume
its wings and soar proudly to the blissfulness of a better
— to a world where sorrow and misery find a solace, and
where virtue alone is eternally rewarded. Never did
any mortal appear to us in sO dignified a light as did the
venerable Bishop.
* Charleston Catholic Miscellany, 1824.

196 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
" ' There seem'd he to that solemn crowd
An angel stooping from his cloud,
To medicate with sweet control
The troubles of the poor man's soul.'
"It was neither the mitre nor the crosier that, arrested
our attention, for our thoughts were directed to the be
ing whom they graced. Like the herald of Christianity,
he seemed to stand with awe and reverence on the very
confines of time, preparing a pathway for mortals to a
glorious eternity. His look was piety, his glance was
comfort, his expression was love. Charity glistened in
his aged eye, and benevolence played around his vener
able aspect."
In order to cofnplete the history of the consecration
of St. Patrick's Cemetery, one of the works of Bishop
Connelly with which the most sacred affections of many
of the Catholic families of New York are associated,
we will give the remainder of the account : — -"Imme
diately after the consecration, a charity sermon was
preached by the Rev. Mr. O'Gorman, and a collection
made to pay the purchase-money of the ground. There
was also at Vespers a similar sermon preached in Irish
by the gentleman, for the same purpose. We are sorry
we are not able to give the outline of Mr. O' Gorman's
discourses ; they would certainly be read with the deep
est interest and pleasure. His appeal to Christian feel
ing Was pathetically grand ; and we are happy to say it
was not without effect. His language was clear and
radiant as the sunbeam. He had not been wading
through the foliage of a thousand groves, nor collecting
the beauties of innumerable parterres, to find petty em
bellishments to bewilder his hearers, without engaging
their sympathies or awakening their thought. He

Right Rev. John Connelly, D.D. 197
sounded the human heart, — he vibrated its tenderest
chord — and (blessed, blessed reflection ! ) now the poor
man has a. grave.
"The collectors, who were distinguished by a white
cross on their arms, appeared particularly active in the
performance of their duty. They were well selected, and
they have done themselves credit. We understand that
the collection amounted to about $450, and that dona
tions to have been subsequently received are daily com
ing in."
Bishop Connelly may be said to have confided the
whole northern portion of his mission to Mr. O'Gorman,
who earnestly labored among the scattered Catholics of
that region, extending his visits to Carthage, where a
church was soon erected amidst a Catholic population.
The Bishop, in addition to his episcopal duties, took upon
himself the missionary duties of the southern portion of
the extended diocese, in which he was zealously aided by
Father Shanahan. One of his first efforts was to secure
good priests to be stationed at convenient intervals in
this vast field. In his efforts to accomplish this he met
with serious obstacles and severe trials from the system
of trusteeism which he found prevalent in New York on
his arrival. The churches were in the possession of
trustees, who assumed not only the management and
control of the temporalities, but also the selection of their
own pastors. Ignorant, or regardless, of the Constitu
tion of the Church, they regarded the employment of a
pastor as belonging to those who had to provide for the
payment of his salary, and they selected their pastor
with reference to his eloquence and graceful accomplish
ments, and raised or diminished the salary in proportion ;
as if God had commissioned his ministers and endowed

198 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
them with the most sacred functions to please and flatter
mankind, rather than to teach, direct, and reform them
in all things relating to their salvation. Thus we
find that the trustees of the Church at Albany de
sired the services of the Rev. Mr. Corr, of Mary's Lane
Chapel, and offered to fix his salary at eight hundred
dollars, a large sum in those days ; some of the trustees
of St. Peter's, in New York, wanted to engage as their
pastor Father William V. Harold, of St. Thomas' Col
lege, near Dublin, offering to pay his passage and settle
his salary on his arrival ; while others of them proposed
to call to their pulpit the Rev. Messrs. England and Tay
lor, of Cloyne, Ireland. The Bishop was so circum
stanced as not to be able to resist or attempt the aboli
tion of trusteeism at once. Yielding partially to the
system which he found in existence, he allowed himself
in some instances to be made the medium of conveying
these proposals of the trustees to the parties named ;
hoping thereby to avoid a breach, and in some measure
to control or influence the selections, and thereby secure
efficient priests, reserving the question at issue for a
more favorable time. This course proved a serious
affliction to the good Bishop, in one instance particularly,
for we find that one of the priests thus invited by the
trustees, in 18 18, soon began to enlarge upon the en
croachments already indulged in by the trustees. This
person was a good preacher, a popular and ambitious
man, and was not reserved in conveying to others his
view that the Bishop, though a good man, was incompe
tent, and he went so far as to compass the recall of the
Bishop and the appointment of himself in his stead; and
succeeded in enlisting a party of the laity and some
even of the clergy on his side. He went to Rome for

Right Rev. John Connelly, D.D. 199
this purpose ; but failing in his mission, he returned to
New York, was not received by the Bishop, and then at
tached himself to another diocese.
Bishop Connelly was constant in his own efforts to
procure priests of known and approved character and
fitness for the mission, and in securing candidates for
the holy ministry in his diocese. Of the former he se
cured the services, in 18 17 and 18 18, of Rev. Arthur
Langdill and Father Charles D. Ffrench, to both of
whom he gave full faculties. He gathered together sev
eral young aspirants to the sacred ministry, who, under
his training, became zealous and devoted priests. The
priests he ordained during his administration were as
follows : — Rev. Michael O'Gorman, in 1815 ; Rev. Rich
ard Bulger, in 1820; Rev. Patrick Kelly, in 182 1 ; Rev.
Charles Brennan, in 1822 ; Rev. John Shanahan, in 1823 ;
and. Rev. John Conroy, in 1825. He had also- the con
solation of witnessing several conversions to the Church
during his time, and amongst these, that of the Rev. Mr.
Kewley, Rector of the Episcopal Church of St. George,
New York City, in 1816; and those of Mr. Keating
Lawson and Miss Eldridge, both of Lansingburg, whom
he received into the Church at Albany, in 18 19. Dur
ing the year 1823, Bishop Connelly made the visita
tion of his entire diocese, accomplishing great benefits for
his flock, and reaping an abundant harvest of good works
and religious consolation to himself. He extended his
journey along the route of the Erie Canal, which was
commenced in 18 19, where large numbers of Irish labor
ers had been attracted, and amongst whom the Bishop
labored with indefatigable zeal. Leaving the central
part of the State, he proceeded westward, and was hos
pitably received and entertained by Dominic Lynch,

200 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Esq., at Rome, and by John C. Devereux, Esq., at
Utica. "in both of whom the Church found zealous and
able supporters."* Bishop Connelly erected several new
churches during his episcopate, including St. John's at
Utica, and St. Patrick's at Rochester. Bishop Dubourg,
himself noted for his great energy and labors, in 1823
declared it a great evidence of the progress of religion
in the diocese of New York that it then had its Bishop
and eight priests. And Archbishop Hughes used to
speak of the progress of the Church under Bishop Con
nelly as wonderful for the means within his reach, and
with the difficulties under which he struggled.
Among Bishop Connelly's works was the founding of
the Orphan Asylum in the city of New York, and the
introduction of the Sisters of Charity into the diocese.
The Asylum was incorporated in 1 8 1 7, under the title of
the " New York Catholic Benevolent Society." The
Sisters were applied for by Bishop Connelly and readily
granted by Dr. Dubois, their ecclesiastical superior, and
by Mother Seton, and the little colony, consisting of
Sisters Rose White, Cecilia O' Conway, and Felicitas
Brady, arrived in the city June 20, 181 7, and com
menced, iri an humble way, the founding of an institution
destined to become one of the finest asylums in the
world, and the introduction of a Sisterhood of Charity,
whose members have become in our day the ministering
angels of many asylums, hospitals, and institutions of
education. The small wooden building, erected in
Prince Street in 1825, and which sufficed barely for the
three Sisters and five Orphans first committed to their
care, has long since disappeared from sight, and we can
now view with Christian exultation the many magnificent
* The Catholic Church in the United States, by De Courcy and Shea.

Right Rev. John Connelly, D.D. 201
institutions in what was then Bishop Connelly's diocese
that trace back their origin to that humble temple of
charity provided by that good Prelate.
In December, 181 7, Bishop Connelly visited Philadel
phia on his way to Baltimore to attend the consecration
of Archbishop Mare'chal, in which he was one of the as
sistant consecrators. During his short stay he received
many civilities from the Catholics of Baltimore and
Philadelphia. Bishop Connelly, while oppressed with the cares and
labors of his own vast diocese, took an active and lively
interest in the progress and extension of the Church
throughout the United States. The appointments for va
cant sees, in relation to which the Prelates of the coun
try interchanged views, both with each other and with
Rome, occupied a portion of his attention, as his journal
and correspondence prove; and he entertained the
most enlightened views, and presented to his colleagues
here and the Propaganda at Rome admirable sugges
tions for the extension of the Church in America. It
was his view and recommendation that each State of
the Union, in which the Catholics would be willing to
build a Cathedral and petition for a Bishop, should be
erected then into an Episcopal See, considering, as he
did, the dioceses quite too extensive. In November,
18 18, he wrote to Cardinal Litta, repeating what he had
already recommended to Archbishop Marechal, that each
of the States should have its own Bishop, "as the best
means for steadily propagating religion in them." In this
letter he stated, " that the two Carolinas, with Georgia
and the Mississippi Territory, will, in less than twenty
years hence, require eight Bishops, as they form an im
mense space. That, therefore, it would be better to

202 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
erect Charleston with South Carolina only into a bish
opric, and to give the Bishop powers of administration
only over the rest, during the pleasure of the Holy
See." Bishop Connelly's charity and benevolence were very
great, and no one was too humble or too poor to be re
ceived and kindly treated. During the years. 1822 and
'23, when the yellow fever and other diseases prevailed
in the City of New York, his efforts to relieve the af
flicted were untiring. His personal fatigues in those days
of public distress greatly exhausted his feeble strength
and impaired his health. His charity was not confined
to class or creed. To our separated brethren he was
ever kind and gentle ; desirous as he was for their edi
fication and conversion to the true faith. He regarded
charity, no less than preaching, a great means of con
verting unbelievers. He was upon terms of friendship
with Bishop Hobart, the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of
New York, of whose conversion to the Catholic Church
strong hopes were entertained, and when that gentle
man visited Rome, Bishop Connelly supplied him with
letters of introduction.
The Cathedral in the time of Bishop Connelly was fifty-
three thousand dollars in debt, the annual interest on
which he found a heavy burden to bear, with his poverty
and the innumerable demands upon him. This burden
stood in the way of one of his cherished purposes, the
founding of an Ecclesiastical Seminary in order to win
American youths to the holy ministry, to which, he re
marked, that they discovered an " almost invincible re
pugnance." The same cause greatly retarded his ef
forts to build new churches. He therefore, in 1824,
called the people together, and, with the aid of Rev. Mr.

Right Rev. John Connelly, D.D. 203
O'Gorman's eloquent appeals, formed a Society for the
payment of the Cathedral debt, himself being made
Treasurer of the Society. Collectors were appointed to
solicit aid from their fellow-citizens generally, without re
gard to creed, and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed in
behalf of this excellent effort. Had the Bishop's years
been longer, and his health and strength greater, his
energy would have carried him through this noble un
dertaking. It is gratifying to recall now the filial and
devoted sentiments of the Catholics of New York then
expressed towards their good Bishop, in the resolutions
adopted in their meeting of Sunday, October 17, 1824,
one of which resolutions is as follows : —
" 5th. Resolved, That the Right Rev. Dr. Connelly,
our beloved Bishop, who most justly possesses the con
fidence of all, and whose wisdom, piety, and zeal have ex
cited the admiration of our fellow-citizens — whose con
duct, manners, and example recall to our minds what
we have read of primitive simplicity in the history of the
Apostles of the earlier ages, be and is hereby appointed
our General Treasurer," &c.
In November, 1824, Bishop Connelly sustained a se
vere bereavement in the deaths of his two co-laborers and
friends, the Rev. Messrs. O'Gorman and Bulger, who
died at the Bishop's house in Broadway, within eight
days of each other. The Bishop's health was now worn
out with his labors and trials — he had certainly fought
the good fight — his good works had accumulated in the
treasury of Heaven, and there his reward was awaiting
him. On his return from Mr. O'Gorman's funeral the
Bishop was taken ill ; he did not relax his labors, how
ever, but continued them — now increased by the death of
Mr. O'Gorman — with his usual energy, though he felt

204 Lives of the Catholic Bishops: -
conscious of his failing strength. He lingered almost
through the winter, always, however, at his post, and
with joy at his increased duties and the sufferings he en
dured. He officiated within a week of his death. Fi
nally, on Sexagesima Sunday, February 6, 1825, attended
by Father Shanahan, he expired, at seven o'clock in the
evening. His remains lay in state in the central aisle of
St. Peter's, in Barclay street, for two days, and were
reverently visited by thirty thousand persons. He
was solemnly and appropriately buried on the 9th, fol
lowed by an immense procession of clergy and laity from
St. Peter's to the Cathedral, near whose altar his re
mains repose. The New York Gazette of February 10,
1825, concludes its notice of the funeral with the re
mark that it " reflects much credit on the Catholics of
our city."

MOST REV. WILLIAM LOUIS DUBOURG, D.D.
First Bishop of New Orleans, afterwards Bishop of Montauban and
Archbishop of Besangon, A.D. 1815.*
Among the earliest of our Prelates Bishop Dubourg
was also among the foremost. Gifted with fine abilities,
which were improved by a thorough education, with a
holy zeal, and with extraordinary energy, his life was
one of great activity and full of enterprise for the cause of
religion. The active part he took in the first organiza
tion of the Sisters of Charity in this country, and of the
Society for the Propagation of the Faith, are prominent
among many claims he has upon our gratitude and vene
ration. After having spent his manhood and his health in
assisting to lay the enduring foundations of the Church in
the United States, he spent the remainder of his life in
posts of high honor and usefulness in France, and was
held in great esteem and affection in both countries.
He was born at Cape Frangois, in the island of St.
Domingo, February 14, 1766. At an early age he was
sent to France for his education, and his after-life bears
ample testimony to the thorough manner in which he
availed himself of the superior educational and religious
advantages presented by that country before the Revolu
tion had swept over its fair domains, carrying blight and
ruin in its course. The native piety of his soul here
ripened into the resolution of devoting himself wholly to
the service of God in the holy ministry, and with this
* Authorities: Catholic Almanac, 1839; Annals of the Propagation of the
Faith; Life of Father De Andreis ; The Metropolitan, &c, &c.

206 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
view he entered the Seminary of St. Sulpice. In this in
stitution he enjoyed the society and direction of the Rev.
Mr. Nagot, who afterwards introduced the Order of St.
Sulpice into this country, and was its first superior at Bal
timore, in 1 79 1. The young Dubourg profited well by
the teachings of such an enlightened and pious guide,
and Mr. Nagot was not long in discovering the merits of
his pupil. He was selected by him to be placed in
charge of a new institution commenced by the Sulpitians
at Issy, near Paris, having for its object the education
of young aspirants to the priesthood by a thorough
course of preparation for their theological studies.
While superintendent of the ecclesiastical nursery at
Issy, Mr. Dubourg was also preparing himself for gradu
ation at the celebrated University of the Sorbonne, but
scarcely had the institution^ at Issy commenced when its
inmates were scattered by the French Revolution, and
Mr. Dubourg, flying from persecution, took shelter in his
own family at Bordeaux. Even the retirement of the
family circle was no protection for ecclesiastics in those
days of terror in France. The system of spies and dom
iciliary visits adopted by the revolutionists, and the cruel
punishment of death or banishment inflicted both upon
the concealed and their harborers, allowed few to escape,
and Mr. Dubourg fled before the storm. He went first
to Spain, and shortly afterwards, sailing for America, ar
rived at Baltimore in December, 1794. Bishop Carroll
received him with joy, as one of the many co-laborers sent
by Providence to cultivate the vineyard of the Church in
the United States. He was deeply impressed with the
virtues and exalted character of the priests of St. Sulpice,
and to his joy he found this venerable Order, es
tablished at Baltimore, and his old friend, Mr. Nagot, its

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 207
superior. He applied to Mr. Emery, Superior General
of the society, for admission into the Order ; was
cordially received, and in 1795 he became a priest of the
Order of St. Sulpice. In the following year he was sent
by Bishop Carroll to Georgetown College, to succeed the
Rev. Mr. Molyneux as president of that institution ; an
office which he filled with great advantage to the College
for nearly three years.
The Sulpitians were at this time endeavoring to estab
lish a college at Havana, and the Rev. Messrs. Flaget
and Babade were there then on that business. In 1798
Mr. Dubourg joined these gentlemen in their good work.
Their generous efforts to confer a lasting blessing upon
that city and island, though commenced under favorable
circumstances, met with opposition from a narrow-minded
national and political policy. Mr. Dubourg and Mr.
Babade returned to Baltimore in August, 1799. During
their stay at Havana, however, these gentlemen won the
confidence and esteem of many of the more enlightened
and more truly Catholic inhabitants of Cuba, who,
appreciating the benefits of the education imparted by
these learned and pious men, sent their children with
Messrs. Dubourg and Babade to Baltimore, in order
that their education might be continued. The school
thus opened at Baltimore soon received so many students
from the West Indies, that the temporary buildings used
before the erection of St. Mary's College could scarcely
accommodate them. Mr. Dubourg was again in Ha
vana in 1802, in the interests of his institution. He
there discovered that the Spanish government had be
come uneasy in consequence of so many of the sons of
the Cuban planters going to be educated under repub
lican influences at Baltimore, and that measures were to

208 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
be taken to prevent a continuation of the supposed evil.
He retired thereupon to New Orleans, and undertook
there the establishment of his long-contemplated and
cherished academy. Foiled here by unexpected opposi
tion, he again returned to Baltimore. In 1803 the
Spanish government sent a national frigate to the
United States, ordering the return of all its subjects to
their own country. This last blow to the school, whose
existence and progress he had so much at heart, de
stroyed his last hope of success, and he seriously began
to look back upon France as the future field of bis labors
in the cause of education. Here, too, he met with dis
appointment, for the distracted state of that country was
wholly unfavorable to his designs, and now, after mature
deliberation, he resolved to adhere to his first plan of
an academy at Baltimore. He now devoted all his
energies and labors to the work; his perseverance in
this noble undertaking affords us an admirable example
of the power of a strong will, guided by religious motives
and heavenly grace. Heretofore St. Mary's School was
resorted to almost alone by foreigners, while George
town College was regarded as affording ample accommo
dations for the youths of the country. Under the presi
dency of Mr. Dubourg the institution grew in numbers
and efficiency, and was finally united as a collegiate de
partment to the Sulpitian Ecclesiastical Seminary of St
Mary's. In 1804 St. Mary's College had become a
flourishing establishment, numbering among its students,
besides those from the West Indies, Peru, Brazil, and
Mexico, representatives from the various States of the
Union. In 1806, the College was raised by act of the
Maryland Legislature to the rank of university. The
buildings increased with the number of students, and

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 209
finally St. Mary's College became prominent among the
seats of learning in the United States, and sent forth
her students to adorn all the walks of life. " How could
the result have been different," asks Bishop Dubourg's
biographer,* "when we consider the tact and untiring
zeal of its illustrious founder ? To promote the educa
tion of youth was his particular talent. His happy man
ner in winning their affection, in conciliating the confi
dence of their parents, in securing the co-operation of
those who were worthy of the public favor, together
with the general wisdom of his administration, could not
fail to insure the success of the undertaking, and to place
it, as the event has proved, on a solid and permanent
basis." Its subsequent career of usefulness, until suc
ceeded by Loyola College, is well known and appre
ciated. In 1697 the western part of Mr. Dubourg's native
island was ceded by Spain to France, and in 1795 the
whole became united under the crown of France. The
subsequent rising of the negro population of St. Domingo
under their leaders, Toussaint l'Ouverture,f Dessalines,
and Christophe, against the French, and the massacre
and expulsion of the latter, are well known. The fugi
tive French were accompanied in their flight by many of
their faithful servants, and numbers of both found refuge
on our hospitable shore. Adversity became a blessing
to many of these, who had been indifferent Christians
before, but who now had their hearts opened to grace
and religion. The many acts of Christian heroism and
* Catholic Almanac, 1839.
\ Before joining in the insurrection, Toussaint l'Ouverture protected the flight of
the family whose coachman he was, and enabled them and many other Creoles to
reach Baltimore.

210 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
self-sacrificing devotion related of these unfortunate
people are truly admirable. Baltimore received her
share of these afflicted fugitives, and extended a generous
welcome to them. Mr. Dubourg, himself a native of St.
Domingo, felt the warmest sympathy for his scattered
countrymen, and, though greatly occupied with his cares
and duties at St. Mary's College, he devoted himself to
their relief. Homeless and penniless, they were provided
with shelter and support,and their spiritual wants especially
received from him the most generous and heroic atten
tion. To the more humble and afflicted colored people
he especially devoted himself, and, with the aid of Rev.
John Tessier, who had been Superior of St. Mary's
Seminary, he gathered them together in a congregation,
and assembled them regularly for divine service in the
lower chapel of St. Mary's. Subsequently confided to
the care of the Rev. Mr. Joubert, this congregation
afterwards became the origin of his religious association,
so well known at Baltimore under the name of Oblates,
or Sisters of Providence.
Nor was Mr. Dubourg's zeal for religion confined to
such extraordinary emergencies as the above. Wherever
he saw an opportunity of promoting piety and encour
aging good works, he was ever prompt to embrace it.
He brought the male members of the Catholic commu
nity together, and formed them into a society having for
its object the practice of their religious duties, the per
formance of works of charity, and the spiritual and tem
poral care and protection of the members in sickness
and death. Gentlemen of every rank in life were mem
bers of this society, which is said for many years to have
been a wonderful promotive of Catholic piety, charity,
and union among the Catholics of Baltimore. Its place,

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 211
in more recent times, has been supplied by the Young
Catholic's Friend Society, and by the Conferences of the
Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
His zeal for religion, and his energy in promoting it,
were as far-seeing and provident as they were enthusi
astic. It is to his enterprising spirit that the Catholics
of Baltimore are chiefly indebted for the eligible and no
ble site of their cathedral. Bishop Carroll was then en
gaged in preparing to erect a more spacious church to
accommodate the growing congregation of Baltimore, on
the site of the old Cathedral of St. Peter's. Father
Dubourg called on the Bishop, and urged him in the
most earnest manner to provide a more suitable site for
the new cathedral, and pointed out the summit of the hill
for that object. Bishop Carroll's plans for building on
the old site were already matured, and all the prepara
tions made for their execution. The price of the new
site proposed would exhaust the twenty-eight thousand
dollars then in hand for the building, and would leave him
without the means of erecting the edifice. Mr. Dubourg
urged his views notwithstanding these difficulties, and
the good Bishop, after much hesitation, and with his ac
customed good judgment and ready skill in using oppor
tunities presented to him, yielded so far as to consent to
the new site, provided the means already in hand could
be saved for the building. He accordingly asked Mr.
Dubourg if he could raise the necessary means for pur
chasing the ground on the hill, to which that zealous
priest immediately assented. Mr. Dubourg went to
work, promising the Bishop to return at the end of a
week and report his success. He returned at the end
of the week and reported that he had collected ten
thousand dollars from the poorer classes of the people,

212 Lives of. the Catholic Bishops.
and suggested that a few words of : exhortation, ad
dressed to the more wealthy by the Bishop, would not
fail to secure the residue. ..The Bishop made the appeal
the following day, and thirteen thousand dollars were
thus added to the collections of Mr. Dubourg. The
generous owner of the ground reduced his price from
twenty-eight to twenty-three thousand dollars, and the
purchase was effected.
The promotion of piety among the people, as we have
seen, was one of Mr. Dubourg's favorite objects. For
this purpose he was fond of encouraging religious pro
cessions, and particularly the processions of the Blessed
Sacrament, which for several years, under his auspices,
were gotten up and conducted with great ceremony and
edification in the extensive grounds of St. Mary's Semi
nary and at St. Patrick's Church.- He also organized,
after the manner of Mr. Frayssinous in France, a series
of conferences on the doctrines of the Catholic Church,
the proofs of Christianity, and. the rules for the investi
gation of religious truth. They, were attended by per
sons of every complexion of creed, and were designed
to remove prejudice from the minds of Protestants, and
to strengthen the faith of Catholics. They were first
commenced, in the form of dialogues, but afterwards
were converted into discourses, and are said to have
been productive of great good.
The part he took in the origin of the Sisters of Charity
in this country has rendered the name of Dubourg dear
to our people and Church ; for lie was the first to suggest
to the illustrious Mother Seton, when she was thinking
of going abroad to join some religious Order, the expe
diency of making her native land the field of her zeal
and labors. These two eminent persons saw each

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 213
other for the first time at the communion table of St.
Peter's Church,' in New York: the priest at the altar
was moved by the generous flow of tears with which a
lady dressed in black, and unknown to him, received the
Holy Sacrament from his hands-; his heart told him it
was Mrs. Seton, and it was not long after Mass before
that lady was kneeling at his feet to receive his blessing.
He learned from her the plan of going with her children
to Canada and joining there a religious house. " Mr.
Dubourg," writes the author of Mother Seton's Life,*
" who was a man of enlarged views and remarkable en
terprise, no sooner became acquainted with the desig/.
which she entertained of retiring at some future period
into a religious community, for the welfare of herself
and her children, than he suggested the practicability
of the same plan within the United States." While she
consulted Bishop Carroll, he was consulting Messrs.
Cheverus and Matignon, of Boston, on this suggestion ;
all approved, and it thenceforth became her chief study
how to carry into effect the recommendation of Mr. Du
bourg. Following up suggestion with prompt action,
Mr. Dubourg, at this critical period of Mother Seton's
life, invited her to come to Baltimore, where the College
over which he presided had some vacant lots, and com
mence her work. "Mr. Dubourg," to use the words of
Mother Seton, '¦' interesting himself for us, as he does
for even the least of God's creatures, to whom he may
be useful, said decidedly, ' Come to us, Mrs. SetOn ; we
will assist you in forming a plan of life, which, while it
will forward your views of contributing to the support of
your children, will also shelter them from the dangers to
which they are exposed among their Protestant connec-
* Life of Mrs. Seton, by Rev. C. I. White, D.D.

214 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
tions, and also afford you more consolation in the exer
cise of your faith than you have yet enjoyed. We also
wish to form a small school for the promotion of religious
instruction for such children, whose parents are inter
ested in that point.' You may be sure I objected only
for want of talents ; to which he replied, ' We want ex
ample more than talents.' " This plan was also approved
by Mother Seton's advisers, and henceforth the matter
seemed to engross the whole attentiori of Mr. Dubourg.
He made all the preparations for her accommodation in
Baltimore, and his letters to her at this time unfold all
the plans he had formed, and show how earnest an in
strument he was in working out the designs of Provi
dence. His letter to her on the eve of her departure
from New York to Baltimore, after detailing his views,
concludes with these words, so creditable to his generous
heart: — " My sister is eager to lock you in her arms, and
to form with you a connection, which even death will
never dissolve. My little niece has written to her mam
ma, in the effusion of her joy at the approach of a new
mamma, and a new family of Sisters. She shares (and
it is not saying little) in all the sentiments of veneration
and affectionate regard for you. which glow in the breast
of your ever devoted friend." It is not necessary to re
late in detail the welcome he extended to his protegees ;
how he received Mother Seton's two sons into St.
Mary's College ; how he, directed and watched over the
little community thus formed like a tender father ; and
how his very soul seemed to revel in holy delight at its
progress and development. In 1809 Mother Seton's
little family was, under the advice of Mr. Dubourg,
formed into a religious community, and when, on the
feast of Corpus Christi of that year, they appeared for

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 215
the first time in St. Mary's Chapel, in the new religious
habit, amidst the general delight felt at this auspicious
event, we are told that " Mr. Dubourg in particular was
in raptures at the spectacle presented by this little band
of devoted Sisters, which had been formed under his
wise superintendence, and was to be the germ of so
much good to religion and society." He was appointed
by Archbishop Carroll the Ecclesiastical Superior of the
new community, a position due to his eminent services
in its foundation. Though preferring Baltimore as their
permanent location, he generously co-operated in the
plan that led to the adoption of Emmittsburg, whither
he went in person to select and purchase the land for
them, and where, when his cherished Sisters were re
moved thither, he was equally their friend and father.
So much was this the case, that Mother Seton, in a letter
she wrote from Emmittsburg in December, 181 1, says:
"The Rev. Mr. Dubourg has exerted himself continually
for us, and bestowed all he could personally give."
When he left Baltimore finally for other fields of useful
ness and labor, the community of St. Joseph's was firmly
established, and he never failed to feel a lively interest
in it, and, when Bishop of New Orleans, to visit it when
ever he was in that section of the country.
Mr. Dubourg was also, during his residence in Balti
more, a brave and zealous champion of his Faith and
Church ; never permitting any attacks upon either to go
unanswered. On one occasion he requested the editor,
of a paper, in which had been inserted an attack upon
Catholic doctrines, to publish his reply : the editor at
first ungenerously refused, and only yielded when Mr.
Dubourg informed him that the reply would be published
in another paper of Baltimore, with a statement that the

216 Lives of the Catholic Bishops*
editor who had published one side, had refused to the other
side the privilege of replying in the same paper that had
published the attack. On another occasion he entered
into the arena of controversy with the clerical members
of the Presbyterian Synod of Baltimore, who, chagrined
at the advancement of St. Mary's College, had publicly
attacked that institution and the faith it professed. Mr.
Dubourg's vindication of his institution and of the Cath
olics at large was an able and spirited paper; it was
followed by a reply from the Presbyterians, entitled the
" Pastoral Letter," and Mr. Dubourg's rejoinder, " The
Sons of St. Dominic," closed the controversy. The
necessity for his thus appearing in public print suggest
ed to him the expediency of commencing the publica
tion of a Catholic paper at Baltimore, a plan, however,
which was interrupted by his departure for New Orleans.
The diocese of New Orleans embraced, besides the
present archdiocese, the territory now covered by the
dioceses of Natchitoches, Natchez, . Little Rock, and St.
Louis. The See had been vacant since 1801, when its
first Bishop was translated to another See ; the second
Bishop died at Rome in 1802, before coming to this
country. In 1804, Louisiana, embracing the whole terri
tory northwest of the Mississippi, was ceded by France
to the United States, and some time afterward this vast
region was placed under the jurisdiction of Bishop Car
roll. The Rev. Thomas Hasset, who was Vicar- Gener
al from the departure of the first Bishop of New Or
leans, died in 1804, leaving the diocese without a head.
Bishop Carroll had long been anxious to have a Bishop
appointed for New Orleans, and had successively nomi
nated the Rev. Mr. David arid. Rev. Mr. Nerrinckx to that
See, but both these had, from delicacy of conscience,

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 217
resolutely declined the proffered honor. The negotia
tions with the Holy See, in reference to filling the See
of New Orleans, consumed much valuable time, during
which the interests of religion had unavoidably suffered.
In 181 2 Bishop Carroll appointed, by virtue of Apostoli
cal Briefs, the Rev. Mr. Dubourg Administrator Apos
tolic of that diocese. The bulls for his appointment as
Bishop were delayed in consequence of the restraints
placed upon Pope Pius VIL, and the refusal of that
Pontiff to issue any more bulls until he could consult
freely with his natural counsellors, the Cardinals. Urged
by Bishop Carroll to accept the appointment of Adminis
trator, and to proceed at once to the suffering flock, Mr.
Dubourg complied with the wishes of his venerable su
perior, and started for New Orleans, where he arrived
towards the close of the year 1812. He entered promptly
and vigorously upon the responsible and arduous duties
of his office. The state of religion in the Southwest at
this time, and the difficulties which the new Administra
tor encountered, are well portrayed by his. biographer in
the following passage : " Religion was in a most deplo
rable condition, but a few clergymen distributed over its
vast territory, scarcely a church in which the faithful could
assemble to hear the words of eternal life ; no institution
that offered an asylum to the innocent and penitent heart ;
no seminary of learning to dispense the blessings of
classical and religious instruction ; the. child reared in ig
norance and the forgetfulness of duty,. the adult debar
red from a participation of the Sacraments; allclasses of
society living in a woful indifference upon the subject of
their eternal welfare ; such was the scene of desolation
he was compelled to witness. If we add to this the op
position he met with on the part of those whose interests

218 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
he had identified with his own, whose happiriess was the
only object of his sighs and fervent prayers to heaven ; if
we advert to the insulting treatment that so often respond
ed to his apostolic and undaunted zeal, what a combina
tion of causes to shake his constancy and afflict his bene
volent heart ! But he had a soul that had learned to soar
above all the difficulties and embarrassments of life ;
and with confidence in Him, who had sent him to culti
vate this wild and unproductive field, he entered with
courage upon the laborious task, devoting himself with
out reserve to the welfare of the flock committed to his
charge."* Dr. Dubourg, though of foreign birth, was one of
those who thoroughly identified himself with the country
of his adoption. The commencement of his career in
New Orleans was in the midst of a war that greatly ex
cited the whole community, for it was brought to the
very doors of the people, who were compelled to defend
their firesides against foreign invasion. No one more sin
cerely sympathized with the brave people with whom
his lot was cast than he. He animated their patriotism,
encouraged their bravery, and directed their minds and
hearts to the throne of the God of battles. When the
British troops were on the eve of advancing on the city
of New Orleans, and the din of arms resounded on
every side, he was among the first to share in the trials
and support the hopes of the citizens. His chief reliance
was on the " Supreme Arbiter of human destinies," and
he summoned his flock to public and solemn prayer, that
they might humble themselves in the presence of the
Almighty, and look for deliverance to Him, who
witnessed the "justice and holiness of their cause."
His letter to his people breathed sentiments of the
• * Catholic Almanac, 1839.

Most Rev. William Louis Dbuourg, D.D. 219
most exalted patriotism, a virtue which he estimated
above a mere civil virtue, and as one hallowed witk
the sentiment of religion. General Jackson, the Com
mander-in-Chief of the American Army in that dis
trict, was greatly impressed with his exalted sentiments,
expressed the warmest approbation of the measures he
adopted, and requested him to have them published
and circulated among the people. But the heart that so
warmly sympathized with their sufferings and dangers
was also foremost to rejoice in their happy and safe de
liverance. It is only known in Heaven how much his
prayers and those of his flock contributed to this glorious
result. On the return of the intrepid Hero of New Or
leans from the field of battle and of victory, he was hail
ed by the public-spirited Dubourg with a beautiful ad
dress, welcoming the chief to the city, which, under
Providence, he had saved, and at the altar to join in
the solemn thanksgiving for the favor and protection of
Heaven. Congratulating the General on his brilliant vic
tory, he at the same time pointed to God as the only
source of victory and as the true Father, Protector, and
Defender of weak and dependent man. After allud
ing in eloquent terms to the great victory which had
just been achieved, he refers all to the Sovereign Ruler of
the Universe, and says : " To Him our most fervent
thanks are due for our late unexpected rescue, and it is
Him we chiefly intend to praise, when, considering you,
General, as the man of His right hand, whom he has
taken pains to fit out for the important commission of our
defense, we extol that fecundity of genius by which, in
an instant of the most discouraging distress, you created
unforeseen resources ; raised, as it were, from the ground
hosts of intrepid warriors, and provided every vulner-

220 Lives of. the. Catholic Bishops* >
able point with ample means of defence. To Him we
trace that instinctive superiority of your mind, which at
once rallied around you universal confidence ; impressed
one irresistible movement upon all the jarring elements
of which this political machine is composed ; aroused
their slumbering spirits, and diffused througk every rank
that noblo ardor which glowed in your own bosom.
To Him, in fine, we address our acknowledgments for
that consummate prudence which defeated all the combi
nations of a sagacious enemy, entangled him in the very
snares which he had spread before us, and succeeded in
effecting his utter destruction, without once exposing the
lives of our citizens. Immortal thanks be to His Supreme
Majesty for sending us such an instrument of his bounti
ful designs! — a gift of that value is the best token of the
continuance of His protection, the most solid encourage
ment to: us to sue for new favors. The first which it em
boldens us humbly to supplicate, as it is the nearer to
our throbbing hearts, is that you may enjoy, General, the
honor of your grateful country, of which you will permit
us to present you a pledge in this wreath of laurel,
the prize of victory, the symbol of immortality."
In the early part of 1815, Mr. Dubourg, whose exam
ination of the condition of his extended diocese had re
vealed the necessity for more priests, and for additional
religious and educational institutions, and the great want
of means to supply them, embarked for Europe in the
hope of being able to procure the desired relief. Pro
ceeding to Rome, he laid before the Holy Father an ac
count of his vast jurisdiction, its condition, wants, and
neglected missions, and received many marks of esteem,
assistance, and paternal affection. Archbishop. Carroll
had requested his appointment to the See of New Or-

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 221
leans, and it was not long after his arrival in Rome that
the Pope appointed him Bishop of that diocese. Con
scious of the heavy burden thus imposed upon him, and
of the difficulties he would have to encounter, he yielded
to the wishes of the Archbishop and of the Pope with
great humility and diffidence. He was consecrated at
Rome, September 24,1815. Before leaving that city he
secured for his diocese several priests of the Order of
Lazarists, from the Roman province of the Order, among
whom were the saintly Father Andreis, and the zealous
Father Rosati, afterwards Bishop of St. Louis. From
Italy he went to France, where he also secured recruits
for the Louisiana missions. Louis XVIII. generously
placed at his service the Caravane, a French ship of
war, on board of which, with his companions, thirty-one
in number, he embarked July 1, 18 17, and after a pas
sage of sixty- five days, landed at Annapolis, Maryland, on
the 4th of September. His companions consisted of five
priests and twenty-six young men, some of whom were
destined for the priesthood, and others were destined for
lay-brothers to assist the missionaries. The Rev. Mr.
Blanc, afterwards Archbishop of New Orleans, was one of
the company. A portion of these noble pioneers of the
faith in the South-west pushed on to Baltimore with Bishop
Dubourg, and the remainder of them stayed at Annapolis
until the end of October, being the guests of the venera
ble and patriotic Charles Carroll of Carrollton. The Bish
op visited Washington ; here and at Baltimore he was re
ceived with great joy by his old friends, and performed
many of the offices and ceremonies of his episcopal office.
In the mean time he was preparing for his departure for St.
Louis, where he determined for the present to locate his
See. The journey to St. Louis, whither the Bishop de-

222 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
termined directly to proceed, was long and arduous, for
there were few conveniences for traveling in those days.
It was made in the stage that started westward once a
week, so that the company were forwarded in divisions,
and three weeks were consumed in reaching Pittsburgh.
The Bishop and Mr. Blanc were in the last division, and
after remaining in the stage two days, encountering re
peated upsettings and running frequent risks of their
lives, they abandoned the conveyance and made the rest
of the journey to Pittsburgh, for five days, on foot. Em
barking thence on a flat-boat, they reached Louisville,
where the Rev. Messrs. Chabrat and Shaeffer had been
sent by Bishop Flaget to welcome them to Kentucky.
They arrived at St. Thomas', the Cathedral of Bishop
Flaget, November 2, and were most affectionately receiv
ed by the saintly Bishop of Bardstown. The meeting
between Bishops Flaget and Dubourg was not only that
of two old and devoted friends, but also of two purest
and most zealous of the friends of God, who experienced
a heavenly companionship in serving the same Divine
Master on earth. Bishop Flaget officiated pontifically
in St. Thomas', and preached an admirable sermon. On
the 1 2th of December, escorted by Bishop Flaget, he
proceeded with his companions on board of a small
and crowded steamboat by the way of Louisville to St.
Louis. Landing on the 28th of December below St.
Genevieve, the Bishop took possession of his diocese by
erecting a cross and chanting with his clergy and com
panions the hymn Vexilla Regis Prodeunt. They ar
rived at St. Genevieve at midnight on the 30th, where
the Rev. Mr. Andreis was stationed; and on the 31st,
" about thirty of the principal inhabitants came, with seve
ral young men on horseback and a carriage, to escort the

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 223
Bishops into the town. " We went," says Bishop Flaget,
" to the presbytery to put on our pontifical robes ;
twenty-four choir-children, with cross at their head, and
four citizens bearing a canopy, conducted us to the
church, where, after the installation of Bishop Dubourg
on a throne especially prepared for the purpose, we
sang the Te Deum. The whole day was spent in re
ceiving visits." On the 1st of January, 18 18, Bishop
Dubourg celebrated Pontifical Mass at St. Genevieve.
They arrived at St. Louis on the 5th, when the new
Bishop made his pontifical entry, and was received with
great pomp amidst the joyful acclamations of the people.
Arrived at the church, Bishop Flaget conducted him to his
chair, and " expressed to him, with his usual fervor and
apostolical spirit, the unmingled satisfaction he experi
enced in beholding him in the midst of his flock. The
people seemed universally animated with the same lively
feelings at the contemplation of so thrilling a scene — one
which was the harbinger of so many blessings for them
and their posterity."
The energy and enterprise of Bishop Dubourg seemed
to expand in proportion to the boundless field before
him. He had already collected around him fifty-three
co-laborers in the great work of building up the Chris
tian Church in the immense region of the South-west.
He entered now upon that career of labor, self-denial,
hardship, and zeal, that made the wilderness rejoice in the
erection of temples and resound with the praises of God,
and the desert bloom with the flowers of religion and
become fragrant with the perfumes of virtue. "Bishop
Dubourg," says Archbishop Spalding,* "was no sooner
known than he was universally esteemed and beloved."
* Life of Bishop Flaget, 175.

224 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
With his characteristic generosity, he consented to take
charge of the missions of Illinois scattered along the
eastern borders of the Mississippi, though within the
jurisdiction of Bishop Flaget ; and he offered to that Pre
late the services of four of his priests, Messrs. Blanc and
Jeanjean for Vincennes, and Messrs. Bertrand and Jan
vier for Detroit. Such were the difficulties of his posi
tion, growing out of discontent at the disturbance of
the old condition of things at New Orleans, to which his
appointment gave rise, that he considered it more pru
dent for the present to locate his See at St. Louis, until
circumstances should have paved the way for his re
moval to the former city, which, in the mean time, he vis
ited annually. Some conception of the obstacles he en
countered, and of the courage with which he met them,
may be formed from the following extract from a letter
he addressed to the Society for the Propagation of the
Faith: — "As I could not penetrate into the capital of
Louisiana, without exposing the sacred character with
which I was invested, I thought it more prudent to com
mence the attack at those points of my diocese which
were the least ably defended ; judging that here, as in a
citadel, I might assemble my forces, and gradually ob
taining possession of the surrounding country, the
strongest place would ultimately be compelled to yield.
For this reason, the vast territory of Missouri was the first
theatre of our labors ; and here we had to contend with
obstacles of every kind— profound ignorance of religion
and the prejudices arising from it, universal corruption,
the disregard of everything like principle, absolute pov
erty, not having whereon to lay my head, and more than
fifty persons dependent on me for support. Retiring
into the forest, we there raised with our own hands a

Most Rev. William Louis Dttbourg, D.D. 225
spacious cabin to shelter us from the weather, and laid
the foundation of another edifice."
The most brilliant and fruitful service rendered by
Bishop Dubourg to the Church, not only in America,
but throughout the most remote and unenlightened por
tions of the world, was the leading part he took in found
ing the illustrious " Association for the Propagation of
the Faith." It has been well said that " the establishment
which Mr. Dubourg, while on his return to Louisiana
from Italy, made at Lyons, is of itself enough to immor
talize his name. He there formed, in 1815, the Associa
tion for the Propagation of the Faith. This single in
stitution, which conveys benedictions unnumbered to
millions, and which daily sounds the glad tidings of a
Saviour to those who are seated in the silence of death,
becomes a monument sufficient to eternize the memory
of Dubourg, and to shed a full ray of brightness on any
college associated with his name." *
There is nothing that more effectually vindicates the
title of Catholic for the Church than this noble institu
tion. Its foundation rests in those words of divine com
mand, " Go teach all nations." This sentiment has per
vaded the Church in all ages, but the opportunities and
means of developing it have not always been practicable
or possible. As an actual movement, the origin of the
Association was obscure and humble ; like the source of
a mighty river, rising and flowing feebly and quietly at
first in some distant and lofty mountain, receiving, as it
advances, strength and volume from innumerable small
and modest tributaries like itself, until it swells into the
mighty and majestic tide, overpowering every obstacle,
making for itself a channel through the richest meadows,
* " Our Colleges," in the Metropolitan, iv. 288.
15

226 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and fertilizing as it goes — the medium of conveying to
remote regions the richest cargoes and most precious
productions. The motive of the Crusades was not only
to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of infidels,
but also to carry the faith to infidel nations. The priest
followed always in the footsteps of the soldier, to repair the
wounds he made. So, too, when afterwards the improve
ments in navigation opened both the Indies to the Chris
tian world, the fleets of Portugal and Spain never sailed
without their complements of pious and zealous mission
aries to announce the faith to nations buried in ignorance,
idolatry, and vice. Their conquests were hallowed by
solemn treaties for extending the dominion of the faith,
and churches arose in Japan, China, and America, with
their bishoprics, their altars, their converts, and their
martyrs. Not only were millions of natives formed into
Christian republics in South America and the Philippine
Islands, but in our own country also the cross was erect
ed, and the chants of the Church resounded from
Quebec and Montreal, through the valley of the Missis
sippi, to the gulf-washed shores of Louisiana and Texas.
The generous treasures, labors, sweats, and blood of
Christendom fertilized these fields, but no organized
body existed for keeping up and sustaining the steady
current of divine faith and salvation. But the idea of
such an organization had long existed. In 1504, twelve
years after the discovery of America and the opening
of the vast missionary fields of the West, an envoy, as
it were, came from the East ; a young islander of Austra
lasia was brought to France by the navigator Gonne-
ville ; he received a Christian education, and lost the
recollection of his native land in his thorough identifica
tion with his adopted country. A great-grandson of

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 227
this Australasian convert, the Abb6 Paulmeyer, canon of
the Cathedral of Bayeux, moved by an ardent zeal for
the salvation of the race from which he had sprung, in
1663 presented to Pope Alexander VII. a memorial
concerning the establishment of a mission in the third
World, otherwise called the Austral Land, in which he
exposed the difficulties, and proposed the means of over
coming them, and laid down his plan of the undertaking.
Modeling his proposed association for the propagation
of the faith upon the plan of the Indian companies, he
asked the unrestrained co-operation of all, even of the
humblest artisans and maid-servants, under the guidance
of a small number of experienced and able managers ;
and begged the blessing of the Holy Father on the
work. Though nothing was done for an age afterwards,
the idea was not extinct in the Church, for, after that space
of time, it took shape in the formation of an association
of prayers and good works for the salvation of infidels.
The interest of the faithful in the glorious missions was
kept alive by the publication of the Edifying Letters /
but the French Revolution paralyzed the arms and hearts
that might have given form and motion to the thought.
But the termination of that scourge seems to have elicited
a fruitful benediction; for the blessing which the Holy
Father Pius VII. bestowed upon the city of Lyons,
from the hill of Fouvieres, conveyed the grace that
fructified not long afterwards in the formation of " The
Association for the Propagation of the Faith " in that
same noble city.
The humble beginning of this grand scheme of Chris
tian charity was now at hand. Bishop Dubourg was the
humble but zealous instrument for commencing it. Re
turning from Rome, after his consecration, in 181 5, he

228 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
spent some time at Lyons. While his mind was filled
with the contemplation of his extended diocese and its
extreme poverty, his eloquent tongue was busy in appeal
ing to the generosity of the Lyonese. He appealed par
ticularly to a Christian widow, whom he had known in
the United States, and communicated to her his plan of
forming a society of alms, fixing the annual subscription
at one franc. She cordially embraced his views, and
communicated them to others ; but such were the diffi
culties in the way, that she was obliged to confine herself
to the raising of alms for the few congregations she
adopted. In the following year, the directors of the
Seminary of the Foreign Missions at Paris revived the
union of prayers, which had been founded in the previous
century for the salvation of the infidels, published a state
ment of the wants of their churches, and obtained indul
gences from the Holy See. Three years later a saintly
young woman of Lyons, inspired by a letter she received
from her brother in the College of St. Sulpice, giving a
sad account of the destitute condition of the House of
the Foreign Missions, and suggesting the formation of a
society of alms, commenced the pious organization, and
soon it numbered a thousand members ; and sent its first
offering, two thousand francs, to the same Orient from
which the sun of faith first spread its refulgent rays over
the West.
In the mean time Bishop Dubourg was informed of the
progress of his own movement by his faithful correspond
ents, who were also gaining ground in the noble work. In
the beginning of 1822 they were visited by a Vicar-Gen
eral of Bishop Dubourg, whose presence animated their
zeal and confirmed their efforts. Various struggles were
thus tending to direct public attention to this important

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 229
work. But so truly Catholic a movement could not con
sistently be confined to the aid of a single diocese ; in
order to become permanent and successful it must be
made Catholic or Universal. No sooner was this feature
ingrafted upon the original society of Bishop Dubourg,
than its proportions became gigantic and its efforts unre
strained. The receipts for the first year were 1 5,272 francs,
and soon they were counted by millions. It spread from
city to city, and from nation to nation, and its benign
influence was felt in the remote regions of the earth.
Pope Gregory XVI. recommended it to all the Churches,
in his Encyclical letter of 1840, and it became one of the
grandest and most useful institutions of Christendom.
The Catholic heart of Bishop Dubourg rejoiced in the
expansion of his work, and he thus addressed the mem
bers of the Association: "In proposing to yourselves a
vast sphere for the exercise of your zeal, you have se
cured the interest and support of all who are animated
with the love of God. The idea of carrying the flambeau
of religion at once to the remotest points of both hemi
spheres, is as dazzling to the imagination as it is influen
tial upon the heart. What conception could be more
truly Catholic than this ? Who that has any piety, even
among the least favored of fortune, would not deem it an
honor and a pleasure to acquire, at so trivial a sacrifice,
the glory of co-operation in this noble work ? " *
One of Bishop Dubourg's earliest efforts in his diocese
was to provide a Seminary for the holy ministry; for,
although he had received considerable aid in ecclesiastical
recruits from Europe, especially in the members of the
Lazarist Order, whom he introduced into his diocese,
and who accompanied him from Rome ; he resolved not
* Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, voL i.

230 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
to rely upon aid from abroad entirely, but to provide for
a priesthood at home. He accordingly founded his Col
lege and Seminary at the Barrens in Missouri, which he
placed under the charge of the Lazarist Fathers, and
which he regarded as the principal support of his diocese.
With energy equal to any amount of exertion, he shortly
afterwards founded another College at St. Louis. He
applied to the Jesuits of Maryland, in 1825, for the estab
lishment of a mission of their Order in the West, with the
view of supplying with priests the Indian missions
acquired by us with the cession of Louisiana and the
South-western territory. The Fathers were unable to
answer his demand from their own ranks, but seven
young Belgians, who were in the Maryland novitiate,
went out under the direction of Fathers Van Quicken-
borne and Timmerman, and founded an establishment
at Florrissant from which they subsequently announced
the gospel to the various Indian tribes in that vast region.
Thus was commenced the Western Province of the So
ciety of Jesus, which has since accomplished so much
good for the West. Bishop Dubourg transferred to
their charge his college at St. Louis, which, under their
auspices, has grown into the splendid University of St.
Louis. Henrion relates that Bishop Dubourg visited
Washington in 1823, and applied to the Government for
annual allowances in favor of the Indian missions he de
sired to establish. The President and Secretary of War
were convinced without difficulty that Catholic priests
were more proper for the Indians than Protestant pas
tors. "At least," added the Secretary of War, "you
ought to procure Jesuits." — " I will do it," said the Pre
late ; and he kept his word by securing, as above relat
ed, the introduction of the Jesuits into the West and the

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 231
transfer of the Indian Missions to their care. Bishop
Dubourg secured on this occasion from the Government
the sum of eight hundred dollars for his missions.
James Monroe, of Virginia, was then President, and
John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was Secretary of
War. Education in the Catholic Church ever goes hand in
hand with religion ; hence we see Bishop Dubourg
straining every nerve to erect the school-house and the
church together. For the education of females he intro
duced the Sisters of Loretto. He also, shortly after his
appointment as Bishop, applied to the Ladies of the
Sacred Heart at Paris, and obtained five members of
distinguished merit, who accompanied him to St. Louis,
and afterwards founded a convent at St. Ferdinand,
known also as Florissant. The first introduction of this
inestimable Order into the United States is due to Bishop
Dubourg. To the Ursulines of New Orleans, who had
been established there a century before, he was a warm
friend and benefactor. While in France, after his conse
cration, he sought postulants for their Order, and in Janu
ary, 181 7, nine of these recruits arrived to cheer and
encourage the community at New Orleans. These
pious ladies, though of French origin and affiliation, be
came fully identified with our country on the cession of
Louisiana by France; and though they suffered many
trials, were ever untiring and zealous in their holy voca
tion. During the battle of New Orleans, while our brave
soldiers were struggling in the field, these good Sisters
were besieging Heaven by their prayers for the success
of our arms. They placed upon their altar the statue of
" Our Lady of Prompt Succor," which had been blessed
for Mother Gensoul in France, and brought by her to

232 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
New Orleans; around this token of divine favor they
supplicated the Almighty, until victory declared in our
favor. When the victorious army returned to the city,
the generous nuns turned their school-rooms into a hos
pital for the sick and wounded soldiers, upon whom they
lavished every care for several months. In 1824 they
removed to their new convent, three miles below the
city, and one of their number, an aged religious who
had not passed out of her cloister since her entrance
into it in 1766, was overcome with tears as she accom
panied her younger sisters. Bishop Dubourg, anxious
for their success and permanence, solicited recruits for
their house from Canada, regarding them as "the base
of religion in Louisiana." His paternal anxiety is elo
quently expressed by himself in his letter to the Bishop
of Quebec: "The house, in point of numbers, might
seem now to give no cause of alarm; but when I con
sider the age of the ancient pillars of that edifice, and
that at the moment, perhaps not remote, of their fall,
there will remain only feeble reeds to replace them, I
cannot be tranquil as to the consequences." His appeal
was successful * and he soon welcomed at New Orleans
three of the most experienced and efficient members of
the Order. Their history has been one of prosperity and
usefulness ever since, educating both rich and poor, and
providing a home for the orphan.*
In addition to these undertakings and the heavy ex
penditures consequent upon them, Bishop Dubourg's
activity and zeal were laboring and doing in every part
of his diocese. At St. Louis he acquired a comfortable
mansion for the Bishop and his clergy, and erected a
new cathedral. He erected churches at various points
* " Our Convents," in The Metropolitan, iv. 31.

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 233
and stations of his diocese, and provided for the Indian
missions. His personal labors were immense ; and to
these he added the missionary duties of the holy min
istry, attending to the wants of his scattered flock in
numerous and distant stations, and, by his apostolic la
bors and zeal, rendering himself "the admiration and
example of his people." He was greatly assisted in his
many noble and useful undertakings by the illustrious
"Association for the Propagation of the Faith," of which
he was regarded as the founder. It was the means he
received from this source that enabled him to accomplish
so much ; and he could point to the forty parishes he es
tablished along the Mississippi, and the excellent reli
gious and educational institutions he conducted, as the
fruits in part of this magnificent charity.
Heretofore he had visited New Orleans annually. But
' his wise administration, Christian forbearance, and gen
erous conduct wore away to a considerable extent the
obstacles to his permanent residence in his episcopal
city. Those discontented members of the clergy who
had raised opposition to him at first, now surpassed the
most zealous of the faithful in desiring his presence. In
1823 he considered it advisable to take up his residence
at New Orleans ; but in doing so he deemed a coadjutor
Bishop necessary for the interests of religion in that sec
tion, and had the consolation, March 25, 1824, of conse
crating as his coadjutor, Right Rev. Joseph Rosati. At
New Orleans he continued the same life of labor and
zeal which he had led at St. Louis. The Ursuline Con
vent, on the departure of the inmates for their new home
below the city, became his episcopal residence, and at
the same time a college : the latter was placed under the
charge of the Rev. M. Portier, afterwards Bishop of Mo-

234 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
bile. It was the intention of Bishop Dubourg to remove
this institution to the parish of Lafourche, where he in
tended also to erect a Seminary on a grant of twelve
hundred acres of land which he had received there. Be
fore he could accomplish this cherished purpose, he was
translated to another field of usefulness and honor.
In June, 1826, Bishop Dubourg sailed for Europe on
business for his diocese. He never returned ; for, by the
mandate of the Holy See, he was translated from the
See of New Orleans to that of Montauban, in France,
and became successor to the saintly Bishop Cheverus,
who, like himself, had occupied an honorable place in the
American Hierarchy. Well may his biographer have
said that he left "behind him such an amount of labor,
so many splendid monuments of his enterprise and apos
tolic spirit, that we follow him as it were with regret, to
another theatre of his zeal, and dwell with painful emo
tions on the epoch that closed his brilliant career on this
side of the Atlantic." The same writer says, in reference
to his translation to Montauban: "Were we to par
ticularize the circumstances that induced him to leave
this country, and which originated in the hypocrisy and
treachery of the malicious Inglesi, we would only multi
ply the reasons that compel us to admire his eminent
goodness of heart and disinterested ardor to promote
the interests of religion. However remarkable the pru
dence, the perseverance, the wisdom of a Prelate, the
peculiar character of those around him will sometimes
render it expedient for the welfare of his flock that he
should place the government of his diocese in other
hands. It was with such motives that Bishop Dubourg
accepted an appointment in Europe, which, in evidencing
the lofty esteem entertained for him abroad, contributes

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 235
to reflect a high honor upon the American episcopacy."*
In a letter which he addressed to the Ami de la Religion
of Paris, after stating that it was not his health that
caused him to resign, he thus writes on the same sub
ject: — "The motives, then, of my resignation are of a
higher order; and they were presented to the Holy See,
to which they appeared so just, that His Holiness the
Pope did not hesitate a moment, when they were sub
mitted to him, to dissolve the sacred ties that bound me
to that important but laborious mission. But in ceasing
to be the head of it, I have not ceased to feel the most
tender solicitude for it : what do I say ? — it is that solici
tude which forced me to leave it, inasmuch that on the
one hand it was evident my presence there would be
more prejudicial than useful, and, on the other hand, I
did flatter myself to be able from Europe to render that
mission more important services." f
How strikingly a diocese in France contrasted with
one in the United States, especially such a diocese as
Louisiana was in 1826, is illustrated in this instance. We
have seen how poor, how scattered, and how laborious
was the Church of Louisiana, where everything had to
be created. But at Montauban there was a Catholic
population of 242,000 souls, attended by three hundred
and fifty-three priests; there were seminaries containing
two hundred and six ecclesiastical students; there his
eye rested upon splendid churches, well-endowed insti
tutions of many of the religious orders, both male and
female, and numerous schools of every grade. He saw
on every side cause for consolation. To one accustomed
to the difficult and embarrassing duties of an American
* Catholic Almanac, 1839, p. 63.
f Charleston Miscellany, 1826, p. 87.

236 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
diocese, that of Montauban was like a reward for his past
labors and sacrifices. Yet the revolution of 1830 tested
well the zeal and courage of the Bishop of Montauban.
He defended with undaunted firmness the cause of reli
gion and the rights of his clergy. His firmness caused
the municipal and departmental authorities, and even the
ministers of Louis Philippe, to whom he appealed on two
remarkable occasions, to respect the rights of conscience
and the practices of the Church, and to protect the in
habitants of Montauban, while so many other cities were
left to the violence of the times. He averted from his
flock a repetition of the impieties that had been wit
nessed at Paris. Yet such were his prudence and mod
eration, that he was respected and esteemed by all
parties. He was the true pastor of his flock.
In February, 1833, he was appointed Archbishop of
Besancon, being the successor of Cardinal de Rohan.
His feeble health compelled him to seek relief in the waters
of Luxeuil, but without success. He was installed at
Besancon, October 10, 1833. His beautiful pastoral,
issued on taking leave of Montauban, shows that the
faculties of his mind and the impulses of his heart were
not impaired by the disease that enfeebled his body.
His touching allusion to the Church of Louisiana will be
chiefly interesting to readers on this side of the Atlantic :
— " Churches of Louisiana and Montauban, the holy al
liance is broken that successively identified my existence
with yours. But the bonds of paternity are not loosed ; it
shall always be true that I have been your spouse, and
your children have been mine. Your prosperity and
theirs shall therefore be the object of my most ardent
prayers, and an exhaustless source of joy to my heart.
Louisiana and Montauban, beloved names ! I unite you

Most Rev. William Louis Dubourg, D.D. 237
together in this effusion of my heart, because you were
never separate in my affections. In passing from one to
the other, I felt that no change had taken place in my
first love ; that the sphere of my affections was only en
larged ; and I have become sensible how a father may
experience all the force of parental tenderness for the
last scions of his old age, without diminishing the love
he had for his first born."
During his brief career as Archbishop he procured
two pastoral retreats for his numerous clergy, amounting
to about nine hundred priests, and with an ardent desire
to be with them, his health allowed him only once to
unite in their devotions. On the first of November he
received the Pallium from the hands of Bishop Porcet,
of Langres. From his bed of sickness he united in
spirit with his flock and its pastors, in the jubilee, and
requested his attendants to suggest to him such thoughts
and affections as were suited to his suffering condition.
His last days were characterized by the noblest and
most unaffected Christian virtues. His humility, charity,
and reliance upon the mercy of God, struck all with ad
miration. The allusions of his attendants to his past
life of usefulness as a motive for confidence, only inspired
him with fear and diffidence. To those who approached
his bedside he gave mementoes, and for each" he had a
blessing. He gave every direction for his own funeral
with calmness and serenity, cautioning his friends against
unnecessary ostentation and lavishness. In sentiments
of tenderest piety, love, and adoration, he breathed his
last, December 12, 1833, in the sixty-fifth year of his
age. On the 14th he was interred with ecclesiastical
and civil honors, amid the praises and prayers of all.
His character is written in his deeds, his labors, and his

238 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
services. In the accomplishments of the intellect, and
the graces of the soul, few men were his superiors. His
piety was of the tenderest kind ; his labors, though ex
traordinary, were modest. To forgive, forbear, and to
excuse, seemed a pleasure to him. His remarkable elo
quence was inspired by a brilliant imagination, a cultivat
ed mind, a generous heart, and a devout soul. His tal
ent for administration and enterprise was extraordinary ;
his fame is spread over two continents ; but in the American
Church his memory should ever be held in veneration
and gratitude, and his name cherished as that of one
of the most illustrious ornaments of our Hierarchy.

MOST REV. AMBROSE MARECHAL, D.D.,
Third Archbishop of Baltimore, A.D. 1817.*
The subject of this memoir was one of that numerous
and heroic band of zealous and able French clergy whom
the convulsions of the French revolution, at the close
of the eighteenth century, expelled from their native
country and cast upon the shores of America. While
republican France cast them off as obstacles to the de
velopment of the new ideas of liberty and self-govern
ment, in whose names so many innocent and noble victims
were sacrificed in that fair land, the transatlantic repub
lic received them with joy, and found in them some of
her best and most useful citizens, and sincere friends of
that more rational and stable liberty which in the new
world was based upon an organic law that endeavored
to combine at once liberty and order, self-government
and obedience. It was also to such men as Mareehal,
Cheverus, Flaget, David, Dubois, Brute, Nagot, Tessier,
Badin, and others, that the infant Church of America
owed in a great measure the progress of the faith in
these States. Their names will long be held in venera
tion and gratitude.
Ambrose Marshal was born at Ingre, near Orleans,
France, in 1 768, of parents who enjoyed the advantages
of high respectability and social position. They provided
for their son the training and cultivation of a finished edu
cation in one of the best colleges in France, where he
* Authorities: Catholic Almanac, 1S36; Catholic Magazine, 1845; Catholic
Miscellany ; De Courcey and Shea's Catholic Church in the United States, etc., etc.

240 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
completed his studies with credit and distinction. In his
earliest youth he was remarkable for piety 'and religious
devotion, and he manifested an ardent desire to devote
himself to the holy ministry. His parents, however, with
that mistaken ambition which imagines that those pursuits
and positions that are esteemed and honored in the world
are to be preferred to the ministry of the Most High, des
tined him for the bar. In deference to their wishes he
devoted himself to the study of civil law, well knowing
that the time would come when the higher and holier as
pirations of his soul would be satisfied, without inflicting
pain or disappointment upon his beloved parents. His
course of law was accomplished with that success and
thoroughness which characterized all he undertook. His
mind thus became stored with a vast amount of useful
learning, which contributed to qualify him so eminently
for the high and important position he was afterwards
called to fill. These studies, however, and the attrac
tions which the world presents at this period of life to
the imaginations and hopes of the young and ardent,
did not divert his desires from the first and holiest choice
of his heart. He regarded these yearnings of his soul
for the altar of God and the salvation of men, which no
circumstances could repress, as the voice of his Creator,
and he determined to obey the call. It was with evident
pleasure that the venerable Prelate in after life spoke of
the manifest and irresistible vocation which he received
from Heaven to sever the ties of natural affection and
social life, and to abandon all things in order to take up
the cross and follow the lowly Jesus. The pursuit of the
holy ministry at that time in France was truly the way
of the cross. The terrific shock of the French Revolu
tion had broken asunder the safeguards of government

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 241
and law, and had shaken society to its very foundations.
The wildest destruction was the favorite work of the
hour; and after all the ancient landmarks had been de
stroyed, it became the taste of each day to demolish what
had been done on the preceding one, and to substitute
something more radical in its place. Violence, anarchy,
and disorder reigned supreme ; licentiousness and vice
were universal. The hereditary sovereign had been sac
rificed to popular fury. The caprice of an assembly of
petty tyrants became the unsparing law of the moment ;
religion was trampled under foot, and her ministers
hunted down and massacred ; France, for the time, be
came a pandemonium. It was under such circumstances.
that the young Marechal sought the investiture of the
Catholic priesthood. He had entered the Sulpitian
Seminary at Orleans as a theological student, and was
now prepared for ordination. Leaving Paris in disguise,
he was ordained at Bordeaux, and on the same day, at
the imminent risk of detection, incarceration, and death,
succeeded in embarking for America in company with
the AbbSs Matignon, Richard, and Ciquard, and arrived
safely at Baltimore, June 24, 1792. He offered then for
the first time on a foreign shore that holy sacrifice which
he was ruthlessly prevented from offering in the shrines
of his own native and Catholic France.
The first design of the Superior of the Sulpitian Or
der, of which Mr. Marechal was a member, was to estab
lish under his direction an Academy at Baltimore for the
instruction of youth in mathematics. This purpose was
suspended for a time, and Mr. Marechal entered upon
active missionary duties, first at St. Mary's County and
subsequently at Bohemia, on the Eastern shore, Mary
land ; at both of which places he labored zealously and
16

242 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
effectively for the good of souls, and edified all by his
pure and patient example, and won their hearts by his
amiable and courteous deportment.
In the mean time St. Mary's College had been estab
lished by his Order at Baltimore, and in 1799 he was
summoned by his superiors to assume the position of
Professor of Theology in the infant Seminary. The con
ductors of Georgetown College secured his valuable ser
vices as Professor of Philosophy in that institution for
several months, after which he returned to Baltimore
and resumed his class of theology at St. Mary's. The
ability with which he discharged his duties in the chair
of theology won for him great applause, both from his
superiors and from his pupils. It was often remarked
that he invested that profound science with a peculiar
charm, and presented it to the hearts as well as to the
minds of the youthful candidates for the sacred ministry,
as the reflection of divine wisdom, and the mirror of the
divine attributes.
The restoration of order in France, under Napoleon,
gave an immediate and reviving impulse to religion
there. Availing themselves of the improvement which
had taken place in that afflicted country, some of the de
voted French clergy, who had been torn by the Revolu
tion from their altars and their flocks, now returned to
carry the consolations of religion to thousands who
had long been deprived of them. The venerable Order
of St. Sulpice was among the first to labor for the re
vival of religion in France. The restoration of their
colleges and seminaries constituted a prominent feature
of this great Christian work. As a member of that Or
der, Mr. Marechal was recalled to his native country by
his superiors in 1803. He was employed in posts of

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 243
great responsibility and labor in several of these eccle
siastical institutions, and especially in those of St. Flour,
Lyons, and Aix. A writer thus alludes to his services in
France : — " In what esteem and veneration he was held
by those who pursued their studies under his direction,
was abundantly shown by the munificence of his theo
logical pupils at Marseilles, who, soon after his elevation
to the Archiepiscopal dignity, presented him, as a testi
mony of their gratitude and respect, with the rich and
magnificent marble altar that now stands in the Metro
politan Church at Baltimore. It bears the following in
scription, which makes it known as a monument of their
grateful and liberal feeling, and of the high regard which
they entertained for the talents and virtues of their dis
tinguished professor : — ' Hoc Altare
a Massiliensibus Sacerdotibus
Amb°- Archiep0- Bait1-
Eorum in Sacra Theologia olim,
Professori
grate oblatum
ipse Deo Salvatori in honorem ejus
Sanctissimae Matris
Consecravit die 31°. Maii, 182 1.' "*
The urgent necessity which carried him to France hav
ing been in a great measure satisfied, the claims of the
American Church upon his zeal now began to revive.
Numerous were the appeals he received from his former
friends in America to return to them, and to bestow his
valuable services upon the Church in this country. At
the earliest practicable moment, which he found in the
withdrawal by the Imperial Government of France of
* The Catholic Almanac, 1836.

244 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
their seminaries and colleges from the Sulpitians in 1812,
he responded to these affectionate calls. His arrival in
Baltimore, in that year, was hailed with joy by the ec
clesiastical authorities and laity of that city and diocese.
He resumed his former post in the chair of theology,
and also discharged, for a time, the duties of President
at St. Mary's College. A life of study was most agreeable
to his tastes, and gladly would he have spent the re
mainder of his life in preparing young Levites for the
sacred ministry. Not long after his return he was
nominated by Rome as the Bishop of Philadelphia. His
humility and ardent desire to promote the interests of
the Church, by preparing for her sanctuary a learned and
pious priesthood, caused him to adduce every possible
reason in favor of his being excused from accepting so
exalted and responsible an office. To his great joy he
was excused, but it was only to encounter a far more
formidable appointment.
The increasing feebleness of Archbishop Neale's health
had induced him to apply to Rome for the appointment
of a coadjutor Bishop. Bishop Cheverus of Boston
was named for this position, but he used his earnest en
treaties to be allowed to remain at Boston, and he sug
gested the name of Mr. Marechal as the most suitable
person for the See of Baltimore. Archbishop Neale ac
quiesced in the suggestion, and at his request Rome ap
proved and made the appointment. On hearing of this
decision, Bishop Cheverus wrote to Rome : " I shall re
joice to see Mr. Marechal performing the Episcopal func
tions at Baltimore, where he and his brethren of St. Sul
pice have been the masters and models of the clergy, and
have conciliated universal regard."
Pope Pius VIL, by his brief of July 24, 18 17, appointe 1

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 245
Mr. Marechal coadjutor to the Archbishop of Baltimore,
with the title of Bishop of Stauropolis. Dr. Marechal, in
this as in the previous instance, made every effort to
be relieved from this high and responsible office. He
finally asked for a respite in order that he might com
plete an important work, in which he proposed to adapt
the course of theology to the state of this country. His
entreaties were in vain; his own superiors united with
the voice of the Church in exacting submission on his
part. In the mean time the venerable Archbishop Neale
had departed this life, and five months after his death,
November 10, 18 17, the briefs containing the appoint
ment of Dr. Marechal as Archbishop of Baltimore ar
rived. He was consecrated at Baltimore by Bishop
Cheverus, December 14, 181 7.
The new Archbishop entered at once upon an active
and energetic discharge of the arduous duties of his ex
alted station. The following notice of the early part of
his administration, and of the manner in which he car
ried the American Church through the crisis which then
presented itself, is from the biography of Archbishop
Marechal in the Catholic Almanac: "No sooner had
Mr. Marechal received the Episcopal consecration, than
he devoted his most earnest attention to the affairs of
his diocese. How far he realized the expectations of the
public ; what he accomplished for the cause of religion ;
how effectually he contributed to promote that candid
and conciliatory spirit which is the characteristic of
Christianity; what an ardent zeal he manifested for the
welfare of the flock that had been committed to his
charge, are sufficiently known to the Catholic community,
and will ever be remembered with feelings of the liveliest
gratitude. A few incidents, however, in which he ex-

246 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
hibited the excellent qualities of his mind and heart, can
not be omitted from the present notice. Shortly after his
election to the Episcopacy, he had to contend with the
difficulties which are the most painful to those invested
with ecclesiastical authority. Disturbances had arisen
in certain parts of the extensive territory subject to his
jurisdiction, which presented rather a fearful aspect, and
threatened the American Church with the distressing
evils that invariably flow from a spirit of faction and in
subordination. With an affected zeal for the cause of re
ligion, a few individuals, having usurped a power which
belonged solely to the legitimate Bishop of the diocese,
endeavored to wrest a portion of the Church from the
authority of its lawful pastors. In these trying circum
stances, Archbishop Marechal evinced that zeal, that
wisdom, that prudence, that attachment for his flock, that
firm adherence to true principles, which have always
distinguished the most eminent Prelates, and which, for
tunately for the cause of religion in this country, proved
effectual in arresting the progress of the schism. We
cannot read the pastoral letter which he addressed to
the faithful on this subject, in the year 18 19, without
admiring the learning, the wisdom, and the apostolical
spirit with which it abounds. It is an invaluable docu
ment for the clergy as well as for the laity. While it
places before the latter a clear and precise exposition of
their duties and their utter disqualification to interfere in
the spiritual government of the Church, it points out to
the former the awful calamities that religion may suffer
from their infidelity in the discharge of those obligations
which have been imposed on them by the sacerdotal
character. "After having established, by the most solid reasoning,

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 247
the exclusive right of the Episcopal authority to appoint
clergymen for the exercise of the holy ministry, and al
luded to the fatal consequences of resistance to the le
gitimate pastor, he adds: 'We have frequently blessed
Divine Providence that we live under a free and just
government. But we never felt the advantage more
strongly than in this conjuncture. For were we under an
absolute one, and these impious men could induce its
ministers to support their measures, the Catholic
Bishops of the United States would soon be thrown
into dungeons, and their flocks dispersed, unless they
submitted to their abominable new-fangled canon laws.
The general features of their writings exhibit persecu
tion under its most hideous and fearful forms. But let
them remember that her shafts in this country are
blunted and shivered on the aegis of American liberty,
and fall harmless at the feet of their intended victims.'
He then proceeds to console the faithful upon the afflic
tions which had befallen them, and reminds them of the
course they should pursue to effect a better state of
things. His instructions on this subject may be very
usefully practised at all times.
'"In those great calamities which have afflicted some
portions of the Church in every age, God displays His
awful justice by delivering up to a reprobate sense the
wicked, who, in the bosom of His true religion, abused
the means of salvation He had offered them; and His
infinite mercy towards the elect, by affording them an
opportunity of continually multiplying their merits by
frequent acts of Christian humility, patience, fortitude,
and charity.'
" ' In the midst of the troubles and persecutions to
which you are now, or may hereafter be exposed, be

248 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
careful, after the example of the saints, dearest Brethren,
daily to entreat your Heavenly Father to take under His
protection yourselves, your families, your friends, your
pastors, and all the Catholics of the United States. The
Church of Christ in this country is now in affliction. Dis
sensions and scandals threaten to destroy her peace and
happiness. As for you, dear Brethren, strive to console
her by every- possible mark of respect, attachment, obe
dience, and love. For though surrounded with difficulties,
though ever attacked by some unnatural children, still
she is your mother, your protectress, your guide upon
earth, and the organ by which Divine Mercy communi
cates to you the treasure of His grace and all the means
of salvation.'
" Such were the sentiments that animated this truly
apostolic Prelate. Such was* the confidence which he re
posed in the assistance of God, on whose promises to
the Church he relied for the prosperity of religion, and
for the crown of immortality that could repay his zealous
efforts in so sacred a cause.
" During these troubles, Archbishop Marechal received
the most flattering marks of esteem and kindness from
the Sovereign Pontiff, who confided entirely in his wis
dom and discretion, and sent him the Pallium, which is
the greatest mark of distinction that can be conferred on
a Prelate. In the space of two or three years he had
the consolation of witnessing the happy effects of his
wise administration."
The Cathedral of Baltimore, the corner-stone of which
had been laid by Archbishop Carroll, July 7, 1806, was
brought to a state of readiness for public worship under
Archbishop Marechal. The walls of the cathedral had
for years stood only a few feet above the surface of the

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 249
ground when Archbishop Marechal took the work in
hand, and pressed it forward till the Divine mysteries
were offered on its altars. In this undertaking he was
chiefly aided by the Rev. Enoch Fenwick, whose name
was long held in gratitude and veneration at Baltimore.
On the thirty-first of May, 182 1, the imposing edifice was
dedicated with due solemnity to the service of Almighty
God, by Archbishop Marechal, assisted by the Bishops of
Boston and Philadelphia. Not only was the fine altar that
graces this noble temple a present to Archbishop Mare
chal from his friends in Europe, but the two large paintings
which adorn its walls, and which are considered master
pieces of art, and other fine paintings hanging in the
cathedral, were sent as presents to him by high dignitaries
in Europe, by whom he was held in the highest esteem.
In October, 182 1, the Archbishop visited Rome on
business for his diocese. His love and solicitude for his
flock found frequent and warm expression in the letters
which he addressed to them from the Eternal City.
There, no less than at the courts of worldly princes, he
was received with profound respect and veneration, and
received many tributes to his great piety and learning.
On his return he was received by his flock with every
mark of filial affection and deep respect. They who en
joyed the benign influence of his example, the safe
guidance of his wise and learned counsels, and witnessed
his efforts to promote the interests of the American
Church at home, felt a commendable and honorable
pride in seeing that Church represented abroad by so
eminent and honored a Prelate.
Though by habit and taste a student, and fond of re
tirement, Archbishop Marechal never allowed these in
clinations to withdraw him from the active and zealous

250 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
discharge of his high and laborious functions. His visit
to Rome in 1821, his journey to Canada in 1826, in the
interests of the Church, and other arduous travels in
those days, when the conveniences of railroad and steam
boat locomotion were not enjoyed, prove the vigilance
and energy with which he gave his life and services to
the cause of religion.
After his return from Canada in 1826, he visited Em
mittsburg, Maryland, where he perceived the first symp
toms of the painful and distressing disease, dropsy of
the chest, which afterwards terminated his life. After
receiving this warning, he applied to the Holy See for
the appointment of a coadjutor Bishop, to assist him in
his labors and succeed him in the archiepiscopal chair,
and sent three names as worthy of this distinction,
amongst which was that of his successor, the Most Rev.
James Whitfield. In the mean time he continued to
discharge his arduous duties, notwithstanding the pro
gress of his disease, for more than a year afterwards.
He bore his sufferings with remarkable patience and
resignation, and saw the approach of death with perfect
composure and peace of mind. The appointment of a
coadjutor did not arrive till after his death. With resig
nation to the will of God, and with a heart overflowing
with charity for men, he expired January 29, 1828.
Universal and heartfelt were the honor paid to his
memory, and the respect exhibited for his mortal re
mains, as they were borne in solemn procession from old
St. Peter's Church for interment in the cathedral, Feb
ruary 2, 1828. Ecclesiastics and religious from various
parts of the country came to pay him the last sad
honors ; the widows and the orphans, persons of every
condition in life, and numerous organized societies, unite J

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 251
in the procession that followed the body of the deceased
Prelate through the thronged streets of Baltimore ; the
very house-tops are said to have been crowded with
earnest and respectful spectators of the passing cortege.
The estimation in which the good and great departed
were held by their contemporaries, is one of the best evi
dences of their exalted virtues, and of the services and
blessings which they bestowed upon society. It is with
this view that the following articles, published at the
time of his death, and sincerely expressive of the grief
of the Church at the loss of such a Prelate, and of the
people at the loss of such a pastor, are reproduced from
the publications of that day. A character which elicited
such sentiments, and which inspired the pen of the
chronicler and the muse of the poet with such enthusi
asm, must have been such as is rarely seen among men,
and such as, when produced on earth, give evidence of
the sanctity of the Church which is able to exhibit such
fruits. " Before the offering was laid on the altar, a voice broke
from the ebon-mantled chair, from which the divine com
mands are proclaimed to the faithful ; and, in the words
of St. Matthew, asked, ' Who, think you, is the servant,
faithful and wise, whom his Lord hath appointed to take
charge of his family ?' The Most Reverend Ambrose
Marechal, Archbishop of Baltimore, and administrator
of the diocese of Richmond.
"Blessed be that servant. Sighs, tears, smothered
sobs, the flutter of disconsolate hearts, told the widow
hood of our Church. The harp was on the willows of
our streams. Joy was found in grief, when the long
chain of virtue, usefulness, piety, religion, apostolical
zeal, wisdom matured, prudence ever wakeful, con-

252 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
summate knowledge, were seen linked for the peace of
saddened hearts. There lay the reverend Father of
God's people, once so amiable, so mild, so compas
sionate, so tender-hearted, so dignified, so learned, so
sincerely beloved by all. There he lay, now chilled by
the icy hand of death. There he lay ; whose soul was
an open repertory of charity, cheerfulness, urbanity, con
solation to the afflicted, light to the perplexed in any
maze whatever. There he lay, in spite of all that
grandeur of soul, soon to be stript even of the sullen
weeds of death, and to descend to the darkling, lonely,
subterranean cell, and sleep in dust, by the side of the
venerable John, patriarch of the American Catholic
Church. - Eternal peace receive him ! Who was more
truly honored in the midst of the people, when he came
forth into the sanctuary f He was as the morning star
in the midst of a cloud / as a moon at the full ' as the
sun shining in the temple of the Most High • as the
rainbow giving light in the bright clouds / as the flower
of roses in the spring of the year / as lilies by rivers of
water ' as the frankincense tree in the summer ' as fire
and incense in the censer ' as a vessel of gold set with
precious stones ; as a fair olive-tree budding forth
fruits • as a cypress, which groweth up to the clouds of
heaven. When he put on the robe of honor, and was
clothed with the perfection of honor — when he went up
to the holy altar, he made the garment of holiness honor
able. He stood by the altar compassed with his brethren
round about, as a young cedar on Libanus, and as palm-
trees compassed they him about. The ritual service for
the funeral obsequies of Archbishops was performed.
The body was borne to the vault and enclosed, all retired
in silence. Be his virtues the balm of our memory, the

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 253
delightful theme of our conversations ; our conduct
through life the counterpart of such a model." *
"Why droops in grief thy pensive head,
Solyma's mourning child ?
Why is thy hair dishevell'd spread ?
Why wander" st wan and wild ?
Art thou in widow's weeds arrayed ?
Or is thy grief the same
That on the childless Rachel prey"d ?
Oh ! give thy grief a name.
Alas ! good Ambrose is no more :
t The pastor, father, friend ;
Then well may Sion's child deplore
Poor mortal's hurried end.
When Fate has touched the slender thread
That binds us to this clay,
We soon are numbered with the dead,
No tears can cause our stay !
Oft in the midst of life and light
Death makes his victim's tomb, —
Sol rises oft in glory bright,
But sets in mist and gloom !
Then let thy tears, thou mourner, flow
For him who well may claim
The tribute of our tears and woe,
T' embalm his much-loved name.
His spirit pure has soar'd on high,
To mingle with the Just ;
But here the mortal part must be,
And pass to native dust." f
" In delineating the character of this eminent Prelate, it
would scarcely be possible to represent it in too favorable
a light. With talents of a superior order and acquire
ments of almost boundless extent, he united all those
* Catholic Miscellany, February 16, 1828.
fid., March 15, 1828.

254 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
amiable and engaging qualities which form the charm
of social intercourse. Always prepared for the discussion
of those topics that were advanced in his presence, he
never dismissed them without imparting clearer views to
the minds of his hearers. Besides thorough acquaintance
with the ecclesiastical sciences, his mind was stored with
an extensive knowledge of philosophy, history, and gen
eral literature. He had, likewise, made a profound study
of several branches of mathematics, and has left a num
ber of valuable manuscripts on those abstruse subjects.
Yet, with all those splendid qualifications, what modesty
and what simplicity ! His character moulded itself to
every species of society. In the company of the learned,
exhaustless treasures flowed spontaneously from his
richly-stored memory ; while the cordiality of his con
versation never gave the uneducated occasion to feel
their inferiority. Everywhere he was distinguished by
the same ease, the same dignity, the same episcopal de
corum. " His character appears to still greater advantage
when we advert to that tender and enlightened piety
which constituted the principle of all his actions. His
soul seemed to have been formed for virtue. He viewed
all the events of human life through the medium of re
ligion. Hence that perfect indifference to the things
that engage the most ardent pursuit of earthly interest
and ambition. Hence that liberality that shared so
largely a limited subsistence with the victims of poverty
and misfortune. Hence that paternal disposition, that
benignity of manner, by which he strove to win the
hearts of those who had been committed to his charge,
and to gain them all to Christ. Hence, in a word, that
constant fidelity in feeding the flock of God * * in

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D.D. 255
taking care of it, not by constraint, but willingly, accord
ing to God, neither for the sake of filthy lucre, but volun
tarily ; neither as domineering over the clergy, but being
made a pattern of the flock from the heart • wherefore
he hoped that when the Prince of Pastors would appear,
he should receive a never-fading crown of glory ! (1 Pe
ter, c. v.)"*
* Catholic Almanac, 1836.

RIGHT REV. JOHN BAPTIST DAVID, D.D...
Coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown, Ky., A.D. 1819.*
John Baptist Maria David was born in 1 761, in a small
town on the Loire, in France, between the cities of
Nantes and Angers. The truly religious and Catholic
character of the French people at this period, more espe
cially away from the large cities, and beyond the influences
of the infidel schools, strikes us the more forcibly in con
trast with the irreligious and depraved period which so
soon followed. The parents of Bishop David belonged
to that pious and pure-minded portion of the French
population which afforded so many instances of heroism
during the French Revolution. The duty of parents to
their children seemed to have been a well-taught lesson
in that age and country. Possessed of a competency
without affluence, these good parents were most solicitous
to give a proper education to their children, and spared
no pains or expense in accomplishing this important ob
ject. John Baptist gave early evidence of his corre
spondence with their wishes. At the age of seven years
he was placed under the care of an uncle, a pious priest,
who instructed him in the Latin and French languages,
and in music, for which he had a fondness. He was en
rolled as one of the enfants de chceur , or boys who served
at the altar and sang in the choir. Thus breathing from
childhood the atmosphere of the sanctuary, he grew up
in piety and goodness. At the age of fourteen his parents
* Authorities : Archbishop Spalding's Sketches of Kentucky, and Life of Bishop
Flaget ; Life of Mrs. Seton, by Rev. C. I, White, D.D., ete.', etc.

Right Rev. John Baptist David, D.D. 257
sent him to the College of the Oratorians, near by,
where his attention to study, his solid talents, piety, and
manliness of character, won for him the esteem of his
teachers and the friendship of his companions.
His desires from an early age inclined him to the
sanctuary, and now his wish to devote himself to the
service of God and his neighbor became so ardent that
his parents, only too proud to have their name and family
linked with the sacred office, sent him to the Diocesan
Seminary of Nantes, where he made great progress in
theology and other sacred studies. In 1778, in his
eighteenth year, he received ecclesiastical tonsure, and
two years later minor orders, from the hands of the
Bishop of Angers. In the mean time, he won with dis
tinction the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts. In
his twenty-second year he received the holy order of
subdeaconship, and regarded himself henceforth as
wholly dedicated to the service of God. Yielding to
the solicitations of one of the leading families of Nantes,
and the advice of his superiors, he undertook the in
struction, for several years, of the children of this family.
He was quite young himself, and while thus conferring
the greatest of blessings to youth, a Christian education,
upon others, he matured his own character by study and
experience. So grateful were his young friends and
pupils to him for his kind services, that nearly sixty
years afterwards, when Bishop Flaget was in France,
one of them came to inquire most earnestly of that Pre
late about his old preceptor. Mr. David was ordained
deacon in 1783, and shortly afterwards, having deter
mined to join the congregation of St. Sulpice, he went to
Paris and remained two years in retirement, prayer, and
study at Issy. His life as a seminarian was marked by
17

258 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
exemplary virtues, great punctuality in duty, observance
of the rule, and evident aptitude for his chosen vocation.
He was raised to the holy priesthood, September 24,
1785.. Early in 1786 he was sent by his superiors to
the Theological Seminary of the Sulpitians, at Angers,
where he remained four years as Professor of Philoso
phy, Theology, and Holy Scriptures. In these great
moral and sacred studies, he taught not only by learned
precept, but still more by the example of a pure and
holy life.
While thus engaged, the horrors of the Revolution
broke upon his beloved country, and the institutions of
St. Sulpice, like everything else that was venerable and
good, were broken up and the professors hunted down.
Mr. David took shelter in a private family devoted to
the cause of religion and the Church, where he spent his
hours in study and prayer, hoping that the storm would
pass. But the fury of the scourge increased ; his dis
covery would be speedy and certain death to himself and
his generous protectors ; he longed, too, for more active
and useful labors, and finally resolved, with the advice of
his superiors, to devote himself to the American mission.
In 1792 he accordingly embarked for the United States,
in company with the Rev. Messrs. Flaget and Badin,
future ornaments, like himself, of the American Church.
During the voyage he applied himself so industriously
to the study of English, that he had overcome its prin
cipal difficulties when it terminated. " This is but one
of a long chain of facts," says Archbishop Spalding,
"which prove that he made it an invariable rule never to
be idle, and never to lose a moment of his precious
time." He afterwards so thoroughly mastered the lan
guage, that no one could detect in his speech the least

Right Rev. John Baptist David, D.D. 259
foreigri accent, a striking proof of the earnestness with
which he dedicated himself to the missions of this
country. It was not long after his arrival at Baltimore, that
Bishop Carroll found him able to go on the mission, and
sent him to attend several Catholic corigregations in the
lower counties of Maryland. His first sermon Was not
only well understood, but produced great effect amongst
his hearers. He had an ample field before him in the
three congregations which he attended, for piety had
grown cold and practice negligent among the descend
ants of the old Catholic pilgrims of Maryland. He la
bored zealously and successfully for the revival of relig
ion among them. He commenced regular courses of
instruction in the form of Spiritual Retreats, and was the
first clergyman in the United States who resorted to
this salutary method of "renewing the hearts of the
faithful." He gave four retreats a year to each of his
congregations : the first was for the benefit of the mar
ried men ; the second for that of the married women ;
the third and fourth for that of the boys and girls ; to
each of which classes he gave separate sets of instruc
tions, suitable to their respective conditions and capaci
ties. These retreats were a great success ; few attended
at first ; but to these few he preached with as much earn
estness and zeal as if they were many, esteeming a
benefit to one soul worthy of the best efforts of the min
ister of God. Those who heard him reported their im
pressions to those who held back, and soon his retreats
were attended by the entire congregations. His dis
courses were plain in style, but thorough in their matter
and earnest in their spirit, and afford a proof that elo
quence is not essential for reaching the hearts of men,

260 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
provided the heart of the speaker is in his work, and in
dustry and zeal combine with wisdom, charity, and love.
" Great were the effects," says the same venerable
author already quoted,* " and most abundant the fruits,
of M. David's labors on the missions of Maryland. On
his arrival among them, he found his congregations cold,
and neglectful of their religious duties ; he left them
fervent and exemplary. Piety everywhere revived; the
children and servants made their first communion ; the
Older members of the congregations became regular com
municants. Few that were instructed by him could soon
forget their duty ; so great was the impression he left,
and so thorough was the course of instruction he gave.
To the portion of Maryland in which he thus signalized
his zeal he bequeathed a rich and abundant legacy
of spiritual blessings, which was destined to descend
from generation to generation ; and the good people
of those parts still exhibit traces of this zeal, and still
pronounce his name with reverence and gratitude."
In 1804 Bishop Carroll recalled him from the mission,
to supply an indispensable demand at Georgetown Col
lege, where he ably and zealously discharged the duties
of Professor for two years. In 1806 the Order of St.
Sulpice at Baltimore, of which society he had became a
member in France, expressed a desire to secure his
valuable services at their Theological Seminary and Col
lege of St. Mary's in that city. He obeyed the call of
his community, and repaired to the assistance of his
brethren. For five years he continued his useful occu
pations in connection with these institutions, and in
various offices contributed greatly to their prosperity
and reputation. While thus engaged he was appointed,
* Sketches of Kentucky, p. 220.

Right Rev. John Baptist David, D.D. 261
on the resignation of Rev. Mr. Dubourg, to the important
and responsible office of Ecclesiastical Superior of the
Sisters of Charity. The following extract from his letter
to Mother Seton, in 1809, on the occasion of the death
of her sister, Harriet Seton, is an appropriate evidence
of his friendship for that eminent lady and her commu
nity, and of his forcible manner in giving advice and
consolation : " Crosses, privations, and afflictions," he
writes to Mother Seton in her bereavement, " seem to
be the lot which our blessed Lord has apportioned for
your soul. Courage, my dear Mother ! these are the
precious jewels with which the Divine Spouse is pleased
to adorn his bride. They are the most valuable earnest
of his love and sweet pledges of his future liberalities.
Our dear Harriet is not dead, but lives to her God. In
lamenting her loss for us, I cannot forbear looking upon
her death as a happy event for herself. From what
storms and dangers is she not delivered ! Perhaps God
foresaw that, if she had lived, the persecutions and
allurements of a wicked world would have shaken her
constancy, and caused her to forsake her good resolu
tions. Let us adore the unsearchable, but always wise
and merciful, ways of Providence ; and let us more than
ever convince ourselves that Jesus wishes to be the sole
possessor of our hearts, and would have His spouses,
above all others, to abandon themselves with perfect
resignation into His hands, casting away all anxious
cares, leaving entirely to Him the choice of the good or
evils that are to befall them, with a total abnegation of
their own interest and a full reliance on the care of His
providence, having no other thought, in troublesome
and painful encounters, than to submit lovingly to what
ever God will be pleased to ordain. The soul, in this

262 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
state of resignation, fears neither sickness nor poverty,
desires neither health nor riches, but simply applies to
the service of her Master, according to the word of our
Lord to. a beloved spouse of His : ' Take care of Me, and
I will of thee.' How precious are the fruits of this
resignation ! It makes the soul the dwelling of peace,
joy, and liberty, which are the true fruits of the Divine
Spirit."* His relations as Spiritual Director, to the
Sisters of Charity were those of a true father to his
children ; his counsel and advice were of invaluable service
to them. The virtues he most inculcated were simplicity
and obedience ; virtues, for which he was himself dis
tinguished. He told them that "obedience is better than
sacrifice ; " that " the true spirit of religion is the spirit
of infancy, which knows no disguise." The second re
treat of the community, which commenced October 8,
18 10, was conducted by him. It was regarded as a
great loss to the good Sisters when his services were
transferred to another field.
In 1 8 10 Bishop Flaget passed through Baltimore on
his way to his new diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky.
Father David, though more than fifty years old, and
with health impaired by his labors, had volunteered to
accompany his venerable friend to the West, to share
his toils, hardships, and privations. Both Bishop Flaget
and, Mr. Emery, the Superior General of the Sulpkians,
approved of this plan, and the latter had designated Fa
ther David as Superior of the new theological seminary to
be commenced at Bardstown. "And he could not have
chosen a more suitable person," says Archbishop Spald-
ing,f "than the Rev. M. David, for carrying this .-excel-
* Life of Mrs. Seton, by Rev. C. I. White, D.D.
\ Life of Bis/i p Flaget, by Archbishop Spalding. , .

Right Rev. John Baptist David, D.D. 263
lent plan into execution. Reared in seminaries and
colleges from his earliest youth, zealous, laborious,
learned, and regular in all his habits, M. David was the
very man for founding and conducting with success a
theological seminary. For doing this he was, besides,
blessed with a peculiar talent, and he entered on the
task with all the ardor of his soul. The infant Seminary
became the object of all his thoughts — the idol of his
heart. The founder of our diocesan Seminary, he
became the father of most of the present secular
clergy of Kentucky. Long and deeply will they rev
erence the memory, and with tender love and grati
tude will they continue to pronounce the name of Father
David." The good Bishop, accompanied by Father David, a
priest from Canada, a subdeacon and two laymen, can
didates for the new Seminary, started westward early in
181 1, and Father David wrote of the expedition, "The
boat on which we descended the Ohio became the cra
dle of our Seminary and of the Church of Kentucky."
The new Seminary was a small cabin, in which the semi
narians resided, while Father David resided in a small
extension of the main cabin. The Seminary was founded
at Bardstown, and flourished under Father David's wise
and zealous management; it was afterwards removed to
the farm left to Bishop Flaget by Mr. Hamilton. The
young seminarians corresponded cordially with Father
David's views, and imbibed his spirit. Their life was
one of privation, hardship, and labor, in the midst of
which they pursued their theological studies with cheer
fulness and zeal. They all united in building Bishop
Flaget's new Church of St. Thomas; making brick,
cutting timber, mixing the mortar, and spending their

264 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
recreation from study in tilling the soil and in other kinds
of manual labor. After several years, they succeeded in
building a Seminary thirty feet square, in which, besides
their own seminarians, they accommodated for a year
twelve ecclesiastics of the diocese of New Orleans then
waiting for the arrival of Bishop Dubourg, who was ex
pected with twenty-three other, companions. "These,"
says Father David, " will be lodged with difficulty ; but
our hearts will dilate with joy ; and these good mission
aries will perform with us an apprenticeship of the apos
tolic life."
As Superior of the Seminary Father David was a rigid
disciplinarian, but he was the first to practice discipline
himself. Master of the interior life, he led his semi
narians to aspire to Christian perfection. He was inde
fatigable in his teachings and labors. He also set them
the example of every virtue, but especially of humility,
in acknowledging his faults in public with tears, and
begging pardon of those he might have offended. Not
content with the labors of the Seminary, he extended his
zeal to the people of the neighboring country. He was
for several years pastor of St. Thomas', and attended
several neighboring stations on Thursdays. Constant
labor was his delight. His frankness made him pecu
liarly acceptable among the people of Kentucky, them
selves a candid and sincere people, and enabled him to
accomplish much good among them.
Father David was also the founder of the Sisters of
Charity in Kentucky ; he located them at first in a log-
house, which was afterwards extended by the addition
of a log wing built by the seminarians for the Sisters.
He organized their community, gave them retreats, pre
pared their rules, and acted by the appointment of Bishop

Right Rev. John Baptist David, D.D. 265
Flaget, as their spiritual director. The Sisters of Charity
are greatly indebted to him for his labors in behalf
of their infant establishment, for promoting its growth
and maturity, and for their subsequent and present pros
perity and success.
During the vacancy of the See of Philadelphia, caused
by the death of Bishop Egan, Father David was pro
posed and nominated to Rome as Bishop of that diocese ;
but his humility would not allow him to accept, and he
wrote to the Propaganda, begging them not to think of
him. But his exemption from the episcopal dignity and
responsibility was not of long duration. In 18 18 Bishop
Flaget's Cathedral at Bardstown was in progress, and he
became desirous of removing his residence thither ; but
he was also desirous of being surrounded by his semi
narians, whom he greatly loved. Father David, in com
pliance with his wishes, took up his residence at Bards
town with the seminarians. Bishop Flaget, weighed
down by his labors and many solicitudes, and being fre
quently absent from his episcopal city, while visiting his
diocese, petitioned the Holy See, in 181 7, to appoint his
bosom friend and intimate associate, Father David, to
be his coadjutor in the episcopacy. Though several
years older than the Bishop, Father David was now in
robust health, active and laborious. The request of the
Bishop was readily granted ; .but Father David was re
luctant to accept the proffered honor. Obedince, how
ever, had been his great precept to others, and he finally
yielded to the wishes of his two superiors, the Holy
Father and Bishop Flaget. But such was his holy
poverty, true successor of the Apostles, that he had not
the necessary means to prepare for his consecration,
which was thus delayed for two years. He was conse-

266 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
crated by Bishop Flaget in his new Cathedral, in the
presence of a vast assembly, on the feast of the Assump
tion, 1819, as Bishop of Mauricastro in partibus / two
of the oldest clergymen of the diocese assisting, in con
sequence of the inability to secure the attendance of two
other Bishops. After his consecration his life was sim
ple, humble, and laborious as before. His labors in the
Seminary continued unabated, and he associated with his
seminarians as their father, and shared with them his
recreations, his table, and all he had. His early fond
ness, for music still remained, and he spared no pains in
forming the Cathedral choir, was a rigid adherent of the
old Gregorian Chant, upon which he would allow no in
novations, and for many years he supplied the place of
organist and leader of the choir himself. He was for
many years after his consecration Chief Pastor of the
Cathedral, and in this position performed all the labor of
missionary priest. He attended to sick calls, preached,
and heard confessions, and was so scrupulous of his time,
that he was never known to lose a moment. It was in
the confessional that he was most impressive, and,
though a good preacher and admirable teacher, he was
pre-eminent as a confessor. At the same time, he dis
charged the varied duties of Coadjutor Bishop and Supe
rior of the Seminary and of the Sisters of Charity. After
devoting himself for sixteen years to the Seminary,
he was finally compelled, by his many occupations and
advancing years, to resign that charge into younger
hands. Not long after his consecration he was so situ
ated as to be compelled to defend Catholic doctrines in
a public oral discussion at the Court House against the
attacks of a Presbyterian minister named Hall. He was
averse to public oral discussions, but the interests of re-

Right Rev. John Baptist David, D.D. 267
ligion required it, and he is said to have conducted his
part of the discussion in so calm, dignified, and convincing
a manner, as to be ever afterwards exempt from similar
challenges. In 1823 the College of Bardstown was
unanimously raised by the Legislature of Kentucky to the
rank of an University, and Bishop David was its Presi
dent. He wrote and published several learned and pow
erful defences of Catholic doctrines ; among which was
his " Vindication of the Catholic Doctrine concerning
the Use and Veneration of Images, the Honor and Invo
cation of Saints, and the Keeping and Honoring of
their Relics ; " and his celebrated " Address to his breth
ren of other professions, On the Rule of Faith." He
also wrote for the Catholic press, and published several
translations from the French.
He spent over twenty years in the episcopacy, and
throughout all that time, as when a priest, he was untir
ing, zealous, and devout ; humble, simple, and frank ; vigi
lant, courageous, and energetic. His labors and exam
ple had a great influence in introducing and extending
religion in Kentucky ; and the priests whom he trained
for the sacred offices have proved themselves amongst
the most learned, zealous, and laborious of the country.
His death, in his eighty-first year, the fifty-sixth of his
priesthood, and twenty-second of his episcopacy, oc
curred July 12, 1841. It was in keeping with his life:
calm, resigned, devout, and hopeful ; supported by his
unswerving love of his Creator.
" Gifted in an eminent degree with the spirit of prayer,
he was always united with God in all his actions. He
labored not for men, but God ; not for earth, but for
heaven. His ambition aspired to a heavenly crown of
unfading glory ; he spurned all else." *
* Sketches of Kentucky, by Archbishop Spalding.

RIGHT REV. PATRICK KELLY, D.D.,
First Bishop of Richmond, A.D. 1820.*
Bishop Kelly was a native of Ireland. He was for
many years Professor, and at the time of his appointment
as Bishop, President of Birchfield College, near Kil
kenny. In 1820 the Catholics of Norfolk, Virginia, and
those of Charleston, South Carolina, petitioned the Holy
See for the erection of Episcopal Sees in those States.
By Apostolic letters, bearing date July 11, 1820, the
Holy See erected Virginia into a diocese, with its See at
Richmond, and appointed Dr. Kelly its first Bishop.
He was consecrated in the parish chapel of St. Mary,
Kilkenny, in the diocese of Ossory, August 24, the feast
of St. Bartholomew, by the Most Rev. Dr. Troy, Arch
bishop of Dublin, assisted by Right Rev. Dr. Murray,
Coadjutor of Dublin, and the Right Rev. Dr. Marum,
Bishop of Ossory. He was present afterwards as one
of the assistant Prelates, at the consecration of Bishop
England, of Charleston. He arrived at Norfolk, where
he designed to reside in consequence of the greater
number of Catholics there, on January 19, 1821, and on
the following Sunday published his authority in the usual
manner. There was one church at Norfolk, built about the year
1809. This was the first Cathedral of Virginia. There
were six other churches in the diocese ; one at each of
the following places, viz. : Portsmouth, Richmond, Mar-
* Authorities : Catholic Almanacs, 1822 and 1839 ; De Courcy and Shea's Catholic
Church in the United States • Catholic Miscellany, Vol. 3, etc., etc.

Right Rev. John Kelly, D.D. 269
tinsburgh, Winchester, Bath, and Shepherdstown ; the
last four were attended by clergymen from Maryland;
but Bishop Kelly earnestly endeavored to provide for
them a resident pastor located at Winchester.
There was not a Catholic school in the diocese, though
many of the teachers in the State were Catholics. Such
was the poverty of the Bishop, that he was compelled
to open a school, conducted by himself, at Norfolk, in or
der to gain a livelihood.
His labors in the mean time were indefatigable, and he
did much for the good of his flock. He performed, in
addition to his teaching, all the duties of a missionary.
He found himself unable to supply the spiritual wants of
his sparse flock in so large a diocese. The great Cum
berland Road was then under construction, and quite a
number of Catholic laborers were engaged on it. Some
more wealthy Catholic Irishmen were attracted thither
by probable opportunities of obtaining contracts on the
road, and settled in Wheeling, through which the road
passed. So wild and unimproved was the country at
that time, that these Catholics did not even know to
what quarter to apply for spiritual aid, until directed to
Bishop Kelly, who made every effort to supply their'
wants. The Rev. Mr. O'Brien, then stationed at Pitts
burgh, was the first priest, who occasionally visited
Wheeling, and after his removal to Kentucky, Bishop
Kelly gave the necessary authority to the Rev. Mr.
Maguire to erect a church at Wheeling, where the Cath
olics, though few, were very zealous. In the eastern
part of the State little was to be done, in consequence
of the fewness of Catholics, and the field seemed not
ready for cultivation. The Holy See, in consequence
of Bishop Kelly's declining health and great merits,

270 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
translated him to his native country, and to the Episcopal
See of Waterford arid Lismore, whither he returned in
July, 1822. -The See of Richmond, Virginia, was placed
under the administration of Archbishop Marechal, who
always regarded this dismemberment of his diocese as
premature. Bishop Kelly administered the diocese of
Waterford and Lismore for seven years with ability and
zeal, and was venerated as a holy Bishop. He died
October 8, 1829.

En^liy R.Tj-utajiiiyJ T$.~C.

KIT WMWo $@ism ffilT®-H_^HB,in)oI®=

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Biinisliedtiv- -F.if-'O'i, i, New-orit

RIGHT REV. JOHN ENGLAND, D.D.,
First Bishop of Charleston, A.D. 1820.*
Bishop England has been called "the light of the
American Hierarchy." His profound learning, vigor of
thought, energy of action, irresistible eloquence, religious
zeal and fervor, talents for administration, and enlighten
ed enterprise, made his influence and usefulness in ec
clesiastical affairs very great. He was also distinguished
•for the dazzling qualities of mind and heart that make up
the citizen and the patriot. Had his lot been cast among
the first ages of Christianity, or in the Ages of Faith, or
in the times of the so-called Reformation, he would have
ranked among the foremost men and heroes of heroic
times. John England was born at Cork, Ireland, September
23, 1786. His boyhood was in the days of his country's
trial and persecution ; and the wrongs he saw and suffer
ed made a lasting impression upon his mind and charac
ter, and influenced greatly the conduct of his entire life.
His parents were respectable people, possessed of a
worldly competency, and belonged to the great mass of
the Irish Catholics who suffered so severely at the hands
of England, in their faith, goods, liberty, peace, and po
litical rights. His grandfather was among those who
went to prison for his faith and his honor; and as the
patriot entered his cell, his wife, stripped of the last rem
nant of land and goods, and carried in her last illness
* Authorities : Memoir of Bishop England, by Wm. George Read, and other notices,
published in the Bishop's Works ; Catholic Magazines and Metropolitans, etc. etc.

272 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
under the roof of a kind neighbor, died, and was buried
by strangers. Their oldest son, then in his seven
teenth year, became a parent to his four brothers and
sisters, whom he supported by teaching school. But
it was then unlawful for a " Papist " to teach even the
neutral science of geometry, though his generous efforts
were designed to relieve his father and little brothers and
sisters. There were not wanting informers to prompt
the government ; he was, however, in consequence of
his youth, allowed an opportunity of extricating himself
from the punishment denounced against his offence,
which was transportation, by swearing before the Prot
estant Bishop that he did not believe in the doctrines
of Transubstantiation, Penance, and the Invocation of
Saints. But to him death would have been preferable
to perjury. He succeeded in making his escape to the
mountains, where the charity of those whose children
he instructed stealthily enabled him to subsist. After a
year he secretly returned to the city, gradually got into
employment as a larid surveyor, supported his family of
father, brothers, and sisters, and finally succeeded in re
leasing his father from an imprisonment which had last
ed four years. The American Declaration of Independ
ence, and the success which attended the efforts of the
American patriots, tended to mitigate somewhat the
cruelty of England to Ireland, and this young patriot
son succeeded in building up a home, a farriily, and a
competency. John England was the eldest son of such a father, and
inherited, in a great degree, his parent's faith, fidelity,
and courage. The school of persecution, in which they
were nurtured, directed the hearts of Mr. England's
children to lofty and holy aspirations ; for his own family

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 273
contributed two priests and one religious to the Church.
Young England was trained up by his parents in the
most tender piety. When they approached the sacred
tribunal of penance, they were accompanied by their
little children, and after these had made their first com
munion, they all regularly knelt and received together
"the bread of angels." In the afflicted condition of his
country at that time, young John England had to attend
the school of a Protestant teacher : it was a choice be
tween this and no school at all. Here his young soul
was subjected to persecution for his faith ; for the bigoted
teacher used to apply to him, publicly before the whole
school, the insulting but truly glorious title of " the little
Papist" and thus expose him to the contempt of his as
sociates. With his natural loftiness of character, it was
difficult for the young Catholic to bear these insults ; but
he proved then, as he did in his after life, the truth of
the inspired maxim, " It is good for a man, when he hath
borne the yoke from his youth." Many years afterwards,
when a priest, and just as he was entering a church to
offer up the holy sacrifice, Mr. England suddenly met
this persecutor of his childhood : at once the memory
of a long chain of injuries flashed upon him, and the
spirit of natural resentment seemed to choke his soul ;
but he was then a minister of the God of love and
charity, — he rushed into the temple, fell upon his
knees, and, though the struggle was a hard and
bitter one, his prayer triumphed ; he ascended the altar
with his gift, and was at peace with his neighbor and
himself, and with his Creator.
The profession of law was young England's first at
tempt at practical business life. He entered the office
of an eminent barrister, under whom he pursued his
18

274 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
legal studies for two years. The beneficial effects of
these studies were ever afterwards apparent in his public
life. His practical intuition into human motives and con
duct, his ability in administration, his subtle logic, ready
wisdom, and close powers of .argument, were all greatly
traceable to his legal studies. But the designs of Provi
dence, and his own pious inclinations, soon attracted this
noble youth to the sanctuary. When once asked by a
friend in this country, "how a temperament so ardent,
and talents so eminently adapted to civic or military pur
suits, could have found their way to the sanctuary?" he
answered that, "though she never told him of it till after
his ordination, his mother took him to the temple, in his
infancy, and offered him to God." -As an evidence that
God accepted the offering, and prepared the heart of the
young Levite, it may be mentioned that it was himself
that, in response to his father's solicitude in calling his
attention to the subject of choosing a profession, made
known first his unalterable purpose of dedicating him
self to God. His excellent parents encouraged him in
this noble resolution, and soon afterwards, at his own
request, and with the approval of his Bishop, he was
placed at the Theological College of Carlow. Here his
piety grew with his rapid progress in his studies. Pro
fessors and companions admired his shining talents, his
fine bearing, and his sincere devotion. In after life, he
often recurred with gratitude to his professors at Carlow,
and especially commended their wisdom in instillino- so
deeply into the souls of their students a solid and inde
pendent spirit of religion, that when they entered the
world, and were no longer surrounded and fortified by
the presence of preceptors, and the encouragements of
sodalities and other pious influences, they could still per-

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 275
severe undaunted in the profession and practice of re
ligion. In the second year after his entrance into
Carlow, he delivered catechetical instructions in the
chapel for the children, but theywere so attractive that
they soon were attended «by throngs of adults from the
neighborhood. He also devoted much of his time for
recreation to the instruction of the Cork Militia, then
stationed at Carlow. In this he met with opposition
from some bigots, who procured a court-martial to try
those who attended, which resulted in the approval of
the ministry of this young apostle. He also left behind
him at Carlow enduring monuments of his zeal and be
nevolence. He there founded an asylum for unprotected
females, which afterwards suggested the plan of the
Presentation Convent. He also established " schools
for the free and correct education of poor boys." So
much were his talents appreciated at this early period,
before he was formally admitted to the degree of a licen
tiate in theology, that the Bishop of Carlow employed
him in the delivery of moral lectures in his Cathedral
during Lent. But the venerable Bishop of Cork, Dr.
Moylan, in 1808, recalled him to his own diocese, and
appointed the student of theology President of the Dio
cesan Theological Seminary at Cork. Dr. Moylan had
already obtained a dispensation permitting Mr. England
to be raised to the priesthood, before attaining the ca
nonical age of twenty-five. On the 9th of October,
1808, he conferred deaconship upon him, and on the
following day ordained him a priest. The Bishop an
nounced from the altar that he had appointed Mr. Eng
land to lecture in the Cathedral on the Old and New
Testament. It was in this position that he matured and
perfected that brilliant and irresistible pulpit oratory

276 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
which instructed, electrified, and subdued thousands,
both in his native and his adopted countries.
He was also appointed chaplain to the prisons of Cork,
and in these sad schools "he became intimately versed in
the political misery of his countrymen, and the diabolical
machinations by which their tyrants tortured, degraded,
plundered, and enslaved them." His own generous mind
alone remembered, and his own eloquent tongue alone
could describe, the scenes of woe and suffering he wit
nessed in these political prisons. But the relation now
of two of these scenes will suffice to recall the good re
sults and efficacy of his ministry. On entering one day
a cell on his round of visits, he beheld a fellow-creature
raving in despair : he heard the most frightful impreca
tions, now against himself, now against the treacherous
government that had betrayed him ; he seemed on the
verge of the wildest insanity. The soothing voice of
Christian sympathy, so unusual in such places, at first
startled and surprised, but having chained his attention,
it soothed the troubled spirit, and soon the prisoner was
pouring forth his tale of misery to his kind visitor. It
was a long and sad story ; suffice it to say, he had so long
been employed in the secret service of the government,
that he became possessed of too many of its dark secrets —
he was decoyed, betrayed, imprisoned, and his fate was
sealed. Mr. England, with his knowledge of law and
clear perception of the case the prisoner related, assured
him there was hope of his making a successful defence,
and promised to return the following day with counsel to
take his case. The government heard of this interview ;
when the priest and the counsel repaired to the jail the
following day, the prisoner had been spirited away. Many
years afterwards, when Bishop of Charleston, Dr. Eno--

Right Rev. John England, D.D.

'¦/l

land heard from the prisoner, who had been sent to a
remote part of India, and though he would never see
again his native country, his heart had arisen above de
spair, and he lived in the hope of one day seeing the
heavenly country of eternal liberty and unalloyed delight.
On another occasion he visited a noble youth, who
was the only support of his widowed mother ; his pre
vious life was blameless, and still more, remarkable for
piety: he had been inveigled into robbing a government
arsenal of some arms ; it was an act rather of political
retaliation, than of robbery ; he was arrested, convicted,
and condemned to death. The ministry of Mr. England
was offered ; the young man was erroneously led to be
lieve that the forfeit of his life left him the owner of the
arms, which were still concealed, and their location made
known only to his mother, who also claimed that by the
same title he could make them hers. Mr. England, on
the other hand, was bound to require the restitution of
the arms, as a condition for giving absolution. The
prisoner openly avowed to all his determination not to
restore them. The ministry of the chaplain was ineffec
tual, he departed from the prison, and the preparations
were made for the execution. At length the day for the
execution came, the fatal cord was placed around the neck
of the prisoner, who went undaunted to die like a man •
he did not then know how impossible it is to die like a
man, unless one dies like a Christian. Mr. England,
who knew well how to adopt means suited to each oc
casion in life, at that moment stood before the prisoner,
his eye penetrating the soul and his voice striking ter
ror, he said, " Stop, sir ! you shall not go to hell for half
an hour yet!" " How could you speak so to a dying
man ?" said the prisoner. " You know," said the priest,

278 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
" I speak the truth, and that I should not do my duty if
I did not." The brave heart was moved, and the strong
will was bended — the veil of the confessional now drop
ped between the world and the priest with his penitent —
all that we know is that the victim came forth from that
tribunal a penitent, and died like a Christian.
Mr. England's personal knowledge and association with
the wrongs of his countrymen made him a patriot, not
only in sentiment, but in act and deed. He saw in
those wrongs a persecution against religion and the
Church, and hence it was that he was forced to become
a defender and protector of his persecuted country and
Church. Those who might feel disposed to censure his
course in this respect, and to regard it as an unbecoming
meddling of the priest with politics, will find an ample
answer and defence to their censure in the circumstances
and motives alluded to above. It was with this motive
that, against the advice of his friends, he purchased and
became the editor of the " Cork Mercantile Chronicle,"
the failing organ of the liberal party, and with this
weapon, opposed the subsidizing of the Irish clergy by
the British Government, until the odious measure was
defeated ; it was with this motive that he used his paper
to correct the mistaken views of the liberal party itself,
which had become tainted with the errors of the French
Revolution, and at the same time to expose and denounce
the horrible state of the Irish prisons and the savage
treatment of the unfortunate transports. In this last ser
vice to his country, " He gave to the world the truth, ' says
one of his biographers,* " and nothing but the truth, and
for this he was mulcted for a libel in the round sum of

* Memoir of Bishop England, by Wm. George Read, Esq.

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 279
five hundred pounds sterling. But gold and silver he
had none • the cell in which his grandfather had been
incarcerated for teaching the elements of Euclid must
be the priest's state-room until the fine shall have been
paid." It was with the above motives that he exerted
himself, and to this end accepted the position of chair
man to manage the election on the part of the liberals,
to procure the registry of the liberal voters, the supres-
sion of bribery, and the independence of the ballot-
box. Mr. England was on intimate terms with the illustrious
O'Connell ; Ireland may well be proud of her great
peaceful " Agitator," and of her Patriot Priest. It is re
lated that on one occasion, during the absence of the
reverend editor of the Chronicle, Mr. O'Connell went
with the freedom of friendship into the editorial office and
wrote a scorching article. The government resented
the offence ; the only person in the office who could
identify Mr. O'Connoll's handwriting was a Protestant
journeyman, but the government found him " true as
steel " to the secrets of the establishment ; the law held
the editor responsible in the absence of proof as to the
real author, but, by a providential slip, the license had ex
pired the day before the article appeared, and was not
renewed until the day after, so the editor escaped ; in
this quandary the Protestant journeyman was arrested and
thrown in prison. During his imprisonment his family
were supported by the liberals, until they, catching a
hint that the prisoner was only detained in order thus to
exhaust their scanty means, cut off the supplies to the
man's family ; and immediately the prisoner was released.
While Catholic Emancipation in Ireland was chiefly
accomplished by Mr. O'Connell's eloquent voice, the

280 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
same cause was greatly promoted by Dr. England's
powerful pen.
But his civil occupations were the mere pastimes for
the hours he could spare from his more sacred duties.
The former never interfered with the latter. In 1812,
Dr. Moylan appointed Mr. England President of the
Diocesan Seminary of St. Mary, designed for the col
legiate and theological course of young candidates for
the holy ministry. In 1813 he performed the principal
part of the ministerial functions growing out of the
Jubilee granted by the Holy Father to the Catholics of
Cork, on the completion of their new cathedral. On one
occasion he was, by an apparently miraculous interposi
tion, saved from death in a violent snow-storm, which he
attempted to breast in his anxiety to press forward to the
post where duty called him. The venerable and excel
lent Bishop Moylan was exceedingly attached to Mr.
England, and resisted the most strenuous and repeated
efforts made to secure his services in other fields. Even
to Mr. England's intimations that he wished to be sent
to a more active and useful post of duty, the good
Bishop always replied that he could never consent to
part with him. In 181 5 Mr. England sustained the loss
of this venerable and saintly friend, who, ripe in years
and merits, went to his eternal reward.
On the death of Bishop Moylan, the Right Rev. Dr.
Murphy succeeded as Bishop of Cork. This Prelate ap
pointed Dr. England, in 18 17, parish priest of the parish
of Bandon, the seat of such bitter prejudice and bigotry,
that by an inscription over its entrance, " The Turk, the
Atheist, and the Jew" were welcomed, but "the Papist"
was warned to keep away. Mr. England entered there
a " Papist," it is true, but also as a minister of peace.

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 281
While he announced the truths of Catholicity with his
matchless eloquence, his conciliating manner, high Chris
tian charity, and manly frankness, united men of every
shade of opinion, and won for himself universal confi
dence and respect. An occurrence on this mission will
illustrate his characteristic and courageous devotion to
duty. He was summoned in the dead hour of night to
a distant sick call, through a dangerous country, and in
a most bigoted neighborhood. Though he suspected
evil, he obeyed the call of duty ; arrived safely by a cir
cuitous route at the bedside of the dying penitent, and
in the midst of danger and hostility from the family, con
ferred all the last consolations of religion, and cheered
the parting soul onward to the portals of the heavenly
paradise. He saw at once the plan by which he was to
be murdered. Following the same faithful guidance, he
gained the highroad at a point beyond the hiding-place
of the concealed conspirators, and, as he pressed forward
with undaunted cheerfulness, he "gave them the good-
morrow, as the dawn was breaking, with that cheering
glee and merry triumph that few but an Irishman can feel
in the very presence of his intended assassins." His
mission at Bandon was productive of the happiest re
sults, for we are told that "six years' incessant labor, his
benevolence, his great powers of mind, his liberality,
and peculiarly happy manner of explaining the principles
of his religion, enabled the young priest to remove the
existing prejudices, and bring together in a social band
of brotherhood the Catholics and Protestants of the
town and district of Bandon."
Dr. England's name had already been mentioned by
some of the Irish Bishops in connection with the epis
copal dignity. While he did not shrink from a position

282 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
so becoming to his talents and usefulness, he declared
that he would never wear a mitre in any country that
was subject to the British flag. The American Union
had in the mean time been expanding into a great and
powerful Republic, and the Church in America had more
than kept pace with the country : there many of his
countrymen had found refuge from British oppression,
and the British flag was never to float over its vast ex
panse again. In the multiplication of episcopal sees in
the United States that of Charleston was now created,
and Dr. England was nominated and appointed its first
Bishop. He had previously, at Carlow, made a private
consecration of himself to the Almighty for a foreign
mission, under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. He accepted the appointment, and thenceforth
all his thoughts, all his affections, seemed to centre in
America. So thoroughly American did his feelings from
that moment become, that the usual oath of allegiance
administered at their consecration to Bishops who were
British subjects was positively declined by him. He in
tended as an American Prelate to become an American
citizen as soon as the laws would permit, and regarded
the oath as repugnant to the new allegiance of his choice.
The consecrating Bishop at first hesitated about omitting
this customary ceremony, but finding the Bishop elect
determined to seek consecration elsewhere, before he
would yield this point, consented to the omission. Bishop
England was consecrated at the parish church of St.
Finbar's, in his native city, September 21, 1820, by the
Right Rev. Dr. Murphy, Bishop of Cork, assisted by
Dr. Marum, Bishop of Ossory, and Dr. Kelly, Bishop
of Richmond, Virginia. Accompanied by his youngest
sister, who resolved to share his perils and privations, he

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 283
embarked from Belfast, and, after a tempestuous and dan
gerous voyage, arrived at Charleston December 30, 1820.
The new diocese of Charleston embraced the States
of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. These
States had been settled by English Protestants, who
brought with them the prejudices of their age and coun
try, which were not at all mitigated by the presence of
the Huguenots, who were afterwards added to the popu
lation of those States. At the time of our Revolution,
there were comparatively but few Catholics in the United
Colonies, and these had an insufficient ministry. That
the people of those States held the usual prejudices of
Protestants, we know from the account we have re
ceived of the tarring and feathering of two Irish Catho
lics at Charleston, in 1775, accused of conspiring with
the negroes against the liberties of the country. The
toleration of the Catholic religion in the neighboring
colony of Canada, was one of the charges against
George III., and that monarch and his ministers were
"shown forth in the same city as under the influence of
the Pope and the devil, and in their joint keeping."
These impressions concerning Catholics placed, and for
some years retained, in the statute books of these States,
laws disqualifying Catholics from holding office ; but
these blots upon our State escutcheons have, with per
haps the only exception of New Hampshire, long since
disappeared. The Methodists and Episcopalians were
the controlling sects in the Carolinas and Georgia.
The first celebration of the Holy Mass in Charleston
was by an Italian priest in 1786, chaplain on a ship bound
for South America, which had put into the port for a
short time. The few Catholics then resident in Charles
ton invited this priest tc celebrate Mass for them, which

284 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
he did at the house of an Irish Catholic, in the presence
of a congregation of twelve persons. In a year or two
afterwards, an Irish priest named O'Reily, passing
through Charleston, on his way to the West Indies for
his health, exercised his ministry for their benefit.
Shortly afterwards another Irish priest came among
them, and in 1789 these good people commenced the
work of acquiring a church. They purchased, with the
assistance of their fellow-citizens, a dilapidated Methodist
meeting-house, which they repaired and fitted up for
Divine service. In 1790 the last vestige of discrimina
tion against Catholics was removed from the Constitution
of South Carolina, and in 1791 the Catholic Church of
Charleston was incorporated by the Legislature. Here
tofore these States had been under the jurisdiction of
the Vicar Apostolic of the London district. The de
parture of Mr. Keeting for Philadelphia left this little
but devoted flock again without a pastor. On the as
sumption of jurisdiction by Bishop Carroll, the Catholics
of Charleston addressed their congratulations and peti
tions to their Prelate, who was compelled to defer grant
ing them a priest until he could secure the services of
more laborers in his immense diocese, but exhorted them
to perseverance and piety. Separated six hundred miles
from the nearest priest, this little congregation kept their
faith. In 1793, Rev. S. F. O'Gallagher, a native of Dub
lin, a man of extraordinary eloquence, superior intellect,
and cultivated mind, came to Charleston by the authority
of Bishop Carroll, and labored to collect together the
flock and repair the church. His salary as a teacher in
Charleston College relieved the poor Catholics of his
support while he discharged the duties of their pastor.
The Catholic congregation of Charleston was somewhat

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 285
increased by a few Catholic settlers from Maryland, and
some refugees from the massacre of St. Domingo. In
time the old frame church was replaced with a brick
temple. The Church of Charleston afterwards became
distracted with dissensions, which were finally healed by
the advent thither of Dr. Fenwick.* The Rev. Mi.
Cloriviere was sent by Archbishop Carroll as pastor at
Charleston. He remained till 18 19, when Charleston
was erected into an Episcopal See. He then returned to
the diocese of Baltimore.
It would be difficult to imagine, and yet too extensive
a task to portray, the difficulties of Dr. England on his
arrival at his see. The Episcopal Church was ancient,
highly endowed, and aristocratic ; the courtly garments
of the royal colonial time still hung around it, and it re
posed in the security of its superior wealth, power, and
worldly respectability. It was Bishop England's duty
to announce to a proud and cultivated community a
Church more ancient, more venerable, more magnificent,
and more powerful. Hospitable, open-hearted, and re
fined as were the Carolinians, they were sensitive and
traditional. It required such a master-spirit as Bishop
England to do his whole duty under such circumstances ;
and while doing it, offend no one, but rather conciliate
all. His success is one of the noblest triumphs of the
Church in this Republic. He found on his arrival there
were but two churches open, and but two priests in the
three States. His people were chiefly poor emigrants
from his own country, and ruined refugees from St. Do
mingo, and servants. In worldly respectability, wealth,
and cultivation, they were greatly inferior to the landed
* See infra the Life of Right Rev. B. J. Fenwick, Bishop of Boston.

286 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
gentry, and to the refined and cultivated descendants of
the cavaliers. Indeed, the Catholic body did not appear
to attract any notice ; it was only to the eye of faith that
the little mustard-seed was visible. The anointed herald
of the cross came bravely up to his work ; first giving
his earnest attention to his own flock, which was not in
the best discipline, he was indefatigable in his exertions
to arouse them from their lethargy, to re-create in their
minds the pure traditions of the Church, to rekindle in
their hearts the true fire of religion, and to rehabilitate
them as men, citizens, and Christians. No portion of
his vast diocese escaped his vigilance, and his visitations
to its principal cities commenced almost immediately.
Churches began to rise up around him, and the diocese
of Charleston began to assume a comely form. A con
stitution was prepared and adopted by him, and the
diocese became incorporated. Wherever he found a
few Catholic families in a city or town, he called them
together and organized them, and encouraged them to
hold together until he could send them a pastor, relying
in the' mean time upon his own occasional visits among
them and those of his assistants. He administered
confirmation for the first time in the church at Charleston,
and had the gratification of witnessing the rapid increase
in the number of communicants. He had ordained two
priests in Ireland for the diocese of Charleston, one of
whom, Rev. Mr. Corkery, accompanied him over. One
of his first steps was to take measures for supplying his
diocese with priests. Within the first two years of his
episcopacy, the return of Dr. Fenwick to his own society,
the untimely death of Mr. Corkery, the departure of Dr.
O'Gallagher to a more southern post beyond the diocese,
and the departure of other priests, whose services he

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 2S7
had secured, left the Bishop almost alone again in his
extensive fold.
With the view of providing a clergy of his own for the
diocese, several candidates having applied to him, he
opened at Charleston a classical school, in which these
candidates for the holy ministry were made teachers,
while they pursued their theological studies under the
Bishop himself. The school received numerous scholars
from the best families of the city, and yielded a sufficient
income to support these theological students while pre
paring for the priesthood. The exercises of the school,
and its public exhibitions, gave universal satisfaction to
its friends and patrons — the scholars increased to about
one hundred and thirty, and the Bishop, encouraged by
the bright prospects before him, incurred a heavy liability
in securing the services of additional teachers of the
highest capacity. At this juncture the pent-up bigotry
of the opposing sects burst forth into a storm of oppo
sition against the school, and in general against "the
errors and deformities of Popery." The press and the
pulpit rang with the denunciations of fanaticism, and
Protestants were told that they were taxing themselves
to set up " the Romish Church," and to educate a Romish
clergy. The public assurances of the Bishop that his
school was exclusively classical, and that no religious
instructions or exercises were introduced or used, had
no effect. Protestantism had taken the alarm ; the Prot
estant schools were reopened, the College of Charleston,
which had suspended for some time, was revived, and a
new impetus given to sectarianism. The Bishop's school
and Seminary, though enfeebled, was not annihilated; it
continued to bestow a thorough classical and mathe
matical education upon the students who resorted to it,

288 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and support the ecclesiastical Seminary. This Seminary
trained up an educated and able clergy for the diocese of
Charleston, and prepared for the ministry some of the
ablest clergymen of other dioceses.
The scarcity of priests rendered the labors of the
Bishop and of his clergy very arduous. The Bishop
himself had to perform the labors and endure the hard
ships of a missionary priest. The visits he paid to a
small circle of Catholics, and even to a single family,
were frequently a hundred miles, and these long journeys
were frequently undertaken to baptize, confirm, or admin
ister the sacraments of penance, holy communion, or
extreme unction, upon a single individual. When the
Bishop arrived at any town or village, he was usually
waited upon by a body of the principal citizens, who in
vited him to preach in public, and procured for him a
church, court-house, school-house, or other convenient
place. These opportunities were readily embraced by
the zealous and indefatigable Prelate, for the purpose of
explaining the public service and ceremonies of the
Church, defending her tenets against misrepresentation
and error, and presenting to the minds of a people who
had never heard before, but yet willing to listen to, " the
lessons of the eternal Gospel of the Redeemer." It was,
however, chiefly among the educated and refined inhab
itants of the city of Charleston, that the brilliancy of
his eloquence, the persuasion of his arguments, and the
thunders of his magnificent oratory awakened at first
surprise, then admiration. They crowded around his
pulpit, and received with awe the word of God. Rich
in every mental and spiritual grace and endowment, this
noble and self-sacrincng Prelate presented in his perso
nal conduct, in his labors and privations, and in his holy

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 289
poverty, an exact practice of the sacred precepts and
counsels of the gospel he announced. Such was his
personal poverty that he walked the burning sands and
pavements of Charleston with his bare feet to the ground ;
the upper leather of his shoes only remaining decent,
while the soles were worn away.
Bishop England became devotedly attached to the
people of the three States composing his diocese ; he
admired their generosity and hospitality, their liberality,
in spite of their education and traditional prejudices,
their frank and manly character. They, on the other
hand, admired his brilliant qualities, his learning, his
earnestness, his sincere devotion to a cause above all
human motive, his lofty eloquence, and his public spirit.
They were proud to welcome such a man as their fellow-
citizen. He fully identified himself with every good and
wholesome influence and movement of the community
in which he lived. He was the reviver of classical
learning in South Carolina. He became an active and
invaluable member of the Philosophical Literary Associa
tion of Charleston, in which he infused new vigor by
his able addresses, his profound scientific attainments, and
his thoroughness of research. Witnessing, as he did,
the sad effects of duelling, he did not make enemies by
intemperate denunciations, but rallied around him, in one
common cause, the highest, most spirited and influential
gentlemen of the State, in an Anti-Duelling Association,
to oppose that fatal and mistaken practice by appeals to
reason and true honor. His address against duelling
before this association is one of the most masterly and
overpowering productions ever penned in any language.
At the suggestion of some of the members of Congress
from the South he was invited to preach in the Hall of
19

290 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Representatives at Washington, the first Catholic clergy
man that ever occupied that place. A single passage
from this noble production will show how winninglyhe
handled Catholic questions before his non-Catholic fel
low-citizens : —
" Neither my own feelings, nor my judgment, nor my
faith, would dictate to me anything calculated to embitter
the feelirigs of those who differ from me — merely for
that difference. My kindest friends ; my most intimate
acquaintance ; those whom I do, and ought to, esteem
and respect, are at variance with my creed ; yet it does
not and shall not destroy our affections. In me it would
be ingratitude ; for I must avow, and I do it most will
ingly, that in my journeys through our States, I have
been frequently humbled and abashed at the kindness
with which I have been treated. I came amongst you a
stranger, and I went through your land with many and
most serious and unfortunate mistakes, for which you
were not blamable, operating to my disadvantage. If
a Roman Catholic Bishop was in truth what he is even
now generally supposed to be in various parts of this
Union, he should not be permitted to reside amongst
you ; yet was I received into your houses, enrolled in
your families, and profited by your kindness : I have fre
quently put the question to myself, whether, if I had
similar impressions regarding you, I could have acted
with the like kindness ; and I must own, I frequently
doubted that I could. It is true, you labored under se
rious mistakes as to what was my religion, and what
were my duties and obligations. But you were not your
selves the cause of those mistakes ; nor had you within
your reach the means of correcting them. I feel grate
ful to my friends, who have afforded me this opportunity

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 291
of perhaps aiding to do away those impressions ; for our
affections will be the more strong as those mistakes will
be corrected ; but it must gratify those who, loving the
country, behold us spread through it, to be assured that
we are not those vile beings that have been painted to
their imaginations, and which ought not to be allowed
existence in any civilized community."
The address then goes on to give a clear and lucid
exposition of what Catholics do in truth hold and prac
tice in relation to those matters which have been the
chief subjects of the delusions and prejudices of Protest
ants against the Church and her followers : and closed
with a beautiful appeal to his hearers to cultivate, first,
the love of God, and second, the love of their neighbor,
and a prayer that our union and harmony here may be
the foundation of an everlasting peace hereafter.
The great struggle of Bishop England's life in this
country seems to have been to present the Catholic
Church, her doctrines and practices, in their true light
before the American people. In his effort to do this his
labors were indefatigable. His means of accomplishing
this end were various and well studied. He endeavor
ed, from his arrival in the country, to identify himself
thoroughly with its people, its institutions, its hopes, and
its future. He was vigilant and spirited in maintaining
and defending the honor and integrity of the country, as
he was in upholding the doctrines and practices of the
Church. In his oration on the character of Washing
ton, he so thoroughly enters into the sentiments of our
people, and participates so unreservedly in the pride felt
by the country in the Pater Patriae, that his language
would seem to be that of a native of the country. There
was no movement for the public good in which he did

292 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
not feel an interest, and which he did not, to the extent
of his opportunities, endeavor to promote. His admira
tion for the institutions of the country was sincere and
unaffected. Though no one encountered more preju
dice and greater difficulties than he did, he, on all occa
sions, as he did in his address before Congress, endea
vored to regard the prejudices and impressions entertain
ed by Protestants against Catholics as errors which had
been impressed upon their minds by education and as
sociations, for which they themselves were not responsi
ble. In his writings and public sermons and addresses
he traveled over the wide range of history, theology, and
the arts, in order to vindicate the spotless spouse of
Christ against the calumnies of her enemies. If Catholic
citizens and voters were attacked on the score of their
fidelity to their country and its institutions, Bishop
England's ready pen defended them from the calumny
and silenced their accusers. If a Catholic judge or pub
lic officer was accused of false swearing or mental reser
vation, in taking the official oath, he found an irresistible
and unanswerable champion in the Bishop of Charles
ton. He found the Church in the United States com
paratively defenceless on his accession to the See of
Charleston, but he soon rendered it a dangerous task in
her enemies to attack or vilify her ; and many who ven
tured on this mode of warfare were glad to retreat from
the field before the crushing weapons of logic, erudition,
and eloquence with which he battled for his Church, his
creed, and his people.
It was with such motives that he established the
United States Catholic Miscellany at Charleston, one of
the best conducted and most attractive journals in our
language. In the midst of his varied and engrossing la-

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 293
bors in the sacred ministry, he supplied from his own pen
articles of rare learning and ability in every department
of human knowledge and literature. His own language,
in reference to the objects and ends of the Miscellany,
explains his mode and purpose in his public discus
sions : —
" The simple explanation and temperate maintenance
of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church ; in ex
hibiting which, its conductors are led to hope that many
sensible persons will be astonished at finding they have
imputed to Catholics doctrines which the Catholic
Church has formally condemned, and imagined they
were contradicting Catholics when they held Catholic
doctrines themselves." It was chiefly through the col
umns of the Miscellany that Bishop England's writings
found their way to the public. Since his death, his
works have been collected and published by his excellent
successor, Bishop Reynolds, and constitute an invaluable
contribution to our Catholic literature.
There was no portion of the American Church in
which his influence was not felt. He was con
sulted by Bishops, priests, and laymen, from every part
of the country. At Rome his influence on Church mat
ters in this country was very great. Wherever the
Church was afflicted or wounded he left no remedy un
applied or unsuggested which his fruitful mind and
judgment could conjecture. His efforts to heal the
schism in the Church at Philadelphia were generous and
untiring, and although his endeavors, like so many
others, proved unavailing, no one could have struggled
more than he did to achieve success. In this and in
other instances we see that his zeal was not confined
to his own diocese. He went frequently, in compliance

294 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
with the invitations of the Bishops and clergymen of
other States and cities, to herald the truths of Catho
licity, to announce the glad tidings of salvation, or to ap
peal in behalf of the poor and afflicted in his matchless
style. The account given of his lectures at Cincinnati,
in 1830, will answer as a description of similar efforts of
Bishop England in other cities : —
" In June of this year, a new impulse was given to the
inquiry for religious truth, by a course of lectures
preached in the Cincinnati Cathedral, by the illustrious
John England, Bishop of Charleston. The anxiety to
hear this eloquent Prelate, whose fame had everywhere
preceded him, was intense, and Protestant vied with
Catholic in acknowledging the power of his intellect, the
classic flow of his language, his appropriate and com
manding gestures, and the burning energy that would
arouse a very stoic to enthusiasm, with which he advo
cated the claims of the Christian religion to the homage
of the mind and the affections. They whose tenets most
widely differed from those of the learned and apos
tolic preacher, admitted the masterly manner in which he
handled all the great subjects of controversy which he
undertook to examine, while Catholics felt, what many
an unbiased Protestant mind confessed, that they were
borne along by a flood of evidence, which increased as it
advanced, in resistless majesty, until it brought them in
full view of ' the Church of the Living God, the pillar
and the ground of truth.' "
As the local Prelate of the diocese of Charleston,
Bishop England was held in universal veneration and
affection for his exalted virtues, his untiring labors for
the poor, the sick, the afflicted, and the dying, and for
his devotion to his sacred calling. The frequent visita-

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 295
tions of pestilential diseases to that southern clime af
forded him many opportunities of calling into play those
heroic traits of his character. During the desolations of
the yellow fever, he. was more than ever constant at his
post. His friend and biographer * thus describes him in
one of these plagues of the sunny South : —
" I have hitherto dwelt principally on his general rela
tions with society. But he can only be justly appreciated
by those who knew him in the pastoral charge. When
that frightful scourge, the stranger's or yellow fever,
desolated Charleston, he was ever at his post. This is
nothing new or strange to those who know the Catholic
priesthood. But when the Protestants of Charleston
saw this apostolic man hurrying under the fiery noons
of August and September, or the deadly midnight dew,
to assist and console the victim of the plague, usually of
the humblest and the poorest, they could not but ex
claim, in the sincerity of their wonder and admiration,
' this is Christian charity ! ' I am not dealing in imagin
ary suppositions. I repeat but the language of honored
and beloved relatives and friends, who had no acquaint
ance with him, who never listened to his doctrine, who
would as soon have questioned their own personal iden
tity as the infallible truth of the religious tenets in which
they had been educated, but who gave the cheerful testi
mony of honesty and gratitude to virtues which were
voiced by the whole community. A near relative of
mine, speaking of him to me, said, ' I met him one fore
noon, while the fever was at the highest, brushing along
through perhaps the hottest street in the city ; when I
tell you he was blazing, I do not exaggerate — he was
* The late Wm. George Read, Esq., of Baltimore.

296 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
literally blazing ! The fire sparkled from his cheeks and
flashed from his eyes ! I shook hands with him, and, as
we parted, thought to myself, my dear fellow, you will
soon have enough of this ! ' But his work was not yet
done. No ! for season after season, amid vice, squal-
idity, and wretchedness, where intemperance, perhaps,
kept maudlin watch by the dying and the dead ; while
the sob of sorrow was broken by the shriek of destitu
tion and despair, there still stood Bishop England, the
priest, the father, and the friend — to assure the penitent
— to alarm the sinner — to succor and to pity — baptized
again and again — unto his holy function, in that fright
ful black vomit — the direst symptom of the malady ! "
Bishop England's generous heart found in the colored
population of his diocese objects of his most paternal
care and tenderest solicitude. To instruct them, chiefly
in relation to their moral and religious duties and ob
ligations, was a favorite object of his zeal and charity.
His own Mass on Sundays at the Cathedral was offered
for them, and the Church on that occasion reserved for
their exclusive accommodation. He instructed them
himself at Mass from that same pulpit that was made
famous by his eloquence. He also had a vesper service
for their benefit. It sometimes happened that his robust
strength was overpowered by his labors and preachings,
embracing not unfrequently two sermons on an after
noon. When this was the case, he would occasionally
dispense with his sermon on the occasions which were
attended by the rich, powerful, and educated, who clus
tered around his pulpit as "a school of logic and elo
quence;" but he never disappointed the humbler and
less fortunate servants, who came to learn the simplest
truths of duty and religion. So obvious were the good

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 297
effects of his ministry amongst them, especially in pro
moting their conscientious regard for duty and fidelity in
their peculiar positions, that many Protestant planters
declared their willingness to give him every opportunity
and facility in ministering on their plantations in person
or by his clergy, to the exclusion of other ministers. So
far from taking offence at his open and ardent advocacy
of the education of all, not excluding the slaves, they
welcomed his ministry and teachings on their extensive
estates, to the exclusion even of the ministry and teach
ings of their own preachers. Bishop England's confes
sional, which he attended with unwearied patience, was
the resort of all classes and conditions, and none were
ever dismissed without the healing balm of the sacra
ment. He possessed the intuitive faculty of understand
ing at once the cause and seat of spiritual malady, he
was profoundly versed in his knowledge of the remedies,
and all who came received heavenly blessings and con
solations. He was greatly attached to the religiously
symbolical and gorgeous ceremonial of the Church,
which he did not regard, however, as among the essen
tials, but as "outworks to be maintained." His rude,
weather-boarded Cathedral of St. Finbar displayed in
all its detail the grand religious drama of the ecclesias
tical year, with its alternate seasons of joy and sorrow,
of thanksgiving and penance. The splendor of his elo
quence and the sublime earnestness of his character
heightened the effect. Protestants crowded there with
Catholics ; and often when the solemn tenebrce were
chanted, and the melting, subduing, chastening Passion
sermon was preached, they mingled their tears, and no
doubt their prayers, too, before the altar of the lamb-
sacrifice. A friend of his, who visited him at Christmas,

298 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
relates, that he knew him to leave his confessional at
nine o'clock at night on Christmas Eve, go into his library
and arrange a mattress for his guest, walk to his distant
residence, return to arouse his friend in time to attend
the midnight Mass, which was such in fact as well as in
name, give communion at the six o'clock Mass, and
afterwards celebrate High Mass, and preach one of his
sublime and characteristic sermons on the Nativity. He
won converts to the faith from among the poorest and
least instructed, and from among the richest and best
educated. Many who heard the surpassing thrill of his
eloquence came at once to profess the faith ; and with
others, who did not yield or who resisted, the word
finally germinated, and at the solemn hour of death
brought forth fruit of penance, faith, and salvation. His
lectures in the various cities of the Union are treasured
even now by thousands among the most precious re
collections of a lifetime, and produced abundant fruit of
conversions and repentance. An instance is related of
one who had heard the Bishop preach ; many years had
intervened, when he was stricken down with the yellow
fever in a remote and pestilential district ; he sent to
Charleston for a physician and for the Bishop. " Of
course," said the doctor, " Bishop, it is impossible for you
to go. These things are in the line of my professional
duty, and though the danger is great, I think physicians
sometimes bear a charmed life." The Bishop, though
he knew that it was regarded as certain death to venture
into the infected region where the sick man lived, simply
replied: "The only question is, how are we to go ? I
have a carriage, but no horses ; can you furnish them ? "
No expostulation could deter him from the errand of
mercy, for if the physician of the body could go, how

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 299
much greater was the obligation upon the physician of
the soul. Starting towards the decline of the day, they
passed all night through a country more pestilential than
the Pontine marshes. The physician could not save the
body, but the Prelate was in time to save the soul on its
passage to eternity. Many cases like this could be re
lated of Bishop England ; but let this one suffice for
many similar ones.
Bishop England held in high esteem the religious
Orders of ladies, as ornaments to the Christian Church,
and invaluable promoters of religious education. One
of his first efforts was to secure for his new diocese such
pious assistants in the cause of religion. Turning his
attention to the Ursuline Nuns of Cork, he made every
effort to secure their services ; and, though years inter
vened before his poverty could provide the means for
their accommodation, he finally succeeded ; and on the oc
casion of his visit to Ireland, in 1834, he had the happi
ness of seeing Mother Mary Charles (Christina Malony),
Sister Mary Borgia (M. A. Isabella McCarthy), and
Sister Mary Antonia (Mary Hughes), embark for the
United States. On the 10th of December, 1834, they
entered the Convent prepared for them by the Bishop.
Their institutions and schools met with success and ac
quired a high reputation. Their buildings were unfor
tunately destroyed by fire during the late civil war, and
Congress declined indemnifying them for their losses,
on the ground that the conflagration was supposed to
have been occasioned, not by the acts of the Federal
soldiers, but by fire accidentally communicated to them
from the cotton which the Confederates had set on fire.
The Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy were also organ
ized and introduced by Bishop England into his diocese.

300 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Three ladies, natives of Cork, and then residents of Bal
timore, the Misses Mary and Honora O'Gorman, and
their niece, Miss Teresa Barry, volunteered for the noble
work, and were accepted by the Bishop as so many heav
enly coadjutors for the salvation of souls. They pro
ceeded to Charleston in 1829, and occupied a rented
house near the Cathedral. Their subsequent career of
success in the religious instruction of female youth in
boarding, day, and free schools, and in founding and con
ducting orphan asylums in the diocese, form a part of the
history of the Church in this country. Their buildings
were also burned during the civil war, but as this was
occasioned by the bombardment of Charleston by the
Federal navy, the Sisters received compensation from
the government. The beautiful and eloquent words in
which the Bishop announced to his flock their advent to
the diocese are too precious a tribute to these and other
similar and often despised and calumniated religious
Orders of the Catholic Church to be omitted : —
"It is in solitude and by the spirit of prayer that the
soul becomes powerful, through the merits of the Saviour,
to obtain the mercies of God. When Israel wrestled
with the angel that blessed him, it was not before the
eyes of the multitude, nor in the midst of the bustle of
worldly occupations ; when Moses prevailed with the
Lord to spare a devoted people, he was alone upon the
summit of the mountain ; it was in retirement that John
the Baptist imbibed that spirit which exhibited him won
derful and useful in Judea. Though public worship be
commanded by the Lord, and be profitable as well as
necessary for His servants, still He also desires that we
should converse with Him in the retirement of the cham
ber. It is in this retreat that the soul is enabled to con-

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 301
template the beauties of those religious duties and ob
servances which the carnal man will not understand ;
and from the contemplation of our divine institutions the
love of their Author naturally arises and devotion to His
law and piety towards His person are confirmed. They
who are His friends present to Him in the moments of
their intercourse not their own wants alone, but they pe
tition for their friends, for their brethren, and even for
strangers and enemies. Their aspirations ascend from
the midst of that society from which they appear to be
estranged, to call down blessings upon a people to
whom they seem not to belong ; and the Holy Ghost in
forms us that those prayers will not be unavailing. Hav
ing learned to walk in the paths of virtue, they are
zealous to lead others to its practice, soothing them with
the words of persuasion, whilst they allure them by their
example. They desire to bring little children to the
knowledge of Christ, and to guard them against the
dangers of the world, by adding to the simple maxims
of their faith the solid lessons of prudent experience ;
and whilst they imbue their minds with worldly knowl
edge and train them to persevering industry, they are
zealous to furnish them with the protection of a heavenly
panoply, and to decorate them with the ornaments of
virtue. Their chief delight is to give shelter to the little
trembling orphan ; and in the purity and warmth of their
affection to cheer the heart that yearns for the Mother,
whose absence has been too long protracted, and whose
return is sometimes so innocently expected. In addition
to these cares, a day may perhaps arrive when they
would be found by the couch of the afflicted, smoothing
the pillow of disease, lifting the head of the languid, al
laying the thirst of fever, banishing the spectres which

302 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
affright the distempered imagination, diffusing fragrant
coolness through the chamber of pestilence, and encour
aging with well-founded hopes of glory beyond the
grave those whom heaven forbids them to restore in
renovated health to their families. Such are the objects
to which this Sisterhood would devote itself." *
The following passage from a biography of Bishop
England, by one of his most devoted friends,t will show
the power of his eloquence and the unflinching courage
of his zeal : —
" Bishop England's influence, where he could gain a
candid hearing, was irresistible. An illiberal majority
was once organized in the lower house of the Legislature
of South Carolina, to refuse a charter of incorporation to
a Community of Nuns, whose invaluable services he was
desirous to secure for the education of the female por
tion of his flock at Charleston. These were a branch of
that same admirable Order whose convent had been
pillaged and burned with such unmanly cruelty in one of
our Eastern cities. Some of his friends procured him
an invitation to preach before the Senate, and many of
the members of the lower house attended through curi
osity. He spoke of religion, its claims, its obligations.
He discoursed of toleration. He held up Massachusetts
to their scorn. He adverted to the subject of his charter
— hurled defiance at them — showed them how he could
possess the entire State for ecclesiastical purposes, had
he the means to buy it, despite their narrow-souled policy.
He exposed to them the folly of driving those of his
communion into the by-paths of the law. He changed

* Works of Bishop England, iv. 335.
f Wm. George Read, now deceased, of Baltimore.

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 303
his theme, and told of Catholic charity ; arrayed before
them her countless institutions for promoting the glory
of God and the welfare of man. There was not a dry
eye in the house : his bill was passed without a division
on the following day."
Bishop England's controversial writings and sermons
are master-pieces of learning, logic, and eloquence.
Their style has been likened by one who often heard
him " to a straight bar of polished steel, connecting his
conclusion with his premises, with the lightning of heaven
blazing and flashing about it." Whenever he went from
home he was invited to preach on the questions of con
troversy between Catholics and Protestants. Many there
were who, guided by the mistaken spirit of the world,
rather than by the love of truth and of their own immor
tal souls, desisted from his society and avoided his dis
courses through a cowardly fear of having their convic
tions disturbed. Bigotry sometimes raised the cry of
" dangerous man " against him, and some even of those
who admired and esteemed him "turned away and
walked no more with him." Yet controversy was not
his best element. It was as a Catholic Pastor among
Catholics that he was most sublime, most powerful over
the human heart and passions. " It was when surround
ed by an auditory exclusively Catholic, to whom ' the
reasons of the hope that is within them ' were fully known,
that, like a father in the bosom of his family he lavished
the riches of his imagination in illustrating the goodness
and glory of his God, and poured out in torrents of grati
tude and love the abundance of one of the greatest and
the kindest of hearts that ever beat in a human breast."
But even among Protestants he could annihilate the
foundations of their creed without giving offence to

304 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
any. On one occasion he was invited by the rector of a
Protestant Church, the loan of which the Bishop had
obtained during the week, and had used in delivering a
course of lectures on Catholic doctrine, to occupy his
pulpit on the following Sunday ; the minister alleging
that he had been so engrossed with the Bishop's lectures
during the week, that he had neglected to prepare his
sermon for that day. The Bishop accepted the invita
tion ; he read some passages from the Douay Bible ; gave
the congregation some devotions from a Catholic prayer-
book, which were acceptable to them ; and preached for
them a sound, practical discourse on a subject of general
morals, and dismissed them with his blessing.
He was distinguished for his capacity and punctuality
in business. His good credit was his capital. His talent
for accounts, his powers of combination, and his influence
over men, enabled him to undertake and accomplish what
to others it would have been folly to attempt. His
courage was heroic ; never quailing before the deadly
pestilence, the violent hand of the assassin, or the rude,
tumultuous passions of the mob. Forewarned, on one
occasion, of an intended assault, from a man whose
faithlessness to a trust the Bishop had felt himself bound
in duty to restrain, he calmly and quietly proceeded on
his predetermined way. On another occasion, when
his nuns were threatened by a mob, and Charleston
seemed about to imitate Charlestown, "he calmly exam
ined every flint of the gallant band that hastened to
their defence."
He saw and lamented early in his episcopal career the
imperfect organization of the American Church, the
Bishops of the different dioceses were struggling alone
and separately, in the midst of difficulties, poverty, and

Right Rev. John England, D.D. 305
opposition, and deprived of that mutual aid, counsel, and
co-operation which they might derive from each other.
He conceived the plan of assembling the Prelates in
Council for the common good of all, and urged his views
in his correspondence with his consecrated colleagues.
He lived to see this cherished desire of his heart accom
plished, and had the happiness of sitting in several Pro
vincial Councils with the Prelates of all the dioceses of
the United States, in which his learning, his knowledge
of business, and his energy were of invaluable service.
He has been called "the author of our Provincial Coun
cils;" and the moral influence"1 of the assembled Ameri
can Hierarchy has already been felt, in the Old World,
in those magnificent letters, the production of his pen,
to the Pope, and to the oppressed Prelates of Prussia.
Bishop England visited Europe four times during his
episcopacy, for the interests and institutions of his
diocese, visiting Rome, most of the European countries,
and his native Ireland, which he never ceased to love.
He was sent twice as Apostolic Delegate from the Holy
See to Hayti. He obtained from Europe vast assistance
for his diocese, both iii priests, female religious, and
funds. It was proposed to translate him to the Bishopric
of Ossory in Ireland, but he declined. The highest
ecclesiastical dignity, with comfort, luxury, friends, and
ease, in his native country, could not tempt him to de
sert his beloved Church in America. He had become
an American citizen and an American Prelate, and he
resolved to continue to be both as long as he lived. At
Rome he was consulted on all matters relating to the
ecclesiastical affairs of this country, The officials of the
Eternal City were astounded at the great travels and
labors of Bishop England. They heard him appoint
20

306 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
from the Chambers of the Propaganda the very day on
which he would administer confirmation in the interior
of Georgia. The Cardinals, in their wonder at all he
accomplished, and the rapidity of his movements, used
to call him " il Vescovo a vapore," or the " Steam Bishop."
We have seen with what an insignificant force he com
menced his episcopal labors. He increased the churches
of his diocese to over sixteen, and left behind him a well-
organized and appointed clergy, and numerous ecclesi
astical, religious, educational, and charitable institutions.
The Catholic families of his diocese might have been
counted, at the time of the erection of the See of Charles
ton, on one's fingers; at the Bishop's death they were
counted by thousands. But the good he accomplished
was not confined to his own diocese. His elevating and
encouraging influence was felt throughout this country,
at Rome, and in many parts of the Catholic world.
His powerful frame was finally worn out and broken
down by his labors, his journeyings, and his privations.
In 1 84 1, on his return from Europe, the vessel was fifty-
two days at sea. With impaired health himself, he be
came the physician and nurse of many on board less ill
than himself. The Mother Superior of the Ursulines at
Charleston was returning with him, from a visit to Ire
land, to obtain recruits for her Convent and that of the
Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy ; she was taken desper
ately ill,1 and the Bishop was at her side, without taking
a moment's repose for several nights, expecting her
death every hour. Malignant dysentery broke out among
the steerage passengers, and his attendance on them was
incessant, day and night — not ceasing to be their physi
cian and nurse until even he was taken with the disease
himself. He landed at Philadelphia, but instead of re-

Right Rev. John England, D.D.

o'-v

tiring- to his bed, as one so ill should have done, he com-
menced. one of his magnificent courses of lectures, and
spoke for seventeen nights in succession ; he also at
tended and assisted at consecrations, despatched to
Charleston a large number of co-laborers for his insti
tutions, besides other business. At Baltimore he re
mained four days, and preached five times. He was
warned of his precarious health, but he could not cease
from labor as long as he could accomplish good. He
only said, " I must do my duty ; and if I fall at the altar,
I only ask that you will bring me home ! " At that altar
he seemed, while almost a dying man, to surpass in
power, brilliancy, and force even his own palmiest days.
A slight improvement appeared in his condition after his
return to Charleston, but it was transient. His physicians
pronounced his case without hope, and that his end was
near at hand. He prepared with calmness and resigna
tion to receive the sacramental unction. A solemn High
Mass was offered in the Cathedral in his behalf April 10,
1842, after which his clergy were summoned to his side.
The robes of episcopal dignity were put on for the
last time. When he received into his hand the crucifix,
he kissed it, saying, " Sweet Jesus ! who didst deign to
die for me in this ignominious manner, regard with com
passion the condition of thy servant ; and be with him
in the succeeding hour of trial." Being informed that
all was ready, he said, "In the name of Almighty God,
proceed ! " After the preliminary prayers, he addressed
the assembled clergy, who were kneeling around his
bed, with more than his accustomed eloquence, for near
half an hour. From this dying address of a father to
his sons, we can only insert one extract: —
"Tell my people that 1 love them; tell them how

308 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
much I regret that circumstances have kept us at a dis
tance from each other. My duties and my difficulties
have prevented me from cultivating and strengthening
those private ties which ought to bind us together ; your
functions require a closer, a more constant intercourse
with them. Be with them — be of them — win them to
God. Guide, govern, and instruct them. Watch as
having to render an account of their souls, that you may
do it with joy, and not with grief. There are among
you several infant institutions, which you are called on,
in an especial manner, to sustain. It has cost me a great
deal of thought, and of labor, to introduce them. They
are calculated to be eminently serviceable to the cause
of order, of education, of charity ; they constitute the
germ of what, I trust, shall hereafter grow and flourish in
extensive usefulness. As yet they are feeble, support
them — embarrassed, encourage them — they will be af
flicted, console them."
" / commend my poor church to its patrons — especially
to her to whom our Saviour confided His in the person of
the beloved disciple : ' Woman, behold thy son / son, behold
thy mother! "
The rite was administered ; he gave his benediction
and kiss of peace to each one present ; he was disrobed,
and sank exhausted upon his pillow. He expired April
n, 1842; his last effort was to unite in the prayers of
the attendants. His virtues entitled his memory to every
respect from the surviving, and it was paid. The bells
of the Protestant churches tolled, the flags through the
city and on the shipping were lowered, and persons of
every denomination, age, condition, and class, united in
paying every mark of respect, veneration, and affection
to the illustrious dead. It is unnecessary to say more of

Right Rev. John England, D. D. 309
his virtues, his talents, his acts ; they are engraven upon
many a living memory, and treasured in many a loving
heart. It would be an ample reward for our labors, if
these pages should contribute to perpetuate his name, to
preserve his example, and embalm his memory in the
hearts of all Catholics in America.

RIGHT REV. HENRY CONWELL, D.D.,
Second Bishop of Philadelphia, A.D. 1820.*
Bishop Conwell was a native of Ireland, where he
was ordained a priest in the year 1776. He exercised
the ministry in that country for forty-four years ; years
of persecution to the Catholic Church, and to himself of
great personal trials and sufferings for justice's sake. At
the time of his advent to the United States he was Vicar
General of the diocese of Armagh. In 1820, at the age
of seventy-three years, he accepted the appointment of
Bishop of Philadelphia, a change which brought severer
trials and more bitter cares than any he had encountered
in his native country. He was consecrated at London,
and immediately embarked for America.
On the death of Bishop Egan in 18 14, the Very Rev.
Louis de Barth was appointed administrator of the dio
cese of Philadelphia. In January, and again in July,
18 1 5, Archbishop Carroll requested Rome to supply the
vacancy, and Rev. Ambrose Marechal was appointed
Bishop of Philadelphia, but declined the appointment.
The Rev. John David, afterwards coadjutor of Louisville,
was named for this unwelcome appointment, but he im
mediately wrote to Rome, requesting that his name
should not be used in that connection. The Very Rev.
Mr. de Barth twice refused the appointment. That
Bishop Conwell should have accepted a position which
* Bishop England's Works, v. ; De Courcy and Shea's Catholic Church in the
United Slates; Hassard's Life of Archbishop Hughes; Catholic Miscellany, 1829
and 1830; Freeman's Journal, 1842, etc., etc.

Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D. 31T
had been refused by so many others, younger and more
robust than himself, at an age, too, when man's powers
of endurance and capacity for usefulness have generally
ceased or become impaired, and when most men are
thinking of retiring from the active struggles and duties
of life, argues well for his zeal for religion, and for his
moral courage. This fact, together with his extreme
age, should cause his administration of the difficult and
trying office he accepted under such circumstances, to be
viewed and judged with leniency and charity towards
any errors of judgment he may have fallen into. The
spirit of insubordination in Philadelphia commenced
under Bishop Carroll in 1802. The troubles of St.
Mary's Church had baffled the efforts and shortened the
days of a predecessor much younger than himself and
for many years acquainted with the country and the
people of the diocese. The able administrations of the
Very Rev. Louis de Barth and of the Very Rev. Wil
liam Matthews, successive administrators of the diocese,
had not succeeded in eradicating or in assuaging the evil.
Bishop Conwell commenced his labors in Pennsylvania
with an energy scarcely to be expected in so aged a per
son. These labors were chiefly onerous in the visita
tion of his large diocese, at a time when roads were bad
and conveyances very uncomfortable. We have some
accounts of his travels through the western and northern
portions of the State on horseback, of his officiating in
the rude log chapels of the frontier, and of the cheerful
ness with which he encountered the labors of a mission
ary in those early days. In one of his visitations of the
diocese he met a young deacon, then on a visit to his
family at Chambersburg, saw at once the material of
which he was made, and insisted upon his accompanying

312 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
him on his journey. This was young Mr. Hughes, after
wards the distinguished Archbishop of New York. The
Bishop made his young companion preach, which was
accomplished with such success that his services as a
preacher were frequently called into requisition. Young
Hughes had but one sermon prepared, and, as it was
impossible to prepare sermons on such a journey, he
preached the same sermon six times, greatly to the
amusement of the aged Bishop, who used to say after
wards that he knew the "cuckoo sermon" as well as its
author. This young deacon was afterwards ordained
by Bishop Conwell at St. Joseph's Church in Philadel
phia, to which city he was recalled by the Bishop in
1827, after a year on the mission at Bedford.
But the usefulness of Bishop Conwell was greatly
marred by the unfortunate contest entailed upon him,
and which he was compelled to encounter with the
trustees and pastors of St. Mary's Church. This was
the Cathedral Church of Philadelphia. On arriving at
his see in the latter part of 1820, Bishop Conwell found
this church, which had also been the scene of the trou
bles of Bishop Egan, in the pastoral charge of a young
priest named Hogan, who had been stationed there by
Father de Barth. He was an eloquent preacher, but of
imperfect education. Worse than all, his character was
not above reproach, and the Bishop discovered that his
conduct in Ireland, on his passage over, in Albany, and
even in Philadelphia, was not free from censure. He ac
cordingly suspended Hogan December 20, 1820. Hogan
attempted to appeal from his sentence to Archbishop
Marechal, who refused to entertain his appeal. He con
tinued to exercise the ministry in spite of the Bishop,
who consequently excommunicated him in May, 1821,

Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D. 313
and appointed Rev. Mr. Cummiskey the pastor of St.
Mary's. The Bishop and his clergy continued for some
months in possession of the church, during which they
were greatly annoyed and threatened by Hogan and the
malcontents whom he rallied to his support. Among
these were the lay trustees, who, with Hogan at their
head, dispossessed the Bishop and his clergy in the
summer of 1821, and again installed Hogan as their
pastor. The legal title to the church property was
vested in a board of trustees, composed of not more
than three pastors, and eight laymen elected by the pew-
holders. The law, of course, did not designate the
manner of appointing the three pastors ; this, of course,
was left where the ecclesiastical law had placed it, with
the Bishop ; the Bishop claimed this power as inherent
in his office, while the lay trustees openly arrogated to
themselves the power of selecting the pastor or pastors
for the congregation. The Bishop and clergy of his
household, on being dispossessed, retired to St. Joseph's
chapel, within a short distance of the cathedral. The
rebellious proceedings of the trustees were not sustained
by a majority of the pew-holders, many of whom followed
the Bishop to St. Joseph's ; and even after this, a
majority of the remaining pew-holders were opposed in
sentiment to the trustees.
In the mean time Bishop Conwell, in his anxiety to
try every expedient that might rid his flock of schism and
restore peace, yielding to the advice of several of his
own friends, who were also admirers of the Rev. William
V. Harold, the former eloquent and popular preacher of
St. Mary's, had sent an invitation to that person to come
to Philadelphia. He hoped, as it was suggested, that
the eloquence and popularity of Mr. Harold would draw

314 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
away the congregation from Hogan, who, left without
hearers or supporters, would thus be compelled to desist
from doing further evil. Mr. Harold was at that time
prior of the Dominican Convent at Corpo Santo in Lis
bon. Bishop Conwell had not been informed of the
previous history of Mr. Harold, and, shortly after send
ing the invitation to him, he learned that he and his
uncle, Rev. William Harold, had been the principal
fomenters of discord and scandal under his predecessor.
He at once revoked the invitation; but it was too late;
Mr. Harold had received the summons, and accepted it;
he had already resigned his priorship, embarked for the
United States, and arrived at Philadelphia, December 2,
1 82 1. The Bishop, though inclined to receive him coolly,
yet felt constrained to make the best of the circumstances,
appointed him pastor of St. Joseph's, and made him his
secretary. Mr. Harold entered warmly into the Bishop's
plans, and took decided part against the schismatics ; but
he did not succeed in his efforts to aid the Bishop in
crushing or even weakening the disaffection.
In order to remedy the want of support from the ma
jority of the pew-holders remaining at St. Mary's, the
schismatics resorted to the expedient of building a number
of new pews in the church, and filled them with one
hundred and thirty creatures of their own, some of whom
were open enemies of religion, not even professing to be
Catholics. With these recruits, the next election of trus
tees, which took place on Easter-day, 1822, resulted in
their favor only by a bare majority. This election was
attended by scenes most scandalous and shocking ; dis
order reigned, and proceeded to violence and blood
shed, even within the sacred precincts of the sanctuary.
Other Prelates were brought into the contest, the

Right Rev. Henry Cotiwell, D.D. 315
principal of whom was the able and distinguished Dr.
England, Bishop of Charleston, whose mind, by means
of misrepresentation and loud professions of zeal for re
ligion, and desire for peace on the part of the malcon
tents, had been prejudiced against Dr. Conwell and his
course. So much was this the case, that Bishop Eng
land, while stopping at Philadelphia en route to New
York, did not call on Dr. Conwell. From New York,
however, he offered his mediation to Dr. Conwell, who
clearly saw the deluded state of his mind on the subject,
from the concluding words of his letter, viz. : — " I
pledge myself to you, and I would not do so thought
lessly, that if you grant what I ask, you will uphold
and preserve religion ; but should you refuse it, you will
be the cause of its destruction." Bishop Conwell, not
approving of Dr. England's course, declined his media
tion. But the latter was too good and just to listen to
only one side of a case, and the former was only too
anxious to avail himself of an impartial and enlightened
mediation in the interests of peace. Bishop England, on
his return from New York, visited Bishop Conwell, from
whom he learned the true condition of the trouble, and
whom he found quite ready and willing to follow his ad
vice. It was arranged between the two Prelates that
Bishop Conwell should give authority to Bishop Eng
land to absolve Hogan on a proper submission, and that
Bishop England should give him a mission in his own
diocese. Hogan, on making the required submission
and promises, was absolved by Bishop England, Octo
ber 18, 182 1 ; but this misguided man, on the following
day, again threw himself into the arms of the trustees,
retracted his submission, said mass at St. Mary's, and
took possession as its pastor. The implicit faith placed

J

16 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.

by Bishop England in Hogan was now gone, his plans
for a settlement were defeated, and he was obliged, in
turn, himself to excommunicate him.
This rebellious priest was solemnly condemned by the
Holy See in 1822, by a Papal Brief, dated August 22 of
that year, which was brought from Rome by the Arch
bishop of Baltimore. He promised again to submit, this
time, however, to the tribunal of highest and last resort
in the Church, and " a long correspondence ensued be
tween him and the Rev. William V. Harold, the Bish
op's secretary. In this, bad faith is everywhere evident
in Hogan's language. Nevertheless he made his sub
mission December 10, 1822, and the same day received
from Bishop Conwell his exeat and the removal of the
censures incurred; but on the 14th of the same month
the unhappy priest, circumvented by the trustees, relapsed
into his error ; he objected that the authenticity of the
Pontifical brief had not been shown, and he continued to
officiate and preach at St. Mary's. He published the most
violent pamphlets against his diocesan, and against
Bishop England, whom he sought to compromise; but
he soon tired of functions which he rebelliously exer
cised, and which were a check to his passions. He left
Philadelphia, went South, married, re-married, became a
custom-house officer at Boston, went into the pay of the
bitterest enemies of Catholicity, ever disposed to foment
scandal, and successively published . against the Church
three infamous books, recently (1856) reprinted at
Hartford, to stimulate the Know-Nothing movement. At
last, while the tutor of Leahy, a pretended Trappist
monk, and an obscene reviler of Catholic truth, he died
of the palsy in 185 1 or 1852, without giving any sign of
repentance — a frightful example of the pernicious influ-

Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D. 317
ence of the trustee system, which Protestanism tries to
force on the Catholics."*
The trustees were determined to fill the place of Ho
gan with some one no better than himself; and with this
view they applied to the notorious Angelo Inglesi; but in
this instance they overshot the mark ; even they recoiled
at the open immoralities of their chosen pastor, and
named in his place the Rev. Thaddeus O'Meally, of the
diocese of Limerick. This person did not shrink from
the work of Hogan. Bishop Conwell offered him
terms of accommodation, but these were rejected by him,
and he went to Rome to lay before the Pope the com
plaints of the trustees against the Bishop, and to request
his removal. At Rome the voice of conscience pene
trated his soul ; he made his submission, July 25, 1825,
and retired into a convent in order to lead a life of pen
ance. The aged and persecuted Bishop, worn out with
the long conflict, and with the slanders and contempts of
his enemies, at length, in order to secure peace for him
self and his flock, and thinking that he at the same time
maintained the rights of his office and of the Church,
signed certain articles of agreement with the trustees.
By these the Bishop was recognized as the chief pastor
of St. Mary's, with the right of naming two assistants,
who were to be the immediate pastors of the Church ;
if the trustees objected to either of the assistants named
by the Bishop, they were to state their objections in
writing, and the Bishop and two clergymen not connect
ed with St. Mary's were to meet three of the trustees,
and these six were to constitute a board, a majority of
whom should decide the issue, the Bishop voting merely
as an individual ; and in case of a tie vote, another mem-
* The Catholic Church in the United States, by De Courcy and Shea.

3 18 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ber of the committee was to be chosen by lot, whose
casting vote was to determine and bind the Bishop.
The fixing of the salary of the Bishop and pastors was
left to the "liberality and discretion of the trustees;" but
the Bishop's salary was not to be decreased without his
consent. These articles were signed October .9, 1826.
But at the same time, the trustees signed and entered in
their record a declaration maintaining " their inherent
right of presentation ;" announcing that the accommoda
tion was not a precedent, but only a temporary means of
restoring peace, and of affording an opportunity to the
trustees of prosecuting their claim, and of obtaining a
Papal Bull forbidding the appointment of any future
Bishop, " unless his appointment shall have been made
with the approbation and at the recommendation of the
Catholic clergy of the diocese." It has been stated that
Bishop Conwell also admitted and accepted this decla
ration of the trustees, but the Bishop himself denied this,
stating that he never saw it, " until he saw it by accident
some time after the settlement." This unfortunate com
promise did not receive the sanction of the clergy of
Philadelphia. The Bishop, two days after the articles
were signed, October 11, 1826, proclaimed an amnesty,
relieved the Church of St. Mary from his interdict, and
appointed Rev. William V. Harold and Rev. Thomas
Hayden pastors of the church, and they were accepted
by the trustees. While the Bishop regarded this ar1
rangement as a security for peace without impairing his
own authority, the trustees regarded it as a triumph
over the Bishop. A copy of the "Articles " was sent to
Rome. In the mean time the Bishop's hopes of peace
were disappointed; in the course of a few months, Fa
ther Harold came into conflict with the Bishop concern-

Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D. 319
ing the Articles themselves, and, led on by an impetuous
nature, proceeded so far as to be guilty of open disre
spect and even contempt of the Bishop, who certainly on
his part had acted with great consideration towards him
throughout. The Bishop suspended Father Harold from
the exercise of his ministry.
The copy of the "Articles" was received at Rome in
due time, and so grave had this deplorable condition of
the Church of Philadelphia become, that the whole mat
ter was considered at the Propaganda; and at a general
meeting of the Cardinals held April 30, 1827, the articles
of agreement of October 9, 1826, were declared null and
void, as a subversion of the Episcopal power, and of ec
clesiastical discipline, Pope Leo XII. confirmed the
decision, and the same was communicated to Bishop Con
well in a letter from Cardinal Cappellari, the Prefect of
the Propaganda, afterwards Pope Gregory XVI. Bishop
Conwell at once submitted to this reversal of his pro
ceedings, and announced the decision of Rome, not only
verbally in St. Mary's Church, but also caused it to be
published in the papers. His language in making the an
nouncement was worthy of a Bishop ; he said: "Being
bound in conscience to obey this decision, I do most
willingly submit, and engage to act on that full canonical
power, claimed and exercised universally by Bishops of
every nation in the world, as well as by my more im
mediate brethren, the Bishops of the United States,
whose favor and indulgence I crave on this occasion."
Bishop England, who was thoroughly acquainted with
the history of this sad disturbance, has recorded his
opinion of Dr. Conwell's conduct at this juncture ; he
says : " We must premise that, whatever our opinion
might be as to the prudence of some of his acts, this af-

320 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
fiicted Prelate has, throughout the whole series of his
trials, been proved unimpeachable in his moral conduct,
and sound in his faith ; and seldom, indeed, has it fallen
to the lot of a Bishop to have been placed in more per
plexing difficulties. His conduct in this last instance
ought to raise him in the esteem of his friends ; for he
has manifested a proper and edifying respect for the su
perior tribunal by which his own public act has been
declared irregular and void. The sacrifice of pride upon
the altar of duty is not easily made, and especially under
such circumstances as those in which he was placed. His
conduct has edified us, and will doubtless be beneficial in
its results. We are happy in having grounds to indulge
the hope that all others concerned will, in this respect,
imitate Dr. Conwell."
The trustees, however, did not imitate the Bishop's
humility and obedience. The condition of things did
not improve at St. Mary's ; the trustees were ever in a
state of insubordination. The Holy See determined to
use active measures now to cure this disorder. In August,
1827, the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda invited
Dr. Conwell to repair to Rome, instructing him to trans
fer the administration of the diocese of Philadelphia to
Dr. Marechal, Archbishop of Baltimore. But the latter
Prelate was in too feeble and precarious a state of health
to accept this additional charge ; and Bishop Conwell
deferred his departure till he should hear again from
Rome. Again, as a measure of hoped-for peace, he restor
ed Father Harold to the exercise of the ministry, relieved
the good Father Hayden from St. Mary's, and appointed
in his place the Dominican Father Ryan, who was ac
ceptable to the trustees. Archbishop Marechal died
January 28, 1828. Shortly after this Dr. Conwell re-

Right Rev. Henry Conwell D.D. 321
ceived a renewal of the summons to Rome, and the
Rev. William Matthews, of Washington city, was ap
pointed administrator of the diocese. The conduct of
Fathers Harold and Ryan, in the mean time, had not been
unexceptionable, and they received directions from the
Pope and the Vicar-General of their own Order to re
pair to a Dominican Convent at Cincinnati. The Bishop
immediately departed for Rome. Fathers Harold and
Ryan, on the contrary, appealed to the Government of
the United States for protection against the mandate, as
they alleged, of a foreign power, attempted to be en
forced in the United States. The correspondence between
the State Department at Washington, the American
Minister at Paris, and the Papal Nuncio, soon convinced
our government that this was not a case for its interfer
ence. Messrs. Harold and Ryan withdrew from St.
Mary's, but not immediately from Philadelphia. In 1829
they separately returned to Ireland, where they endeav
ored to repair the past by exemplary lives, and where
they both died edifying deaths.
Bishop Conwell spent eight or ten months at Rome.
The Cardinal Prefect requested him not to return again
to his diocese, or at least to wait till all angry feelings
had subsided. The aged and feeble Prelate became
alarmed at these intimations, suddenly left the city, and
went to Paris. There, too, the Papal Nuncio endeavored
to persuade him not to return to Philadelphia ; but his
fears, once aroused, impaired the exercise of his judg
ment, and he returned, after some time spent in Paris, to
his episcopal see. It does not appear that in this action
Bishop Conwell disobeyed any express order of his su
periors, or made any appeal, as was by some supposed,
for protection to the civil authorities of this country.
21

322 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
There was no necessity for the latter, since the American
Consul at Rome wrote to the State Department at
Washington that no effort was made to detain, but, on
the contrary, his passports had been signed without
hesitation.* Bishop Conwell never recovered his episcopal juris
diction. At the Council of Baltimore, in 1829, he was
in frequent consultation with the Prelates of the Council,
but did not take a seat in it or any part in its proceed
ings. This Council, with the approbation of Bishop
Conwell, recommended the appointment of a coadjutor
for the diocese of Philadelphia, with the powers of ad
ministrator, and suggested the selection of Dr. Francis
Patrick Kenrick for this position.
Engrossing as were the cares and trials of his position,
during these eventful years, Bishop Conwell never be
came indifferent to the sufferings and struggles of his
native country, nor to the political events and progress
of his adopted country. He was a friend and corre
spondent of Daniel O'Connell, and in the midst of that
patriot's agitation for liberty in Ireland he received ear
nest and stirring letters of encouragement and good
counsel from Bishop Conwell.
The Bishop was also on terms of friendly acquaintance
with General Jackson and his family. While at Rome
he addressed a letter to the General, written on a sheet
of paper on which was engraved a likeness of Pope Leo
XII., and covering also a likeness of himself as a present
to Mrs. Jackson. The following are the Bishop's letter
and the General's answer: —
* This account of the Philadelphia schism has been chiefly compiled from Bishop
England's Works, the Life of Archbishop Hughes, by Hassard, and DeCourcy and
Shea's Catholic Church in the United States.

Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D. ^-3
From Bishop Conwell to President Jackson.
Rome, January ist, 1829.
Most Honored Sir — Hearing of your election to the
Presidential chair, as a citizen of the United States far
away from home, 1 beg leave to indulge the satisfaction
I thus feel in coming before you, in effigy, to express on
paper the sentiments of a heart exulting with extreme
joy on that propitious event.
I congratulate you and your friends, and especially
Mrs. Jackson, on that occasion, and anticipating the hap
piest results from your administration, I congratulate the
United States in general, wishing you health and every
blessing, for a long series of years, and heaven hereafter.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of greatest
respect, Most Honored Sir,
Your faithful friend,
And most obedient servant,
•_• Henry Conwell,
Bishop of Philadelphia.
To His Excellency General Andrew Jackson, President of the United States,
Washington City, D. C.
President Jackson to Bishop Conwell.
Washington City, April 25th, 1829.
Dear Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the re
ceipt of your letter of the ist of January last, and to
tender to you my thanks for the engraving of His Holi
ness Pope Leo the XII., and the impression of your
self, which last you had the goodness to send with some
congratulations to Mrs. Jackson. I feel a melancholy
pleasure on accepting them, for we have accounts of the
death of the Pope, and shortly before the date of your

324 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
letter, Divine Providence took from me the dear com
panion of my bosom. So that within this brief period
we have both been subjected to the heaviest calamities,
and what you have designed as tokens of respect for the
living can only be accepted as memorials of their de
parted worth.
Allow me, sir, to express a hope that nothing will
occur in the selection of a successor at Rome to detain
you long from your country — to which I wish you a safe
and prosperous return.
With the assurances of my greatest respect,
I am your most obedient servant,
Andrew Jackson.
Right Rev. Doctor Conwell, Bishop of Philadelphia.
Bishop Conwell was a great admirer of talent and
genius. It has been already stated how quick he was in
detecting the superior qualities of Archbishop Hughes,
when a young deacon at Chambersburg. He after
wards raised him to the priesthood, and made him one
of the priests of his household, and regarded him as a
favorite. The biographer of the Archbishop relates the
following anecdotes: "Bishop Conwell was delighted
with him. When he met any of the professors or stu
dents of Mount St. Mary's, he would accost them in his
rough way : ' How are ye ? How's Brute' ? Ah ! Hughes
is the boy, isn't he? He takes all the wind out of our
sails. We'll make him a Bishop some day ! ' " — " Dr.
Conwell, with Mr. Hughes and two other priests, lived
in the house attached to St. Joseph's, not having re
turned to St. Mary's when it was reopened. Mr.
Hughes was only curate at this time. The senior priest,
a good but rather dull man, took it into his head one day

Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D. 325
that the revenues of the church were not fairly divided ;
the three clergymen who composed the Bishop's house
hold drew as necessity required from a common purse,
'whereby,' said he, 'the curates get as much as their
elders.' So the Bishop and the three priests came to
gether, and Father  exposed his grievances, pro
posing that the Bishop should allot to each a fixed
salary. 'To be sure I will,' cried Dr. Conwell, 'and I'll
give Hughes twice as much as the rest of you. It's he
that draws all the people. He's the only one of you
that can preach decently.' The question of fixed sala
ries was not mooted again, and matters remained on
their old footing." *
From the time of Dr. Kenrick's appointment as Coad
jutor of Philadelphia, with powers of administration, Dr.
Conwell lived in retirement, appearing but seldom in
public, and then only to grace some ceremony of dedi
cation at the request of Bishop Kenrick, or to perform
some act of mercy at the suggestion of his own heart.
The infirmities of extreme old age, and especially the
loss of sight, deprived him finally of even these conso
lations ; but in these latter afflictions he supplied the
place of more active good by the practice of patience,
meekness, and resignation in an unusual degree. An
account of the venerable Prelate, written immediately
after his death, thus portrays his last years: — "During
that long period he never betrayed the slightest emotion
of anger, or harbored resentment in his breast towards
any human being. He was full of meekness and gentle
ness in his address, and dignified in deportment, while
le evinced the guileless simplicity of a child in his man
ners and conversation. Though he had lost his eye-
* Hassard's Life of Archbishop Hughes.

326 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
sight several years ago, he was never heard to lament
the privation. Instead of rendering him unhappy, it
seemed to impart new energy to his cheerful habits and
conversation. It was delightful to hear this venerable
servant of God recount the perils by sea and land, the
perils from false brethren, through which he passed
during the course of his long and arduous mission. His
words were indeed words of wisdom, and were well cal
culated to inspire his hearers with unbounded confidence
in Divine Providence, who had protected him, and
brought him safe through so many dangers. Possessing
all those amiable qualities, united to a venerable old age,
it would be wonderful indeed if he were not universally
respected. By all who knew him he was beloved, and
by his clergy in particular he was revered with filial af
fection and attachment. Though he had resigned the
administration of the diocese into the hands of his worthy
coadjutor, Dr. Kenrick, and retired from the world alto
gether, using it as if he used it not, yet he continued to
be looked up to with undiminished reverence and re
spect, and treated on all occasions with distinguished
honor. Indeed it was impossible to know and not love,
respect, and honor him."*
Bishop Conwell, after an illness of only a few days,
died at his residence attached to. St. Joseph's Church,
Philadelphia, April 22, 1842. He was ninety-four years
old. His death was that of an humble and devout
Christian. Those eyes that had been so long closed to
all earthly scenes were in death opened to the beatific
vision. Immense crowds of people turned out to pay
reverence to his memory ; the surviving Bishop of the
diocese, the clergy, the orphans, and a countless multi-
* Freeman's Journal, 1842.

Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D. 327
tude followed his remains, making probably the most im
posing funeral ever before witnessed in , Philadelphia.
The Right Rev. Dr. Kenrick delivered the funeral ser
mon, in which he paid a glowing tribute to the many
virtues and exemplary life of the deceased Prelate.

RIGHT REV. EDWARD D. FENWICK, D.D.,
First Bishop of Cincinnati, A.D., 1822.*
Edward D. Fenwick was a descendant, like his cousin
the Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, of the Fenwicks
of Fenwick Tower, Northumberland County, England,
and of the Hon. Cuthbert Fenwick, the founder of the
family in America, and one of the early lawgivers of
Maryland. He was born in St. Mary's County, Mary
land, in 1768, of pious parents, who had adhered to the
faith through the long years of persecution through
which the Church passed in that State prior to the Rev
olution. From his earliest youth he exhibited a " tender
and affectionate piety " remarkable for his years. In con
sequence of the long prohibition of Catholic schools in
his native State, the parents of young Fenwick, in order
to preserve his innocence and develop the gifts of his
mind and heart, had to send him abroad for his educa
tion. He was accordingly sent, when in his sixteenth
year, to the College of Bornheim, near Antwerp. The
professors in this institution were English Dominicans,
who themselves had been forced to leave their country in
order to enjoy perfect freedom of conscience. He applied
himself to his studies with industry and care, and com
pleted them with success. The pious sentiments implant
ed by the sacraments, by graces from above, and cultivat
ed by the instructions of his good parents, in the heart
?Authorities: Catholic Almanac, 1848; Catholic Miscellany, 1826 and 1827; Cath
olic Magazine, 1847; Spalding's Sketches of Kentucky; De Courcy and Shea's
Catholic Churchin t'n- United States, etc., etc.

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 329
of young Fenwick, were thoroughly developed and en
couraged by his devout and zealous professors ; so that,
on completing his collegiate course, he assumed the white
habit of St. Dominic, emblem of purity, and entered the
Seminary at Bornheim as a student of theology. He
became professor in the College of which he had recent
ly been a student, was also appointed procurator of
the house, and exerted his most careful and earnest efforts
to promote the prosperity of the establishment. Raised
to the priesthood, he spent several years at Bornheim,
" edifying his brethren by his exemplary conduct and his
unaffected piety." At this juncture the French Revolu
tionary armies invaded Flanders, and in their progress
seized the colleges and religious institutions, confiscated
their property, and pillaged and persecuted the clergy
with rapacious cruelty. The Dominican College at
Bornheim shared the fate of the others, the more so as its
professors and officers were English. Father Fenwick
was thrown into prison and threatened with death. In
his distress he had recourse to the intercession of the'
blessed Virgin Mary, to whom he ever afterwards pious
ly and gratefully attributed his deliverance. Preferring
his claims of exemption as an American citizen, he was
released, repaired to England, and was again united with
his brethren of the Dominican Order. Father Fenwick
was long desirous that a colony of Dominicans might
be sent to America, and he and his colleagues now peti
tioned their General to send out such a colony. Their
request was granted. Father Fenwick " in consequence
of his many virtues, and of his being an American," was
appointed their Superior, and his companions were
Fathers Thomas Wilson, William Raymond Tuite, and
R. Anger, all natives of England. The venerable Bishop

330 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Carroll received these zealous missionaries with cordiality
and paternal affection, and welcomed them to his vast
diocese, which then embraced the entire United States.
Father Fenwick, after an absence of twenty-one years,
was warmly greeted by his many relatives and friends,
but the good missionary was wholly intent upon the
work of God, and lost no time in placing himself and
companions at the disposal of Bishop Carroll, and con
sulted him as to their future movements. He pointed
out to them the vast and unprovided field of the West,
to which he had recently sent the indefatigable Father
Nerinckx, but which needed a corps of missionaries to
make an effectual impression on so new and extensive a
mission. In the Fall of 1805, Father Fenwick paid his
first visit to the West, and extended it to the great valley
of the Mississippi, in order to examine the country and
select a suitable location for the contemplated institution.
He selected a farm in Washington County, Kentucky,
which was purchased and paid for by him from his private
patrimony. He returned to Maryland, completed his
arrangements, and in the Spring of 1806 the four hardy
and devoted Dominicans went forth to their new and
laborious field of labor and privations, clad in the armor
of faith and armed with the sustaining cross : —
" With these, through storms and bitterness and wrath,
In peace and power they hold their onward path."
The new institution is called St. Rose's, in honor of the
first American Saint, who was also a Dominican.
The field was quite new and uncultivated. The lake-
shore in days long past had resounded with litanies sung
by the Jesuit missionaries and responded to by the un
tutored sons of the forest ; from that time till 1793, when
the " proto-American priest," Father Badin, had visited

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 331
for a few days this then remote border of our Republic,
no sacred office had been said, no holy sacrifice been of
fered. It was Father Fenwick and his brethren who laid
the foundations of this infant frontier church, where now
is reared the stately Metropolitan See, with its flourish
ing suffragans. It was in 18 14 that St. Rose, sending
forth its spiritual light, as from a focus, began to illumin
ate the dark valleys and forests of Ohio. Speaking of
Father Fenwick as the apostle of Ohio, the Catholic
Telegraph says : " In his first apostolical excursion, he
found three Catholic families in the centre of the State.
They consisted of twenty individuals, occupied in clear
ing their lands, who had not seen a priest for ten years.
He heard at a great distance the stroke of the axe, in
terrupting the silence of the forest. The joy of these
good people at seeing the first Catholic priest was so
great that Bishop Fenwick could never recall the cir
cumstance, without experiencing the greatest consola
tion, because he considered it the first fruits of his Ohio
mission. Even those families still (1848) speak of it
with the greatest transports of joy."
Drawn on by the love of souls, influenced by his own
humility, and preferring obedience to command, Father
Fenwick resigned the post of Provincial of his Order
into the hands of Father Thomas Wilson, with the per
mission of his superiors, in order that he might devote
himself to the severest labors of the mission. He hence
forth visited Ohio from St. Rose's, which was the head
quarters of his extensive mission, twice every year, and
found the field expanding before him, each visit bringing
to light new children of the faith in that remote region.
In one of these visitations, his travels were rewarded by
the cheering discovery that there were seven Catholic

332 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
families in Cincinnati. They had been deprived of the
graces of the sacraments, of the holy Mass, and of all the
consolations of their religion, except their faith, to which
they adhered with steadfast perseverance. The oldest
of these sturdy Catholic pioneers of Ohio was the vener
able Michael Scott, who had immigrated to Cincinnati
from Baltimore in 1805. As a proof of the piety and
zeal of this Catholic pioneer, it is related that he on one
occasion, at Easter, traveled with his wife and children
from Cincinnati to Lexington, Kentucky, to hear Mass.
When we consider the hardships of such a journey at
that early period, we can appreciate the devotion and
love of God that prompted it, and sympathize with those
heroic Christians, in the disappointment they sustained
on their arrival at Lexington, in finding that the priest
had been summoned on urgent duty to a distant point.
The ardor of these good people was not diminished by
disappointment. Like a patriarch, Mr. Scott kept alive
in his family the spirit of religion, and the observance of
such devotions as are not denied even to the wilderness,
and promised them the advent of a more propitious day,
when God would send them his anointed minister to
console them with the living sacrifice and sacraments of
the Church. It was in the person of Father Fenwick
that he saw his prophetic words realized. The holy
sacrifice was offered for the first time in the city of Cin
cinnati by this apostolical man, in the dwelling of Mr.
Scott. Very soon afterwards an appeal was published
at Dayton, in one of the newspapers of the day, calling
on the Catholics of the neighborhood to unite by their
alms and exertions in providing the means of erecting a
chapel. This appeal proved eminently successful, as
the course of our narrative will show.

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 333
The following allusions to Father Fenwick, as the
Missionary of Kentucky and Ohio, are from the pen of
Archbishop Spalding:* — "Another ornament of the
(Dominican) Order in North America, less brilliant, but
perhaps more useful still, was the illustrious F. Edward
Fenwick. After he had resigned the office of Superior,
he became a general missionary. He was seldom at
home, and lived almost constantly on horseback. His
zeal for the salvation of souls was as boundless as it was
untiring and persevering. He traversed Kentucky in
every direction, in quest of scattered Catholic families,
whom he was wont to designate as ' stray sheep.'
Often he was known to ride thirty or forty miles out of
his way to visit a lonely Catholic family, of whose exist
ence he had been informed. Though not gifted with
great natural talents, he possessed a peculiar tact for win
ning souls to Christ. His manners were of the most
familiar, affable, and winning kind. He could adapt him
self to every emergency, and to every description of
character and temperament. Frank, open, and sincere
by nature, and an American himself, he possessed an
instinctive talent for dealing with Americans, whether
Catholics or Protestants. Multitudes of the latter were
converted to Catholicity through his agency."
" Often, after a long and painful ride, he reached at
nightfall the house of a distant Catholic family which
he had determined to visit. Before dismounting from
his horse, he frequently, on these occasions, entered into
familiar conversation with his new acquaintances, by tell
ing them that he had traveled out of his way in quest
of ' stray sheep ; ' and asking them ' whether they had
heard of any such in that vicinity.' Having thus estab-
* Sketches of Kentucky, p. 155.

334 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
lished a sort of intimacy, he explained to them in the
course of the evening the symbolical meaning of ' stray
sheep,' and he seldom failed of his object." * "
" But it was on the new missions of Ohio that Mr.
Fenwick was destined most to signalize his missionary
zeal. Of this mission he was the first pioneer and
founder. He penetrated into the State for the first time
in the year 1810. He then found, in the vicinity of Som
erset, only three Catholic families, of German extraction,
numbering in all about twenty members. He traversed
the State in all directions, and was gratified to be able
subsequently to discover there many other scattered fam
ilies of Catholics. These he visited occasionally, saying
Mass for them, instructing the children, and administer
ing the sacraments. The first churches of this new mis
sion were founded by him."
Father Fenwick and his nephew, the Rev. N. D.
Young, took up their residence in Perry County, Ohio.
A gentleman living near Somerset, Mr. Peter Dittoe,
made a present to the Order, of which they were mem
bers, of a fine farm, consisting of three hundred and
twenty acres, on condition that Father Fenwick would
erect on it an institution similar to that of St. Rose, in
Kentucky. The venerable Bishop Flaget approved the
undertaking, and very soon the little log chapel of St.
Joseph's arose in the forest that contributed the materials
for its erection, and was dedicated December 6th of the
same year. A stone addition was soon built to the log
chapel, which for some time was of " partly logs and
partly stone." " When the congregation, which consist
ed of only ten families when the chapel was first opened,
had increased in number, and a new addition, or to speak
more correctly, a separate church, of brick, marked the

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D.

OJ3

progress of improvement, and afforded new facilities for
the accommodation of the faithful, an humble convent,
whose reverend inmates — one American, Rev. N. D.
Young, one Irishman, Rev. Thomas Martin, and one
Belgian, Rev. Vincent de Rymacher — cheerfully shared
in all the hardships and privations incident to the new
colony, was erected near the Church, and from its peace
ful precincts the saving truths of faith were conveyed,
and its divine sacraments administered, to many a weary
emigrant who had almost despaired of enjoying those
blessings in the solitude he had selected for his home.
The benedictions of the poor and the refreshing dews
of heaven descended on the spiritual seed thus sown.
It increased and multiplied an hundred fold."* It is re
lated that their convent home was so deeply buried in the
woods that immediate precautions were rendered neces
sary in order to avert the danger of trees falling upon
and crushing the structure. Thus for several years these
saintly Dominicans continued to pray and to bless ; to
render the wilderness vocal with the divine homage ;
to bestow on their fellow-men the light of faith ; and to
sustain and emulate each other in the love of solitude,
in charity, love, and peace. Well may they have said to
each other that religion hath
" Made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp ! Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court ? "
Or rather may we not exclaim : —
" O, happiness of sweet retired content !
To be at once secure and innocent ! "
But the life of the pioneer missionary is one of labor,
travel, and self-denial. They traversed vast solitudes in
* Catholic Almanac for 1848.

336 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
quest of souls, and laid broad and deep the strong foun
dations of a future Church. In 1819 a small frame chapel
was erected in Cincinnati, just without the corporate
limits. New congregations of the faithful were gathered
together, and temples, simple but holy, were erected to
the One God in various parts of the then frontier of the
Republic. Thus we find at Somerset, Lancaster, Zanes-
ville, St. Barnabas, Morgan County, Rehoboth, and St.
Patrick's, seven miles from St. Joseph's, at Sapp's Settle
ment, and at other more distant points, the faithful were
assembled and churches erected. Well has it been said
that "the white habit of St. Dominic was hailed by the
lonely Catholic as the harbinger of glad tidings, and the
symbol of the joy, the purity, and the triumphs which at
test the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the fulfilment
of the promises made by her Divine Father to the
Church." Bishop Flaget, in consequence of the great increase of
Catholics in his vast diocese, arid the necessity of divid
ing his extended labors with others, applied to Rome for
the erection of new dioceses in the West. It has already
been related that as early as 1789 an episcopal see was
in contemplation for Ohio, and how the project was
abandoned.* Now, on the recommendation of Bishop
Flaget, Pope Pius VIL, by his bulls of June 19, 182 1,
created the new diocese of Cincinnati, and appointed
Father Edward Fenwick its first Bishop, who was also
charged with the administration of the episcopal office
for the territories of Michigan. He was consecrated by
Bishop Flaget, assisted, as authorized by the Papal
brief, by the Rev. Messrs. Wilson and Hill, O.P., on the
feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, January 13, 1822, in
* See Life of Archbishop Carroll.

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. t>2>7
the Church of St. Rose, Washington County, Kentucky.
The consecration sermon was preached by the Right
Rev. Dr. David, Coadjutor of Bardstown. The follow
ing spring, the Bishop, accompanied by two other Do
minicans, repaired to Cincinnati and entered upon his
sacred office. No Bishop probably ever entered a dio
cese more destitute of the means of affording him even
a scanty subsistence. The congregation were too few
and too poor to offer him a lodging, and a small rented
house served him at once both for episcopal palace and
seminary. His church, if such it may be called, was an
unfinished frame building, without ceiling or plaster, a
mile distant from the town. Such was the first Cathe
dral of Cincinnati. "It is very obvious," remarks the
biographer of Bishop Fenwick, in the Catholic Almanac,
" that a Bishop placed over such a diocese was called,
not to wealth, but to poverty — not to rest, but to labor.
When, therefore, the Bishop elect sincerely uttered the
well-known words : ' Nolo episcopari,' and buried him
self in his missions, as soon as he had heard of the arri
val of the bulls from Rome, hoping by that means to free
himself from the charge, it was not from opposition to
poverty, which he had already vowed, nor to labor, to
which he had been always devoted, but from an humble
diffidence in his own learning and virtue, which exalted
him as much in the estimation of others, as he was little
in his own eyes, and loved 'to be unknown and thought
little of by others.' " Yielding to the mandate of Rome,
this saintly Prelate entered with courage and cheerful
ness upon the field of labor and poverty that lay before
him. After a few months, his humble church was re
moved into the town, and appropriately fitted up for di
vine service. So zealous and industrious were the la-
22

338 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
bors of the Bishop, and so successful his ministry, that in
less than two years this building was unable to accom
modate the crowds that flocked to its humble altar every
Sunday. A larger church became absolutely necessary.
This and the other pressing wants of his infant diocese,
and his utter inability to supply them, brought the good
Bishop to the determination of going to Rome to lay his
petitions for relief at the feet of the Holy Father. On
arriving at, Bordeaux he addressed a letter to the Rev.
Stephen Theodore Badin, at Paris, which well portrays
both the condition of his diocese and his own feelings in
undertaking the journey : —
" Rev. Dear Friend :
"I arrived here on the 6th inst. (August, 1823), after
a passage of twenty-eight days from New York, and
was happy to receive your kind and welcome letter, at
the Archbishop's, three days after my arrival. I had
left Cincinnati on the 30th of May. Having in so many
instances of my life experienced the fatherly care and
protection of God, the bestower of all good gifts, I
confidently hope that the same Divine Providence will
continue through the remainder of my arduous under
taking to accompany me. It has supplied me, upon
loan, with the sum precisely necessary for my voyage to
this place, and no more, in order to keep me always in
its dependence. Our poor backwoods are now so mise
rable, that I could not have a sou given me, neither by
my brethren in the episcopacy, nor by the priests of
Kentucky, nor of my own diocese. Indeed, I esteemed
myself happy to borrow without interest, of a Catholic
layman, the sum of about five hundred francs, now almost
exhausted."

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 339
" I am really sorry, my dear sir, that you cannot con
veniently join and accompany me to Rome. My object
in going is to resign, if allowed, my dignity to better
hands and superior heads ; if not allowed, to beg for
means of subsistence and all necessary supplies for the
mission, especially funds to build a church in Cincinnati,
and to pay for the lot I have purchased. I have already
raised for my Cathedral, at present, a wooden chapel,
fifty-five feet by thirty. I had not then a sou of money ;
all has been done on credit, and a great portion of the
expenses remain still to be paid. The object of my
journey is also to procure means for securing, in the
vicinity of my episcopal town, the domain of a small
tract of land and a large convenient house well calcula
ted for a Seminary  Moreover, I wish to ob
tain a Bishop for Detroit and a coadjutor for myself, and
some good divines, in case my resignation be not ac
cepted." " I wish you also, my dear sir, to contribute your mite
for relieving my distresses. I mean, and beg that you
draw up and have printed, a short and clear description
of my forlorn and helpless condition, of the extent and
wants of my diocese, of the number and scattered situa
tion of the poor Catholics, &c. When I came first to
the State of Ohio, nine years ago, I discovered only
three Catholic families from Limestone (Maysville) to
Wheeling. Now the State contains no less than eight
thousand. There are also ten or twelve thousand in
Michigan. Moreover, there are in Ohio two thousand In
dians, living on the Seneca river, some of whom are Cath
olics, and they are obliged to cross Lake Erie to reach
Maiden and Sandwich, in Canada, in order to have their
children baptized, and their marriages celebrated by a

340 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Catholic priest. In the wilderness watered by the San
dusky river there are two settlements of white people,
one of Catholics and the other of Methodists, upon the
two opposite sides of the river. I intend, if possible, to
have two missionaries traveling continually from place
to place, especially devoting their labors and services
among the Indians."
" I think we may count two or three hundred converts
since I resided in Ohio. Five wooden churches are
actually built and four more are building. The popula
tion of Ohio, according to the last census, is six hundred
thousand souls. Catholics are to be found in every
county, and I have met many Germans and Swiss. I
offer to God many prayers for some zealous and disinter
ested German priests. I say disinterested, for all mis
sionaries must entirely depend on Divine Providence.
Although a Bishop, I have no revenue but the rent of
twenty-five or thirty pews in the Cincinnati chapel,
which produce, at most, a yearly income of eighty dol
lars. You know a little of my exertions, sacrifices, and
labors in Kentucky : That I devoted my whole paternal
estate, and all I could collect, scrape up, and save;
that I really debarred myself of comforts, and even ne
cessaries ; that I undertook long and painful jaunts to
found and promote the establishment of St. Rose ; and
behold, I am now deprived of all right and claim on the
Order, being taken out of it. Assumptus ex ordine ad
episcopatum ! I was obliged by my rule and vows to
render an account of all property, even of books and fur
niture, that I had been allowed to use."
" When I took possession of the diocese, I had to rent
a house to live in, and to send to market for the first
meal we took in the episcopal town, no provision what-

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 341
ever having been made for the maintenance of the Bishop.
I had not a sou but what the good people of St. Rose's
congregation in Kentucky had given me by subscription,
four or five hundred dollars in paper money, which was
depreciated to one-half in the Ohio State."
" I had but six congregations when (eighteen months
ago) I first went to reside in Cincinnati ; now there are
twenty-two, at least that I have visited."
"You will conceive how great is the want of mission
aries in my extensive diocese, when you learn that I
possess only seven priests, and have neither seminary,
professors, nor schools. The Rev. Messrs. Hill and
Stephen Montgomery, O. S. D., are charged with the
Western congregations, and all scattered Catholics, as
far as Vevay, in the Indiana Fort, St. Mary's, Lake Erie,
Chillicothe, etc. Rev. Mr. Young, my nephew, and two
confreres ordained by me, extend their rides and mis
sionary duties in the East to Marietta, St. Clairville,
New Lisbon, etc.
"I feel anxious to arrive at Rome as soon as possible,
in order to know my fate, and see the Holy Father. I
intend to return from Rome in three months, and shall
pass through Paris, Flanders, and England before em
barking for the United States. Accept the assurance,
etc., etc." "Edward D. Fenwick,
"Bishop of Cincinnati."
" Leo XII. received the Bishop with a kindness truly
paternal. He not only presented him with a splendid
tabernacle, which is still (1848) unsurpassed by any
thing of the kind in the United States, and a set of can
dlesticks, a chalice, etc., for his cathedral, but he also

342 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
gave him twelve thousand Roman crowns towards the
expenses of his journey, and directed the Cardinal Pre
fect of the Propaganda to recommend him not Only to
the association lately commenced at Lyons, but also to
the friends of religion in general, and especially to those
whose wealth enabled them to be munificent patrons of
the foreign missions. Animated by the example of the
Sovereign Pontiff, and the letters of the Cardinal Prefect,
other members of the Sacred College, especially Cardinal
Fesch, uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte, conferred on the
amiable Prelate the most substantial marks of their re
gard for himself and their sympathy for the destitution
of his flock. The King of France, and the wealthy and
generous Catholics of his kingdom, as well as those
of Sardinia, Belgium, Spain, and Germany, emulated the
noble precedent thus given them in the Eternal City,
and the dejected Bishop, who had landed on the shores
of Europe very much in the condition of the ' sower who
sowed in tears,' returned like that sower, 'with joyful-
ness,' having gathered a rich harvest." *
On his return he visited, Philadelphia, and used his
charitable efforts to reconcile the differences between the
Bishop of that see and the trustees of St. Mary's Church
in that city. His return to Cincinnati was hailed by his
flock throughout the diocese with great joy. He at once
went to work with the resources acquired by him in Eu
rope ; the new Cathedral was commenced among his first
acts, and on the first Sunday of Advent, 1826, the Catho
lics of that city had the happiness of attending divine
service within this elegant temple. The fine paintings
that decorated its walls, and the splendid pontifical vest
ments in which the good Prelate officiated, were to the
* Catholic Almanac, 1848.

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 343
people additional evidences of his successful visit abroad.
At the jubilee, commencing on Christmas and ending on
New Year's day, two hundred devout souls received the
Holy Communion, where a few years before eleven com
municants were all that could be counted. Soon after
wards the Bishop, having determined to go through the
principal cities and towns to arouse the people to a sense
of their spiritual necessities, sent before him, as pioneers,
the Rev. Messrs. Ignatius Mullon and N. D. Young,*
two of the earliest and most zealous missionaries of the
West, and in connection with them the Bishop canvassed
the country in quest of souls. They preached twice a
day for eight days in St. Mary's Church, Lancaster ;
St. Joseph's, near Somerset ; St. John's, Zanesville ;
St. John's, Canton ; four days in St. Barnabas', Morgan
County; five in St. Paul's, Columbiana County; an entire
week in St. Luke's, Knox County; and in St. Dominic's,
Guernsey County. Their sermons were attended by
crowds of all denominations, and in every court-house
and other suitable place that could be procured they
instructed the masses on "the one thing necessary."
Many of the people traveled for miles, and frequently
on foot, to hear them, and many others came into the
towns and cities, and remained there during the stay of
the Bishop and his missionaries. Some idea of the
splendid results of this extraordinary apostolical journey
may be formed from the fact, that in Lancaster there
were sixty communicants, four hundred at St. Joseph's,
forty at St. Barnabas', ninety at Zanesville, fifty at St.
Dominic's, and one hundred at Canton, and many adults
and children received into the Church, and inveterate
sinners converted.
* Now the oldest priest in the United States, by ordination.

344 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
The Bishop was anxious for the education of the
youth of his diocese, and addressed himself to the estab
lishment of schools for them. He first opened a school
at Cincinnati under the Sisters known as " Poor Clares,"
who, though they did not long remain, did good service
in their time. He subsequently introduced the Sisters
of Charity from Emmitsburg, and afterwards also the
members of the Third Order of St. Dominic at Somerset,
Perry County. He also established the Athenaeum, now
better known as St. Francis Xavier's College, in which
the academic exercises commenced October 17, 1831.
The Bishop also had the pleasure of seeing his Cathe
dral thronged with Protestants as well as Catholics
every Sunday, and he provided a place there expressly
for Protestants, whose deportment was always earnest
and even edifying. He was assisted in his gigantic
labors in Cincinnati by the Very Rev. John Austin Hill,
of the Dominican Order, Vicar-General of the diocese;
Rev. Raphael Mufios, O.S.D., a native of Grenada, in
Spain, and the Rev. John Thomas Hynes, of the same
Order, who was afterwards Apostolic Administrator of
British Guiana.
The Bishop next went forth to visit his scattered and
distant flock in the North- Western Territory, where his
presence was greatly needed. At Green Bay an adven
turer named Fauvel, calling himself an ecclesiastic in
minor orders, and supposed to be the same person that
had persuaded a few simple-minded Indians to go to
Europe with him, where he had availed himself of their
exhibitions to collect money on various pretences, was
then engaged in deceiving and misleading the Catholic
Indians. Bishop Fenwick first expelled this wolf from
the fold, and then went to work in good earnest among

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 345
them. His arrival was the signal for a general gather
ing of the Indians to greet him and receive his spiritual
aid. On the morning of the Ascension, the day after
his arrival, lake and river were all alive with the light
canoes, bringing the sons of the forest to the chapel.
Confirming them in the faith, he proceeded to Arbre-
Croche, forty miles from Mackinaw, where he was re
ceived, as he landed, by a procession of the tribe, headed
by a large silver cross and the national flag, and the im
mense multitude knelt to receive his blessing. Here
much time was spent in hearing confessions, for which
purpose interpreters of their own choice were used, a
female interpreter for the women and a male interpreter
for the men ; in administering the Sacraments, receiving
converts ; and, among other good works, a temperance
society was organized, which did great good in their
midst. Thence the Bishop and his attendant, Father
Mullon, went to Mackinaw, where for three weeks they
labored with immense results for the spiritual good of
the natives. It was here that he formed the design of
providing priests for the Indians from their own numbers,
and selected two gifted and devout Indian youths, whom
he sent to Rome for the purpose of being prepared for
the ecclesiastical state, and who were received by the
Holy Father and the College of the Propaganda with
open arms, and of whose progress the most gratifying
accounts were returned from Rome. But Providence
did not design that this project should succeed, for dis
ease carried off one of these young men and ill health
compelled the other to return to his tribe. This is said
to have been the only effort made on this part of the
North American Continent to promote the aboriginal
race to the holy priesthood. From Mackinaw they pro-

346 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ceeded to Detroit, then under the pastoral care of the
Rev. Gabriel Richard, and after spending a week here
in instructing the people, the Bishop gave the first com
munion to fifty persons, in the Church of St. Ann, and
one hundred and fifty were confirmed. The Bishop
then proceeded through St. Paul's, St. Anthony's, St.
Joseph's, Fort Meigs, which he reached through Mud
Creek in a canoe ; Port Clinton, and other places ; in all
of which he rallied the Catholics, whom he instructed
and baptized, and to whom he also administered the
sacraments of confirmation and Holy Eucharist. Lots
were procured at several places for the erection of
Churches, and the seed of the gospel sowed far and near,
and the foundations of the Western Church laid broad
and deep. So effective and powerful were the labors of
Bishop Fenwick in the West, and so rapid were the
strides which the Catholic Church was making under
his zealous and vigorous administration, that shortly
after his return to Cincinnati he was met with the bitter
est opposition from the sectarian pulpit and press, and
every effort was made to prejudice Catholics and their
Church in the eyes of the public ; republican institutions
were said to be in danger from Popery, and all the ele
ments of bigotry, prejudice, and "sectarian hatred were
appealed to in order to raise an opposition to its en
croachments. Tire good Bishop met these trials with
prayer and humility, and, without relaxing his labors or
deviating from his course, trusted to time and the provi
dence of God for their removal.
In October, 1829, Bishop Fenwick attended the First
Provincial Council, summoned to meet at Baltimore by
Archbishop Whitfield, to whose deliberations and labors
he contributed his earnest and best efforts. After the

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 347
adjournment of the Council, he visited the religious and
educational institutions of the archdiocese of Baltimore,
and many relatives and friends, by all of whom he was re
ceived with great interest and profound veneration as a
patriarch and an apostle. His journey back to Cincin
nati was one of labor ; he stopped at various places on
the route to administer confirmation and promote the re
ligious interests of the communities which he visited.
On resuming his duties at Cincinnati, the Bishop thought
it his duty, in compliance with the recommendations of
the Council, to attempt the establishment of an Ecclesi
astical Seminary. But his means were entirely inade
quate for such a purpose ; he did all in his power, and
left the rest to God. This undertaking could not be
sustained for want of means, and the diocese of Cincin
nati was obliged to depend upon the Seminary at Bards
town and an occasional accession of a priest from some
other diocese.
In the spring of 1830 Bishop Fenwick started again to
traverse his diocese in search of souls, and was accom
panied by the Rev. Mr. Miles.* He visited Guernsey
County, Zanesville, Mt. Vernon, St. Joseph's, and Lan
caster, undergoing the same labors and reaping a similar
harvest as were described as the results of his first visi
tation. At the same time he sent his Vicar-General, the
Rev. Frederick Reze.f on an extensive tour among the
Indians of the Northwest. On arriving at St. Joseph's
river, Michigan, the Indians encamped around him and
received his words with great joy, for the traditions
derived from the old French missionaries were alive
amongst them. At the council of the chiefs, called to
* Afterwards Bishop of Nashville ; see his Life.
\ Afterwards Bishop of Detroit.

348 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
decide upon a spot for the erection of a church, it was
unanimously resolved to give the missionary station of
the sectarian minister for this purpose, and the parson
was notified to vacate the same. It was soon turned
into a Catholic chapel. Success accompanied his mis
sion at every step. Only one additional detail will be
mentioned : on arriving at Arbre- Croche, where Rev.
Mr. Dejean had been stationed, he found that that zeal
ous missionary had, in the short space of twelve months,
received twelve hundred converts into the Church, and
on this occasion one hundred and four more were added.
The ministers of other denominations were found in
these remote regions, but the Indians always preferred
the black-gown, and gave as a reason for so doing that
" the ministers have families like ourselves, but the black-
gowns, like the Great Spirit, are the fathers of all."
In June, 1830, the Right Rev. Bishop England, of
Charleston, at the solicitation of Bishop Fenwick, de
livered a course of lectures at Cincinnati on the doctrines
of the Catholic Church, which were attended by great
crowds of Protestants as well as Catholics, and which
for months afterwards yielded an abundant fruit in the
numerous conversions to the Church which Bishop Fen
wick had the happiness to witness. The extension of
the Catholic religion not only in Cincinnati, but also in
every part of the vast diocese of Bishop Fenwick, was
wonderful, and the good Prelate derived infinite consola
tion from beholding all around him the gratifying fruits
of his immense labors. No portion of his diocese failed
to receive his personal attention, and the travels and la
bors of this pious and indefatigable Prelate, as handed
down to us by tradition, are almost incredible. He was
sometimes absent from Cincinnati nearly an entire year

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 349
at a time, traveling from city to city, and over vast re
gions of country, and spending a considerable portion of
time among the Indians, to whose salvation he was de
voted. In the spring of 1832 he despatched the Vicar-
General, Rev. Mr. Rgze, to New York with the two
Indian youths destined for the priesthood, whom that
reverend gentleman saw embark for Europe. He had in
structions from the Bishop, who had been for some time
ill at Cincinnati, to return there and make a missionary
journey through the diocese ; but he was met at St.
Joseph's, near Somerset, by the Bishop, who had de
termined to go on this arduous trip himself, and Mr.
Reze, having received full instructions as to his course in
the event of the Bishop's death, returned to Cincinnati,
while the Bishop started on his apostolical journey. " In
this visitation the Bishop traversed an extent of more
than two thousand miles, and on every side he was beset
with difficulty to provide for the increasing wants of the
faithful. All were imploring his aid ; some to have
churches erected, and others to secure a competent sup
port for their clergy. In addition to these laborious
cares, which demanded the attention of the Bishop, the
cholera was ravaging the country round, and presented
an active field for the charity of the good shepherd, who
would lay down his life for his sheep." * The disease soon
seized upon the Bishop, at the Saut St. Mary ; he suf
fered greatly from its effects, but he recovered sufficiently
to prosecute his journey to Arbre-Croche and Mackinaw.
From the latter place he addressed a letter to a friend in
Europe, from which the following extract is taken: "My
health is much impaired and my strength is visibly di
minishing. I have just visited the good Indians at Arbre-
* Catholic Almanac, 1848.

350 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Croche, among whom I had stationed the Rev. Mr.
Baraga,* and an elderly and pious lady, who knows three
languages, the English, French, and Indian. She is the
teacher of the children in this place. The zealous mis
sionary has been wonderfully successful, having extended
his visits as far as the Castor Islands, and beyond Lake
Michigan, where he has erected several churches. Since
May, 1 83 1, he has baptized two hundred and sixty-six
Indians. I confirmed one hundred and thirty-seven of
the same tribe, and was much consoled by their fervor
and piety. There are actually at St. Peter's, Arbre-
Croche, seven hundred Indians who are Christians, most
of whom have received the sacrament of confirmation.
They have two schools for children. There is also a
school at St. Joseph's, and another at Green Bay, where
there is a church nearly finished. My college is in active
operation, and the seminary is rising."
On his return to Detroit, the Bishop found the Rev.
Mr. Richard prostrated with the cholera. This noble
soldier of the cross fell a victim to his zeal in serving the
sick and dying, and to his love for his neighbor. The
Bishop was soon to follow his friend and co-laborer, but not
until after he had visited, in his feeble state of health, the
most remote stations in the eastern part of the diocese.
At the places where he stopped he told his friends that
they then saw him for the last time. At Canton he was
again attacked by the cholera, but continued to attend to
his duties, and wrote from this place two long letters on
the affairs of the diocese. On the 25th of September
he started from Canton with the intention of visiting two
or three congregations near Somerset, and of then re
turning to Cincinnati ; but on the way his disease was so
* Afterwards Bishop of Marquette ; see his Life.

Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, D.D. 351
severe, that the cramp which seized him compelled him
frequently to stand erect in the coach and to ride in this
position. He arrived at Wooster, and was compelled to
retire to bed, and, in spite of all that skill and devoted
attention could do, he expired on the 26th of September.
A messenger had been despatched to obtain the attend
ance of the nearest clergyman, but he arrived too late to
administer to the expiring Prelate those religious rites
and consolations, which he himself had traveled many
thousands of miles often in his life to administer to
others. "Bishop Fenwick, by his talents and amiable deport
ment, had gained himself many admirers and many per
sonal friends. As a herald of the cross he was always
at his post, faithful, vigilant, and indefatigable. In the
ordinary walks of life he was dignified, affable, and un
ostentatious. In retirement he was given to prayer. Of
the brilliant success which crowned his efforts to diffuse
the blessings of religion we have the most abundant
evidences in what has been already stated. He was
truly the apostle of Ohio ; he built the first church in
that part of the country, and though there were only
two priests and two churches in the immense district
afterwards placed under his episcopal charge, embracing
Ohio, Michigan, and the North-West Territory, he had
the consolation of witnessing, at his death, upwards of
twenty churches erected to the honor of God — thirty
priests laboring for the good of souls — houses of educa
tion, with religious and charitable institutions, in active
operation, and other unequivocal signs of the rich bless
ing imparted to his labors. Well could he say with the
Apostle, ' I have fought the good fight ; I have finished
my course ; I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there

352 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the
just Judge, will render to me in that day.' " *
One of the secular papers at Cincinnati thus noticed
his death at the time: — "To the Church here his death
is a most serious calamity. For more than a quarter of
a century he has been an indefatigable missionary in the
West, living as he died, without reproach. However
Christian churches may regard the Catholic Church,
every good man might exclaim, in reference to his death,
' Oh ! that I may die the death of the righteous, and
may my last end be like his.'"
* Catholic Almanac, 1848.

RIGHT REV. JOSEPH ROSATI, D.D.,
First Bishop of St. Louis, A.D. 1824.*
Bishop Rosati was eminent in the Church of America
for his learning and wisdom in council, and for his great
labors and noble achievements in the missionary field.
Rome proved herself the " Mother of Churches " when she
bestowed from among her own clergy such an apostle
upon the young Church of the United States. It is to
be regretted that the materials are so scanty for the bio
graphy of one, whose example would prove a valuable
legacy to the future ; one to whom tradition has given the
title of " Model Bishop."
Joseph Rosati was born at Sora, in the kingdom of
Naples, January 30, 1789. His family and connections
were highly respectable, and were imbued with firm
faith and active zeal. Joseph, from his tenderest years,
gave proof of that piety and virtue which distinguished
his whole life. At an early age he entered the novitiate
at Rome of the " Congregation of the Priests of the
Mission of St. Vincent de Paul," commonly called
Lazarists. He witnessed during his entire youth the
persecutions which religion endured during that dark
period of history, in the exile or imprisonment of Pon
tiffs, the supression of religious houses, and the revolu
tion of society and governments. To enter the ranks of
the Church in such times required no ordinary courage
* Authorities : Life of Rev. Felix De Andreis ; Life of Bishop Timon, by C. G.
Deuther, Esq. ; Catholic Almanac, 1847 ; De Courcy and Shea's Catholic Church
in the United States ; Catholic Miscellany, Magazines, and cotemporaneous publica
tions.
23

354 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and self-sacrifice, and was a sure sign of a heavenly voca
tion. The house of Monte Citorio at Rome was one
of the few establishments of the mission" that had not
been suppressed, and here young Rosati pursued his
sacred studies. Here he made his entire course of dog
matic theology under the celebrated Father De Andreis,
who was afterwards his Superior, and to whom he suc
ceeded as Superior of the Lazarist Mission in this country.
Not a word fell from the lips of the learned and saintly
teacher that was not caught up and treasured by the ex
emplary student; and the latter, as he himself says,
" hastened to put them in writing, for fear that something
might escape our memory." "In this manner," he con
tinues, " we filled entire sheets with useful and valu
able knowledge, especially during those lectures which
he gave on the Scriptures. But what I prized even more
than all this was, that while he enlightened our minds,
he inflamed our hearts, his words being as so many fiery
darts, that pierced the inmost depths of the soul ; so
that when we left the school, we could repeat with the
two disciples who accompanied our Saviour to Emmaus,
' Were not our hearts burning within us as he was speak
ing to us in the way ! ' "
Mr. Rosati in due time was ordained a priest of the
mission, and frequently accompanied Father De Andreis
in his visits of charity and in his apostolic labors. In
one of his visits to the prisons; which then unfortunately
had more inmates than either church or cloister, he wit
nessed a miracle, wrought in the cure of a poor sick
man, who was healed of his disease by applying to his
body, at the suggestion of Father De Andreis, a piece of
the cassock of the Holy Pontiff, Pius VIL, then a captive at
Savona. His destination for the mission in America was

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 355
foreseen and foretold to him by his friend and preceptor.
While walking: one day with Father De Andreis, the latter
inquired of him what he was then particularly engaged
in? He answered that he was preparing some sermons,
and that his leisure moments he employed in studying
Hebrew. His prophetic companion and superior at once
requested him to lay aside Hebrew, and study English ;
for he would one day need the use of that tongue dn
preaching the word of God to an English-speaking na
tion. The youthful Levite was astounded, but he knew
how to obey, and, without further inquiry, he substituted
the study of English for that of Hebrew. . By his
fervid eloquence and untiring zeal he became noted as a
conductor of retreats and missions. So thorough was
his conventual training, that, having once become a Lazar
ist, he adhered to the rules and discipline of that Order
even during the active and arduous labors of his epis
copate ; regarding, them as safeguards not more neces
sary or appropriate for the humble religious or priest
than for the Bishop.
The time was now at hand when the prophetic words
of Father De Andreis in regard to himself and Father
Rosati were about to be verified. That same Divine
Providence which had revealed to Father De Andreis
his destination for an English mission, and that Father Ro
sati would be his companion, in 18 15 conducted to Rome
the steps of the illustrious Dr. Dubourg, then Apostolic
Administrator of the Diocese of New Orleans, who was
in search of co-laborers for his vast vineyard.: Father
De Andreis was selected for this purpose in a most
singularly providential manner, and no sooner was it de
cided that he was to accompany Dr. Dubourg to Ameri
ca, than he wrote to Father Rosati, then engaged on a

356 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
mission some forty miles from Rome, and asked him if
he had any wish to join the projected mission, without,
however, urging him to do so, and without attempting
to influence his decision. Father Rosati recognized the
call as coming from God, and immediately volunteered
to go. Several other members of the same Order joined
the missionary party. Father De Andreis left Rome for
Bordeaux December 15, 18 15, while Father Rosati, in
charge of the missionaries, went by sea to Toulouse,
where they were afterwards joined by Father De Andreis,
and they journeyed together from this place to Bordeaux,
where they arrived January 30, 18 16. They were joined
here by Bishop Dubourg, May 22. The time of these
holy men was not spent in idleness while waiting for his
arrival, but in generous labors for the salvation of souls.
The destination of these gentlemen was at first for
Louisiana proper, where at that time French was almost
the only language spoken. Bishop Dubourg, however,
changed his plans, and determined to send them to St.
Louis, Missouri, then a part of Louisiana, on. account
of the greater spiritual necessities of that territory and
its greater accessibility to the Indians, to whom he de
sired to have the gospel preached. Father De Andreis,
in announcing this change to his companions, joyfully
added, " Now, then, let us take courage, gentlemen ; I
see that the English language will indeed be indispen
sable to us." " When he spoke thus," wrote Father Ro
sati, " I recalled to mind what he told me some years
before in Rome : that the English language would one
day be necessary for us both, as we should be obliged
to preach in that tongue, and that it was, therefore, more
necessary for me to learn it than Hebrew, which I was
then studying."

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 357
The company embarked on board an American brig,
the Ranger, on the 1 2th of June. Bishop Dubourg was
obliged to remain in France on the important business
of his diocese ; he addressed to them on taking leave
burning words of exhortation and benediction, and em
braced each one of them most affectionately in turn.
He appointed Father De Andreis Superior of the mis
sion and Vicar-General of his diocese, and, in case of
emergency, he gave a similar appointment to Father
Rosati. The voyage was tempestuous and protracted,
lasting forty-three days, and Mr. Rosati was sick during
the whole time. The long and tedious days at sea
were well spent, for the little craft became a floating
chapel, from which ascended to heaven the constant in
cense of prayer and sacrifice. The Ranger, with her
precious inmates, arrived in the Chesapeake Bay July 23,
and on the 26th landed them safely at Baltimore. " The
good Sulpicians," wrote the superior of the company,
" received us as so many angels." After a month's rest,
they made the journey westward in stages, and on their
arrival at Louisville, were induced by Bishop Flaget to
accept his hospitality at St. Joseph's, near Bardstown,
where they arrived November 22, and remained about
ten months, studiously engaged in studying English
under Bishop David, in acquiring useful information of
the country and of their future duties, and in the per
formance of zealous and arduous missionary duties.
Father Rosati was soon able to hear confessions and
preach in English, and at Easter following went on
a missionary excursion to the poor Catholics of Vin
cennes, who then saw a priest only once or twice in
a year. On the ist of October, 18 17, Bishop Flaget,
Fathers De Andreis and Rosati, with a lay brother and a

358 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
guide/set out on the trip from Bardstown to St. Louis,
a distance of over three hundred miles, on horseback ;
which 1 they accomplished - only after encountering great
hardships, from hunger, floods, and fatigue. They ar
rived at St. Louis October 17, proceeded to the episco
pal residence, which was in a dilapidated, condition, and
in which the only bed was assigned to the venerable
Bishop, while Fathers De Andreis and Rosati slept upon
buffalo-robes on the floor.
After mature consideration of the respective advanta
ges of locating the establishment of the Lazarists at St.
Louis, St. Genevieve, and St. Mary's of the Barrens,
the last place was selected ; it was located about eighty
miles from St. Louis. Father Rosati returned with
Bishop Flaget to Bardstown, to see to the missionaries
belonging to the colony whom Father De Andreis left
there. It was not long, however, before he returned
and assumed the office of Superior of the house and
Seminary at the Barrens, an institution which, under his
wise and zealous care, became the Alma Mater of
many of the best educated Catholic youth of the South
west and the fruitful mother of priests and Bishops.
His aptitude for languages soon enabled him to master
the English language, and his robust health enabled him
to endure with comparative ease the immense labors,
fatigues,; and hardships of the mission. The first Laza-^
rist house was a log cabin, or rather several log. cabins,
in the largest of which, a one-story structure, was the
University. It contained four rooms, one of which was
the theological department, in another was conducted
the department of philosophy and general literature, and
the other two were used, one for a tailor's and the
other for a srioemaker's shop. Another cabin was the

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 359
refectory, but such were its discomforts that the stu
dents would not unfrequently prefer to go to bed with
out supper, than encounter the mud and water which
awaited the adventure of crossing over to the refectory.
A third structure was commenced, but it remained un
finished till 1834; it is now standing, and serves as an
outhouse for servants. A mattress on the floor was the
best bed usually afforded for inmates or visitors, who
on awakening in the morning would frequently find a
fall of snow added to their bed-covering. It required a
mind and frame like Father Rosati's to lead such an insti
tution through such poverty and hardship to its subse
quent prosperity and glory, and it was well said of him
that he " rendered, from the beginning to the end, so
much assistance to the work, that he deserved to be
chosen its first head, director, and superior." * And
again, " such were the piety and resignation of the in
mates of the Seminary, under the pious government of
Mons. Rosati, that all seemed to feel happy and advance
in the way of salvation." f
In 1823 he commenced receiving boys as students, or
collegians, at the Barrens. In addition to the duties de
volved upon him as Superior and Professor of Logic and
Theology, Father Rosati was an indefatigable missionary.
He soon undertook the erection of a church connected
with the house, and priest, seminarian, men, women, and
children aided in its construction. He had the happi
ness, in 1820, of blessing the church and of performing
divine service in it. When the saintly Father De An
dreis died, in 1820, the last act of his life was to appoint
Father Rosati his successor as Superior of the LazaristS
* Life of Father De Andreis.
f Deuther's Life of Bishop Timon.

360 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
in the United States. The devotion which these two
apostolic men bore for each other was such as only re
ligion and union in the service of God and the salvation
of souls can inspire. The latter was so moved by the
death of his good friend, the master of his studies, the
exemplar of his life, his ever-faithful guide and counsel
lor, that his effort to perform the last rites of religion
over his remains was greatly interrupted by his sobs and
tears. He performed, for his departed brother, every
boon which religion furnishes in such cases ; deposited
his remains in a vault under the Church at the Barrens,
where they remained until the completion of the new
church, when Dr. Rosati, as a Prelate of the Church,
caused them to be removed to a new stone sepulchre
prepared by his orders under the new sanctuary.
Throughout his life his voice ever became eloquent,
his pen inspired, when he related the virtues and
recounted the miraculous occurrences attributed to Fa
ther De Andreis.
Now, with even greater energy and ardor than ever,
Father Rosati entered upon his more extended and en
larged duties. The hopes of the Church in that region
were chiefly centred in him. It was then that Bishop
Dubourg, himself the untiring and devoted patriarch of
religion in the South-west, exclaimed with justice : " If
Mr. Rosati fail us, all will go to ruin." His labors and
their results, in the spread and permanent establishment
of religion throughout the South-west, filled all who wit
nessed them with wonder, especially when they consid
ered the small means at his command. When he ar
rived in St. Louis, in 18 16, in all of Upper Louisiana,
embracing the States of Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and
the adjacent Territories, there were only seven small

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 361
wooden churches, four priests, and about seven or eight
thousand Catholics. The country was destitute of reli
gious houses, colleges, and schools, and the whole popu
lation of St. Louis was scarcely four thousand.* In
January, 1822, he wrote to the Abbe Brute from St.
Mary's Seminary at the Barrens: — "On our arrival at
Baltimore from Europe, we were only four of our congre
gation, three priests and a brother. We are now nine
teen — ten priests, three clerics, and six brothers. Our
gentlemen in Italy take a great interest in us and send
us some subjects, and others have joined us in America." f
Besides his duties at the Seminary of the Barrens, and
his employments as Superior of the Lazarists, he per
formed constant missionary labors. Missionary duties
in those days were very different from those of our time.
The missionary had to travel entirely on horseback or on
foot, both in the scorching suns of midsummer and
through the storms and snows of winter ; he had fre
quently to travel thirty or forty miles to see a single per
son ; his fare was poor, his bed was hard, his chapel was
a log cabin, through the crevices of whose roof he was
frequently pelted by the rain or snow while celebrating
Mass or preaching. He frequently had to say Mass and
preach at two distant points on the same Sunday, thus
having to travel and labor till the afternoon without food.
His flocks were so scattered that he had to hunt them
up and organize them into congregations, and he had to
provide everything for them, carrying the altar furniture
about with him, frequently from one log chapel to an
other. In 1822, Bishop Dubourg, solicitous for the religious
* Life of Father De Andreis.
f De Courcy and Shea's History of the Catholic Church in the United States.

362 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
interests of the Floridas, proposed to detach; them from
the diocese of New Orleans, as a Vicariate Apostolic,
and that Mr. Rosati should be appointed Vicar Apostolic
thereof. His humility, however, would not allow him to
-accept the appointment, more especially as he found his
services so much needed in Upper Louisiana. : Subse
quently Bishop Dubourg urged the Holy See to elevate
Mr. Rosati to the dignity and office of Bishop and to
make him his own coadjutor. Knowing his reluctance
to accept the episcopal rank; Bishop Dubourg requested
that the bull should be accompanied by a precept of
obedience requiring his submission. Pope Leo XII.
complied . with these . requests,- so that, in 1823, Mr.
Rosati received an apostolic brief, appointing him coad
jutor to New Orleans, and commanding him to accept.
Another . brief, at the same time, decreed that after the
lapse of three years the diocese of New Orleans should
be divided into . two dioceses, the Sees of which should
be located at New Orleans and St. Louis ; that Bishop
DubOurg. should choose which of these he preferred to
govern, and that Bishop Rosati. should be appointed to
the, other ; and, should Bishop Dubourg die before the
expiration of the three years, Bishop Rosati should suc
ceed him as Bishop of New Orleans. Bishop Rosati
was consecrated .Bishop of Tenegra in partibus, by
Bishop Dubourg, at New Orleans, March 25, 1824. He
continued to reside; at St. Louis. On the resignation of
Bishop Dubourg, before the expiration of the three
years, Bishop Rosati became charged with the adminis
tration of the diocese of New Orleans, where he fixed
his residence until, in 1827, Pope Leo XII. appointed
him first Bishop of St. Louis. He then removed his
residence to St. Louis, but continued to be Administrator

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 363
of the diocese of New Orleans until the appointment of
Bishop De Neckene to that See. He also continued to
be Superior of the Congregation of the Lazarists until
the arrival of Mr. J. B. Tornatore, in 1830. In these
varied and responsible positions the time and labors of
Bishop Rosati were divided between New Orleans, St.
Louis, and the Barrens, and while the duties of any one
of these offices would have been sufficient for the shoul
ders of any one man, he seemed to discharge them all
with ease, and certainly with success and efficiency. He
loved the peaceful retreat of the Barrens, and even de
sired to make it his residence and govern his diocese
therefrom ; but he sacrificed his preference and made
St. Louis his residence. It is said that he ever governed
his time and labors according to the rules and discipline
of his dear Seminary, as far as it was possible in his new
position. When the great extent of his diocese is considered, it
is difficult for us to understand how Bishop Rosati ac
complished so much. Embracing, as it did, the States
of Missouri, Arkansas, and two-thirds of Illinois,. and the
Territories stretching northward beyond the sources of
the Mississippi, and westward beyond the sources of the
Missouri, there was no part of it which did not feel the
vivifying and creative power of his great mind and heart.
With the exception of fifteen or twenty small towns or
villages inhabited by French and Spanish settlers, this
vast region was a wilderness, the hunting-grounds and
war-paths of the savage Indians, and the undisputed
domain of wild beasts. The inhabitants of French and
Spanish descent had almost lost the faith for want of
priest and altar, and the teachings of the early Catholic
missionaries, after so long and lamentable an interrup-

364 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
tion, scarcely lingered amongst the Indians in the forms
of dim traditions, that were yielding constantly to former
superstitions and atrocities. But all these were equally
the spiritual children of Bishop Rosati, who left no re
source untried to gain or save them to the Church.
One of his greatest labors was the successful administra
tion and powerful assistance in the permanent establish
ment of the Congregation of the Mission, whose priests
he sent forth as messengers of peace, repentance, purity,
and regeneration into this vast field. Many of the most
illustrious missionaries of this country, such men as
Archbishop Odin and Bishop Timon, were his disciples.
To the honor of this great and good Bishop it may be
said, that he always led the way and inspired others by
his untiring zeal and labors. He encouraged the reli
gious orders of the Church to enter this great field.
The Jesuits, though first established at Florissant
by Bishop Dubourg, found in Bishop Rosati their
great friend. Under his patronage they established a
novitiate of the Order at Florissant, formed a separate
province for the West, and in 1829 the College, now
University of St. Louis was confided to their care. The
Ladies of the Sacred Heart were greatly encouraged by
his fostering hand, and in 1827 their Monastery at St.
Louis was founded by Mr. John Mullanphy, who gave
to these ladies a large brick building, with twenty-five
acres of land, within the limits of the city. The object
of this generous donation was to enable them to educate
a certain number of poor orphan girls, who were also
maintained by the institution. In 1836 he introduced
from Lyons, France, the first Sisters of St. Joseph in
America, whom he established in the ancient French
parish of Cahokia. The Sisters of the Visitation, those

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 365
admirable instructors of young ladies, were also intro
duced into his diocese by him, as were also the Sisters
of Charity from Emmitsburg, those angels of relief, sym
pathy, and mercy. He took a profound interest in the
Order of Sisters of Charity in the United States, and
made great efforts to secure from the authorities of the
Order in France the union of the Sisters in America
with the Mother House abroad, an object said to have
been earnestly desired by Mother Seton herself in her
lifetime. Many of these institutions have since his day
expanded into vast proportions, multiplying houses of
instruction and relief in his own and many other dioceses.
He was the founder and generous benefactor of numer
ous charitable establishments, amongst which may be
mentioned orphan asylums, a school for deaf and dumb
female children, and the St. Louis Hospital under the
care of the Sisters of Charity. This last institution, as
early as 1840, received as many as twelve hundred pa
tients. The original house and lot of this hospital were
also the gift of Mr. Mullanphy. The City of St. Louis
and the Government of the United States adopted it as
the place to which they sent their respective patients.
It is said to have been the first institution of the kind
commenced in the United States ; the Sisters were so
poor that Bishop Rosati generously gave them his own
watch, which was the only timepiece they possessed for
many years.
In 1826, when Bishop Rosati had the happiness of
consecrating Bishop Portier, of Mobile, at St. Louis, he
was assisted by no less than thirteen priests, one sub
deacon, and thirteen ecclesiastics in minor orders, all of
the diocese of St. Louis : a goodly increase for so short
a period. He loved his clergy with a father's affection,

366 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and evidenced great joy when, as: on this occasion, he
stood in the midst of them, either to praise and extol the
mercies and gifts of God, or to lay broader the founda
tions of the Church, or to lead by his example or precept
the Way to heaven. An evidence of his warmth of heart
arid : religious veneration was given on the occasion of
his visit, iri 1827, to Bishop Flaget, whose guest he had
been ten years before on his journey westward. It is
related that so impressed was Bishop Rosati with the
sanctity, simplicity, and worth of Bishop Flaget, that, on
taking leave of him, he fell upon his knees and would
not rise without his blessing. Bishop Flaget, on his part;
Was overcome by the humility and virtue of his younger
colleague, and, falling upon his knees, he in turn begged
the blessing of Bishop Rosati, " and the scene closed
with a mutual benediction imparted to each other, and. a
parting embrace." *
On the' 28th of October, 1834, Bishop Rosati enjoyed
the consolation of consecrating the fine Cathedral of- St.
Louis, a work which had been to him the object of great
solicitude and determined effort for several years. When
he commenced the work, the people were astonished at
his courage, not to say rashness, considering his small
means ; but when they witnessed its progress and com
pletion, they were, unable to understand how the Bishop
could accomplish such wonders. The cost of the edifice
was sixty thousand dollars ; it was greatly admired for
its beauty, elegance, and ample proportions. Five
bishops, twenty-eight priests, twelve of whom were from
different nations, and a long line of young ecclesiastics
assisted at the ceremony. The Pontifical High Mass
was sung by the Bishop himself, and an eye-witness kas
* Archbishop Spalding' s Life of Bishop Flaget.

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 367
said : " More than once did his mellow, religious, and
paternal voice betray, in spite of him, the feeling of ado
ration, of gratitude, of love of God, and zeal for the
salvation of the souls of his people, with which his heart
was overpowered." Besides this splendid monument of
his devotion, he erected numerous fine churches through
out his diocese in place of the log chapels he found on
his arrival.
In council Bishop Rosati was eminently wise, prudent,
and suggestive. He was an active member of the first
four Provincial Councils of Baltimore, and his gifted peri
wrote many of their most important, learned, and elo
quent documents. In this respect: he seems to have
filled a position in those august assemblies afterwards
so ably supplied by. • Archbishop. 'Kenricky of Baltimore.
The warm, generous, and classic letter, addressed by the
Fathers of the Fourth Council of Baltimore to. those two
noble confessors of the faith,, to the Right Rev. Claude
Augustus de Droste > de Vischering, Bishop of Cologne,
and to the Most Rev. Martin de Dunnin, Archbishop of
Posen, was the production of his pen. His own pas
toral letters, addressed to his diocese, are among the
finest productions of the kind, and are' such as only an
apostle. of the true faith could produce.., His sermons
were not only eloquent, but efficacious, producing a. pro
found impression on the minds. and hearts of his hearers,
whatever might be their religious belief. An extract from
a memoir prepared by himself affords ample proof of the
abundant fruits produced; by his missionary labors in the
City of St. Louis alone in one year: "In the course
of the year 1839 two hundred and eighty-nine Protestants
embraced the Catholic religion at St. Louis, and during
the following years the number must have been , still

368 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
more considerable. The baptisms during the same year
amounted to one thousand five hundred and forty-eight;
the confirmations, six hundred and eighty-four; first
communions, about ten thousand." As a pulpit orator,
he was accomplished in two languages besides his own
Italian — that is to say, in English and French — and he
frequently addressed congregations in each of these
tongues on the same occasion. His visitations through
his extended diocese were most laborious and efficacious.
He performed in them not only the functions appertain
ing to the episcopal office, but the most onerous and
varied duties of the priesthood. The intervals between
his public engagements he employed in offices of charity.
His advent was hailed everywhere, and by all denomi
nations, as that of a messenger from heaven. It was
no uncommon thing for him to enter villages in the re
mote parts of Missouri amidst the ringing of bells, and
on more than one occasion he was met at some distance
from the town by the pastor and people, among whom
were many Protestants; was escorted with every de
monstration of joy and reverence over a road strewed
with branches of trees and evergreens, while the first
citizens of the place held a canopy over his head. His
reputation was not confined to any part of the country,!
for when he visited Boston in November, 1829, after the
Council which he had attended at Baltimore, he was re
ceived and treated with extraordinary honor, recognized
by all as due to one whose good deeds were so remark
able. He accompanied Bishop Fenwick to Boston on
the invitation of the latter, Rev. Messrs. Blanc and Jean-
jean joining the company. He celebrated Mass in the
Church of the Holy Cross on Sunday, November 16,
on which occasion the clergyman who read the Pastoral

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 369
Letter of the Council alluded to him in terms the most
respectful and eulogistic. " He remarked that this, to
the Catholics of Boston, ought to be a day of religious
exultation ; that in the Right Rev. celebrant they beheld
a former professor of theology in the celebrated Propa
ganda at Rome, who had not only imbibed the pure
classic, but, what was infinitely superior, the Catholic fra
grance of the Eternal City." Dr. Rosati was delighted
at the spread of Catholicity in New England, and his
Catholic heart was pleased at witnessing the crowds that
approached communion at the seven Masses offered that
day in the Church of the Holy Cross. After a brief
stay in Boston, he visited the Canadas, where he expe
rienced the consolation of beholding religious scenes,
such as he had often witnessed in Italy and France. On
his return to the Seminary at the Barrens, December 27,
he found six Mexicans awaiting at his hands the reception
of holy orders, which the unfortunate state of their own
country did not afford them the means of obtaining there.
He proceeded at once to bestow upon these gentlemen,
who were highly commended for their edifying conduct,
their lively and sound faith, and ecclesiastical bearing, on
three successive days, the minor orders of Sub-deacon-
ship and Deaconship, and the Holy Order of the Priest
hood. Five of them belonged to the diocese of Valla-
dolid, and the sixth was a Trinitarian Friar of the Order
of Mercy, from the diocese of Guadalaxara. There was
also awaiting his return a Catholic gentleman, Francisco
Torres, who had travelled from the Pacific coast to re
ceive at the Bishop's hands the Sacrament of Con
firmation. On April 25, 1840, Bishop Rosati left St. Louis for
Baltimore to attend the Fourth Provincial Council ; but
24

370 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
before leaving his diocese, he made arrangements for
his absence during a visit he had arranged to make to
Rome, after the adjournment of the Council. He was
received in Rome with great consideration, not only by
Pope Gregory XVI., who had a high regard for him,
but also by the other ecclesiastical dignitaries of the
Eternal City. The Holy Father gave him two places in
the Propaganda for young ecclesiastical students des
tined for the Mission of Missouri. He was appointed
Apostolic Delegate, for the purpose of seeing if measures
could be agreed upon for the re-establishment of the
ecclesiastical hierarchy, and for settling the ecclesiastical
affairs between the Holy See and the Republic of Hayti.
Before repairing to the Island of Hayti on this delicate
and important mission, he embarked for the United
States, October 30, arriving^ at Boston November 18,
1 84 1. In the midst of these general services to the
Church he had not forgotten the interests of the diocese
of St. Louis, which was so dear to him. Before leaving
St. Louis for the Provincial Council, in 1840, he had
obtained from Rome the appointment of Rev. John
Timon, afterwards Bishop of Buffalo, as his coadjutor.
But that gentleman returned the bulls to Rome, pre
ferring to continue in his duties as Visitor of the Congre
gation of the Mission. He next secured the appointment
of the Rev. Peter Richard Kenrick, now Archbishop of
St. Louis, as his coadjutor, whom he consecrated at
Philadelphia, November 30. He announced this event
to his flock from Philadelphia, in a letter teeming with
sentiments of paternal solicitude and devotion. He then
returned to New York, and embarked from that port for
Port-au-Prince, January 15, 1842, accompanied by Rev.
Mr. Cessans, his secretary. After a favorable passage

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 371
of fourteen days, he landed in excellent health at Port-
au-Prince, January 29, and was received most joyfully
by the clergy and people, and with that reverence which
his own personal dignity and his sacred office inspired.
When the object of his mission was made known to the
people, their delight was without bounds. He was re
ceived by President Boyer, in an audience held January
31, with that respect which was due to his ecclesiastical
and diplomatic character. His documents were deliv
ered, himself recognized as Apostolic Delegate, and the
President, on reading the letter of His Holiness, remarked
that the constant anxiety of the Holy Father about the
spiritual welfare of his children at Hayti imposed upon
him (the President) the task of seconding, with all possi
ble zeal, the views of the Sovereign Pontiff. He added
that he would appoint a commissioner for the purpose of
arranging affairs with the Prelate. It was also observed
by the President that religion, in his opinion, was the
most solid foundation of the prosperity of all States;
that the people of Hayti were essentially Catholic, were
attached to their religion, and convinced of its necessity.
As a proof of this statement, he referred to the failure
of the Protestant mission in that country, remarking, at
the same time, that the Protestant place of worship was
frequented only by foreigners who were not Catholics.
The President promised his efficient co-operation in
establishing religion on a firm basis in the republic, in
proof of which he expressed great joy at learning of the
existence of the society of colored Sisters at Baltimore,
and directed his Secretary of State to write to the Rev.
Mr. Joubert, their Superior, for the purpose of securing
their services in Hayti. A committee of five was named,
who, after three conferences with Dr. Rosati, agreed

372 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
upon a Concordat, which the Prelate was requested to
present to His Holiness. The President also agreed to
appoint an envoy to meet Bishop Rosati at Rome, for
the purpose of concluding and signing the treaty with
the Holy See. This arrangement, which had so long
been desired, awakened the greatest joy among the
people. The church in which Bishop Rosati officiated
at Port-au-Prince was crowded daily at his Mass, and
the strongest indications were given of the religious dis
positions of the people.
A few days after the negotiations were concluded, the
President gave a state-dinner in honor of Bishop Rosati,
which was attended by one hundred and thirty dis
tinguished guests, amongst whom were the French and
English Consuls, and the principal civil and military offi
cers of the Republic. After dinner, the following toast
was proposed by the President : " His Holiness Pope
Gregory XVI. ; may God grant him yet many years to
live for the prosperity of his Church and the happiness of
the Christian world." The toast found an echo in every
breast. In return Dr. Rosati gave as his toast : " The
President of Hayti, and prosperity to that Republic."
Bishop Rosati was also treated with great respect and
hospitality by the principal citizens, and particularly by
Mr. Levasseur, the French Consul. On February 17 he
consecrated some oil in the parish church, that article
having become scarce in the island, and bestowed the
Sacrament of Confirmation on four hundred and forty-
eight adults, who received the sacrament with every evi
dence of piety and joy.
Having succeeded in his negotiations with President
Boyer, he embarked on board a French corvette, Feb
ruary 22, and arrived at Brest on Easter day. He re-

Right Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D. 373
turned to Rome, and laid before His Holiness the results
of his important and interesting mission, and spent the
remainder of the year in that city. Besides other tokens
of the Holy Father's appreciation of his services to re
ligion, he bestowed upon the Bishop the appointment as
one of the Assistant Prelates of the Pontifical throne.
The health of Bishop Rosati, however, had become
impaired by exposure during his travels in the discharge
of his important duties, and he was attacked at Rome by
a violent affection of the lungs. In the beginning of the
following year his health appeared to be in a great
measure restored. He was now despatched a second
time to Hayti, in order that he might consummate what
he had so auspiciously commenced. He left Rome for
Paris, having in view his return by way of the United
States, in order that he might attend the Fifth Provincial
Council at Baltimore. At Paris, however, his disease
returned, and he was detained there until the middle of
August, when, on the advice of his physician, and in the
hope that the more genial air of his native country might
relieve his sufferings, and, perhaps, restore his health, he
returned to Rome. But it was too late: Rome saw the
commencement of his useful and saintly career, and now
Rome was to witness its untimely termination. He ex
pired September 25, 1843, honored and esteemed in two
hemispheres, and lamented by the whole Church. The
Holy Father, who valued him in a high degree, and
honored him with his friendship, was starting to visit
him in his illness when the sad intelligence of his death
arrived at the Vatican. It has been well said of Bishop
Rosati, that " He was truly a holy Bishop, worthy of the
brightest ages of the Church."

RT. REV. BENEDICT JOSEPH FENWICK, D.D.
Second Bishop of Boston, A.D. 1825.*
The exalted virtues and noble character of Bishop
Benedict Joseph Fenwick are affectionately remembered
by large numbers of all denominations in this country.
The lasting services he rendered to the American Church
have raised up many monuments to his fame. He truly
illustrated, in his life, the virtues of a Christian, the zeal
of an apostle, and the loving tenderness of a true Bishop
and father of his flock.
He was born September 3, 1782, near Leonardtown,
St. Mary's County, Maryland. The Fenwicks of North
umberland County, England, were the ancestors of the
Maryland Fenwicks, and " Fenwick Manor," on the Pa-
tuxent, received its name from the family seat in England.
Cuthbert Fenwick, the founder of the family in this
country, was one of the original Catholic Pilgrims who
fled from religious persecution in their own country, and,
under the auspices of Lord Baltimore and the guidance
of his brother, Gov. Leonard Calvert, founded the colony
of Maryland, and proclaimed civil and religious liberty
as the corner-stone of its institutions. For two* centuries
this family were zealous supporters of the faith of their
ancestors, through prosperity and adversity ; and, if we
may judge from the number of eminent and zealous
ecclesiastics contributed by it to the Church in the pres
ent century, their piety and faith grew with increased
* Authorities : Catholic Almanac for 1850 ; Catholic Magazine for 1846 ; Catho
lic Miscellany ; De Courcy & Shea's Catholic Church in the U. S. ; Davis' Day Star
of American Freedom, etc., etc.

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 375
lustre in the ordeal of adversity, and as time and genera
tions passed away.*
The early education of Benedict Joseph was derived
from his good parents, who, in common with the Catho
lics of that day in Maryland, were distinguished for an
abiding faith, a sincere devotion, and a conscientious dis
charge of duty. Of his mother, in particular, he always
spoke throughout life in terms of the most tender affec
tion and filial gratitude, as the one, under God, to whom
he owed all that he possessed of religion and piety. It
had been the custom among the Catholics of Maryland,
during the Protestant ascendency in the colony and the
disallowance of Catholic institutions of education, to send
their children to the Catholic colleges of Belgium and
France to prosecute their studies. But no sooner was
the necessity for this removed by the American Revolu
tion, and the restoration of that religious liberty which
their ancestors had enjoyed and permitted all to partici
pate in, than Catholics began to provide suitable colleges
for the education of their youth at home. Georgetown
College was the first Catholic college founded in this
country. It was established in 1792, and on the 8th of
April of the following year, Benedict Joseph Fenwick
and his elder brother, Enoch, entered as students in this
infant seminary of learning. They were fellow-students
with, and enjoyed the companionship and friendship of,
the good and gifted Gaston, of North Carolina.
The youthful Fenwick was soon distinguished among
his comrades for his quickness of intellect and rare talents,
* Bishop Edward Fenwick, of Cincinnati, and Rev. George Fenwick, Rev. John
Fenwick, Rev. Enoch Fenwick, and several other learned and distinguished priests of
the same name, were members of this pious family : Archbishop Spalding is also said
to be related to the Fenwicks.

376 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
as well as by his genial and companionable traits of charac
ter, and by his profound piety and sincere devotion. He
won the highest academic honors of his Alma Mater, and,
after finishing his course of philosophy, he occupied the
chair of professor in some of the highest branches of
education. Among his colleagues as professors were
the Rev. Fathers Nerinckx, David, Dubourg, and others,
who afterwards became distinguished for their services
to religion in the United States.
While thus engaged, the young professor, carried on
by his zealous love for his neighbor, his devotion to the
cause of truth and the salvation of souls, was strongly
inclined to embrace the sacred ministry, for which he felt
an inward vocation. He resolved to dedicate himself to
that holy office. Accordingly, in 1805, he entered the The
ological Seminary of St. Sulpice, afterwards St. Mary's,
then under the direction of the venerable and learned
Father Nagot, and devoted himself earnestly to the study
of theology, the " queen of sciences," and to his prepara
tion for the priesthood. Here he made the acquaintance
and participated in the friendship of the saintly Flaget,
who was afterwards the first Bishop of Kentucky, and was
recognized as a Patriarch of Catholicity in the West. A
biographer of Bishop Fenwick thus speaks of the young
Levite while under the Sulpitians at Baltimore : — " The
young student in theology was no less successful in his
studies in Baltimore than he had been at Georgetown,
and there, too, he won the esteem and affection of both
professors and students. The good Father Gamier, late
Superior General of the Sulpitians, loved often to speak
of the amiable qualities, the quickness of apprehension,
the solidity of judgment, and the happy wit of the young
Fenwick, whose name and memory were ever fresh in

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 377
his mind." * As soon as the Society of Jesus was re
stored in the United States, in 1806, and the College of
Georgetown placed under the charge of the members of
that illustrious Order, Mr. Fenwick and his brother
Enoch entered it among the first as theological students
and scholastics of the Society. Here the teachings of
an Ignatius and the example of a Xavier made the
most lasting impressions upon his mind and character,
and laid the foundation of those brilliant virtues which
illustrated his after life. His close application to study,
the readiness with which he acquired the learning neces
sary for that important step, and the great demand then
existing for an increase of the clergy of the country, all
contributed to shorten the term of his studies and hasten
his ordination. He was elevated to the priesthood and
ordained by Bishop Neale, then coadjutor to Archbishop
Carroll, March 12, 1808, at Georgetown College. In
1809 he was sent by his superiors, together with Father
Anthony Kohlman, S. J., to New York, to attend to the
spiritual wants of the scattered Catholics in that city and
vicinity. St. Peter's, then the only Catholic Church in
that city, was placed under their charge, and Fathers
Fenwick and Kohlman devoted themselves with untiring
zeal to the promotion of tkeir neighbors' good and to
the spread of religion and education among the people.
An episcopal See was now erected at New York, and
these good priests were cheered with the hope of soon
welcoming to his diocese the newly appointed Bishop,
the Right Rev. Luke Concanen; but they were not des
tined to enjoy this happiness. Bishop Concanen died at
Naples on the eve of his departure for New York, and the
diocese was left for some time without a chief pastor. In
* Catholic Almanac.

37& Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the mean time Fathers Kohlman and Fenwick Were build
ing up and cementing the Church of New York. Early
in 1809 a Catholic school was established, and with the
assistance of four young scholastics of the Society of
Jesus, Messrs. Michael White, James Redmond, Adam
Marshall, and James Wallace, conducted with great suc
cess. At first the institution was located on some lots in
front of the Cathedral, which had been purchased as a
site for that purpose ; in September it was transferred to
Broadway, and in the following year it was removed to
the corner of Fifth avenue and Fiftieth street. The
school was called " The New York Literary Institu
tion," and the same biographer thus alludes to it : — "The
New York Literary Institution, under his (Father Fen-
wick's) guidance, reached an eminence scarcely surpassed
by any at the present day. In 18 13 the Institution con
tained seventy-four boarders. Such was its reputation
even among Protestants, that Governor Tompkins, after
wards Vice-President of the United States, thought none
more eligible for the education of his own children, and
ever afterwards professed towards its president the
highest esteem. De Witt Clinton also, when Mayor of
New York, testified his high regard for him by acced
ing to his request in behalf of some unfortunate Catho
lics who came within the penalties of the civil law, and
were to be imprisoned for some civil offence." The good
Jesuits found it difficult to sustain the care of this Insti
tution and at the same time perform their other varied
and important duties. Fortunately there was a body of
religious in New York who were willing to assume its
conduct, and the Institution was accordingly transferred
to the Order of Trappists, who had recently entered
the diocese.

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 379
One of the most interesting events in the life of Bishop
Fenwick was the visit which he, together with Father
Kohlman, paid to Thomas Paine, the philosopher and in
fidel. Father Fenwick wrote an interesting account of
this circumstance in a letter addressed by himself, while
Bishop of Boston, to his brother, Rev. Enoch Fenwick,
at Georgetown College, which will be read with interest:
"A shorttime before Paine died, I was sent for by him.
He was prompted to this by a poor Catholic woman,
who went to see him in his sickness, and who told him,
among other things, that, in his wretched condition, if any
body could do him good, it would be a Roman Catholic
priest. This woman was an American convert (formerly
a Shaking Quakeress), whom I had received into the
Church only a few weeks before. She was the bearer
of the message to me from Paine. I stated this circum
stance to F. Kohlman at breakfast, and requested him
to accompany me. After some solicitation on my part,
he agreed to do so, at which I was greatly rejoiced, be
cause I was at the time quite young and inexperienced
in the ministry, and was glad to have his assistance, as I
knew, from the great reputation of Paine, that I should
have to do with one of the most impious as well as in
famous of men.
"We shortly after set out for the house at Greenwich
where Paine lodged, and on the way agreed upon a
mode of proceeding with him.
"We arrived at the house; a decent-looking elderly
woman (probably his housekeeper) came to the door,
and inquired whether we were the Catholic priests, 'for,'
said she, ' Mr. Paine has been so much annoyed of late
by ministers of different other denominations calling
upon him, that he has left express orders with me to ad-

380 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
mit no one to-day but the clergymen of the Catholic
Church.' Upon assuring her that we were Catholic
clergymen, she opened the door, and showed us into the
parlor. She then left the room, arid shortly after re
turned to inform us that Paine was asleep, and at the
same time expressed a wish that we would not disturb
him; 'for,' said she, 'he is always in a bad humor when
roused out of his sleep — 'tis better to wait a little till he
be awake.' We accordingly sat down and resolved to
await the more favorable moment. 'Gentlemen,' said
the lady, after having taken her seat also, ' I really wish
you may succeed with Mr. Paine ; for he is laboring un
der great distress of mind ever since he was informed
by his physicians that he cannot possibly live, and must
die shortly. He sent for you to-day because he was
told that if any one could do him good you might. Pos
sibly he may think that you know of some remedy
which his physicians are ignorant of. He is truly to be
pitied. His cries, when he is left alone, are truly heart
rending. ' O, Lord, help me!' he will exclaim during his
paroxysms of distress, ' God help me ! ' ' Jesus Christ
help me!' repeating the same expressions without any
the least variation, in a tone of voice that would alarm
the house. Sometimes he will say : ' O, God, what have
I done to suffer so much!' Then, shortly after: 'But
there is no God!' And again, a little after: ' Yet if there
should be, what will become of me hereafter ? ' Thus he
will continue for some time, when on a sudden he will
scream as if in terror and agony, and call out for me by
name. On one of these occasions, which are very fre
quent, I went to him and inquired what he wanted.
' Stay with me,' he replied, 'for God's sake; for I cannot
bear to be left alone.' I then observed that I could not

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 381
always be with him, as I had much to attend to in the
house. ' Then' said he, ' send even a child to stay with
me ; for it is a hell to be alone.' I never saw,' she con
cluded, ' a more unhappy — a more forsaken man ; it
seems he cannot reconcile himself to die.'
"Such was the conversation of the woman who had
received us, and who probably had been employed to
nurse and take care of him during his illness. She was
a Protestant, yet seemed very desirous that we should
afford him some relief in his state of abandonment, bor
dering on complete despair. Having remained thus some
time in the parlor, we at length heard a noise in the ad
joining room across the passage-way, which induced us
to believe that Mr. Paine, who was sick in that room,
had awoke. We accordingly proposed to proceed thither,
which was assented to by the woman, and she opened
the door for us. On entering we found him just getting
out of his slumber. A more wretched being in appear
ance I never before beheld. He was lying in a bed suf
ficiently decent in itself, but at present besmeared with
filth; his look was that of a man greatly tortured in
mind ; his eyes haggard, his countenance forbidding, and
his whole appearance that of one whose better days had
been but one continued scene of debauch. His only
nourishment at this time, as we were informed, was noth
ing more than milk punch, in which he indulged to the
full extent of his weak state. He had partaken, undoubt
edly, but very recently of it, as the sides and corners of
his mouth exhibited very unequivocal traces of it as well
as of blood, which had also flowed in the track and left
its marks on the pillow. His face, to a certain extent,
had also been besmeared with it. The head of his bed
was against the side of the room through which the door

382 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
opened. F. Kohlman, having entered first, took a seat
on the side, near the foot of his bed. I took my seat on
the same side near the head. Thus, in the posture in
which Paine lay, his eyes could easily bear on F. Kohl
man, but not on me easily without turning his head.
"As soon as we had seated ourselves, F. Kohlman, in
a very mild tone of voice, informed him that we were
Catholic priests, and were come, on his invitation, to
see him. Paine made no reply. After a short pause, F.
Kohlman proceeded thus, addressing himself to Paine in
the French language, thinking that, as Paine had been in
France, he was probably acquainted with that language
(which, however, was not the fact), and might under
stand better what he said, as he had at that time a
greater facility, and could express his thoughts better in
it than in the English : —
"'Mons. Paine, j'ai lu votre livre intitule' L'Age de la
Raison, ou vous avez attaque l'ecriture sainte avec une
violence, sans bornes, et d'autres de vos eerits publics
en France: et je suis persuade que.' Paine here inter
rupted him abruptly, and in a sharp tone of voice, or
dering him to speak English, thus: 'Speak English,
man, speak English.' — ' Mr. Paine, I have read your
book entitled the Age of Reason, as well as other of your
writings against the Christian religion ; and I am at a
loss to imagine how a man of your good sense could
have employed his talents in attempting to undermine
what, to say nothing of its divine establishment, the wis
dom of ages has deemed most conducive to the happiness
of man. The Christian religion, sir,' —
" ' That's enough, sir, that's enough,' said Paine, again
interrupting him ; ' I see what you would be about — I wish
to hear no more from you, sir. My mind is made up on that

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 383
subject. I look upon the whole of the Christian scheme
to be a tissue of absurdities and lies, and J. C. to be
nothing more than a cunning knave and an impostor.'
" F. Kohlman here attempted to speak again, when
Paine, with a lowering countenance, ordered him in
stantly to be silent and to trouble him no more. ' I have
told you already that I wish to hear nothing more from
you.' " ' The Bible, sir,' said F. Kohlman, still attempting
to speak, ' is a sacred and divine book, which has stood
the test and the criticism of abler pens than yours —
pens which have made at least some show of argument,
and — '
" ' Your Bible,' returned Paine, ' contains nothing but
fables ; yes, fables, and I have proved it to a demonstra
tion.' " All this time I looked on the monster with pity, min
gled with indignation at his blasphemies. I felt a de
gree of horror at thinking that in a very short time he
would be cited to appear before the tribunal of his God,
whom he so shockingly blasphemed, and with all his sins
upon him. Seeing that F. Kohlman had completely fail
ed in making any impression upon him, and that Paine
could listen to nothing that came from him, nor would
even suffer him to speak, I finally concluded to try what
effect I might have. I accordingly commenced with ob
serving : " Mr. Paine, you will certainly allow that there
exists a God, and this God cannot be indifferent to the
conduct and actions of his creatures.' — ' I will allow
nothing, sir,' he hastily replied, ' I shall make no conces
sions.' — ' Well, sir, if you will listen calmly for one mo
ment,' said I, ' I will prove to you that there is such a
Being ; and I will demonstrate from His very nature that

384 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
He cannot be an idle spectator of our conduct.' — ' Sir, I
wish to hear nothing you have to say ; I see your object,
gentlemen, is to trouble me ; I wish you to leave the
room.' This he spoke in an exceedingly angry tone, so
much so that he' foamed at the mouth. ' Mr. Paine,' I
continued, ' I assure you our object in coming hither was
purely to do you good. We had no other motive. We
had been given to understand that you wished to see
us, and we are come accordingly, because it is a prin
ciple with us never to refuse our services to a dying man
asking for them. But for this we should not have come,
for we never obtrude upon any individual.'
" Paine, on hearing this, seemed to relax a little ; in a
milder tone of voice than any he had yet used, he replied,
' You can do me no good now — it is too late. I have tried
different physicians, and their remedies have all failed. I
have nothing now to expect (this he spoke with a
sigh) but a speedy dissolution. My physicians have in
deed told me as much.' — ' You have misunderstood,' said
I immediately to him, ' we are not come to prescribe any
remedies for your bodily complaints, we only come to
make you an offer of our ministry for the good of your
immortal soul, which is in great danger of being forever
cast off by the Almighty on account of your sins, and
especially for the crime of having vilified and rejected His
word, and uttered blasphemies against His Son.' Paine,
on hearing this, was roused into a fury ; he gritted his
teeth, twisted and turned himself several times in his
bed, uttering all the time the bitterest imprecations. I
firmly believe, such was the rage in which he was at
this time, that if he had had a pistol he would have shot
one of us ; for he conducted himself more like a madman
than a rational creature. ' Begone,' says he, ' and trou-

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 385
ble me no more. I was in peace,' he continued, ' till you
came.' — ' We know better than that,' replied F. Kohl
man, ' we know that you cannot be in peace — there can
be no peace for the wicked ; God has said it.' — ' Away
with you, and your God too ; leave the room instantly!'
he exclaimed; 'all that you have uttered are lies, filthy
lies, and if I had a little more time I would prove it, as I
did about your impostor Jesus Christ.' — ' Monster,' ex
claimed F. Kohlman, in a burst of zeal, ' you will have no
more time — your hour is arrived. Think rather of the
awful account you have already to render, and implore
pardon of God ; provoke no longer His just indignation
upon your head.' Paine here ordered us again to retire,
in the highest pitch of his voice, and seemed a very ma
niac with rage and madness. ' Let us go,' said I to F.
Kohlman, ' we have nothing more to do here. He seems
to be entirely abandoned by God ; further words are lost
upon him.'
" Upon this we withdrew both from the room, and left
the unfortunate man to his own thoughts. I never, be
fore or since, beheld a more hardened wretch.
"This, you may rely upon it, is a faithful and correct
account of this transaction.
Upon the death of Bishop Concanen, Father Kohlman
was appointed Administrator of the diocese of New York.
Subsequently Father Fenwick was appointed to this
important position, and discharged the arduous duties of
it with marked ability ; blending energy with mildness,
and a ripe scholarship with a sound judgment, success
crowned his administration at every step. He visited
every part of the vast diocese, looking up the wandering
Catholics and leading them back to the fold from which
they had strayed, and by his learned and persuasive dis-
25

386 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
courses converting many Protestants to the ancient faith.
In one of his visits to Albany, in search of the few Catholics
living there, a Quaker lady of distinction in her own sect
was so impressed by the earnestness, eloquence, and true
Christian sentiments of one of his discourses, that she
undertook, in the well-meant charity of her heart, the task
of reclaiming so good and learned a man from what she
supposed to be the error of Popery. She was received
by Father Fenwick with every exhibition of gentleness,
patience, and respect. The good lady, so far from carry
ing her point, received the grace of conversion through
the instrumentality of her learned opponent, who receiv
ed her profession of faith, and welcomed her to the one
fold of Christ. Among other important and remarkable
conversions effected through the ministry of Father
Fenwick may be mentioned the following, viz. : — that of
the Rev. Mr. Kewley, rector of the Episcopal Church of
St. George, in the City of New York, who, after his con
version, went abroad, and is reported to have entered a
religious house in Belgium ; that of the Rev. Virgil Bar
ber, rector of the Episcopal Church and Seminary near
Utica, New York, who subsequently entered the Society
of Jesus, was received into the sacred ministry, and after
many years performing the duties of professor at
Georgetown College, died there, an object of great ven
eration. He had the consolation of seeing his example
followed by all his family, for his wife and daughter en
tered a religious house at the same time that he joined
the Society of Jesus, and his son, the Rev. Samuel Bar
ber, became an ornament to the same Society and to the
holy priesthood. Another conversion was that of the
Rev. Mr. Ironside, an Episcopal minister, who edified
all that knew him by his exemplary life in the Church, of

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 387
which he thenceforth lived and died an humble member.
Many hundreds of conversions among the laity also re
warded the zeal of Father Fenwick in New York.
The increase of Catholics in the City of New York,
under the untiring labors of Fathers Kohlman and Fen
wick, rendered the erection of another church necessary
to accommodate the people. Father Fenwick accord
ingly commenced the erection of the Cathedral of St.
Patrick, from designs and plans of his own. It was not
completed until after his departure from the diocese.
He was Vicar-General of Bishop Connelly during the
year 18 16.
In the spring of 181 7, his superiors recalled him from
his New York mission, and he was appointed President
of Georgetown College, a post which he filled for one
year, and in the mean time performed the parochial duties
of pastor of Trinity Church, Georgetown. The biogra
pher of the Bishop makes the following notice of his
presidency of the college : " The college never flourished
more than when it was under his direction, for no nomi
nation of a presiding officer could have been more
popular. Returning to his Alma Mater, with his brow
decked with the modest wreath of many laurels, gained
in the peaceful service of a Christian warfare, Maryland
hailed with increased exultation and fondness her son,
who, honored abroad, had thus become more beloved at
home. The pleasing reminiscences of his former abode
in college had been kept alive and handed down by the
admiring youth who before frequented his school ; while
his sincerity and urbane deportment, in which the polish
of the gentleman was perfected by the probity of the
Christian, entirely gained the good graces and the con
fidence of their parents."

388 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
His adaptation to new and trying duties was now
illustrated. As far back as the episcopate of Archbishop
Neale, troubles had existed in the church at Charleston,
South Carolina. The spirit of disunion and schism
which divided and disorganized the Catholics there, not
withstanding the efforts of the good Archbishop, con
tinued to exist, and it remained for his successor, Arch
bishop Marechal, to exert his efforts to the same end.
The latter applied, in the fall of 18 18, to the Society of
Jesus for, and obtained the services of, Father Fenwick,
and sent him as Vicar-General to Charleston, to take
charge of the religious interests of that city, and heal the
wounds of that afflicted portion of the flock of Christ.
The people were divided between two parties, the one
speaking French, and the other speaking English ; all
attending one and the same church, and each insisting
on having the sermons preached in their own language
to the exclusion of the other. Each party was unwilling
to remain in church while a sermon was preached in
the language of the opposite one. Father Fenwick's
thoroughness of education, his varied experience, good
Humor, untiring patience and charity, blended with
firmness, and his ability to preach fluently in each
language, peculiarly qualified him for the task now im
posed upon him. His ingenuity invented a somewhat
novel as well as practical and good-humored mode of
making peace by attempting to please both parties at
one and the same time, and thus showing them the folly
of their conduct. Ascending the pulpit, he commenced
his discourse in both languages, alternating the French
and English in rapid succession. The experiment was
successful ; peace was restored, and the members of the
congregation knew each other ever afterwards, not as

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 389
French, English, or Irish, but only as Catholics. Thus,
by the exercise of a practical judgment and amiable de
portment, he secured a happy solution of a most embar
rassing difficulty, which for several years had baffled the
efforts and defied the authority of the rulers of the Church.
A wide extent of country was visited and administered
unto by him, and his missionary calls not unfrequently
carried him on journeys of two and even three hundred
miles distance, to administer the sacraments and assist
the dying. His zeal in the cause of religion, and his de
sire to promote the interests of the new diocese erected
for the Carolinas, induced him to remain at Charleston,
separated from his Order and diocese, for one year after
the advent of Bishop England, who, in his history of the
diocese of Charleston,* alludes to Father Fenwick's ser
vices to the Church in that city in the following terms :
"In 181 7 peace was in some degree restored to the
church of Charleston by the exertions of the present
respectable Bishop of Boston, Doctor Fenwick, a native
of Maryland, and a member of the Society of Jesuits,
who was accompanied by the Rev. Dr. Wallace, a native
of the County Kilkenny, Ireland. By the prudent
administration, the zealous discharge of every duty, and
the conciliating manners of these gentlemen, and by re
moving some of the causes of previous irritation, much
good was effected ; the people were reunited, the church
reopened, and the sacraments again regularly approached
by many who had been long absent."
Father Fenwick returned to Georgetown College in
May, 1822, and by order of his Superior entered on the
duties of Minister of the College and Procurator-General
of the Society of Jesus in this country. In 1824 he was
* Bishop England's Works, Vol. iii., p. 253.

390 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
again appointed President of the College, which office he
filled for about a year, when he was sent to Charles
County, Maryland, to assume the spiritual direction of
the Carmelite Convent then located there, which was
subsequently removed to Baltimore, succeeding in these
duties the venerable Father Charles Neale, and con
tinuing to perform them, and to attend at the same time
to the parochial duties of the neighborhood, with zeal
and devotion, until the highest authority in the Catholic
Church called him to another and vastly more arduous
and important station.
The episcopal see of Boston had been left vacant by
the retirement of Bishop Cheverus to France. In July,
1825, Father Fenwick received from Rome the bulls of
Pope Leo XII., dated May 10, 1825, appointing him suc
cessor to the saintly Cheverus. His first step, on re
ceiving these documents, was to retire for eight days
from the world, and in spiritual retreat to commune with
God and his conscience as to his duties in this important
crisis, and to prepare himself for the arduous and exalted
position to which he had been called. He then repaired
to Baltimore, and was consecrated on the festival of All
Saints, 1825, by the Most Rev. Archbishop Marechal,
assisted by the Right Rev. Dr. England, Bishop of
Charleston, and the Right Rev. Henry Conwell, Bishop
of Philadelphia. Bishop England delivered on this
occasion one of his masterly sermons, on the origin,
foundation, and extent of the episcopal power. The
concourse of people at the Cathedral was immense, in
cluding many distinguished public functionaries, and
clergymen of other denominations. Again returning to
his Alma Mater at Georgetown, and taking leave of and
asking the prayers of his associates of the Society of

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 391
Jesus, Bishop Fenwick departed for Boston, accom
panied by Bishop England and the Rev. Virgil Barber.
He arrived at his See on the third of December. The
following article, from the Boston Gazette, is at once
creditable to the enlightened journal, which in 1825
dealt so fairly with Catholic interests in the midst of a
prejudiced community, and to the distinguished persons
noticed therein :
" The appointment of a Catholic Bishop of Boston. —
The Rev. Dr. Taylor yesterday announced to his flock
that the bulls for the appointment of the Very Rev.
Benedict Fenwick, of Maryland, to be Roman Catholic
Bishop of Boston, had arrived, and that the consecration
would take place at Baltimore about the ist of Novem
ber next, and that Bishop Fenwick would soon after
reach this city, to take upon himself the duties of the
office; — that he (Mr. Taylor) should depart for Europe
about the 15th of November. Mr. Taylor spoke in
high terms of the virtues of Mr. Fenwick — his mildness,
his urbanity, and his learning ; and congratulated the
congregation and the Bishop elect upon this appoint
ment over a people so kind, so grateful, and so gen
erous to their spiritual guides."
The following interesting account of Bishop Fenwick's
installation is given in the United States Catholic Mis
cellany of December 21, 1825: — "On Sunday, the 4th,
the Rev. Mr. Taylor, attended by the Rev. Messrs. Ryan,
of Maine, and Byrne, of Boston, appeared at the altar of
the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross in Boston, and
shortly after the Rev. Mr. Barber, of New Hampshire,
entered the sanctuary, attended by the Bishop of Charles
ton, who accompanied the Right Rev. Dr. Fenwick to his
See. Doctor Fenwick, in his vestments, with his mitre

392 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
and crozier, followed. And the Bishop of Charleston
addressed Mr. Taylor, introducing the new Bishop, and
presenting the documents of his appointment and cer
tificates of consecration, stated that he came to take pos
session of his See. A translation of those documents
was then read, after which Mr. Taylor addressed the
congregation in a strain of eloquence seldom surpassed,
in which he stated the gratification which he felt in re
signing his place and expectations to a native Ameri
can, and to one who had been so eminently useful in the
American Church. After paying a well-merited compli
ment to the memory of the Rev. Dr. Matignon, and to
Doctor Cheverus, he spoke in the highest commendation
of the purity and zeal of the clergy then before him, and
of the docility, piety, and other virtues of the flock, of
the' liberality and charity of their brethren, and express
ed his feelings of respect for Bishop England, the asso
ciate of his earlier days, and his companion in the coun
try which they both once looked upon. as their own:
after which he expressed his gratitude to the new Prelate
for the kind request which he had made, that he (Mr.
Taylor) would continue with him in the same situation of
Vicar-General, as he had been with his predecessor, and
stated that nothing would have induced him to decline
acceding to the request except the cause which he now
assigned ; he then read a letter from Doctor Cheverus in
viting him to Montauban, and this invitation he had ac
cepted. He then prayed for many happy and prosperous
years to the Bishop and his flocks, requesting to be re
membered in their sacrifices and prayers. The Bishops,
clergy, and congregation, in which were several hundred
highly respectable members of other denominations, were
deeply affected. Mr. Taylor then pointed out his chair

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 393
to the new Prelate, and the Bishop of Charleston then
led the Bishop of Boston thereto, and the usual prayers
upon the arrival of a new Prelate in his See were said
by Mr. Taylor.
" Doctor Fenwick then prepared for High Mass, which
he celebrated, being attended by the Rev. Mr. Barber as
Deacon, and the Rev. Mr. Byrne as Subdeacon. Dr.
England occupied a chair provided for him at the opposite
side, where he was attended by the Rev. Messrs. Taylor
and Ryan, and after the Gospel he preached on the duties
which the flock owes to its Bishop. During the discourse
he took occasion to expatiate upon the virtues and talents
of the former pastors of that church, the good effects
of which were so gratifying, evinced in the fine piety and
Christian demeanor of the Catholics of New England.
He also paid a well-deserved tribute to the good quali
ties of their present Bishop, with whom he was inti
mately acquainted, and from whom he had experienced
much kindness and considerable aid in the discharge
of his own duties. He also spoke in terms of gratitude
of the liberality and charity of his separated brethren in
Boston, for their aid in the erection of that church, and
their kindness always exhibited to its pastors. At Ves
pers the Right Rev. Dr. Fenwick officiated, and the
Bishop of Charleston preached on the Gospel of the day.
The church was closely thronged on both occasions, and
the congregation was deeply impressed, as well with the
grateful recollection of the services of those who had
departed, of him who was about to leave them, and of
respect for their new Prelate."
Few situations could be more difficult or embarrassing
than that of the newly consecrated Bishop of Boston.
On the withdrawal of the Rev. Mr. Taylor, who was

394 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
fully acquainted with the history, wants, prospects, and
condition of the diocese, he was left to his own resources ;
among strangers, and in a community educated with
many prejudices against his religion and his office ; and
with only two priests, the Rev. P. Byrne, of Boston, and
the Rev. Dr. Ryan, who was engrossed with the cares
and labors of a large congregation several hundred miles
distant. The diocese extended over the whole of New
England. At that time there were, besides his own
Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross, but three Catho
lic churches in New England fit for divine service.
These were St. Augustine's, in south Boston ; St. Patrick's,
in New Castle, Maine, of which the Rev. Dr. Ryan was
pastor ; and a small church in Claremont, New Hamp
shire, which was now confided to the care of Father
Barber. Bishop Fenwick was also without means or
resources. His flock was scattered over this vast diocese;
and while ministers were not at hand to attend to the
many and distant calls which would certainly be made
for spiritual attendance on the sick and dying, the good
Bishop saw but little prospect of adding to their num
ber. Entering as he did upon his office under such dis
heartening circumstances, the Bishop's usual cheerfulness
and courage sustained him in the undertaking; and,
although he had near him not a single person whom he
had known before, and not a single confidential friend, he
felt with his Divine Master that, in the soul and spirit of
faith and charity, he knew his flock and his flock knew
him. He felt that God, who had placed him in such a
position, would supply him with all the necessary graces,
aids, and means of discharging its duties ; that it was
God's work he was engaged in, and God would surely
take care of His own. With the zeal and courage of one

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 395
strong in faith and hope, he went about his work, and
the results are exhibited in the monuments of Christian
progress displayed in the history of religion in New
England. His first care was the religious education of the Catho
lic children of Boston, many of whom, for want of pas
tors to look after them, had strayed from the flock ; some
became lost entirely to the Church, and many others
were in imminent danger of falling into the same fatal
path. A Sunday-school was at once established at the
Cathedral of the Holy Cross, in which the Bishop him
self taught Christian doctrine to the numerous children
who attended, and to many parents, who were equally
ignorant of their religion and its duties. Uniting
in his character at once a remarkable simplicity and
grandeur of sentiment, purpose, and habit, Bishop Fen
wick was peculiarly suited to win the hearts of the young
and innocent, as well as those of the more advanced in
years. Mingled with these humble but sacred duties
were the attendance at the confessional and the visita
tion of the sick and dying, to all which labors he attended
in person. He also opened a day-school for boys and
girls, in order that not only on Sundays, but also on all
the days of the week, they might be under the care of
safe guardians and instructors. The school, on the day
of its opening, was attended by about one hundred
children, which number was afterwards greatly increased.
When the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was enlarged
by the Bishop, to become one of the most spacious and
elegant church edifices in New England for its time, his
improvements embraced the erection of two large school
rooms in the basement.
One of his earliest steps was to visit the Ursuline Con-

396 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
vent, established by the illustrious Cheverus, for the edu
cation of girls. He found the good Sisters in narrow,
unhealthy, and uncomfortable quarters, where, in the true
spirit of religion and of their Order, they were uncom
plainingly and zealously prosecuting their holy work, and
sacrificing their lives by slow degrees to the spiritual life
of others. The Bishop took immediate steps to secure
for them suitable accommodations. He purchased for
them the property in Charlestown upon which the new
convent was erected, and which the grateful Sisters named
" Mount Benedict," in honor of their noble friend and
patron. After a residence of six years and a half in
Boston, they were installed in their new home and school,
July 17, 1826. By subsequent enlargements of the build
ings, and of the grounds until they embraced twenty acres,
the Convent and Academy of Mount Benedict became one
of the finest educational institutions of the country. This
temple of education should have been a pride to every
enlightened son of Massachusetts, as a practical proof
that their fathers had not labored in vain to establish a
free government. But alas ! who can gaze upon the
blackened ruins of Mount Benedict, and then upon the
proud monument that casts its lengthened shadow almost
across those very ruins, without blushing for the incon
sistency of men?
An important accession to the clergy of the diocese
was gained in 1826, in the arrival of two priests in Bos
ton, the Rev. Charles Ffrench and the Rev. John Ma-
hony. Father Mahony was stationed at Salem, Mas
sachusetts, and Father Ffrench at Eastport, Maine ; the
charge of the latter included the Indian missions of the
Passamaquoddies, at Pleasant Point. Thus the spiritual
wants of the Catholics in various parts of the extended

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 397
diocese began gradually to be supplied by the untiring
exertions of the good Bishop. The pastoral duties for
all Boston, and for a considerable range of country
around it, were performed by the Bishop and one priest,
the Rev. Mr. Byrne. " He had, moreover," says one of
his biographers, " taken into his house several young
men whom he daily instructed in theology, in the hope
that they might soon take a part in the labors of the
Lord's vineyard, and in this hope he was not disappoint
ed. These students were to him, to use his own expres
sion, like another self; he lavished on them every care,
his house was their home, his table their table, his time
entirely at their disposal, and they lived with him as at
their father's house, without having any expense to in
cur, receiving lessons in theology from his own lips, and
profiting by his experience and his proficiency in all the
other sciences. His knowledge of the human heart and
his experience were second to no man's. As his duties
became more numerous, he sent his students abroad ; and
the Seminaries of Rome, Paris, Montreal, Baltimore,
Emmittsburg, and Worcester, will bear witness to his
zeal for the education of the clerical youth he had sent
thither."* The visitation of so extensive a diocese was an arduous
task, particularly in those days, when the modern conve
niences for travel had not been introduced ; but it was a
duty which he was zealous and punctual in performing.
One of his first visitations, and the very first he made out
of Massachusetts, was made to Claremont, New Hamp
shire, where the Rev. Mr. Barber, who had formerly
been the Episcopal minister of the same place, was the
pastor of the small Catholic church erected by himself.
* Catholic Almanac for 1850, p. 65.

398 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Here the Bishop administered confirmation to twenty-one
persons, most of whom were converts; and his sermons
were attended by the entire population of the town,
who deserted their own place of meeting to hear him.
He next visited the interesting mission of Father
Ffrench, at Eastport, which then required a sea-voyage
of five days to reach it from Boston. To one of his
generous nature and paternal heart this visit to the un
tutored sons of the forest was a source of great consola
tion and deep interest. The Passamaquoddies of Maine
were the remnants of the once powerful Abenakis, whose
conversion to Christianity in the early part of the seven
teenth century is one of the most interesting chapters in
the Catholic missionary history of our country, and a
convincing proof that if the white race, at the beginning
and throughout the whole of the period of European dis
covery and colonization, had resorted more to the cross
and the sacraments, and less to the sword and the fire
lock, the aborigines of America would have easily yielded
to the Christian faith, and would have become blended
with, rather than exterminated by, their white neighbors.
It was this simple but earnest flock, whose ancestors had
gathered around the saintly and martyred Father Rale,
whose relics remained in their midst, and whose name
they have never ceased to venerate. " They no longer
retain the ' same name as when Father Rale labored
among them, nor do they possess any longer the
same district of country, or even the same village, where
this bloody scene (the martyrdom of Father Rale)
was enacted. Driven back by the encroachments of
the whites from the land of their progenitors, and where
repose the ashes of their spiritual father, they are now
divided into three distinct tribes, of about four hundred

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 399
and fifty souls each, exclusive of the tribe in New
Brunswick, and are confined to a limited territory, which
has been guaranteed to them and their posterity by the
State, and which by treaty they have consented to take
in lieu of that immense tract of country owned by their
predecessors, the Abenakis nation. But their faith,
cemented by the blood of their apostle, they have
always retained. In the church erected in each of the
villages where they abide they assemble every Sunday,
with or without a priest, according as they may be pro
vided or unprovided : here they chant the divine service
partly in Latin and partly in their mother-tongue, and
perform their own prayers. The children are carefully
instructed by their parents in the great truths of religion
at an early age, and nothing is more common than to
see them, at the age of eight or ten, leave on a sudden
their childish amusements and retire for awhile to the
church to offer up their prayers to God and invoke His
blessing. In the absence of a priest, it has frequently
happened that ministers of other denominations would
pay them a visit, in the hope of seducing them from the
faith, and instilling into their minds their own various
errors ; but their efforts have always proved abortive.
The invariable answer of the Indians has been : ' We
know our religion, and cherish it ; we know nothing of
you or of yours.' "
It was during the time of Father Charles Ffrench,
and before the visit of Bishop Fenwick, that the
State of Maine, acting probably at the instance of
a missionary society of Massachusetts, sent the Rev.
Mr. Kellogg as missionary and teacher among these
Catholic Indians. No converts were made, and at
the time of Bishop Fenwick's visit to them, in 1827,

400 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
not one of Mr. Kellogg's pupils could spell a word
of two syllables.
The Bishop was received with unbounded joy and en
thusiasm by this portion of his flock ; was conducted in
procession to the church, preceded by the red-cross ban
ner of the tribe, similar to the one their fathers had
waved over Father Rale, as he fell at the foot of the
cross, penetrated with balls; and as the Bishop ap
proached and entered the church, the air was rent with
salutes of firearms. During his stay with them the
Bishop was engaged in the most active missionary la
bors, such as instructing the ignorant, hearing confes
sions, baptizing, and purifying the graves of the dead
who had been buried without the attendance of a priest.
The career of Mr. Kellogg was arrested, and measures
taken to supply them with a resident missionary. At
Eastport Bishop Fenwick marked out a site for a new
church, and, at the invitation of the authorities of the
town, preached a sermon, which was listened to by an
immense concourse of people. He then went in search
of some Irish Catholics living at Belfast, whom he found
suffering both for the necessaries of life and for the sus
tenance of the soul. He relieved both their temporal
and spiritual wants, and, imparting his blessing and some
wholesome advice, he proceeded to visit the Indians of
Old Town, where he went through the same labors of
preaching, baptizing, and confirmation. He then pro
ceeded to Bangor, Damariscotta, New Castle, White-
field, and Portland, where the performance of the same
duties awaited him. After visiting Saco, at the invita
tion of Dr. Greene, a zealous and noble-hearted convert,
he returned to Boston, after an absence of five weeks.
In 1 83 1, when the Bishop repeated his visit to the In-

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 401
dians, the resident missionary, whom he had obtained
from the Association for the Propagation of the Faith,
was among the Penobscots, and had accomplished much
good ; a pretty church, with its graceful steeple, had suc
ceeded to the hut of Father Romagne; the huts of the
Indians were superseded by neatly painted cottages, and
all things around looked thrifty and comfortable. After
administering the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Bishop
consecrated the new Church of St. Anne, patroness of
the tribe. "During this visit the Bishop, himself a mem
ber of the same society as the illustrious Rale, purchased
the site of the old church of the martyred priest, and
prepared to erect a monument to his memory. For this
he chose the anniversary of his death, and invited the
Abenakis of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy to meet
there on the 29th of August, 1833, one hundred and
nine years after the massacre at Norridgewalk. The
village had disappeared, and the spot itself was now de
serted. For a mile along the river lay a beautiful and
lovely plain, where the site of the grave, never forgotten
by the Indians, was easily found. Bishop Fenwick re
paired to the hallowed spot at the appointed day ; the
Abenakis of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy came
with their pastor ; those of St. Francis de Sales were
also there. An altar was raised in a little grove, and
Mass begun, the Indians chanting as of old the tradi
tional Masses of the mission ; but so great and so curious
was the crowd, that it was found impossible to continue
the service: the Bishop then rose and addressed the as
sembly, extending for nearly a quarter of a mile on either
side. Quiet now prevailed within reach of his voice,
and, after an address of an hour, he ordered the shaft
of the monument to be raised on the pedestal.
26

402 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
" This monument of our old missions is twenty feet
high, the shaft being a single block of granite, sur
mounted by a cross. On the base a Latin inscription
tells the traveller that that lonely spot was once the site
of a house of God in a Christian village; that the pastor
was slain and the flock dispersed."*
The old church at Charlestown being insufficient to
accommodate the congregation, many of whom had to
kneel upon the sidewalk and street to hear Mass, the
Bishop laid the corner-stone of a new church, with im
posing ceremonies, October 15, 1828. The following
allusion to this event, published in the Boston Gazette,
will show how completely the manly bearing and the
apostolic and holy life of Bishop Fenwick had won the
confidence and esteem of a Protestant community: —
"The corner-stone of a new Catholic church will this
day be laid in Charlestown, near Craigie's Point, by the
Right Rev. Bishop Fenwick. This church is the sixth
which has been established through the activity and in
fluence of that intelligent clergyman within the limits of
his diocese since he succeeded to the place of Bishop
Cheverus. It is designed to accommodate the Catholics
of Craigie's Point and Charlestown, who are said to be
numerous. It will have the effect of extending the ex
cellent moral power which is exerted over the Catholic
emigrants from Ireland by the head of their Church in
Boston, to those whose distant residence makes frequent
visitations difficult, by the means of subordinate priests,
and more easy access to the forms of public worship
which their peculiar faith has taught them to prefer.
* De Courcy and Shea's Hist. Cath. Missions. This monument was subsequently
mutilated by some ruffian hands, but the respectable portion of the Protestant com
munity repaired the injury and effaced the disgrace.

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 403
Thus by our universal toleration we are enabled to trans
form into useful and happy citizens those, whom the nar
row and tyrannical prejudices which prevail over the
destinies of Ireland have driven from their native land.
So long as the efforts of the Catholic clergy shall pro
duce such results as they have done heretofore, and as
they are now producing, we shall rejoice in the increase
of their churches  Bishop Fenwick deserves
particular praise for the manner in which he has dis
charged the duties of his office throughout the whole of
his course. His exertions have not been confined to the
neighborhood of this city. The remains of the Penob
scot and Passamaquoddy tribes of Indians have been
the objects of his care. He has visited them, endeavored
to improve and regulate their schools, and to increase
their comforts. He has striven to induce them to make
such change in their dress and mode of living as may
lead to greater cleanliness and good order. There is
hope that his labors will be crowned with a success
which may encourage their continuance."
New churches were also erected about the same time
at Eastport; Orono, on the Penobscot River; Portland;
Dover, New Hampshire; Newport; Saco ; Hartford; and
Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The rapid succession with
which these churches rose is a practical proof of the
unbounded zeal of the Bishop, of the great increase of
Catholics, and of the permanent progress of the faith in
New England in his time.
Bishop Fenwick having struggled so long alone, and
with no aid but his own energies and the limited resources
of his poor and sparsely populated diocese, had been for
some time anxious that all the Bishops of the American
Church should assemble in Provincial Council, in order

404 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
that the combined efforts of all might unite in building
up the separate dioceses of each. He warmly seconded
the views of Bishop England, of Charleston, on this sub
ject; and Archbishop Whitfield, with his enlightened
judgment, earnestly gave his approbation to a measure
so fraught with the interests of religion in the United
States. Accordingly, at the call of this distinguished
Prelate, the Bishops of the American church assembled
at Baltimore in their First Provincial Council, in October,
1829. Bishop Fenwick attended, and took an earnest
and active part in its important deliberations, and in the
enactment of the statutes then adopted for the general
regulation of the ecclesiastical interests of the country.
It was in the same year that the good Bishop sustained
a sad bereavement in the death of his venerable mother,
in his devotion towards whom through life he had always
set a remarkable and beautiful example of filial affection
and duty, well worthy of the imitation of all sons. He
left for the time the immense labors and duties of his vast
diocese, to gratify the wish of his dying parent that he
would visit her before her death, and hastened to console
her last moments on earth. But let this noble son speak
for himself those touching sentiments, recorded fortunately
in his diary, as an example for others : — " May 18th. The
Bishop, on receiving the sad intelligence of the illness of
his mother, a mother to whom he is so fondly attached,
and to whom he owes so much, determines to depart, to
gratify her dying request. May God in His great mercy
yet spare her. May 19th. The Bishop is busily engaged
in making preparations for his departure, — regulating the
duties of the clergy during his absence for the churches
of Boston and Charlestown, and settling some of the ac
counts of the workmen employed in building the wings

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 405
of the Convent. May 20th. The Bishop sets out for
Georgetown, D. C, the residence of his mother. May
24th. Celebrates Mass at the Cathedral, Baltimore, and
then takes passage in the stage for Georgetown. As he
leaves the house, he meets an elderly lady from George
town, who gives him the first information of the death
of his poor, dear mother, which took place on Sunday,
17th May, two days previous to his departure from Bos
ton. The Bishop grieves exceedingly ; he hesitates
some time whether he shall proceed on to Georgetown
or return to Boston ; finally concludes on proceeding.
Poor, dear mother, she was so desirous of seeing the
Bishop before her death. The will of God be done.
May 25th. Arrives at Georgetown College; the gentle
men of the College receive him with open arms. The
Bishop owes them every gratitude for the kindness they
always showed to his dear mother during her residence
in Georgetown."
On the night of the nth of August, 1834, an event
occurred in Charlestown, under the paternal and sorrow
ful eye of Bishop Fenwick, and within the sound of a
bell from Faneuil Hall and Bunker Hill, which no one
could have supposed was a possible occurrence in this or
in any civilized and Christian country ; the perpetration
of which is, if possible, a less surprise than the impunity
extended to the crime and the applause which it elicited
from many. This event was the attack upon the Ursu-
line Convent, the home of innocent and defenceless
women, its sacking and destruction by fire at the dead
hour of night, — fire applied by human hands, — while its
helpless inmates fled before the flames that consumed
their residence. The truth of history requires that this
deep disgrace should be recorded ; but it is too painful to

406 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
recount in detail the horrors and sufferings of that night;
Our account of it will be limited to the statements, briefly,
of a few facts : First, that the public excitement, that led
to the outrage, was brewing openly for several days before
the occurrence. Secondly, that a committee, appointed
for that purpose, visited the Convent a day or two
before, and reported that the rumors to its disparage
ment were utterly unfounded. Thirdly, that notwithstand
ing these facts, and that the authorities had timely notice
of the intended outrage, nothing was done to protect the
Convent from the threatened violence. Fourthly, while
the outrage was being perpetrated, no hand, public or
private, was raised to arrest the work or protect those
ladies and children. Fifthly, that a committee, appointed
at Faneuil Hall to investigate the whole case, reported
unqualifiedly in favor of the innocence and public and
private worth of the ladies of the institution. Sixthly,
that the ringleaders in the outrage were acquitted by the
courts of Massachusetts. Seventhly, that, although the
subject was more than once before the Legislature of the
State, no compensation or reparation has been given to
the sufferers. Eighthly, the blackened ruins of the Con
vent of Mount Benedict remain to this day to attest these
facts. The following entry in Bishop Fenwick's diary of
1835, alludes to the acquittal of the guilty parties: —
" June 9th. The Bishop has just been informed that the
Convent rioters, who had been put on their trial on the
nth instant, have all been acquitted. Great rejoicing in
Charlestown on Saturday among the mob in consequence
of their acquittal. Fifty guns were fired on the occa
sion! Thus iniquity has prevailed at last." An entry in
the same diary, made three months after the destruction
of the Convent, informs us of the sorrows through which

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick. 407
the good Bishop passed in the preceding nine years, and
no doubt this outrage upon the most innocent and help
less of his flock was one of his greatest sorrows: "Nov.
ist, All Saints. The day of the Bishop's consecration,
nine years ago. How many heart-felt pangs experienced
within that period, and especially during the last year.
How many reverses. How many narrow escapes from
even death. How many afflictions, calamities of so many
kinds ! Well, thanks, honor, and glory be to God ! "
In 1843, Bishop Fenwick founded the College of the
Holy Cross, on the heights of Worcester, Massachu
setts. The land consisted of ninety-six acres, purchased
by him, upon which suitable buildings were erected to
accommodate teachers and students, and the whole was
presented by the Bishop to the Fathers of the Society
of Jesus, who sent a colony from Georgetown College
to conduct the institution. The college has not succeeded
in obtaining from the State of Massachusetts a charter
or the faculty of conferring degrees.
The Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick was appointed
coadjutor to Bishop Fenwick, and thenceforth shared
with him the more active and laborious duties of his vast
diocese. The erection of new churches, the work of
providing more priests for the increasing number of the
Catholics of the diocese, and the regulation of the gen
eral interests of religion in New England, constituted
the principal occupations of Bishop Fenwick and his
coadjutor during these intervening years. "Since the
time he first entered upon the duties of his See," says
an obituary notice of him, " what changes have not oc
curred in the Catholic character of the diocese of Bos
ton? On taking possession of his diocese, the Right
Rev. Dr. Fenwick had under his spiritual jurisdiction

408 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
but two churches and two priests. He has left behind
him one of the most flourishing dioceses in the United
States. About fifty churches, and as many clergymen,
a flourishing college, an orphan asylum, numerous Catho
lic schools, besides establishing a new bishopric out of
that portion of the diocese consisting of the States of
Connecticut and Rhode Island. 'These are in truth,' in
the language of the Boston Pilot, 'imperishable monu
ments. of the energy and greatness of his mind.'"
The following notice of his character and death is
from the Catholic Almanac of 1850: — '"He was es
pecially the father of the poor.' He gave everything
he had, even the very considerable estate he had inherit
ed, 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 recipients
of his bounty ever induced him to abandon or reproach
them. If, as rarely happened, some rude or violent mem
ber of his flock forgot what was due to their father, he
felt no resentment, but melted in compassion 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 obvious to all who were in the way
of observing his intercourse with all sorts of people,
were the work of grace ; for he was inclined to think he
was naturally somewhat impatient and irascible. This
trait in his character was therefore all the more beauti
ful, for it proved the victory of grace over nature. The

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 409
victory was complete; if nature showed sometimes a
disposition to rebel, she was instantly suppressed, and
nothing was seen but the meekness, gentleness, and for
bearance of divine grace.
"Bishop Fenwick's 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 affecta
tion of harshness and severity, which, however, only
made it the more apparent. He delighted to have his
children, especially his clergy, around him, and was
never happier than when they shared freely his bound
less hospitality. Nothing could be more delightful than
to mark his kindness to them, and their love and venera
tion for him. Nothing was constrained ; nothing was
cold or distant. It was truly the reunion of the father
and his children. .....
He ever studied to make others happy, and his joy
was always to see himself surrounded by glad hearts
and smiling faces. He had had his trials, — and trials of
no ordinary severity ; 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 would have imagined that
he was free from all solicitude, and that no care ever op
pressed him. This trait in his character was strikingly
displayed all through his long and painful illness. He
had naturally a vigorous constitution, and had always
enjoyed robust health. In 1844 he assured us that he
knew sickness only by seeing it in others. When, there
fore, he was taken down with disease, we all felt, and he
himself must have felt, that it would most likely go hard

.1io Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
with him, and that his recovery was at best extremely
doubtful. But his habitual cheerfulness never for a
moment deserted him. He knew how much we all
loved him, and how painful it would be to his flock to
feel that he was suffering, and that there was danger
that he would be removed from them; and he made
light of his disease, continued as playful as ever, com
pelling us to forget, when with him, that he was ill and
dying. He rarely alluded to his illness ; answered to
our inquiries that he was well, or very nearly well;
talked of matters and things in general, and of his plans
for the Church, for his people, as if nothing ailed him,
and really made one feel that his sufferings were but
trifling. He would have no one afflicted on his account;
and up to the Saturday previous to his death, sat in his
usual place, talked in his usual lively and brilliant strain,
and the stranger admitted to his table would not have
dreamed that he was not in his usual health. And yet
none of this time was he free from suffering.
" The day before the Bishop's death an extraordinary
mark of respect and esteem for him was given by the
city authorities. An application was made to spread tan
over Federal street, a thoroughfare for heavy teams.
The Mayor, Josiah Quincy, Jr., not only granted this,
but, unsolicited, ordered the avenue around the house to
be barricaded, to prevent the passage of carts. The
City Marshall, F. Tukey, was seen busy carrying on his
shoulders large beams to execute the order. On the
night of the ioth August, 1846, the Rt. Rev. Coadjutor
gave him the last indulgence in articulo. He was per
fectly sensible during the ceremony ; he kept his full con
sciousness and activity, and followed every word with
marks of great piety and consoling peace of mind. A

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 411
circumstance deserves to be mentioned indicative of his
tender love for the Blessed Virgin Mary. He had been
in the habit of performing daily devotions in her honor,
which he never forgot to have done for him by another
by his side. The person who had charge of this office
omitted three Aves, which he said daily, to make atone
ment for the blasphemies uttered by unbelievers against
the Mother of God. Although apparently unconscious
of all things else around him, he perceived this omission,
and required the three Aves to be said.
" During the night he spoke several times, always
with calmness, and even with that cheerful playfulness
so remarkable in his character. The last words uttered
in a distinct tone of voice were in reply to his Coadjutor,
who, while reading the prayers for the agonizing, in
quired whether he heard and understood. ' Yes, per
fectly,' replied he with an effort, but in a distinct tone,
audible to all around. He remained in constant prayer
afterwards, as was evident from the motion of his lips
and his endeavors to repeat the short aspirations sug
gested to him, and some few of the words could be
heard falling in a whisper half-formed from his lips.
The last words, six or eight minutes before his death,
were, 'In te Domine, speravi, non confundar in eter-
num.' Almost immediately afterwards the death-blow
was struck: he started suddenly forward in his chair,
stretched slightly his arms towards his Coadjutor, who
stood before him, and his eyes seemed to ask something
most earnestly. The Coadjutor Bishop gave him a last
absolution, and again the indulgence in articulo, and in
less than one minute afterwards he breathed his last,
saying Amen to the form of absolution ; he died sitting
in his arm-chair. For the last eight months a chair had

412 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
been his only resting-place by night and by day, nor
had he been able to lie down for a single instant.
" His death took place on the nth of August, 1846, in
the 65th year of his age. During his whole illness,
Bishop Fitzpatrick and the good Sisters of Charity
watched over him with the devotedness and affection of
children. As soon as his death was announced by the
mournful tolling of the Cathedral bell, the streets adjoin
ing the Cathedral were thronged with an immense crowd,
anxious once more to gaze upon the features of their
father. The distinction between Catholics and Protest
ants seemed to be effaced, for all flocked with equal
manifestations of veneration and love to view his remains,
and on no countenance was seen the vacant stare of
curiosity. Till late at night a full and constant stream of
people moved through the church in mournful silence,
which was interrupted only by the sobs of his bereaved
flock, who knelt and reverentially kissed his feet as they
passed before him."
The funeral services of the distinguished Prelate were
performed with the most solemn rites of the Church,
and were attended by prelates, priests, and laity of all
denominations in immense numbers. As the procession
passed through the streets of Boston, chanting the
Miserere and other hymns, every head was uncovered,
and the most profound respect shown by all. His re
mains were interred at his cherished College of the Holy
Cross. The following beautiful words, written of him by Dr.
Brownson, are selected from numerous eulogies : "Take
him all in all, he was such a man as heaven seldom
vouchsafes us. It will be long before we look on his
like again, but he has been ours; he has left his light

Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D. 413
along our pathway ; he has blessed us all by his pure
example and his labor of love, and we are thankful. We
bless God that He gave him to us ; we bless God that
He has seen fit to remove him from his labors to his
rest."

RIGHT REV. JOHN DUBOIS, D.D.,
Second Bishop of New York, A.D. 1826.*
Bishop Dubois justly ranks in the ecclesiastical history
of this country as one of the patriarchs of the American
Church. His labors were of the most extensive and
useful kind. If -Mr.. St. Mary's College, of which he
was the founder and president, has well merited the
honored title of " Mother of Bishops," Dr. Dubois has
won by a similar claim that of the teacher of Bishops.
Tradition has handed down his great virtues and noble
qualities of mind and heart ; institutions of learning and
piety, houses of charity, and Christian temples are the
monuments of his labors and services.
John Dubois was born in Paris, August 24, 1764. His
parents were respectable, and enjoyed a competency of
worldly goods. His father having died when he was
quite young, his early training and education fell to the
lot of his excellent mother, whose only children were
John and a daughter. She scrupulously endeavored to
bring up her children in the ways of piety, rectitude, and
honor. This good mother lived many years to rejoice
in her noble son's usefulness and greatness.. Bishop
Brut6 saw her in Paris in 18 13, and speaks of her as "a
venerable woman, over eighty years of age, with a
heart full of tenderness and mind still strong, even at
* Authorities : Discourse on Bishop Dubois, by Very Rev. Dr. McCaffrey ; Fune
ral Sermon, by Bishop Quarter ; Bishop Bayley's Brief Sketch, etc. ; De Courcy and
Shea's Catholic Church in the United States ; Life of Mother Seton, by Rev. C. I.
White, D. D. ; Memoir, Letters, and Journal of Mrs. Seton, by the Right Rev.
Robert Seton. D.D. , etc., etc.

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 415
that age. I was much impressed," he continues, "with
her lively sensibility when I spoke to her of her worthy
son." After receiving the rudiments of education, he
was sent to the College of Luis le Grand, formerly the
principal college of the Jesuits, of which they had been
so iniquitously deprived. Eminent professors were still
provided for it by the government, which was anxious
that its reputation should not decline under the change.
It was here that many of the most distinguished men of
France were educated ; and here, too, our own Carroll of
Carrollton had been a student. Among the preceptors
of Mr. Dubois at this seat of learning were the famous
poet, the Abb^ Delille, and the Abbe Proyart, author of
the life of Decalogne, who also had been a cherished
and saintly alumnus of the college. Decalogne was
deservedly presented, in his life-portrait by Proyart, as
the model of the students ; it was regarded as a reward
to be bestowed only on the most meritorious pupils to
be allowed to occupy the place of this proto-student at
the opening of studies ; young Dubois was one of those
that enjoyed this honor, and it was a circumstance to
which, throughout his long and honored life, he loved
to recur with marked pleasure and gratitude. Many
of his companions were youths of eminent piety and
exemplary lives. But side by side with them sat some
who were afterwards destined to become even more
notorious for their crimes and atrocities. Among
the latter were Camille Desmoulins, who afterwards
aroused and led on the brutal mobs of Paris, — and
Robespierre, the blood-thirsty monster of the Revolu
tion. Young Dubois instinctively read the heart of
the embryo tyrant: " I shall never forget," he used to
say to one of his own pupils at Emmittsburg, " the

416 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
looks and manners of him, who afterwards proved such
a monster of ferocity. He was unsocial, solitary,
gloomy ; his head was restless, his eyes wandering, and
he was a great tyrant towards his younger and weaker
companions. I could literally apply to him the account
which St. Gregory Nazienzen gives of his fellow-student
at Athens, Julian the Apostate. We might even then
have exclaimed with the Saint, ' What a monster our
country is bringing up in this youth.' " Young Dubois
studiously avoided the companionship of such boys at
school, and preferred that of the pure and good. What
a contrast is presented in the after-lives of these two
fellow-students ! The one became a scourge to his fel
low-men — the other an angel of mercy and bene
diction. Mr. Dubois was a good student. He bore away the
prizes of his class. His parents had destined him for the
army, but he preferred to enlist under the banner of the
cross. Entering the Oratorian Seminary of St. Ma-
gloire, he applied himself earnestly to the study of the
ology and to the acquisition of virtue. An ardent zeal
for the salvation of souls, patience, self-denial, and hu
mility were his distinguishing virtues. Here he had for
companions the Abbe McCarthy, afterwards the cele
brated pulpit-orator and ornament of the Society of
Jesus ; the distinguished Abbe Le Gris Duval ; and the
admirable Cheverus, destined like himself to wear a
mitre in the Western World. His fine qualities and sedu
lous attention to his studies and duties won for him the
notice and regard of Monseigneur De Juigne, Arch
bishop of Paris. His admirable " Theses," which he
sustained at St. Magloire and at the Sorbonne, added to
his repute ; and while yet a student he received a bene-

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 417
fice in the vicinity of Paris. On the 22d of September,
1787, though still under the. canonical age, he received a
dispensation, and was ordained in the sacred ministry.
His first appointment was that of assistant priest at the
parish of St. Sulpice. He was also appointed one of
the chaplains of an extensive institution, under the Sisters
of Charity, for insane patients and destitute orphans,
called the Hospice de Petits Maisons, in the Rue de
Seve, Paris, where he became acquainted with the spirit
of the admirable rules of St. Vincent de Paul, which
seemed a providential preparation for his important
duties in organizing the Sisters of Charity of St. Vin
cent de Paul, at Emmittsburg.
It was while the exemplary clergy of France were
thus engaged in works of charity and ministrations of
religion, that the French Revolution broke out, and
blasted the noble and precious fruits of ages of spiritual
culture and labor. The friend of Mr. Dubois, Arch
bishop De Juigne\ fled to Germany, and the clergy
were driven in every direction. Mr. Dubois continued
his ministry at Paris until his firm refusal to yield to the
requirements of the Revolution drew upon him the
hatred of the revolutionists, and he too was forced to fly.
Having obtained letters from the Marquis de La Fay
ette, through the influence of the family of De Noailles,
and a passport, he exchanged the dangerous clerical
dress for the safer one of the citizen, and passed in dis
guise, accompanied by a faithful servant, to Havre de
Grace, and thence sailed for Norfolk, in the United
States, where he arrived in August, 1791. He was re
ceived by Bishop Carroll with that cordial sympathy and
friendship with which he welcomed all that saintly band
of exiles that the French Revolution cast upon our
27

41 8 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
shores. They enabled him to send holy and zealous pas
tors to many needy and suffering portions of his flock.
Receiving faculties from Bishop Carroll, Mr. Dubois exer
cised the functions of the sacred ministry, first at Norfolk
and afterwards at Richmond. The letters he received
from La Fayette were addressed to some of the most
distinguished citizens of the New Republic, such as
James Monroe, who was afterwards President; Patrick
Henry ; the Randolphs, Lees, and Beverleys, who re
ceived him with the generous and refined hospitality for
which the Old Dominion was ever distinguished. He re
sided for some time with the future President, and
received lessons in English from that great orator and
master of the language, Patrick Henry. At Richmond
he was invited to use the Capitol for his chapel, having
no church ; and in this temple of liberty he offered up the
holy sacrifice and administered the sacraments to such
Catholics as could attend. Father Framback, who
attended the upper portions of Virginia from Maryland,
encountered the ignorant prejudices of the rural popu
lations, who had never seen a Catholic priest, and
had never heard anything but evil of him and his
Church. Mr. Dubois, on the contrary, was received with marked
kindness and liberality by the more enlightened and cul
tivated residents of the cities and southern counties. He
also contrived to support himself by teaching French,
for the Catholics were too few and poor to contribute to
his relief. He soon qualified himself for the duties of
the mission, and was called by Bishop Carroll to Fred
erick, Maryland, where the Catholics, though few, were
more numerous than in Virginia, and from which town
he went to attend to the spiritual wants of the Catholics

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 419
about Emmittsburg, Montgomery County, Martinsburg,
and Winchester. He was the only pastor of Western
Maryland and Virginia, and was in fact for a long time
the only priest between Baltimore and St. Louis. Some
of his congregation came to Frederick to attend Mass
and receive the Sacrament from distances of twenty,
forty, and even sixty miles ; and when any of them were
ill or dying, the indefatigable pastor journeyed those dis
tances on horseback, and sometimes on foot, to carry
the consolations of religion to them. Among the fam
ilies of his flock was that of ex-Governor Lee, of Mary
land, a recent convert to the faith. A large room in a
building at Frederick at first served as his chapel, and
subsequently he built the first church in that city. His
missionary labors were extraordinary — he spared no
pains, labors, or fatigues in the discharge of the sublime
duties which heaven assigned him ; after the exhausting
fatigues of his ministry in town, he scoured the country
in quest of souls, entering into the minute details of in
structing and catechizing the children and servants, re
warding the pious zeal of the most meritorious, and
having a smile and a kind word for all. His rest was
short, his labors long; by a systematic application of his
time and labors, he accomplished incredible results ; his
zeal was untiring, his will unconquerable, and nothing
seemed impossible to his far-seeing and indomitable
mind and will. When he undertook to build the first
church at Frederick, the people thought him mad; even
Mr. Taney, afterwards Chief-Justice, who was an emi
nent lawyer at Frederick, and a member of his congre
gation, said: "We all thought that the means could
never be raised to pay for such a building; that the
church would never be completed, and, if it were com-

420 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
pleted, it would never be filled with Catholics." Mr.
Dubois, placing his trust in God, and heeding no dis
couragements, accomplished all these things and a great
deal more. He was remarkable for his punctuality,
never disappointing a congregation or family that he
promised to attend, himself remarking: "The shepherd
must never disappoint his flock ; it would cause their dis
persion and ruin if he did." It is related that he arrived
much fatigued one Saturday afternoon at Emmittsburg,
and heard confessions for awhile, which, however, were
interrupted by a sick call to Montgomery County, fifty
miles distant; giving the necessary directions for Mass
at the usual hour on the next morning, he returned that
night to Frederick, and proceeding to Montgomery,
gave the last consolations of religion to a dying person,
and returned — swimming his horse twice across the Mo-
nocacy River, the last of which was near costing him his
life, in- consequence of wearied nature sinking into sleep
as the animal pushed through the water ; he was again
in the confessional at Emmittsburg by nine o'clock next
morning, still fasting, and sang High Mass and preached.
All this was done with such little appearance of fatigue,
and with such saintly humility and cheerfulness, that no
one suspected how he had spent the night. His ministry
was most earnest and sincere. Though mild and gentle
to all, he was severe upon sin and folly, reproving ex
travagance and excessive fashion, and especially the dis
honesty of living beyond one's means, and of contracting
debts without knowing how they were to be paid. His
people found in him a truthful exponent of Christian
duty, and a faithful friend, counsellor, and pastor. His
noble example of labor, privation, hardship, poverty, and
humility was in keeping with his precepts, and won for

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 421
him the confidence, love, and veneration of his flock,
over whom he exerted unbounded influence for good.
Such was the life of Mr. Dubois from 1794 to 1808.
He visited the neighborhood of Emmittsburg once a
month, saying Mass alternately in the church of the vil
lage and in the little chapel at the base of the mountain.
In November, 1805, these two congregations united in
clearing a space on the brow of the hill, in cutting and
hewing logs for the purpose, and in erecting a one-story
house of two rooms (known afterwards as Mr. Du-
hamel's house). In the following spring Mr. Dubois se
lected a spot of unrivaled beauty and grandeur, in the
midst of the dense and wild mountain forest, as the site
for a new church. Here was erected the brick church
that crowns and sanctifies the mountain. It cost the
good pastor immense personal exertions and sacrifices,
but he succeeded against all impediments. The church
was completed, and Mr. Dubois removed from Frederick
to "the Mountain," took possession of the log-house or
residence, and entered upon the regular discharge of his
pastoral duties at the church. All was rude and unculti
vated ; but the eye of Mr. Dubois saw the peculiar ad
vantages of the spot, and marked it out as the chosen
theatre of a great and glorious future of eventful use
fulness. In the mind of the Catholic priest two ideas are in
separably united, the Church and the school. No sooner
had the first been erected than Mr. Dubois began the
latter, which was first conducted in a small brick house
some distance from the mountain, but was soon removed
to a more commodious log tenement on the rise of the
hill. In 1809 Mr. Dubois became a member of the So
ciety of St. Sulpice. A preparatory ecclesiastical Semi-

422 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
nary had been commenced by this society at Abbottstown,
Pennsylvania, for the preparation of professors for St.
Mary's College, and students for the Seminary at Balti
more. Mr. Dubois' school at Emmittsburg had now ma
tured into an ecclesiastical institution, as an appendage
of that at Baltimore, and now sixteen students are trans
ferred from Abbottstown to the school at Emmittsburg.
Such were the attractions which Emmittsburg possessed,
— its elevated and picturesque location, its salubrious air,
and seclusion from the distractions of the world, — that
many parents were induced to request admission for their
sons as English and classical students. They were re
ceived as such, and the ecclesiastical students became
their teachers. Thus the infant institution became in a
measure self-sustaining, and its success assured. It was
not long before Mr. Dubois presented to his Bishop, as
the first fruits of his zeal, several pious and zealous
youths, thoroughly grounded in theology, and prepared
for the sanctuary which they were destined to adorn.
The accounts of the energy and personal labor with
which Mr. Dubois exerted himself in building up Mt. St.
Mary's College, and his extraordinary success, have
passed into our local Church history. The growth and
expansion of that noble institution, from its first begin
nings in a log building to its present dimensions and
splendor, are among the best evidences of the onward
and permanent establishment of the Church in this coun
try. The many devout and educated laymen, the many
zealous and holy priests, and the many learned and able
Prelates it has sent forth to the country, have made the
name of Mt. St. Mary's celebrated. It falls to the lot of
few men to leave such monuments behind them as Bishop
Dubois has left. His example of patience, labor, priva-

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 423
tion, charity, and zeal in the many protracted and severe
trials through which he passed in accomplishing his
great work, are a more precious legacy than the noble
college itself. In 1824, on Pentecost Sunday, when the
fine stone building intended to supersede the old log one
was nearly ready for occupation, the good president and
inmates of the institution were aroused at night by the
cry of fire, and, on rising from their beds, they saw the
noble structure, the work of so much exertion and labor,
enveloped in flames, and soon leveled with the ground.
That this lamentable event should have been the work
of an incendiary seems almost incredible ; but alas ! such
was at the time generally believed to have been the case.
The meek resignation and mild forbearance with which
Mr. Dubois witnessed this sad and desolating conflagra
tion, won universal admiration; no words of disappoint
ment, reproach, or impatience escaped his lips. He was
resigned to the visitation, and referred this severe trial,
and the guilty perpetrators of the outrage, to God. His
thoughts turned at once to the subject of replacing the
ruins with a new building ; and it is related that, while
gazing at the ravages of the devouring element, he
calmly pointed out defects in the construction of the
house which he proposed to remedy in the new building
he was even then planning to supply its place. What
can exceed the moral beauty of the scene, when this ven
erable Christian priest, sorrowful and almost broken
hearted, was seen by the brilliant but unhappy light that
destroyed his own child, meekly to bow his head as he
placed on it the sign of the cross, and exclaimed: "The
Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be
the name of the Lord." Though already bowed down
by the labors and cares of his eventful life, and with his

424 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
head whitened by the snows of sixty winters, he cou
rageously undertook the erection of another building,
more extensive than the first; and before the two years
elapsed that intervened before his transfer to another
field of usefulness, he finished it and dedicated it to its
holy purposes.
Mr. Dubois was not only its founder and president, he
was everything to Mt. St. Mary's College. No work
was too trivial for him to see to, that could accomplish
good. Thus while performing the laborious duties of
President of the College, sole pastor at the mountain,
and chief pastor of Emmittsburg, Confessor and Superior
of St. Joseph's Academy, he was also Procurator and
Treasurer of the College ; he also taught a Latin class,
one or two French classes, and, during the absence of
Mr. Brute, the class of theology. To these varied
duties were added the cares of building, the superintend
ence of the farm, and the general out-door interests of
the institution.
Father Dubois was peculiarly happy in his instrut
tions to children and servants ; he prepared them him
self for the sacraments, and his tender and winning ad
dresses to them when preparing them for first commu
nion, moved the tear in many an eye' of young and old.
He rendered the wild rude region which he selected for
his Church and College, a classic spot, a religious
sanctuary, an earthly paradise. An eloquent son
of the mountain has well said of him : " Anxious to
neglect no means of inspiring and preserving youthful
piety, he was particularly eager to infuse into the young
breast his own tender devotion to the Mother of God.
To her he dedicated his Church, his College, and his
Seminary. The hill, the spring, the woods — every-

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 425
thing around him was sacred to Mary. To her honor
his labors and his life were devoted: — and beautiful were
the lessons which he taught us by word and example, of
respect for the exalted virtues and prerogatives of our
most Blessed Lady, — of love for this purest and most
tender of mothers, of confidence in the intercession of
our most powerful advocate and protectress. Oh,
Mary ! spotless Queen of Heaven ! Most gracious pa
troness of our Mount ! may we never cease to practise
his admirable instructions ! "
With such varied and laborious duties, it would scarcely
be supposed that even the indefatigable and energetic
Dubois could sustain an increase of them. But it was
his childlike reliance on Providence, and his willingness
to spend himself in the service of God and his neighbor,
that rendered all things easy and acceptable to him.
Thus we see him, when the new Society of Sisters of
Charity, under Mother Seton, went to Emmittsburg, ren
dering them every assistance, both spiritual and tem
poral. Bishop Brute used to say of him, that he
was " the true father of that institution from the begin-
ing." He gave them a home on the mountain when they
arrived, and from his own scanty stores supplied them
with bread, when their poverty was near dispersing them.
He was their chaplain and spiritual director, and Arch
bishop Carroll entrusted him with all their spiritual con
cerns and interests. Their rules were chiefly formed by
him, and he instructed them in the spirit and institute
of St. Vincent de Paul. He celebrated Mass for them
every day in their humble chapel ; and when they were
blest with a better one, he officiated with the joy of a
father at the ceremony of carrying the Blessed Sacra
ment from the old to the new sanctuary, followed in

426 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
solemn yet simple procession by the angelic little com
munity of Sisters. In 1812 Mr. Dubois received, as his
assistant in his labors, the saintly and learned Brute,
who shared with him the care of the Sisters as he did.
all his other duties. " The Rev. Mr. Dubois," says the
author of Mother Seton's life,* "still continued his emi
nent services to St. Joseph's community, amid his other
arduous occupations which literally overwhelmed him,
particularly since the departure of Mr. Brute for Europe.
He was oftentimes obliged to abstain from his meals on
account of the fatigue under which he labored ; and it
was useless to represent to him the necessity of paying
more regard to his health, for his enterprising spirit
and indefatigable zeal made him indifferent to his per
sonal wants."
The time was now at hand when Mr. Dubois was to
be separated from his cherished institutions at Emmitts
burg. How could he depart from these objects of his
love and usefulness, of whose life he, was the very soul
and sustenance. But the voice of the Vicar of Christ
called him, and he obeyed. The beautiful words ad
dressed by one of Mt. St. Mary's most gifted sons to his
brethren seem to form a fitting conclusion of this brief
account of his services at Emmittsburg: — "Now, my
brethren, called together by a common feeling of grati
tude towards a common benefactor, lift up your eyes,
look round about, and tell me what you see ! What but
monuments of the pure religious zeal of Bishop Dubois,
clearly marked with the seal of divine benediction ?
Who reared to the honor of Almighty God the temple
in which you are assembled ? Who s<^t it beautifully on
the mountain's brow, to crown our sacred hill as with a
* Life oj Mrs. Seton, by Rev. C. I. White, D.D.

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 427
diadem of glory ? From this lofty height, enjoying a
magnificent prospect, which expands and elevates the
soul — with half of Maryland stretched before you, and a
large part of Pennsylvania, and something of Virginia
too — tell me who has done most for the welfare — above
all, the spiritual welfare — of those who have pitched their
tents upon the mountain's side, or in its fertile valleys, or
on the plains below? Who adorned our neighborhood
with that noble collegiate edifice ? Who raised up in
the tangled forest that abode of science and letters ?
Who dedicated to the Muses that crystal spring, gushing
cool, delicious waters from the rock ? Who taught the
wilderness to bloom as a garden, and converted the rude
forests into a paradise, in which study and piety might,
like twin angels, walk hand-in-hand, and from which it
might be hoped that the tempting servant of worldly dissi
pation would be effectually excluded ? Who established
that nursery of the American Church from which so many
priests and Bishops had gone forth — pastors according
to God's own heart — men whose talents, learning, and
piety have reflected lustre on their Alma Mater,
and rendered Mt. St. Mary's ' a bright and venerable
name ? ' Who gave a still more enviable celebrity to St.
Joseph's Valley, and like the prophet smiting the rock at
Horeb, caused a perennial fountain of charity to gush
forth, that the poor orphan might not, for want of the
well-springs of religious benevolence, perish of thirst in
the arid desert of human society ? Who gave mothers
to the motherless, tender nurses to the destitute sick,
soft-toned Sisters to calm the raving maniac, and gov
ern by gentleness and sweet affection the darkened be
ing whom reason has ceased to rule ? Who prepared
and formed those Christian heroines, ready at any mo-

428 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ment to fly to the seat of contagion, there to hover, like
guardian angels, around the suffering and dying, —
soothing every sorrow, relieving every pain, inspiring
confidence by their calm intrepidity, inspiring piety by
their beautiful example, inspiring the guilty soul with
contrition, and the despairing with hopes of mercy, and
breathing their own faith and charity and humble trust
into the spirit trembling on the verge of eternity ? Who,
in a word, nurtured the institution of the Sisters of
Charity from helpless infancy up to a strong and flourish
ing maturity ? What one man, I ask, has in this our day
and in our country done most for the good of souls —
most for the relief of human misery — most for the benefit
of society ? You are all ready with one voice to
answer : It is Bishop Dubois, the father of St. Joseph's ;
the founder of Mt. St. Mary's. Yes, he was that
' blessed man ' of whom the psalmist speaks. He was
' like the tree planted by the running waters and bringing
forth fruit in due season.' All things whatsoever he
did were fertilized by the dews of heaven, were watered
from the fountains of divine grace, and prospered under
the blessing of the Most High God." *
In 1826 Mr. Dubois was appointed Bishop of New
York. He was now over sixty years old ; time and la
bor had told upon his once vigorous health. Ever obe
dient, and undaunted by the prospect of labor and trials,
he bowed to the mandate from Rome. The illustrious
Charles Carroll of Carrollton presented him with his
episcopal cross and ring. He was consecrated by Arch
bishop Marechal, assisted by Bishop Conwell, of Phila
delphia, and the Very Rev. Dr. Power, of New York, in
the Cathedral of Baltimore, October 29, 1826. The
* Rev. Dr. McCaffrey's Lecture on Bishop Dubois.

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 429
Rev. Mr. Taylor, of Boston, preached the consecration
sermon. He was installed at St. Patrick's Cathedral,
November 9, in the presence of the clergy and of four
thousand of the faithful, who crowded around the altar to
get the new Bishop's blessing. The following account
of his inaugural sermon is taken from a journal of that
period:* "The Right Rev. Prelate said, 'There should
be but one heart and one soul between the Bishop and
his clergy ; and but one heart and one soul between the
Bishop, his clergy, and the congregation. They should
on every occasion act in unison, and by pursuing such
conduct the Catholics of New York might almost work
miracles.' As a proof that his first step was for the
benefit of his congregation, he stated to them that he
had selected and brought on with him three clergymen,
whose only duty should be to attend to the catechetical
instruction of the children of his congregation. Ad
dressing himself to the Irish portion of his hearers, he
observed that he entertained for them the liveliest feel
ings of affection ; he reminded them of the persecutions
they had undergone in defence of their religion, of the
sacrifices many of them had made in leaving their na
tive country, and conjured them always to manifest that
ardent attachment to the religion of their forefathers
which had hitherto so pre-eminently distinguished them
among their brother-Catholics. To the French he de
livered himself in the most feeling manner, and con
cluded his address by a solemn prayer to the throne of
mercy, imploring a benediction on the Catholic congre
gations of the diocese."
On entering his diocese, which then embraced the en
tire State of New York and part of New Jersey, now
* The Truth Teller.

430 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
subdivided into six dioceses, he found a Catholic popu
lation of one hundred and fifty thousand souls, with
eight churches and eighteen priests. New York City
contained about thirty-five thousand Catholics, with
three churches and six priests. Among the laity there
were not wanting some who, forgetting the Catholic
spirit of the Church, and. their own relations and duty to
the divinely constituted rulers of the One Fold, and en
couraged by the circumstance of their possessing as
trustees the control of the temporalities, did not scruple
to wound the heart of their loving father by their con
duct. But he soon showed, by a pastoral which he is
sued, that he was determined to maintain his own rights
and those of the Church, and to bring the discipline of
the diocese to the standard of the sacred canons. His
struggle with the un-Catholic system of lay-trusteeism
cost him many trials, but he resisted manfully to the full
extent of the limited means within his control. On one
occasion, when he appointed a clergyman to the pastor
ship of the Cathedral, in preference to another more ac
ceptable to the trustees, they refused to pay any salary
to the Bishop's appointee, but paid the salary to the one
of their own choice, though actually suspended from his
functions. A committee of these misguided trustees,
who, had they followed the spirit of religion instead of
that of the world, could have co-operated so effectively
to promote the faith, called upon the Bishop, and, with
many formal expressions of respect, informed him that
having been appointed by the congregation as the repre
sentatives of their interests, they could not conscien
tiously vote the Bishop's salary unless he gave them
such clergymen as were acceptable to them. The Bishop
listened to all they had to say, and then quietly but no-

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 431
bly replied: "Well, gentlemen, you may vote the salary
or not, just as seems good to you ; I do not need much ;
I can live in the basement or in the garret; but whether
I come up from the basement or down from the garret,
I will still be your Bishop." The difficulties of his sit
uation did not dampen his zeal for the salvation of souls,
nor his ardor in doing good for his people. Owing to
the fewness of priests, he was obliged, like his prede
cessor, to perform, in addition to his own duties, those of
a missionary priest in hearing confessions, visiting the
sick, and instructing the ignorant. In his letter to the
Council of the Propagation of the Faith he says : " I
am obliged to fulfil at the same time the duties of a
Bishop, parish priest, and catechist." His amiable man
ner and admirable cheerfulness remained the same under
all his labors and privations. His energy, labors, and
courage, even at this advanced period of his life, explain
how in his younger days at Mt. St. Mary's he had won
the title of the "Little Bonaparte."
One of his first measures was to make a visitation of
his vast diocese, in which he travelled and labored in
cessantly ; he spent his time in inquiring into the condi
tion of his flock, in seeking out Catholic families and set
tlements, in organizing congregations, projecting churches,
administering the sacraments, and preaching. At Albany
he inspired the Catholics with the courage to build a
new church. At Buffalo he found between seven and
eight hundred Catholics, instead of sixty or seventy as
he had been led to expect. Here he received the grant
of land for the erection of St. Louis' Church, afterwards the
scene of schism and disorder under his successors ; and at
the blessing of the spot, the faithful from Ireland, France,
Germany, and Switzerland united as Catholics in the joy-

432 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ous ceremony. He was obliged to hear numerous con
fessions, two hundred of them by means of an interpreter.
He also visited amongst others the Indian village of St.
Regis, which was partly within his diocese, and where
the American part were in open opposition to the pastor,
who resided on the Canadian side. Here he adminis
tered the sacraments, the grace of which he regarded as
the most potent peace-maker. His visitation only re
vealed to him the real wants and privations of his diocese.
His heart suggested many a plan of relief, and his hand
was ready for the undertaking. Had he been supported
by the trustees and the people whom they influenced,
they would soon have seen seminary, college, schools,
hospitals, asylums, and churches rising under the magic
of his energetic will, to adorn and bless the diocese.
But he was obliged to look abroad for assistance. Not
waiting for the assembling of the Council at Baltimore,
he at once resolved to proceed to Europe in quest of
assistance. He had previously made known the condi
tion of his diocese, and before his departure received
from the Association for the Propagation of the Faith a
considerable allowance, a favor which his friend Dr.
Brute had obtained for him. He now was able to aid
the Catholics of Albany in the erection of their new
church, and to redeem the church at Newark, just about
to be sacrificed. He reached France in October, 1829,
"and proceeded to Rome to confide his pains, his trials,
and the numberless obstacles which he met to the Father
of the Faithful, and to the venerable Cardinal Prefect of
the Propaganda," as an appeal in behalf of his flock, not
for himself. Having obtained such assistance as was prac
ticable, and completed his other business, he returned to
resume the work t f building up the Church of New York.

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 433.
The education of youth and the preparation of candi
dates for the priesthood engaged his earnest attention.
A school and seminary combined were his first plan, but
the trustees refused to convey the lot to the Brothers
who were to take charge of it, and this project was
abandoned. He next selected a site near Nyack, on the
Hudson, where, as at the secluded spot in which he
had erected Mt. St. Mary's, he purchased land for a col
lege, and the corner-stone was laid by him on the 29th of
May, 1833. This step aroused the bigotry of the neigh
boring fanatics, who made their pulpits ring with the
abominations and dangers of " Popery," and opposed
most violently the incorporation of the institution. The
Rev. Dr. Brownlee preached such declamatory philippics
against the new work of Bishop Dubois in the neighbor
hood of Nyack, that threats were heard against the new
seat of learning ; the Bishop sought the protection of
the authorities in its behalf; but this was of no avail, the
torch of the incendiary was already blazing, and the first
Catholic College of New York was soon a mass of ruins
and ashes. It was thus too, in 1831, he witnessed in
his episcopal city the destruction of St. Mary's Church
by fire ; the foul work of an incendiary. Bishop Dubois
next endeavored to establish his college at Brooklyn, upon
ground proposed to be donated by a Catholic citizen, and
a quantity of stone was carried from the ruins of the burnt
college at Nyack for the purpose ; but the conditions of the
grant were not such as the Bishop could accept. A sub
sequent attempt to accomplish this object was made by
himself and his coadjutor, Bishop Hughes, who purchased
the estate of Grovemont, in Jefferson County, from Mr.
Lafarge, and opened thereon St. Vincent of Paul's Semina
ry, designed both for secular and ecclesiastical education.
28

434 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
The new Church of St. Mary's, at the corner of Grand
and Ridge streets, in New York City, was erected in
1832-33, and dedicated to the divine service. Christ's
Church, in Ann street, had been purchased of the Episco
palians and converted into a Catholic church; but in 1833
its walls were discovered to be insecure, and the church
of St. James, in James street, was erected to supply its
place, and was completed and blessed by the Bishop in
1837. In 1833 the corner-stone of St. Joseph's, at the
corner of Barrow street and Sixth avenue, was laid, and
in March, 1834, the church was blessed and opened for
divine service. In December, 1833, a large plot of
ground in Eleventh street, between Avenue A and First
avenue, was purchased for a Catholic burying-ground,
the original one at St. Peter's having been discontinued,
and the grounds about St. Patrick's being nearly full.
In 1834 the German Catholics purchased lots from John
Jacob Astor for a church in Second street, between First
Avenue and Avenue A, upon which the old church of
St. Nicholas was erected, under the pastoral care of the
Rev. John Raffeiner, who came from the diocese of
Brixia, in the Tyrol, in 1833, and who afterwards, in
1839, erected the old church of St. John Baptist, in
Thirtieth street. In 1835 St. Paul's Church, at Harlem,
was erected under the supervision of Rev. Michael Cur-
ran. In 1836 the Transfiguration Church, in Chamber
street, was opened under the pastoral charge of the Very
Rev. Felix Varela. In the same year old St. Peter's,
having become too much worn and impaired by time
and weather, was removed, and the new St. Peter's
erected in its place ; the corner-stone was laid by Bishop
Dubois, October 26 ; Mass was celebrated in the base
ment on the first Sunday of September, 1837, and on the

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 435
28th of February, 1838, the church was blessed and
opened for divine service by Bishop Hughes. The
churches throughout the diocese were multiplied under
Bishop Dubois in the same proportion, and clergymen
to supply their altars were provided.
But this progress of the Church in New York did not
escape the notice of the sectarians of the day, who have
always made the mistake of looking upon the Catholic
Church in America as something foreign to the country,
and as hostile to its free and liberal institutions, forget
ting that it was Catholic zeal, courage, and science that
opened the New World to the knowledge of Christen
dom, and that first raised the standard of civil and re
ligious liberty on its soil ; and forgetting that, by their
periodical onslaughts upon Catholicity, they exhibited
themselves as the opponents of freedom of conscience,
and as unfaithful to the guarantees of constitutional
liberty for all. The noted Dr. Brownlee led off the
attack, in which he was aided by more ignorant and less
able colleagues, all of whom used such stale ammunition
as the infamous inventions against convents and nuns,
such as Rebecca Reid's Narrative, and the "Awful Dis
closures of Maria Monk," and such-like. They met with
gallant opponents in some of Bishop Dubois' clergy, con
spicuous among whom were the Rev. Messrs. Varela,
Power, Schneller, and Levins, the last two of whom
established the "New York Weekly Register and Catho
lic Diary" as the organ of their defences against the
anti-Popery attacks of their adversaries. The burning
and sacking of the Ursuline Convent at Charlestown,
Massachusetts, in 1834, stimulated the passions of the
anti-Catholic mob of New York, and two years after
wards a deliberately devised plan was entered into to

436 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
destroy St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, which was
not only the tabernacle of the Most High, but the resting-
place of the unresisting dead. The Catholics were thus
compelled to defend not only their " altars," but also
"the green graves of their sires." This they resolved
to do ; the church was put into a state of defence, the
streets leading to it were torn up, the windows of the
church were filled with armed defenders of the right, and
the walls of the churchyard glistened with sword and
bayonet. The mob, true to its cowardly instincts, fled
in dismay before the gallant defenders of the sanctuary
and the grave, without opening the affray.
In 1837 the health of the aged and venerable Bishop
began so greatly to decline, that his strength was unequal
to the increasing labors of his office. He requested the
assistance of a Coadjutor Bishop, and named as his choice
the Rev. John Hughes, of Philadelphia, who had been one
of his pupils at Mt. St. Mary's College. He consecrated
Bishop Hughes in the Cathedral in New York, assisted
by Bishops Kenrick and Fenwick, January 9, 1838.
About two weeks afterwards he was attacked by partial
paralysis, from which he never entirely recovered.
Though his health did not permit him afterwards to
take any very active part in the government of the dio
cese, yet his zeal for religion and his interest in every
thing undertaken to promote it, did not abate in the
midst of all his sufferings and infirmities. Bishop Hughes,
in announcing .the withdrawal of Bishop Dubois from all
active duties, in his pastoral of October 14, 1839, said of
the venerable Prelate, " Having passed through more
than half a century of apostolical labor and boundless
as well as untiring zeal, he was entitled at the age of
seventy-six years, and it was natural for him to seek, the

Right Rev. John Dubois, D.D. 437
privilege of repose, by leaving to younger energies to
take up the burden which he had so long and so zeal
ously sustained." He died full of sanctity, patience, and
honors, December 20, 1842; and was buried with the
episcopal rites, and amidst the tears and with the praises
of the people, under the pavement immediately in front
of the main entrance to the Cathedral, in the spot selected
by himself.
"Need I tell you," says his eloquent eulogist,* "that
such a life was closed by a tranquil and happy death.
Patient, resigned, and devout to the end, the last object
that caught his eager gaze was the sign under which he
had fought the good fight, and won his victories — the
image of his crucified Redeemer ; the last words that
trembled on his lips were the holy names which in in
fancy a pious mother had taught him to lisp — Jesus,
Mary, and Joseph ! As ripe and mellow fruit falls in
due season to the ground — as the flower hangs its head,
and droops, and dies — as the sun at evening's close sinks
calmly into ocean's bed, leaving tracks of glory behind,
so did he quit this earthly scene, without a struggle and
without a sigh, — with a prayer on his lips, and a sweet
hope of heavenly rest in his heart, and a sweet thought
of the mercy of Jesus, whom he had loved and served
all his life, hovering like an angel over his departing
spirit." * Discourse on Bishop Dubois, by Rev. John McCaffrey, D.D.

RIGHT REV. MICHAEL PORTIER, D.D.,
First Bishop of Mobile, A.D. 1826.*
The history of Bishop Portier's episcopate possesses
a special interest, because the oldest diocese ever created
within our Territory was a part of his ; he officiated in
the oldest church erected on our soil, and the descend
ants of the oldest Catholic colony planted in our country
were a portion of his flock. Florida, the ancient seat of
Catholicity in the United States, together with Alabama
and the Territory of Arkansas, constituted in the begin-
ing the spiritual domain of this admirable Prelate. He
was also for many years the senior member of our Hier
archy, being the oldest of the Bishops, both in age and
priority of consecration. But a still holier and more
precious tradition is associated with his name ; the ex
traordinary labors and privations he underwent in the
mission, both as priest and as Bishop ; his services in
the cause of education in the South ; his devotion to his
Church and flock ; his poverty, which gave all to enrich
the sanctuary ; his goodness to his clergy ; his charity to
all ; his affable and condescending manners ; his joyous
and generous embrace of the cross for the sake of Him
who first embraced it ; his vast and solid achievements
in laying the foundation of future churches and dioceses
in the land he loved so well, — these are among the
rich legacies he has bequeathed to the Church of
America. * Authorities: Catholic Almanac; Annals of t lie Propagation of the Faith;
Original Sources.

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 439
Michael Portier was born at Mont-Brison, in the dio
cese of Lyons, France, September 7, 1795. The high
vocation of devout Catholic parents, and the blessing it
is to possess such, are well exemplified in his case ; for
the only reminiscence we possess of his early youth is
the account of the overflowing joy and hearty encou
ragement he received from his pious mother when he
communicated to her the noble resolve he had formed to
embrace a religious life. Transplanted at an early age
from the nursery of piety, which an edifying home ever
presents to the gentle and tender Character of youth, to
the Seminary of Lyons, the advent of the illustrious
Bishop Dubourg to France, in quest of laborers for his
vast vineyard in the sunny South, found him among the
most promising and talented of the Seminarians. A
profound impression was made upon the Catholic heart
of France by the stirring appeal of this apostolic Prelate,
one of her own sons, who was also just appointed to
govern a spiritual fold once planted by her own brave
colonists, and still speaking her own beautiful language.
The Church of Louisiana was not unknown to France,
for the history of it was adorned throughout by the de
votion of French missionaries, and by the prowess
of French captains and explorers. Young Portier was
among the first to volunteer for the mission of the
South-west. But now what a trial was presented to his
soul ! That good mother, who had been counting the
years, and was probably beginning to count the months
and days, that stood between her and the sight of her
son as a priest offering sacrifice on the altar of his
native France, had not realized the sacrifice she was
called upon to make in giving him to God ; but even a
mother's appeal could not turn the young soldier

440 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of the cross from the chosen field of his generous war
fare. " Strong
As was a mother's love and the sweet ties
Religion makes so beautiful at home,
He flung them from him in his eager race,
And sought the broken people of his God,
To preach to them of Jesus ! " Willis's Sacred Poems.
But he did all to assuage a mother's sorrow ; and a
beautiful and touching letter which he addressed to her,
in order to comfort and induce her to embrace the cross,
has fortunately found a merited place in the Annals of
the Propagation of the Faith. *
He sailed with Bishop Dubourg from Bordeaux on
the Caravane, a French ship of war, with upward of
thirty companions, and, after a voyage of sixty-five
days, landed at Annapolis, Maryland, September 4,
1817. He was among those who remained for nearly two
months under the hospitable roof of Charles Carroll of
Carrollton, in the capital of Maryland. He thence pro
ceeded to Baltimore, and continued his studies at St.
Mary's Seminary, where he also applied himself earnestly
to the study of English. Here he also received Deacon's
orders. Proceeding thence to St. Louis, then within
Bishop Dubourg's diocese, he received ordination as a
priest at the hands of that Prelate, in 18 18.
The zeal which had prompted his self-dedication to
the missions now found full scope. The pressing wants
of the country left no leisure for the missionary, and
* Annates de la Propagation, etc., ii. 413, note.

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 441
Father Portier gave himself up to the most untiring and
disinterested works of charity and zeal. When the yel
low fever ravaged that country, during the first year of
his priesthood, he went forth a messenger of relief and
salvation to the sick and dying. Devoting himself to
others, he thought nothing of himself, and was soon
prostrated by the pestilence. After his recovery, he
was called by Bishop Dubourg to New Orleans, then
growing in population and importance. The interests
of Catholic education in that city were confided to and
greatly promoted by his zealous efforts. He established
in New Orleans a collegiate school on the then popular
Lancasterian plan, and was exceedingly successful in
the work of educating youth, for which he exhibited re
markable talent. With three companions as his assist
ants, he opened his College in the building vacated by
the Ursuline Nuns on their removal two miles below the
city ; the building served the twofold purpose of college
and episcopal residence, and has to this day been used
for the latter purpose. One of his companions was
struck down by the unsparing hand of death at the com
mencement of his efforts. Father Portier has left in his
correspondence a record of this sad event, so damaging
to the prospects of his College ; but on this occasion, as
in all the trying positions of his life, his heart never
faltered, but gathered new life and energy from disaster.
He was thus engaged, and was progressing most suc
cessfully in his great and good work, when the Sove
reign Pontiff's voice summoned him to a yet more ardu
ous, extensive, and exalted sphere. Bishop Dubourg
intended to remove the college of Father Portier to La
fourche, where he had acquired a large tract of land, and to
found there an ecclesiastical Seminary; but his removal to

442 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
France prevented him from doing so. The Lazarist Semi-
inary at that place, subsequently established, may have
been in execution of this plan. During his sojourn at
New Orleans, Bishop Portier was Vicar-General to Bishop
Dubourg, and aided, with all his energy and talents, that
great Bishop in his various. religious enterprises.
Florida had now, by the treaty with Spain, been ceded
to the United States, and shortly afterwards passed from
the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Havana to that of the
Bishop of New Orleans. This interesting portion of our
country contains the oldest European settlement within
our limits,, and St. Augustine dates its origin back to
1565, when its foundation was laid, September 7, Festival
of Our Lady's Nativity, in whose honor a solemn Mass
was celebrated beneath the canopy of the vine and palm.
" It is by more than forty years," says Bancroft, "the old
est town in the United States. Houses in it are yet stand
ing which are said to have been built many years before
Virginia was colonized." The Holy See erected the
provinces of Alabama, East and West Florida, and Ar
kansas Territory, into a Vicariate Apostolic in 1825, at
which time there were two Catholic churches in the Ter
ritory: one at St. Augustine, a large, substantial, and im
posing structure, built by the King of Spain, and the
oldest church in the country ; the other at Pensacola, a
small but solid Spanish building. The population of
St. Augustine at this time was three thousand five hun
dred, of whom three thousand were Catholics ; and the
population of Pensacola was composed almost entirely
of Catholics. Dr. Portier was appointed Vicar- Apostolic
of this new flock, and the Bulls of investiture reached
him in- the latter part of 1825. He promptly declined
the proffered honor, in his humility alleging himself un-

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 443
able to carry so great a burden. He yielded finally to a
peremptory order from Rome, and prepared for his con
secration by a spiritual retreat. He received consecra
tion at St. Louis, from the hands of Bishop Rosati,
assisted by two priests instead of two Bishops, by per
mission from Rome, one of whom was the venerable
Father Donatianus Oliver, then of the age of nearly
eighty years, and Rev. W. Quickenborn, in the presence
of thirteen other priests, a goodly number of young ec
clesiastics, and an immense and devout concourse of the
laity, on Sunday, November 5, 1826. The ceremony
was commenced by the reading of the mandate of the
Pope, commanding the consecration and overruling the
long resistance of the Bishop elect. Rev. Father De-
thex preached the consecration sermon, and in the
evening Bishop Portier preached on Divine Providence,
particularly as seen in the establishment of the Church.
Dr. Portier was thus made Bishop of Oleno in partibus
and Vicar-Apostolic of the Floridas.
At the time of his consecration there were only three
priests officiating within his extensive Vicariate, two be
longing to the diocese of New Orleans, and one to that
of Charleston ; all these were recalled to their respective
dioceses, so that the Bishop was the only clergyman in
the country, his only assistant being a Subdeacon. The
poverty with which he entered upon his exalted career
of usefulness, privation, and suffering, was worthy of the
early ages of the Church. He wrote to a friend: "I
need two or three priests, and dare not ask for them, as
I am afraid I cannot now support them. I have neither
pectoral cross, nor chapel, nor crozier, nor mitre." He
bore this extreme poverty with meekness, and with his
wonted good-humor, a vein of which is seen in a letter

444 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
he wrote to another friend, in which he said : "If you
can buy the articles without any money, this is an excel
lent way that I relish exceedingly."
This destitution and loneliness only added to his zeal
and courage, for he lost no time in proceeding to his
diocese and commencing the arduous task which God
and His Church had prepared for him. He entered first
the town of Mobile, where there was no priest, but he
gladdened the hearts of the Catholics of that place by
the promise of a pastor. He labored incessantly at mis
sionary work for some months in Mobile, and awakened
the spirit of faith and devotion among its people. He
performed the first baptism in this place, January i, 1827.
In the summer of this year he went upon his first epis
copal visitation, undeterred by the fearful heat of the
season and the dangerous fevers that prevailed. It was
said of him this summer, "that this zealous Prelate has
already endured nearly martyrdom in the discharge of
his arduous task." Having reached Pensacola, he un
dertook and carried through the preaching of a spiritual
retreat at that place, and then proceeded on horseback
to St. Augustine, stopping on the way to preach at Talla-
hasse and other places. He arrived at St. Augustine
early in July, and in the midst of his labors there was
stricken down with a violent fever, from which he barely
escaped with his life, but in an enfeebled condition. An
intended visit to Bishop England, of Charleston, in the
interests of his Church, was unavoidably abandoned on
account of his weak state of health. No sooner was he
sufficiently recovered from the effects of the fever, than
he resumed with redoubled zeal his labors, which were
rendered vastly more difficult by reason of the long
neglect of religion in St. Augustine, and the ravages of

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 445
shameful scandals amongst the Spanish population con
stituting his flock. So much was this the case that the
Bishop found it necessary to begin with fundamental in
structions in Christian doctrine and moral duty, not only
for the young, but also for a large number of adults.
He preached in Spanish every Sunday of his stay in St.
Augustine, except the two that he was prostrated with
fever, and his audiences were composed of crowds of
Catholics and Protestants. His limited stay compelled
him to labor incessantly in this long-neglected city.
During his sojourn there, which lasted till the latter end
of September, he had the consolation of reaping an en
couraging harvest from his labors. During these few
weeks he brought many hundreds of various ages back
to a sense of their religious duties, and in others sowed
the good seed for future harvests. He confirmed one
hundred and two persons between the ages of ten and
thirty-five years ; administered the holy Sacrament of
the Eucharist to one hundred and nineteen, and baptized
forty children, whom, as well as many adults, he sedu
lously instructed in their faith and religious duties. The
concourse of Protestants who flocked to his sermons
were deeply impressed and gratified, and seemed to for
get all sectarian differences in listening to the pure truths
of Christianity, enforced with zeal and eloquence, and
aided by the charm of a graceful and happy delivery.
His affability and genial manners, together with his ele
vated and religious deportment, made during his brief
stay an impression which caused all to desire his speedy
return. . The demands of other portions of his flock
upon his time and labors compelled him to leave St.
Augustine for other fields, in all of which he witnessed
great religious destitution and long neglect ; hundreds

446 . Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of Catholics straying from the fold for want of pastors
and churches, and the rising generation growing up
without instruction or good example. Deeply impressed
with the destitution of his flock, and the necessity for
speedy relief, he resolved to visit Europe, to solicit
means and procure colaborers for the work to be done.
Not being able to visit Charleston, he earnestly re
quested Bishop England to retain the Vicar- Generalship
of East Florida, and assist that part of his flock with his
own services and the aid of a clergyman ; a request
which Dr. England showed every disposition to accede
to as far as possible. Having induced a single mission
ary priest to remain in the Vicariate during his absence,
Bishop Portier hastened his preparations to go abroad.
In the summer of 1829 he sailed for Europe. Most
of his time was spent in France, and spent to good pur
pose ; for, besides the pecuniary assistance he received,
he obtained a considerable augmentation of his clerical
force. He sailed homeward November 1, and arrived
at New Orleans December 24, 1829, accompanied by
two priests, one of whom was Father Loras, who became
his Vicar-General, and subsequently was consecrated
Bishop of Dubuque, four subdeacons, and two clerics.
He and his companions were cordially received by Fa
ther Moni, pastor of the Cathedral, and the citizens gen
erally at New Orleans, where he had many friends.
They all left New Orleans in a schooner, January 3,
1830, and arrived safely at Mobile on the 6th, and though
it was near 12 o'clock in the day, they proceeded at once
to the church, where he and Father Loras said Mass,
and the whole company united with the joyous people in
singing the Te Deum. The Holy See, in the meantime,
had erected the separate see of Mobile, of which Bishop

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 447
Portier was appointed the incumbent, so that he availed
himself of this occasion not only to celebrate his safe re
turn, but also his installation as Bishop of Mobile. The
joy of the Mobilians in welcoming their Prelate to his
home was thus expressed at the time by one of them
selves : " The arrival of Bishop Portier has been re
echoed throughout the Union ; sweet to us has been the
moment he landed on our shore, accompanied by two
priests, four subdeacons, and two clerics. Long had
the hearts of the Catholics of Mobile wished for his
coming. A pastor, a successor of the Apostles, has been
given them; they could not forbear to anticipate the
happy changes which now take place. The idea filled
*kem with joy ; his presence diffuses happiness on them ;
his amiable disposition, enlivened by his piety, has linked
him close to our hearts ; his young clergy unite in
his efforts, and seem to promise a long continuance of
days devoted to the purest worship." His absence in
France prevented his attendance at the First Provin
cial Council, which assembled at Baltimore October 4,
1829. During the year 1827, the Catholic church at
Mobile had been destroyed by a conflagation, which laid
waste a large portion of the city; on his return, the Bishop
found a small frame church erected there, which became
his Cathedral, and in it erected his humble episcopal
chair. That portion of his diocese known as East
Florida was, on the erection of the see of Savannah,
attached to that diocese ; subsequently it again became
a Vicariate Apostolic, and so remained until 1870, when
East, Middle, and South Florida were erected into the
diocese of St. Augustine.
His little Cathedral was twenty feet by thirty, and
stood on the site of the present Cathedral ; with the

448 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
means he received in Europe he enlarged it, and it re
mained his Cathedral church until 1836, when a temporary
brick church was erected on the opposite corner, and
was so constructed as to be easily changed into dwellings
or for other useful purposes, and now forms a part of the
Catholic Female Orphan Asylum, — a fine institution,
whose front, three hundred feet long, extends from
Franklin to Claiborne street. Bishop Portier's episco
pal palace was a small frame house, twenty-five feet by
fifteen, divided into two rooms, in which he resided for
five years.
His next great undertaking was the founding of Spring
Hill College, on an admirably selected site, about six
miles from Mobile. It had also a seminary attached.
He appointed Father Loras President of the College,
and enriched it also with an accomplished corps of Pro
fessors in ancient and modern languages, mathematics,
and sciences. He appealed to France, while abroad,
for the means to found this institution, so dear to his
heart, and was thus enabled to give it a most favorable
and solid start. The institution was for many years
conducted by the Eudists, and was for a time confided
to the Fathers of Mercy,* and, in 1846, to the Jesuit
Fathers from the province of Lyons, who have to this
day conducted it in such a manner as to make it an
ornament and a blessing to the South, and a noble monu
ment of its gifted and generous founder.
Having accomplished these works, and seen his Col
lege in full operation, Bishop Portier started forth on the
¦ The members of this fine religious Order, founded in France by Father Rauzan,
are now in New York, where they are conducting an admirable educational institute,
which, under their skilful management, gives present promise of great services to the
cause of education, and begins already to expand into the future College of St.
Louis.

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 449
second visitation of his diocese. On this, as on the first
visitation, he labored untiringly and accomplished im
mense good for his people, stopping at many places,
and wherever he saw an opportunity of benefiting any
portion of his flock. He extended his journey as far as
St. Augustine, and here he continued the good work he
had so successfully commenced a few years before. His
journey from St. Augustine back to Mobile was accom
plished under many difficulties and mishaps, which serve
to show how our early Prelates, in many instances,
traveled through their dioceses ; but the good-humor
and cheerfulness of our noble traveler carried him un
ruffled, though slightly bruised, to the end of his journey.
At St. Augustine he purchased a horse and gig, with
which to make the long and rough journey, and wrote
to a seminarian at Spring Hill College to meet him at
Tallahassee, and to bring with him gun and ammunition,
with which to provide themselves with food from the
forests on the way, as provisions were scarce and hotels
unknown. The Bishop and seminarian met at the ap
pointed place, and on the following day started for Pen
sacola. On the second day after leaving Tallahassee
the horse broke down, and the Bishop had to exchange
him for another, of whose good or bad qualities he
knew as little as the trader who took the Bishop's lame
horse knew or cared to know of the latter. It turned
out that the Bishop's new horse had never before gone
in harness, and submitted with a bad grace to the epis
copal reins and lash. On the second day, at a small
place called Webbville, he utterly rebelled ; for no sooner
was the Bishop seated in the gig, than the horse started
off at his best speed, and, running against a large stump,
threw the Bishop out on his face. Fortunately no serious
29

450 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
injury was sustained. It was a difficult task to purchase
a saddle in that region, but this was finally accomplished,
and the Bishop and seminarian accomplished the rest of
the journey on horseback. The animal having brought
the Bishop to his own terms, offered no resistance to
the double burden.
In 1832 Bishop Portier, ever intent on providing the
means of education for his flock, applied to the Visi
tation Nuns at Georgetown, in the District of Columbia,
for a colony of their Order to take charge of a female
academy in his diocese. The Sisters of the Visitation
readily responded to his call, and in the same year the
Nuns arrived in Mobile, and immediately commenced
their school in a house rented by the Bishop for
them. In 1833 he commenced the erection of a Con
vent, as a permanent home for these good Sisters, at
Summerville, three miles from Mobile, which they took
possession of the same year. This institution still con
tinues to adorn and bless the diocese of Mobile, and is
now a flourishing academy, with nearly a hundred
pupils. Providence protected these pious ladies in a
miraculous manner shortly after they moved into their
new Convent. While the nuns were seated at their
evening meal, a portion of that part of the building in
which they were was utterly destroyed by a violent
storm. The lives of all were in imminent danger, when
the roof, which the storm had lifted entire from its place,
lighted gently over the place where they were, covering
them completely, and thus protecting them from the
falling ruins.
The Bishop's next effort was the erection Of a plain
but substantial dwelling for himself and clergy. This he
accomplished with wonderful success for one who had

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 451
so little. The episcopal residence stands on the lot
adjoining the Cathedral, and remains still occupied by
the present Bishop of Mobile.
One of the crowning works of Bishop Portier's epis
copate was the erection of the fine Cathedral of the
Immaculate Conception at Mobile. This important work
had frequently occupied his thoughts, and as early as
1835 he laid the corner-stone with solemnity: Arch
bishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, preached the sermon on the
occasion. The Bishop, however, was not pleased with
the plan, and suspended the work for a time, and re
sumed it again in 1838. The progress of the building
was again suspended in consequence of the financial
embarrassments of the country, and was resumed again
in the summer of 1844, and was then steadily prosecuted
until the whole was completed in 1850. It was sol
emnly consecrated, December 8, 1850, by the Right
Rev. Bishop Reynolds, of Charleston, at the invitation
of Bishop Portier, on which occasion the Right Rev.
Bishop Spalding preached the dedication sermon.
It has truly been said by the people of Mobile that
Bishop Portier laid the foundations and reared to ma
turity the great charities and institutions of their diocese.
Besides those already mentioned are the orphan asylums
of that city. The cholera, which visited that region in
1839, left many orphan children; but these destitute
ones found a tender parent in Bishop Portier. Gather
ing them together, and providing for them a home, he
confided them to the care of a committee of pious and
charitable ladies. In due time he procured the services
of Sisters of Charity from Emmittsburg, under the di
rection of the good Sister Martina, so well known for
her charities and goodness in Maryland and the District

452 Lives of the. Catholic Bishops.
of Columbia, before she blessed Mobile with her pres
ence. These good Sisters took charge of the boys and
girls until they were relieved of the boys by the Brothers
of Christian Instruction, whom the Bishop procured from
the diocese of Lyons in 1847. Thus flourishing asylums
for boys and girls were permanently founded ; to the
boys' asylum were attached a labor school, a pay school
with fifty scholars, and a free school with the same num
ber ; and to the girls' asylum pay and free schools, the
former with fifty and the latter with sixty scholars.
These institutions have become at this time among the
finest houses of the kind in the country. The establish
ment of poor schools became a leading object of Bishop
Portier's efforts, and in these generous labors he was
greatly aided and relieved by the Sisters of Charity and
Brothers of Christian Instruction. Intent on furnishing
to all the means of education, he established, at St.
Augustine a female academy. But the religious Order
to which it was confided did not succeed in gaining a
permanent and successful settlement, and the institution
was discontinued. The Bishop's Ecclesiastical Seminary
enabled him to supply good and zealous priests to the
southern and northern portions of his diocese. He se
cured aid from time to time from the Society for the Pro
pagation of the Faith, which he applied in building
churches and extending his missions. Tuscaloosa, for
many years the capital of Alabama, was enriched by him
with a fine church and permanent pastor, and provided
with assistance to the needy congregation there in sup
porting the priest. This is but one of many cases
in which he gave all for the extension of the Church in
his diocese. He took great pleasure in attending the
dedicatiori of these various churches and institutions,

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 453
making each one the occasion of a great religious awak
ening amongst the people of the town. The beautiful
ceremony of dedicating the church at Tuscaloosa, Janu
ary 25, 1846, and the eloquent and powerful sermon the
Bishop preached, are to this day among the happy
recollections of the Catholics of that place. The
churches of Mobile he increased to three. St. Vincent's
was commenced and finished in 1847, having had its
origin in a generous movement for supplying church ac
commodations for the more needy Catholics of the town.
Subsequently the Jesuits built St. Joseph's in the north
western section. The destitute state of the diocese when
he was appointed Bishop, without priests, and with only
three churches, has already been described : by his great
exertions he gave to it twenty-seven priests and twelve
churches ; a college, fourteen schools, three academies
for boys, and the same number for girls, two orphan
asylums, an infirmary, and free schools.
In September, 1849, Bishop Portier visited Europe on
business for his diocese. He frequently took part in the
solemn ceremonies of episcopal consecrations, church
dedications, and did all in his power in such cases to
promote the cause of religion and the glory of the
Church in this country. He sat in the various Councils
of the American Church at Baltimore, including the first
National Council in 1852, at which he was the senior
member of the Hierarchy. He also attended the First
Provincial Council of New Orleans in 1856, and preach
ed the opening sermon.
The last important work of charity accomplished by
Bishop Portier was the erection of Providence Infirmary,
which he placed under the care of the Sisters of Charity.
It was to this fine institution that he retired when he

454 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
found himself attacked with the painful and tedious disease
of dropsy. He suffered long and patiently, and during
his distressing malady preserved his life-long cheerful
ness, devotion, and patience. He expired at the Infirmary,
May 14, 1859, in the sixty-fourth year of his age and the
thirty-third of his episcopate. He was buried in his own
Cathedral, amidst the solemn requiem and chants of
the church, the sobs and tears of his flock, and the
grief of the American Church, which felt that in him she
had lost a patriarch. The people of Mobile had a fine
portrait of the deceased Prelate painted and presented
to Father Chalon, his Vicar-General and kinsman, re
questing, as they said, that " it be placed where it may
be seen by his many friends, who, pointing it out to the
rising generation, will tell the many labors and successes
of a man so good, of a pontiff so zealous." They also
erected a beautiful monument, of which Father Chalon,
at the time, appropriately wrote : — " Here over his re
mains, pointed out by the monument, the poor will come
and pray for their father ; the rich will come here and
remember his advice. They will say, ' he has been
so kind, so charitable, that he must be in grace with
God.'" Of him it was well said : — " The purity of his life, the
charity and kindness which he manifested on all occa
sions, gained him the affection and esteem of both Catho
lics and Protestants, and caused his death to be regretted
by all classes of his fellow-citizens with feelings of pro
found sorrow and regret." By a non-Catholic journal of
the day it was said: — " By his suavity of manner, liber
ality of sentiment, deeds of benevolence and charity,
he obtained an influence and a general esteem which are
among the best human testimonies of a well-ordered

Right Rev. Michael Portier, D.D. 455
life." By another: — " He was learned, of sound judg
ment, strictly upright and just in all his thoughts and
actions, and guileless as became a Christian."
While Bishop Portier himself laid no claim to author
ship, the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith have
preserved for the Church some admirable letters from
his pen. Among them are, Notice sur M. Andre Fer
rary, Vol. I., No. 2, p. 57 ; two letters dated at New Or
leans, April, 15, 18 18, Vol. I., No. 5 ; three letters to his
mother, two in 1817, Vol. II., p. 413 n., and the other at
p. 419; letters to Abbe Colleton, New Orleans, August
31, 1826, p. 416; letters to Abbe Cantal, Pensacola,
January 22, 1827 ; another to the same, May 10, 1827,
p. 424 ; Journal of his Journey from Pensacola to St.
Augustine, Vol. IV., p. 73 ; Letter to the Editor of the
Annals, Spring Hill, January 16, 183 1, Vol. IV., p. 693 ;
another to the same, Mobile, August 19, 1831, p. 617;
another, December 23, p. 447; another in 1852, Vol.
XXIV., p. 150. They are all beautiful mementoes of his
virtues as a Christian and of his zeal as an apostle.

MOST REV. JAMES WHITFIELD, D.D.,
Fourth Archbishop of Baltimore, A.D. 1828.*
James Whitfield was a native of England, and was
born at Liverpool, November 3, 1770. His father, Mr.
James Whitfield, who was a respectable and successful
merchant of that city, gave his son the benefit of a liberal
education, in the acquisition of which the high minded
youth industriously co-operated with his generous pa
rents. Deprived of his father by the unsparing hand of
death when he was only seventeen years old, the manly
youth assumed at once the position of companion and
protector of his mother. In order to divert her thoughts
from her late bereavement, and to restore her failing
health, he accompanied her to Italy, where they remained
some time, during which young Whitfield, who had been
trained up to habits of industry and enterprise, embarked
in commercial pursuits. On his return from Italy to his
native country, and while he was passing through
France, he was overtaken by the promulgation and en
forcement of Napoleon's decree, which regarded and
treated all Englishmen then in France as prisoners.
The hand of Providence turned his exile into a blessing,
and thus teaches us a lesson how the most distressing
and annoying circumstances of this life may be used to
our advantage in life eternal. The greater part of this
period of detention in France he spent at Lyons, where
* Authorities: Catholic Almanac, 1837; Catholic Miscellany, I828, 1829, and
1830; Bishop England's Works; Catholic Magazine, 1846; De Courcy and Shea's
Catholic Church in the United States ; etc., etc.

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 457
he had the happiness of forming the acquaintance of the
Rev. ¦ Ambrose Marechal, who was then Professor of
Theology at that city. It was only the eye of Divine
Providence that saw at that time, in this pious priest
and in the pure-minded youth who sought his society,
two future chiefs of the American Church. The native
piety of young Whitfield was fostered by his good and
zealous friend, and, yielding to his own predispositions
and the gentle influences by which he was surrounded,
he entered the Theological Seminary at Lyons as a stu
dent of the divine science under the learned and accom
plished Marechal. He became so distinguished among
his fellow-students for his solid judgment and persever
ing industry, that he was a model to his class, and the
venerable Archbishop Marechal always took pleasure in
relating the circumstance of the members of the school
requesting him to cause the young Englishman to re
cite, in order that they might enjoy and benefit from the
elegance of his diction and the perspicuity of his argu
ments. After completing a thorough course of theology,
he was ordained in the holy priesthood at the city of
Lyons in 1809. He now sustained a sad loss in the
death of the good mother to whom he had been so de
voted, and to whom he had been so true a son. He
soon after returned to England, and was engaged in the
duties of his high calling as parish priest at the town of
Crosby, which he continued for several years with fidelity
and zeal.
In the course of time Mr. Marechal had returned to
the United States, where he had previously served as a
priest, and had been elevated to the Archiepiscopal chair
of Baltimore. Remembering the good qualities and
high attainments of the young exile of Lyons, who was

458 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
now a parish priest in England, the Archbishop wrote
letters of earnest entreaty to his former friend that he
would come to America, and give his services to the flock
of Christ in that vast and needy field of labor. Mr.
Whitfield, guided by the unerring finger of Providence,
complied with the request, and sought again, in exile
from his native country, the companionship of the gifted
Marechal. He arrived in the United States September
8, 18 1 7, and was immediately appointed one of the pas
tors of St Peter's Church in Baltimore, the duties of
which station he continued for a number of years to
discharge with remarkable, ability and zeal. In 1825
Archbishop Marechal, by special indult from the Court
of Rome, conferred upon Mr. Whitfield and two other
eminent ecclesiastics of Baltimore the degree of
Doctor of Divinity. " The ceremony was one of the
highest interest to the Catholics of that city, who hailed
with joy the commencement of a Theological Faculty on
this side of the Atlantic, the 'brilliant opening of
which promised to shed so much glory on the American
Church." It was in the same year, 1825, that the religious com
munity of the Sisters Oblates of St. Frances was ap
proved by Archbishop Marechal. This community was
composed of colored nuns, who devoted themselves to the
religious education of children of the same color. They
were allowed to take vows, and, in 183 1, the Holy See
bestowed upon them the same privileges and indul
gences that were enjoyed by the Oblates of Rome. Dr.
Whitfield was a warm friend and patron of this institu
tion, and seconded the efforts of their founder, the Rev.
Mr. Joubert, in placing their Institute upon a solid and
flourishing basis. The interest which Dr. Whitfield felt

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 459
in the eternal welfare of the negroes was the prompting
of Catholic charity. Their dependence on the white
race did not exempt them from the duty of saving their
souls, and the obligation imposed upon their masters of
giving them the opportunities of doing so was always in
culcated by the Catholic Church and appreciated by
Catholic masters. In 1832, when Archbishop Whitfield
wrote on this subject: — " How distressing it is to be un
able to send missionaries to Virginia, where there are
five hundred thousand negroes ! It is indubitable that
had we missionaries and funds to support them, prodigies
would be effected in this vast and untilled field. In Mary
land blacks are converted every day, and many of them
are good Catholics and excellent Christians. At Baltimore
many are frequent communicants, and three hundred or
four hundred receive the Blessed Sacrament the first Sun
day of every month. It is the same throughout Maryland,
where there are a great many Catholics among the
negroes." These views were equally participated in by
his successor, Archbishop Eccleston, who, in 1838,
wrote : — ¦" The slaves present a vast and rich harvest to
the apostolic laborer. I do not believe that there is in
this country, without excepting the Indians, a class of
men among whom it is possible to do more good. But
far from being able to do what I would desire for the
salvation of the unhappy negroes, I see myself unable to
meet the wants of the thousands of whites who, equally
deprived of the succors of religion, feel most keenly
their spiritual abandonment." In 1866 we have seen
how these sentiments and this solicitude for the salva
tion of the black population of the country, now free,
have been approved and enjoined by the Holy See upon
the American Prelates, then about to assemble in Na-

460 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
tional Council at Baltimore, and how the voice of Rome
was re-echoed and enforced by that, the most dignified
and numerous ecclesiastical body that had yet assembled
together in council on this continent.
When the health of Archbishop Marechal began to
fail, he requested of the Holy See the appointment of a
Coadjutor Bishop, with the right to succeed to the
episcopal chair of Baltimore. He placed the name of
Dr. Whitfield first on the list of candidates, and the
Papal Brief of January 8, 1828, was issued appointing
that distinguished ecclesiastic Coadjutor, with the title
of Bishop of Apollonia in partibus infidelium. When
the brief arrived at Baltimore, Archbishop Marechal had
departed this life. The saintly Bishop Flaget, of Bards
town, was selected to consecrate the new Archbishop,
and so deeply affected was that venerable Prelate with
the august function he was thus called upon to perform,
that on Ascension Day he entered into a spiritual retreat
with the Prelate elect, as a meet preparation of his heart
and soul for so important an occasion. "This Sunday
of Pentecost," says Archbishop Spalding, in his bio
graphy of Bishop Flaget, "was the most grand, the most
august, the most honorable day that ever shone on the
Bishop of Bardstown." Bishop Flaget accordingly con
secrated Dr. Whitfield as Archbishop of Baltimore, on
Whit-Sunday, May 25, 1828.
Archbishop Whitfield addressed himself at once to
the arduous duties of his vast diocese, in addition to
which he had to discharge the labors of Administrator
of the diocese of Richmond. Favored by Providence
with an ample fortune, he devoted it freely to the cause
of religion, in building churches, providing priests for
them, and for the support of those priests, in erecting

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 461
institutions of piety, education, and charity, and in pro
moting the cause of religion. He appealed, as his prede
cessor had done and had recommended him to do, to the
King of France and to his Grand Almoner, and to the
Association for the Propagation of the Faith, for aid in
so great a work. His letter addressed to the Associa
tion for the Propagation of the Faith, in which he gave
a minute account of the state of religion in his arch
diocese, is a most valuable contribution to the religious
history of this country. These appeals were not made
in vain, for there was received from the Association be
tween the years 1825 and 1834, for the archdiocese of
Baltimore, the sum of thirty-two thousand francs. There
was also appropriated a certain sum for Mt. St. Mary's
College. Louis XVIII. and Charles X. of France also
sent through their Grand Almoners, on several occa
sions, offerings for the archdiocese.
On the eleventh of September, 1828, Archbishop
Whitfield laid the corner-stone of the Orphan Asylum
at Baltimore, of which he and his predecessor were
munificent patrons. The first part of the inscription de
posited in the corner-stone reads as follows : —
To the
Glory of Almighty God,
Under the auspices of the Blessed Virgin,
The corner-stone of this edifice
(St. Mary's Catholic Female Orphan Asylum,
Established by the Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, A.D. 18 19,
And of which he was a most liberal benefactor : )
Destined for the education of Orphans, poor children,
And others who may be entrusted to its protection,
Was laid
By the Most Rev. James Whitfield,
The Fourth Archbishop of Baltimore, &c, &c,
ti Septemb., MDCCCXXVIII.

462 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
The Archbishop closed the touching address, which he
delivered on this occasion, with these words: "Under
the divine protection, this asylum will rise and subsist
for ages to come : May the Spirit of God always dwell
in it, preserve all who are to inhabit it, and bless all who
contribute to its support."
In October and November of this year the Arch
bishop was engaged in the visitation of the two dioceses
under his charge. No place in Maryland or Virginia,
where there were Catholics to be visited, was over
looked by this apostolical man in his laborious expedi
tion. He administered confirmation at numerous sta
tions to large numbers, many of whom were converts.
He laid the corner-stones of new churches, and selected
the sites for others. In every place and in every family
that he visited he left a blessing, and the gentle but ear
nest words which he then addressed both to assemblies
and individuals, fructified in after years in abundant har
vests. If the venerable Prelate was grieved at seeing
the want of churches and the scarcity of priests in Mary
land, how much more was his paternal heart filled with
solicitude, when he entered the vast diocese of Rich
mond, spread over seventy thousand square miles, and
with a population then of a million and a quarter of
souls, and found but three priests in this great field — two
at Norfolk, and one at Richmond ! During this visita
tion the Archbishop gave generously from his private
means for the relief of his scattered flock, and upon his
return to Baltimore, after an absence of several laborious
week's, he redoubled his appeals to Catholic Europe for
aid in supplying the wants of his impoverished church.
He found on his return, and awaiting him in his Metro
politan City, a communication, from Rome, conferring

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 463
upon him all the powers which are attached to the use
of the Pallium in the interval, until it could be regularly
transmitted, which was immediately after the next con
sistory of Cardinals at Rome.
The great glory of the administration of Archbishop
Whitfield was the assembling around him at Baltimore
of the Prelates of the American Church in the First
Provincial Council held in this country. Long had the
Bishops of the United States been anxious for such as
semblies to be held, in order that by combined action
much could be accomplished, which was impossible of
attainment by the individual Prelates separately. Dif
ficulties had heretofore stood in the way of holding such
synods or councils, and Archbishop Whitfield undertook
to remove them. No sooner is he invested with the
powers conferred by the granting of the Pallium, than
he determined on summoning his colleagues and suffra
gans to meet in council, and in order that they might
have ample time to consider and investigate the condi
tion of their respective dioceses, ascertain their wants
and necessities, and devise the plans and means of sup
plying them, he issued notices for them to assemble at
Baltimore on October 4, 1829. This summons was re
ceived and hailed by the Bishops with great joy, who
congratulated their flocks on this event, so auspicious to
the Church and so fraught with future blessings to them
and their posterity.
This venerable assembly took place on Sunday, Oc
tober 4, 1829, at the Cathedral at Baltimore. The
Archbishop celebrated a solemn High Mass, and on the
same occasion received from the hands of the venerable
Bishop Flaget the investiture of the Pallium, which
had been transmitted from Rome. Bishop England

464 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
preached the opening sermon, which was marked by
that ability, learning, and zeal for which that eminent
Prelate was distinguished. He had been a warm advo
cate for the calling of a Council ever since his appoint
ment as a member of the American Hierarchy, and
great must have been his satisfaction in witnessing the
consummation of his long-cherished desires. During
the Council, the Bishops held a morning session con
ducted by the Prelates alone, and in the afternoon a
session at which they were attended by the clergy of the
second order, who acted as theologians, and to whom,
as committees, various questions were referred for their
examination and report. At this session the reports
were received and considered, and conclusions thereon
arrived at by the Bishops. The principal subjects con
sidered and acted upon by the Council related to disci
pline, morals, and the administration of the sacraments.
The Council closed on Sunday, October 18, and resulted
in the adoption of thirty-eight decrees, prescribing regu
lations for the conduct of the clergy, and wholesome in
structions for the laity. These were submitted to Pope
Pius VIII. for his approval, and were returned with his
approbation, through the Congregation " de Propaganda
Fide," to America, October 16, 1830, and published.
The Council was attended by Archbishop Whitfield,
who presided; by'the Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget,
Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky; Rt. Rev. John Eng
land, Bishop of Charleston, S. C, and Vicar-General of
Florida East; Rt. Rev. Edward Fenwick, Bishop of Cin
cinnati; Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis,
and Administrator of New Orleans ; and Rt. Rev. Bene
dict Joseph Fenwick, Bishop of Boston ; and Very Rev.
William Matthews, Administrate -of the diocese of Phila-

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 465
delphia. The absent Prelates were Rt. Rev. John Du
bois, Bishop of New York, then in Europe; Rt. Rev.
John B. David, Coadjutor of Bardstown, prevented from
attending by sickness ; Rt. Rev. Michael Portier, Bishop
of Mobile, then in France; Rt. Rev. Henry Conwell,
titular Bishop of Philadelphia, represented by the Very
Rev. William Matthews as his Vicar-General.
Among the works of this Council were two Pastoral
Letters addressed by the assembled Prelates, one to the
clergy and the other to the laity of the United States,
which were full of apostolical zeal and love, replete with
scriptural and theological learning, and breathing an
eloquence and unction that seem inspired. It would be
difficult to read these two admirable epistles with candor
and impartiality, and not feel convinced, from their in
trinsic evidences, that they could have emanated from
none other than the true and infallible spouse of Christ.
The statistics, which the Bishops of the Council supplied
from their respective dioceses, led them to conclude that
the Catholics of the United States, in 1829, exceeded in
number five hundred thousand souls ; and their ranks
then, as now, were daily increasing from immigration
and conversions. The following allusion to the Council,
and tribute to Archbishop Whitfield, embracing the
quoted extract from the Ami de la Religion, is taken
from the Catholic Miscellany of March 6, 1830: "Some
of the religious papers in France make honorable men
tion of this assembly of our Prelates ; amongst others
the Ami de la Religion, after quoting at considerable
length some details from the Miscellany, gives the sub
stance of the pastoral letter to the laity, which it eulo
gizes in very flattering terms, and concludes by exhibiting
the great advantages likely to follow from this synod,
3°

466 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
paying a well-deserved tribute to our venerable. Metro
politan: 'There is gratitude due to the Archbishop of
Baltimore, who originated this Council and directed its
deliberations, and who, in all his relations to his col
leagues, showed himself well worthy of the important
mission whose duties he is charged to fulfil.'
"No compliment has ever been better deserved.
Doctor Whitfield, however, must have that within which
is more valuable than the eulogy or the esteem of any
human tribunal; he has the approbation of his con
science, and will continue to receive that approbation, as
he reflects and beholds how he has promoted the great
cause of pure and spiritual religion, by uniting the affec
tions and efforts of what was before his day a scattered
and disjointed mass, but which he has framed and knit
together." On the thirtieth of October, 1829, Archbishop Whit
field announced to his diocese the Plenary Indulgence
granted by the Holy Father Pius VIII. in the first year
of his Pontificate. In his beautiful letter on Prayer, on
this occasion, he says : " How edifying it is to behold the
Prince of Pastors, for whom Christ himself 'prayed that
his faith fail not' whom he commanded 'to confirm his
brethren] trembling at the foresight of the momentous
duties attached to his exalted station, and in the attitude
of a suppliant calling upon all his beloved children to
obtain the help of their prayers! How consoling the
thought, that by offering him that assistance which his
paternal love enables us to afford, we shall at the same
time cancel the debts in which our sins have involved us,
and enrich our souls with heavenly gifts ! "
In his letter to the Association for the Propagation of
the Faith, dated February 16, 1832, concerning the state

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 467
of his diocese, he writes: "The wonders, if I dare so
express myself, that have been operated in my diocese,
are a source of consolation to me amid the difficulties
against which I have still often to struggle. Thanks to
a special Providence over that beloved portion of the
people confided to my care, I can say with the apos
tle, ' I am filled with consolation, I superabound with joy
in all our tribulation.' When I meditate before God
on His goodness, His mercy, the graces which He be
stows on my diocese, my heart expands, and I cannot
but recall that passage of the Psalms: 'He hath not
done thus to every nation.' A truly Catholic spirit dis
tinguishes Maryland and the District of Columbia from
all other States in the Union ; and I venture to say,
without any fear of wounding the truth, the City of Bal
timore is justly renowned for the true and solid piety of
its people. Conversions of Protestants in health are also
numerous, and not a week, in some seasons not a day,
passes without our priests being called to the bedside of
some invalid who wishes to abjure error, and die in the
bosom of the Church."*
The completion of the Cathedral was an object of the
Archbishop's private liberality and public zeal. In addi
tion to the means of his own which he expended on it,
he caused collections to be made by small periodical
subscriptions, after the manner practised in the Society
for the Propagation of the Faith. One of its noble
towers was begun and finished during his administration,
and other progress made towards its completion. St.
James' Church, in Baltimore, was' another object of his
private and individual bounty, having been built entirely
with means supplied from the private fortune of the
* Annals of the Propagation of the Faith.

468 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop. He laid the corner-stone of this temple,
May 1, 1833, and on the first of May of the following
year he consecrated it to the service of the Most High.
Mt. St. Mary's College, at Emmittsburg, was incorpo
rated during his administration, as well as a most excel
lent society of the ladies of Baltimore, called the Maria
Marthian Society, for the relief of the poor and the dis
tressed, and other Catholic bodies and institutions. A
considerable portion of the funds for the erection of the
episcopal residence near the Cathedral, was also con
tributed from the private means of Archbishop Whitfield.
In 1833 Archbishop Whitfield summoned the Suffra
gan Bishops of the United States to assemble in the
Second Provincial Council at Baltimore, on the twentieth
of October of that year. The assembling of the Ameri
can Bishops in Council, to promote the general interests
of the Church in this country, thus became a settled and
fixed custom of the Church. Those who have down to
our own time witnessed the benign effects and salutary
fruits of these assemblies, cannot feel too grateful to that
illustrious Prelate for the leading part he took in their
introduction and perpetuation. The Prelates, who came
to the Second Council at the invitation of Archbishop
Whitfield were : Rt. Rev. John B. David, Bishop of
Mauricastro and Coadjutor of Bardstown ; Rt. Rev.
John England, Bishop of Charleston ; Rt. Rev. Joseph
Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis ; Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph
Fenwick, Bishop of Boston ; Rt. Rev. John Dubois,
Bishop of New York ; Rt. Rev. Michael Portier, Bishop
of Mobile ; Rt. Rev. Francis P. Kenrick, Bishop of
Arath, and Coadjutor and Administrator of Philadelphia;
Rt. Rev. Frederick Rese, Bishop of Detroit ; Rt. Rev.
John B. Purcell, Bishop of Cincinnati. The venerable

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 469
Bishop Flaget was prevented from attending the Coun
cil by the feebleness of old age.
The increase of Episcopal Sees since the First Coun
cil was an evidence of the progress of the Church ; and
the Second Council, which adjourned on the twenty-
seventh of October, solicited the erection of another
See at Vincennes, including within its jurisdiction the
State of Indiana and a part of Illinois. The principal
other matters that engaged the attention of the Council,
were : the fixing of proper limits to the several dioceses
of the United States ; the manner of selecting Bishops to
fill vacant Sees ; the confiding of the spiritual care of the
Indians beyond the limits of the respective dioceses to
the Fathers of the Society of Jesus ; the providing of
spiritual care and assistance for the negroes who emi
grated from the United States to the African colony of
Liberia ; the establishment of theological seminaries in
the various dioceses ; the regulation of the books of in
struction used in Catholic schools, and other important
subjects. It is scarcely necessary to add that the de
crees of this enlightened and venerable assembly were
cordially approved at Rome.
" The two Councils," say Messrs. De Courcy and Shea,
" over which Archbishop Whitfield had the glory of pre
siding, and which illustrate the period of his short epis
copacy, displayed the dignity and conciliating spirit of
the venerable Metropolitan. The sessions were con
ducted with an order and unanimity which gave general
satisfaction. Before these august assemblies, the Prelates
of the United States had only a very imperfect knowl
edge of each other ; they were united only by the com
mon sentiment of respect which the episcopal character
inspired : but after deliberating together on the gravest

470 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
interests of the Church ; after learning to esteem arid
love each other, while exchanging opinions often different,
but always based on the desire of the general good, the
Bishops separated to bear to their several dioceses sen
timents of sincerest friendship and esteem for each other.
The deliberations of the Councils were very important in
the eyes of the Catholic population ; they contrasted
with the tumultuous assemblies of Protestantism; and such
was the veneration which they inspired, that three cele
brated jurists, admitted before the Bishops to give an
opinion on some points relating to the civil law of the
land, left the Council full of respect and wonder. ' We
have,' they said, ' appeared before solemn tribunals of
justice, but have never had less assurance, or felt less
confidence in ourselves, than when we entered that
august assembly.' " *
Throughout his active administration Archbishop
Whitfield was a warm friend and patron of three reli
gious communities of Sisters, who established themselves
in his diocese. Of these the Carmelites, as the most
needy, received a particular share of his interest and
friendship. They had for many years struggled along
through great difficulties at their Convent near Port
Tobacco, in Charles County, Maryland, until the very
existence of their institution was threatened by their
poverty. Archbishop Whitfield advised their removal
to Baltimore, and such a modification of their rule as
would enable them to contribute to support themselves
by conducting a school for the education of young ladies.
* " Archbishop Whitfield's letter of January 28, 1830 ; Annals de la Propagation,
iv. 243. The three jurists alluded to were Roger B. Taney, afterwards Chief Justice
of the United States; John Scott, and William George Read." — The Catholic Church
in the United States, p. 141.

Most Rev. James Whitfield, D.D. 471
Their removal to Baltimore was effected, and the Arch
bishop obtained for them from Rome the desired modifi
cation of their rule and the privilege of opening an
academy. They found in the Archbishop a tender father
and invaluable friend. Their school, which was . soon
after opened and continued till 1852, proved a great re
lief to themselves and an invaluable blessing to the
community. In 1834 the health of Archbishop Whitfield began to
fail so much, that his physician, in the summer of that year,
advised him to visit the springs for its restoration. All
the efforts made to arrest his disease and improve his
declining health proved unavailing. Neither changes of
air and scene nor the utmost skill of the medical profes
sion could save the dying Prelate for his flock. The
brilliant virtues of a long and useful career were more
conspicuous in his death than even in his life. He ex
pired October 19, 1834, in the sixty-fourth year of his
age, teaching now by his example, as he had often done
before by his precepts, the important lesson how to die
a good death.
His biographer in the Catholic Almanac* gives us
the following sketch of his character : — " Of Archbishop
Whitfield may be said what can be said of few — that he
entered the career of honor in wealth, and left it poor.
Prudence and energy were traits in his character very
observable to those who had an opportunity of duly ap
preciating it, and many acts of his administration have
been censured, because, through a spirit of charity and
forbearance towards his neighbor, he abstained from ex
posing to public view the grounds that justified and com-
* 1837-

472 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
pelled such a course of proceeding. If there was more
or less austerity in his manner, it did not prevent him
from cherishing with paternal feelings and promoting by
frequent acts of benevolence the happiness of the indi
gent and the orphan. Fond of retirement, and indifferent
to the opinions of the world, he seemed particularly so
licitous to merit the favor of Him who seeth in secret,
and is always prepared to award the crown of justice to
His faithful servants."

MOST REV. FRANCIS PATRICK KENRICK, D.D.
Third Bishop of Philadelphia and Sixth Archbishop of Baltimore,
A.D. 1830.*
Archbishop Kenrick was one of the most distinguished
ornaments of the Catholic Hierarchy. His great virtues,
vast learning, profound wisdom, and administrative abili
ties caused him, even while comparatively young, to
become a leading and influential Prelate in the Church.
The accounts of his sanctity and good works will long
be preserved in our traditions ; his erudite works will
stand as proud monuments of our Catholic literature;
and the institutions he founded or fostered will long sur
vive him as proofs of his zealous labors. He was wholly
free from ambition, and lived and struggled only for the
Church of God and His people. Hence he sought not
to act a conspicuous or brilliant part in the eyes of men,
but with humility and gentleness, yet with a sublime
action, strived to infuse his faith and zeal into his age
and country ; to calm the tempest, while gliding along
with the current ; to perfume the air with the sanctity of
his virtues ; to enlighten the society in which he moved,
and to edify the Church, in which he was at once a
brilliant light and ruler, and an humble child and subject.
The influence of his life upon his times has been appro-
* Authorities : Archbishop Kenrick and his Work, a Lecture by Dr. M. O'Con
nor, S. J. ; Life of Archbishop Hughes, by John R. G. Hassard ; The Catholic
Church in the United States, by De Courcy and Shea ; Life of Bishop Flaget, by
Archbishop Spalding; Various numbers of the Catholic Miscellany, N. Y. Free
man' r Journal, Catholic Magazine, Metropolitan, etc. , etc.

474 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
priately compared to "the leaven of the mass, to impart
to the Church he governed his own strength, and to
move on with it, thus invigorated, ever watchful over
the development of the life which received from him
continuous and most efficacious nourishment ; " and to
"the dew that falls at night. Though the genial mois
ture that it has imparted remains, it is itself lost sight of
when the sun rises."
Francis Patrick Kenrick was born in Dublin, Ireland,
December 3, 1796. He was reared in the bosom of a
most pious Catholic family, and enjoyed the advantages
of one of the best schools of that city. He pursued his
elementary and afterwards his classical studies in the
schools of his native city with signal success. His edu
cation, both religious and scholastic, was acquired under
the eye of his paternal uncle, a pious, learned, and elo
quent clergyman, the parish priest of Francis Street
Chapel. From his tender youth he was devoted to prac
tices of piety, and at an early age resolved to dedicate
himself to the sacred ministry. At the age of eighteen
his collegiate course was finished, and with a well-dis
ciplined and well-stored mind, he was prepared to com
mence his ecclesiastical studies. He received with joy
the news that he was chosen to be one of those who
were to have the privilege of studying in Rome at the
renowned College of the Propaganda. Rome, to his
cultivated mind and ardent soul, was the true citadel
of Christianity ; in it he could breathe the atmosphere
of the apostolic times, near the tombs of the Apostles
themselves ; he could imbibe the heroism of the martyrs
near their own shrines, and could acquire the erudition
of centuries, and the light of heavenly faith, from the
chair of Peter, the centre of unity and faith. Another

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 475
circumstance at this time greatly impressed his character,
and prepared him for the trials which he was afterwards
destined to encounter as a Bishop of the Church. The
Holy Pontiff Pius VII. had just returned from captivity
to the Eternal City ; the Universal Church, while jubilant
at the restoration of liberty to her Chief Pastor, was still
more exultant at the memory of the heroism with which
he had endured his persecutions — a sublime example of
saintly patience and indomitable firmness. It was from
such a model that the young Kenrick learned his life
long lesson of firmness in upholding the liberty of the
Church, and of meekness in suffering and bearing in his
own person all things for the sake of his Divine Mas
ter. The seven years he spent at the Propaganda were
years of close study, untiring preparation, and thorough
self-culture upon the model of the saints. His fine ex
ample was admired by superiors, teachers, and com
panions. His great proficiency in sacred learning was
only surpassed by his singular modesty. His name was
handed down in praise after his departure from the col
lege, and long afterwards, when a student or visitor went
to the Propaganda from Ireland or America, one of the
first inquiries made of him was, whether he knew Mr.
Kenrick, and the inquiry was followed up with eulogies
of the well-remembered and honored student of the
Propaganda. He received distinguished honors in the
departments of science ; he was ripe far beyond his
years in sacred and profane learning, especially in
theology, and was ordained i.i the holy priesthood on
attaining the canonical age.
In 1 82 1 the venerable Bishop Flaget, of Kentucky,
applied to the Propaganda for a young priest of learn-

476 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
ing, piety, and zeal, to aid in the missions of that State,
but more especially for one who could fill the chair of a
professor in his Theological Seminary. Young Kenrick
had recently been ordained, and, though one of the
youngest in the college, was selected by the venerable
and learned Rector of the Propaganda for this arduous
and important mission.
It was not long after Dr. Kenrick's departure for
America that Cardinal Litta was appointed Prefect of the
Propaganda. This eminent ecclesiastic held the most
exalted estimate of the priestly character, and of the
requisites for its worthy attainment. He was an example
in his own person of the virtues necessary to this sacred
calling, and was strict in requiring all under his jurisdic
tion to attain to a high standard of excellence. His views
were particularly strict in regard to missionary priests,
whose position was more trying, and whose labors more
arduous. He was somewhat surprised, therefore, when
he learned that so young a priest as Dr. Kenrick had
been selected for Kentucky, then regarded as so remote
and destitute a mission — one which seemed to require ripe
experience and great physical endurance. When the
worthy Rector of the Propaganda first called on the
Cardinal Prefect after the appointment of the latter, the
Cardinal at once broke forth into complaints that young
Kenrick, scarcely old enough to receive orders, should
have been sent to such a mission. " But your Eminence,"
said the Rector, "he is indeed young, but he is of the
most solid virtue," and then went on to give an account
of his life. But all in vain — the Cardinal continued in
the same strain, "his youth was an obstacle to that par
ticular work, which no degree of virtue could overrule."
The Cardinal wound up by saying, " If I had been Pre-

, Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 477
feet at the time, he should never have gone on such a
mission." The Rector, who was frank as he was re
spectful, fired up at this, and finding other explanations
useless, replied: "Well, then, your Eminence, it was the
Providence of God that prevented your appointment
sooner." — "What do you mean?" said the Cardinal.
"I mean," replied the Rector, "that if you had been
Prefect of the Propaganda sooner, you would have de
prived America of an Apostle." The judgment of the
Rector was soon afterwards confirmed by the testimony
of Bishop Flaget himself, who, after a fair trial of his
young colaborer, spoke of him, in his correspondence
with the Propaganda, as "remarkable for his piety, ex
tensive acquirements, the quickness of his mind, and the
natural eloquence with which he expressed himslf."
His mode of acquiring learning was simple and direct,
and to one especially of his clear head and retentive
memory the most efficacious. He drank only from the
fountain sources of knowledge, and did not dally with
the by-streams and overflowing waters around. Thus
every drop of the pure and refreshing draft assimilated
with his vigorous and ready intellect. The Sacred
Scriptures themselves were* his chief study, his own
deep reflection upon them supplying their elucidation.
It was remarked of him, while at the Propaganda, that
he never read any treatises on the subject of his studies
but the class-books. With these, the lectures of the
professors, and his own meditation, he acquired that
solid knowledge for which he was so eminent. The ad
vantages of this course were witnessed by his professors
in his case, in contrast with so many students, who un
dertake too much and too varied reading, and thus fail
to realize the full benefits of a thorough training. He

478 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
did not, of course, exclude from his studies the writings
of the Fathers; for he studied the Sacred Scriptures in
the light of the Fathers, and became wonderfully fa
miliar with both. What he refrained from were the nu
merous treatises composed to illustrate their meaning;
for he preferred to seek this in its freshness near the
fountain-head. " He studied diligently the Sacred Scrip
tures," writes Dr. O'Connor in his admirable lecture,
from which these particulars are taken, "and the writings
of the Fathers of the Church. He studied them in their
native simplicity, under the light of faith and the aids
alluded to. It was in this way that he became so fa
miliar with the letter and spirit of the Sacred Volume.
He appeared to have imbibed it into his very nature, to
be at home in it, to think in its thoughts, to walk in its
light, to express himself without an effort in its hallowed
language. Look at his pastorals, how full they are of
the very spirit of the Sacred Scriptures, the passages of
which flowed without an effort from his pen, coming up
as the most natural expression of the thoughts he wished
to convey. It was the same thing in his discourses and
all his compositions. I have seen him, while others were
in conversation or debate around, write off most beau
tiful productions, which won universal admiration, breath
ing that unction which familiarity with the Sacred Scrip
tures alone can give."
At Bardstown he filled the chair of theology in the
St. Thomas Theological Seminary with distinguished
ability and usefulness. Here his superior mental en
dowments, his profound acquaintance with sacred sci
ence, his familiarity with the writings of the Fathers, the
canons and decrees of the Church, and sacred history,
were the admiration of all. He contributed important

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. _70
aid to all the educational institutions of Kentucky, and
especially to the establishment and support of St. Jo
seph's College, in which, in addition to his other duties,
he discharged those of Professor of Greek and of His
tory. As a professor he was remarkable for the clear
and lucid manner in which he developed the different
points of sacred science to his pupils. He adopted and
adhered to the important rule of first mastering what he
undertook to teach to others. ' His collegiate duties con
fined him chiefly to the Seminary and College, where he
enjoyed that seclusion and quiet so grateful to himself
and so favorable to his studies. Yet he did not shrink
from other useful occupations, but devoted himself also
to missionary labors, and discharged with energy and
zeal the duties of pastor to the congregation at Bards
town. In the Jubilee of 1826 and 1827 he went forth
with apostolic ardor, and electrified all by his eloquent
and learned discourses, and edified them by his incessant
labors and devotedness. During this season of grace
he attended Bishop Flaget in the episcopal visitation of
his diocese, and his efforts were crowned with numerous
conversions. So great were his labors during this sea
son that his health became prostrated, and he became ill
from a fever, from the effects of which it was years be
fore he entirely recovered. At Bardstown he delivered
a series of conferences on religion, answered the objec
tions to the dogmas of the Church which the Protestant
ministers had published, or preached from their pulpits,
and completely silenced them by his powerful arguments.
He became at once a recognized champion of the faith.
One of these discussions was held with Rev. Dr. Black
burn, President of the Presbyterian College at Danville,
Kentucky, who, in 1828, publicly assailed the doctrine

480 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, over the
signature of "Omega" ; to whom Dr. Kenrick replied in
a series of letters entitled "From Omicron to Omega."
Nothing further was heard from " Omega." Another
controversy, growing out of the Jubilee, was held with
Mr. Light, the Methodist minister, who, profiting by Dr.
Kenrick's absence at another mission, came forward to
sustain his sect. But he succeeded only in drawing
upon himself the humiliation of a public refutation at the
hands of Dr. Kenrick, to which he did not think it ad
visable to make any reply. A minister of the Anglican
Church met with a similar fate. Finally, a Presbyterian
preacher, more ardent but not more prudent, having
ventured to attack Dr. Kenrick publicly, was answered
so triumphantly on the spot, and before the same au
dience, that when he arose to speak in rejoinder he was
abandoned by Protestants as well as Catholics. During
this extraordinary Jubilee secular affairs were almost
entirely forgotten, and Protestants were as eager to at
tend the exercises as Catholics. The number of com
municants was over six thousand, confirmations twelve
hundred and sixteen, and conversions of Protestants
fifty. Great numbers of old and habitual sinners were
converted from their evil ways. These and other po
lemical studies and discussions formed the basis of his
published works.
His preaching at this time, 1830, was thus described
by one of his auditors: "As a pulpit orator, this or any
other country or age has produced few equal to Dr.
Kenrick. Modest and unassuming in presenting him
self, a stranger, unless the whisper of fame had excited
expectation, could not anticipate more than an ordinary
pious discourse from him ; but soon the workings of his

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 481
mighty mind appear, and rivet the attention of his audi
ence. In his exordium, the tone of his voice was low
but clear. A tinge of modesty suffused his countenance,
but he is never agitated. Without stating the points of
his discourse with the formality of scholastic precision,
his audience are enabled to perceive and mark them dis
tinctly as he proceeds. He sees everything in a clear
light, and exhibits everything clearly to others. His
reasoning and arguments are cogent and powerful ; his
diction chaste, his language copious, his figures striking
and appropriate, and his appeals to the heart irresistible.
His sermons are generally short, and where he happens
to dwell longer than usual, no part of his audience are
ever tired when he closes." That his character and vir
tues may be fully appreciated by future generations of
our Catholic population, we will add the closing words
of the same writer, in which is exhibited the high es
teem in which Dr. Kenrick was held by his contempo
raries: "But in whatever point of view we regard his
character — as a man, a scholar, a gentleman, a minister
of the gospel — we are forced, no, we are willing to yield
the tribute of admiration, affection, and veneration."*
Such was the impression he made upon those who knew
him in Kentucky when he was a young man. Time and
practice added greatly in after-life to the charm and
effect of his preaching. An eminent Protestant gentle
man of Philadelphia, while Dr. Kenrick was Bishop of
that See, used to say that in beholding him he "thought
he saw Paul addressing the Areopagus at Athens."
But Bishop Kenrick had not only studied the sciences
that made doctors, he had even more profoundly studied
ihose depths of the Gospel, and imitated those perfect
* Letter from Bardstown, iu Catholic Miscellany, 1830.
31

482 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
examples which make saints. Thus his interior and exte
rior life, even at this early period of his career, was most
exemplary and holy. His countenance indicated a soul
at peace with God and man; his exterior deportment
was full of charity, affability, gentleness, humility, and
benignity. Those who flocked to be instructed in their
faith, or guided in their spiritual progress by his ser
mons and private counsels, found in his life and actions
still more effectual lessons of Christian perfection. Many
instances of a goodness not born of earth have been re
lated of him ; but one will suffice as an illustration. A
worthy Italian missionary, who was visiting Bardstown,
and who had been greatly affected by his discourses, re
lated of him a circumstance more truly sublime and elo
quent than the burning words which he had heard from
his lips; he said: "Let me here tell, to the honor of the
priesthood and the confusion of modern philanthropists,
that the missionary, having one evening entered the pro
fessor's little room, had the consoling surprise to find
the bed occupied by a sick beggar. We do not know by
what accident the unfortunate man obtained such a priv
ilege, but the fact is that with the Professor's permission
he occupied his bed. Such an example of tender charity
excited in the spectator a strong desire to imitate it."*.
In 1829 Dr. Kenrick attended the Provincial Council
of Baltimore, as theologian to Bishop Flaget, and was
appointed assistant secretary to the Council. The sad
condition of the Church of Philadelphia at this time,
where a long-standing trouble between the aged Bishop
and the pastors and trustees of St. Mary's Church
seemed to baffle all efforts at settlement, occupied the
attention of the Council. That venerable assembly, with
* De Courcy and Shea's Catholic Church in the United States.

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 483
the consent of Bishop Conwell, decided to apply to
Rome for the appointment of a Coadjutor Bishop of
Philadelphia. Grave, indeed, was the work of selecting
a ruler and chief pastor for this disturbed portion of the
Church, but graver still was the task to be performed by
the person selected for this arduous position. It has
been truly said that the Church in America has seen no
more critical moment, nor has a more appalling task
been imposed upon a Bishop. The choice of the Coun
cil fell upon Dr. Kenrick, and the Holy See ratified their
action. The Bishop elect, with unequalled courage, and
in the spirit of submission to the Holy Ghost, by whom
the whole matter was evidently directed, accepted the
grave responsibility, thus, to use his own language,
"pressing to our lips the chalice presented by the Vice
gerent of Christ."
The loss of Dr. Kenrick was a severe affliction to the
venerable Bishop Flaget, who loved him as a father
loves his own child, and prized him as the jewel of his
diocese. For twenty-four hours Bishop Flaget had not
the heart to communicate the news of his appointment
to Dr. Kenrick, or to hand him the bulls from Rome.
But that saintly Prelate was capable of sacrifices, and
after a brief struggle, he generously gave up his own
for the general good of the Church. The Bishop elect
very soon afterwards addressed from Bardstown a pas
toral to the clergy and laity of Philadelphia, which for
apostolic eloquence and, zeal, pure scriptural language,
elevated thoughts, paternal advice, force of character,
and literary elegance is a model of pastorals. His bulls
appointed him Bishop of Arath in partibus, and Co
adjutor of Philadelphia, with full powers of administra
tion. He was consecrated June 6, 1830, at Bardstown,

484 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
by Bishop Flaget. The Catholics of Bardstown assem
bled and presented to the newly consecrated Prelate an
address of confidence, admiration, and esteem, together
with a handsome chalice.
The difficulties of his new position would have ap
palled almost any other man ; but after sedulous prayer,
mature thought, and casting himself into the hands of
Providence, he lost no time in repairing to his new post.
with a modest but firm reliance upon the purity of his
motives, the good aims of his well-matured measures,
and a determination to do his whole duty. His advent
to Philadelphia, the delicate and discouraging position in
which he was there placed, and the admirable prudence
and courage he displayed, are well described in Dr.
O'Connor's lecture on Archbishop Kenrick and his
Work : —
"He came to Philadelphia under circumstances indeed
trying. A good old man transferred, after a long life of
usefulness, to a new field, for which he was entirely un
prepared, and then involved in inextricable difficulties,
was the Bishop. This same inability to cope with the
cunning tricksters that beset his path made him fail to
avail himself of the aid which he might have derived
from a high-minded Administrator. Those who clung
to him in his difficulties, looked with coldness if not with
aversion on one who came to take up the reins which
had fallen from his powerless hands. His enemies were
disposed to hail the advent of a new Administrator as
their triumph ; but they soon understood that he came as
head of the diocese, not of a party. He thus remained
without any strong support in the midst of a community
torn by factions. He had scarcely a church in which he
could feel at home. The old Bishop was at St. Joseph's,

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 485
and he was surrounded there by those who had faithfully
clung to him in his struggles, overlooking minor mistakes
in the feeling of duty which they owed his position. At
the demand of the same duty they were willing to sub
mit to the new Administrator, but little enthusiasm could
be expected while the old man, around whom they had
rallied, was in their midst, dissatisfied and complain
ing. Trinity Church was used for the Germans.
St. Augustine's was owned by a religious community, on
whom the Bishop could not intrude. There remained
St. Mary's, his natural Cathedral, for there were then
but these four churches in Philadelphia. But St. Mary's
was under the control of trustees, who did not wish
their authority to be overshadowed by a mitre. They
refused to recognize him as pastor. The Administrator,
thus left without a party and without support, ejected
from the pastoral residence of St. Joseph's by the old
Bishop, had none but God to rely on. And on Him he
did rely, and his confidence did not fail. He rented a
respectable house on Fifth street, though human pru
dence could not point to any means by which his ex
penses were to be supplied. He declared himself pastor
of St. Mary's, and interdicted the church until the
trustees would acknowledge him. He commenced very
soon in the upper room of his residence, that ecclesias
tical seminary, which he knew to be the most efficacious
means of providing for the diocese, and he placed him
self in the hands of Divine Providence."
In dealing with the refractory trustees of St. Mary's,
Bishop Kenrick displayed his fine administrative abilities.
Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, the old troubles,
which had embittered the lives of Bishops Egan and
Conwell, again broke out. The trustees were again re-

486 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
bellious, and openly claimed the right to select for them
selves pastors of St. Mary's. Bishop Kenrick commenced
by declaring himself the chief pastor of St. Mary's, and
notified the trustees of his intention, as such, to take
charge of the congregation. This they resisted. The
Bishop on the following Sunday occupied the pulpit of
St. Mary's, and exposed in detail the proceedings and
conduct of the trustees, in the presence of themselves
and the congregation. The trustees were exasperated,
but the people generally now became disgusted with
them, and inclined to the side of the Bishop. The
trustees, in their anger, summoned a general meeting of
the pew-holders for the following evening. Dr. Hughes,
then curate of St. Joseph's, gave the following graphic
and characteristic account of Bishop Kenrick's encounter
with the trustees : —
" Gloria iit excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus!
The neck of the bad principle was broken last night.
Dr. Kenrick attended the meeting himself. His pres
ence (in his cassock, and his cross displayed on his
breast) disconcerted them. He then proved, to the sat
isfaction of the meeting, that the trustees were misrep
resenting. He made them eat their own words. He
then told them they must not dare to control him in the
exercise of his episcopal authority. He said he was
their pastor and their Bishop ; that St. Mary's was and
should be the Cathedral of the diocese ; and he was sup
ported, and the trustees were put down by their own
meeting — and I may say their own party 
They are at his feet. Last night he whipped them with
fair arguments, until they were fairly beaten ; and when
they gave up, and declared the withdrawal of their op
position, and when their friends were about to fall on

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 487
them, he interposed and set them on their legs again.
He said he wished no other trustees, so long as these
gentlemen would confine themselves within their proper
limits, and not presume to meddle, directly or indirectly,
with his authority. There was finally a kind of shaking
hands between the vanquished and the victor, with what
sincerity on their part time only will tell. At all events,
it is the first time within , ten years that an attempt has
been made to pluck up the root of the schism — and I as
sure you Dr. Kenrick did it with a giant's hand."
It seems almost incredible that the trustees should
have again rebelled against the authority of Bishop Ken
rick. He found himself under the necessity of ordering
" the cessation from all sacred functions in the Church
and cemeteries of St. Mary's." The trustees now at
last discovered what manner of Bishop they had to
deal with. They came to terms and submitted, though
not gracefully, to his authority. The following account
of the affair is taken from Bishop Kenrick's letter to the
congregation, authorizing the resumption of divine ser
vice in St. Mary's: — "On the 21st of May (1831), we.
received a communication dated the 18th, and signed by
five of the lay trustees, wherein they disclaimed all
right to interfere in the spiritual concerns of this
church, and distinctly stated that they considered the
right of interfering in the appointing, rejecting, or re
moving of pastors as being included in the spiritual con
cerns. They added, however, that they reserved to
themselves the right of regulating the salaries of the
pastors, and even of withholding, should the power of
appointment be (contrary to their expectations) not ex
ercised in accordance with the declarations of the Pre
lates in the Baltimore Council, 'so as to meet not only

488 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the wants, but the wishes of the people, so far as the
conscientious convictions of the Prelates, and the just de
sires and expectations of meritorious clergymen will per
mit.' * * * * Although a portion of said com
munication appears to us highly objectionable, and cal
culated to afford matter for future dissension, yet as it
contains an explicit disclaimer of all right of interference
in pastoral appointments or removals, we are unwilling to
withhold any longer from you the consolation of worship
ping in the Church which you have so long frequented."
Bishop Kenrick determined to allow no new acqui
sitions of Church property under the trustee system.
Wherever property had already been acquired and vest
ed in trustees, he did not disturb its tenure, so long as
the trustees respected the episcopal authority, and
obeyed the laws and discipline of the Church. All new
acquisitions were required to be vested in the Bishop.
The second case in which he was called upon to resist the
trustee system was in Pittsburgh. Old St. Paul's
Church had been built by the Catholics of that city, with
great perseverance and through great difficulties, and
was near its completion ; it was one of the finest church
edifices then in the country. When the Bishop visited
Pittsburgh the trustees had been selected, and they
were making preparations to obtain a charter. Bishop
Kenrick put a stop to these proceedings ; he told the
people that lay trustees had done mischief enough, that
the system would not be allowed to extend itself fur
ther, and that the church should be conveyed to him in
trust for the congregation. His action astonished all,
and offended many ; they openly maintained that they
had built the church with their own means and upon
their own ground, that it belonged to them, and the

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 489
Bishop had no right to take it away from them.
" What," they exclaimed, " we built the church ! What
right has the Bishop to it ? " He met their objections
and resistance in his usual calm and firm manner.
" The church is yours," he said to them from the pulpit
of St. Patrick's. " You have a perfect right to do what
you please with it. I claim no right to interfere with
any appropriation of it you wish to make. You may
make of it, if you will, a factory, and I will not interfere.
But there is one thing which I do tell you, and it is this :
if you wish it to be a Catholic Church you must comply
with the requirement of the law, which I have laid before
you. Now do as you please." No one could answer
this view ; his words sank deep into the minds of the
people, whose good sense and honesty of purpose im
mediately rallied to the support of the Bishop and over
ruled all opposition. An anecdote is related which ad
mirably illustrates the manner in which the Bishop's
views gained ground with the well-disposed members of
the congregation. An old man, an Irishman, whose na
tive wit was equal to his good sense, as the congrega
tion were leaving the church, met several persons raving
over the Bishop's address. " What's the matter ? " he
said, " Didn't you hear ? " they replied, " the Bishop
wants to take our church from us." " Indeed," he said,
" and will he take it over the mountains with him ?"
This was the expression used in Pittsburgh for crossing
the Alleghanies and going to Philadelphia. " Oh,
what ! " was the reply, " of course not." " And do you
think," he said again, " that if he gets it, he will let us
into it?" "Oh, of course he will," was the answer.
" And hear Mass there ? " asked the old man. " Yes,
of course," was the answer. " And go to confession and

49° Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
say our prayers?" "Oh, of course, there will be no
difficulty in all that." " Arrah ! then," said the old man,
"what else do I want of it? On these terms he may
have it, and welcome." * It need scarcely be added that
in this, as in all subsequent cases, not only did the
Bishop have his own way, but all concurred in recogniz
ing that as the only proper and most convenient tenure
of ecclesiastical property.
Dr. Kenrick was remarkable, not only while Bishop of
Philadelphia, but also while Archbishop of Baltimore, for
the punctuality and earnestness with which he performed
the periodical visitations of his diocese. He knew well
the advantages of those stimulating and edifying meet
ings between the flock and their chief pastor, and how
beneficial they were to bishop, priest, and people, in
order that it might be truly said, " I know my flock, and
my flock know me." One of his first acts, after assum
ing the administration at Philadelphia, was the visitation
of his diocese in the summer and fall of 1830. This
journey lay mostly through the western and mountainous
portions of the State, and, in consequence of the unim
proved condition of the roads, was rendered doubly
fatiguing and even dangerous. He had frequently to
ride to distant points in the rudest and roughest of ve
hicles and over the worst of roads, suffering not only
great personal fatigue and pain, but also great delays
and disappointments. A severe illness overtook him at
Chambersburg, during his first visitation, in which it
was evident that he had not entirely recovered from the
effects of his labors in the Jubilee at Bardstown, nor
from the more recent shock his sensitive nature had re
ceived in his encounters with the refractory trustees of
* Dr. O'Connor's Lecture.

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 491
St. Mary's at Philadelphia. He was compelled to send
to Philadelphia for Dr. Hughes to join and assist him in
his labors, which he resumed as soon as his health per
mitted. While the Bishop and his friends were toiling
over the rough road from Loretto to Newry, his baggage,
containing the Bishop's mitre and crozier, was jostled
from the wagon, without being perceived for some time.
On discovering the loss, the Bishop was disposed rather
to submit to it, and continue the journey, than to give
others the trouble of returning to hunt for the missing
articles ; but the hardier nature of Dr. Hughes triumphed
not only in undertaking the search for the baggage, but
also in its recovery, and, as they pleasantly and jocosely
remarked at the time, in restoring his mitre to Bishop
Kenrick.* It was during this visitation, that he had the
happiness of visiting the celebrated missionary of the
Alleghanies, the Rev. Prince Gallitzin; of partaking of
his hospitality, and of witnessing his splendid services to
religion. During an episcopal career of thirty-four years,
in Pennsylvania and Maryland, these journeys of apos
tolic labor and charity were kept up with remarkable
regularity and exactness. He usually announced before
hand the day and hour of his intended visitation at each
place, and although they were numerous and were fre
quently in country districts, where the conveniences of
travel were uncertain and unsafe, he was never known to
disappoint a congregation. Labor was with him the law
of such occasions. Social enjoyments never tempted him
to change his plans, and, although he did not avoid them
altogether, his plans were so exact as to time, that little
or no opportunity was left for their enjoyment. It not
unfrequently happened that, while making his visitation
* Hassard's Life of Archbishop Hughes.

49 2 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
in the country districts, a social assembly remained for
some time awaiting his presence at the house of some
Catholic gentleman near the Church in which he had just
officiated, while the Archbishop, unconscious of the dis
appointment inflicted upon them, had gone to officiate at
the next station twelve or fifteen miles distant.
It was well said of Dr. Kenrick, while he was Bishop of
Philadelphia, that " during his government of the diocese
as administrator, and later as Bishop, he was the leader
of his flock in all good works." One of the first of his
undertakings, after disposing of the trustee question, was
to provide for his diocese a pious, learned, and laborious
clergy. The City of Philadelphia possessed five churches
and ten priests. But in the interior of the diocese the
number of missionaries was entirely inadequate to the
numbers and religious necessities of the people. Pitts
burgh, Conewago, Loretto, Manayunk, and Wilmington,
were the only parishes enjoying the benefits and services
of a resident pastor. Others, such as Haycock, Potts-
ville, Lancaster, Bedford, and Chambersburg, were en
abled to have Mass three times a month ; others once a
fortnight; others only once a month ; and there were many,
whose only religious aid consisted in an occasional visit of a
priest, such as Brownsville, Carbondale, Silver Lake, New
Castle, and Butler. One missionary was usually charged
with several missions, and these were far apart. Bishop
Kenrick himself said, " Some of these missions need
the gift of tongues and a health of iron. Although the
languages spoken by the people inhabiting this extensive
country were various, yet not so much so as the nation
alities and tongues of the missionaries, who had come
from nine different countries : four of them were French,
three German, two Belgian, twenty-one Irish, one Rus-

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 493
sian, one Livonian, one Englishman, and three Ameri
cans." It has already been stated, that immediately after
his arrival in Philadelphia, he commenced in the upper
room of his residence a little ecclesiastical seminary,
which was destined in time to expand and become the
efficient and fruitful Alma Mater of the Pennsylvania
clergy. When the Bishop rented the house in Fifth
street, for want of any other episcopal residence, he
placed his trust in God alone to provide the means of
paying the rent and defraying his household expenses.
What must have been the surprise of his clergy and
friends, when they saw him increasing his responsibilities
by undertaking the support of theological students ? He
called his clergy together and proposed, in conjunction
with them, to devise a plan for providing the means
of support for the Theological Seminary. The clergy
proposed the usual plan adopted then in this country, of
uniting with the seminary a collegiate department for the
education of paying scholars, and thus support the one
from the revenue derived from the other ; they could
think of no other plan. The Bishop informed them that,
though the necessities of the country had led to the
adoption of this mode, still such was not the manner ap
proved by the Church, and quoted to them the directions
of the Council of Trent, which required Bishops to es
tablish seminaries for ecclesiastical students, and in such a
manner as to secure for them a training free from contact
with other students, and especially suited to their voca
tion. Placing his trust in Heaven, he resolved, against
the recommendation of the clergy, to pursue this course.
Success demonstrated his wisdom. The Seminary flour
ished beyond example, not only in sending forth yearly
a goodly number of learned and zealous priests to carry

494 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the Word to all parts of the diocese, but also in its ex
pansion, growth, and prosperity. The Bishop stopped at
no undertaking or expense to develop his institution, and
soon the extensive building, which he provided for the
Seminary, and which some one criticised as " a palatial
mansion suited for an Asiatic potentate," proved too
small for the accommodation of the students. Such was
the origin, and such the growth of the Theological Semi
nary of St. Charles Borromeo, in Philadelphia, which
now possesses also its Preparatory Seminary in Delaware
County, Pennsylvania. The former was incorporated by
the Legislature in 1838, and was confided by the Bishop
to the care and conduct of the Lazarists, who continued
its management till 1853, when, after Bishop Kenrick's
translation to the Archiepiscopal See of Baltimore, they
were succeeded by the secular clergy.
Bishop Kenrick was ever a model to his clergy, and
while he was truly a father to them, he felt and exercised
a father's solicitude in training them to be not only worthy
of their high vocation, but exemplary ornaments of the
sanctuary. So broad were his views and feelings, and
so strictly just and impartial, that no one could detect in
him the least appearance of partiality to any on account
of nationality. So much was this the case, that some even
supposed that he was not mindful of his own country
men ; but they did not comprehend the depths of a char
acter so grand as his, a character so imbued with Catho
lic love, that while loving all alike, he was equally mindful
of all.
In placing his Theological Seminary under the special
patronage of St. Charles Borromeo, he presented that
illustrious ecclesiastic to them as a model ; and he is not
only known to have had a great admiration for and devo-

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 495
tion to that great Saint, but it may even be remarked that
there were some striking points of resemblance between
the sainted Cardinal Archbishop of Milan and Archbishop
Kenrick himself. The one, like the other, illustrated the
highest virtues and abilities of the ecclesiastical life, pre
senting to the world an example of what a Christian Prelate
should be, and each gave his whole life, his labors and
his brilliant intellect, to the service of God and His
Church. During the devastation of the cholera in Phi
ladelphia in 1832, Bishop Kenrick was truly the chief
pastor of his flock and a model of heroic charity. He
devoted himself to their temporal relief and religious
consolation, and was ever found amongst the most active
and devoted in the midst of the pestilence. With a mind
characteristically intent on doing good and an remedying
the evils of society, he witnessed with pain the prevalence
of intemperance in the country, and conceived the plan
of getting the illustrious "Apostle of Temperance,"
Father Mathew, to visit this country, and sent the invi
tation to him to extend his exalted labors to our land.
The divisions of Christendom grieved his soul, and he
zealously labored to remove religious prejudice. Moved
by the spirit of Catholic charity and zeal for Christian
unity, he addressed an able and convincing letter on that
subject to the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
in 1 84 1. This admirable document is a sublime plea for
unity, and is couched in language eloquent, simple, and
unanswerable. Bishop Kenrick was intent on the establishment of
religious and charitable institutions for the relief of human
suffering, for the reformation of morals, the redemption
of the fallen, and for the instruction of the ignorant.
The diocese of Philadelphia, which then embraced the

496 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the western part of
New Jersey, under his vigorous and wise administration,
soon began to teem with Catholic institutions and religious
orders. In 1842, the Order of St. Augustine commenc
ed their college of St. Thomas at Villanova, Delaware
County, and, though the destruction of their church and
library at Philadelphia during the riots of 1 844 exhaust
ed their resources and deranged their plans, they were,
notwithstanding, able by their persevering energy to re
sume the classes of their College in 1846, in which year
the institution was incorporated as a University. The
Jesuits established St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia
in 185 1, and obtained an incorporation for it in 1852. In
the same year another College, under the patronage of St.
Joseph, was commenced by the Rev. J. Vincent O'Reilly
in Susquehanna County. When Bishop Kenrick went
to Philadelphia, the Sisters of Charity, numbering a very
few subjects, had charge of the asylum ; under his ad
ministration they expanded and multiplied into six reli
gious communities, dispensing around them the blessings
of charity and education. The ladies of the Sacred
Heart entered the diocese of Philadelphia in 1842, and
opened a boarding-school for girls at McSherrystown
near the Jesuit Station of Conewago; they next opened
a school in Philadelphia in 1847, and in 1849, the com
modious and beautiful establishment known as Eden
Hall, took its place amongst the first educational houses
in the country. The Sisters of St. Joseph came from
St. Louis to Philadelphia in 1848 ; their novitiate was es
tablished at the old convent of the Sacred Heart at
McSherrystown, from which numerous colonies were
sent forth, and many academies and asylums were founded
by them, and are now in successful operation. Under

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 497
Dr. Kenrick's administration, the Sisters of the Visita
tion B.V.M., the Sisters of Notre Dame, and the Sisters
of the Good Shepherd, were introduced, each establish
ing and conducting the institutions peculiar to their own
institute. The establishments founded by these various
male and female Orders received every encouragement
from Dr. Kenrick, and in several instances the most sub
stantial assistance. His learned and saintly successor
used to say, that everything useful in the diocese owed
its existence or its strength to Bishop Kenrick. His
prudent and characteristic way of commencing and pro
moting good works and institutions has been well de
scribed by Dr. O'Connor. He says : —
"As with the Seminary, so it was with the other
works of Bishop Kenrick. Yet this was almost the only
one in founding and directing which he acted singly and
on his own isolated views. For the rest, while encour
aging and stimulating and directing, he was generally
satisfied with leaving it to others to originate and push
on as their own zeal would prompt. His zeal, his piety,
his laborious and ever vigilant habits exercised a gentle
pressure that quickened all. He was as a beacon-light,
to which all looked or could not help looking who kept
their view fixed on the proper goal. The movement so
impressed became natural and almost spontaneous, and
was felt even when he did not appear, and continued
when he retired from the scene, and was more stable,
more powerful and widespread than the result of indi
vidual action could have been. Those only who carefully
trace effects to their causes, can see how much of it was
due to the steady, silent, but efficient action of him who
was at the helm." * * Dr. O'Connor's Lecture.
32

498 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Embarrassing and harassing as was the position of
Bishop Kenrick, when he was called to assume the reins
of ecclesiastical government in Philadelphia, then dis
tracted with disaffection and dissension; difficult and
trying as was his contest with lay trusteeism, there was
yet reserved for him a cross more painful, a chalice more
bitter. Scarcely has any portion of the Christian Church
in any age, been doomed to a more cruel and brutal per
secution than was the Church of Philadelphia in the time
of Bishop Kenrick. " He has beheld the long gathering
and long threatening clouds of religious bigotry break at
length in a terrific storm over his Church, leaving behind
ruins and devastations, appalling by their magnitude and
atrocity. He has been made to witness scenes harrow
ing to the tenderest feelings of his heart; scenes such
as his darkest forebodings would scarcely have antici
pated; his churches burned to the ground by infuriated
mobs ; the ministers of holy religion threatened with as
sassination, and trembling for their lives ; seminaries of
learning, residences of the clergy, valuable libraries, all
consumed in the ruthless flames ; and what is far more
dreadful still, the solemn quietude and sanctity of the
tomb invaded, the last resting-place of the dead torn up
by the -hands of the living." The cross, sacred emblem
of God's mercy and man's redemption, was torn from its
heaven-aspiring pinnacle and consigned to the flames;
Catholics -were hunted down to such a degree that
Protestants, in order to protect themselves, posted on
their houses a placard on which were inscribed the
words, "No Popery here;" while Catholic citizens were
consumed in the burning of their own homes. A Protes
tant writer thus sums up the sickening story : " The Na
tive American party has existed for a period hardly

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 499
reaching five months, and in that time of its being what
has been seen ? Two Catholic churches burnt, one thrice
fired and desecrated, a Catholic seminary and retreat
consumed by the torches of an incendiary mob, two rec
tories and a most valuable library destroyed, forty dwell
ings in ruins, about forty human lives sacrificed, and
sixty of our fellow-citizens wounded ; riot, and rebellion,
and treason rampant on two occasions in our midst ; the
laws boldly set at defiance, and peace and order pros
trated by ruffian violence." *
In the midst of this violent storm and sacrilegious
reign of terror, Bishop Kenrick's voice was heard only
to exhort his flock, the victims of this fiendish persecu
tion, "to follow peace and have charity." His address to
his flock, containing these sublime words, in the midst of
such exasperating wrongs, was posted throughout the
city, and was immediately torn down by the bigots.
Bishop Kenrick ordered divine service to be suspended
"in the churches that yet remained," as a solemn pro
test against the prevailing spirit of sacrilege and bigotry,
and, in order to allay excitement and remove the temp
tations to greater violence by the mob, he himself pru
dently retired from the scene. In his lecture on Arch
bishop Kenrick and his Work, Dr. O'Connor ably
justifies the measures adopted by him in this crisis, and
says : —
"Events justified his course. The torrent that, if re
sisted, would have accumulated its waters and eventually
swept on with greater fury, rolled by and spent itself.
His order to suspend divine service in the churches that
yet remained, was the severest rebuke the fanatics could
have received. The tramp of the sentinel pacing before
* Olive Branch, [U. S. Catholic Magazine, 1845, p. 12.]

500 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the house of God, deserted on the Lord's Day, with this
order posted on the walls, was a comment on the spirit
that had taken possession of the ' City of Brotherly
Love,' which roused the better minded. Peace was re
stored on a more solid basis than ever before existed,
and Catholicity assumed a higher position."
"The thousands and tens of thousands, everywhere
flocking around the confessional and the communion
table in the city, where a few dozen were a rare sight
before; the spirit of charity manifesting itself in every
good work in private life and public undertakings ; the
harmony of priests and people, and of all with their
head; their readiness to enter with generous alacrity on
every good work that is proposed to them ; the abundant
supply thus received for all the people's wants ; and the
life pervading the Catholic body in every corner of the
State, are the best comments on the spirit, the wisdom,
and the efficiency of Bishop Kenrick's administration."
The extensive diocese over which Bishop Kenrick
presided, embracing, as it did, all Pennsylvania and
Delaware, and a part of New Jersey, had increased so
greatly in Catholic population, clergy, churches, and in
stitutions, and extended over so vast an area of country,
that it had for some time been apparent that its division
into several dioceses was inevitable. As early as 1835,
Bishop Kenrick proposed to the Cardinal Prefect of the
Propaganda a division of his diocese, by the erection
of a new See at Pittsburgh, and he recommended the
appointment of Dr. Hughes as Bishop either of Phila
delphia or Pittsburgh, as might seem most expedient to
the Holy See. His suggestion was approved, and in
January, 1836, the documents erecting the new See of
Pittsburgh, and translating Dr. Kenrick to it and appoint-

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 501
ing Dr. Hughes Coadjutor and Administrator of Philadel
phia, were actually prepared at Rome. In the meantime,
the appointment of Dr. Kenrick himself as Coadjutor of
New York was spoken of. The advanced years and feeble
health of body and mind of Bishop Conwell had caused
him to feel restive under the loss of his jurisdiction, and
he was now again disposed to intervene in the adminis
tration of the diocese. When these circumstances were
known abroad, a coloring was given to the affair at
Rome, as if Dr. Kenrick was abandoning his post in
despair, or was wanting in courage. Bishop England
in the meantime had suggested some canonical objec
tions to the division of the diocese until the meeting of
the Council at Baltimore. When Dr. Kenrick learned
of the erroneous impressions entertained of his course
and motives, he wrote to Rome to state his reasons
against his removal to New York as Coadjutor of
Bishop Dubois, proposing to postpone all question of his
removal to Pittsburgh, and deferring the whole matter
till the meeting of the Council.. The third and fifth
Councils of Baltimore having subsequently recommended
the division of the diocese of Philadelphia, this was ac
cordingly done in 1843 • Pittsburgh was erected into an
episcopal See, and Dr. Michael O'Connor was appointed
its first Bishop. Bishop Kenrick remained in Philadelphia
to strengthen the work he had so ably commenced, en
riching that diocese with commodious churches, zealous
clergymen, and excellent charitable, religious, and edu
cational institutions.
It was during this remaining portion of his episcopate
in Philadelphia, that the severest ordeal that any Bishop
could be called upon to encounter, was reserved for him,
and it has already been related how, amidst the desecra-

502 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
tion and burning of his churches and institutions, the
persecution of his clergy, and the slaughter of his people,
his mild and gentle spirit realized the heavenly beati
tudes announced by the Saviour on Mount Tabor. The
work of rebuilding the temples and institutions, which
had cost so many years of toil and solicitude and the, ex
penditure of so much treasure, was undertaken and con
summated during this period. He undertook more than
this — he saw the need of a suitable Cathedral for Phila
delphia; in 1837, when Dr. Hughes was appointed Co
adjutor of New York, he took up his residence at St.
John's Church, and made it his Cathedral ; he now
undertook the erection of the grand Cathedral of St.
Peter and St. Paul, a work beset with many difficulties
and delays, but through which he persevered, and
brought it to an advanced stage of progress. He had
the consolation, before his death, of seeing it used for
the service of the Living God, a temple worthy of the
Christian name, and an ornament to the episcopal city.
When summoned, in 1851, to another and higher
sphere of labor and dignity in the Church, by the recom
mendation of his colleagues and the approving voice of
Rome, he had done a noble part by the diocese of Phila
delphia, which he had found distracted and desolate,
and which he left in harmony and prosperity. When he
went to Philadelphia, in 1830, that diocese contained
only thirty priests ; when he was transferred to Balti
more, in 1 85 1, he left to his successor one hundred and
one priests and forty-six seminarians, ninety-four churches
and eight chapels, besides a splendid array of male
and female religious orders and of Catholic institu
tions. On the death of the Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston,

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 503
Archbishop of Baltimore, Bishop Kenrick was regarded
on all sides as the most suitable Prelate to succeed him
in the Archiepiscopal See. Rome ratified the general
choice, and by Letters Apostolic, dated August 3, 185 1,
he was translated from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The
Sovereign Pontiff, also, by his brief of August 19, in the
same year, appointed Archbishop Kenrick Apostolic
Delegate, with a presidency over the National Councils,
composed of the whole episcopate of the United States.
By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Propa
ganda, confirmed by his Holiness, Pope Pius IX., July
25, 185-8, the prerogative of place in the United States
was granted to the Archbishops of Baltimore, so that in
councils, assemblies, and ecclesiastical meetings of every
kind, precedence was to be given to them, and the seat
of honor above all Archbishops and Bishops present,
without regard to the order of promotion or conse
cration. The first great act of Archbishop Kenrick was to sum
mon together the Prelates of the United States in Na
tional Council, May 9, 1852, and he was the first to pre
side over so august an assembly. Five Archbishops,
twenty-six Bishops, and a large number of theologians
sat in this, the most imposing ecclesiastical body that had
as yet been convened in this country. A large increase
of episcopal sees was among the results of their deliber
ations, and the Pastoral Letter, prepared in the grand
and unequalled style of Archbishop Kenrick, which the
fathers of the first National Council addressed to the
clergy and faithful of their flocks, is one of the most pro
found and truly apostolical "documents that ever emanated
from any assembly of the church. Subsequently he con
tinued to hold every three years the Provincial Councils

504 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of the Prelates suffragan to the Archiepiscopal See of
Baltimore, whose deliberations and decrees, under the
wise, zealous, and learned leadership of Archbishop
Kenrick, had a most salutary influence on religion, edu
cation, and ecclesiastical discipline. It was not reserved
for him to preside over another National Council of the
American Church, for in 1862, the time for the assem
bling of the Second National Council, the country was
distracted with civil war, and more than half of his own.
suffragans were separated from him by great armies and
vast battle-fields.
In the Councils of the Church in this country Dr.
Kenrick took a most influential part. His first appear
ance in them was as theologian to Bishop Flaget in the
First Provincial Council of Baltimore. Immediately
afterwards he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Phila
delphia, in 1830, and from that time to his death, in
1863, his profound learning, his high ecclesiastical char
acter, and his ever-ready, fluent, and classic pen drew
him into a position of influence and prominence from
which his own modesty and humility would have retired.
In preparing the most important decrees and composing
the pastoral addresses of these learned and dignified as
semblies, his attainments as a scholar and legislator
were exercised in giving shape and permanent form to
those deliberations, to which his wisdom, learning, and
zeal had already done so much in guiding. It was re
marked by his colleagues in those Councils, that while
all around were engaged in conversation or debate, Dr.
Kenrick would be seated at his desk penning the most
beautiful and classical productions, embodying the senti
ments and conclusions arrived at, clothed in the purest
Scriptural language, teeming with sacred lore and redo-

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 505
lent with profound piety and saintly unction. One of
his distinguished colleagues said of him in the Second
National Council, which assembled after his death,
"How many of his brother Bishops leaned upon him
for counsel and advice, and how cheerfully and readily
was it given." A learned writer, after speaking of the
literary merit of Dr. Kenrick's theological works, re
marked, "The canons and decrees of the Councils held
at Baltimore, which England's first Orientalist, Cardinal
Wiseman, ranks with those of Milan, display an equally
correct taste." *
Archbishop Kenrick, on his assumption of the reins of
government at Baltimore, found a diocese well supplied
with churches, clergy, and religious, educational, and
charitable institutions. These he sustained, enlarged,
and greatly developed. But his zeal and wisdom found
new fields of benevolent labor. Many noble establish
ments grew up under his auspices, and religious orders
were encouraged and new ones introduced, and every
good work in the diocese received new energies and
success under his vigilant administration. Thus we be
hold such noble charities as the Infant Asylum, the
Aged Women's Home, St. Agnes' Asylum for Destitute
Sick, the New Mount Hope, the Convent of the Sisters
of Mercy, the Chapel and School of St. Laurence, at
Locust Point, and others of like character and useful
ness rising up and thriving under his paternal care. It
was also during his administration that the work of com
pleting the portico of the Cathedral was undertaken,
and that the Jesuit Fathers erected their splendid Church
of St. Ignatius, and established the College of Loyola.
St. Charles College, for the education of candidates for
* The Metropolitan, 1854, p. 74-

506 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
the priesthood, received a large share of his powerful
assistance. The clergy of Maryland, educated under
his eye, or enjoying the benefits of his guidance and ex
ample, as priests are a credit to his memory, and would
as a body do honor to any part of the Universal Church.
Archbishop Kenrick, at the invitation of Pope Pius
IX., repaired to Rome in 1854, in order to take part in
the deliberations which resulted in the dogmatic defini
tion of the Immaculate Conception. He and Dr. O'Con
nor, then Bishop of Pittsburgh, sailed together in the
steamer Atlantic, October 14, 1854. The Archbishop,
at the invitation of the captain, preached on board the
steamer on the Sunday which occurred during the voyage.
He called on Mr. Buchanan, the American Minister at Lon
don, by whom he and his colleague were received with
prompt and cordial courtesy, and on Cardinal Wiseman,
with whom they dined on the following day. Accom
panied by the Cardinal, the American Prelates made the
journey to Rome via Paris. On arriving at the Eternal
City, Archbishop Kenrick's mind became absorbed in the
great religious and theological subject which had brought
him thither, the Immaculate Conception. During the
whole journey to Rome he appeared to be meditating
on this subject, ever seeking opportunities for retirement
and study, and visiting only a few places of historical in
terest, and only those in order to gratify others. After
his arrival at Rome he paid a few visits rendered neces
sary by courtesy, or prompted by devotion; he then
earnestly went to work. Nine large volumes of docu
ments on the subject of the Immaculate Conception were
supplied to the Prelates at Rome, and in the short period
that intervened, Archbishop Kenrick devoured the con
tents of them all. Ever a devoted client of Mary, his

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 507
devotion now became more intense. He rejoiced from
his heart at this crowning glory to the devotion of Mary.
His Pastoral Letter, on his return to his diocese, is full
of profound learning, interesting information, and tender
piety. His perfect faith, his clear intellect, and well-
stored memory presented the subject in the most attract
ive and convincing manner. Indeed, he saw everything
in the light of faith, and weighed everything in the
scales of heaven. The action of the Church of God
upon the world, upon men and society, was to him one
symmetrical and consistent whole ; varied, it is true, and
often differing in its mode of application according to
the wants of successive ages, yet unique, consistent, lu
minous, wonderful, and divinely guided. He walked
upon the earth with his eye and his heart turned to
wards heaven. His countenance beamed with the light
of faith and the joy of innocence, his tongue flowed
with the eloquence of truth, and his daily life was illus
trated by devotion and charity. Time was to him a gift
of Divine Providence, a trust for our own and our neigh
bor's good; a mere preparation for eternity. His great
faith was the admiration of his cotemporaries ; it was so
simple yet so profound, so easy yet so sure, so firm yet
so humble. His devotion to the Church was a part and
parcel of his love of God, whose spouse she is. His
devotion to the Apostolic See was a necessary result of
his faith. While he realized the sublime dignity of the
sacerdotal office, especially in its collective capacity, he
especially admired that humility which is inseparable
from its highest perfection. Himself a venerated and
leading ruler in the Church, he was at the same time
one of its humblest members. Thus he was always ac
cessible to the poorest and lowest of mankind, evincing

508 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
as much, if not greater, pleasure in witnessing virtue in
the humblest walks of life as amongst the most favored.
He was so accessible to all, that his servant, who an
swered to the calls at the door, was in the habit of intro
ducing all who called, without distinction, immediately
into his study, and without further announcement. He
was so patient and kind to all who called on him, that
many of the simple and ignorant trespassed on his time
beyond all measure, yet he was never known to show
the least desire to terminate the visits thus paid him.
He always arose in the morning at five o'clock, during
winter and summer, and said his Mass at six. After Mass
he performed his thanksgiving and private devotions,
and then was ready to hear the confessions of any who
presented themselves. He was familiar with the French,
Italian, Spanish, and German languages, so that his con
fessional was surrounded by penitents who spoke those
tongues. His library was his next resort, where he spent
most of the day in preparing his works, amidst the nu
merous interruptions to which his easiness of access ex
posed him. In the intervals between these interruptions,
he resumed his pen and continued his work, without the
least annoyance or sense of inconvenience. At one time
it would be some poor person asking alms, at another a
child seeking instruction for first communion, at another
some veteran sinner seeking guidance and forgiveness,
and at another a sick call ; he attended to all these with
equal patience and pleasure. He would go at night to
attend to a sick call, and next morning would be seen at
the altar at his usual hour. His health at times was in
firm and even distressing, but it was with difficulty that
others discovered it; and on more than one occasion he
endured severe surgical operations without any one in

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 509
the house being disturbed, or even knowing how much
he suffered.
No one ever excelled him in indifference to money. He
was never known to make the least movement in this re
gard in his own behalf, how great soever might have
been his necessities. When he arrived in Philadelphia
his means of support were extremely precarious, and
even scant. He never thought of seeking a remedy.
It was only by a spontaneous movement of his clergy
that a remedy was applied. He used frequently to say
pleasantly of himself, that although he had for more than
thirty years been a writer of Catholic works, he had in
all that time made only two hundred dollars by all his
labors. His liberality on many occasions astonished all ;
for while they knew the limited resources at his com
mand, they saw him surpassing others in the generosity
of his charities and his donations to benevolent, religious,
and other good works ; it was discovered that on such
occasions he actually gave all he had, trusting to Provi
dence to provide for his few and simple wants. When
he left Philadelphia to take possession of the Archiepis
copal See of Baltimore, all the valuables he took with
him were the contents of a small carpet-bag, and little
more money than sufficed to pay his passage. After his
death, if his executor had assets on hand sufficient to
pay his debts, this was all. He was frequently without
the means of giving alms to the poor who applied to
him, and was repeatedly known to shed tears at his ina
bility to give more, even after he had bestowed his whole
stock of cash on some poor person. " The man of faith,
absorbed by the great effects of faith, cares little for the
honors, or pleasures, or riches of the world ; and such
eminently was Archbishop Kenrick." " Yet, notwith-

510 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
standing his occupations and his trials, he could relish
and make a joke ; he could enjoy and exhibit an hilarity,
which, though not boisterous, was sincere ; for it is
nowhere more genuine than in souls at peace with God." *
He was frequently pressed with invitations to social
gatherings, but he usually declined them from a love of
retirement ; but his friends could detect a peculiar ex
pression of satisfaction, and an arch smile on his coun
tenance, when he was able to give as his excuse for not
accepting an invitation, the necessity of giving all his
time to some work, on which he was engaged. It be
came a frequent pleasantry among the Catholics of Bal
timore, that there was no use in inviting the Archbishop
to dinner, because he was writing a book. The ladies
would frequently wait patiently for the completion of the
work in hand, for then it was rumored around that he
would pay some visits ; but, to their consternation, they no
sooner heard of his finishing one work than he had com
menced another. The Archbishop would enjoy this joke,
when related to him, with genuine pleasure.
It has been written of Archbishop Kenrick that " his
life was that of the saint and the scholar." While he
spent much time in reading and study, these were but
the necessary preparations for a series of works which
have enriched the Catholic literature of the world, and
made his name illustrious. He excelled in his knowl
edge of all the branches of ecclesiastical learning ; his
familiarity with history, theology, canon law, and the
scriptures, was extraordinary ; he was at home in ancient
as well as modern languages, and the Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew, were greatly used by him in the preparation of
his scriptural works ; his Latin works were remarkable for
*Dr. O'Connor's Lecture.

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 511
their purity and classic elegance. His seven volumes of
Dogmatic and Moral Theology, presenting a complete
body of sacred science, were produced in the midst of
the most active duties and official occupations. " The ap
pearance of so large a work, written in good Latin and
intended really for use, was a source of wonder to the
Protestant public and clergy, few of whom could even
read it without some difficulty, and none perhaps with
ease. Considered in a literary point of view, it marks
the classic character of our writers, a familiarity with
Roman literature, which is unequalled in the country." *
These splendid writings have become well known, not
only in this country, but also in Europe, and, in some of
the discussions growing out of the Vatican Council, have
frequently been referred to and quoted. His work on
the Primacy is a noble tribute from his devotion to the
See of Peter ; his studies on this subject have been ex
haustive, and the work is full of profound thought and
erudition, supplying all that is usually needed to be
known upon that subject, and is in itself most attractive
and interesting. In the later editions, the learned author
added chapters oa collateral subjects, which he treated
with his usual ability, and which proved an important
addition to the work. His Vindication of the Catholic
Church, is a clear, forcible, and unanswerable defence of
the Church against the slanderous accusations which
Protestants have too long been in the habit of hurling
recklessly against her. His edition of the Sacred Scrip
tures, the last and one of the most remarkable and im
portant of his productions, is a work which will render
invaluable service to religion, and which will place his
name among the foremost of divines and scholars. The
* The Metropolitan. 1 854,. p. 74.

512 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
following remarks by Dr. O'Connor will serve to convey
an adequate estimate of Archbishop Kenrick's labors in
this regard : —
" But the greatest work is his translation and notes on
the Sacred Scriptures. To appreciate this fully, it is
necessary to understand the difficulties that beset his
path, and his skill in surmounting them. The correct
reading of the original text has itself alone engaged the
whole attention of learned men. Even when this is de
termined, it is a matter of the greatest difficulty to fix the
correct meaning of each word so as not to embrace more
or say less in the translation than is contained in the
original. For this purpose a man must be familiar with
the original and the cognate languages, with the customs,
laws, and history of the people with whom the authors
were connected. He must know how the words and
phrases were understood by contemporary and succeed
ing generations, and must bring to his aid those other
numerous appliances which critics point out, but which
it is so much more easy to point out than to lay hold of
and apply with judgment.
" All this he has done, and done well. It would have
been more easy to have written a learned commentary of
great length than to have perfected such a translation.
" His notes are short an dappear few, but they are a
rich mine. His aim was to prepare an edition which
could be read with ease and safety by all, and to add
only such notes as were necessary to meet real difficulties
in the understanding of the text, leaving out the ques
tions that might be raised on it.
"It is amazing how much solid matter he has com
pressed into these short notes. I have heard several
remark, and my own experience accords with the state-

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 513
ment, that you seldom meet with a serious difficulty in
the reading of the text that you will not find solved in
these notes. At one time it is a pithy sentence from one
of the Fathers, at another a remark from some modern
critic ; at one time it is but a word, at another a refer
ence, but it lets in a flood of light. He has succeeded,
particularly in these pithy remarks full of learning, in es
tablishing and vindicating, by the latest researches of
Biblical science, the accuracy of the version in use in the
Catholic Church.
" The composition of these learned works never in
terfered with the discharge of official duty ; they never
prevented him from being ready to receive and entertain
any that called on him. If even a servant-girl came to
visit him, he would lay down his pen, let her feel at home
as long as she wished to stay, and then resume it when
she thought fit to retire."
As Archbishop Kenrick had on several occasions during
his life been placed in positions the most trying and em
barrassing, so towards its close he found himself again
placed in circumstances the most difficult and to him heart
rending. His charity to all, his gentleness in the han
dling of difficult questions, and the perfect clearness with
which he perceived his whole duty, and the unswerving
firmness with which he ever performed it, enabled him
to pass unscathed through the peculiar embarrassments
attending his position in Baltimore during our late civil
war. As he had never taken any part in public or
political affairs, so he continued now to confine his labors
to the sacred ministry of prayer, sacrifice, and charity.
He directed all the clergy to continue, as before, the re
citation of the usual prayer for the public authorities.
Having done this, he rested satisfied to leave to the
33

514 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
State the affairs of the State, and to give his zeal and
labors to God and to souls ; and he ceased not to pray
for peace. But so great was the anguish of his heart at
witnessing the desolate scourges of war, which more
than once advanced within and beyond the limits of his
own diocese, that it has been thought that his death,
which followed the bloody day of Gettysburg, was
hastened by this cause.
There was no perceptible change in his health before
his death, which was very sudden ; but as he always lived
in the fear of God, in innocence, justice, and peace, it
was not unprovided. On several occasions long preced
ing that event, while amongst his most intimate friends,
he dropped remarks which caused them to believe that
he had received a warning of his approaching dissolution.
Among other evidences showing that he was in the daily
expectation and preparation for death, it is related that
he had in his possession a relic of the Holy Cross,
which he preserved with special veneration, increased by
the fact that it had formerly belonged to the venerable
Bishop Flaget, whom he loved so much. He wished to
confide it to the custody of Dr. O'Connor, with this in
junction : " 'This was given by such a priest, with the
condition that he should get it back at my death, and you
will see that the condition be fulfilled.' Dr. O'Connor
returned the relic to the Archbishop, with the pleasant
remark that, from present appearances, it would be more
fit for him to give to the Archbishop commissions to be
fulfilled after death. ' Well then,' said the Archbishop,
' if anything happens, inquiries will be made for this ; '
and he laid it in a drawer, where it was most sure to be
met, evidently satisfied that he had thus directed atten
tion to it, and, with that scrupulous regard to the mi-

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 515
nutest requirements of justice for which he was always
so remarkable, secured its return to its owner, as actually
took place."
The admirable account given of his death by Dr. O'Con
nor, in his lecture on the Archbishop, is as follows: —
" I spent some hours with him the evening before he
died. I sat with him almost until he retired to the bed,
from which he awoke into eternity. His death, as you
remember, occurred just after the bloody day of Gettys
burg. The news was then coming into Baltimore by
piecemeal. Though thousands of prisoners and wounded
men had been brought into the city, and some of the
principal circumstances were known, we had not yet re
ceived a well-defined account of the battle or of its issue.
His conversation was chiefly directed to what the end of
all this was likely to be ; how the country was likely to
come out of this trying ordeal. There was an expres
sion in his countenance, an anxiety in his soul, which I
never witnessed before. The tragic scenes which were
being enacted, the dreadful future which seemed to
threaten, no matter how that day ended, pierced his
heart with the most poignant grief. His feelings were
like those of the mother, whose child Solomon ordered
to be cut in twain.
" Full of years and of merits, and yet apparently full
of vigor, the destroying angel laid his hand on him that
night. Without a struggle, for his body lay in the usual
attitude in which he composed himself to sleep, with
placid countenance, and his hands crossed over his breast,
in one holding his scapular, he was found dead in the
morning — a form of death, terrible indeed to those for
getful of God, but a great grace to one who, like him,
died daily, living every day ready for the call.

5 1 6 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
" Such a death is not unprovided for. A holy life is the
best preparation for that awful passage, and it was a
great homage to his virtue that no one seemed to feel
the least uneasiness that death had come to him in that
shape, so fully were all convinced that habitually he was
prepared. Like that saint of old, who, when admonish
ed to make his confession in preparation for death, re
plied : ' Every day in preparing for Mass, I made my
confession as if for death, now I need but make it as in
preparation for Mass.' Had time been given him, he
could not have found it necessary to act otherwise than
he was accustomed.
" Some one said, and I think truly, that he died al
most as he would have chosen, had the choice been
offered him. Nothing gave him more pain than to be to
any one an occasion of trouble. Had he suffered a lin
gering illness, the trouble of those attending him would
have been his greatest affliction.
" He has gone, but such men live forever. In the
history of the Church of the United States, the chapter
which records the life of Archbishop Kenrick will adorn
one of its brightest pages. His spirit has been breathed
into it, his life has been impressed upon it. Centuries
could not efface the mark. They will, let us trust, only
develop it in its true character, and above all, in that
spirit of true faith which was the distinguishing trait of
his life."
Archbishop Kenrick's death occurred during the night
of July 6, 1863. He was interred with all the solem
nities of the Church, and with every mark of veneration
and love from prelates, priests, and laity, July 11 ; the
Archbishops of New York and Cincinnati, and the Bishops
of Wheeling, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, Louisville,

Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. 517
Covington, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, assisted at the im
pressive service ; his remains rest with those of his good
and great predecessors in the Archiepiscopal See of
Baltimore. His epitaph is a beautiful, true, and classic
epitome of his life and character : —
Maxima pietate et doctrina, necnon pari modestia
et paupertate, Archiepiscopalem Cathedram exorna-
VIT.

RIGHT REV. LEO RAYMOND DE NECK
ERE, D.D.,
Third Bishop of New Orleans, A.D. 1830.*
Bishop De Neckere was born in Wevelgham, a vil
lage in West Flanders, Belgium, June 6, 1800. His pa
rents were pious Catholics, who bestowed every atten
tion on the religious and secular education of their son.
From his tenderest years he manifested an inclination to
piety, and scarcely was he able to express himself and
to read, when he exhibited a decided inclination to the
religious state. He took the greatest delight in hearing
and reading of religious subjects and persons, particu
larly the life of St. Francis Xavier, and the accounts of
the foreign missions. He pursued his classical and philo
sophical course of studies in the College of Roulers,
West Flanders, and at the Seminary of Ghent, East
Flanders, and graduated at the age of seventeen. His
vocation for a missionary life was proved on the occasion
of the visit of Bishop Dubourg, of Louisiana, to France,
in search of recruits for his diocese. Young De Neck
ere, then a seminarian of the Lazarists, was one of the
first volunteers for this distant mission, and formed one
of the colony selected and sent to Louisiana by their su
perior, Father Beccaria, in 18 17, being then seventeen
years old. He traveled through France with Bishop Du
bourg, and embarked with him from Bordeaux, in Sep-
* Authorities : Catholic Miscellany ; Catholic Diary ; Life of Bishop Flaget, by
Archbishop Spalding ; and original sources.

Right Rev. Leo Raymond De Neckere, D.D. 519
tember, 18 17. After partaking, with his companions, of
the hospitality of Charles Carroll of Carrolton, at An
napolis, for about two months, he proceeded with them,
under the care of Bishop Dubourg, to the West, and re
mained for more than a year at the Seminary of Bards
town, Kentucky, pursuing his ecclesiastical studies. He
rejoined the Lazarists at the Barrens, near St. Louis,
Missouri, in 1820, and his career as a seminarian there
was chronicled as that of one who, "although very
young, was remarkable for his uncommon talents and
piety." Such was his maturity in piety and learning,
that he was ordained before the canonical age, October
13, 1822, being then in his twenty-third year. His first
duties were as missionary in and near the Barrens, and
as a professor in the Seminary. At the age of twenty-
five and twenty-six, an age when most priests are or
dained, he was called upon to act as Superior of the im
portant establishment of the Barrens, during the fre
quent absences of Bishop Rosati from the Seminary.
The members of the community were composed of
Italians, French, Germans, Belgians, Americans, and
Irish ; and young Father De Neckere gave conferences
in the domestic chapel of the Seminary in the languages
of all those nations, except the Irish, and spoke them all
well. Gifted with extraordinary talents, his attainments
in theology, science, and general learning were most re
markable. But in humility, zeal, and piety, he excelled
even more than in learning. The missions of Missouri
were no less the field of his labors than the halls of the
Seminary. His labors were too great for his delicate
health, and he was sent to New Orleans to recruit his
strength. There the Cathedral and other temples re
sounded with his eloquence, as those of St. Louis and

520 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
other cities, and the seminaries and colleges of the West
had often done before. Returning to the Barrens, after
a considerable stay at New Orleans, he resumed his la
borious life both as professor and missionary. It was
said of him by his cotemporaries that, though a Fleming
by birth, he was an American in education, in feelings,
and in tastes. His great worth and remarkable capacity
for doing good, were united with one of the most mod
est, retiring, and shrinking of natures. The gifted and
discerning Bishop Rosati entertained for him the
greatest esteem, and it was remarked of him that the
general respect and admiration, in which he was held,
were always accompanied by an equal amount of love for
his amiable and childlike disposition.
His health, naturally delicate, began to fail again, and
several severe hemorrhages from the lungs admonished
him to seek rest and a change of air. For this purpose
he paid a visit to his native country, where he arrived
March 22, 1827. He also made a short stay at the
Lazarist Seminary, at Amiens, France. While there he
was summoned to Rome, and, though in a precarious
condition of health, he started for the Eternal City, Oc
tober 16, 1828. To his astonishment and grief, he
found that Bishop Rosati had nominated him to the va
cant see of New Orleans, and had selected him above all
as the most worthy successor of Bishop Dubourg. He
was, against his own most earnest prayers, preconized
for that See by the Holy Father, August 4, 1829. He
returned to Belgium, but his feeble health was more
than ever affected by the fear of his appointment to the
See of New Orleans. His mental anxiety brought on a
fearful relapse, while accepting the hospitalities of the
noble castle of Madame de Ghyseghen, and he was

Right Rev. Leo Raymond De Neckere, D.D. 521
there brought to the verge of the grave. That truly
Catholic lady had two daughters, both of whom
were remarkable for their piety and heroic devotion ; the
elder of these, when she heard that Father De Neckere
had been preconized for the episcopal office in America,
and saw the extreme danger in which he was of a
speedy death, went privately to the chapel of the castle,
and, prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament, presented
her petition before her Lord, that He would spare the
life of the Bishop and accept her own as a substitute.
Father De Neckere recovered and returned to America
to receive episcopal consecration, and the young lady's
sacrifice was accepted in heaven, whither she was soon
afterwards called by a saintly death.
Dr. De Neckere returned to America in greatly im
proved health. The Pontifical rescript of August 4, 1829,
appointing him Bishop of New Orleans, was received by
Bishop Rosati; Dr. De Neckere insisted on declining
the appointment, and scarcely could he bring his mind
to yield to the urgent advice of the most eminent eccle
siastics, including Bishop Rosati, when he was compelled
by strict/ injunction from Rome to accept. He was only
twenty-nine years old when appointed Bishop, but he
was of ripe judgment and experience, and possessed
uncommon ability and learning. In announcing the ap
pointment of their new Bishop to the people of Louis
iana in a Pastoral, Bishop Rosati said: "His merit could
not be hidden by the veil under which his modesty
sought to conceal it, nor could his profound humility
prevent those, who had the happiness of knowing him,
from feeling and testifying their esteem and respect.
They all unite in thanking the Prince of Pastors for
having given so worthy a Prelate to His Church. * * *

522 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
The zeal, the piety, the knowledge, and the prudence of
your new Bishop give the strongest hope that the work
of God will prosper in his hands, and that the germs
which have been fostered by the incessant cares of our
worthy predecessor, the founder of our missions, will
now produce fruits an hundred fold."
Bishop De Neckere's consecration was appointed to
take place on Sunday, May 16, 1830, at the Cathedral
in New Orleans, and in the meantime he decided to con
tinue his residence at the Barrens, in profound retreat
and preparation for his high office. At the appointed
time he started in company with Bishop Rosati for New
Orleans to be consecrated ; but a severe attack of fever
compelled him to stop at St. Genevieve. Here he was
again taken with hemorrhages from an aneurism in the
throat, and his fever became much worse. His alreadv
impaired health was greatly affected by these attacks.
Bishop Rosati continued his journey to New Orleans,
where he hoped soon to be joined by the Bishop elect,
and where he was met by Bishops England and Portier,
and a large number of priests, who had come to the city
to witness the consecration. On the appointed Sunday
an immense concourse assembled at the Cathedral, and
were greatly disappointed at not seeing their new
Bishop, to whom they were already greatly attached,
and of whom no tidings had yet been received. Bishop
De Neckere's health was somewhat restored in a month,
and on June 24, 1830, he was consecrated by Bishop
Rosati at the Cathedral of New Orleans, assisted by
Bishops England and Portier. Bishop England preached
the consecration sermon. His episcopate lasted only
three years, and we know but little of the details of his
labors during that time, beyond the assurance that he

Right Rev. Leo Raymond De Neckere, D.D. 523
"admirably governed his diocese," and some cotempo-
raneous accounts of his eloquent sermons in the churches
of New Orleans, where the people were delighted to lis
ten to his familiar voice, and were greatly moved by his
stirring words, and edified by his saintly life. Amongst
the last of his noble acts was the presentation of a splen
did organ to St. Mary's Church, New Orleans, which
had been built by Mr. Erben, of New York, on his or
der; but he did not live to hear its melodious notes.
In 1 83 1 Bishop De Neckere called the Rev. Mr.
Blanc to New Orleans, and appointed him Vicar-Gen
eral, together with the venerable Mr. Richard. The
feeble health of the Bishop, and his humility of life, made
him anxious to be relieved of the burden of the episco
pate. He accordingly made earnest application to Rome
for leave to resign. Archbishop Spalding relates, in his
Life of Bishop Flaget, that, "Bishop De Neckere wrote
to our holy Prelate (Bishop Flaget) to engage his in
terest at Rome towards obtaining the acceptance of his
resignation. Bishop Flaget answered in a strain of
pleasant raillery, gently twitting his young colleague on
the necessity of his retiring from the cares of the episco
pacy after having borne the burden for the great space
of nearly three years ! The timid but holy Bishop of
New Orleans received in good part this rebuke, so po
litely and so elegantly administered." The Holy See,
on account of his infirm health, acceded so far to his
request as to appoint Bishop Blanc his coadjutor; but
the latter would not accept this office as long as Bishop
De Neckere insisted on resigning, and returned the
bulls of his appointment to Rome. Finding that he
could not induce his colleagues to sanction his resigna
tion, he acquiesced in their views, abandoned all purpose

524 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
of resigning, and henceforth devoted himself without re
serve to the service of his flock, as their chief pastor, as
their father and servant. Thus, when the yellow fever
scourged New Orleans in 1833, he was spending the
season at St. Michel's ; against all remonstrance he re
turned to the city, and devoted himself to the spiritual
and temporal wants of the sick and dying, until he him
self was stricken down by the pestilence, and within ten
days fell a victim to his unbounded charity.
"He died," writes Archbishop Spalding, "the death
of a saint, September 4, 1833."* "He still lives," said
Bishop Portier, "in our recollection and our admiration.
His mortal remains are deposited beneath this sanc
tuary." f " He was a man," said the New Orleans Bee,
" of extended theoretical and practical knowledge, Chris
tian philosophy, and an ornament to the religion he
taught." " He was endowed with talents of the highest
order," said the New Orleans Courier, "and was pos
sessed of those necessary qualifications which enabled
him to fill, with credit to himself and ' honor to the
Church, the high station he enjoyed. He will be long
remembered and regretted by the citizens of this State."
* Life of Bishop Flaget.
f Sermon at the consecration of Archbishop Blanc, in the Church of St. Louis,
at New Orleans.

MOST REV. SAMUEL ECCLESTON, D.D.,
Fifth Archbishop of Baltimore, A.D. 1834.*
The ancestors of Samuel Eccleston were English ;
his grandfather, Sir John Eccleston, came to this country
from England and settled in Maryland, a few years be
fore the American Revolution. The subject of this me
moir was born in Kent County, on the eastern shore of
Maryland, June 27, 1801. His parents were members
of the Episcopal church, and their son Samuel was edu
cated in, and during his earlier years adhered to, that de
nomination. His father died when he was quite young,
and after some years his mother became married to a
Catholic gentleman of Maryland, and young Eccleston,
at home and at college, became surrounded by Catho
lic examples, which, together with the grace of God oper
ating in his soul, led him to see the light of true faith
and to embrace it. He became a student at St. Mary's
College, Baltimore, and was distinguished there among
his fellow students no less for his amiable, gentlemanly,
and honorable deportment, than for his proficiency in his
studies and his progress in piety. By his success in
study, and by his endearing qualities of heart and soul,
he became beloved by both teachers and scholars, and
he was regarded as a shining and distinguished light
among the alumni of his Alma Mater. It was at St.
Mary's that he abjured the religious errors of his educa
tion and became a member of the Catholic church. It
* Authorities: Catholic Almanac, 1852; De Courcy and Shea's Catholic Church
in the United States ; Catholic Magazines, etc., etc.

526 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
was here too that he witnessed a Catholic death, that of
a beloved professor, attended with so much resignation,
heroic courage, and humble submission, that his soul,
naturally inclined to good, became more deeply im
pressed with religious sentiments and views of life.
These ripened into the purpose of embracing the eccle
siastical state. He entered the Seminary connected
with the College, May 23, 18 19. His friends and rela
tives were greatly opposed to the course he adopted,
and used every influence and persuasion, which family
ties, the pleasures and promised honors of the world,
and the representation of the Catholic priesthood in a
contemptuous light, could present to his considera
tion. The young Levite turned a deaf ear to these sug
gestions of the evil one, and listened only to the grace
of God. His determination became the more firmly
fixed, and, persevering in his noble purpose, he received
the tonsure in the course of the year 1820. In the
prosecution of his theological studies he was exceedingly
earnest and laborious, and distinguished himself, not
only as a student, but soon afterwards as a teacher of
theology, and as a warm advocate and enforcer of eccle
siastical discipline. His well-balanced and gifted intellect,
united with ease and fluency of speech and grace of
manner, made him distinguished for the efficacy and suc
cess with which he imparted knowledge to others. In
the course of 1823, he received the different degrees of
advancement and preparation for the priesthood, and
was finally ordained April 24, 1825, by Archbishop
Marechal. A few months after his ordination he re
paired to France to enjoy the more advanced studies
and advantages afforded in the Sulpitian Seminary of
Issy, near Paris. Before his return he visited Eng-

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 527
land and Ireland, thus adding the advantages of
travel and observation of life in various countries to his
already well-stored mind. Mr. Eccleston expressed him
self as highly gratified and benefited by his residence
abroad, and while he brought home with him an in
creased zeal for religion, he also experienced a still
warmer attachment for his native country, its form of
government and institutions. He returned to the
United States in July, 1827, and was appointed Vice-
President of St. Mary's College, and in 1829 was ap
pointed its President. While discharging these offices
he exerted his great abilities in increasing the usefulness
of the institution, improving its course of studies, enforc
ing a wholesome discipline, and imparting a flourishing
and prosperous condition to it. Under his Presidency
St. Mary's College made rapid advances in success and
popularity, and became one of the leading Catholic col
leges of the country.
Archbishop Whitfield's health becoming infirm, that
Prelate was anxious to obtain the appointment of a suit
able, younger, and more vigorous ecclesiastic to assist
him in his arduous duties and succeed him on his death ;
the matter was made a subject of consultation by the
Archbishop with his suffragan Bishops, and all concurred
in recommending Mr. Eccleston, then President of St.
Mary's College, for nomination to this position. Such
were his attainments of mind, his development of judg
ment and character, his enlightened zeal for religion
and capacity for administration, that he was chosen
for this important and responsible office at the early age
of thirty-three years, and in the summer of 1834 the Pa
pal Brief appointing Dr. Eccleston Coadjutor of Balti
more, with the title of Bishop of Thermia in partibus,

528 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
with the right of succession, was received by the Arch
bishop. The venerable Prelate consecrated his succes
sor at the Cathedral of Baltimore, September 14 of the
same year, and on his decease, on the nineteenth of Octo
ber following, Dr. Eccleston succeeded to the Archiepis
copal chair of Baltimore. In 1834 Archbishop Eccles
ton received from Rome the Pallium, and with it the
plenitude of the powers and honors of the Metropolitan
See. Like his predecessors, he also assumed the office
and duties of administrator of the diocese of Richmond,
and continued to discharge this latter office until 1841,
when the Right Rev. Bishop Whelan was appointed to
that See.
Archbishop Eccleston, on assuming the chair of Balti
more, made a general survey and examination of his dio
cese, in which the church, under his worthy predecessors,
had advanced to a high degree of development and
prosperity, and presented at once a flourishing and yet
laborious field of zeal and improvement. While possess
ing an efficient and zealous body of clergy, ecclesiastical
seminaries, various religious institutions, and numerous
male and female houses of education, the Catholic popu
lation had so vastly increased, and the wants and inte
rests of the church so multiplied, that he found an im
mense work before him in maintaining and developing
what his predecessors had established, and in creating
and providing for the new wants and demands which
religion presented to him at every turn. To provide ad
ditional schools for the Catholic youth of the diocese
was one of his first cares, and to accomplish this great
end he gave a paternal and liberal encouragement to the
various religious orders within his jurisdiction, and took
energetic steps for the introduction of others to meet

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston,t D.D. 529
new and increasing necessities. Three additional insti
tutions for the education of females were established
under his fostering care by the Sisters of the Visitation,
whose headquarters were at Georgetown, to wit : at
Baltimore, Frederick, and Washington. The Brothers
of St. Patrick were also introduced into the diocese in
1846, at the request of Rev. James Dolan, Pastor of St.
Patrick's, to take charge of the Manual Labor School
founded near Baltimore by that zealous priest.
The large increase of the German Catholic population
of the United States, who were tenacious of their lan
guage and native customs long after their arrival in this
country, presented to the Prelates of various dioceses
great difficulties in providing suitable pastors for them.
To meet this necessity Archbishop Eccleston entered
into negotiations for the introduction of the priests of
the Most Holy Redeemer, commonly known as Redemp-
torists, into the United States. The first of this useful
and zealous Order came to Baltimore in 1841, from Aus
tria. In thirty years they have erected churches, con
vents, and schools in most of the dioceses in the United
States, and are among the most numerous, zealous, and
laborious workers in this vast spiritual vineyard. In Bal
timore, where the Provincial of the Order resides, the
beautiful and brilliant Church of St. Alphonsus is a mon
ument of their zeal and energy. At Annapolis their
novitiate was established in a venerable old mansion,
once the residence of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and
presented for the purpose by the grand-daughters of
that illustrious man. But the Redemptorist Fathers
have since erected on the same property a large and
handsome church, novitiate, and convent, by their own
efforts and labors.

530 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop Eccleston also invited to the diocese of
Baltimore the Congregation of the Priests of the Mis
sion, or Lazarists, who arrived there in 1850, and were
appointed the spiritual directors of the Sisters of Charity
at Emmittsburg.
During his administration new churches were erected
in many parts of the diocese. In Baltimore, the new
churches of St. Alphonsus, St. Vincent's, St. Joseph's,
St. Peter's, St. Michael's, Church of the Lazarists,, and
an enlargement of St. Patrick's, were erected ; and new
churches were also erected at Cumberland, Laurel,
Pikesville, Elkridge, Ellicott's Mills, Govanstown, Havre
de Grace, and in other places. Mt. Hope Hospital, for
the insane and infirm, under the charge of the Sisters of
Charity, is also one of the ornaments of the diocese of
Baltimore, erected under the fostering care of Archbishop
Eccleston. The Young Catholic's Friend Society, an
association of laymen for the relief of the poor, the en
couragement of education among them, and for the
assistance of Catholic free schools, is another excellent
institution that was introduced under his approbation
and encouragement.
One of the distinguished events of Archbishop Ec-
cleston's administration was the establishment of St.
Charles' College, near Ellicott's Mills, for the education
of young men preparatory to their studies for the holy
ministry. This noble institution owed its origin to the
munificence of the venerable Charles Carroll of Carroll
ton, and was brought to completion and dedicated to its
holy purpose by Archbishop Eccleston. His circular on
this subject, to the clergy and laity of his diocese, in
1848, shows how much he devoted himself to this great
work, and it is gratifying to relate that the measures

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 531
therein recommended have been observed to the present
day, and have resulted in providing ample means for
continuing the usefulness and success of St. Charles'
College. The following extract is from his circular :^-
" Venerable and Beloved Brethren — Many of you are
aware that for several years it has been the object of my
most earnest desires to open St. Charles' College for the
preparatory education of youths destined to the eccle
siastical state. I am happy at length to announce to
you, that the obstacles which have retarded this aus
picious consummation have been removed. The debt
due on the buildings has been liquidated, and, through
the blessing of Providence, the institution will, on the
first day of November, be ready for the reception of pu
pils, under the charge of reverend gentlemen whose
piety, zeal, and acquirements are a guaranty of its sta
bility and successful operation.
"While the Church is happily extending her bound
aries, the number of laborers does not increase in pro
portion to the harvest which is spreading and thickening
around them. In this diocese, as elsewhere, numerous
congregations are either entirely destitute of pastors, or
are visited at distant and uncertain intervals. Not only
are we deprived of the means of enlightening the thou
sands who know not, and therefore blaspheme the spot
less name of Christ ; but we have not unfrequently from
the same cause to deplore the lukewarmness or prevari
cation of the children of the faith. In fact, were it not
for the co-operation of devoted clergymen from foreign
lands, still more lamentable would be the condition of
our mission. But even from that source we cannot ex
pect long to fill up the ranks of the holy ministry. The
experience of all ages and Christian countries proves

53 2 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
that a National Church must seek within its own bosom
the resources of its own fecundity and prosperity. The
Divine Author of our holy religion fails not to provide
fit and abundant instruments for its preservation and
propagation. Youth are not wanting, who, at an early
period, feel themselves called to the holy ministry. But
we have not provided adequate means to foster and
shelter their pious yearnings. The continued contact
with those of their own age, but actuated by different
views and sentiments, if not professing a different re
ligion, has, in our best colleges, proved but too generally
fatal to most unequivocal vocations. St. Charles' Col
lege is intended to supply this vital and primary want of
our American Church."
The administration of Archbishop Eccleston was dis
tinguished by the five Provincial Councils of Baltimore,
called and presided over by him. The fraternal good
will with which he received his colleagues from the va
rious dioceses of the country, the unbounded hospitality
with which he entertained and provided for them and
their attendants, the dignity, wisdom, and urbanity with
which he presided over and led their deliberations, so
impressed the distinguished members of these illustrious
assemblies, that on the occasion of one of them, the
Sixth Council, they paid him the tribute expressed in
the following correspondence : —
" To the Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, Archbishop of Baltimore.
" Most Rev. Archbishop — The Bishops of the Sixth
Council of Baltimore, at the close of their proceedings,
when you had withdrawn from the Council-chamber,
unanimously resolved to present you with a cross and
the vases and ornaments belonging to an archiepiscopal

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 533
'capelle,' as a token of their veneration and attachment.
The courtesy, dignity, and kindness which have marked
your intercourse with your colleagues, the wisdom and
moderation with which you have presided over their de
liberations, and the unbounded hospitality which you
have exercised towards them, demanded some expres
sion of their admiration and gratitude. On me has
devolved the pleasing duty of presenting these sacred
ornaments in the name of all.
"With sentiments of profound veneration, I have the
honor to be, Most Rev. Archbishop,
" Your devoted Brother in Christ,
"¦_* Francis Patrick,
" Bishop of Philadelphia.
" Philadelphia, October 23d, 1846."
To which the Archbishop replied as follows : —
" Baltimore, November 4th, 1846.
" Right Rev. and Dear Sir : — I have the honor to ac
knowledge the receipt of your letter, accompanying the
vases and ornaments belonging to an archiepiscopal
' capelle,' presented to me by the Bishops of the Sixth
Provincial Council of Baltimore, as a token of their vene
ration and attachment.
"When I was, at the close of the Council, assured
that I had met the approval of my Right Rev. breth
ren in our official and personal intercourse, I felt myself
rewarded and honored beyond my merits. Nor did I
dream of any other token of their indulgent regard until
my eyes reposed on the magnificent and costly orna
ments presented and inscribed to me in their names.
Whether I consider the splendor of the gift itself, or the
venerable and elevated source from which it emanates,

534 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
or the delicacy of the manner in which it has been ten
dered, I am at a loss for language to express my deep
and humble acknowledgments.
" While I cordially offer you my thanks for the kind
terms in which you have made known to me the senti
ments and munificence of the Fathers of the Council, I
pray you to convey to them, in the way you think best,
this expression of my most profound gratitude.
" I have the honor to be, Right Rev. and dear sir,
with the greatest respect and attachment,
" Your Brother in Christ,
" •_" Samuel, Archbishop of Baltimore.
" Right Rev. Dr. Kenrick, Bishop of Philadelphia."
In the Third Provincial Council of Baltimore, which
commenced its session April 16, 1837, eight Bishops,
with their attendant theologians, assembled at the call
of the Metropolitan. Their deliberations chiefly related
to the erection of new episcopal sees, and the division of
established sees into two or more. The details of their
deliberations, after the approval of the Holy See, were
carried out in the erection of new sees at Nashville,
Natchez, and Dubuque, and the. appointment of Bishops
for the new dioceses.
The Fourth Provincial Council of Baltimore assem
bled May 17, 1840, and was attended by thirteen Bish
ops, including Monseigneur De Forbin Janson, Bishop
of Nancy, France,* who was unanimously invited by
the assembled Prelates to take part in their deliberations,
a grateful and merited tribute to his services and zeal for
the Church of America, and a fitting mark of sympathy
for a Prelate who, prevented by political intrigue from
* See his Life in Appendix, Vol. II.

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 535
discharging the high functions of his office in his diocese
in France, was then an exile in our country. They also
"addressed a warm letter of felicitation and encour
agement to Claude Augustus De Droste de Vischering,
Bishop of Cologne, and to Martin De Dunnin, Arch
bishop of Posen, thus showing that the heart of the
Church everywhere throbs with the same life, and that
the trials of religion in Europe are felt even in the New
World."* The most important decrees of this Council
related to the encouragement of temperance societies
among the Catholic population of the United States;
the severance from the diocese of Baltimore of that of
Richmond, of which the Right Rev. Dr. Whelan was
then appointed Bishop by the Holy See; and to the
mode of holding, preserving, and transmitting church
property in the United States.
The Fifth Provincial Council of Baltimore met May
14, 1843, and was attended by sixteen Bishops. The
principal business transacted in this Council related to
the imposition of the penalty of excommunication ipso
facto against such Catholics as should obtain a civil di
vorce and contract a second marriage ; and to the erec
tion of new sees and the subdivision of old ones. In
approval of the recommendations of the Council, the
Holy See, by letters dated September 13, 1843, ap
pointed Right Rev. Andrew Byrne Bishop of the new
see of Little Rock ; Right Rev. William Quarter Bishop
of the new see of Chicago ; Right Rev. William Tyler
Bishop of the new see of Hartford ; and Right Rev.
John M. Henni Bishop of the new see of Milwaukie.
The Right Rev. Ignatius Aloysius Reynolds was at the
* De Courcy and Shea's Catholic Church in the United States.

536 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
same time appointed successor to Bishop England, of
Charleston ; Right Rev. John McCloskey, now Arch
bishop of New York, was appointed Coadjutor to Arch
bishop Hughes ; and Right Rev. John B. Fitzpatrick was
appointed Coadjutor to Bishop Fenwick, of Boston. The
new see of Pittsburgh, recommended by this and the
preceding Councils, was erected subsequently, and Right
Rev. Michael O'Connor was appointed its Bishop.
The Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore was con
vened May 10, 1846, and was attended by twenty-three
Bishops, who, among their first acts, and with an unani
mous and enthusiastic voice, selected and proclaimed
the "Blessed Virgin Mary, Conceived Without Sin,"
as the patroness of the United States. They also pro
vided for carving out of the diocese of New York the
dioceses of Buffalo and Albany, and out of that of Cin
cinnati the diocese of Cleveland. Rome, in approving
these provisions, appointed the Right Rev. John Timon
Bishop of Buffalo, Right Rev. John McCloskey Bishop
of Albany, and Right Rev. Amodeus Rappe Bishop of
Cleveland. In November, 1846, Archbishop Eccleston had the
happiness of welcoming to the United States, and to his
own metropolitan city, that excellent and invaluable
body of Christian teachers, the Brothers of the Christian
Schools, whom he had invited to his diocese, and whose
first establishment in this country was opened under the
auspices of the Archbishop in Calvert Hall, Baltimore.
He announced this auspicious beginning of a great and
good work in the following circular : —
"Archdiocese of Baltimore.— Circular of the Most
Rev. Archbishop. — I am grateful to Divine Providence

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 537
to be enabled to inform the Rev. clergy and the laity of
the archdiocese that the 'Brothers of the Christian
Schools' have extended to us the advantages of their
holy and admirable institution. Their first novitiate and
school have been opened at Calvert Hall, in this city,
and are, I trust, but the precursors of many others
throughout the United States.
" I cannot too earnestly entreat all charitable persons
to contribute to the support of an undertaking so emi
nently useful to religion and society. The faithful will
read with interest the communication of the venerable
brother director. * * * "?_« Samuel, Abp. Bait.
"Baltimore, Nov. 13th, 1846."
The announcement of the brother director, alluded to
by the Archbishop, was as follows: "The novitiate of
the 'Brothers of the Christian Schools' has been opened
in Baltimore. The object contemplated by this institute
is the religious and literary instruction of male children,
especially the poor. The Brothers are bound by the
three religious vows of obedience, Charity, and poverty,
to which is added a fourth, that of the gratuitous instruc
tion of the poor. The terms of admittance will be made
known, and further information given, on application to
"Brother Leopold,
" Director of the Brothers in Baltimore."
The subsequent expansion and usefulness of the ex
cellent Order throughout the United States has been
wonderful, and should awaken our gratitude, not only to
the good Brothers of the Christian Schools, but also
our grateful remembrance of Archbishop Eccleston.

538 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
It was also about this time that Pope Pius IX., in
compliance with a request of Archbishop Eccleston and
of his colleagues of the Sixth Provincial Council, granted
to the clergy of the United States the privilege of ad
ding the words "immaculate" and "immaculate concep
tion" to the preface of the Holy Mass on the. 8th of
December and other days; and to the laity of the
United States the privilege of adding to the Litany of
the Blessed Virgin Mary the invocation, " Queen, con
ceived without original sin, pray for us." This devout
petition of the American Prelates was made and granted
before the Holy Father had defined the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception.
The adjournment of the Sixth Council was soon fol
lowed by the death of Pope Gregory XVI. and the elec
tion of Pope Pius IX. The remarkable events that
ensued are a part of the history of our age. Loud,
long, and enthusiastic were the plaudits that greeted
the first acts of the noble and saintly Pius IX. from
every portion of the world, and especially from the
United States. Popular meetings in the principal cities
sent the most respectful and laudatory addresses to the
Holy Father, and Congress sent a minister to congratu
late him on his course and to reside at his court. It
seemed as though the Protestant world were prepared
to hail the return of the glorious ages of Faith, when the
Sovereign Pontiff was the universally recognized Father
and arbiter of the Christian world. The loyalty of
Catholics was manifested by the obedience of their souls
and submission of their hearts to him, whom they recog
nized as the Vicar of Christ on earth. To their Protes
tant fellow-citizens was left the work of giving utterance
to the public voice of congratulation a.d praise. The

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 539
address of a public meeting held in New York by six
thousand persons, and presided over by the Mayor, con
tained the following remarkable passage : —
" And more formidable than all these, you must have
girded yourself to encounter, and by God's help to over
come, that fickleness and ingratitude of multitudes just
released from benumbing bondage, which could clamor in
the wilderness to be led back to the flesh-pots of Egypt;
which, among the contemporaries, and even the fol
lowers of our Saviour, could leave him to bear in soli
tude the agony of the cross ; and which in your case,
we apprehend, will yet manifest itself in unreasona
ble expectations, extravagant hopes, impetuous require
ments, and in murmurings that nothing has been ear
nestly intended, because everything has been already
accomplished." The address of the Philadelphia meeting, held January
10, 1848, contained the following earnest words: " May
the Almighty grant you length of life, strength of heart,
and wisdom from on high, in order to bring to a happy
conclusion the beneficent reforms which you have begun !
May He inspire the princes and people of Italy with the
courage and moderation necessary to second your ef
forts ! May He raise up to you successors who will con
tinue to extend the influence of peace and justice on
earth; and the time will come when the meanest of
God's poor will, if oppressed, be able to summon the
most powerful of his oppressors to appear at the bar of
united Christendom ; and the nations will sit in judgment
upon him, and the oppressor, blushing with shame, shall
be forced by their unanimous and indignant voice to
render justice to the oppressed."
Similar addresses were sent from nearly every city of

54° Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
any importance in the Union to the Holy Father. But
soon the prophetic language of the New York meeting
was realized; the clamor of the disappointed populace
was raised against their Father and best friend ; Count
Rossi, his secretary, is assassinated, and the Holy
Father himself is a fugitive from Rome. It was then
that the devotion of Catholics manifested itself towards
the Supreme Pontiff, and many and heart-felt were the
testimonials of loyalty and affection received by the
exile of Gaeta from his children throughout the world.
The Catholics of the United States were not behind
their brethren in these demonstrations, and the hope
was entertained that the Holy Father would accept an
asylum in our midst. Archbishop Eccleston was an ap
propriate organ to express these sentiments, as he did
in his letter to Pius IX. of the eighteenth of January,
1849, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Chair of St.
Peter, from which the following extract will be read with
interest: "Our Seventh Council of Baltimore is to be
held on the 6th of May next. We are perhaps too bold,
Holy Father, in asking and hoping that, if possible, the
shadow of Peter may even transiently gladden us, and
give us new strength and courage. How great an honor
and support to our rising Church ! What joy and fervor,
what fruits and pledges of communion throughout our
whole Republic, if your Holiness, yielding to our unani
mous wishes, would but stand amid the Prelates assem
bled from the most remote shores of North America,
and deign to console and honor us and our flocks with
your apostolic advice and paternal blessing ! The Coun
cil might easily, if your Holiness so direct, be deferred
to a more convenient time, and so far as our poverty
permits, nothing shall be wanting to make everything a

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 541
comfort and joy to our Most Holy Father." How vividly
do the present wrongs of that same Holy Father, and of
that same Holy Church, recall the events of his glorious
pontificate ! When, Oh when, will the Catholic peoples
of the world demand of their governments the restora
tion of the Capital of Christendom, and the liberty of
the Vicar of Christ ?
The Seventh Council convened at Baltimore May 6,
1849, and was attended by twenty-five Bishops. The
most important parts of their proceedings related to the
belief of the American Church in the Immaculate Con
ception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to which the
Bishops of the Council proclaimed themselves and their
flocks ardently devoted, and declared they would hail
with lively satisfaction its doctrinal definition by the
Sovereign Pontiff, as an article of faith ; to the mani
festation of sympathy for the Holy See, in ordering col
lections in their dioceses in the nature of Peter's-pence,
which yielded twenty-six thousand dollars, transmitted
by Archbishop Eccleston to the Holy Father through
the Papal Nuncio at Paris ; and to the erection of new
episcopal sees, and the assignment of the suffragan
Bishops to the archiepiscopal see of St. Louis. On the
return of Pope Pius IX. to Rome, the proceedings of
the Council were confirmed : Bishop Whelan was trans
ferred to the new see of Wheeling; Rt. Rev. Francis
Xavier Gartland was appointed to the new see of Sa
vannah, Rt. Rev. Joseph Cretin to the new see of St.
Paul, Rt. Rev. John McGill to the see of Richmond, Rt.
Rev. John Lamy to the Vicariate Apostolic of Santa Fe,
Rev. Charles P. Montgomery, and, on his refusal, the
Rt. Rev. Joseph S. Alemany to the see of Monterey, in
the newly-ceded territory acquired from Mexico. The

542 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
apostolical brief of July 19, 1850, erected the sees of
New York, Cincinnati, and New Orleans into archie
piscopal sees, making, with those of Baltimore, St.
Louis, and Oregon, six metropolitan sees in the United
States. The Archbishop and Bishops of the Seventh
Council issued to the clergy and laity of the United
States an eloquent and able address, in which they ex
pressed the warmest sympathy for the Holy Father in
his trials and sufferings, advocated^the time-honored in
stitution of the Papacy as a temporal sovereignty, de
signed by Providence as a shield and protection of the
spiritual supremacy, and admonished the faithful to sus
tain and defend it.
While employed in the labors which his primacy over
the American Church imposed upon him, and in the lead
ing part which he had to take in these important Councils,
and in being the medium of communication with the Holy
See, Archbishop Eccleston was zealously engaged in pro
moting the cause of religion throughout his diocese and in
supplying all its wants. Churches, convents, colleges, and
other benevolent and educational institutions multiplied
around him, and he had during his administration nearly
doubled the number of the priests of his diocese, and at
least fifteen new churches were erected. He became
anxiously interested in the completion of the Cathedral,
towards the progress of which his efforts and liberality
accomplished much. The second tower was completed,
the sanctuary and altar raised higher ; the grounds were
expensively and handsomely enclosed and improved ;
the base for the portico built, the exterior renovated,
and the touching of the interior commenced. He pur
posed also completing the portico, toward which he
was to be the principal contributor. Providence, how-

Most Rev, Sainuel Eccleston, D.D. 543
ever, designed these things should be left to others for
completion. Though of large frame, the health of Archbishop Ec
cleston was , delicate, and he had been for several years
an invalid, but not so as to impair his usefulness. It had
been his custom to spend some weeks at his residence
attached to the Visitation Convent, in Georgetown, as
occasion rendered it necessary, where, in retirement and
at leisure, he could bring up his large correspondence,
and perform labors and duties which his numerous in
terruptions at Baltimore did not enable him to accom
plish. It was during one of these visits to Georgetown,
in April, 1851, that the Archbishop's health became se
riously attacked, and before he could be safely removed
to Baltimore all hope of his recovery disappeared. All
that the skill of physicians and the tender care of his de
voted children at the Convent could do, was done for his
relief and comfort, but in vain. He expired April 22,
1 85 1, surrounded by sorrowing and devoted friends, and
fortified by all the aids and consolations of religion. His
death was a beautiful lesson of patience, gentleness, re
signation, and hope, to all who witnessed it. An eye
witness, writing from the Convent on the subject of his
death, thus expresses herself: — " Could you have been
at our father's side since the beginning of his illness,
what angelic virtue would you not have witnessed.
Such perfect meekness, humility, patience, and resig
nation ! not a murmur, not a complaint escaped his
lips. Truly has he most beautifully exemplified in him
self those lessons, which in health he preached to
others. In losing him we'll lose indeed a devoted father,
a vigilant superior, a sincere and most disinterested
friend."

544 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
The announcement of his death at Baltimore was an
swered by an outburst of grief; the church and other
bells were tolled in token of the sorrow of the com
munity, and all felt that not only Maryland, but that
America had sustained a loss. His remains lay in state
at the Visitation Convent at Georgetown for a day, and
were visited by crowds of sad spectators ; on the follow
ing day Requiem Mass was celebrated, and they were
then borne in solemn procession through Georgetown
and Washington to the Baltimore depot. The proces
sion, composed of the Rev. clergy in their ecclesiastical
vestments, singing psalms of the ritual, and followed by
a long line of citizens and public functionaries, including
the President and his Cabinet, and the Diplomatic Corps,
passed through the principal thoroughfares of George
town and Washington, preceded by the cross, and ex
tending nearly a mile in length. The remains were
received at Baltimore in a manner worthy of that Metro
politan City. Carried with every demonstration of honor
and respect to the Archiepiscopal residence, where
they remained in state for two days, the solemn service
was performed at the Cathedral April 26, the Right
Rev. Bishop Kenrick celebrating Requiem Mass, and
the Right Rev. Bishop McGill preaching the funeral
sermon. The solemn occasion was also attended by
the Right Rev. Bishop O'Connor, of Pittsburgh, a nu
merous body of priests, and an immense throng of
people, all lamenting from their hearts the sad bereave
ment of the Church.
" Archbishop Eccleston was gifted with talents of a
high order. He had a penetrating mind, which he had
cultivated by laborious study and enriched with varied
learning. As a preacher of the word of God, he was

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, D.D. 545
regarded as eloquent, graceful, and persuasive, displaying
great zeal and piety in all he uttered, and was sure to
enlist the undivided attention of his hearers. It may not
be useless, perhaps, to record here a fact, which is re
markable in the history of the Catholic ministry in this
country, that shortly before his elevation to the priesthood,
the subject of this notice was invited to deliver a prayer
at the public celebration, in Baltimore, of the 4th of July,
the anniversary of our national independence. He ac
cepted the invitation, and appeared before the vast as
semblage of people, vested in cassock, surplice, and stole ;
and wkile, as a minister of God, he invoked the divine
blessing on the nation, and exhibited the approval of a
free government and popular liberty by the Church, he
delighted his immense audience by his eloquent appeal
to the throne of mercy, and the pleasing manner of its
delivery. " It was the office of Archbishop Eccleston to preside
at five of the Provincial Councils of Baltimore, from the
3d to the 7th inclusively, and it is well known that the
dignity and wisdom that characterized him on these occa
sions were equalled only by the hospitality and kindness
which he exercised towards his episcopal and sacerdotal
brethren. " In person Archbishop Eccleston was tall and com
manding, and remarkable for his graceful deportment and
ease in conversation. No one ever approached him fa
miliarly without being pleased with him, or without in
creased respect for his person. His piety was of the
highest order No one could look upon him without
being impressed with the idea that he was a true prelate
of the Church. Ever unostentatious and unassuming,
his great aim was to do good to all men, seeking the will of
35

546 Lives of the Catholic Bishops.
his great master. His study was to please Him, regard
less of the world, which would willingly have heaped
upon him its choicest honors, had he not studiously fled
from them." *
* Catholic Almanac, 1852.

END OF VOLUME I.

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